Title: Like I Always Say

Pairing: Ryder/Marley

Author's Note: Hello! Well, I've decided to move the setting straight to the beginning of Christmas break. I hope you all like this story. This is NOT the final chapter, because I didn't want to leave out anything, and the original chapter two was getting too long, so I chopped it in half and am currently finishing up the final part of chapter two. But the story is still two chapters, though chapter two is going to be divided into two parts, which mean that there will be three parts. This is the second part, and the final part will be out in just a few hours. So REVIEW! I'd like to know what you all think of it, so then it could give me some insight on whether or not I should write more Ryley stories, or just stop with this one. Anyway, ENJOY!

-Sux2budude

Part One of Chapter Two:

…

Marley zips up the suitcase that she'll be taking with her on her Christmas trip with Ryder and his family, smiling to herself and sighing in relief that she's finally done packing as she glances over at her mom. "You're sure that you don't want me to come with you?" she asks warily.

Millie Rose snorts as she glances over at her daughter, "If I made you come with me, you'd be crying by the time we land in Texas."

Marley was not expecting that particular answer. "And why is that?"

Millie Rose gives her daughter a pointed look, "Marley, I've never seen you this excited for a Christmas trip. And though I'm going to miss you while we're apart from each other, I know someone who will probably miss you more if you don't go with him."

Marley smiles softly at her mom, "You mean Ryder." It's more of a statement than a question. Marley always knew that her mom had a soft spot for Ryder, hence the sneaking of extra meatballs to him on spaghetti day at school.

"Is there anyone else who looks at you like you hung the moon?" Millie teases, making Marley blush.

"You still didn't tell me why I'd be crying if I went with you to Texas." Marley points out, trying to change the subject.

"Do you want to go to Texas?"

Marley gives her mom a sheepish look. "Am I a bad person for not wanting to meet Aunt Sandra's daughters?"

Millie laughs at that, "Of course not, honey… your cousin's make that Kitty girl look like the Pope. As a matter of fact, I'd rather you not be in the same crowd as them. I've met them when they were a bit younger, and they were, to put it nicely, pretty rowdy and rude… I can't imagine what they're like, now that they're older."

Marley laughs at that. "Then no, I don't really want to go."

Millie nods, "Exactly. Add that to the fact that you're practically glowing with excitement about spending Christmas with Ryder, I'd say you'd at least tear up a bit if you end up on the plane with me to Texas, instead of with him to..." Millie's trails off, her eyebrows furrowing at Marley.

Marley thinks about it, and she finds that her mother is right. If her plans do change, she'll probably cry herself to sleep on the flight down to Texas, not that she'd ever admit that. "I guess that makes sen—,"

"Where are you headed for Christmas?" Millie asks curiously.

"Oh… Ryder actually refuses to tell me."

"And why is that?"

Marley shrugs, "He said he wants it to be a surprise."

Millie laughs at that, "He's certainly trying." Before Marley could ask what she means, Millie claps her hands together, "Well, we better get down to the mall and buy something for Ryder."

Marley smiles, nodding as she too gets up to follow her mom out of the house. Although Ryder had asked her not to buy him anything, Marley still wanted to at least give him… something. It's the least she could do to thank him for inviting her on his family's Christmas trip. She already browsed through his Facebook profile, hoping to find something that'll give her an idea of what he'd like, but… nothing. She did, however, get a message from him, asking if she'd be mad if he borrowed a picture of hers from her Facebook page. She was a bit wary, and even a little confused as to why he'd want to borrow one of her pictures, but she promised him that she wouldn't be mad if he did.

So, she decided to buy Ryder something that she hopes he'll like. It's not expensive, but when she had seen it, she had immediately thought of him.

-RM-

…

-(AT RYDER'S HOUSE)

…

Marley stares up at Ryder's house, not believing that he actually lived here. The place is huge! She looks back down at the paper in her hands, (which held the address that Ryder had given her) and found that she was indeed, at the correct address.

