Marley walked down the hallway the next morning with a confidence in her step that even she hadn't seen before. People stared at her but she couldn't care less, which was out of the ordinary for the girl who hated attention. After giving the subject much thought, she decided that the only way to make it out of this place alive was to accept who she was and change what she didn't like. Now, the girl was on a mission and she wouldn't let her insecurities get in the way of the goal: Freedom.

She knocked on Ryder's door fiercely and waited for him to open it. He looked tired and a little annoyed with the interruption, making Marley forget why she was standing there. Don't let him affect your confidence. "I need to talk to you."

Ryder furrowed his eyebrows and looked past her into the hallway. There were kids staring at the two of them and he wasn't sure why. They were all asleep last night when the drama had occurred so why in the hell were they staring at him and why was Marley standing in front of him demanding him to talk to her? "Uh… ok?"

"Things are going to change." She firmly stated, crossing her arms and taking a step back. He scrunched his eyebrows as he waited for her to continue talking. Obviously she felt the need to go on a rant and who was he to stop her? Besides, he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to. "You are no longer going to affect me."

He licked his lips before stepping out into the hallway and closing his door behind him. "I'm not going to what?"

She wasn't expecting him to leave his room. "I'm no longer going to sit up at night thinking about what you mean when you say certain things. I'm not going to try to get you to talk to me when you have no interest in it because quite frankly it's exhausting. I'm not going to take your shit anymore."

"When did I ever throw my shit at you?" He asked, cocking his head to the side with a smirk on his face.

"Shut up. You know what I meant." She growled but she was unable to keep herself from smiling. "I'm getting out of this place."

"Really?" Ryder asked, his head burning to hear her response. She had only been in here for two weeks if that and he had just seemed to reach common ground with her. He didn't want her to leave, which bothered him. "When?"

She licked her lips before uncrossing her arms from her chest feeling defeated. "Well, I'm not sure exactly but I'm working on it."

"We all are."

"Well I'm going to succeed!" She pushed, crossing her arms again as her confidence came back to her. "By not shying away from everything. That's step one."

"I wish you luck." He smiled before pushing past her to walk to the cafeteria. "You hungry?"

There was no reason to not talk to him anymore even though her mind was telling her not to. If they became friends, which seemed to be the way things were going, she'd be devastated when she left this place. But still, everyone needs friends and it'd just be wrong to deny Ryder of that privilege, or at least that was what her excuse would be.

Really, she just liked hanging out with him, which wasn't something she'd ever admit if anyone asked.

"Always." She finally answered before running up to meet him. They walked in silence to the café and remained silent until they sat down with their food.

"So… you think about me at night?" Ryder asked suddenly with a smirk on his face. She blushed and took a piece of his pancake. "Am I ever naked in these thoughts?"

She giggled and shook her head. "No. Thank God."

His smirk vanished and instead was replaced with a glare. He contemplated what to say before muttering a simple, "Liar."

She laughed, nearly choking on the piece of pancake in her mouth. "I guess you'll never know." She teased as she took a bite of an apple she had picked up.

"It's cool that you aren't going to take any crap from anyone." Ryder commented with a smile on his face. "But you shouldn't focus on me. I haven't done anything to you. That Jake kid though…"

Marley sighed before rolling her eyes. "You were the one who googled that…"

"I'm not saying that I didn't." He replied, swallowing a piece of his pancake. He looked down at his plate unsure of what to say. "So are you just going to stop being friends with people then?"

"I don't have friends here." She commented without really thinking it through. Ryder nodded his head with a distant look on his face. "Well, I just mean that…"

"You don't have to explain. I know what you mean."

Suddenly the playful atmosphere vanished and was replaced with one full of tension. Marley cursed herself for creating a problem while Ryder bit his tongue to keep himself from lashing out. He wasn't going to yell at her. His anger was directed at himself because it was his fault that they weren't friends. He had pushed her away and probably made her feel like shit after yelling at her all those times. But still, it hurt him to know that she didn't think they were friends.

"Hey guys!" Sam bellowed as he sat down next to Marley. "Crazy night last night huh?"

Ryder nodded his head not fully paying attention to the blonde. He was too busy wrapped in his own thoughts about how much of an idiot had been. Marley too was busy thinking about how stupid she had been to say what she had.

"Hey Sam, do you consider Marley a friend?" Ryder finally decided to ask making Marley scowl in his direction. When Sam nodded his head in response to Ryder's question, Ryder added, "She doesn't think of you as a friend."

"Ryder!" Marley yelped, turning towards Sam ready to defend herself.

Sam looked at Ryder and then at Marley. "Why not?"

"I never said that." Marley defended, turning to glare at Ryder. "Tell him you're joking."

"Do you not like me Marley?" Sam asked with a sad look on his face.

Ryder finally sighed and shook his head. "I lied, Sam. She never said that."

