Ryder walked, or rather stumbled, out of the nurse's office with Jake at his side. The boy had devised a plan and Ryder was a major part of it.

"What happened to you man?" Jake asked as they slowly started to walk down the dark hallway. "You look like shit."

Ryder knew he didn't mean it as an insult but he still rolled his eyes anyway. Leave it to Jake to kick people while they're down… even if it was an accident. "Thanks." Ryder mumbled sarcastically, still feeling a little lightheaded from earlier.

Jake nodded before pushing Ryder into the lounge, which was pretty much as dark as the hallway. Ryder blinked a few times before looking around, his eyes met with nothing but darkness. Theories as to why Jake wanted him in here flooded his mind as he fought to adjust his eyes so he could at least see something.

"You aren't going to like beat me up or something, right?" Ryder tested, turning slightly so he could at least talk in the direction he had last seen Jake standing. "Because that'd be pretty sick."

"You would know." Jake muttered before flicking the light switch on. Ryder blinked a couple more times before turning so he was facing the lounge again and was met with Marley, Kitty, Sam, Tina, and Blaine sitting there patiently.

"What the fuck is going on?" Ryder asked in confusion. "Why the fuck were you all sitting in the dark?" Ryder looked around the room nervously afraid of where this was going. "You all aren't going to beat me up are you?"

"We're going to play manhunt." Sam announced excitedly, as he jumped up and ran to hug the boy. "I'm glad you're ok."

Marley smiled as she watched Ryder hug the boy back uncomfortably. Kitty nudged her slightly, reminding her of the encounter she and Ryder had had earlier and she forced herself to frown. Sam let go of Ryder and walked back towards his seat next to Marley.

"I uh… I can't play manhunt." Ryder mumbled, scratching the back of his neck.

"Don't be silly." Kitty spoke up, standing up with a smile on her face. "You already have a really good hiding spot apparently."

"You can be on my team!" Sam exclaimed, standing up once more. Marley smiled at him before frowning when Jake interrupted.

"For the last time, Sam, you're not a captain."

Sam frowned before slumping back into his seat. Ryder furrowed his eyebrows before looking towards Jake. "Who are the captains then?"

"Me and you."

This was weird for Ryder. Since when had the two of them gotten along enough to give the other a position of power? While contemplating this, he looked over at the teens sitting in their chairs. Tina was sitting there looking down at her feet and Blaine was staring at his phone with a frown on his face. Marley was watching Sam with sad eyes and Sam looked like he was literally about to cry.

"Sam can take my spot as captain." Ryder nodded, walking over to sit on one of the chairs. He was becoming lightheaded again and quite frankly he really just wanted to sleep. "I don't think I'm going to play anyway."

Marley looked over at him as he rested his head in his hands. He really did look exhausted but she was still mad at him for yelling at her like that. She only wanted to make sure he was ok.

"Just play." Marley pressed after the others stayed silent. Ryder lifted his head to glare in her direction.

"I can't."

"Why not?" Marley urged, straightening up. "Stop being such a drama queen and just play."

Ryder licked his lips. "Marley, stop."

"Don't tell me to stop! Just play!" She screamed. It wasn't clear to her why she was pestering him. Maybe it was for a reaction or maybe it was just because he had pissed her off. Either way, she was enjoying the fact that she was clearly aggravating him. "Because you're really starting to piss me off!"

"I can't play with him!" Ryder retaliated, standing up and pointing towards Blaine who was confused and surprised at the same time. "I can't even look at him without feeling sick to my stomach!"

Sam patted Blaine on the back as if to say he had his back before he stood up. "Is it because he's gay?"

"You're gay?" Jake asked surprised with how this evening seemed to be turning out.

Ryder rolled his eyes before shaking his head. "Who the fuck cares if he's gay?!"

Seconds later the lounge doors were slamming open and a very annoyed looking Will emerged with a tired Emma by his side. "What in the world is going on in here?"

"You don't even know me!" Blaine defended himself causing Ryder's attention to be once again diverted. "What in the hell did I ever do to you!?"

"I don't know you?" Ryder repeated with a sarcastic tone. "I know you call your boyfriend every day but he never answers you. I know that you haven't seen him in four months. And I know exactly why and I know that you don't. Hell, I know more about you than you do."