"Ryder lives here?" Her mom asks as she gets out of their small car and popped the trunk, the whole time not taking her eyes off of the ginormous house looming overhead. "I didn't know he was so… rich."

Marley nods slowly, "I didn't know that either." Her eyebrows furrow a bit confusedly, because she doesn't even know why Ryder hangs out with her; a poor, lonely, self-conscious girl who clearly didn't deserve to be in his presence. And it's not like she expected him to be living in a shack or anything like that, but… she didn't expect him to live in what practically looked like a mansion! He's always showed up at school in clothe that any average teen would wear, and she's never seen him flaunt his families wealth or anything. He could easily fit in with the most popular kids in school, but instead, he hangs out with nerds and dorky glee club members like her, risking getting a slushie-facial every other day, just to be with them. It just goes to show how good of a person Ryder is.

His house was huge, and Marley began to worry that Ryder's parents might not approve of their eldest son, hanging out with someone like her… Someone poor.

Her worries practically vanish into thin air, the moment she saw the front door open, and Ryder stepped out, waving at her and her mom, with an excited grin on his face. His parents must be great people to have raised a son like Ryder. She smiles, waving back just as excitedly, and she giggles softly when she sees him running to help her carry her bags into his house, tripping over his own feet and falling face first into the snow. He quickly springs back onto his feet, looking around with a goofy expression on his face as he continues down to her.

Ryder had called her on Sunday evening, informing her that they would be heading out on the trip in a week's time around nighttime , and though it seemed weird to Marley that they weren't gonna be leaving earlier in the morning, she agreed to be at his house by 4 in the afternoon. She was actually glad because then she got to spend the earlier half of the day with her mom. They had chosen to have an early mini-Christmas of their own before Marley leaves, so they stayed home the whole day, exchanging their small gifts, watching 'A Charlie Brown Christmas', drinking hot chocolate, and eating freshly baked sugar cookies.

"Nice moves." Marley teases Ryder when he makes it to her, and she reaches up to brush some of the snow out of his hair.

Ryder only laughs, nudging her playfully.

"You okay?" Marley asks, looking him up and down.

He quirks an eyebrow at her, "I'm sure I'll live." He grins, turning to Millie and smiling politely. "Hey, Mrs. Rose!"

Millie snorts, "Ryder, just call me Millie. All that Mrs. Rose junk makes me feel older than I am."

"Well Millie, you don't look a day over twenty five." Ryder grins.

Millie laughs, a small blush rising up her cheeks. "Aww, you're a sweetheart." She says, ruffling his hair.

Marley raises an amused eyebrow as her mom heads back to the front of the car for Marley's backpack. She turns, chuckling to herself as Ryder giggles. "When you're done trying to win my mom's affections, can you help me with my suitcase, Mr. Lynn?" she jokes.

Ryder turns to her, laughing heartily. "I love your mom!"

"Mhmm." Marley nods with a grin as Ryder grabs her suitcase with one arm, and throwing it over his shoulder like it weighed nothing. She swears she couldn't even lift the whole thing with both arms.

"Yeah." Ryder nods, leaning in with a huge grin. "And she thinks I'm a sweetheart." He whispers like it's a big secret, batting his eyelashes teasingly.

Marley snorts, smacking his arm playfully. She quickly pulls her hand away when she feels his bicep practically bulging right out of his thick wool sweater. Ryder smirks, raising an eyebrow. "Like I always say, 'You like what you feel'." He winks at her, smirk still intact as he trudges back up to his house with her suitcase still sitting on his shoulder.

Marley's eyebrows shoot up, almost disappearing under her slouchy beanie. She smiles, watching him as he keeps walking. It's 'You like what you see'. She thinks, whispering softly to herself, "Though I've never heard you say that, and you said it wrong, yes… I really like what I see… and feel."

"Are you talking to yourself?"

Marley jumps a little, whirling around to face her mom. She almost forgot she was there. "Sorry." She laughs sheepishly.

