Riley could feel the butterflies in her stomach flying everywhere as she pulled Farkle closer. His hand in her was what made her pull back slowly.

"I love you Riley." Farkle confessed as he rested his forehead against hers'.

They had always told each other that they loved each other.

It was true.

But this one felt different. A different tone and a different promise and a different kind of love that made Riley's skin warm and the butterflies tenfold.

Riley went back for another kiss, this one short and quick. "I love you too." She told him, the tone and promise was there too.

She watched miserably as Farkle's try to smile. The gash on his lip making him hiss in pain.

"I'm going to get he first aid kit." Before she could get up, Farkle had grabbed her wrist.

"Can we just rest first?" Farkle asked, his eyes to the ground. "Please?" Riley nodded slowly, she felt the butterflies begin to turn into hummingbirds as she watched Farkle scoot on top of her bed, making sure that there was enough room for her to lay down next to him. She couldn't help but feel the strings to her heart pull a little at Farkle's puppy dog eyes. Although it felt weird still as she laid down next to him, allowing him to pull her closer to him. She trusted him not to do anything or attempt anything, but it still felt oddly intimate-especially for them.

She could feel her skin prickle as Farkle nestled his face into the back of her neck and his arm draped over her waist.

"Thank you." Farkle whispered.

Riley sighed, turning herself around so that she was facing him. The injuries were ghastly up close, making her wince as she told him "You never have to thank me. I'm really sorry you had to go through this."

Farkle shrugged, "I know." He shifted closer to her till their foreheads touched, "I'm sorry too." He brought up one of her arms that had faded scars and caressed the scars with his thumb.

"They'll fade." Riley confirmed, it was something she was beginning to remind herself. She and Amira had a long talk about them- the scars could tell a story, if she allowed them to. It could be a painful story to tell and remind herself about, but it was her prerogative. Or, she could let them fade- from her skin and from her mind. She would be moving on. "Just like these." She gently touched the bruises around his neck.

"I know." Farkle sighed, his eyes closed as sleep overtook him. His hands wrapped around Riley's. Riley watched him sleep till she was sure he was in deep sleep. His grasp on her became lax, giving her the opportunity to slip away quietly to get the first aid kit.

And her father.

"Daddy?" Riley whispered as she tip toed into her parents' room. "Dad?" she repeated, only a little bit louder.

Cory groaned, wincing as Riley shook his shoulders gently. "Hm, Riley?" he groaned again, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Farkle." She showed her hands to her dad, they were dirt stained. As was her shirt.

That was all Cory needed to see to know what was going on. He quickly but quietly got out of the bed and followed his daughter to her room to see Farkle fast asleep on top of Riley's bed.

(He doesn't ask her about if anything happened between them.)

(He trusts her. She knows that.)

"Is he okay?" Cory asked in a whisper, as he closed the door to Riley's room, not wanting to wake up Farkle from the sleep he clearly needed.

"No." Riley shook her head, "He's really hurt. " Riley mumbled leaning back against the hallway wall. Her skin prickled as the cold seeped through her night shirt. She hugged herself tightly as a wave of nausea washed over her. "He…he's not going to be okay, is he?"

Cory rubbed his face with both hands, sighing as he looked down at his tired daughter's face. She was young, too young for this…but having to live through this. It was tough on him when he was helping Claire…

Now it was Riley's turn.

"I don't know." He answered honestly, he walked out with Riley to the living room and called 911.

Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Three hours later Riley was back at home, tired and loopy after spending the past three hours in the back of an ambulance and then at the hospital.

She had spoken with NYPD again, ACS again, and with Mr. Minkus again. She was bone weary done with everything. Her parents were still at the hospital, Auggie was with a neighbor. She was home alone and was given permission to miss out on school, she was thankful for that atleast.

She knew she wouldn't have been strong enough to handle all the whispers and gossip about Farkle at school. She looked at herself in the mirror once she made it to her room.

She was still dressed in her pajamas. Her wet jacket and boots abandoned by her door as she stepped closer to her mirror to get a better look, her skin was pale and washed out, the skin under her eyes almost seemed blue. She was freezing and shaking as she pulled her sweatshirt from her drawer and pulled it on. Her hair was flat and greasy looking. She felt awful and nauseous after breathing in hospital air for too long, her stomach felt empty and her throat dry and tight.

Perfect time for her to be getting the flu!

A sharp knock at her window made her yelp.

"Zay!" Riley breathed out a sigh of relief as she opened her window to let her best friend in. Zay was the first person she messaged about Farkle and kept texting him updates. "What are you doing here?"

Zay rolled his eyes, "After what you kept telling me, you thought I would leave you? Much less go to school by myself?"

