Hello my lovely readers. I am back with chapter twenty four, the second from last chapter of this story. I have a feeling that most of you will hate me over this chapter. Well… come what may, but… here's chapter twenty four. Enjoy! *grin*

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Marley knows she will find Jake in the football field, hanging by the bleachers, with a can of soda and his guitar next to him. She knows that he's still furious at her, and that he would probably be cruel to her, but she has to try. She has to talk to him.

"It's cold outside," Marley says, catching Jake's attention. She sits next to him, but he moves further away immediately.

"You shouldn't have come outside then," he tells her coldly.

She decides to get straight to the point. "I'm not here to argue with you," she says. "I'm here to really apologize to you." She takes something out of her duffel bag. It's a light blue notebook, with flannel stars and a moon on the cover. There is a big letter "J" etched roughly on the cover. She hands it to Jake.

Jake is reluctant to take it at first, but curiosity gets the better of him. He takes the notebook from her and flips it open.

Plastered inside are pictures of him – him in his favorite leather jacket, him on the opening night of Grease, him on their first date, him with his silly superhero costume, him in his Sectionals uniform, him with his arm wrapped around Marley's neck, him kissing her on the cheek…

There are dates, too. Dates and captions scribbled down underneath the pictures. There are pages filled with Marley's handwriting about him. The nice things, the sweet things. The things he remembers he had ever told her and done for her.

"I've been making one for you too," Marley says with an uncomfortable shrug. "Both that notebook and the pink one has always been in my drawer."

Jake reads a little of Marley's handwriting before tossing the notebook aside. "You could have made it up recently," he says, although he looks a little less angry than before. "Slap some pictures of me in there, write some good stuff, fake the dates. I won't remember, anyway."

Marley shakes her head. She picks up the fallen notebook and points out a page to him. "Remember that day we were slushied, and some of the slushies got into my bag?" she asks. She points to a red stain on some of the papers of the notebook. "This notebook was in that bag. I had written something on it earlier."

Jake stares at the red blotch, thoughtful. He seems indecisive; he doesn't know what he should do now.

"I didn't just make this in one day, Jake," she says. "You were right. I was wrong to have made up that notebook about Ryder. I was your girlfriend, and I had made my choice."

"You don't have to stick to that choice now, do you?" Jake asks grumpily.

"I burned the book."

Jake turns to her, surprised. "What?"

"I burned the book." Marley repeats with a sigh. "When I realized what I had done, I felt so guilty that the only right thing to do was to destroy the book." She offers him a thin smile. "I saved the pictures, but I burned the entire notebook. I was wrong, Jake. I realize that now. And I'm sorry." She shuffles closer to him. "The days when we weren't talking," she explains, "I felt so miserable. I was lonely, and I missed you. That's when I finally realized… that it is you I have loved all along. I've made my choice, and I choose you."

Jake stares at her, speechless. He doesn't know what to feel; should he be flattered? Angry? Relieved?

"I want to be with you. I want to be a better girlfriend for you. I know what I did was wrong, and I'm terribly, honestly sorry." Marley closes her eyes. "Please, Jake. I'm asking you to forgive me. Will you please give me one more chance?"

Jake sighs as he stares deep into those beautiful, cerulean eyes. Marley looks so earnest, he doesn't have the heart to not forgive her. After all, he had missed her too. He had been feeling kind of lonely and miserable too, and no one could comfort him but her. It's her he wants, and no one else. He wants to forgive her so badly. He wants to love her again. He really does.

"I'm afraid to trust you now," he confesses. "First you said you let Ryder kiss you, then you turned out to have secret love confessions about him on a notebook. What if one day you backstab me again? How do I know you won't do it again?"

Marley bites her lip. "It's hard to trust me again, I know," she admits. "What can I do to give you a guarantee, Jake? When we first started dating, I had trouble trusting you too. But I gave it a shot. I learned how to trust you, and now look what we have become." She shrugs. "I'm asking you to do the same for me. I'm asking you to risk trusting me again, because the only way I can answer your question is by showing you, as time goes by."

She looks up at him expectantly. There is doubt swimming in his brown eyes.

"Please, Jake," she tells him. "One more chance? One more chance, and I promise I won't screw it up."

Jake holds Marley's gaze for a long moment. How beautiful those eyes are, how pure, how sweet, how lovely…

"I'm going to hate myself for this," he mumbles to himself. "One chance. That's all I'm giving you. One chance, because I'm still pathetically, deeply in love with you."

A huge grin breaks on Marley's face. She jumps up and gives Jake a hug. "I love you," she whispers in his ear. "I love you, and I'm sorry. I won't mess up again."

Jake doesn't feel anything but relief now. He wraps his arms tightly around Marley's small body, inhaling her scent, secretly thanking God that she's back with him, right here, right now. Gosh, how he loves her. How he always wants to be with her.

"I love you, Marley," he mutters, closing his eyes as he takes in the warmth of her body against his. "I love you."

Aaaand… that's it! I'm sorry Ryley shippers. I'm a Ryley shipper myself, but I want to follow the Glee storyline, and since Jake and Marley are still together in the Shooting Star episode (and all the way through the end of the season, mind you), I'll have to return Marley to Jake! Please don't hate me, but that's how I planned this story to be – to still follow the real Glee storyline. But hey, who knows what might happen to Ryley in the future seasons, right? Especially now that Blake and Melissa are dating… :)