Author's Note: Okay, guys. Holiday fan fiction here! I kinda came up with this one at the last minute, but I thought I would do it anyway since it's Valentine's Day, and I wanted to do one of my favorite couples: Jarley. I don't do them as much as couples like Quoe and stuff, but I still like them. They're a pretty cute pairing. Now I present to you my Jarley V-Day fic!
Summary: He looked at her. She looked at him. They both smile. They're both in love. No regrets at all.
Featured Pairings: Jarley (Jake/Marley), Ended!Jitty (Jake/Kitty) Ended!Ryley (Ryder/Marley), Friendship!Marlique (Marley/Unique), Rydique (Ryder/Unique), Samtina (Sam/Tina), Wildehart (Kitty/Joe), Sugartie (Sugar/Artie)
| | No Regrets | |
Marley just felt awkward at the moment. She had been sitting in the passenger's seat of Tina's car for the past fifteen minutes. No one made a sound. In the back seat behind her were glee club members Wade "Unique" Adams, Kitty Wilde, and Sugar Motta. The transgender male was applying some lip stick to his full lips; the rich piano owner's daughter was seated in the middle, texting someone on her Blackberry; and the bitchy blonde was listening to some Madonna songs, craning her head back in boredom.
No one really told Marley what was going on. The glee girls just told her to find the best red, white, pink, or black dress that she had. Of course Marley didn't consider much of her clothing choices as "the best", though they had much effort put into them. She just put on this one sleeveless, red dress she had in the back. It had a thin black belt to go with it, and covered most of her chest.
It wasn't even Valentine's Day yet, but the girls seemed to be up to some early V-Day celebration they weren't telling Marley about. This was bound to be a trick or something. If anything, they'll dump raw meat on her head for ruining New Directions at Sectionals, regardless of the Warblers being caught cheating. Marley knew Kitty would do that, especially.
The silence had been broken once the brunette-haired girl heard Sugar squeal in the back seat. "OMG, Kristen Chenoweth tweeted me back!" the Motta's Pianos heiress cheered with much joy, covering her mouth with her left hand. "This totes just made my day!" The strawberry-blonde girl sent a tweet back on her phone.
Annoyed with her freaking out in excitement, Kitty removed one of her ear buds out of her ears and sighed ignorantly. "And that's supposed to be relevant, because…?"
Sugar furrowed her eyebrows at the blonde Cheerio. "Ex-squeeze me?" she gasped. "She's, like, one of the best celebrities in Hollywood right now. Whenever you receive tweets from celebrities, that automatically means that they think you're awesome. That's a hidden compliment, literally."
Marley cocked an eyebrow at that thought, still looking ahead on the road as Tina drove in the driver's seat. "You know, that's true…" The sophomore girl agreed almost silently.
Somehow, Kitty seemed to hear her. "And how would you know, Miss I Live On Food Stamps? Do you even have the money to afford a decent cell phone to tweet those types of people? Not to mention that you're definitely not eligible to getting a tweet from any of these Hollywood hosts and hostesses, as this richie bitch says."
Marley rolled her eyes, ignoring her statement. Ever since the day she stole Jake away from her, Marley always had to deal with some kind of shit that Kitty had to throw at her. At first it was just the little things like her clothes. Then she went on to talking about her mother, her singing voice, her recent bulimia, the fact that she's poor – almost everything. It was like a nightmare that just won't go away.
Unique huffed as she took the mirror and black pencil to apply some eyeliner. "Girl, puh-lease," she spoke with much sass. "Even the most unworthy people can get noticed. Remember the guy I told you about that used to be homeless and out on the street? He's on the radio now."
Marley let a bittersweet smile spread on her face. It was good to know that Unique had Marley's back. In fact, she was Marley's best friend since they both got into the glee club. They would hang out at each other's house, sharing stories about who should've won America's Got Talent or have mini improvisations and fashion shows.
"Um, bye, guy pretending to be Gaboury Sidibe," Kitty sassed back with her arms folded. "Don't let your big, black ass hit the door on the way out." The transgender teen shot Kitty an ugly look, and diva-snapped at her before turning away and adjusting her wig. Marley and Tina giggled in the front seat, though Kitty couldn't hear either one of them.
The car was silent again. Marley was faced forward, her head leaning against the window and her mind spinning in so much confusion. Tina continued driving down the road to some place Marley was unsure about. It can't be Breadstix, 'cause that was closer to McKinley, which they past twenty minutes ago.