Riley smiled shyly at the ground, "I was kind of hoping not." She bit the inside of her cheek before going in for a hug.

Zay chuckled as he squeezed her back. "He's going to be okay, right?"

Riley nodded, not trusting herself enough to speak about Farkle's condition or fate. He would be physically okay, of course. But mentally was another question. And after eavesdropping on Farkle's dad and ACS, she knew that Farkle wouldn't be home anytime soon.

Unfortunately, she didn't need to talk about Farkle in order to cry. Just thinking about what had happened to him was making her cry uncontrollably in her friend's arms.

"Riley, Riley, please don't cry. He's safe." Zay's voice wavered as he tried to console Riley. She felt his hand run down her hair as he held her tighter.

"I should have done something, I should have talked to him." Riley cried, the itchy feeling was coming back tenfold. "I should have done anything. I didn't need to push him away. He's my friend!" Riley sobbed stepping away from Zay's arms as her anxiety and guilt began to grow. She began to scratch her arms, slowly at first as the guilty began to bloom.

Zay's eyes widen in alarmed as he pulled Riely's arms down, he held on them tightly. "You didn't know." Zay reminded her. He risked letting go of her arms to hold her face instead, "You were going through your own issues and they were important issues. You couldn't have saved him Riley, you were drowning too."

Riley felt it all crash at her hard. She was drowning, she was still just paddling through her depression barely enough to breath.

She felt herself sink to the floor with Zay at her side as she grieved her broken friendships, broken heart, broken relationships, secrets, and her fear of losing the last tie to her childhood.

They were together on the floor as Riley continued to cry, Zay offering comforting touches as he kept his composure barely in order to support his friend. After a while though Zay began to cry as well.

Nearly a half hour later the two were in her bed. The sheets around them as they watched cartoons.

Nearly another hour later Topanga and Cory were back home. Topanga went to check on her daughter, she knocked softly at the door and heard no response. She walked in to find her daughter sleeping soundly next to Zay. A tablet between them as slept facing each other, their noses a few inches apart. Topanga softly closed the door and walked back to the kitchen where Cory and Zay's parents were.

"Are they alright?" Yola asked, the cup of tea paused by her lips as she looked at Topanga.

"They're fine, fast asleep." Topanga informed her as she sat down next to Yola. She smiled weakly as she felt Cory's hand rest on her shoulder, giving her short squeeze before settling his hand on hers'. "It's been a long day and its not even noon yet." She sighed as she drank from her own cup.

Mitchell pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked through his phone at the news about the Minkus family. "Thanks for calling us. We figured that Zay was talking to Riley about this, but its nice for you guys to call us as well."

"No problem." Cory shrugged, "How are we gonna tell them that Farkle is going to be moved to Albany till Minkus clears this up?"

"I don't know." Yola shook her head, leaning back against the chair with her arms crossed as she thought back to when she first saw Farkle's bruises. She could hardly believe that he gotten them after falling off a bike, but Farkle was adamant that the bruises were a accident. She had confessed to the Matthews on her way to the hospital to meet them that she had reported the bruises to ACS but her claims were never investigated. "Zay's not gonna take this well. He was already upset about him and Lucas breaking up, losing another friend is going to mess him up."

"He's been going strong for Farkle's sake, covering up for him to make sure he's safe but we know its taken a toll on him as well. He's not eating and he's having issues sleeping." Mitchell confessed.

Cory frowned, "He's been sleeping a lot in classes."

"We're thinking that maybe watching over Farkle is giving him some sort insomnia." Mitchell continued, looking at his wife for support. "We haven't told him just yet, but we signed him up for counseling."

Topanga nodded, "That sounds like a good idea." She missed the smile from Cory. "We're really glad and gratefull that Riley and Farkle have Zay as a friend, we want him to be okay and safe as well. If there's anything we could do for him or you guys, just let us know." Said Topanga.

Yola and Mitchell nodded, "Thank you. We're proud of Zay, but he needs to make sure he's not overwhelming himself. He's just sixteen."

"Forgot how much that age sucked." Cory quipped, earning a snort of laughter from Mitchell.

"God." Mitchell groaned, "Remember running hell at the center in WPCC?" Mitchell smiled at his wife.

Cory peered at the two for a moment, "Wait! You guys are from Philly?" he asked astounded.

"Yeah, West Philadelphia." Yola pushed back in her seat in concern at the couple's reaction.

Cory and Topanga tried their best to contain their excitement and laughter, "Same!"

The four laughed at the coincidence before talking about old hangouts and stories about a time before their children and the hardship about their world.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A month later…

Dance class was freeing in so many ways. Both movement therapy and contemporary dance were an outlet for Riley to escape the multiple feelings that were swarming in her, incapable of becoming coherent words in real life.

She could dance it out instead, luckily for her. Kaycee and Ramik were patient with her as her fumbled words turned into languid dance moves. Kaycee's class gave her the ability to make it through the school day, with each harsh and disgusting whisper she about herself, Farkle, and Zay, she was able to take chanel her confusion and bitterness through controlled moves. Ramik's class gave her the ability to let go of her anger and hate, the heavy base of the dance music gave her mind something else to think of.

Riley's mind was still going as Ramik addressed her about the next dance recital.

Riley shook her head, "Sorry?"

Ramik repeated what he had said. "The group has decided to give you the final song choice."

The spring recital would be a show case about songs that defined them. It was a group effort to pick the first four songs out of the five. So far the group had decided to pick Formation, Sharp Edges, Not Easy, and My Name is Human.

"Really?" Riley asked just to be sure, looking around her peers to see Nomi smiling at her, besides her was a coy looking Dashi. Nia looked indifferent at it all while Harley looked at her adoringly. "Thank you." She said truly touched that her classmates would give the newest person to the group the choice to pick a song that they would dance to in front of an audience.

"Do you know what song you would like to pick?" Ramik asked, showing her a few options from their most recent requests.

Riley bit her lip, "Not just yet." She said slowly as she thought back to some of her favorite songs. But they didn't seem to fit with the theme nor the mood of the other songs.

"Take your time, but I do need a answer by the end of the month." Ramik reminded her before dismissing the class for the day.

Riley was still at dance nearly an hour later, it felt freeing to by herself, dancing to all the songs she thought were the ones.

"You're really trying to find the right song, aren't you?" Harley's voice broke her out of her rhythm. She applauded Riley's dancing with the song Perfecto.

"I thought it was the right one."

Harley shrugged, "it's a good song." She complimented Riley. "I liked your dancing to Blood in the Cut.

Riley's eyes darkened, "Too close to home." She sighed as she wiped her face with towel, "I need to find a song that defines me, defines the class. Not a song to make me bitter."

"You're allowed to be bitter, Riley." Harley reminded her gently, "But I understand, its too fresh. No need to add salt to the cut." Harley preened as she passed a bottle of water to Riley

Riley actually laughed at Harley's bad joke. "I should have thought of that!" Riley chided at herself jokingly as Harley hip checked her.

"You didn't though." Harley wrapped her arms around Riley's middle, resting her chin on Riley's shoulder. "You really okay though?"

"Not really." Riley confessed, along with Zay, she had been texting and talking to Harley about what happening.

"Any new updates?" Harley asked sincerely, the last update Riley had gotten was that Farkle was now in Albany. His father going through the courts to get his son back while Farkle's mother was released into her parents' care pending her trial.

Riley shook her head, she had spoken to Farkle since his move. He was hanging in there…barely. But he liked his foster parents and foster siblings. He had told her and Zay over video chat that they were nice and that their house, while small in comparison to his, was calming and loving.

He needed both desperately.

When they asked if he knew when he would be back, Farkle could only shrug. "I don't know, my GAL couldn't say for sure. But she and my social worker spoke to my foster parents, they said I could come down for the weekend to see you guys. If that's okay with your parents."

"Farkle! Of course its okay with our parents." Riley reminded him, confident that her parents would love to have Farkle back in their home. She knew her parents were in constant touch with Mr. Minkus, as where Zay's parents.

Riley rested her head against Harley's, "He might come down next weekend though, so maybe we can all hangout." Riley hoped. She felt herself smile as Harley nodded in agreement against her.

"I would like that." She kissed Riley's cheek softly before breaking her hold around Riley. Riley though, thought otherwise as she pulled Harley back into her hold and kissed her on the lips. After a few seconds Riley pulled away and smiled, resting her forehead against Harley's. "Thank you for being supportive throughout all this."

Harley wrapped her arms around Riley's next this time. "You don't have to thank me. I know you would do the same for me."

"Always." Riley promised as she kissed Harley again.

Riley and Harley had been slowly approaching a relationship together, it was a quasi-secret at this point-with everyone from dance, including Zay, knowing about them. But not her parents or Harley's. And not Farkle (she had told Harley about the kiss she shared with Farkle) or her former friends (she nor Zay had been in communication with them since Farkle's reported disappearance).

They pulled away from each other a moment later, both determined to find the final song together.

A.N: So HarleyxRiley or FarklexRiley? I don't know at this point. I was almost tempted to make it ZayxRiley at one point while writing this. This took a while to write due to more losses in my family so this chapter was as light as possible considering the theme for this fic.