Imagine your otp when Person A finds out an embarrassing fear of Person B's. While trying to hold back their giggles, Person A assures Person B that they don't think any less of them.

Marley pecked Ryder's cheek as she went to sit down at the dinner table, holding her plate full of pasta tightly to make sure she didn't drop it like she had the other night – it had gone all over the floor and stained the tiles… Ryder had to help her clean it up because Marley couldn't reach the whole spill, that's how big it was.

"Ugh, this is awesome." Ryder whispered, twirling some pasta around his fork and putting it hastily in his mouth, getting sauce all around it. Marley giggled and reached forward, wiping the sauce on his face with her thumb. "Thanks." He nodded, winking at Marley, looking down at the pasta again.

"You're welcome, hun." Marley whispered, tapping her fork against her plate and watching Ryder gobble down his pasta like he hadn't eaten in years.

They were silent while they ate, the only noise the clinking of their forks and the sound of their glasses hitting the table after taking a big drink. Marley loved when their dinners were like this – quiet and peaceful, with Ryder enjoying his food. That meant he was happy, and seeing Ryder anything but happy broke her heart.

She looked up from her half-finished plate and looked to Ryder, who had only two more spoonfuls of pasta left on his plate. Marley laughed at him and reached forward, taking some pasta off of his plate. "Oi, you've got your own." Ryder chuckled, raising an eyebrow at her. Marley shrugged and ate the pasta anyway, smiling sweetly at Ryder. Ryder shook his head and looked down at his pasta again, taking another mouthful and chewing slowly.

"Hey, Ryder," Marley said suddenly, becoming curious. "Do you have any phobias?" She was curious – they'd been married for almost two years now and they'd never really talked about their fears with each other. They'd pretty much avoided the subject. She wasn't sure why she was so interested now and she hadn't waited for later to ask him.

Ryder swallowed the pasta in his mouth and looked as his plate like he was ashamed, the front of his hair falling in front of his face. "Yeah…"

"What of?" Marley lowered her voice to a whisper and ducked her head, trying to look Ryder in the eyes. She stared at him and he looked away from her, over to the kitchen. He was actually ashamed of telling her, wasn't he?

"N-nothing, Mar." He whispered, standing up and taking his plate to the sink, a few strands of pasta still there. It wasn't like Ryder not to finish his meal.

"No, come on! I wanna know what you're scared of – I mean, we've been together for ages and we have not talked about our fears, Ryder!" Marley shouted, dropping her fork. Ryder sighed and walked back to the table and taking his seat again.

"Mar, can we not talk about it, please? It's embarrassing." Ryder muttered, studying his fingers on the table. He took a deep breath before breathing out a long, shaky one. He truly was scared he'd have to talk about it.

"I'm afraid of snakes, Ryder. There, happy? I admitted my fear, you can admit yours." Marley said quickly, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning against the chair, quickly forgetting the meal in front of her.

"No." Ryder snapped, avoiding looking at Marley in the eyes. Marley studied his face carefully and realized he actually looked genuinely upset about it. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Ryd, please." Marley's voice softened as she leaned forward and touched Ryder's arm lightly, trying to coax it out of him. "I'll always love you the same amount and I won't judge you, I swear." She smiled at him and shook his shoulder lightly.

"Fine!" Ryder shouted, pulling his hands back and putting them by his sides. He stared Marley dead in the eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid of balloons, okay?"

Marley had to hold back a laugh. She snorted in the process and quickly put her hand over her mouth, trying to hide her smile. "Sorry." She laughed, shaking her head.

She looked up at Ryder to find him staring at her, hurt, almost crying. Her smile quickly faded and she reached forward to grab his hand. "Ryder…" he whispered, frowning right at him. He snatched his hand from under her grip and looked away, about to let his tears fall. This had taken all of his guts to reveal and now Marley was laughing at him for it.

"You were serious? Oh, my God, I'm so sorry." Marley whispered, leaning to move closer to Ryder. Ryder sighed and shuffled a little bit further away from her. He wanted to accept her apology, but he was too hurt to. That stupid fear of balloons (or globophobia) had pretty much made him miss out on every single one of his friend's parties and his own parties because there were balloons. "I didn't know you were serious about that, oh my God."

"It's fine." Ryder whispered, shaking his head at Marley and looking down at the table cloth.

"No, Ryd, seriously. I'm sorry." Marley whispered, touching his hand lightly, trying to apologies. She felt so bad – she honestly thought Ryder was kidding. Because, seriously? Balloons? That didn't seem like something to be afraid of – they were just rubber sacks of air.

"It's fine, Marley. It's a common reaction." Ryder didn't actually know – he hadn't told anyone about his phobia. His parents knew, of course, but he didn't have to tell them. He kind of just screamed when he touched the balloon by accident and they just knew.

"But, Ryder-"

"No, Mar. There's no need to apologies, alright?" He finally looked up at her and smiled slightly, trying to tell her he was fine… although he actually wasn't too fine, he had to show he was. He was so ashamed, though.

Marley sadly nodded and leaned across the table, resting her head on Ryder's shoulder. "What's so scary about balloons? Is it the popping?" She asked quietly. Ryder shook his head.

"No… I don't know what it is – it's just everything in general. The feel, the look…" Ryder shuddered and began wiping his fingers on the table top, trying to get rid of the feel on his fingers.

Marley nodded but stayed silent, biting at her lip. "Is that why you didn't want any balloons at the wedding?" She asked in a whisper, reaching to find Ryder's hand. Ryder squeezed it and nodded. "And at your 21st? You insisted on organizing it to make sure there were no balloons, right?"

"Yep." Ryder whispered, stroking Marley's hair softly and kissing her forehead.

"Ryder, I'm sorry for laughing… and remember – I still love you lots and lots. Always." She whispered, sitting up and kissing his cheek softly.

"Thanks for laughing at my phobia, Marls." Ryder joked, a smile on his face. She smiled and winked in his direction, giving his hand another tight squeeze.

"It's alright." Marley smiled. Somehow, this had made them closer than before.

Fun story: I have globophobia, haha. I just wanted to base Ryder's phobia over something I knew and something that was slightly different to normal phobias like snakes or spiders. And honestly, Marley's responses are what I get a lot!

Thanks for reading and review, perhaps? :) xx