"Can I just ask where we're going?" She broke the silence again. No one responded to her, though. "Is this supposed to be a Valentine's Day girl's night out or something? Is it a trick? Did I do something wrong?"
Making a turn on the road, Tina shook her head. "Marley, no. It's not like anything bad is going to happen."
Kitty switched from a Madonna song to a Lady Gaga song, rolling her eyes as she heard the two speak. "That's what Mr. Almighty Treble Clef said before we performed at Sectionals," she whispered under her breath, implying the co director, Finn Hudson.
"You do realize that the whole dilemma at Sectionals was your fault, right?" Marley asked, turning around and finding the girl eyeing her IPod screen and playing Fruit Ninja.
Kitty scoffed. "Details."
Sugar looked up from her phone for about five seconds to see Marley looking back at her rival. "Maybe we're off to some romantic cruise or something," Sugar suggested. "Those are always beautiful and stuff, especially at night. I would want to be on one of those right now with Artie, if they would let his wheelchair go past."
Kitty ignored Sugar's statement and turned up the volume on what sounded like Paparazzi playing on her IPod. Marley's eyebrows furrowed. "But it's five thirty in the evening. And since when did New Directions save money for cruise tickets?"
"People board on cruises at night. Have you not heard? And if New Directions can raise money for a bus to Regionals, then what would be the problem with a cruise night?"
Although her suggestion was a bit over the top, Marley felt as if she wasn't alone in this situation. Had no one told her anything either? Or did she already know, but was trying to butter Marley up with such thoughts? Why isn't anyone else saying anything? Where is Tina driving on the road? Why did Marley's butt hurt in the seat?
"We'll be there in less than…" Tina first spoke before checking the clock on the dial. "Five minutes."
Marley was getting bored. She knew the others in the back were getting bored, too. The car was silent for a while, and all Kitty and Sugar could do was stick with their electronics and not even care about the outside world. Marley would start up a conversation with either Unique or Tina; but breaking the silence every time would keep getting awkward, and she didn't want Tina to risk anything and get everyone in an accident. Marley felt she ruined enough stuff for one school year.
The car had stopped into a dark lot, with only about three cars parked nearby. The place the girls had stopped at didn't seem like a place for any Valentine's Day party or whatever they were trying to plan. Marley peeked out the window, worried that some man would kidnap the girls and rape them or something.
"Um, where are we?" she asked with much worry in her tone.
Tina unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her purse that had been sitting on the floor beside Marley's foot. "Sorry, I have to pick up something a block away, and I need more gas."
Marley nearly freaked out. "What? Why couldn't we just find a gas station?"
"There's gas in the trunk," Tina explained, opening the car door and stepping out. She looked back into the car at the worried teenage girl. "I won't be gone that long. You're acting like I'm just leaving you and the car out here with someone to come along and cause trouble." The Asian girl turned to Kitty and Sugar in the back seat. "You guys, with me."
Relieved to finally get out of the car and get away from the awkwardness seeping in, Kitty unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out of the car. Sugar followed behind, stretching so her butt wouldn't be sore.
"We'll be back in about five minutes. We promise. If anything happens, we'll text you." With that, Tina led Sugar and Kitty out of the lot, leaving Marley and Unique to sit in the car by themselves.
Marley felt a little better knowing that her best friend was in the car with her – and that the annoying bitch Cheerio hadn't said anything else to completely bug her. But she was still worried that Tina, Kitty, and Sugar would leave them alone for a while. They were in a really dark area with no one else around. For all they knew, a robber could steal their purses – or even try to kill them!
Unique noticed that Marley was getting tense in front of her. She brought her hands up to Marley's shoulders to massage her. Marley was a little startled at first, but then relaxed as Unique tried to comfort her.
"You are so worked up, baby." Unique first spoke with concern and a little sass. "Why feel like this? Something on your mind?"
Marley's eyes went from one direction to the next, eyeing the dark parking lot. "Well, Tina and the other girls just left us here by ourselves, it's getting colder, I have no idea what you guys are up to –"
Before the brunette could continue, the sophomore diva had shushed her, brushing her hair back with her fingers. "No need to worry. When I was little, I was scared of the dark –" She stopped with much embarrassment. "And of the Loch Ness monster I saw on some movie a kid a school tricked me to watch." She smirked as she watched Marley turn around and let out a small giggle. "But thinking about positive stuff always works, like J-Hudson's jams or the Twilight series. What about you?"
