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Different Road, Same Journey

"I didn't think you were working tonight." Brandi said from the doorway of Mary's bedroom.

"I'm not." Mary replied, searching through her closet for something to wear.

"Then where are you going?" Brandi leaned against the frame. "Mom is coming over…I thought we could all hang out tonight."

"I have a date." She paused at knee length back skirt that she only worn once for a job interview.

"Date?" Brandi repeated. "With Mark?"

"What? God, no." She spun around to face her. "Why would I be going out with Mark?"

"I don't know." Brandi shrugged and moved into the room fully, taking a seat on the bed. "He's always hanging around here."

"Yeah, uninvited." Mary claimed and threw the skirt onto the bed. "He won't take a hint…We were through about 20 years ago."

"It's that cop, isn't it?"

"He's a marshal." She corrected, pulling out some dark blue jeans, wondering whether they were too casual for whatever Marshall had planned.

"Is there a difference?"

"Probably." She sighed and dropped the jeans on top of the skirt.

She had no idea what to wear. He had said it was only dinner and movie but what if he took her to some nice restaurant and she was underdressed or she wore something too fancy and it was too much. She hated that she cared about it…What to wear had never bothered her in the past, why now?

"Mare?"

"Hmmm?" She held up two different top, examining them side by side; maybe she could go with casual jeans and a fancy top.

"You're not doing this for me, are you?" Brandi asked quietly.

"Doing what?"

"Going out with the marshal…" Brandi stated causing Mary to drop the clothes and look at her confused. "To get me out of trouble? Because I don't want you too…I'd rather go to jail then for you to do that."

Mary stared at her for a few seconds in surprise. "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me….kinda gross and messed up….but nice."

"Oh, so you actually like him, then?"

"Yeah, Squish…I like him." Mary groaned as she sat down.

"Well, isn't that a good thing?" Brandi frowned.

"Is it?" Mary looked at her. "I mean, you know me…You know the kind of guys I go for….guys like Mark and Steve…"

"And Jono and Tommy?" Brandi added jokingly

"Exactly! You've just proved my point…I don't do relationship…I do guys that are interested in one thing and that's okay because it's all I want to…"

"So?"

"Marshall is different." She said softly. "He's kind and smart….He's the biggest geek ever but it's kinda sweet…He's a good guy, Brandi, a really good guy."

"Mare, just because you've never dated someone like him before doesn't mean you shouldn't now." Brandi told her. "Maybe you're through with your fair share of jerks…maybe this is…"

"Do not say the one!" Mary cut in, pointing a finger at her warningly.

"Well, maybe he is." Brandi shrugged. "Would it be so bad?"

"He has two kids."

Brandi eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"Two girls…Two little girls." Mary nodded. "I don't know why I'm even doing this….This is not going to end well."

"Why did you agree to this date?"

"I don't know…"

"Just go out and have a good night." Brandi advised. "If he's as nice as you say he is, then he won't rush you to do anything you're not ready for."

"When the hell did you get so mature?" Mary was staring at her again.

"Probably around the time, the guy that I chose to have a relationship with was murdered by a gang of drug dealers." Brandi stated as she stood up. "Wear the black top…It's cute."

Mary looked down at her before back up to see Brandi exiting the bedroom. Mary picked up the top again, looking at it again.

XxXxX

Mary insisted they meet at the movie theatre even though Marshall had offered to pick her up but she didn't want to risk him running into Jinx or Brandi. She purposely was five minutes late because she hated having to wait around for someone but had no problem letting someone wait for her. When she got there, she didn't see him, expecting he would be stood right out front but after a few seconds of panicking that she might get stood up, she spotted him leaning casually against the wall. She took a minute to look over him, glad she had decided to go with jeans and the black top since he was wearing a dark grey shirt with black jeans. A smile spread across his face when he saw her and pushed away from the wall.

"Hey." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I was beginning to think I was being stood up…"

"Have much experience with that, have you?" Mary couldn't help but dig.

"You just look at me a see a big nerd, don't you?"

She tilted her head a little, considering her answer. "Not just a nerd…The king of nerds."

"Okay, I can accept that." He grinned and offered her his arm. "Shall we…"

"Oh god…" She rolled her eyes and instead of linking her arm through his, she reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm picking the movie."

"Of course…" Marshall laughed as she pulled him towards the ticket office.

XxXxX

"What can I get you guys?" A waitress appeared at their table with a notepad.

"Mare, do you know what you want?" Marshall asked, when he saw she was still scanning the menu.

"Umm, just a minute…"

Marshall looked to the waitress and smiled politely. "Can you come back?"

"Of course."

"Mare?" He reached over and lowered her menu so he could see her face. "What's up?"