Blaine swallowed a lump in his throat before continuing to stare at the boy in front of him. Marley, too, was shocked with what had happened just because she decided to pester the boy who didn't seem to be breakable.

"Fuck." Ryder mumbled, smacking himself in the head out of frustration. "Are you fucking happy now Marley?"

Marley watched in pure shock as Ryder stormed out of the room letting to door slam shut behind him. Honestly, she didn't want to make him upset. Well, that was a lie. She did. But she wanted him to be upset with her, not Blaine.

"Is Ryder gay too?" Jake voiced.

"No." Will answered, putting his hand on Blaine's shoulder. "You all should get to bed. We'll talk about this in the morning."

"How'd he know all that?" Blaine whispered, putting his hand to his head. A headache was starting to form.

Marley sighed and walked out of the room with tears in her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to upset everyone but that's all she seemed to be able to do lately. As she passed by Ryder's door, she noticed that it wasn't closed all the way and she heard something shuffling inside. Biting her bottom lip, she pushed the door open and walked in.

"Ryder?"

She heard him groan but couldn't see his features in the darkness. "What do you want now?"

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." She walked towards the bed where she saw the silhouette of his body sitting. "I acted like a bitch, which is strange because I'm not a bitch." She took a deep breath before adding once more, "and I'm sorry."

Ryder sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration. He hated the effect she had on him. There was nothing more Ryder wanted to do than just ignore her for the rest of his time in here, than to yell at her for making him freak out like he had. But a part of Ryder didn't want any of that at all and no matter how hard Ryder tried to suppress that part of him it fought back twice as hard.

"I just wanted you to know that." She mumbled after the boy had remained silent. Marley wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to say or do so she started walking back towards the door.

Ryder sighed before giving into his own desires. "Marley? Wait." He stood up and walked over towards the door as well, stopping in front of it before flicking the light on. "I'm sorry too."

"For what?" She asked before looking up at him. His eyes were red and puffy and his skin was splotchy as if he had been crying. "Are you ok?"

He shrugged before walking over towards his bed. "I was a jerk to you in the nurse's office. I didn't mean what I said. I just… it's complicated."

"So you keep saying." She mused, pulling him towards the bed. She pushed him slightly so that he was now in a seated position at the foot of the bed. "Do you remember what you told me in the stairwell?"

He furrowed his eyebrows before licking his lips. "That I was a boy scout?"

She giggled before shaking her head. "No. You said that you know what it's like not to have anyone to talk to. I can change that. You can talk to me."

Not knowing what else to say, he nodded his head smiling small but not enough to convince her than he wanted her here. There was silence for a while before Marley sighed and patted the boy's head. It wasn't exactly the most romantic move she had planned on but she didn't know if he wanted a hug.

"You should sleep." She whispered, waiting as he looked up at her. He truly looked distraught, as if she had interrupted him from a memory he wasn't grateful for anyway. Reaching forward she wiped a tear away with her thumb before turning around and walking back towards the door. "I don't know what happened to you but I do know that it will get better. I promise."

"Hey Marley?" Ryder voiced once she had opened the door. "Is… Is Blaine alright?"

"I'm not sure. I left right after you." She smiled small. "Besides, it's nothing you can't fix."

And with that she left him there, alone with his thoughts, something he didn't want to be. But he was too exhausted to follow after her. Fainting can do a number on a person. So instead of following her out of there, he laid down and covered himself with a sheet, allowing the darkness to once again envelope him as his mind surrendered to the nightmares he'd be sure to have.

Marley walked slowly down the hallway towards her and Kitty's room, unable to shake the picture of him crying. From the first time she saw him he seemed unbreakable, like nothing affected him at all, but in the past few days she had witness the breakage of Ryder Lynn. She hated herself for bringing the vulnerability out in him. He was strong but Marley had broken him.

"Hey. Mr. Schu is pretty mad." Kitty mumbled when Marley walked into the room. Kitty's light was on and she had a book in her hand but they both knew she hadn't been reading it. "Where did you run off to?"

Marley licked her lips, choosing to walk over to her bed and sit down rather than stand there and watch Kitty judge her. "The stairwell." She lied, pushing the sheets back and tucking herself in.