Marley went into deep thought. A lot of things were positive and made her happy. "Well, my mom is positive," she began with a shrug. "I like the sweaters she gave me four months ago. You know, the ones I wore last week?"
Unique nodded understandably, although she didn't fully remember what she wore last week. "What about Jake?"
Marley cocked an eyebrow, smiling bittersweet. "Jake's a really sweet guy."
Her best friend was expecting more of Marley's thoughts. Marley loved Jake. She had been crushing on him since Britney Spears week. How could Marley not have more to say about him? "That's it?" the diva asked.
"What else do you want me to say?"
"Um, how much you've waited for the moment to be in his arms, maybe," the transgender male replied with a shrug of obviousness.
"Well, of course I've wanted Jake for this long," Marley responded. "I mean, it may not be the American dream for the average American girl, but Jake is one of the dreams that came true for me. It didn't have to require much, really."
Unique nodded. "It definitely wasn't what you thought it would be when Kitty was in the picture. Remember that foolish drama?"
Marley wished she hadn't brought that up. Kitty probably had been the worst nightmare of the beginning of the school year. Sometimes she meant well, but she was always so ruthless. She was literally a security for Jake when she found out Marley was even interested in him. She would keep Marley five feet away from him sometimes. Now that she's gone, and probably interested in some other guy, the brunette wouldn't have to worry so much.
"I really thought Jake loved her more." She looked down in a little disappointment. "It's the same stereotypical thing, you know? The hot stud ends up with the pretty, blonde cheerleader; and they live to be happily ever after once they win some prom queen crown." Her eyes went back up and her eyebrow inched up a bit. "Now that I see it now, it's not always that way. Even the not-so princesses of the high school can have their dreams come true."
"True," Unique replied. "Besides, Marley, the majority of school queen bees either get dumped multiple times or even pregnant. You think they have all of the glitz and glamour. In reality, they really don't."
Marley nodded in agreement. After all, Kitty already got dumped by both Jake Puckerman and Ryder Lynn. She wasn't sure if Kitty would be the kind of person to get pregnant in her sophomore year. She wouldn't be that irresponsible.
"But make no mistake, darling," Unique spoke up with a sweet tone. "You're going to have your fantasies come true. Dreams can come true for anyone. And there's no one of nothing keeping who you love away from you." After three seconds of silence, Unique grinned, the blush coming out on her face. "Who knows? Maybe I can even score one with Ryder."
Marley immediately turned back to her. Unique liked Ryder? She wouldn't have guessed in a million years. "What?" the former Vocal Adrenaline member asked. "I may be a male with a female spirit, but Knight Lynn has me feeling more like a girl each second. Have you not seen those abs in the Men of McKinley calendar?"
Marley nodded. She had dated Ryder in the past before she went back to Jake. He was a nice guy, and had a really fit body. Not the personal-trainer type, but they were just as good.
The Super Bass ringtone went off on Unique's phone, which brought Marley out of her thoughts. The transgender diva pulled out a black Samsung phone out of her purse. She read over a text message that was sent to her from one of the New Directions members.
From: Tina Cohen-Chang (Feb. 13 5:36 pm)
Everything's all set up. Time to bring Marley out now.
To: Tina Cohen-Chang (Feb. 13 5:36 pm)
Alright, babe. Gonna lead her there.
Curious as to what Unique was texting to whoever it was, Marley tried leaning over to see the screen. Unfortunately, Unique kept backing away from her. "Who was just texting you?" Marley asked in curiosity.
"Oh, it was Tina," the diva replied, putting her phone away. "She needs more help. Wanna come?"
Marley furrowed her eyebrows again. "Doesn't she have Kitty and Sugar with her?"
Unique rolled her eyes. "Like either one of them is interested in what Miss Baby Got Back has to put up with." Marley couldn't help but smirk. Usually Kitty didn't care much in business that anyone in the glee club had to put up with, unless it was Jake, of course. Sugar, she was normally a bored person. Depending on what's going on, anything could happen with Sugar. She was just a mixed-personality type of girl.
The two best friends climbed out of the car. Marley was still nervous about being outside in the dark. Actually, since she and Unique had been discussing her relationship with Jake, and Kitty's literal obsession over him, she had forgotten all about her little fear.