Sam scrunched his eyebrows before looking back at the boy in front of him. "Lying is bad, Ryder. You should stop that."

Ryder chuckled at the irony of the blonde's statement before shaking his head. Marley, too, felt herself give into the humor of the situation by smiling small.

"I'm going to go get my food now." Sam muttered after a couple seconds of silence. Without another word, he got up and walked over to the wide selection of breakfast foods.

"Sorry." Ryder muttered instinctively.

"No you aren't." Marley responded, crossing her arms across her chest. "But it doesn't matter because like I said, I'm not going to worry about why you do things anymore."

His eyebrows rose as if accepting some challenge that Marley didn't even realize she suggested. "What if I said that I was in a fatal car accident? Would you worry then?"

She bit her lip before nodding her head. "Did you get hurt?"

"I was in a coma for two weeks." Ryder confirmed, nodding his head with a smirk on his face. "Care yet?"

"No and you know why?" She asked. He nodded in response before leaning forward in his seat. "I know you're lying."

"Oh really?" He asked licking his lips. "I broke my arm too." He pulled his sleeves up to his elbow and Marley couldn't help but marvel at how fit he seemed to be. "I needed surgery because it was such a bad break."

Marley leaned forward too after looking at the scar carefully. "You're lying."

They were centimeters apart and it took all of Ryder's being to keep him from going insane. Honestly, he just wanted to close the gap between them but he kept his composure. "Blaine was there too."

"Get a room." Jake spoke before Marley had a chance to gasp at this new information. "You feeling better dude?"

It took Ryder a couple seconds to realize that he was being spoken to. He really had to get used to the fact that Jake saw him as a friend now. "I guess."

"Is that how you know him?" Marley asked, interrupting their conversation. Ryder turned towards her with a smirk on his face.

"Oh so you care now?"

"Ryder!" Someone behind them yelled, making the table turn to see who was talking. Ryder swallowed hard when he saw Blaine standing there with his arms crossed. He was sporting a fresh glare on his face made just for Ryder.

Ryder stuffed another piece of pancake into his mouth before standing up and walking over to the kid. "I'm sorry for calling you out last night. It wasn't cool and I was just really tired. I have nothing against you dude."

"What happened to Kurt?" He asked as he shoved his phone into Ryder's face. Ryder blinked a few times as he tried to read what was on Blaine's phone. It was just a text message with five words in it that had been sent to Blaine weeks ago but most importantly it had been sent from Ryder.

I'm so sorry about Kurt.

Ryder's face paled as he remembered sending that same text from the hospital bed. He had just woken up and was informed of what happened. His dad told him not to text the boy but Ryder felt like he had to so against his father's wishes he sent the text.

"How did you sent this to me? I don't even know you!"

Marley stood up and started walking slowly over to the two boys, mostly out of her own curiosity, but also because she wanted to be able to intervene if either of the two decided to attack the other.

"I… you were my neighbor, Blaine." Ryder replied softly, turning around to make sure nobody besides them were in hearing range. Most of the teenagers had gone back to their breakfast, except Marley. She was standing with a sympathetic look on her face. She doesn't care my ass. Ryder thought to himself before turning his attention back towards Blaine. "Blaine, Kurt is dead."

Blaine's eyes filled with tears as anger flowed through his veins. Kurt wasn't dead. There was no way in hell that was possible. Blaine had just talked to Kurt two nights ago, or did he? He wasn't sure. He couldn't remember. But as the kid in front of him stood there with a sympathetic look on his face, he seemed more inclined to believe him.

With the anger within him urging him to, Blaine stepped forward and punched Ryder in the face. This seemed to catch the attention of everyone in the cafeteria but that just fueled Blaine's anger more, so he hit Ryder again.

Marley stepped forwards and put her hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Blaine, calm down."

"Don't tell me what to do!" He screamed and pushed Marley, making her fall to the floor below her. The confidence she had once felt in the beginning of the day vanished as her mind was met with the memories of her past.

Ryder, after regaining his composure looked over at the brunette who was lying on the floor holding her wrist in pain. Suddenly he no longer felt guilty. He just felt angry.

Reaching forward, he pushed Blaine before punching him in the face like he had done to him. Blaine fell over immediately and Ryder bent down to sit on top of him. "Don't ever touch her. You hear me?"

"Get off me." Blaine spat, doing his best to try to push Ryder off of him, but Ryder was stronger and quite frankly he was more pissed off than Blaine was.

"I know you're pissed off and confused and I'm sorry for that but I swear to God man, if you ever touch her again, you will regret it."

Jake was out of his seat and pulling Ryder off of Blaine. He had missed the beginning of the fight but he knew that Will wouldn't care who started it and it was his duty to make sure Ryder didn't get in any more trouble than he had to.

Ryder had given in easily due to the fact that it was never his intention to hurt Blaine. He looked over at Marley who was staring at him with wide eyes. "You ok?"

