Pairings: Marley x ? and Finchel… too many pairings to be listed right here.

Timeline: ten years from the current season

Warnings: Some confusion until later revealed the pairing, mild cursing and some sexual references

Genres: Romance/ Drama

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee

Authors Note: So finally, the father is revealed in this chapter! Be warned, I did give very small/subtle hints towards who the father was. I honestly hope it totally blows your mind haha. So enjoy.

XXX

Two years pass significantly when you run away from your problems and get a bunch of jobs that she couldn't keep up with. However, this time, she was treating herself. She took her ancient car and braved the highway to Columbus. She was going to do some shopping. All of her bills were paid—and on time, and she had some money left to spend.

Marley hasn't walked into a gigantic shopping center in years. Whenever she went as a child, it was just to get some cheap clothes and never to look. Today was all about perusing.

Clumps of teenage boys huddled in front of the game store, gaggles of girls wandered in and out of a lingerie store. Marley paused, the neon pink letters glaring down at her. After a few moments of procrastination, she was in and out, brandishing the hot pink bag holding her delicates.

Some new blouses would be nice…

Ten stores and four bags later, Marley was relaxing in a Starbucks. It was nice to just sit and relax. Sipping her iced peppermint mocha, Marley watches as people order coffee and chat about their daily lives.

"Weren't you from McKinley?" a low voice asks from above her. Marley was so absorbed in looking at her drink, that she didn't notice him hovering near her for several minutes. She knows who he is instantly.

"Yes," she says, rudely. He arches a brow, sipping his latte. He gestures to the seat opposite of her and when she makes no motion to object, he slides into the spot.

"Ah yes, you're the girl who fainted during Sectionals," he comments, and Marley's cheeks flare.

"So what?" she drinks from her mocha, wishing the Earth would swallow her up whole.

He chuckles, holding out his hand in a white flag gesture, "I didn't mean it like that. That was simply a fact I know about you."

Marley doesn't say anything, turning her complete attention to her mocha. His dark green eyes flicker, watching her. Peering up at him through her lashes, she admits that he is quite attractive.

"And you used performance enhancers at Sectionals which gave us the win," she reminds him, and he tips of his imaginary hat to her.

"By default," he corrects, smirking. Marley fights the urge to smack him. He's bringing out the worst in her.

Marley picks up her plastic container and swirls the contents, "You're insufferable."

His smirk grows, "We've already established that, point for point. I'm starting to wonder why I hated all New Directioners."

"You hate us because we're smarter than you," she replies, tracing the pattern on the plastic. She's having a hard time believing it. She's having coffee with someone she considered an enemy. Running into him, though, shouldn't have been a surprise. Westerville was right beside Columbus.

His lip twitches and is quiet for a few moments. This is such a ludicrous situation. For as long as Marley lived, she never planned on having a conversation with him of all people.

"You were impressive in your duet with Blaine Warbler at Regionals." His compliment startles her. She's unsure of how to respond.

"You as well, in your performance at Sectionals." There, that sounded good enough.

"Which one?" His tone, albeit cocky, isn't as off putting as it was before. Marley rolls her eyes. "Why did you quit?"

Marley blinks, at first not comprehending what he asked her. "Because I lost us Sectionals and Nationals."

He tsks, "That's no reason to quit." That was it of his admonition. He stands, crumpling his coffee container, his latte long gone. He smiles at her, unnoticeably at that instant leaving a piece of paper on the table, scribbled with his number. "Was nice to see you, Miss Rose."

He turns to leave and she blurts, "Wait!" He waits. "I don't even know your last name but you know mine."

With his head tilted back, a smaller smile wavering on his lips, he says:

"Clarington."

XXX

Marley's gaze flickered from the face of her husband to that of everyone in the former glee club.

Blaine was the first to speak, "You married Hunter Clarington?" It was as if a bomb went off in the auditorium. Everyone was speaking at once, yelling louder and louder. Jake eyed her like she'd lost her mind and Alyssa was off and running to Hunter's side.

Marley stayed frozen in place, determined to play invisible. She never wanted them to find out, not because she was ashamed, but because they would act like this. She knew it was a mistake to even come here, to bring Alyssa.

The only reason she did bring Alyssa was because she wanted to meet Marley's old friends so badly. She was relentless. So she came. And Hunter was there because he refused to let her drive to Lima by herself, and he promised he would stay at the Lima bean. Alyssa must have texted him to come.

"Marley?" Tina asks, drawing her from her stillness. She can tell already they want an explanation. She waves for Hunter to join her, and he does, amused, bringing Alyssa with him.

When he's next to her, she begins, "I was out shopping one day eight or so years ago and I went to Starbucks for some downtime. At the time, I was visiting a huge shopping center in Columbus. And Hunter appeared out of nowhere and asked if he could sit with him. Admittedly, I wasn't sure why I let him. We had a surprisingly pleasant conversation. After he left, I noticed a slip of paper and it had his phone number on it. It just kind of happened from there, like a domino effect. Alyssa was born and just a few weeks before I got Mr. Schue's invite, we got married."

"That still doesn't explain a lot of things, Marley," Tina says, frowning. "How did you know where Kitty and Ryder live? Unique even? How could they never find out who you married?" Tina's eyes narrowed. "And what about his parents?"

"Kitty and Ryder live forty five minutes from us. I was invited to their wedding and I didn't bring Hunter. He never came up in our discussions until I brought Alyssa and Unique lives even closer. She had a feeling but she was never invited over unless Hunter wasn't there." Marley wrung her wrists, feeling awful. "I never meant to lie to anyone, I just wasn't allowed to tell anyone."

"Why, because Hunter's a controlling asshole?" Jake remarks snidely. He crosses his arms, huffing when he's giving disapproving looks from most of the adults in the room.

"I can explain," Hunter says. Everyone turns to him, shocked. He casually slings his arm over Marley's shoulders. "When my parents found out about Marls poor status, they threatened to disown me. They refused to let me see her, which is ridiculous considering we're adults. Once I told them she was pregnant, however, they conditioned to let me stay with her as long as we kept it a secret and never married. My parents may be strict at times, but they wouldn't separate a father from his child. For the past few years, we've been slowly convincing my parents to let us marry." He scratches the back of his head. "It may seem like a stupid thing to want to stay in my parents' good graces, money and all, but it's not about the money. They have control over our lives and can ruin us."

"Way to drag her into your shit, man," Jake says, rubbing his jaw.

More disapproving glares but Jake just glares at Hunter. Finally, he sighs, "Whatever."

"This is so complicated," Kurt squeals despite himself. "But it makes for the perfect soap opera."

Santana gasps, composing herself quickly, "I'll write my own soap opera based on this." She smirks. "Santana the great."

And they all laugh. Marley leans heavily against Hunter, relieved it's all over. Well not entirely, but enough for people to not care as much.

"So, what else have you all done in ten years?" Marley asks, smiling.

The story telling continues on, late into the night.

So… Did anyone expect it to be Hunter? Surprise surprise haha. I gave some subtle hints, too. Marley living outside of Columbus, near Westerville. Alyssa's green eyes. The disapproving grandparents. I'm not sure if that even makes sense to anyone but me. Sorry about the ending, I wasn't sure how exactly to end it… I realise Jake's reaction should have been a little stronger, yet, I like how he just deflated and accepted what happened. I think that's the type of man he will be. Anyways… Thank you for reading!

~Emerald~