Sooner or later everyone started going to bed, no one really wanting to address the awkward bombshell that was just dropped on Riley and Lucas's relationship. I knew eventually I would have to go home, but...I didn't really want to go back to my empty house.
"So...where are we headed?" Farkle asked. I rasied my eyebrows.
"What?" I asked.
"You said you wanted to take me somewhere...talk to me about something...remember?" I nodded.
"Oh yeah...right." I swallowed. "Um...let's go."
~~~
I took him to a very special place. My special place. Only Lucas knows about it.
"What is this place?" Farkle asked, looking up at the old barn.
"Fremire farms." I told him. "They went out of business when I was eight, gave me permission to use the barn."
"For what?" He asked.
"Just a place to...to be alone when I needed to." I grabbed his hand and led him into the barn and up to the hay loft, where there was a square hole in the middle of the ceiling.
"This is where you look at the stars, isn't it?" He asked. I nodded.
"It's perfect." I spread the quilt out and laid down on my back, looking up. Farkle hesitantly laid down beside me. "It's beautiful...peaceful."
"The planetarium doesn't compare." He told me.
"But that was beautiful too." I assured him, putting a hand on his arm. He sat up.
"What are we here to talk about, Skipper?" Tears welled in my eyes at the thought. "What's wrong?" I sat up, hiding my face in my hands.
"My dad is gone, Farkle." I told him.
"Gone...what do you mean gone?" I looked over at him.
"Nobody's seen him in a month. He left a note in our house that had to be dictated to me over the phone, about him apologizing and telling me not to look for him or try to contact him...He didn't even have the common decency to tell me where he was going, and...he's just gone."
"Skipper..." He put a hand on my back. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't tell anybody. We had so much going on with 'Rileytown' and I just...You guys have your own problems to deal with. You didn't need mine too."
"That's not how friendship works, Skipper! We don't just deal with some people's problems, we deal with ALL of our problems, and this is the biggest one! You should of told someone-"
"I KNOW, FARKLE!"I screamed. I instantly felt guilty, so I got up, leaning against the wall by the ledge in the front. I leaned my forehead against the wall. "I know...I...I'm sorry, I..." His arms were around me in an instant, and my head was buried in his chest.
"You can't hide things from us, Skipper. You can't hide things from me. Don't ever hide things from me." I nodded, pulling away from him.
"I promise." I nodded.
"Promise me something else."
"Ok." I said, urging him to continue.
"Promise me you'll tell them." I nodded again.
"I will. I promise I will."
"Good." We laid back down on the blanket, my head on his chest, as we watched the stars. He played with my hair. Farkle was...amazing. He was sweet, and understanding, and caring. He was the best.
"Hey Farkle?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Yeah?" my heart jumped into my throat, and I was filled with fear over what I was about to do. I didn't sit up, in case I didn't want to see his reaction, and then I just let the words spill out.
"I love you."
It was out before I could stop them, or to give me time to regret it, and I didn't know how he'd react-
"I love you too." I smiled, sitting up slightly and kissing him. He brought a hand up to my ponytail, kissing me back. I pulled away, leaning my forehead against his.
I love Farkle Minkus.
And as it turns out...
He loves me too.
~~~
When I delivered Maya and Riley a new set of clothes later that evening, I felt as if a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. No, I could go out for a night on the town in Texas with my friends, and actually, some-what enjoy it.
This time, I changed with Riley and Maya.
We quickly changed and walked out onto the porch where the boys were.
"Whoa. Gentlemen, look how lucky you are." Pappy Joe peered around us at the boys. "You treat 'em right."
"Thank you, Pappy Joe." Riley told him. "I see why you get home sick for Texas sometimes, Lucas. I never knew that the sky had this many stars. You know what else, I don't get nervous when I'm with you anymore." She wrapped an arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. "We're doing the right thing. Ah, remember when we couldn't even say 'Hi' to each other? Remember how we'd go 'hi', 'howdy', 'hi'. Remember?" It sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Lucas. "Now watch this, say hi to me."
"Hi."
"Hi, Lucas. What up, Brah? What's up with you, man? You good? You cool?"
"Hi."
"Still got some catching up to do."
"Riley, I-I don't even know what's going on right now. "
"What's going on is that we're gonna be the best of friends and care about what each of us has to say for the rest of our lives." Farkle looked at me, and I shook my head.
"Yeah, I sorta thought we had that, what does brother and sister mean?"
"It means you know, poom!' She punched his shoulder.
"Hey!"
"Ping!' She punched his other shoulder.
"Riley!"
"Ha, you said that just like a brother would."
"Can I hit you back?"
"No."
"Only you get to hit me?"
"Mm-hmm. We're just like how you and Maya were. HA-HEEEEEE."
"You don't even do it right." Maya spoke up.
"Oh! Maya, I thought you weren't talking to Lucas."
"I'm not talking to him, I'm talking to you."
"Maya, are you seriously not gonna talk to me?" He walked over to her, and I moved.
"You could've gotten hurt on that stupid bull. What do you think getting hurt would have done to the people who..." She trailed off. Zay stood up.
"Care about you? I think you were gonna say care about you." He said.
"I'm not talking about me. You think I'm talking about me?"
"Yes, I do." Zay said.
"I'm talking about everybody here."
"Maya...Lucas is ok. He didn't get hurt. All of us are ok. And we're gonna go spend our first night out on the town in Texas. What should we do?" Riley assured her.
"I've been reading about Austin and they call it a music city. They call it the live music capital of the world." Farkle said. I nodded.
"That it is, dear boyfriend. I know just the place. Pappy Joe, you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"
"If I were a young buck tryin' to impress his friends, I might suggest Chubby's Famous Barbecue Pit."
"Always good eats, always good music." I said, repeating the motto.
"But barbecued foods aren't good for you." Farkle pointed out.
"Oh...Honey." I groaned. Lucas pulled us away from him and Pappy Joe stood up.
"Let me tell you what ain't good for you."
"You aren't gonna do anything to me, because you know I'm a New York intellectual and you don't want to be a cliché."
"Farkle!" I warned.
"Lucas, fetch me my shot gun."
"Ok." Lucas went to go inside.
"Lucas!" Farkle and I chorused together.
"Ok. I'll go to Chubby's, I'll eat your food, I'll listen to your music, but don't expect a changed Farkle, Hombre." Pappy Joe chuckled, and I rolled my eyes, grabbing his arm.
"Come on. You idiot."