𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚-𝒇𝒊𝒗𝒆

❝ 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 ❞

──︒✿ཾ∘∗✽ᜒࠬ. ──

Mandy loved the sound of birds chirping in the morning. She knows it's random, but something about looking up at the sky at dawn and watching birds chirp 'good morning' at each other, really brightened her mood. However, talking to Evan with Riley, she didn't notice how the birds started to chirp even when it was still dark out.

"I've never told anyone this before," Evan chuckled as they reached what seemed the conclusion of their conversation.

"You can tell us anything."

"I have this dream," the boy answered Riley, "it's really personal and I've always been scared of how people would respond to it."

Amanda answered him this time, "well, when it comes to dreams, Riley is definitely the one you can tell."

The boy smiled at the two girls before revealing, "I wanna be a sherpa."

"Mmm, no, don't do that."

"Riley!"

"Yeah, I'm glad I told you..."

"They're the people who take you up to Mount Everest, right?"

"And that's what I wanna be," Evan answered Mandy, impressed that she knew that fact, "but not just some regular... 'Hi I'm Evan your friendly mountain guide'," the girls chuckled, "I want to help people find their way to places they never thought they could reach."

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

Mandy smiled slightly, "what's that, Sherpa?"

"That's morning."

──︒✿ཾ∘∗✽ᜒࠬ. ──

Amanda felt panicked. She loved talking to Evan but she didn't know it took up her whole night. As soon as he said morning she grabbed Riley's hand and pushed her towards the stairs to make it seem like they hadn't had stayed up all night. But Riley had other plans.

"It was really great talking to you, Evan," Riley started, and Mandy tried to tug her up because she knew who would be walking down any minute, "but we have to get upstairs right now before—"

Noticing her cousins lack of pulling on her arm, Riley turned around to see her cousin frozen in her spot with the stares of Andrew, Lucas, Maya, and her parents on the two girls and boy.

"They're wearing the same clothes."

"Who's that?"

"While we're wearing new different clothes."

"Who's that?"

"Hm, they look sleepy to me."

"Yeah, that one there," Andrew continued, "who's that?"

"Ma—Dad," Riley exclaimed, not knowing what to do.

"Ya got caught, kid," Matthews started.

Topanga jumped in, "you know what helps though?"

"Nothing!"

As the couple leaves, the girls' friends walk down to get a further explanation of what happened. Seeing the panicked expression on her cousins face, Riley took the lead, "okay, this is ridiculous. Are you guys really gonna make us explain ourselves?"

"Yes," all three chorused together. Hearing the sound of Lucas' voice for the first time, Mandy looked up from the great view of her hands, her eyes locking with her boyfriend's. She wasn't going to answer any of his questions until hers were answered first, not caring who was around to hear them.

"Okay, then fine," Riley retorted, "I have this boot on. I am hobbled. As a person who is hobbled, all I can do is talk. I can't run," she tries to run in her boot, "I can't hike," she takes giant steps towards Maya, "and you know what? This boot is fantastic! What do you wanna do today, Maya?"

"It's not about today, it's about last night. Amanda," Lucas spoke, getting her attention.

The girl in question looked up, "you wanna talk about last night? Fine," she could hear the others coming down the stairs, starting to watch their favorite couple, "where were you, Lucas?"

Taken back when hearing his first name coming from her, he simply said, "what do you mean, Mandy?"

"I mean where were you last night when you promised to spent time with me after you spent time with your friend. You stood me up," she scoffed, "where is your friend by the way? I don't see her," not getting an answer, she sighed, "look, Lucas, I don't owe you an explanation on anything I did last night if you're not gonna tell me where you were last night. I am not going to be someones doormat like I used to be, especially not in a relationship. So, when you're ready to talk, come find me," and with that, Amanda Matthews left the crowded lobby and started to get ready for the day.

The rest of the kids, not knowing what to do, slowly dispersed, leaving only the core group of friends behind. Everyone turned to Lucas for an explanation. Seeing this, the boy sighed, "I was supposed to take Mandy stargazing last night but Emily kept me out so late and my phone died and I guess it just slipped my mind," he took a frustrated breath, "what do I do, guys? She hates me."

Andrew stepped forward, "dude, she doesn't hate you, she lo—"

He was cut off by a clearing of a throat, "what Andrew is failing to say," Riley took over, "is that Amanda cares about you very much. You make her happy. Give her some time and make it right."

Stepping forward, Farkle asked, "what happened last night, Riley?"

"Yes, I would like to know that, too."

Riley looked towards Andrew, "all we did was talk."

"Okay," he simply said, leaving the room.

"Andrew, I'm not allowed to talk?"

The boy stopped walking and turned around, "Sure you can. You can talk to whoever you want, Riley."

──︒✿ཾ∘∗✽ᜒࠬ. ──

Amanda spent her day avoiding her boyfriend, which was something she never thought she would ever do. She caught up with Maya and Riley in the lobby to see Evan, Andrew, Lucas, and Josh sitting by the fireplace.

"That's a weird combination of boys," Mandy quietly spoke from the middle of her best friend and cousin, causing the two girls to laugh in agreement.

"This is a game we're gonna play," Evan caught their attention, "we've had it behind the counter for years. Yeah, I'm gonna read you some questions from this book. It's called the Official Guide to Who Belongs With Who."

"The books gonna tell us," Riley asked, intrigued.

"No!"

The group of teens, with the exception of Josh, turned to look at Matthews, who looked ready to tear his hair out, "I remember that book. That book is evil," the man exclaimed, "the first question is, 'if you could change your mate into one animal, what would it be?' And the only answer is the falcon!"

"Why do you know that?"

"Because I am the falcon," he answered Maya in exasperation.

"Of course you are, Mr. Uncle."

"Let's play."

"Let's find out who belongs with who," Riley finished for Maya.

"Don't do it. Nobody do it."

And with that, they got ready to play.

"No one ever listens to the falcon. You all deserve what you get."

──︒✿ཾ∘∗✽ᜒࠬ. ──

Now joined by Farkle, Smackle, and Zay, the group started the game with their first question asked by Evan, "question one—"

"If you could change your mate into one animal—"

"It's not even the same question," Evan cut off Riley with a small smile on his face.

"Why not?"

"Because this is Who Belongs With Who, The Next Generation," Evan answered, "first question."

"Oh, boy," muttered Mandy.

"The most important part of any meaningful relationship is, A: romance—"

"Yes, romance," Riley shrugged, "isn't that the whole point of a relationship."

Amanda wanted to comment on how that isn't true but Farkle beat her to it, "it says any relationship, it doesn't just mean you guys and Andrew."

"Yeah," Josh spoke, "it also means relationships with your friends."

"So, if the answer isn't romance then what else you got?"

"B: adventure."

"Yes, adventure. Break the rules," Maya voiced.

"You don't have to break the rules to have an adventure," Lucas reminded her.

"What do you have against breaking the rules, Ranger Rick?"

"That's who he used to be, Maya," Zay said, "cost him a year of his life. I think maybe he's learned something."

Amanda stayed silent at that. She could feel her friends looking at her for her input on her boyfriend, but again, she stayed quiet.

"Read the other choice," Farkle defused the tension.

"How do you know there is one?"

"In multiple choice there are always the answers that are close, but then there's the correct answer and as soon as you hear it, you know it's right," Smackle answered.

"And I don't think we've heard the right answer yet, so I know the most meaningful part of any relationship is C."

"One for us! Next question."

"Can we please hear what C is," Lucas asked, still looking at his girlfriend.

"C: conversation."

Riley smiled, "so the most meaningful part of any real relationship is talking to each other?"

"And with the right person, or people, sometimes you can talk all night."

The gang turned at the sound of Amanda scoffing, "yeah, maybe," she sighed and stood, "I can't do this right now."

"Amanda, please—"

"Lucas," she paused, "don't."

