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Riley’s kitchen table is crowded with textbooks and loose papers. Farkle is sitting next to her at the table, diligently getting his work done. Riley’s got her books open in front of her, but she’s distracted and doesn’t even realize that she’s doodling stars on her notebook. She happens to look up and spots a picture of her and Farkle when they were younger on the bookshelf.
“Farkle, do you ever think about the first time we met?”
“All the time. Why?”
Riley keeps her eyes on the picture, admiring how happy they look in it as they hug each other. She remembers that day. Her parents had just taken them to get ice cream and she was so excited that the shop had strawberry, her favorite. She looks at Farkle’s younger figure in the picture and then turn to look at who he has become sitting next to her. “I think the first time I saw you, I knew,” she confesses.
“Knew what?” Farkle asks, looking up from his notes.
“That I felt a connection with you. That we were-” Riley stops, a little scared to say the word.
“Soulmates?” he finishes, guessing the implication of her words.
“Do you think so, too?” she nervously asks. They had never broached the subject before, even though the idea has been in Riley's mind for a while. Ever since Farkle first kissed her a year ago, she knew. She had experienced other kisses in her life before, so when he leaned in, she thought she knew what was going to happen. But when his lips connected with hers, she felt like her entire world had changed. Everything around her was spinning, she was breathless, and she wanted more.
He answers affectionately, “I know that I love you more than anything, and I know that I always want to be with you,” he stops to take a breath, and then sighs as he continues, “but I’m not sure if I believe in soulmates, Riley.”
“How can you say all of those things about loving me but not be sure if you believe in soulmates?”
“The concept itself has its flaws, and I guess it’s never really resonated with me. What is it exactly that you feel? Maybe if you explain it to me-”
“I shouldn’t have to explain it to you. You should just feel it too,” she says, tears pooling in her eyes.
“Riley,” he whispers apologetically.
“Forget it. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
Riley gets up, leaving all of her things at the table, and runs to her room. She locks the door and throws herself onto her bed as she starts to cry. She hears Farkle’s footsteps walking toward her door and covers her ears.
He knocks lightly and says, “Riley, please open the door.” She doesn’t respond. She’s too busy muffling her sobbing so he can’t hear.
After a few minutes, Riley hears the front door slam, and it makes her jolt. The only thing going through her head is how she messed everything up.
I never should have said anything about soulmates. And now that I know he doesn’t believe in them, doesn’t that mean that we aren’t soulmates? Don’t we both have to feel it for it to be true?
She buries her face in her pillow and litters it with fresh tears as they start to flow uncontrollably.
Not long after, Riley hears a tapping at her window and lifts her head up in fear, only to see Farkle sitting there, leaning his head on the window. She wipes the tears from her face and walks over to the window. When she looks at him through the glass, she sees herself reflected over his figure. She opens it for him before walking back to her bed and facing away from him. Farkle climbs in and sits at the bay window with his eyes glued to the floor. He hears her sniffle and gathers the courage to speak.
“I thought about going home, but then I realized I would just be going back to the house that I live in. If I really wanted to go home, well, I was already in the right place. You’re my home, Riley.”
He hears her choke back her tears, and it makes Farkle get up and walk toward her bed where she’s lying.
“You’re my home,” Farkle repeats as he sits down on her bed, “and you’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Riley, even a lifetime isn’t enough for me.”
She sits up and faces him. Her lip is trembling and she’s shaking a little. He cradles her face in his hands and swipes his thumbs over her cheeks to rid them of her tears. He pulls her into a tight embrace and rests his head on her shoulder. He feels her hug him closer and nuzzle into his neck.
Farkle continues, “What are the chances of us meeting? What are the chances of us living in the same place at the same time? It seems crazy. But what’s the craziest part of it all is that out of all the possibilities, out of all the people, what are the chances of me loving you, and you loving me too?”
“It seem impossible,” Riley mumbles into his neck.
“But it’s not, because here we are. Riley, is that it? Is that how you feel?”
“Yes, but there’s more. There’s so much more I’ve thought about, and so much more I want you to understand.”
Farkle pulls her down so they’re lying on her bed facing each other and ardently says, “Tell me. Show me. I want to know everything.”
Riley grabs his face and looks into his eyes. “The look in my eyes, and the one you reflect back into mine. Do you feel that?”
“Yes,” he breathes.
“That’s how I know.”
She leans in and gently kisses him. After a moment, she pulls away and adds, “Those butterflies. Do you feel those?”
“Every time you touch me,” he pants with his forehead resting on hers.
“That’s how I know.”
She moves forward and kisses him again, because one is never enough. It will never be enough. She’ll always want more of his lips on hers, more time to hold him close, just more of him.
Farkle breaks away, completely out of breath, overwhelmed by the emotion captured in the kiss. “If that’s how you know, then I’ve known my entire life, Riley. Please make me feel those things every day for the rest of our lives.”
“I promise.”
“And even after we’re gone, I want you to still make me feel that way. We could be anything in our next lives, even stars. It won’t matter. You would still make me feel like this.”
“Even when we’re stars, I’ll still be yours. Forever.”