Millie only smiles at her, handing her the backpack. "Okay, so you better call me when you get to… wherever it is you're going, and remember to have fun." Millie says seriously.

Marley nods, "I will."

Her mom smiles widely at her, gathering her into her arms and hugging her fiercely. "I'll miss you, pumpkin."

Marley smiles, hugging her mom back tightly. "I'll miss you too, mom."

"Call me if you need anything?"

"Always." Marley replies as they both pull away. Ryder is already heading back down the snow covered driveway, with something in his hands.

Millie turns to smile at him, "Take care of my daughter, Ryder."

"I will, Mrs. Ro—Uhhh, Millie." Ryder smiles sheepishly.

"Okay. I'll be on my way then." Millie moves towards her car, but Ryder steps forward, stopping her. He hands her a small blue gift bag, offering a wide smile.

Millie looks questioningly at him, and Ryder only shrugs, "It's Christmastime, so I got you a little present." Ryder shrugs like it's no big deal, though to both Marley and her mom, it was a really big deal. Jake never brought Millie anything for Christmas when Marley was dating him, but this boy, who isn't even dating Marley, had gone out and brought something for Millie. It was a very sweet gesture.

"Ryder, you didn't have to—," Millie begins,

"I wanted to." Ryder says quickly, smiling politely at Millie. "It's not much, but I thought you'd like it."

Millie was almost in tears as she slowly opened the bag, pulling out a glass rose Christmas ornament, with a picture of her and Marley from last Christmas, floating inside. "I borrowed the picture from Marley's Facebook page, had it printed and custom made at an Arts and Crafts store downtown." Ryder explains.

And so the tears start to fall for Millie Rose. "Oh, it's beautiful, Ryder!… Thank you so much." Millie carefully puts the ornament back into the bag, and pulls Ryder into a hug. "Thank you." She says again, through thick tears.

Ryder smiles, hugging her back just as tightly, "You're welcome… Merry Christmas, Millie."

Marley couldn't help it. She too, was in tears at the sweet and delicate moment. Ryder truly is the most amazing person she'd ever met. Not only did he invite her to spend Christmas with him and her family, but he also thought to buy something for her mom.

So as Marley and Ryder wave goodbye to her mom as she drives away, Marley turns to Ryder, and pulls him into a tight hug. "Thank you." She whispers against his shoulder.

Ryder doesn't hesitate to hug her back. "For what?"

She pulls away, smiling happily at him. "For that present you gave my mom…" they pull away and she looks questioningly at him. "That's why you asked to borrow a picture from my Facebook page?"

Ryder shrugs, smiling a bit shyly. "Yeah… And your mom is awesome, and awesome people deserve the best for Christmas."

Marley giggles softly, reaching up to smooth down his hair. "You're pretty awesome too, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Ryder smirks, making Marley laugh at his sudden cocky tone.

"And I was just beginning to enjoy your awesomeness."

Ryder laughs, pulling her backpack away from her and swinging it over his shoulder, completely ignoring her protests of letting her carry it. "Come on. Let's go introduce you to my family."

That statement manages to bring backs Marley's nerves. She's never met his family before, and now that she's about to, she's more nervous and self-conscious than she's ever been.

-MR-

…

As it turns out, Ryder's family is pretty amazing. His dad, Henry, who Marley feared would hate her immediately, was extremely funny and kind, shaking her hand and telling her that she looked way prettier than Ryder had described.

Ryder's mom, Jane, was kind-faced and pretty inviting, considering all the baked goods she had laid out specifically for Marley. Jane had smiled widely at the young brunette, getting up out of her seat on the couch, beside her husband and pulling Marley into a warm hug. "I've heard so much about you!... considering Ryder's been talking about you non-stop." she had exclaimed, and Marley blushed crimson as she hugged the elder woman back, hearing Ryder groan. "Mom." His warning tone evident as he widened his eyes at his mom in horror at having his mother tell Marley that he talks about her all the time. Marley smiled politely at Ryder's mom, "Thank you so much for letting me join you for Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Lynn." Marley told them sincerely.