"What? Nothing…"

"You've been talking all night, which is quite something since we were at the movies but as soon as we sat down, you suddenly gone quiet." He pointed out. "Did I do something? Do you not like it here? We can go somewhere else…"

She sighed. "It's not you…It's me."

"What is?" He pressed.

"I don't belong here." She claimed. "I'm not used to these kinds of places, where the prices aren't even on the menu…"

He frowned. "Why do you need to know about the prices?"

"Marshall." She cut in. "The fact that there are no prices tends to mean that it's out of my price range…"

"I told you, tonight is on me." He assured her. "Order what you like."

"That's not the point." She sighed.

"Then what is?" He asked, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. "Talk to me."

"I don't know how to do this…How to have the relationship that you need." She stated. "I don't want to mislead you."

"Mislead me? What the hell?"

"I'm crap at relationships…I'm selfish…I'm not affectionate…I'm….I'm not perfect." She pulled her hand away from him and shook her head. "Don't fall for me…For your own good."

He retook her hand, this time a little tighter. "I think it's too late for that."

"Marshall…" She tried to pull away from again but he wouldn't let her.

"If you don't feel comfortable here then that's fine…We can go somewhere else." He told her. "But don't throw away what we have…what we could have because you think I expect you to be someone you're not."

She looked down at their hand for a few seconds, thinking about what he just said.

"Do you want to know why I want a relationship with you?"

A part of her wanted to say no…that it wouldn't matter…it was best to just walk away while they still could but the feeling of his thumb tracing gentle circles on the back of her hand, distracted her and she felt herself nodding.

"You make me laugh…You fascinate me…You take no crap from anyone and you're one of the strongest people I've ever met." He told her. "You're beautiful…Gorgeous and cute…"

She pulled a face. "I'm not cute."

"You are…and don't interrupt…You're intelligent but probably don't know how intelligent…You've made the best out of what you have and what you were given…" He continued. "You put everyone else ahead of yourself…even now with me but I know exactly what I want, Mare…I want to spend time with you…get to know you….help prove to you that you do belong here…that you deserve more than you think you do…The fact that you think you don't belong in this restaurant…in any restaurant, makes me sad."

"How do you know that?" She whispered.

"Mare, you can be whatever you want to be." He claimed. "You're amazing! I just wish you wouldn't limit yourself."

"What if you're wrong?" She asked. "What if I end up hurting you?"

"I'm not wrong about you deserving more then you have right now." He stated. "And about getting hurt? I'm a grown man, I can handle it."

"Marshall…"

"Love is all about taking risks…about getting to know each other well enough to trust one another…" He told her. "I'm not asking to spend the rest of my life with you but I think we can have some fun and be good for each other…and who knows where it might go."

"So, you're saying you'll be okay if we crash and burn in three weeks?" She asked.

"Why do you always assume the worst?" He questioned. "I think we could have a great relationship, Mare but we have to give it a chance."

"What if I don't know how to give it a chance?"

"You do…We just keep doing what we've been doing since the day we met." He claimed. "We take one day at a time and go at a pace that we're both happy with."

"And what about your kids?" She asked. "How will that work?"

"I'll admit, I'm unsure about introducing them to a girlfriend so early in a relationship but if things go the way I think they will go, than I would love for you to meet them in the future." He told her. "But I don't want you to worry about that...I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do."

She fell silent again, trying to find a flaw in what he was saying but she just couldn't.

"Look, this is a lot of heavy talk for a first date…I've had a really good night so far and I would like for it to continue….tomorrow I will give you a call and ask you out for a second date and you can tell me yes or no…or you could just ignore my calls." He grinned at her. "And if you really feel uncomfortable here, then there is a pizza place right around the corner but it would be a shame because the food here is amazing….and the desserts…If me buying you the caramel and chocolate cheesecake doesn't win me any points, nothing will…"

Mary couldn't help but smile slightly and shook her head a little, trying to work out how he managed to do what every other man she met could not.

"So, you guys ready?" The waitress returned.

"Mare?" Marshall questioned.

She squeezed his hand lightly. "Yeah, let's order…."

XxXxX

Mary cursed when she heard the sound of a glass smashing to the floor. The bar had hired a new girl, Tammy and Mary was pretty sure she only got the job based on her looks alone because she was clumsy, struggled to remember what drinks customers had ordered and moved at a snail's pace. It had been Mary's job to show her the ropes tonight but it was Friday and was even busier than normal so she had sent her to do some glass collecting but after the third smash, Mary wondered whether Tammy would be good at anything.

"What's a guy got to do to get a drink around here?"

She spun around at the voice to see Marshall stood leaning against the bar.

"Hey." She pushed herself up a little to kiss him hello. "What are you doing here? I thought we were working?"

