Happy Glee day folks! So I promised I would have this chapter done by Thursday at the latest and here it is :) Thanks again for your response to the last chapter- I'm glad you're cheered up by it now! Hope you enjoy this one too!
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee!
Kitty dropped Marley off at Ryder's house, and the brunette made her way anxiously to the door, leaving footprints in the light snow that was beginning to settle on the Lynn's drive. She paused to clear her throat and take a deep breath, before ringing the bell. Within seconds, it had been enthusiastically opened, and Ryder was stood there, looking at her with an expression of happiness and disbelief.
"Marley…you're here…" was all he managed to get out, before he stood there dumbstruck, waiting for her to speak.
"Yep…I'm here," she iterated, and, before they could fall into too much of a lovesick trance, she galloped forward and threw her arms round Ryder's neck, burying her head into his chest, beginning to sob somewhat uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry!" she wailed. "I'm such an idiot!"
"No you're not, Marls," he whispered soothingly, stroking her hair with one hand, and wrapping the other round her back. "Shhh, it's ok, I'm just so glad you're here," he told her, having to bite his lip very hard to stop his own tears from falling, for Marley had made him as soft and whipped as could be over the past few weeks. "Come inside, it's freezing," Ryder suggested, and they pulled apart so that they could go properly into the house. Marley wiped her tears with her hand as Ryder closed the front door, and managed a smile.
"Nice to see you back here, Marley!" exclaimed Ryder's Father, causing them both to jump as he appeared as if out of nowhere to walk into the dining room where he was doing some work. Marley smiled back, and Mr Lynn could vaguely be heard chuckling "the highs and lows of puppy love." He had taken a great shine to Marley ever since she appeared to tutor Ryder, but especially once Ryder had finally acknowledged to him that there was something much more between them. Whilst Marley and Ryder were not yet 'official' and they had therefore not yet had a formal introduction, unlike Millie Rose, he and Ryder's mother approved of the pairing, to say the least.
"We can go in the living room," said Ryder, whilst rolling his eyes at his Dad. Marley nodded and followed him in, where they sat down on one of the posh leather sofas.
"So…what made you change your mind?" Ryder asked.
"Kitty told me everything…" she replied, and Ryder looked back in shock.
"Kitty?!" he asked, eyes widened.
"Mhmm…she stalked down my house this morning whilst hung-over to talk to me. She told me everything you told her last night…the stalker…the truth about the photo…you mumbling my name in your alcohol-induced sleep," she added with a slight giggle.
"Wait…I did that?" Ryder asked, his face turning scarlet, before shaking his head as Marley nodded with a shy smile. "Wait so she told you about the stalker? Cos I've gotta be honest, I drank so much last night I can't even remember what I told her." He confessed.
"She told me you had a 'crazy pyscho stalker'. That was all. Why didn't you tell me, Ry? That's like…a big thing!" She asked, only wondering this herself now.
"I would have Marley, I don't have anything to hide, I just…I didn't want to worry you. When Kitty said 'pyscho' she wasn't exactly exaggerating." Marley frowned, and Ryder continued. "I'll tell you now. Long story short, I started talking to this girl called Katie online over summer. She was really cool, really pretty, we had loads in common, and I wanted to meet her. But she refused, no matter how hard I persisted." Marley nodded. "Then you came along," Ryder continued. "And I realised that I shouldn't continue trying with some virtual girl just stringing me along, when I could be with someone like you for real. So, when you and I started getting close, I called the whole thing off, and she went crazy. Told me I was gonna regret it, and all that. She was the one who paid that girl to kiss me, Marls, so that she could get you away from me." Marley frowned and hummed for a minute, taking in all the outlandish information.
"So that's why you asked me if I knew a Katie," she mumbled, as the penny dropped.
"Yeah…cos she said she knew you. But then again, she said some horrible, untrue things about you, so maybe she just knew of you but not like, really 'knew' knew you, if you know what I mean." He wondered, and Marley nodded, shrugging.
