Mark chuckled as he sat across from his sister in a McDonalds. "She calls you Mary? That's hilarious."
Marley rolled her eyes with a small smile on her face as she dipped a chicken nugget into a puddle of ketchup in front of her. Licking her lips, she looked up at him and muttered, "Can you please focus? That's not the point."
"I'm just saying, as fucked up as this all is, she has an amazing sense of humor." Mark mumbled as he chuckled once more. "I think I'm going to start calling you Mary."
"Then I'll start calling you… Mario." She quipped, shoving the chicken into her mouth.
He chuckled for a few seconds before a serious look crossed his face. "So his dad isn't his dad?"
"Apparently not." Marley murmured before sighing and taking a sip of her drink. "Or at least that's what Mr. Lynn is claiming but he doesn't exactly have the greatest track record when it comes to telling the truth."
"Well that sucks." Mark said quietly as he leaned back in his seat. "Does he have any idea who his real biological dad is then?"
Marley shrugged and looked around at all of the children who were laughing and playing with their friends. Their lives were so simple. Their biggest decision at the moment was deciding between a nugget and a burger happy meal. Mark met her gaze and sighed. "You didn't miss much, you know."
"What do you mean?" She asked as she was once again brought back to their conversation.
Mark motioned towards the kids. "I know you're jealous of them and I'm just letting you know you don't have to be."
Marley scoffed and grabbed one of his french-fries. "They're so happy. I was never happy."
"Yeah you were. You just don't remember because you were so young and probably forced yourself to forget everything." Mark put some fries into his mouth before adding. "You hardly ever cried. I remember because mom and dad always used to make fun of me for crying more than you did."
"I've made up for it now, haven't I?" Marley smiled a little before wiping her hands on a napkin and standing up. "Well, c'mon Mario. Time to go."
"But Mary…" He whined as he stood up and grabbed their tray. Marley giggled and followed her brother to his car, feeling rather content for the first time in a while.
Ryder on the other hand was wandering around Lima trying to figure out how his life had become so messed up. He was heading in the general direction of Blaine's house, a little upset that it wasn't next door like it had been a year and a half ago. After the trial, the Anderson family wanted to start over so they moved a few blocks away, hoping it would give their son some sort of closure. Ryder, though, didn't plan on knocking on their door yet. He had another house to stop at before he asked to sleep at the Anderson house for the night.
The lights were on inside but Ryder couldn't bring himself to ring the doorbell, so instead he stood across the street and watched. There wasn't much to look at. The man inside wasn't moving, but still Ryder was mesmerized. It was a house he had always been jealous of. It wasn't much to look at. It was relatively small but in all of Ryder's life he'd dreamt to live in a house that size. A house that wasn't bought to make their neighbors envy the people inside.
Taking a deep breath, Ryder crossed the street and made his way up the small driveway towards the patio. Licking his lips, he lifted his arm and knocked lightly on the door. He waited patiently until a familiar face opened the door. Ryder was taken aback for a second before he muttered, "Oh uh… hi."
"What are you doing here?" Blaine questioned stepping out onto the porch and shutting the door lightly behind him. "I thought you were the pizza guy."
Ryder scrunched his eyebrows and looked at the house just to make sure that this was in fact the Hummel house. "What are you doing here?"
"I eat dinner here on Tuesdays." Blaine answered, motioning behind him. "Burt gets kind of lonely."
Ryder frowned and nodded his head. "That makes sense."
"So why are you here?" Blaine questioned, shoving his hands into his pockets. It was icy cold outside and he wondered how Ryder could possibly stand out here without shivering.
Ryder bit his lip and shrugged his shoulders. "I uh… I'm not really sure. It's just, I just thought…. I don't know. I was hoping that when Burt answered the door, I'd just know exactly what to say but uh…. I don't know."
"I don't think it's a good time." Blaine murmured, shaking his head lightly. "He's still not really into the idea that I'm your friend again."
Ryder could hear Burt shuffling around inside, probably wondering why Blaine was having a full conversation with the pizza guy. He knew he should leave, let Blaine get back inside, but something was stopping him and before he could figure out what it was, he was blurting out, "I saw my dad today."
Blaine furrowed his eyebrows. "Why'd you do that? Didn't Will say…?"
"He's not my dad." Ryder blurted once more, watching as Blaine became even more confused. "He's not- he said he's not the one who- he's Beth's dad but he's not mine."