It had been six weeks since their first date and Marshall had been true to his word by not pushing her. Their relationship was easy and aside from the physical, not much had changed. He had always worked late on Tuesday nights so Alexis and Ava stayed with his brother, which meant when he finished, he would go straight to the bar and wait around until she finished her shift. He also managed to find time to go out with her at least once a week and she knew he was very conscious about spending time with her without it affecting his time with the girls.

For the past three days he had been on assignment and Mary was surprised at how much she missed him.

"We got done early…I thought I'd come by and say hi."

"Don't take this the wrong way but you look terrible." She frowned a little. "Why didn't you just go straight home?"

"The girls are still at Jack's and I didn't want to go home to an empty house." He admitted and Mary was sure she saw him blushing. "I missed them and you…At least, I could come see you."

"I appreciate it but I'm working till midnight." She glanced at her watch to see it was only 10:30pm. "And you look like you do with some sleep."

"I don't mind waiting." He assured her.

Mary looked around and saw things were beginning to quiet down and that Nick was back from his break.

"Hey, I'm taking my break now." Mary called across to him. "You and the new girl will have to cope."

Nick looked from Marshall to her and smirked. "Just make sure you come back."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes, grabbing two bottles of beers.

Marshall watched as she walked around the bar and then nodded her head for him to follow her.

"Where we going?" He asked as she pulled him through a door.

"Somewhere quiet." She answered, pushing open another door that led out to small backyard which had small table and two plastic chairs.

Marshall smiled as she handed him a beer but before she step back to take a seat, he kissed her. Mary groaned quietly when broke the kiss a few seconds later.

"Hi." He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Hey." She couldn't help but give him another kiss.

"Did you miss me?" He asked, teasingly.

She rolled her eyes and moved back. "Yeah right, like my life revolves around you."

"Nice." He commented, sitting opposite her and taking a mouthful of beer. "So, how was your week?"

"Nothing new…Even though Brandi moved out, she still spends a lot of time at my place…"

"Maybe she's lonely." Marshall suggested.

"I guess…" Mary had listened to Marshall when he said she shouldn't limit herself and the first thing she wanted to do was to get her life back. So she helped Brandi find an apartment a few blocks from hers. "She needs a job…"

"If you need some help finding something…" Marshall started but was cut off.

"No, it's fine." She still tried her hardest to keep Marshall away from Brandi and Jinx. "You don't need to get mixed up with my family dramas…It's time she started doing things for herself."

Marshall wanted to tell her, he didn't mind helping but didn't know whether he would be crossing a line.

"So, I've been doing some thinking."

"Should I be worried?" Marshall glanced across at her.

"Possibly." Mary smiled. "You know how you said I could do what I wanted?"

"Yeah…"

"Did you mean it?"

"Of course I did." He insisted. "You never give yourself enough credit."

"Okay, good…because I've decided I might look into going back to school."

He looked at her in surprise. "Really? That's great."

"Well, I haven't said I'm going to do it for sure...Just get some information." She said quickly.

"Do you know what you would want to study?"

"Not a clue." She sighed. "I don't even know why I thought it was such a good idea…"

"Hey, I think it's brilliant." He stated. "And what harm can it do to go down to the college to see what is on offer."

"I guess…"

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"You don't have to…"

"I would like to." He said quickly. "I know, you say you're not sure about the whole thing but I also know it's important to you….I would like to help."

Mary thought about it for a few seconds before nodding. "Okay, I guess I would be helpfully to have someone there to tell me what to do."

"Hey, Mare? You sure you want to do this?" He asked. "I mean, you're not doing because you think you have to?"

"And what? Carry on working here for the next 40 years?"

"If bartending is what you want to do…"

"It's not." She assured him. "I don't know what it is that I want to do but I know I'm sick of just scraping by…I want to look forward to going to work, like you do and I want to be able to have a proper paying job so I can move out of that dump of an apartment."

"Well then I'll be here for you, for whatever you need." He assured her.

"I'll remember that when I get stuck working on an assignment at 3am."

He laughed slightly. "Between the two of us, you'll ace it."

They fell into a comfortable silence and when Marshall leaned back to look up at stars, he felt his eyes begin to feel heavier. He opened them again and looked down when he felt Mary's head on his shoulder; he hadn't even heard her move her chair next to him.

"I'm doing this for me…to make my life better." She whispered. "But it's because of you…because you make me think I can do it."

He kissed the top of her head and put an arm around her. "You can."

TBC

So, some pretty heavy Mary/Marshall stuff. Story moving on from the Brandi storyline. Next chapter more of Marshall with his girls…and Mary meeting them! Please keep reading and reviewing!