"So you've never actually met her in real life?" Marley inquired, and Ryder nodded. "So, how do you know the girl who kissed you wasn't her?" She asked.
"She had dark hair. Katie has blond hair in her profile picture. Their faces were totally different too," Ryder explained.
"But how do you know the girl in the picture is Katie?" Marley asked with a raised eyebrow, and Ryder felt a chill run down his spine. He had never thought of that…he had never imagined the possibility that Katie might be someone else entirely. Marley noticed his look of horror, and tried to change the subject. "Don't worry about it unless you need to, Ry. And thank you for telling me."
"Now look who's the idiot…" Ryder mumbled dejectedly. "If I'd told you before you might not have thought as much of the kiss…" he realised.
"No…I probably still would've overreacted," she admitted. "It's in my nature…I'm used to being hurt. But that's no excuse for me reacting like I did." She told him, all the guilt flooding back. Ryder pressed his lips onto hers in an attempt to soothe her. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry," Marley muttered to Ryder in between kisses, as they now lay cuddled up to one another.
"Stop…apologising," Ryder replied. "It was a case of my old reputation proceeding me…if I hadn't had that reputation to begin with, you wouldn't have jumped to that conclusion-"
"No, I don't buy that." Marley protested, interrupting. "I was wrong. This wasn't your fault. And I feel awful about it and I'll feel even more awful if you continue to blame yourself, so please say that the fault was mine. Go on. I want to hear those words from your mouth," she persisted. Ryder sighed heavily.
"Okay. The fault was yours. But I totally forgive you- I'm just glad you're here with me now." He told her sincerely, caressing her cheek gently with his thumb before bending down to give her another peck on the lips.
"I'm glad too," she replied, snuggling up to him and resting her head on one of his broad shoulders, sighing contentedly and mentally remarking on how much she had missed the feeling.
"So what have I missed in the world of Marley Rose these past couple of weeks?" Ryder asked her.
"Oh, something big actually," she announced, sitting up slightly to look at him. He nodded eagerly at her to continue, clearly interested. "I sent off my written application to NYADA…" she said, biting her lip nervously at the thought of it.
"You did? Marley, that's awesome! Did you write about tutoring me all the way to a B in English?" He asked, with an enthusiastic grin.
"I did." She nodded. "But I can't take credit for all of that, you know."
"So what now?" he asked.
"Now…I have to wait to see if I get put on the list of finalists- hopefully I'll find out in the next month or so, or maybe after Christmas vacation...can you believe it's in like a week? Anyway…if I do, I'll have to audition…the dean will come all the way to Ohio and I'll have to perform for her, under that pressure…" she trailed off, shuddering at the mere thought of it.
"You'll be awesome," Ryder assured her. "Do you have any backup plans, just in case?"
"Yeah, I'm applying to other schools in New York, too. It's where I wanna be…but I just really hope NYADA works out, because as I told you before, singing is all I want to do. What about you?" she asked. "How's your scholarship application going?"
"Good actually…Lima University are interested in me, Jake, and another guy on the school team, James, but they can only accept one of us, so…" He explained.
"And you want to stay in Lima, now?" Marley asked, trying to hide her sadness at the idea of them being so far apart in just a few months' time.
"Well…I know I said I wanted to get out of this hellhole, but…a college scholarship for football is a huge opportunity, and Lima looks like my only hope for one, so…" he rambled, feeling a slight sense of dread at the idea of them being parted himself.
"No…you're right. It's an amazing opportunity and you should really go for it," she implored, with a reassuring smile.
"I'm going to, but…we're saying all this and I only have a one in three chance…and I have to maintain my GPA, which you know is hard for me, and, well…after I punched Jake the other day, I can't afford another blip on my disciplinary record…" he admitted.
"Well, as your tutor, I will help you with that," she said with a smile. "And no more punching!" She told him firmly with a mock teacher's voice, before they burst into a fit of giggles.