"We're happy to have you." Jane grinned, gesturing for the younger girl to take a seat on the sofa with Ryder.

Ryder's two younger brothers, Raymond-8, and Royce-11, are probably the goofiest little boys Marley has ever seen; their first unison-asked question being, 'Are you Ryder's girlfriend?' Marley had looked warily at Ryder, who rolled his eyes at the two brown-haired boys and told them it was none of their business', to which both boys made a face that reminded her instantly of Ryder's goofy-whatever-face. They definitely take after their older brother.

-RM-

…

-(IN RYDER'S CAR)

...

By nine P.M, the Lynn family and Marley were all packed up and ready to leave. They were going to be driving to their destination, and Marley is grateful that she was going to be riding alone with Ryder in his own car, following closely behind his dad's silver Escalade.

"So…" Ryder says expectantly. "How have you been?" he asks jokingly.

Marley chuckles, turning her head to look at him as he keeps his eyes on the road. "I've been great… you?"

"Oh, yeah… I've been awesome. Ever since this beautiful girl agreed to join me for Christmas vacation, I've been pretty darn happy."

Marley smiles widely, reaching over the console to pat his arm. "Thanks again for inviting me."

He shrugs, "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."

"And why is that?"

Ryder shrugs again, "Because now I have someone who I can talk to… the place where we're going is… well, it's kind of like a family tradition thing, and every Christmas we drive out there, and we stay at this awesome lodge, and we do like, really fun stuff together, but… it's really nice to have a little change this year… especially when that change is you."

Marley ducks her head, trying to hide her blush as Ryder glances at her. "It's really nice of your parents to allow me to join you guys… it's a nice change for me too." She wants to tell him that she's glad that he chose to invite her out of all the friends he had, but she still wasn't sure whether he invited her because he really wanted to, or because she had told him that she didn't want to go to Texas for Christmas this year, and maybe he just invited her out of pity. Not that there was anything wrong with Texas, because she hears it's pretty amazing down there, but she didn't feel like going because that meant meeting her cousins, and getting fitted for her bridesmaid dress, and a whole lot of planning and things would get in the way of her actually being able to enjoy the place and even, Christmas itself.

The two continue to talk about everything and anything, only pausing to belt out the lyrics to whatever song was playing over the radio, and Marley found herself really… happy and content. She bites her lip as she starts thinking about Christmas last year, when she had gotten a call from Jake to go out for dinner. She had agreed, and met up with him at Breadsticks, where he ordered takeout food and invited her back to his house. His mom wasn't home, and after they ate their dinner, Jake had yet again, tried to get her to sleep with him. Of course, she told him no, and though Jake relented, she could easily tell that he was annoyed with her, because shortly after, he told her that he was going to walk her home, silently implying that their date was over. All in all, it was a pretty disappointing Christmas for Marley, save for everything that Coach Sylvester did for her and her mom.

"Hey."

Marley pulls away from the memory, looking up at Ryder. "Sorry." She mutters apologetically for practically zoning out and into complete silence.

"You okay?" she can hear the concern in Ryder's voice as he glances over at her a couple of times. "You're not feeling homesick already, are you?"

Marley shook her head, sending him a reassuring smile. "No. Of course not. I'm just… sorry. I was just thinking of Christmas last year."

"Oh." Ryder nods as he stares back at the road. "Was it good?"

"Some." Marley shrugs, and she shakes her head, clearing out all thoughts of the past and of Jake Puckerman. Why do you keep doing this to yourself, Marley? You've got this super amazing guy beside you, inviting you to join him and his family for Christmas, and you're thinking about how much last years Christmas sucked? If she's honest with herself, she thinks she might've been trying to compare the disappointment of last year's Christmastime with Jake, to this year with Ryder, and to be quite honest, she's really enjoying Ryder's company… she always has. She's already smiling, feeling excited about his surprise, and it's not even Christmas yet! She turns to look curiously at Ryder, and he turns to glance at her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ryder asks warily.