Before Blaine could answer, the front door was being opened and a confused looking Burt was walking out onto the front porch. Upon seeing Ryder standing there, he scoffed. "What are you doing here?"
Ryder shoved his hands into his pockets and backed up a little in order to prepare to step off the porch and get going. "I was just checking with Blaine about some homework we had. Sorry to disturb your dinner."
"Ryder, wait!" Blaine instructed, but Ryder only shook his head.
"I'll talk to you later, alright?" Turning around, he started walking down the Hummel's driveway only turning back to say, "Have a nice night, Mr. Hummel."
X X X
"So tell me again how it is you think you're the best at this game?" Mark questioned as he threw a green shell at Luigi, who just so happened to be Marley's player. Marley frowned and pressed as many buttons on the controller as she possibly could. Mark chuckled as his player came in first once again. "You should really practice."
Marley rolled her eyes and stood up from the couch. "I have to go do my homework."
"What homework?" Mark asked as he shut off their Wii. "You didn't even go to school today. How'd you get homework?"
"I have to study for my history test tomorrow." She mumbled as she left the room. It'd been an house since she left Ryder's house and she wondered how he was doing. If she was him, she'd probably be curled up in a ball underneath her kitchen table. On second thought, she might have been jumping for joy at the news that her dad wasn't actually dead.
As she opened her history book to the chapter on England's involvement in World War 1, her phone started ringing. With a sigh, she answered it, trying her best to continue to concentrate on the words in her textbook in front of her. "Hello?"
"Hey Marley. Is Ryder there?" Will asked. Upon hearing Ryder's name, she stood up from her desk and allowed herself to fully pay attention to the conversation. "It's ok if he's there. You won't be in trouble."
Marley looked at the time. It was only 7 o'clock so she doubted that he was in any sort of trouble but still the idea of Ryder wandering around in this state of mind made her worry. "No. I haven't seen him since I left his house."
"Are you sure?"
Marley rolled her eyes and nodded her head. "Yes. I'm positive. I've been with Mark all night."
"Ok then." Will mumbled and Marley bit her lip. Did he think this was a bigger problem than she thought it was? Was he worried? Should she be? "He's probably with Blaine. Well, I'll see you tomorrow Marley."
"Do you think he's ok?"
"Don't worry. We'll find him." Will replied before hanging up the phone.
Marley glanced towards her history textbook, knowing very well that she had to study. She should study. She should stay in and read all about the first World War; everything from the economics of Germany to the battle tactics of the allies. Groaning, she slammed her textbook shut, grabbed her jacket and walked downstairs to get Mark.
She could fix this. Hell knows she fixed everything else that'd gone wrong in the past year.
X X X
Woot Woot! Second chapter this week. Next one up on either Wednesday or Thursday. Thanks to the following people for reviewing the last chapter and thanks so much to everyone who has read and stuck with this story for so long.
Guest 1: I'm happy I'm writing it too! I missed writing for Ryley and I miss seeing them on Glee. I'm still really upset RIB cut the Lima side of the story. :/ Anyway, thanks so much for reviewing! Have a lovely start to your week!
Savanna. Ramirez. 35: Thanks so much for the comment! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Hope your weekend was as lovely as you are!
LittleMusicalOwl: I'm so happy I updated too! I miss talking to you! How have you been? Oh my gosh; I'm still so bitter about the fact that they got rid of the entire Lima side of Glee. I miss all of the newbies. I was rooting for England and the US too! (Mostly the US but still haha). I'm so sad that the US lost. Well, there's always the next world cup haha. Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope your weekend was fabulous and your week starts off well.
Guest 2: You'll find out who his dad is I think in the next few chapters…. Hopefully. :) I'm so happy this story has you on the edge of your seat. I think that's so awesome! Thanks a ton for reviewing and reading this story even though it seems to be decades since I last updated. You're phenomenal!
Thanks so much, you guys, for being extra amazing! I have a massive migraine right now but replying to your comments is making me feel a lot better! You guys are so lovely and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!
Tumblr: bemyryder
Twitter: bemyryder – I'm never really on this though
Or you guys can PM me if you have any questions or just want to talk.
Hope you guys have a happy Monday, even though Mondays tend to make that absolutely impossible!
Love, Kaylie