"Yes Miss Rose." Ryder played along. "No more punching. Unless someone hurts you. Then they'd be dead meat." This time, his tone was more serious.
"Ry…" she protested, but he cut her off.
"I mean it. If anyone does anything to hurt you, I'll forget about football in a heartbeat," he announced, earning a loud, disapproving sigh from Marley. "Anyway," he said, more light-heartedly. "We have lost time to make up for. I'll go ring Breadstix, see if they have any tables for tonight." Marley squealed with delight at this suggestion, and pecked him on the cheek before allowing him to leave their embrace to get his phone.
Hooray! Ryley are good again, Marley knows about the Katie saga, and in the Ryder's Chance universe, Christmas and New Year are even closer than in real life :) I wonder what it will have in store for them…
Also, I am English and therefore have zero knowledge of the American university application system, so I'm just going off what I've seen on Glee, or what will work for the plot of the story…I accept that both of these factors mean it will be completely different to real life, but hey :p
Before I reply to your reviews, some campaigning on behalf of my beloved Jennoist: If you didn't already know, Blake has written the script for an indie film named Billy Boy that he and Melissa hope to star in together! But they need our help to raise money for it to happen, so if you would like to donate any sum, no matter how big or small, go here (minus the brackets,) they also have some pretty epic rewards if you do:
http(:) projects/2064903629/billy-boy?ref=live
So, in response to your lovely reviews:
Kalette: Thank you so much! Of course we can be friends! Pop into my ask box on tumblr any time and talk to me :) I can't believe it but I can in a way…I hope that's what it means too! Thank you thank you thank you, this review was so lovely!
LittleMusicalOwl: Three cheers indeed! Aw that's so cute! I can't wait for it, now that I've heard it's amazing I just want to see it as well! Hope you liked this chapter.
Ember411: Well, how perfect that I did update on Thursday :D …you'll have to wait and see but… ;) Yes I am so excited for Billy Boy, I am an official backer, too :D
Savannaramirez35: Hooray, I'm so pleased you loved it :) She did, I'm glad too. Hehe, everyone loves the Benoist!
Guest(2): Yay! I'm glad you're happy about that :) Here is your more :p
TeaAndGlee: I'm so happy you liked it! I love the karley frenemyship too, I wish they would explore it more on the show…I guess it, like every Marley storyline, just fizzled out when jarley happened…
Gleek555: I'm so pleased you're loving the ryley! I really, really hope it is! I loved it too! Ugh yes, Will was such a doucheface -_-
eXtraOrdinaryGirl04: Haha, don't worry about it, but thank you for doing it now! I'm so pleased you're still enjoying the story :') I sure did! (cries again) You seem to like the fluff, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and you will hopefully enjoy the next few :)
Gleeatic713: You're like a little detective, always searching for a theory :p Oh Ireland! Closer than I thought- until you said you hadn't seen all the s5 episodes I thought you were American, but then, I tend to assume that everyone is American until they tell me otherwise :p The episodes come out super late in England too, but I don't have Sky, and in any case I'm studying in France atm so I'm forced to watch online wherever I am, so I just watch it as soon as it becomes available, it makes sense that way :) Glad you're still enjoying the story :D
Guest (2): Asdfghjkl thanks, this was such a lovely review! I think that's my favourite thing about Kitty on the show- she's kind at heart but sassy and snappy at the same time :p Ahh thanks! Those are the two biggest compliments a fanfic author can receive! *hugs*
Iheartart13: Aww, I saw this review just before uploading this chapter and it was so sweet! Haha, I wish I could update daily but sadly life gets in the way, and weekly is more likely :p Aww I'm so pleased you like the way I write Marley and Ryder, that's so kind :) Interesting guesses but I'm keeping quiet ;) Hope you enjoyed this chapter too!
As always, thank you for reading! See you next time,
Lauren xxx