Unique and Marley linked arms, with Unique leading the brunette sophomore down the sidewalk and around a corner. It got a little brighter once they saw the street lights and a couple of other cars driving past on the road. Although Marley felt a little safer, especially with Unique by her side, she still didn't know what was going on. What the hell were Tina, Sugar, and Kitty doing?
And just when they walked further down the block, they met up with someone totally unexpected: Sam Evans. He had the most charming smile on his face, with a nice tux and red tie tied around his neck.
Marley looked at him with a frown on her face. "Sam, what are you doing?"
"Miss Marley Rose," the blonde, guppy-lipped boy spoke up with a charming accent. He pulled a red, heart-shaped box from behind his back to hand to the sophomore. "May this help you get to your destination."
Still confused, Marley took the box and forced a smile on her face. She looked at the box that was now in her hands. A pink Post-It note was attached to the box with some familiar handwriting on it.
Day one, it had all begun
Day two, I first saw you
Day three, I know you saw me
Day four, it was a moment I never had before
Marley was puzzled. Was Sam crushing on her now? They only had a couple of conversations in the whole school year, specifically with Marley joining New Directions and not letting the bad vibes about her and her mother get to her. As Marley tried to figure out what the purpose of the poem was, Unique tugged at her arm.
"Girl, Tina's waiting on us," she spoke, patting Marley's arm. "Let's get a move-on." Unique and Marley walked on down the block, leaving Sam to stand on the sidewalk by himself.
They walked towards a nearby floral shop, which was about to close in less than thirty minutes. There, they spotted a teen sporting a long, brunette ponytail. He too was wearing a tux like Sam was, and had a red scarf around his neck. "Miss Marley Rose," he spoke sweetly with a smirk on his face.
Marley gaped in bewilderment as she saw him. "Joe Hart?" she spoke, finally getting the words out.
In his hands, he was holding a bouquet of red roses. They looked extremely pretty from where Marley was standing. Joe handed Marley the roses, and allowed her to sniff them a little. "T…thanks," the girl spoke, looking around to see if this was a prank of some sorts.
"I hope this gets you as far as you wish," Joe said, pointing towards the other pink Post-It note that was attached to the plastic wrap around the stem of the roses. Marley pulled it off and got ready to read it. Before she could, Joe leaned closer to her. "And remember, may the Lord be with you," he replied with a wink.
Marley chuckled at Joe's last line, remembering that he, in fact, was a devoted Christian. She then looked at the note in her hand and read it.
Here lies a perfectly amazing girl
With not a flaw in the world
She's as graceful as a dove
She taught me how to love
Marley blushed at the note in her hand. Sure, she wouldn't expect someone like Joe to write this for her; but it was so sweet to know someone affected her like that.
She and Unique kept walking down the sidewalk. They stopped by a restaurant known as Dream Scape. It was still open, and red and pink lights shone in the window. Red velvet curtains covered the windows so the inside wasn't visible. The outside looked elegant. Was this where Tina had gone? Why did she need help at a restaurant?
That moment, they saw Artie roll out of the restaurant from the handicap-able doorway. He too had a tux on like Sam and Joe did, and that same charming grin on his face the other boys did. "Miss Marley Rose," he spoke up with that famous swagger voice he had. In his lap was a big, white teddy bear with a red heart sewn to it that read, Be Mine.
Marley nearly blushed some more, gaping with each second. "Artie, thank you –" Before she could fully thank him, he had handed Marley another Post-It note. She read the next poem that she had received.
How I fell for you, I'll never know
All I know is that, I want my feelings to show
You, Marley Rose, are such a delight
The most adoring person in my sight
Marley smiled, holding her presents close to her chest. She felt like crying. Who all was doing this?
"May I welcome you in the Dream Scape?" the wheelchair-bound male spoke up, gesturing for the brunette girl to walk in and see another surprise that was in store for Marley. The sophomore couldn't help herself. She followed Unique in the restaurant, and Artie followed behind through the handicapped door.
The hallway was decorated with red and white lights, similar to Christmas lights, and hearts attached to the wall. Balloons were tied against the benches that were sitting inside. Marley couldn't believe how well done the place was.
Well, it was Valentine's Day, after all.
Once Marley stepped into the main dining area, it was dark again. This time, though, red lights lit up the room just a bit. She could spot some balloons attached to chairs, a couple of candles in the windows, and the screen of a karaoke machine sitting on the corner of a platform. Once Marley, Unique, and Artie were fully in the room, a spotlight on the stage lit up white. It shone on Jake Puckerman, who was standing there behind a microphone.
