"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye."

- H. Jackson Brown Jr. –

"So tell me why this even matters?" Ryder asked after he finished gluing the last letter to 'Cinco De Mayo'. Upon hearing her sigh, he looked up and smiled at her for a couple seconds. It was making her uncomfortable but she continued to cut out a box surrounding information about how businesses 'Americanized' the date and spun it to mean something it wasn't.

"Because it'll boost your grade." She responded simply as she handed him the little slip of paper. "That's all that matters."

He chuckled a little before focusing his attention on gluing the paper down in the spot Marley said would look best. She watched as he scrunched his eyebrows and stuck his tongue out. It made her heart flutter when he smiled afterwards like a little kid who had just scored his first goal. Smiling, she shook her head as he looked up and caught her staring.

"I'm not so sure the Mexicans would appreciate that, Miss Rose." Ryder said, reminding her of what they were doing before she had gotten distracted. She rolled her eyes and playfully nudged him before she looked at the time. It had only felt like they had been working for a little over twenty minutes but in reality 3 hours had gone by. She looked over at the poster and disappointment overtook her when she noticed that all that needed to be added was Ryder's name.

"I'll be sure to apologize to them later." She mumbled in response, looking up at him with a smile on her face. "I promise."

He chuckled a little and looked down at the poster. "Thanks again for helping me. This would have taken me all night if it weren't for you. I owe you."

"I'm happy to help." Marley responded as she stood up even though she wanted to argue. He didn't owe her anything and she wondered how long it'd take him to realize that. "The glue is going to take a while to dry so if you want, I can just bring it in tomorrow."

He nodded his head and smiled. Without another word, he stood up and grabbed his backpack and started walking towards the door. She watched as he reached out to turn the knob and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to reach out to him.

"Wait." She called a little too loudly, shutting her eyes forcefully as she realized how desperate that must have sounded. "I uh… I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to help me with a song to sing in Glee on Friday?"

He sighed and smiled a little, but she could tell from his eyes that his smile was fake. "You don't have to do this Marley. I'm sure Jake is already pissed at you for hanging out with me today."

"He's not." She answered a little too quickly, shaking her head to further prove her point. His eyes searched hers and she felt more vulnerable in that moment than she had at any other point in her life. "I just figured since you're here… or if you don't want to, we could just watch TV or something."

"Marley…" He breathed out and she felt her eyes starting to water. She wasn't even sure why. It was just Ryder. And he was just going home. But for some reason, the thought of him leaving scared her. If he left now, would he ever really come back?

"I just miss you, Ryder." She mumbled after a few seconds. It appeared to have caught his attention because within seconds his backpack was on the floor again.

Chuckling, he shook his head. "You're joking, right? I mean you have to be kidding."

She wasn't sure why he thought this was funny. In fact, the fact that he was able to chuckle about this just made her angry. How could he act like this wasn't completely devastating? She missed him as a friend; how is that something to laugh at? It wasn't.

"I never went anywhere, Marls." He mumbled as he sat back down on the couch next to her. "You were there last week, weren't you? When I told you it was for real?" She nodded and licked her lips, suddenly feeling awkward being here with Ryder after what happened. Now, she just wanted him to leave. Jake already admitted he didn't trust her. She had no intention of making it worse. "I wasn't lying and if you want me to just be your friend, that's what I'll be because it was for real."

Biting her bottom lip, Marley stood up and ran a hand through her hair instantly feeling bad when he sighed. She turned towards him and saw his head was in his hands. "Don't- just don't say that."

"I'm just telling the truth, Marley." He grumbled as he looked up at her. "I just… I thought that since you came to my locker that maybe you... I don't know… I just thought that maybe you felt the same way."

"Well I didn't." She snapped as she stood in front of him, her eyes narrowed in his direction. How dare he bring all of this up now? She was risking everything with Jake to hang out with him as friends and he brings up everything she hated thinking about? "…and I still don't."

"I know that now." Something about the way he said it made Marley's heart break more than it already had. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I just wanted you to know that I'm not going to stop talking to you just because you don't like me like I like you. I don't want to lose you as a friend."

Biting her lip, she looked down at him staring up at her with a look of pure innocence in his eyes. He truly was like a little puppy and yelling at him just didn't feel right. Besides, it had been her fault. In some ways she assumed that maybe Jake hitting her was exactly what she deserved. He promised to never do it again and she trusted that. She trusted him even if he could never learn to trust her the same way he had before Valentine's Day.

"Are we ever going to be the way we were before?" She asked quietly as she sat down on the couch next to him again. It made her shiver the way their shoulders brushed up against each other, but she eventually relaxed and turned to face him. He was already looking at her by that time.

He smiled and nodded his head. "I hope so."

Marley reached forward and grabbed the remote from the table before flicking it on. After a short debate over which show was better, they decided on 'Friends'. Quite honestly, if he wanted to watch anything else she would have agreed because just having him next to her was reason enough to make her happy.

"You never told me what happened to your face." Ryder mentioned as he threw some more pieces of popcorn into his mouth. He had bought a bag at lunch but hadn't eaten it and now seemed as good a time as any.

"I dropped my phone on my face when I was texting Jake last night." She responded, feeling proud of herself for finding the perfect excuse. Ryder chuckled and she instantly let herself relax. Lying to Ryder wasn't easy but Jake apologized and he meant it. If Ryder found out he'd only freak out and Jake didn't deserve that.

"So he really isn't mad that I'm here?" Ryder asked suddenly as the thought popped into his head.

"Nope." Marley mumbled before smiling a little bit. "But only because he doesn't know you're here."

Ryder laughed a little and shook his head. "Rebel Marley. I like it."

As the words left his mouth her heart fluttered in a way that only happened with Jake on occasion. It seemed that everything Ryder Lynn did made her heart race. She wasn't sure why and she certainly didn't care for it at all. Didn't her heart realize that her boyfriend was the one who was supposed to have that effect on her?

But Ryder Lynn was different and she wasn't sure why.

X X X

Yay! Finally a Ryley-centered chapter! Woo. Thanks so very much for the comments, favorites, and follows. It means the world to me that you guys care enough to read this, let alone comment. You guys are truly amazing. I hope this chapter didn't disappoint.

Thanks again and please keep reviewing! Let me know what you think. :)