Title: Drunken Objection
Pairing: Ryder/Marley
Summary: Ryder receives a little piece of information from one of his high school acquaintances, about a certain 'Puckerman wedding', being held in Lima, Ohio in a few days. So, on the day of the wedding, Ryder Lynn arrives at the Chapel, drunk, and miserable, and panting from where he just ran from the bar where he'd been drowning his sorrows, to object at the wedding. This summary sucks.
Author's Note: This is just a tiny little plot that's been invading my mind, and I thought it'd be cute, so I went ahead and started writing it. So, I'm not sure what everyone else is going to think of it, but I personally like this one-shot. Anyway, leave a review to let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
-Sux2budude
-RM-
* Story is set in the future, five years after Ryder, Marley, Jake, and their entire class graduated from High School, so they're all around the age of 22 or 23. Just a heads up on that. *
…
Ryder Lynn slumped against the bar counter, knocking his forehead against it.
"The usual?" Carlos, the bartender asks, and Ryder can only nod.
He's plastered, and he knows it. After all, he started drinking the moment he woke up around 4am this morning, drenched in sweat, and feeling like his heart would be ripped in two. It's the feeling he gets at his every sober-waking moment, ever since he heard about the 'Puckerman wedding' from Blaine-whatever-his-last-name-is. Ryder can't believe he went through all of high school, and college, without ever letting Marley know how he really feels about her. She will never know that he loves her. She'll never know that he's loved her since the moment they met back in their sophomore year of high school. She'll never know that while Jake played the loving-doting boyfriend, Ryder was the brain, heart, and soul of each special and romantic moment of her relationship with Jake. And she will never know that up to this very moment, he is still in love with her. And he doesn't know if the pain of knowing that she will be marrying her first boyfriend, and his used-to-be-best friend, will ever go away.
Ryder sits up a little when he hears the loud thud of a glass being set before him, and he grins as much as he can as he picks up the glass and admires the golden brown liquid, swirling inside. "Thissss," he pauses, looking up at the bartender pointedly. "Is a man's friend's best." He slurs drunkenly. He was so drunk, he could barely see straight.
Carlos gave him a curious look. "You know, Ryder, I've seen you come in here every single day to drink… what I don't get is why."
Ryder laughs loudly, he scoffs, taking a moment to knock back the burning liquid of whiskey. "Thaaat's tooooo fuckin' easyyyy." He slurs, pointing at Carlos in an exaggerated manner. "There is onlyyyy one reason whyyyy a man comes here to get a driiiink." He holds up an unsteady hand, using his other hand to pull down four of his fingers and leaving up his pointer finger. "One!" he emphasizes, thrusting his forefinger into the air. "And yoooou, know it."
Carlos blinks at Ryder. He would've laughed if he didn't feel so sorry for the guy. "A girl?" the words barely left his mouth before Ryder practically hopped out of his seat and pointed at Carlos like he was about to announce that Carlos just won the lottery.
"A girl!" he agrees quickly, but stops, thinking for a moment. "Wait." He puts a hand to his chin in an overdramatic way of showing that he's deep in thought. "This girlllll, is not a girl. She is a woman. A womannnn, with beauty, and looooove, and… her eyes…" he trails off, trying hard to imagine her eyes, but his muddled mind was too blurry and confused to come up with an image of Marley Rose. Ryder lets out a barking laugh at the irony of the moment. "I'm trying to fucking explain to you what she looks like, and now the alcohol kicks in and makes me forget, on the onlyyy time I try to remember."
Carlos sighs as Ryder thrusts his empty glass of whiskey at him, obviously wanting another. "Are you sure, Ryder? I really think you've had enough for today, and it's only 8am."
"Don't." Ryder tells him with a firm shake of his head. "Don't give me the fucking lecture. You, are the bartender, I am the customer, and youuuu, will give me what I want, and I want the fucking usual!" Ryder snaps harshly.
Carlos doesn't say anything more as he starts to pour the guy his drink. "So where is this woman that you're so hurt over?"
Ryder shrugs, blowing out a heavy breath as he squints at his glass. "Probably getting ready to marry the man of her dreams."