"Don't let what Ryder said affect you sweetie." Kitty soothed, reaching over to put her book on the end table next to the lamp. Marley almost questioned the blonde, denying she ever talked to the boy until she realized that Kitty meant what he said in the lounge. "He's a jerk."

"No he isn't." Marley snapped before yanking her covers up over her head. "Maybe if we all just stop judging each other we could actually leave this place before we're 80!"

Kitty didn't know what to say so she just reached over and turned the light off before tucking herself in as well. Allowing Marley's words to sink in, she rested her head on her pillow. There was some truth in the brunette's words. If nobody judged people the chances of Kitty winding up in the place would have been slim.

But that wasn't how the world worked and anyone would be naïve to think that it would ever change. People judged each other and that would never be different. But it seemed as if Kitty was the only realistic one in the room.

Unfortunately, Marley thought the opposite. People changed all the time and if people just changed their perspective of the world and those around them then there would be no need to judge everyone. Clearly Marley was the only rational thinker of the bunch.

Blaine, on the other hand, couldn't get to sleep. What Ryder had claimed had struck a nerve in the brunette, even though what he said was completely false. Kurt answered him all the time. But as Blaine scrolled through his phone he couldn't find a single message from his boyfriend. He must've accidentally deleted them all. Or maybe Ryder had when he wasn't looking.

Maybe Ryder really was gay and had done this all out of spite of Kurt?

Or maybe he was just a homophobic jerk. It can be said that fear drives a person to do crazy things, such as claim things that just weren't true, so it made sense that Ryder would be a jerk after finding out Blaine was gay.

But still that theory seemed implausible seeing as Ryder had somewhat defended Blaine when Jake seemed repulsed at the idea of Blaine's homosexuality. Plus, there was something about Ryder that seemed familiar to the boy.

Perhaps the most legitimate theory would be that Ryder was crazy.

Whatever the case it exhausted Blaine to think about the endless possibilities. He just needed to sleep. He smiled thinking of where his dreams would take him before he pulled the blankets up to his neck. He'd see Kurt again. It was only a matter of time.

Finals are over! Woo. But now I have to do all the summer work that I decided not to do in the summer. I really hate my procrastination sometimes. :P Well, some of you think you know what happened with Kurt, Blaine and Ryder and I think that's funny because I'm not even sure yet. Lol. I have two options in my head and I'm not sure which way I'm going to go with it.

Anyway, thanks to my lovely reviewers because I love you all.

Sara: I did enjoy your birthday cake. Lol. I had my mom go to the store and buy a cake. She was confused. Oh well. Thanks so much for saying that. I never would have imagined this would be anyone's favorite story. :) Oh and by the way, this is going to sound really random, but are you a RPer on Tumblr?

Serendipulous: Haha. It's now become my goal in life to punch you in the face with every chapter I write. Lol. Who do you think was driving the car?

Guest 1: I LOVE super long reviews. Lol. Ryder is by far my favorite character too but most of the next couple chapters will focus on other people while I work on figuring out the rest of his story line. I was really mad at myself for writing their fight but they'll get over it…. Actually they just kinda did at the end of this chapter.

Reflections of Twilight: haha. I just get nervous because I feel like when you guess right (which is more times than I can count) that I'm just being super, super obvious. I hope your tests went well. I'm pretty sure I failed my calc final but whatever. Who needs calculus?

Gillian Deverone: He was saying that Blaine hadn't dated the same guy for 2 years. I would never ever make Blaine straight. Lol. I love him and Kurt too much to do that. :) Thanks for the review! It makes my day.

xxEllieJellyxx: Thanks so much! You're so sweet. :)

iluvwillschuester: Well you're just going to have to wait for the rest of Ryder's story because I'm not sure what the rest of it is going to be. Haha. :) Thanks so much. That means a lot. & don't be silly. You could write about the teletubbies and I'd STILL read your stories because you are an amazing writer. Besides, I love wemma. :)

Thanks to everyone who reads this story and I'm sorry that this one doesn't really have much drama in it. I just needed a filler for the drama to come.

Have a great rest of the weekend while I do my summer work. :/