Hello my lovelies!

Sorry for updating late, but hey I still kept my "I'll upload today or tomorrow" promise

So thanks for reading on, it means a lot to me that you do. So in this chapter Ryder and Marley are going to have a verbal fight so I'm sorry if it hurts your feels. BTW this is set at like 7 or 8 at night and Bennie and Meredith overhear. (you need to know that for next chapter)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ryder, Marley, Kitty, Bree, Jake etc. But I do own Bennie and Meredith (even though I was inspired by Speechless by Hannah Harrington

Ryder's POV

I was more than surprised when Marley asked if she could walk with me. I thought she hated me, which would be perfectly understandable with what happened between us. But the way she has been skirting around me like I have the black plague is really depressing.

When I walked into Rosie's I wasn't expecting Marley to be working there. I didn't expect anyone to really know about it, you know, considering the ginormous mob of teenagers that literally 'flocked' to The Lima Bean. So I decided to test my luck and go to Rosie's. It was a little later than I expected it to be when I got there. I got lost on the way there and my mom called to check in on me, worried that I wouldn't fit in at school.

The bell rang as I walked into Rosie's and standing there was Marley. Her hair was up for a change and she looked like she did in 7th grade. Her hair was still up now as we walked, the breeze blew a couple of her hairs back and I couldn't focus on anything but her.

Why had she asked me to walk with her?

"So, how was Miami?" her melodious voice rang out from beside me. Really? That's what she wanted to talk about?

"Seriously?!" I cried. I didn't exactly mean for it to come out as harsh as it did but I couldn't stop it now. "You have been ignoring me all freaking day! And didn't even except my apology! But now you wanna talk? And out of all things it's about Miami," I screamed louder.

Her eyes fell and for a second she was silent. But then I noticed her body tense up, she was getting mad. I wasn't sure how that would go, she was never mad especially not at me. So I waited for her to talk.

"Are you kidding me! You of all people are telling me that I should be sorry!" she looked like she was on the edge of tears.

"I didn't say that I-"

She cut me off. "It was freaking implied! Don't give me that I'm-so-sorry look. Because I'm not buying it!" Marley was filled with anger. More anger then I realized was possible.

She was angry at me, because I was mad at her and I should be. She blew me off the whole day but if I was honest she had a right.

"Marley I'm-" she cut me off again. Man, was that annoying.

"You didn't call" her voice fell to a whisper. I finally looked up. Her bright blue eyes, now a dull grey. The small fight in her voice gone.

"What?"

"You didn't call, or text, or e-mail, or send me a postcard!" her voice getting louder and louder until she was shouting louder than before. "You're my best friend Ryder, I at least expected a postcard! But nooooo, I got ignored, time after time, after freaking time!" she paused for a second to catch her breath. "Damn it Ryder! Answer me!"

Her swearing brought me back to Earth. She never did. Only when she was serious, which I could guess she was. But I was mad too, and she wasn't just gonna get off the hook that easily. I knew she was upset, but she needed my side of the story.

"Wow! Blame this on me! Blame this whole frickin thing on me, that's fine! Have you ever wondered about my side of the story?" I screamed back, she looked astonished but then her eyes turned cold and her ever-present glare was back waiting for me to continue. "This wasn't as easy for me as you portray it to be! My mom changed my number! My mom stopped me from having contact with you! And you honestly think it was my idea!? Wow, no wonder your dad left you," I scoffed and watched her. The tears fell and I realized what I just said. I started to apologize but she ran away.

I was an idiot. That was her weak spot, her parents. She would defend her mom from bullies fearlessly but the moment you brought up her dad she broke, she either would make you regret you had ever mentioned her dad, or she would collapse on the floor crying. And I sadly, got the latter.

PAGE BREAK!

Marley hadn't talked to me in two months. It was worse than Miami. In Miami, she was miles and miles away, but here in Lima? She was next to me for 7 hours for 5 days of the week.

I couldn't even go back to Rosie's. Bennie and Meredith wouldn't let me, every time I walked in they would serve me, but always with cold looks and reluctant niceness. Marley was never there, and if she was there she would run to the back without a second thought. Eventually, I stopped going but our status hadn't changed.

She would talk to Unique, Kitty, Jake and Bree while I would hang out by myself. Kitty would occasionally give me cold glares but I pretended not to notice.

One day, this Asian girl and guy in a wheel chair came up to me while I was at my locker. I had just finished talking to a teacher named Mr. Schue who asked me to join Glee club since they were down a member. I agreed since I loved to sing.

"Are you one of the sophomores who's joining Glee?" the Asian questioned me.

"There's more than one person?" I questioned back not really focusing on her previous question.

"Yeah, this girl named Marley. Really good vocals, and a couple other kids," The wheel chair kid said.

"Answer the question," the Asian girl demanded.

"Yes, I'm joining," I said cautiously.

"Great! The meeting is later today, I hope you can make it!" the girl blew a kiss and the wheel chair guy apologized on her behalf and rolled away.

Later in the day when I got to glee club I saw that a lot of people that I knew: Unique, Jake, Kitty and…Marley, who was glaring at me.

As the meeting progressed we discussed songs from the 80s that would be cool to do.

"What about Time after time, by Cyndi Lauper," I suggested. It was a girly song but I thought the girls could do it and the guys could sing something else.

