Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 61st cycle. Now cycle 62!

TOP 15 COUNTDOWN - Something I do once in a while, if you will recall, where I take my favorite characters, ships, friendships, series (from my daily stories) and put them in order, the number 1 of which gets a seven-chapter story in the end :)
Coming in at number 13: Jarley

"So Your Hand Is Safe In Mine"
Jake/Marley

He had been there waiting for her outside her house every morning to accompany her to school. When the afternoon came, he did the same, getting her back home once they could leave. Over the day itself, he was just as present, showing up between classes, at lunch, in Glee Club… It hadn't really dawned on her that there might have been more to it than she first thought. In those first days, she was just glad to have him there. She still felt a rise of anxiety walking through those hallways that had been a regular old part of her world until not long ago. Only now it had changed.

One afternoon though, as they left school together, Marley looked at him, smiling to herself at feeling his hand in hers. "I like this," she told him, and he smiled. "You don't have to come every day though," she pointed out. "Don't you have to get up earlier?"

"I don't mind," Jake shrugged.

"I'm just wondering why now," she went on, looking at him. He didn't want to let her see, but she already had. "You don't have to worry about me."

"I know," he promised.

"But you still do," she went on. He sighed, and she rested her chin at his shoulder.

"Can you blame me?" he turned his eyes to her.

"Of course not." Sometimes when she closed her eyes, she could still remember what it felt like, sitting in the dark of the choir room, hearing the slightest of noises. He had been there by her side the whole time, she knew; she had been clinging to him for safety for just as long. She had been just as worried for herself as she'd been for him, and she knew it was that way for him as well. But even days later he couldn't let go of that feeling like he needed to be there with her, so he would know that she was safe.

"I can just meet you at school if you want," he offered.

"No, really, if you want to pick me up, then you do that. Just, if you change your mind eventually, let me know so I don't keep waiting and show up late at school?" He chuckled, nodded.

"Alright, I'll do that," he kissed her before they could continue on toward her house.

She hoped she hadn't made him feel bad about any of it. She had a feeling, if it wasn't that he already showed up to accompany her, she could have started doing the same. Even if it had eventually come about that the whole thing had been some strange incident with Coach Sylvester and there had never been anyone out there intending harm, it didn't erase the way they had felt for that long drawn out period hiding in the choir room. They had been safe, even if they didn't know it, but then what if one day they weren't? What if one day it happened for real? It wasn't so impossible that it might. Every time another story came out, of another school, it made the reality of it that much heavier to bear.

Seeing how much that possibility had taken to weigh on Jake's shoulders, she wished she knew how to make him feel better. For now, the only thing she could do was to allow him to work through it the way he'd been trying to, by having him there to walk her to and from school. She did feel that much safer, having him by her side, feeling how much he cared for her and her safety. She knew, without the need of a single word spoken, that she had the love of this boy, who would hold on to her hand with all the care in the world.

When they had arrived at her house, rather than having their goodbyes and see you tomorrows, Marley had invited him in to stay for dinner, which he had accepted. Her mother had become very appreciative of him, too, over the last week and days. Marley had not found an immediate fan for Jake Puckerman in her mother, and she'd tried to be understanding, as she did know he had a reputation following him. Over the weeks and months that they had been together though, her mother couldn't deny he wasn't the boy she had thought he was in the beginning. But now after the shooting-that-wasn't, with these pick-ups and drop-offs, she was seeing a new side of her daughter's boyfriend, and Marley had even heard her suggest that she 'bring him over more often' so that she could get to know him some more.

"What if tomorrow I was the one to come and pick you up?" she suggested to him when they went into the kitchen for something to eat. He looked up, being handed a box of cookies in the process.

"It's easier if I come, it's fine," he assured her.

"Is it?"

"Not making assumptions here, but I'm thinking it takes you more time to get ready than it takes me."

"Okay, that's…" she started off trying to sound hurt, but she couldn't pull it off. "Yeah, fine, it's true, but I could still make it."

"You'll get up and you'll be stressed because you'll be afraid of being late," he added, and again he had her. "How about I come pick you up in the morning, and in the afternoon you come over to my place. I'm sure my mom won't mind taking you home after." The outcome is still that I'm not on my own. He was still too worried, she could see it in his eyes even if he tried to play it off. She picked up two apples, handing him one with a smile.

"I'm sure we can figure something out."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!