Cute Ryley moments alert! :)

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

One problem done, another one left.

Ryder has a smile on his face as he finds Marley in her History class, sitting alone, reading silently. He knocks on the door and she stands up.

"Hey, you're alone in here?" Ryder asks.

Marley rubs her frail-looking hands together. "I wanted to be alone," she tells him. "Usually Jake is with me."

"Well, good, because I kind of need you to be alone for this," Ryder says, putting his backpack down on a table. He looks at Marley seriously. "Marley, I know what's going on with you and Jake."

Marley's heart does a somersault. "You do?" she asks. "But… how?"

"Jake told Puck all about it. I guess he had to tell someone. Puck kind of came up to my house yesterday and demanded an apology." Ryder shrugs. "When I said I didn't get what he meant, he explained it all to me."

Marley's face falls. "So… you know," she says quietly. "You must… really hate me right now."

"I don't hate you," Ryder says honestly. "I told you I never will, right?"

"But I played with your feelings," Marley reminds him. "Left you because you missed out on one date, didn't stop you from kissing me, and now you know that I've been… writing things about you." She hangs her head down. "All these while I was Jake's girlfriend."

Ryder shrugs. "Look, you knew that both Jake and I had feelings for you. You had a choice, and you made your decision." He says. "There's nothing I can say to that. I've got to learn to accept that, and I'm learning, Marley. I really am."

"I could have been a better girlfriend," she says miserably. "Or a better friend, to you. I've kind of messed both you and Jake up, haven't I?"

Ryder chuckles. "Nah, we're both already messed up anyway," he says.

"What if I made the wrong choice?" Marley speaks out the fear she has kept inside of her. "What if I made the wrong decision?"

Ryder steps forward then, and looks her in the eye. "Marley," he says. Even hearing him say her name calms her down. "Do you feel miserable right now, hurting Jake, knowing that he might hate you?"

Marley doesn't even take a second to answer. "Yes," she nods. "Yes, I feel awful."

"Do you feel lonely?"

"Yes," Marley whispers, finally admitting to herself that she does. "Yes, I do."

"Do you miss Jake?"

"I do," she closes her eyes. "I somehow do. I really do."

Ryder backs off. "You've made the right choice." He says. He smiles, but it's tinted with sadness. It kills Marley to see that sad smile on him. She wants to say something to make him feel better, something like, but I miss you too, and I miss you whenever you're not around me, but she figures it will only make matters worse.

"I'm not going to hide the fact that I'm still not completely over you," he says, reaching for his backpack. "But Marley, you've chosen Jake. Maybe you're still a little confused right now on how you feel, but I think you've always known what your heart wants. I'll try to accept it as best I can, but Marley," he rummages in his backpack for something. "Never forget that you'll always be my friend."

He pulls out a tiny blue box from his backpack, and gives it to Marley. Surprised, Marley takes it from him and opens it gingerly. Inside is a small pin in the form of a white dove. She picks it up, marveling its beauty. "A dove pin?" she asks.

"I know I'm cheesy, but I was inspired by that Home Alone movie," Ryder says, smirking. He pulls out a similar dove pin from his jacket pocket. "I have one too. You've seen the movie, right? You know what this means?"

Marley nods. She knows, but she wants to hear it come out of Ryder's mouth.

"It means that as long as I have this dove, and as long as you have your dove, we'll remain friends." Ryder smiles. "You'll always have my love, Marley. I don't know what might happen to us in the future, but just remember, I'll be here for you, whenever you need me. You can always count on me." He raises the dove pin. "Deal?"

Marley smiles up at him, grateful for having such a wonderful friend around. "Deal," she says. "Thank you, Ryder. You really are a true friend."

Ryder winks as he takes his backpack off the table. "I hope you'll work things out with Jake soon," he says earnestly. "You look happy when you're with him. As long as you're happy… I'm happy."

At that moment, Marley has the urge to tell him everything. To tell him how she has been feeling these last few weeks. How her heart has raced whenever she sees him; how she is jealous whenever he's with Gina; how she feels happiest when she's around him. She wants to tell him that she needs him, that she wants to be with him, too.

But after her big fight with Jake, after being ignored and abandoned by him, Marley has suffered some kind of loss, too. Ryder was right; she has been feeling lonely without Jake by her side. She has missed him terribly. This separation has truly made her realize how much she loves Jake.

But what about Ryder? What about the scraps of her feelings for him? What if Ryder was wrong? What if she had made the wrong choice?

Clutching the precious dove pin to her chest, Marley Rose finally makes a decision.

Oo-oooh, who do you think Marley will choose? You Ryley and Jarley shippers… hahaha… their love triangle seriously kills me.