"You still haven't told me where we're going."

"It's a surprise."

"Can I at least know how far we are from the destination?"

Ryder thinks for a moment, turning his eyes to the dashboard at his GPS system. "Not that far… just a couple of miles."

Marley looks at the time in his car. It was past ten. "How many more miles is 'a couple of miles'?"

Ryder chuckles, looking at her. "You're really not gonna drop this, are you?"

She pretends to think about it, but she soon shakes her head, grinning expectantly at him. "Nope."

He sighs heavily, but smiles as he glances back and forth between her and the road. "How about I give you a hint then?"

"That could help, yeah." Marley nods.

"Okay," Ryder thinks for a long moment, probably just trying to draw out the time for as long as he can. Finally, after nearly three whole minutes, he finally tells her, "Lights."

Marley blinks incredulously at Ryder, not believing that after nearly three whole minutes, the only hint she gets from him was, lights. "Lights? That's all I get?"

Ryder laughs, "Okay, Christmas lights."

This almost makes Marley want to bang her head on his cars dashboard. "That could mean anything!" she exclaims disbelievingly. "It's Christmastime, and there are Christmas lights everywhere!"

"Well," Ryder begins, "That's really all I can describe it as… And like I always say, 'What good is a surprise when you already think you know it?'"

Marley runs her tongue over her teeth, exhaling heavily through her nose. She wants to tell him that he's never said that before, and that the actual quote is 'What good is a surprise when you already know what it is?', but decides against it. Instead, she tries to focus on figuring out where they're going. "Okay… Christmas lights… that's very specific, by the way." She mutters sarcastically, emitting another laugh from Ryder.

"Fine… think, billions and billions of Christmas lights."

"We just passed billions and billions of Christmas lights, and…" Marley trails off, turning to narrow her eyes at Ryder. "Are we just going to be driving around until Christmas day?"

This makes Ryder laugh even harder than before. "First of all, that would take a lot of gas, and gas money. Second, my family isn't that crazy… and last—," Ryder turns his head, smiling widely at her. "We're here."

Marley's back snaps to attention as she sits up quickly, looking outside her window. A small, yet audible gasp leaves her lips as her eyes widen in amazement. "It's beautiful." She whispers softly as she turns her head from side to side, trying to take the whole scenery in.

Ryder gently pressed down on the car brake, slowing down and letting his dad's car ahead a couple of yards as he turned his head and stared at Marley's face. Her eyes were wide, shining with wonder, and something else he couldn't quite figure out. She's so beautiful. "Yeah. Beautiful." He nods, but he's not even talking about the lights.

Marley turns her head back to Ryder, and she can't help the way her heart swells at the way he's smiling at her. "You weren't kidding about the billions of lights." She laughs lightly- (pun totally intended). It is really the most amazing and beautiful thing she's ever seen around this time of year.

"Welcome to Woodland Lights, Marley." Ryder smiles, he knows he shouldn't, but he can't help it as he reaches over the console and takes her hand in his. "This is why I'm always excited for Christmas… There are plenty of other places like this out there, but… this is kind of my favorite."

Marley nods, as she stares back out onto the sides of the road. There were bright, blinking, colorful lights, everywhere. And she's not exaggerating the everywhere part. Lights, covered almost every inch of the place, and though it was close to midnight, and pretty dark everywhere else, it looked like early morning here because the whole place was so bright and alive with all the beautiful Christmas lights.

-RM-

...

-(AT THE COTTAGE)

...

Marley squints at the billboard by the road as Ryder pulls up in front of a large wooden cottage that looked like those cute ones you see in the old Christmas movies, except this one was covered from roof to ground in colorful, twinkling Christmas lights- and it looked fairly new and expensive. Henry Lynn's Escalade was already parked out front, and Ryder parks right behind it, before getting out, quickly running around his car, to open her door for her. "This is where we'll be staying." He tells her.

