A/N: This probably suck (actually, I know it does), and its really short but I just really wanted to write something with Jake & Marley so voila! Here ya go.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The man in the yellow hat does.
"I don't like the way I look." She speaks and he tilts his head back to get a better look at her. She probably can't tell but he's frowning.
They're on the bleachers, like they usually are on during her free period (his physiology class). He's lying down, face up toward the sky, eyes closed. She's sitting next to him, hands in her lap. Usually they'd be talking about glee club stuff but not today.
Today she decides to talk about something other than glee club.
"Are you serious?" He asks in reference to her earlier statement. He tilts his head back again and opens his eyes slightly to see her nod. "I like the way you look."
She smiles. She doesn't know why she said it, why she chose to share that with him. Maybe because their friendship is growing everyday. Maybe because a few days ago when they were having their daily meeting on the bleachers he slipped his hand in hers and held it until they parted ways when she had to go to Spanish and he had to go to math. Maybe its because she knows whatever she tells him, he'll listen and not judge. Whatever the reason, it feels somewhat freeing to tell him.
"Really?" She hopes he doesn't think she's fishing for compliments. He sits up and looks at her with those eyes and then she knows he doesn't think that at all.
"Yeah," He shrugs. "You're, like, beautiful and shit."
She laughs. He has such a way with words.
A few days later, they're back on the bleachers. His arm is around her shoulders and they're both looking out at the empty football field.
"My dad called." He says flatly.
"What'd he say?"
"I hung up before I could find out."
She nuzzles herself into his side a bit.
"I'm not him, y'know." He speaks again. "He left my mom and me cause he was a coward. He couldn't handle when things got a little rough." He pauses. "I don't care how rough things get, I'm never leaving you, Marley."
"I know, Jake." She believes his words. "I know."
November rolls around and so does Thanksgiving. He calls her because he knows how she feels today.
"Have you eaten?" He can almost see her wedge her bottom lip between her teeth through the phone. "Eat, please."
She's been doing well. Eating regularly and keeping it all down. But its Thanksgiving and that complicates things.
She's never heard him say please before, though.
"Do you think you can come over?"
He's at her trailer in ten minutes. He sits at the table with her and her mother and has a conversation about football. Her mother doesn't see but they hold hands under the table the entire time.
And she finishes her meal. And desert.
After winter break, they're back on the bleachers again. Wrapped in each other's arms to keep warm in the chilly weather.
"I'm an Uncle." She cranes her neck to look at him. "Noah has a kid. A little girl named Beth. He says I can meet her when him and this Quinn girl come back to town."
She doesn't say anything. She doesn't need to.
That's how their relationship worked. One would talk, the other would listen. Only offering words if needed.
"How many kids do you want?" He suddenly asks.
"Three."
"I can deal with three."
And so they both agree they are to have three kids.
When school ends they take their meetings to the local park. Some days they talk. Some days they just lie around and listen to music. Other days, when it's really hot out, they go to his house and sit in his pool.
And he likes that she's comfortable enough to be in a bikini around him.
One day, they drive out to this abandoned field and lay on the hood of his car and talk.
That's when he realizes he's told her things he's never told anyone else.
That's when she realizes since they started dating, She doesn't write in her diary any more. She tells everything to him.
He realizes he doesn't get into fights anymore. He doesn't get angry because he talks things out with her. She talks him down before he snaps.
And that's when they both realize they're good for each other.