"And he speaks," the guy I think was named Sam said. "I like the idea, but a little girly for my taste, sorry dude," he replied.

"Then, the girls can sing it and the guys can sing a different song," I suggested. Everyone mumbled an okay and Mr. Shue just nodded his head, giving a silent approval.

"Ooh! Ooh," cried Tina. "Ryder and Marley should duet it!"

I understood where she was coming from since Mr. Schue and the rest of the glee club were raving over our performances, but Marley and I weren't really on good terms. That's why when she quietly agreed, I was pretty sure my jaw hit the floor. I discreetly looked at her for confirmation, and she nodded with a small smile.

"Hey," I said shyly as everyone was packing up. Marley was packing up too and she jumped a little when she heard my voice. "Sorry, it's just me Ryder."

Her head turned to meet my eyes and she gave me a small smile with another quiet 'hey'. She looked at me for a second as if to study and observe me then she spoke. "Do you wanna go to Rosie's with me?"

"Are you sure? Last time anything happened at Rosie's or in the surrounding area, we stopped talking," I stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

She laughed softly, and gave me an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, I didn't think my emotions would just explode like that especially in that proportion." Marley looked down again, ashamed. I laughed and she looked at me like I had just turned into superman.

"You're sorry? I'm the one who hit a weak spot. A weak spot I already knew of, that was really uncool of me, and I should be the one apologizing," I admitted. She looked at me expecting my apology, which I happily gave her. "and I'm sorry"

She smiled and grabbed my hand, her small one incased in my large one. "Come on, I'm gonna be late for my shift," she replied. For being so small, she was incredibly strong and she pulled me without hesitation through the halls and down the street until we were farther away from most of the students.

As we slowed down I could hear her panting from running. I turned around to get my unopened water bottle and silently offered it to her. Marley took it without pausing and chugged the whole thing in seconds, it was really impressing. She took of her light kimono that was over her navy dress and stuffed it in her bag just seconds before we walked through the door at Rosie's.

Bennie and Meredith paused upon seeing my presence, but they welcomed me once Marley had explained that we were friends again. Meredith gave me a wary look but she smiled and shook my hand once she noticed my uncomfortableness. Bennie on the other hand still held a strong glare at me as the two ladies made their way to greet the customers.

"Look kid," Bennie said when they were out of ear shot. "Marley is basically my little sister. I know what happened between you two, you moving and then coming back, hell I even overheard the fight you had two months ago. That 'dad' insult, really low move" he informed me with a stern tone. I was about to respond when he kept talking. "But, I know that in order for you guys to be friends you needed to have that fight so I'm giving you two more chances. Three strikes, you're out. Do I make myself clear?"

I nodded quickly and Bennie turned away into the kitchen just as Marley made her way over to me. "Sorry, about him. He's a little overprotective of me, but we're friends now so we're cool. I promise," she reassured me. I smiled at her and took her tray of glasses to the kitchen while she took the order of the customers who just came in.

Later, once her shift was over and Bennie and Meredith went home to their house by the corner, Marley and I sat down and enjoyed some chicken tenders with fries and ketchup. And we talked. Something that we haven't done in a long time.

"Wanna play 20 questions?" I queried. She beamed and nodded fervently as she scooted closer to the table, and me.

"You ask first," she motioned.

"Okay, are you friends with Kitty?" I questioned her.

"Yeah, we're on good terms. She teases me constantly about….people," Marley paused and blushed before continuing. "But Kitty, Bree and I are trying to set Bree up with Jake so we spend a lot of time together."

I wondered if by people she meant me, but I didn't ask her because first of all it wasn't my turn and second she obviously wouldn't tell me.

"Okay," she started, snapping me back to reality and out of my thoughts. "How's your mom?"

I was shocked, but I probably shouldn't have been. My mom really liked Marley and was really close to her, which made it even weirder how she didn't let me talk to Marley at all when I was in Miami. But how actually was my mom? I hadn't really talked to her in a while.

"She's okay I guess." I admitted. Marley looked at me puzzled so I continued. "I mean, she's happy in the morning when she makes me breakfast and stuff but whenever she comes home she looks so worn out. Plus, I don't see her a lot due to her new job. She's like the new kid so she gets all the crap hours," I explained.

Marley looked at me apologetically but before she could pity me I asked her another question.

This went on for hours until before we knew it, it was 10:30. I offered to walk her home since Lima isn't exactly the safest place at night and she agreed.

"This might be a little weird." I addressed. Marley gave me a look but I just chuckled and continued. "Do you still believe in soulmates?"

Marley looked down at the concrete sidewalk and gave a small sigh. She was quiet for a few moments before she answered my question. "No," she mumbled.

"Wait, what did you say?" I questioned her. I heard her before but didn't want to really believe it. How did I believe in soulmates but Marley, the girl who talked about them non-stop in third grade, not?

"No," Marley repeated in a louder and more assured tone, before she took a deep breath. "I don't believe in soulmates"

Okay, so kinda weird way to end the chapter but YAY! For semi-long chapters! Woot!

Anyway, again thanks for reading and hopefully you liked the longer-ish chapter.

Oh and go check out Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper, I love it. It's old but it was in the movie Strictly Ballroom so my mom loves it too.

Goodbye, Lovelies!