A/N: And without further ado, here is the first chapter of the sequel to "someone to fall back on"! Sorry if this chapter doesn't have a lot of dialogue. It's also short because all i'm trying to do is introduce the story, but I promise, it will get better :) Please remember to rate and review and I do not own anything related to Glee, because I think we all know if I did, Ryder and Marley would be endgame and Marley would've finally bitchslapped Kitty already!
Don't Let Me Down
"Hey guys knock it off!" Sam yelled at Marley and Ryder when they wouldn't stop sucking face long enough for Ryder to finish their game of Call of Duty.
"Dude, sorry but I'm getting my ass handed to me! I need my good luck charm." He replied winking at his girlfriend who was sitting the on the armrest next to him.
"Well could we please finish the game sometime before New Years Eve is over?" Artie asked irritably, glaring at the couple.
"Fine. I'll go into the kitchen and see if Unique and Brittany need any help." Marley intervened.
Oddly enough, the only two guys who were playing the game and weren't annoyed by the excessive amount of PDA was Blaine and Finn. Finn knew Ryder was really into Marley and saw a lot of him and Rachel in these two, and Blaine saw Marley as the kid sister he never had, and was really happy to see her so happy. Both Finn and Blaine were still reeling from their breakups, so seeing these two kids so happy and in love reaffirmed hope for them.
Marley left the game in progress so Ryder wouldn't take anymore ridicule and went into the kitchen to see if the hostesses, Unique and Brittany needed any help. They were hosting a Glee club party and almost everyone, including graduates Mercedes and Santana were there. The only ones who were currently in this year's Glee club who weren't in attendance were Kitty and Jake. But Marley didn't mind; Jake and Kitty would cause a lot of unnecessary drama. Luckily, everyone else in the Glee club was unsurprised by the new relationship. Everyone in the Glee club had dated fairly incestuously and everyone saw the chemistry between these two. Even though they did have the support of their Glee friends, Marley was still a little scared to face the rest of the school in a couple of days. Marley still didn't have an identity at McKinley, except for "hot daughter of the two ton dump truck lunch lady", "the new Rachel" and more recently, "the bulimic girl who ruined sectionals for the national championship Glee club". Marley didn't want to ruin Ryder's reputation, but he didn't seem to mind. Although, Marley did feel better knowing Ryder Lynn, the guy girls threw themselves at would be walking into McKinley in a couple of days with her and not some slutty cheerio.
"Ah. I see the boyfriend does come separately." Santana smirked as Marley walked into Unique's massive kitchen.
All the girls were sitting around the table watching T.V. and talking instead of hanging out with the boys in the living room.
"Leave her alone. Not too long ago you were the same way with Brittany." Mercedes chastised.
"So how did this start anyway Marley? I know you two couldn't keep your hands off each other in the restaurant but you guys are looking pretty serious." Tina asked her as she took the empty seat next to her and Brittany.
"I don't know." Marley answered truthfully. "Ryder's just been absolutely amazing to me these past couple of months. With the eating disorder and everything. He keeps me sane." Marley gushed. All the girls in the kitchen let out a sigh and looked at Marley with jealous looks.
"God, I remember when Mike treated me that way before we broke up." Tina let out sadly.
"It's not totally over yet, Tina." Mercedes comforted her.
"Well I'm just glad you are happy Marley. And if Kitty or God forbid Ryder screws with you, let me know as soon as possible and I will deal with them." Santana said.
"Thanks Santana." Marley said giggling and hugging her mentor.
"Wow Santana, you really are taking this mentor role to heart." Unique said to Santana.
"Don't worry Santana, I promise I won't hurt Marley. I don't think I could handle the wrath of McKinley's scariest head bitch." Ryder assured Santana as he snuck up behind Marley, wrapped his arms around her waist and snuck a quick kiss.
"Damn Straight, pretty boy!" Santana said as she raised her glass. "Now get the hell out of here, you're interrupting some serious girl talk! We can't talk about you if you're in the room." Santana tried to shoo him out.
"Ok, ok!" Ryder raised his hands in surrender. "Can't a guy get a drink and hear his girlfriend brag about how awesome he is?" Ryder chuckled grabbing a couple of cans of pop before retreating back into the living room.
"Hey, tell the guys to wrap up the game because it's almost midnight and Blaine needs to prepare for his incredibly clichéd rendition of Auld Lang Syne." Mercedes said to him.
"Mercedes, it's not clichéd, Ryan Seacrest's hair is." Blaine interrupted pointing at the T.V. as him and the rest of the boys shuffled into the kitchen.
"Whatever Blaine. Just get ready to sing as the clock strikes midnight." Tina rolled her eyes at him.
"You know, this will be the last year we can do a New Year's Eve song all together." Sam pointed out sadly.
"That's not true. We're all going to come home for the holidays and get together. We are a family." Blaine argued as the kids all gathered in for a group hug.
They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "Is anyone supposed to be coming? I thought Kitty and Jake were too cool for this?" Artie asked as Unique went to get the door.
"Hey guys! Sorry we're so late. The faculty party got really crazy and someone had to drive Principal Figgins home." Mr. Shue said as him and Ms. Pillsbury followed Unique into the kitchen. "I hope we're not too late for the singing." he added as he hugged everyone.
"It's fine, we still have an hour and a half until midnight." Tina assured them as everyone got settled in.
The doorbell rang yet again and Unique went to go see what it was. The smell of pizza wafted through the house and Unique came back with the six pizzas they ordered over an hour ago.
