always. [riarkle one shots]

Correcting Mistakes

Someone on tumblr wanted a breakup fic so here it is. 

Word Count: 871

Rating K+: some light angst

In which they're okay.

She's so engrossed in her fashion magazine, the first non-collegiate reading she's done in months, that she doesn't hear the footsteps outside her window. Or the slide of the window against the ice outside. She'd left it open a crack because her dad likes his thermostat a little too hot for her liking. She doesn't see his moment of hesitation before he climbs through her window, the effort now more tasking than it might have been eight years ago.

She does, however, hear his voice, "Riley, why'd we break up?" The question implies that the breakup was mutual. He sounds angry but his face doesn't reflect anything. Only his eyes speak of sorrow.

She looks up to see Farkle Minkus sitting in her bay window like he's always done. But the Farkle Minkus that sits in her bay window isn't the same happy if not slightly nerdy Farkle that she's always known. His cheeks are pink, a thick coat thrown over a graphic tee. There are bags under his eyes that weren't there before. Even as she blames it on Yale she knows that the only one responsible for the purple under his startling blue eyes is her. He looks like crap and it's her fault.

"Farkle!" Her voice is cheery and they both know it's fake. "I wasn't expecting to see you!" Ever. "I didn't know you were on winter break!" She flips to another page, it's an ad that has a couple holding hands while they make snow angles. She turns the page so fast it rips. She tries to think of the fastest way push him out the window with accidentally breaking his neck in the process.

He crosses his arms, "The faster you answer the question the faster I leave."

Sighing, she sits up tossing the magazine onto her bed stand hating that he can still read her thoughts. Unsure of what to do with herself she crosses and uncrosses her legs before finally settling into a crisscross position.

"We wouldn't have made it." She fiddles with the afghan that lies on her bed. "The long distance thing wasn't working. I couldn't concentrate. Every moment was spent wondering what you were doing if you were okay. If you'd made new, better friends." Anytime Maya asked her to go out she'd always refused. Afraid that he'd call and that she'd miss it because she was out having fun. After a while, Maya stopped asking. "And every time we skyped you just looked more and more exhausted so I decided to put us both out of our misery."

Farkle's sat silently up until now, "That wasn't your decision to make Riley! Did it ever occur to you that I liked talking to you? That seeing your face after an exhausting day was what kept me going?"

"No," she whispers, "I guess I didn't." One day she'd woken up and realized that this wasn't the college experience she'd been dreaming of since she was fourteen. So on impulse, she'd broken up with him, via voicemail. Even she could admit it was not one of her best moments.

His gaze goes to her desk, to a specific picture frame. "I would lie awake at night listening to your voicemail wondering what I did wrong."

"It wasn't anything you did."

"That doesn't stop it from hurting, Riley!" His shoulders are shaking, snow falls off his coat, slowly melting into the cushioned seat. "That doesn't stop me from wondering if you broke up with me because you met someone else."

"I didn't meet anyone." She looks up in time to catch the relief that washes over him, "Did you?"

"No." The silence stretches between them, his gaze has returned to the framed picture. The one that shows him planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek. They hadn't been dating yet but things were beginning to progress in that direction. But now they were broken up and neither of them knew what to do.

"I still love you."

"I love you too."

They sit on opposite ends of the room staring at each other. The gap isn't big but even with her confession, the uncertainty is overwhelming.

"What do you want?" Farkle finally asks his face unreadable. Like he doesn't want to influence her decision. If she told him she didn't want to be with him she has no doubt he'll climb right back out that window no matter how he feels. He'll do it because he's Farkle and he wants her to be happy.

"I-I" the newer part of her that is all for self-preservation wants to send him away but she finds she still can't lie to him. "You" she realizes, "I want you."

He crosses the room in three long strides, hauling her out of bed, he kisses her. His hands are cold, so are his lips but she feels hot. So hot, her insides are burning and she doesn't want this feeling to go away. He hugs her close, his arms tight around her.

"I missed you," His voice is hoarse, "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." She whispers, "I'm so sorry Farkle."

"It's okay Riley." He holds her closer, "We're going to be okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise."