Farkle took a deep breath, counted to 10, and pushed the door open to Topanga's. Anger wasn't an emotion that he was unfamiliar with, but typically, he did a much better job at controlling it. However, today there was nothing he could do to stop himself. Lucas would be lucky if he didn't punch his pretty teeth in. Farkle thought back to what had triggered this attack on his emotions. Riley. It was always Riley. Riley had always been there for him when he needed her, like when he was being bullied in 7th grade, and just recently, when Isadora had broken up with him. She had called him a distraction to her studies, and that she needed to focus if she was going to take over the world. Truthfully, Farkle had seen it coming from a mile away. He didn't want to take over the world much anymore, anyways.

Riley Matthews was sunshine as a person, but right now, her light had been snuffed out by stupid, handsome Lucas. He could keep making excuses for himself, but Farkle wasn't going to listen. He was going to do what Riley couldn't. He was going to make Lucas see the error of his ways, and realize exactly what he lost.

"Riley, it was just a stupid mistake," Lucas had pleaded with her. "I just had too much to drink"

Riley dropped her head into her hands and tried not to cry. Her boyfriend, her first love, the person she'd bared her soul to, had cheated on her. He wouldn't even own up to it, either. She was tired of hearing, "Riley, it wasn't my fault"

"Lucas, if you truly loved me, you wouldn't have even thought about doing anything with her, drunk or not"

She looked up and expected to see a truly contrite Lucas. Instead, his face seemed to harden.

"Well, maybe if you paid a little more attention to me and stopped spending so much time with Farkle, this wouldn't have happened," he said angrily

"Are you seriously blaming me?," uttered Riley. She was so confused. She spent nearly all her free time with Lucas. Normally she would have spent last week's party hanging off his arm while he talked to his baseball friends, as boring as that was. But she had had a major project due on Monday, and Lucas had known that. He had been understanding, stopping by before the party to give her a quick kiss and to wish her luck. She had thought that she had the perfect boyfriend to be so understanding, but now she realized that he had just seen it as an opportunity to mess around without her. Suddenly, she felt anger course through her veins. How dare Lucas try to pin this on her? She turned her eyes to him and gave him an angry look and cut him off before he could speak again.

"You know what, Lucas? I think we need to take a break. Obviously we aren't as good for each other as I thought before," she said angrily before pointing to the window

"Riley, are you serious? You're willing to throw away our entire relationship over one girl?"

"No Lucas, you are. I'd like it if you left now, please," she said morosely, the anger that had engulfed her was quickly becoming sadness, and she needed him out before she broke down.

She listened to him exit the room without further complaint, and once she was sure he was gone, she buried her face into her pillow and sobbed. She never thought she'd feel more hurt than how she felt after being abandoned on the first day of high school, but that didn't hold a candle to this. She was absolutely broken.

Less than an hour later, Farkle entered through the bay window and saw something terrible. Riley looked like she was dying. He had known it would be bad, but he didn't expect this. He thought a moment about Cory, but decided that he didn't care about his teacher when Riley needed him this much, and he climbed into bed next to her, and just held onto her. She needed his comfort more than she needed his words. Eventually, she calmed down enough to talk, and told him about what Lucas had done. At the last party he'd attended, he had fallen into bed with a pretty blonde cheerleader. Farkle was seeing red, but he couldn't leave Riley right now. Revenge against Lucas could wait. For now, his main priority was Riley. He got up and headed into the kitchen, careful to avoid either of the Matthews parents. If they found out what Lucas had done to their little girl, they would kill him before he had the chance to. He collected the snacks he wanted, and went back to the room. He spent the rest of his afternoon with Riley under their poorly made fort watching movies, and as much as he had wanted to get up and go after Friar, he was glad he had stayed. By the time he left, Riley's spirit had lifted considerably, and although she wasn't the bright light she should be, he could see it peeking through.

Back to Topanga's. Right. He had entered and he was Lucas immediately, sitting and laughing with Zay like nothing was wrong. Lucas caught his eye and waved him over.

"Farkle, buddy, what's up!"

"Save it Lucas, I know what you did"

Zay looked at him curiously, and the rest of the cafe stopped what they were doing to stare at the pair of them. He glared at Lucas angrily, and he raised himself up to his full height. He was thankful now more than ever that his latest growth spurt had given him a few inches over Lucas. Now he could stare down at the other boy for the full affect. Lucas looked worried, but he seemed to think he could talk his way out this one.

"Farkle, look, Riley is just overreacting, she's taking it so seriously, you know how she gets-"

Much to Farkle's surprise, before the Texan could even finish speaking, he had lifted his fist up and punched the boy right in the face. It made a loud pop that sounded throughout the entire room. If all eyes weren't on them before, they definitely were now. Lucas just looked at him in surprise before he pulled his fist back and punched Farkle back.

Suddenly, everyone was in action. Someone pulled him back away from Lucas, and he could see Zay doing the same to Lucas. Farkle looked down at his hand, and god did it hurt. He never realized that punching someone would hurt just as much for him. His face hurt too, but he was focused on his knuckles. He was happy to deal with the pain. Lucas had deserved it. He looked up and saw that everyone was still staring at him. He turned his cold glare to Lucas a final time before turning and walking right out.

Farkle made it back home and snuck past his parents with minimal effort, but when he entered his room, he saw that he had a visitor waiting for him. It was Riley.

"I heard what you did, Farkle, that was foolish of you"

Farkle opened his mouth to defend himself, but before he could even speak a word, Riley rushed right up to him and wrapped him in a huge hug.

"I am so lucky to have you in my life, Farkle Minkus. Thank you"

"You know I'd do anything for you, Riley, even if it hurts"

She pulled back a bit and stared into his eyes deeply. She turned her attention to his swollen hand, and she brought it up to her face to inspect it. She looked at it critically before softly kissing it.

"Just to make it better," she clarified when she saw his confused face. She turned her attention to his face, and inspected it. She gently kissed it, and then before he could react, she moved her lips to his. He barely had time to react before she pulled away, and that just wouldn't do for him. He pulled her mouth back to his, and kissed her once more, before breaking away.

"Riley, I know you still need to get over Lucas, but this, this is special," he said as he looked at her

Riley nodded slowly, and then her serious face changed into a sly little smile.

She gave his swollen face one last peck before she turned to leave, and on her way out, she turned back once more.

"I believe in us, Farkle Minkus"

Despite his injuries, Farkle had no problem sleeping easy that night