"Finally! The pizza's here! I was about to chew off my arm." Finn said as he unloaded the pizza from Unique's arm and put it on the countertop.
"Yeah that's not the only thing you've been eating gravy train." Santana said snarkily. Because this was typical Santana, everyone rolled their eyes and started to serve themselves.
Marley was hesitant however, and Ms. Pillsbury and Mr. Schue watched her carefully as Ryder squeezed her hand in a comforting manner and got her a couple of slices of pizza along with his own. Marley ate slowly as Ryder and Ms. Pillsbury took occasional sideways glances at her to make sure she was eating.
When everyone was done, they all prepared to go into the living room to get ready to watch the ball drop. Ms. Pillsbury stopped Marley quickly before she could go anywhere. "Hey Marley, can you help me clean up?" she asked nonchalantly.
Marley wasn't stupid. She knew that she wanted to make sure Marley wasn't going to sneak off to the bathroom and regurgitate everything she ate before it digested. "Sure Ms. Pillsbury." Marley smiled and went to work cleaning up the kitchen. While they were cleaning, Ms. Pillsbury attempted to make some small talk.
"So Marley, how has therapy been going?" she asked. "It's going fine, I guess." Marley shrugged. "Dr. Winter is a little out there though. He keeps saying that I developed the eating disorder because it was my way to control things that are uncontrollable."
"That doesn't sound totally crazy." Ms. Pillsbury said. "In fact, my therapist says the same thing to me. But things got so much better when I was able to lean on Will. Maybe Ryder is doing the same thing for you?" she suggested.
"How do you know-?" Marley started. How did even the adults know about the love lives of the Glee kids, she wondered.
"Because it's not hard to notice how you and Ryder were acting the whole time." Ms. Pillsbury smiled.
Before Marley could reply, Mr. Schue came into the kitchen. "Hey girls, the ball's about to drop soon. Hurry up!" he said impatiently with a boyish glint in his eyes.
"Ok, Will we're just wrapping up in here." Emma smiled and they all went into the living room.
Marley found Ryder on the couch next to Sam and Brittney and Marley took up her place on the armrest next to him. Ryder wrapped his arm loosely around her waist and dragged her down so she was sitting on his lap. She smiled in contentment and got closer to him. Marley was happy. The Glee club were sitting in the living room talking and Marley just sat with Ryder listening to the conversations, not feeling any need to talk.
Eventually the ball dropped and Blaine got up and went to his portable keyboard he set up hours before. His fingers confidently navigated the keys as he played Auld Lang Syne from memory. Everyone gathered around him to sing along with him. When the song was over, everyone clapped and Ryder grabbed Marley, dipped her and kissed her. They were interrupted by laughing and wolf-whistles from the rest of the Glee club. At that moment, Marley actually wished they were alone.
A few hours later, Mr. Schue was the one who broke up the party, saying everyone should go home. Ryder drove Marley home and they sat in his truck making out yet again until Marley's mom flickered the porch light in warning.
"I really need to go in the house Ryder!" she said laughing as he kept trying to pull her in.
"Ok, fine. Sweet dreams babe." he smiled as he gave in and settled for one last kiss.
Marley got out of the truck and ran into her house while Ryder pulled out of her driveway and went home. Marley made some small talk with her mom and then went to bed, thinking that this was going to be a great year.
A couple of days later, it was time to go back to school. Marley hated going to school because she knew she wouldn't be able to avoid the wrath of Kitty and all her followers who ridiculed Marley every chance they got. But she still went, because she had to if she was ever going to graduate and try to make something of herself and become better than all of her bullies. Something about today however was different. Maybe it was because she was looking forward to Glee club and moving forward from sectionals. Or, maybe it was because she would have Ryder by her side. But something about the fact her and Ryder were unavoidably going public made her nervous. The Glee club was supportive but how would the rest of the school feel? These thoughts immediately left her head however when Ryder just happened to call her then.
"Good morning, beautiful." he greeted groggily.
"Good morning! Are you still in bed Ryder? You know school starts in like a half-hour, right?" she replied giggling as she went downstairs for breakfast.
"Yes Marls, I know this, but where else was I supposed to call my girlfriend and get motivated to get up?" he replied back. She could imagine the sexy smirk he was probably wearing right then. She heard him yawn through the phone and before they could say anything else, she could hear yelling from his end. It sounded like his brother and sister were arguing about something. "Hey Marls, I'll see you at school in a little bit, I have to deal with Taylor and Tyler. Love you!"
She giggled silently and said "I love you too Ryder, see you at school." and hung up the phone.
She ate her breakfast and rode to school in silence with her mom. Just as she opened her locker to get her schoolbooks, she felt a pair of arms snake their way around her waist and she turned around to see Ryder's smiling face. Without thinking, she pulled Ryder's head down to meet her and kissed him.
When they released, he murmured in her ear "I could get used to that." and pulled her in for a tight hug.
He let her go long enough so she could get her stuff and she took his hand and they emerged down the hallway for their first class. All the football players wolf-whistled and made inappropriate gestures and everyone else just looked at them in awe or jealously. That was nothing compared to the looks Marley received from Kitty and the cheerios. Jake also spotted them together and looked absolutely pissed at them. He slammed his locker and stormed off somewhere.
"They're staring at us." Marley said glancing at Ryder.
"Let them stare." he smirked, causing more girls to sigh and glare at the brunette wrapped in his arms.