Carlos nods, understanding the pain that Ryder is going through. He knows that Ryder was always a good person. He was probably the most humble drunk he's ever encountered. Though Ryder has had his fair share of swearing, or rambling, Ryder never started bar fights like an angry maniac, or said anything overly offensive to other people. And given the fact that this was a bar, Carlos overlooked Ryder's harsh language, because at least it never progressed into anything unbearably inexcusable.
"And when is the wedding?"
Ryder closes his eyes as he knocks back the whiskey, wrinkling his nose as the liquid slid down his throat and settled inside his stomach, still burning, but numbing the pain in his chest somewhat. "December 28th." He says it off the top of his head like he's been anticipating, or rather, dreading the day.
Carlos quirked an eyebrow at Ryder, and he quickly glances behind him at the calendar hanging on the wall. "Today?"
Ryder laughs, though there was no humor in it at all. It was more of a cold, 'fuck-you' laugh. "Nooo. The twenty-eighth!" he says with emphasis. "Today is… is…" Ryder trails off, realizing that he has no idea what day it is. "Whasssss the date?"
Carlos blinks at him for a moment. "It's the 28th of December."
For a long moment, Ryder is completely silent, only staring back at Carlos. Finally, Ryder blinks, squinting his eyes suspiciously at the bartender. "Are you fucking with me?"
Carlos sighs, shaking his head. "You know I wouldn't joke about something like this, Ryder." He tries to tell a drunk, yet speculating Ryder, but the brown-haired guy wasn't even listening anymore, his mind working a thousand thoughts in his head.
"What time is it?" Ryder suddenly asks.
Carlos glances at the clock on the wall. "8:34am. Why?"
Ryder's shoulders slump, his heart flopping in his chest. "The wedding is probably already starting by now."
This is probably the first time Carlos has seen a truly distraught Ryder. Of course, the guy always comes in, looking sad and miserable, but at that moment, Ryder looked like he just came from a funeral for someone dear to him, watched his nonexistent puppy get run over by a bus, and witnessed the sinking of the Titanic all at once. "And you're just gonna sit here and drown your sorrows in alcohol?"
Ryder nods, "Yep. That's the plan."
Sighing softly, Carlos picks up a glass of icy cold water and with one swift motion, doused the drunken guy with it.
Ryder gasps, jumping up out of his seat, sputtering. "What the flying fuck, man?!" Ryder exclaims furiously as he looks down at his soaked shirt and jeans.
Carlos gives him a serious look, folding his arms across his chest. "I really like chatting with you Ryder, I do… but I'm sick of you coming in here every day and sulking like a little bitch! Now you're going to get off your ass, drag it to that chapel, object at that wedding, admit your true feelings to this girl you're so hung up on, where she will either reject you, and I'll see you back in here in half an hour, or she'll accept you and you'll be able to run off into the sunset with her- forgetting how you look like a homeless street urchin right now. You have nothing to lose, man…" Carlos trails off, giving him a sympathetic look. "So just do us both a favor and go after her."
Ryder completely forgets his anger at being doused with a glass of ice cold water, and stares questioningly at Carlos. "What if she rejects me?" he asks warily.
Carlos shrugs his shoulder. "It's no different from you just sitting here and being miserable. At least you'll know you tried, instead of spending the rest of your miserable life, wondering if she would've ever accepted you if you just told her that you love her."
"How do you know I love her?"
Carlos raises an amused eyebrow at Ryder, gesturing around them. "You're here every day."
"Point taken." Ryder mutters.
"So go after her!" Carlos urges forcefully.
Ryder thought for a moment, glancing up quickly up at the clock on the wall before reaching for his wallet. "I gotta go." he throws a wad of cash onto the counter as he turns towards the door and takes off in a slightly unbalanced sprint for the chapel.
"And don't come back without her!" Carlos calls with a small chuckle.
-RM-
…
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, to witness the joining of these two souls, in holy mat—,"
"I OBJECT!... I—I OBJECT!" came a loud panting voice from the back of the chapel.
Every single head turned in the direction of the voice, including the bride and groom.
The priest looks briefly at the objector in amusement. "I haven't gotten to that part son, but—,"
"Oh." Ryder pants heavily, his slightly askew vision zooming in to glare at Jake Puckerman standing close to the altar beside his older brother with the Mohawk. "Well, IIII— still object… yoooour honor." Ryder slurs.