Marley was now smiling sweetly. She felt so loved. Did Jake really put all of this together for her?
Before Marley spoke up to him, Ryder walked up to Marley with another Post-It note in his hands. "Miss Marley Rose," he greeted, just like the other three boys did. He gave Marley the note, and put his hands behind his back eagerly. He noticed Unique next to her, and shot her a wink which made butterflies flutter in Unique's stomach.
Marley looked down at the letter once she got her eyes to adjust.
I feel so lucky I got to meet you
Is there anything more that I can do?
I want to make you feel loved, more than anything
Will you promise me this when you hear me sing?
Marley's jaw dropped. Jake was actually going to sing for her. She felt it inside her. She looked ahead at the boy onstage, who tapped the microphone and signaled for the band players to start the song. Jake smiled at Marley the whole time as he sung the lyrics to Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself).
Jake
Much as you blame yourself
You can't be blamed for the way that you feel
The brunette stared at him dreamily. Ryder, Unique, and Artie took the flowers, candy, and teddy bear to place on a table that was behind Marley so she could cherish the biracial male's voice. As he sung, the other members of New Directions were visible in the room now that they turned the lights on some more.
Jake
Had no example of a love that was even remotely real
How can you understand something that you never had?
If you let me, I can help you with all of that
Marley looked towards her right. Her best friend Unique was looking back at her, standing beside Ryder and smiling at the cheerful expression on Marley's face. Although Ryder was disappointed that he lost her, he felt that she deserved Jake. The song had him a little emotional at the moment.
The sophomore looked around at some more members of the glee club that were there. Sugar was seated on Artie's lap, hugging him tightly and giving him kisses on the cheek now and then. Tina stood beside Sam, her head resting against his chest and watching Marley's adored face. Even though he was alone this Valentine's Day, Blaine stood by a happy Brittany S. Pierce and observed the strong chemistry between Marley and Jake. Kitty was seated at a table, rolling her eyes at the attention Marley was getting. She only stopped her pouting when Joe had sat beside her and wrapped his arm around her, nearly hugging her. She even rested her head against him, feeling his warmth.
Everyone was feeling the love on Valentine's Day eve, especially with Jake's wonderful song. But most of all, it was for Marley. The one Jake loved the most.
Jake
Let me love you
And I will love you
Until you learn to love yourself
Let me love you
I know your trouble
Don't be afraid, oh, I can help
Let me love you
And I will love you
Until you learn to love yourself
Let me love you
A heart of numbness gets brought to life
I'll take you there
Marley felt herself shed a tear, which ran down her cheek as she watched Jake belt out those notes. So many feelings ran through her body, and she was so overwhelmed with happiness. Jake grinned for her as he sung the last part of the song.
Jake
Let me love you
And I will love you
Until you learn to love yourself
Let me love you
I know your trouble
Don't be afraid, oh, I can help
Once he had finished the song, everyone in the room was applauding. Marley wiped the tears that had flown freely down her face. Had she really cried that much during the performance?
Jake had left the stage to walk over to the girl. He brought his hand to her face, wiping the rest of the tears away and looking directly into her beautiful eyes. He blushed wildly at how in love the two of them really were. He was overwhelmed for himself and Marley, in fact.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Marley." He finally spoke to her. He really hoped he liked it. It was the only thing he thought of doing for her on Valentine's Day, and he figured that it would all be special for her – Blaine and Artie vetoed against the Post-It notes, but that was a different story.
Marley shook her head, running out of words. "This has got to be the best Valentine's Day ever." With that, she brought her lips up to his and kissed him passionately on the lips. Jake reciprocated it, running his hands through her hair. Everyone else smiled at their growing chemistry, though Kitty pretended to throw up just looking at her.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Jake." Marley finally spoke, her forehead resting against his. "I love you."
Jake smiled, looking into her eyes again. "I love you, too."
Author's Note: God, I can't believe I wrote all of this at the last minute. That almost literally killed me. Anyways, I hope you all liked it. I'm working on fan fictions still. No worries. I'll update on the Samcedes and Quoe fics I have (I'm gonna deal with the other ones, too); and I also have more fan fic ideas. So look out for those.
Happy Valentine's Day all! Spread the love!
Featured Song:
"Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)" by Ne-Yo. Sung by Jake Puckerman