"Who is Kurt?" Marley asked in a whisper. Ryder shut his eyes painfully and Blaine groaned as he began to remember why he had hit Ryder in the first place.

"Kurt is my boyfriend." Blaine mumbled, sitting up and wiping his face.

Jake laughed for a couple seconds before stopping. "I'm sorry man. I just can't get used to the fact you're gay."

Marley and Ryder both looked at Jake in aggravation but Jake was oblivious to them. Instead, he grabbed a couple napkins and handed them to both Ryder and Blaine.

"And Kurt is dead?"

"No." Blaine asserted just as Ryder had said "yeah."

"Stop saying that!" Blaine yelled making Ryder roll his eyes.

Emma and Will walked into the room hand in hand ready to enjoy an excellent breakfast when they saw the two teenage boys sitting on the floor bleeding and Marley sitting next to Ryder holding her wrist in pain. Will cursed under his breath before striding over towards them.

"What happened?" Will asked, fearing the answer he'd receive. This is the second time that Ryder had gotten into a fight since Marley had been there and Will could only wonder if pairing them up was such a good thing after all.

Jake explained as much as he knew and Blaine explained how Ryder had pissed him off in the first place. Will took Blaine to his office and gave Ryder a stern glance. Marley took a deep breath before looking at the boy sitting next to her.

"Thanks for sticking up for me." She said softly. He looked over at her and gave her a small smile. "You didn't have to though."

Ryder thought for a second before allowing a small grin to cover his face. "That's what friends are for."

She laughed a little and stood up, reaching out to pull him to his feet as well. "If we're friends then I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Why'd you let him hit you?" She inquired, earning a confused look from the boy in front of her. "You didn't seem to care that he was hitting you until he pushed me over. Why?"

Ryder hadn't noticed that until now. As he thought about it, he realized the truth behind her words. He hadn't fought back and he figured that he could just say he was surprised. But lying to her at this point seemed wrong, almost like the simple act would send him to hell. So instead of lying, he took a deep breath and licked his lips.

"Because it's my fault Kurt is dead."

Dun dun DUUUN. :) So I've figured out what happened between the three amigos and Ryley had some growth in this chapter. I really have nothing else to say other than thanks for reviewing and reading. You guys are awesome and I LOOOOVVVEE your theories.

Gleek/Guest: Thanks so much! That means a lot!

Popcorn0912: haha. Don't worry. I won't make Ryder gay.

xxEllieJellyxx: thanks! I'm still not finished it but I'm the world's best procrastinator. :)

Reflections of Twilight: Nice! I'm sure I failed my calc one. I have two kittens! One of them is really fat though. Her name is little miss kitten. Lol. Don't worry. Kittens are never random. Kurt IS dead. That's finally out in the open. :) Don't worry I'm the best at procrastination. Still have 4 essays to write for Wednesday. Oh boy… Well, thanks for the review! :)

Iluvwillschuester: There's more vulnerable Ryder in the next chapter. :) I guess we'll see if you're right on Saturday when I update this again. :) Haha, this may sound mean but you falling off your bunk bed ladder just made my day! Lol. It's so sweet that you'd fall off things for me. (I just read chapter five of Count of me. I'm about to review it now.)

Sara/Guest: I think you are and I think I've found you because it was your birthday last Wednesday and there just so happens to be a 'Ryder' who's birthday was on Wednesday and her name is Sara. (If you are them, then I bug you ALL the time on anon. lol.) Who doesn't want a pocket version of Sam? That's what I would wish for if I ever rubbed a lamp and a genie popped out. Second on my list would probably be Blake Jenner though. Thanks. Still have four essays to write. Stupid school. :P

Guest 1: Awww thanks! I love you too! I hope you did really well on your finals! They really suck. Thanks! That means so much to me and you've officially made my day. I'll try! :)

Guest2: I'm glad this story is like crack to you lol. That makes me happier than you'll ever know. (Just make sure that you continue reading instead of actually doing crack.) There will be better Ryley moments the next couple chapters, I promise. You should tell me your theory as to what happened because I love reading them all. You're silly. A review can never get too long. ;)

TotalGleek16: Thanks for the review! I do have tons of work to do but obviously Ryder and Marley, as well as the rest of the Glee cast, is more important to me. I think I have my priorities straight, don't you? You'll just have to wait and see, but that question will be answered in the next chapter.

So, I've told you about my fat cat, how I bug people on Tumblr using anon, and how you shouldn't do drugs. That's about all I have to say to you guys, other than GLEE COMES BACK IN THREE DAYS! Obviously I'm excited. Also, if you guys know any where you can watch the new episodes either while they're airing or directly afterwards for people who can't watch them right away, that'd be awesome if you told me. My friend doesn't have Fox or OnDemand so she has to wait a whole extra week for them to show up on Hulu.

I'm rambling so bye.