Marley smiles widely at him, muttering a thank you as she hops out. She looks around the place, and she can see a little road leading towards a huge, metallic gate on the far end of the street. "So the road doesn't just end over here?" Marley asks curiously.

Ryder laughs, shaking his head. "The road hasn't even started yet, Marls." He points towards the gate she just saw, "That, is where the road begins. This is just the Main entrance." He explains, gesturing up the road where they just came from.

"Oh." Is all Marley can manage. The place is already breathtaking, and she hasn't even seen the real thing yet.

"And like I always say," Ryder says as he pops the trunk of his black Camaro. "'The night is still little'."

Marley laughs at that, shaking her head as she turns to read the large billboard on the side of the driveway. "I believe the right quote is, 'The night is still young', and when did you ever say that?" she asks over her shoulder.

Ryder only gives her a puzzled expression and a shrug, before turning back to unload their stuff.

WELCOME TO WOODLAND LIGHTS-

Of Countryside Park- Miamisburg-Centerville Rd., Dayton, Ohio 45458

-Phone:937-433-0131

Open December 6th-30th

Time: 6pm-9pm

Tickets are available at Main Gate ahead

Marley turns to Ryder as he starts pulling their suitcases out of the trunk, "Hey Ryder," Marley calls to him, her eyes not leaving the billboard just yet.

"Yeah?" Ryder turns to look at her curiously.

Marley finally turns, looking back at him. "The billboard say's it opens at 6, and closes at 9, and… well, it's midnight."

Ryder nods to her, a small smile forming on his face. "Yeah, I forgot to tell you, w—,"

"Ryder!" Royce calls from the cottage door, cutting Ryder off mid-sentence.

Ryder looks over at the younger brown haired boy. "What?"

"Nana's waiting for you, so hurry up and bring your girlfriend inside to meet Nana!" Royce calls teasingly, before heading back inside the cottage.

Ryder rolls his eyes, turning to look at Marley. "Don't mind him."

Marley grins, nodding at Ryder, but quirking a questioning eyebrow at him, "Nana?"

"It's my grandma… come on," he says, hauling her suitcase behind him with one hand as he reaches out his free hand out to Marley, who takes it, though she's not exactly looking forward to meeting his grandmother. Grandmothers, are generally scary and mean, and they're always disapproving of things and people. She's not sure Ryder's grandmother was going to approve much of her.

"Your grandma's meeting you guys here?" Marley asks curiously as they step up at the front door.

Ryder looks at her, his forehead creasing together, "Not really… she's—well, she's…" he trails off as he reaches for the door knob. "I'll just explain inside, okay?"

-MR-

…

-(BEHIND THE COTTAGE)

...

"You own Woodland Lights?" Marley asks incredulously, her shock, showing in her wide eyes.

After meeting Ryder's grandmother Belle, (She was not mean or disapproving at all) who looked like an older version of Ryder's mom, the elder woman had practically forced everyone to eat dinner again with her. Marley tried her best to eat more, so as not to offend Ryder's kind, yet insistent grandmother. She had also tried not to groan out loud when Belle came back from the kitchen, pulling in a food cart, with Baked Alaska sitting beautifully in the middle. Even Marley couldn't say no to a dessert that you light on fire. It was like eating art! So after dessert, Ryder's mom and grandmother opted to do the dishes, and Ryder was told to take out the trash, which Marley offered to help him with. So now they were standing outside, in the snow, where Ryder had just finished explaining that his grandmother lives there, in the cottage, running the place.

"No… My family owns it." Ryder answers, smiling sheepishly at her.

"You— I'm—why did—," Marley was at a loss for words.

"Does it matter that my family owns this place?" Ryder asks worriedly as he closes the distance between them.

Marley sighs heavily, looking at him curiously. "Ryder, this is your family's place… why'd you invite me of all people to be here with you?" she wants—needs to know his reason. This wasn't something you share with someone who was just a friend. You don't introduce your friend from school, to your parents, your brothers, and definitely not to your grandmother. And who was she to intrude on their traditional annual family get- together?