With that, the Matthews girl left the room, leaving everyone in the tense space. Lucas stared at the space where his girlfriend was standing before he rubbed his hands together in frustration, "if you'll excuse I'm gonna, oh, I don't know, kick a tree."

Zay chuckled nervously, watching his best friend leave the room, "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna, oh, I don't know, save a tree."

──︒✿ཾ∘∗✽ᜒࠬ. ──

Amanda found herself sitting on the bay window of the lodge that same night. Everything had been resolved. Andrew confessed that he chose Riley and Josh and Maya are in it for the long game.

Everything was coming back to the way it was. Well, all expect everyone's favorite couple. Lucas had yet to approach Amanda about what happened and she was starting to think he was done fighting for her, maybe she was getting replaced like she did back at her old school. The thoughts in her head were wild, and she didn't know how to stop them. She was so wrapped up in thought that she didn't see her cousin hobble over to her. Riley grabbed her cousins wrist, ignoring the protests of the other Matthews, and brought her over to Lucas, who was surrounded by everyone else in the group.

Seeing her cousins face and seeing she was about to leave, Riley grabbed both her hands and said, "no, Mandy, don't leave. Just hear him out."

With a silent nod, Amanda looked at her boyfriend for the first time in what seemed to be a lifetime. Lucas took that as a cue to start, "my favorite thing in this world is when you talk to me. And you can talk to whoever you want, Mandy, you know why? Because I trust you. And I know you trust me. I was with Emily all night with her parents, yes, but did I mean to stand you up? Absolutely not. My phone died and by the time I said goodbye to them, you weren't at our spot. I felt awful, I still do. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I'm an idiot. But you wanna know something, darlin'?"

"Lucas—"

"I love you."

Everyone froze. The group knew of Lucas' feelings but didn't know he was going to say them there and then. Amanda felt tears coming into her eyes as she shakily asked, "you what?"

"I love you, Amanda Rose Matthews," he claimed, coming toward her and grabbing her hands, "I love you. I love the way your eyes light up when you realize you helped your friends with a problem. I love when you sing when you think no one is listening, but I am. I love how you make me a better person. I love how compassionate and loving you are, even to the people who might not deserve it. I love you, little darlin'."

She gave a watery chuckle as she reached to caress his cheek, "Lucas Jay Friar, I love you," she then took his face in her hands, and kissed her boyfriend like it was their first time in Texas. They could hear their friends cheering in the background but they paid no mind. They pulled away, still embraced in each other's arms and rested their foreheads on each other. Yeah, everything was gonna be okay.

──︒✿ཾ∘∗✽ᜒࠬ. ──

"You and Andrew?"

"We're going to try," Riley told her blonde best friend, "my first boyfriend. Because you made sure it was okay."

"You would do the same for me."

"I hope I would."

Amanda chuckled from next to her cousin, "Riles, you stepped back for Maya the minute you thought she had feelings for him."

"Yeah," Maya agreed, "you were ready to give him up for me no matter what you felt."

"I would do anything for you," Riley vowed, "for both of you."

"We know," Maya smiled at her best friend.

"So," Mandy shrugged, "you and Josh?"

"Someday," Maya answered, "who knows? Who knows anything?"

"I do," the two girls looked at Mandy, who continued with a small smile, "I know that if you're lucky in this life, you get an extraordinary relationship. Uncle Cory and Aunt Topanga met each other very early and stayed together for the rest of their lives."

"Our first boyfriends, girls," Riley beamed, "I mean, Mandy, Lucas told you he loved you and you told him you loved him back."

"Hopefully it lasts a long, long time," Mandy nodded, "we're growing up. We're going to meet new people all of the time," she paused and looked at her two best friends, her sisters, "but, if there's one thing I know for sure in my life, it's that you two are my extraordinary relationship. And I know we will be together, forever."

"Thunder." Riley.

"Lightning." Maya.

"Boom." Amanda.

──︒✿ཾ∘∗✽ᜒࠬ. ──

edited: 2 march 2021