Everyone in the chapel could tell that the brown-haired guy was drunk from the way he was talking and swaying in place, his eyes bloodshot, his hair all over the place, and the poorly chosen clothe he was wearing, soaking wet with… sweat and water.
"Why the hell are you objecting?!" Noah Puckerman yells from the front of the chapel.
Ryder rolls his eyes as if it were obvious. "Because I'm in love with her!"
"No you're not." Jake Puckerman disagrees loudly.
"Yessss, I do! I love her!"
"Who?!" Noah Puckerman asks angrily at Ryder's outrageous confession.
"The girl in white!" Ryder screeches. "I've loved her from the moment I met her in our sophomore year of high school at her locker, and I want her to know that I still love her, and I'm not going to let her marry another dude without telling her how I feel about her." Ryder thanks his lucky stars that he's still able to form a coherent thought through his drunken addled mind. "I want her to know that I think about her every single day, and that when I picture my future, I see a beautiful brunette with blue eyes, and a beautiful smile, in my arms. I see us having children, and growing old together… And I can't let her get married to another man without letting her know that!"
The bride, groom, best man, maid of honor, and priest, as well as everyone else in the chapel stares disbelievingly at the obviously too inebriated Ryder. The priest is the first to speak. "I think you're at the wrong wedding, son."
"No!" Ryder snaps, his eyes turning to look pleadingly at the girl under the wedding veil, who has still yet to say anything. "You can't marry the groom!" he calls to the bride, who finally speaks.
"I think you'll find that I can, and I will." She throws her wedding veil back, revealing her face.
And that's when Ryder realizes his mistake. "What the hell?" He really is at the wrong wedding! Standing at the altar, is Quinn Fabray, the ex-head cheerleader of McKinley High. Ryder shakes his head to clear his vision, wondering if maybe he was seeing things. When he looks back, finally able to take in the whole scene before him, he sees Quinn Fabray, standing next to Noah Puckerman, with Jake Puckerman standing behind him. Ryder slaps his palm against his forehead, horrified at the thought. Holy flying fuck! This is the wrong Puckerman wedding! "Oh." He mutters softly.
Blaine Anderson gets up out of his seat in the front beside Kurt and gives Ryder an apologetic look. "Ryder, I think you were mistaken about which Puckerman was getting married when I mentioned 'a Puckerman wedding'."
"You think?!" Ryder asks incredulously. He didn't know what to do now, but he knows that he still wants to tell Marley about how he feels for her. She has to know.
"Ryder?"
Ryder drew in a breath when he hears her voice for the first time in a long time. And dear God it's still as beautiful and soft as he remembers. He turns his head slowly to the sound of her voice, and he almost wants to cry when he sees her for the first time up close in almost a year. Last time he saw her was last summer, at Breadsticks eating dinner with her mom.
She's breathtakingly beautiful in her short, white bridesmaid dress, and her hair hanging in soft, radiant tufts down her back. "Marley." It was all Ryder could manage to say at the moment. So he's right about loving the girl in white, it was just a different girl in white. This girl.
The two Puckerman's at the altar shifted uncomfortably as they stared at the two in anger and shock. The younger Puckerman, angry because he can't believe that Ryder was here to confess his feelings for Marley, right in front of him. The older Puckerman was livid because here he is, trying to get married to the love of his fucking life, and this little punk is interrupting their wedding, stealing his thunder, and having the nerve to just stand there and wax poetic about some other girl who has nothing to do with him getting hitched, and therefore completely ruining his chances of saying a heartfelt vow to Quinn because now everyone was tearing up at the events unraveling by the doors of the chapel.
"Will you two get the hell out of here and let me marry my fiancée?!" Quinn snaps angrily at the two.
Ryder and Marley both turn their heads to the front, where Quinn and Puck were both glaring daggers at them. They nod, Ryder muttering his apologies as he pulls Marley with him towards the door, completely ignoring Jake's angry death glares.
…
Marley Rose was floored. She had been sitting at the front row in her own white bridesmaid dress, feeling like her heart would break into pieces when Ryder came in and objected to the wedding, claiming that he's in love with the bride… but then he went on, explaining about a brunette with blue eyes that he met during their sophomore year, at her locker.
