Bruises
Ryder Lynn hadn't been in Lima since high school, when him and… He didn't want to think about her. He left to get her out of his life. She chose that other guy and not Jake, some guy she met in college. Why she did, Ryder would never know… He didn't want to care, but he did. Because he still loved her.
With these thoughts in his head, Ryder jumped in his truck and went to the Lima Bean where he was meeting Sam Evans. Sam had been his best friend in high school. He got him through some tough times in high school and all the fighting with- there he goes again, thinking about her. When he got to the Lima Bean, Ryder went in and looked around, No Sam, He thought… Sam was usually late, but Ryder had made it perfectly clear that he wanted to meet with Sam, have coffee or two, go to McKinley and see Mr. Shue and Finn and then go home. The less time he spent out in town the less chance he had of running into people he didn't want to see. As he stood in line for him and Sam's coffees, he heard the voices of little kids and a very familiar voice too.
Haven't seen you since high school One that's five and one that's three
Good to see you're still beautiful
Gravity hasn't started to pull
Quite yet I bet you're rich as hell
Been two years since he left me
Good to know that you got free
That town I know was keeping you down on your knees
"Mommy! When is Aunty Sana gonna be here?" the little girl with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes said as Ryder turned around to see where the noise was coming from.
"Soon Rachel, she told me she was very excited to see you and that she had a very important surprise to pick up for you and Mike.
"Momma! Is she gonna bring Aunt Britty with her!?" A boy attached to his mother's leg said. He like his sister had dark brown hair that was kind of styled like his own Justin- Beiber hair. The older child though had brown eyes . As Ryder watched the scene in front of him, the mother noticed him.
"Ryder?" The one person he wished to not see but at the same time he wanted to see looked at him.
"Marley? Is that you?" He tried playing dumb. She saw right through him but didn't say anything.
"How have you been? What are you doing in town?" She asked him.
"I'm good. Ummm… Molly and Sam are graduating on Friday, and I thought it would be fun to come early and see everyone. You look great by the way, just like you did senior year." He thought maybe flattery would be a good call.
"I forgot they we're that old! It seems like just yesterday we we're babysitting them and rehearsing at the same time… Are they still troublemakers?"
"Just as crazy as the day they were born. How is Andy? And who are these little babies?" Ryder asked her.
"This is Rachel, she's three, and this is Michael, he's five. Andy's good, he left two years ago though." She told him a sad expression forming on her face.
"Excuse my mom, but my name is actually Mike." The little boy stated.
"Are you sure that's not a mini Berry? He has her attitude." He joked.
"Funny, Ry. No she helps out when she's in town so…"
"That explains it."
Seeing her, after all this time was crazy and knowing that someone had hurt her, made him angrier than he should be.
As the two caught up, three familiar faces came through the door. The two kids seemed thrilled by them showing up, detaching themselves from Marley, ran to Sam, Santana and Rachel.
"Hey, Kiddos! How are you guys? Hey Ry, Marls! Sorry I'm late Ryder… My sister is sick and I had to wait until my mom got home."
"It's fine. Hey Rachel, Hey Santana! How have you guys been?" He asked the girls he hadn't seen since he graduated.
"Hey, Marley, how about the three of us take the troublemakers so you two can catch up?" Sam asked, not seeing the panicked look on Ryder's face.
"Only if you want Ryder?" Marley said looking at him for conformation. He was going to say no but before he could think he was agreeing.
Have you seen him? Not in years Que sera you'll never guess who I saw
How about her? No but I hear
She's in Queens with the man of her dreams
Funny back then she said that about you
Remember Johnny B remember him we were best friends practically
Let's do this soon again, ten years is that what it's been?
Can't believe how time flies by
Leaving you makes me wanna cry
"So, have you seen Jake and Kitty since high school?" Marley asked him
Ryder shook his head. "No, I've tried to get together with them, but you know how they can be."
"Yeah, I know."
"So, oh my god, you won't even believe the news I have for you! So you remember how I kinda started dating that girl Katie right before graduation?"
"Yeah, how is she? Are you guys still going strong?"
"Nope, She's in Queens with this guy she went to high school with… says he's the man of her dreams." Ryder told her.
"Really?! She used to tell everyone that about you." Marley said shocked.
"Yupp, it was a shock to me too… but whatever, she wasn't worth it." Ryder said trying to push it off.
"So you haven't talked to Jake at all since high school? That's ridiculous, you guys were best friends."
"I think you're forgetting about the entirety of sophomore year where we fought over you." He said jokingly.
"Yeah, you guys were morons in high school" She laughed.
I would love to fix it all for you
I would love to fix you too
Please don't fix a thing whatever you do
"At least I was man enough to be with you through anything, Jake probably would have stayed too you know." He told her, and as soon as he said it he regretted it. Especially when her face started to fall.
"Marls, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it that way, I just…"
"Ry, Ry, Ryder! Calm down! It's okay. I know I made a mistake, Andy wasn't ready to be a dad or to be in a long term relationship and he made that clear, It's not like I haven't been through the whole leaving at four in the morning thing before." She confessed to him with tears in her eyes.
"Hey, Marls… It's okay. You know it's not your fault… you did nothing wrong. They were just dickheads… They couldn't handle the pressure." He comforted her.
"you know, you were always right about Andy. I never really understood why you seemed to dislike him so much. But as soon as he left, all I wanted to do was…" She stopped and just looked at him.
"Marley, you okay? You wanted to do what?" Ryder asked her. He thought he knew where this was going but didn't want to assume.
"I honestly wanted to crawl into bed and call you, because you always knew how to make me feel better. But I had to stay strong for Rachel and Mike." She told him.
"You know you could have called me Marls. "
"I know. But you know it's okay, I got over it… he wasn't worth it… Can I tell you something?" She asked him nervously.
"Of course Marley, you can tell me anything." He wanted the relationship they had in high school. He wanted her to be able to trust him. She looked more nervous than normal.
"I don't think I've ever really truly loved anyone the way I love you Ryder." She said looking at her lap.
"Really Marley?" He was so shocked.
She nodded. "I was wondering if we could start over… you know, I want to be what we were." She told him looking in his eyes.
"I would love that Marls." He confessed to her.
"So, you really want to do this? Even with all my bruises?"
"Our bruises are what make us who we are Marley." He said as he leaned across the table and kissed her cheek.
These bruises make for better conversation
Loses the vibe that separates
It's good to let you in again
You're not alone in how you've been
Everybody loses, everybody loses, everybody loses
We all got bruises, We all got bruises, We all got bruises