Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of its characters.

Special thanks to Cadie, aka singyourheartout287, for being my beta reader and also for just being fabulous.

"Hey," Ryder murmured, catching Marley's arm as she walked by on her way to get dressed. "You doing all right today?"

Marley gave him a tight-lipped smile. "I'm great," she told him, before gently extricating herself from his grasp and walking towards the dressing area with her costume. She squeezed her eyes shut as if she could hide from the shame of what he had caught her at yesterday before the show.

And later he had kissed her. He had kissed her and now she didn't know if that had been some kind of pity kiss—something to make her feel better—or if it was real. He hadn't said anything else about it. She knew that she had probably freaked him out to no measure. He had caught her in the middle of a psychotic break and now he thought she was a weirdo.

Holding her breath, she buttoned her skirt, and then breathed a sigh of relief when it stayed. Finally, she hadn't gained inches overnight again. Kitty was right, Marley thought to herself. It's working. She finished putting on her costume with a slight smile of triumph, and left the changing area to go to do her makeup.

"No last minute costume alterations today, Marley?" Tina asked.

Marley stopped short, feeling her heart skip a beat and the color drain from her face. "No, Tina," she said quietly.

"Good. That's something I won't have to worry about for one night, anyway." Tina walked away, leaving Marley with a pounding heart and sweating palms.

She collapsed stiffly into her chair at her mirror. She stared at her reflection. Her chin quivered slightly and when she looked down at her hands they were shaking on the countertop. "Oh stop it, Marley Rose," she whispered harshly to herself. "Pull yourself together."

With that, she stilled her lower lip, clenched her fists for a minute to steady them, and opened up her makeup bag. She had a show to do.

Ryder watched Marley surreptitiously from where he was standing by the costume rack. Despite her saying that she was great…he knew it was a lie. She looked like crap. She was pale and almost looked like she was trembling anytime she stood still. Ryder swallowed deeply, remembering what he had caught her at yesterday.

He hoped it was just a one-time thing for her, and she hadn't done it again. Very possibly, she was just really nervous about the show, and that's why she was so awful-looking today. Yes, he was going to assume that was it. There was no need to assume the worst.

Still…Ryder bit his lip as he watched her dab foundation on her pale cheeks. Maybe he should talk to her. He hitched his bag over one shoulder and headed for the seat next to Marley.

His plopping down at the mirror next to her startled her, and she jumped a bit in her seat. Ryder chuckled. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

"No, not really," she answered, blushing and averting her eyes back to the mirror. Ryder furrowed his brow as she avoided his gaze.

"You sure you're okay, Marls?" he asked again.

"I'm fine!" she insisted, a little bit louder than intended. Sugar and Tina glanced over at them, and Marley's cheeks flushed red again. "I'm fine," she repeated, a bit quieter. "Ryder…honest." She swallowed, and then leaned closer to him, whispering. "What happened yesterday…in the bathroom. Look, it was just nerves, okay? It was a literal moment of panic, about the show and about everything. You don't need to worry about me. I just…had an irrational thinking episode." Marley looked him in the eyes for a split second and then looked away, staring at her hands fiddling on her lap. "I'm sure you've had those too."

"Totally," Ryder agreed, more to make her feel better than anything. Marley inhaled deeply and nodded. And after a moment, she looked up and smiled at him.

"Good," she said to him. "I'm glad we both understand." Marley turned back to the mirror and picked up a makeup brush. Her hands shook enough that she nearly dropped it, which she laughed away with a nervous chuckle. "It's cold in here," she complained light-heartedly, shrugging her shoulders in a show of trying to keep warm.

Ryder, without a moment's thought, shrugged off his letterman jacket and draped it over Marley's shoulders. "That better?" he asked, grinning at her in the mirror.

Marley smiled and nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem. I'm going to go change into my costume, but I'll be right back."

"'Kay." As Ryder walked away, Marley quietly slipped her arms through the sleeves of Ryder's jacket, and surreptitiously took a deep breath of the scent of his cologne that clung to the material. With a smile and slightly steadier hands, she resumed doing her makeup.

A few hours later, the show was over. Marley had been looking forward to this show for so long, she thought that she would have been enjoying it more. Instead, she simply looked forward to it being over each night so she could go home and sleep.

Everyone was loudly making plans to go places and get some dinner and hang out—it was Friday night. I've got to get out of here before someone tries to invite me, she thought to herself, grabbing her bag and reaching for the jacket that was draped across the back of her chair. She hesitated, realizing it was Ryder's letterman jacket.

She glanced around, looking for the handsome blonde boy. She didn't see him anywhere though. And she really didn't want to stick around and look for him, and risk getting trapped in an invitation from Unique or Kitty. She decided to just take the jacket and give it to him tomorrow at the matinee performance.

As soon as she stepped outside, she realized this was a good choice. It had dropped about fifteen degrees with the sun going down, and her cardigan was incredibly insufficient. And she had to walk home tonight.

Pulling the letterman on, Marley hitched her backpack up and set off down the street at a quick pace.

Marley had only been walking for a few minutes when a car slowed down beside her. "Marley, is that you?" She looked over and saw Blaine leaning out of the driver's side window of his car.