"Because." Ryder shrugs, stepping forward and taking both her hands in his. "Do I really need a reason to invite the only person who makes me feel like the happiest guy in the world, to be here with me?" when Marley doesn't answer, he continues. "Marley, I wanted you to be here with me and my family... And I don't really have a reason for that, because when you care about someone, you don't need a reason to want to be with them." You don't need a reason to want to be with someone you love, he wanted to say, but decided against it. He doesn't want to pressure her.

Marley lets out a small sigh, nodding to herself. "Okay. I'm sorry I'm being difficult. It's just a lot to take in in one day."

Ryder smiles softly at her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just didn't want to spoil the surprise for you."

"Well then, I forgive you." Marley replies, smiling back.

"Great!" he exclaims. "Then how about I just…" he pauses as he gently pulls his hands from hers, stooping down and scooping up a fistful of snow.

"What are you…" Marley trails off as her eyes widen at Ryder. She takes a slow, cautious step away from him, but Ryder only grins widely at her, wriggling his eyebrows as he steps closer. "Ryder Lynn, don't you dare!" she says, but she's completely taken by surprise as he pulls her into his chest, and dumps the snow in his hand inside the back of her coat. Marley squeals loudly as the cold snow slides down her back, making her shiver. "Oh, you are so dead, Ryder!" she tells him as she leans down and scoops up a handful of snow in her glove-clad hands.

Ryder laughs, but backs away quickly with his hands raised in surrender. "You'll have to catch me first." With that, he turns quickly and sprints down the street. Marley runs after him, balling up the snow in her hand and raising her arm, ready to throw it at him. However, before she could launch the snowball at him, Ryder slips on a bit of ice, and lands on his back with a thud.

"Oh my God!" Marley squeaks, dropping the snowball at once and halting beside him before dropping to her knees. "Are you okay?"

Ryder half-groans and half-laughs, making him sound like he's either shivering or dying, and scaring Marley half to death.

"Oh my God, your parents let me join you guys and now I've almost killed their son!" she panics, lifting Ryder's head and placing it on her lap. "Ryder—,"

"Marley, I'm fine." Ryder tells her through a pained laugh, though he doesn't make a move to sit up. Marley heaves a sigh of relief.

"Are you sure? You might've shattered your tailbone, or your skull, or your—,"

"Marley, relax." Ryder says, bringing one of his hands up and closing it over Marley's mouth to keep her from talking. "I slipped on ice, and I'm sure I'll live."

Marley nods and Ryder removes his hand from her face. "Well… it serves you right for shoving ice down the back of my coat." She jokes, making Ryder laugh again. She just kneels there, with his head on her lap, and her fingers slowly running through his hair as she stares at his face, getting lost in the chocolate brown pools that are his eyes. "I'm glad you invited me." She tells him honestly.

"Me too." Ryder replies, but it's almost a whisper. "I'm glad you agreed to come… and like I always say," he begins, and Marley rolls her eyes at him though she's already smiling, ready to hear whatever weird, unrelated quote he was going to say incorrectly yet again. "'If you care about someone, set everything free, except her'."

Marley chuckles, because like she thought, he said another quote wrong again. "Actually, it's 'If you care about someone, set them free'."

Ryder blinks at her, his eyes taking on a serious look. "I think I like my quote better." He smiles in a way that tells her that he really means it, and Marley can't help but smile back at him.

"I think I like yours better too." She admits. She thinks he might be talking about her. About setting everything free except for her. He wants to keep her.

And if she's honest, she wants what he wants too. She wants to be free of everything, but him.

-RM-

…

Author's Note: So the next part of chapter two, and the final chapter of the story, will be up in just a couple of hours, so don't worry. It won't even be a whole day. I want this to be done by Christmas Day. Hope you all liked this chapter. Please, REVIEW and let me know what you think!

-Sux2budude