Marley walked in school thinking about Jake, as usual. When Jake came in, he just wanted to avoid interacting Marley. Was it fate that he just happened to bump into her?

"I'm sorry. I wasn't looking," Jake said instantly.

"It's okay, Jake."

When he looked up and saw Marley he walked away from her into the choir room. She followed him and shut the door. He wanted to leave, but Marley wouldn't let him.

"Marley, get out of my way," he said as he continued to try and get by her.

"Not this time. You are not going to just up and leave like last night"

"What do you want from me? I get it, okay. You don't like me like that. I understand that I shouldn't have kissed you but…"

She stopped him. "Jake, I don't understand why you think I don't want to be with you. It's not like that at all"

"Look, please don't try to make me feel better about the situation. I just want to get to class," he said and was successful at getting past her.

"Jake, wait" but it was too late. Jake had already left.

Marley just walked into her class and sat down in silence. Unique tried to get her attention but no luck. So she thought the only way to do it was to text her.

Marley, what's going on? It is about Jake. I thought you guys were okay.

At first Marley didn't want to answer the text but felt that she should talk to someone.

It's just that something happened last night. And now I think that he might try to avoid me.

What happened?

I don't want to talk about it through text. I'll tell you after class.

And with Marley and Unique went back to work. The bell rang sooner than expected.

"So what happened last night?" Unique asked catching up to Marley.

She just sighed.

"He kissed me," Marley said as she looked at Unique's shocked face. "But then he left saying that he was sorry and knew that I didn't want to be with someone who is broken."

"Oh my gosh. Girl, you need to finally tell him that you like him. Because we now know that Jake is into you. And you should tell him that he's not broken. He's just been through a whole lot."

"I know, but he won't stay long enough to listen to me," Marley said as she looked at the floor.

"Then you have to make him stay. So at lunch, go and get your man"

Marley thanked Unique and headed for the library for her free period. She knew that what Unique said was right. She needed to get Jake to hear what she had to say. I just need to get him to stay, but how? He keeps walking away from me. I know that he will not be in the cafeteria for lunch. The only place he would go is the bleachers on the football field. She knew that when he wanted to avoid someone that was where he would go. Why was this so hard for her? Jake was honest with her about everything, so why couldn't she be? There were many questions that flowed through her head. She went through the rest of the morning trying to focus on her work. And then it was time for lunch and she decided to head straight for the bleachers. When she got there Jake was nowhere to be found. She decided to wait for him. Fifteen minutes go by and no Jake. She got up ready to go leave when she heard someone call to het.

"Marley, what are you doing here?" Jake called to her.

"I was waiting for you," she said walking towards him.

Jake backed away from her. "I told you I get it. Can we not do this, please?"

"We have to talk. I know you don't want to but I have to tell you something."

"I know what you're going to say. I think that you're right. It is best if I just try and get over you because I don't want to ruin what we have. So can we just…"

Marley stopped him by putting her finger to his mouth. She leaned closer to him and felt him breathing fast. She kissed him slowly waiting for him to kiss him back. Jake couldn't believe what was happening. But he didn't care, he kissed her back. The kissed became more passionate as Marley allowed Jake's tongue to explore her mouth. They both didn't want this moment to end but knew it had to. They both parted with a groan.

"Marley, I mean that was…" Jake was lost for words.

"I know, it was great," she said with a smile. Then her face became serious. "Jake I need to tell you something. I don't know how to say this other than to just say it. I like you, Jake. And to me, you are not broken. You've just been hurt a lot."

"So what does this mean, Marley?"

"I want to be with you, Jake. But I want to take things slow, if that's okay with you?"

"Actually I was going to say the same thing. Ever since I was, you know, raped, I have been thinking about a lot of things. And I wanted to take things slow because after that happened I sort of lost a part of me. It may take some time for me to gain back what I lost. But I want this," Jake gestured between them. "I want us."

"Jake, I want us too."

They kissed again before heading back in the school. They walked through the hallway holding hands when Ryder came up to them.

"When did this happen?" he asked while pointing at them.

"It just happened," Jake said as Marley smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's about damn time," when they turned around they saw Kitty with Unique.

They all laughed and headed to class. Marley sat in class for the first time without any focus. Jake was her boyfriend and she was happy about it. She knew that there will be times when Jake might be himself, but she would help him find himself again. She wanted to be there when things were dark. Jake, I'm going to be there and we'll face anything and everything together.

Jake stared at an unfocused Marley. She captivated him. I just don't get why she is with me? But I can't and shouldn't think about that. All that matters is that we're finally together. And I'm not going to let her go. He saw her turn to look at him and she smiled. Her smile is beautiful. As he stared at her, his phone vibrated. He looked to see a text from Puck.

I hope you're doing okay today. I know that you don't like texts like this, but Quinn said that I should. But I know that you're fine.

He got another message. He looked down at it and then looked back up. He just stared at the board until the bell rang. Marley followed as he quickly left the classroom.

"Jake what's going on?" she asked as he continued to walk.

"Nothing I just need to get some air," he replied as he walked out the door leaving her standing there.

Marley followed as he walked out. She didn't want to be too close behind him because she was afraid he might get mad at her for following. She made to the bleachers and then she lost him. Where did he go?

Jake made it the alley that was across the street from the field.

"What do you want?"


Author's Note:

Thank You to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it. And I want to apologize for this chapter it seems rushed. I might edit it later. But inn the mean time please review. Thanks for reading.