She smiled and gave him a little wave. "Hey Blaine," she greeted, stepping closer to his car. "Great job tonight, by the way." Please don't ask me to go out somewhere tonight. I just want to go home. She glanced in his car though, and no one was with him.

"Marley, why are you walking? It's cold out." Blaine looked at her incredulously. "You must be freezing."

Marley shook her head. "No not really. I just…I like to walk when I can, you know, so my mom doesn't have to spend so much on gas. I don't live too far away."

"Honey, I'll drive you. Get in." Blaine put the car in park and gestured for her to come around.

"No, it's fine, really-."

"Marley, just get in the car," Blaine insisted with a chuckle, gesturing again. Marley smiled weakly and walked over to his passenger side and got in the front seat. Blaine put the car back into drive and slowly drove off down the street.

"You really don't have to drive me anywhere, Blaine," Marley said. "I was fine walking."

"Marley, this is what being friends is like," Blaine explained kindly, giving her a smile—his smile didn't look right, Marley noticed. He looked sad. Marley remembered suddenly about Blaine's recent breakup with his boyfriend, and thought all the better of him for being so nice to her when he felt so bad. Blaine cleared his throat and asked, "Seriously, why didn't you just ask someone to drive you?"

Marley sighed. "I don't like asking people to drive me because I don't have any spare money to give them for gas. And…I don't know, I thought everyone was going out and I just…" She trailed off.

"Didn't feel like it?" Blaine finished.

"Yeah," Marley admitted.

"Me either," Blaine replied. "You know, there's nothing wrong with that either! I am proud of my evening plans—slip on my pajamas, pop in some sappy rom com, and dig in to some junk food.'

Marley smiled. "Yeah, but you just went through a break up," she offered, regretting bringing it up when she saw the light drain from Blaine's eyes. She cleared her throat and stared out the window. "What's my excuse?" she murmured

It was silent for a minute. "Do you need one?" Blaine questioned, finally. "Everyone needs time by themselves."

"I've got a lot to think about," Marley said absently, twirling a lock of hair around one finger as she stared down at her lap.

Blaine eyed the five-million-sizes-too-big jacket that Marley wore. "Do you?" he teased. "Is that Ryder's jacket?" he finally asked, unable to hold back anymore.

Marley flushed a deep pink. "Yeah," she murmured. "He loaned it to me earlier when I was cold. And I couldn't find him after the show when I was leaving, so I just thought I'd give it to him tomorrow."

"Mm, isn't it just so romantic when guys give the person they like their jacket to wear?" Blaine teased, his Blaine-esque charm almost back in his voice. Marley smirked and shook her head, slapping Blaine's shoulder lightly.

"Stop!" she whined. "Ryder and I are just friends, Blaine. That's all."

"Mmhm," Blaine said sarcastically. "Ten bucks says that you guys get together before the show closes."

"Quiet, you. Take a left here."

"Mom, I'm home," Marley called as she walked through the front door.

"Sweetie, how was the show?" Marley's mom asked, her voice coming from the kitchen. Marley dropped her backpack by the staircase and walked through the living room.

"It was good," she said noncommittally.

"Who drove you home?" Mrs. Rose asked. "You did get a ride, right, like you said? You didn't walk? It's really not safe to be walking at this time of night."

"Blaine drove me, Mom," Marley reassured her. She could just keep quiet about how she had fully planned to walk at first. Marley came into the kitchen, the smell of spaghetti overpowering.

Mrs. Rose grinned over her shoulder. "I figured you would be hungry after the show. Don't worry, it's all non-enriched, whole wheat pasta. Perfectly healthy."

Marley gulped and forced a smile to her face, feeling her heart beating like a drum. "Awesome," she made herself say. God, I wonder how many calories are in that?

She made herself sit at the kitchen table and eat the plate of food that her mother set in front of her. Once Marley took a bite, her taste buds went into overload. Oh God, this is so good. She began hurriedly eating the first food she'd had since yesterday morning.

"Goodness, Marley, does doing the show make you hungry by any chance?" Mrs. Rose chuckled, staring at her daughter's unusually enthusiastic eating.

Marley blushed and stopped shoveling food quite so quickly. "Something like that, yeah," she mumbled around a mouthful of pasta.

"Well there's more if you want it. Now, whose jacket is that?" Mrs. Rose asked curiously, with a twinkle in her eye.

Marley blushed again. "It's Ryder's," she murmured, twirling spaghetti around her fork.

"Ryder's, hm?" Mrs. Rose repeated, smiling. "He's a cute one, isn't he?"

"I guess," Marley shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. She looked up to see her mom practically laughing at her. Marley broke into a smile of her own. "Okay, he's cute."

"Well, I want to hear all about this," Mrs. Rose insisted, folding her hands in front of her and looking expectant, and soon they were gossiping and giggling about cute boys as if they were teenaged girlfriends instead of mother and daughter.

Thirty minutes later found Marley Rose hunched over the toilet in her bathroom, vomiting up her supper. After she had finished retching, she gave way to sobs, resting her head against the edge of the toilet.

You shouldn't have eaten that dinner tonight, she scolded herself. You know you had to do this. If you hadn't, you wouldn't have been able to wear your costume for the matinee tomorrow. She sobbed again, and then stuck her fingers down her throat again for a second purge.