And it clicked.
"You loved me?"
"W-w-what?" Ryder asks, snapping out of his dazed state, and realizing that he's still staring at her.
"I asked, if you loved me." Marley softly mutters.
"Love." Ryder tells her, and she's not sure what he's trying to say.
"Huh?"
"Love. Present tense. I love you… as in—I still and will always love you." His voice was barely a whisper, but Marley heard him perfectly clear.
"I—You waited until you thought I was getting married to another man to tell me this?" she was angry now, because they've wasted all this time, dancing around their feelings for each other. She had wanted to tell him that she loved him back in high school, but she had given up on the hopes of being with him after high school graduation when he just disappeared without even saying goodbye. She was heartbroken, but she knew it was partially her fault that he didn't want to say goodbye. She did, after all, reject his advances, but she was still hurt then after her break up with Jake. But now, in this moment, as she stares disbelievingly at the one man she loved—loves, she doesn't know what to think, or how to react.
"I didn't want to get hurt, Marley… and maybe that's selfish of me, but… I'd rather live in wonder than to live knowing you rejected me… so I never told you."
"And now? What changed?"
Ryder shrugs, "I thought you were getting married to Jake… I wasn't going to let you marry him, or anyone else without telling you the truth about how I feel about you. I wanted to know if I ever had a chance with you."
Marley is silent for a moment as she thinks back to everything he had said inside the chapel. "Everything you said in there…" she trails off, not knowing how to approach the topic of his confessions without embarrassing the both of them.
Ryder was beyond that. "Is the truth." He tells her. He takes a step towards her, and takes her hand in his. He feels that familiar tingle that he used to feel whenever he touched Marley, and everything just spills out in one giant blur of words and emotions. "I love you, Marley Rose. I've loved you from the moment I met you, and I never stopped loving you, and I know for a fact that I will never stop loving you until the day that I die." He takes one more step towards her, trying to push away his fear of rejection as he looks her straight in the eyes. "These past few days have been… the worst days of my life. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, and I…" he shakes his head, feeling the stinging tears in his eyes begin to fall. "Marley, all I could think about, was how stupid I was to run away from what I felt for you. I should've told you how I felt, but I never did… and then I realized that I simply cannot live without you, Marley Rose. I love you… I—I'm in love with you, and there is nothing in this world— there's nothing anyone can do or say to me, that will change the way that I feel about you. I'm miserable without you. I can't eat because my appetite is gone without you. I can't sleep without dreaming about you. I can't be awake without thinking about you… and I can't continue to live my life, if I don't have you."
Marley's eyes shut tight, willing her tears back, but to no avail. A few tears manage to escape her closed eyes as she inhales deeply. She could smell the alcohol on his breath, and the sweat on his skin, but she knows that he's speaking the truth. No one has ever said something like that to her, and meant it like he did… and quite frankly, she's never wanted to hear those words from anyone else but him. Finally, she opens her eyes slowly, biting her lip when she sees the tears shining in his eyes. The eyes that held so much hope, trust, and love for her. And she knows this is her chance. Taking a deep breath, she takes that final step that brings them face to face, and she leans up on her toes, pressing her lips against his in a gentle, yet passionate kiss, pouring all her joy, relief, and love into that one kiss.
A minute later, the two pull back for air, and Marley rests her forehead against Ryder's enjoying the feeling of his arms around her, holding her tightly to him. "Ryder Lynn," she begins, staring up at his face until his eyes open to meet hers. "I love you too." She whispers softly. "And you are the only guy who has a chance with me."
That's all he needs to hear, to lean back down and claim her lips again, loving the way her arms practically crawl up his chest to wrap around his neck. She's all he'll ever need.
-RM-
-The End!
…
Author's Note: Yay! Done! Okay, I know the chapter got a little sappy at the ending, but… well, that's the only way I could end it in. I'm thinking of writing an epilogue or something that could show Jake's reaction, Carlos's reaction, and Marley and Ryder's next step as a couple… Let me know what you thought of this story, and I'll see if I should write that epilogue, huh?... Anyway, Reviews are welcome. Thank you all for reading!
-Sux2budude
