Disclaimer: Wait…nope, still don't own Glee :(
-Marley's POV-
Okay so…ever since the shooting happened, it's had a big effect on me, on everyone. I realised that we never know how much time we actually have left and that I shouldn't have any regrets when the time comes that I do…die. So I, Marley Rose, have made a decision to do something. Something I thought I'd never have the courage to do.
I took the fake bottom out of that stupid drawer and pulled out all my songs. I'm ready to show the world.
I've never exactly been confident in my song writing, because I never thought I was good enough. But after Kitty telling me all those sweet things about them, and the school shooting happening, I finally plucked up the nerve to show everyone. There are so many amazing song writers I look up to; Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, Chrissie Hynde.
I've been trying to bring it up with everyone, but ever since the gun went off in school, everyone's been acting strange. It's like they've all got PTSD or something. I see Brittany and Tina talking across the hallway and make my way over to them.
"…They really want me to study string theory, but I'm not all that interested in arts and crafts." I hear Brittany state, she's acting weird because M.I.T found out about her surprisingly great S.A.T score, and they're pressuring her for early commitment.
"Isn't M.I.T in Europe? That would suck." Tina commented, she was dressed in…really strange clothes, she looked kinda like someone out of Alice in Wonderland, top hat and all.
"Hey Tina, are you trying out a new look?" I ask her curiously when I come to a stop next to them causing their heads to turn away from their conversation and toward me.
"It's called steampunk. It's the next big thing." She responds, talking as if I was crazy for not knowing about this 'steampunk' thing-y.
"Oh. God, I love it." I smile, trying to sound convincing but I've never really been a good liar. A voice behind me causes me to turn around in surprise.
"Oh, hey there, you must, uh, be Marley." Sam smiles, speaking in a freakishly good Australian accent whilst wearing glasses and an orange hoodie tied around his shoulders. What in the hell was he doing?
"Hi, Sam." I speak slowly, having no idea what's going on right now. Luckily, Brittany helps me out…sorta.
"That's not Sam. That's Sam's smarter twin brother, Evan." She tells me like it was the most obvious thing in the world…okay, now I'm even more confused, conscience any help?
Nope, just as freaked out as you are
Oh, thanks for nothing
As always, you're welcome
Wait a minute, so if his name is 'Evan', does that mean his full name is-
"Evan Evans, what a pleasure to meet you." Australian Sam speaks up again, shaking my hand in greeting and I smile at him, hoping that this is all just some creepy dream that I should wake up from any moment…Now please?
"Oh, phone's ringing. It's my brother." 'Evan' states, pressing his phone to his ear and slowly turning around and walking away. "Oh, hey Sam I was actually just looking for you..."
His voice fades away as he turns around the corner and I'm left staring after him in confusion and bewilderment. I'm brought back to Earth when Brittany starts speaking up again.
"So have you guys heard who's taking over the Cheerios?" she asks us, her and Tina going back into gossiping mode. Apparently the whole school shooting thing wasn't even a real school shooting, Coach Sylvester had accidently dropped her gun or something and it fired off two shots…at least, that's what I've heard. So she's been fired and I gotta say it's been strange not having anyone here to scream bloody murder at everyone who walks by.
"Yeah, it's insane. And it made me realize, I have no idea whether I'm on the Cheerio's or not…Like literally, can't remember…" Tina responds, looking a little dazed as I stare at her in disbelief, wondering if this was really happening right now.
"Hey guys, have you seen Evan?" Sam, the normal Sam, pants as he runs up to us. Oh great, and the craziness continues.
"You just missed him, he went that way." Brittany tells him, pointing down the hallway. Wow, she really sounded like she actually believed all of this…well, it is Brittany so in reality, she probably does.
Sam snapped his fingers and made a weird grunting noise before spinning on his heel and quickly walking the way 'Evan' had gone before.
I turn away from Tina and Brittany and walk through the door into the choir room. I think Sam may have a little separation anxiety, so he's pretending he has a twin. And then…there's Unique.
"Unique, what are you doing?" I ask her in alarm as I walk up to said girl and pull the pills out of her hands.
"Are those birth control pills?" I ask her in disbelief as I look at the package. She's quick to shush me and look around cautiously.
"Don't blow a girl's cover. Brittany hooked me up with a prescription for Loestrin, and I heard that two dolls a day will turn my B's into D's in no time." She explains and I sigh, about to tell her how ridiculous this was but Sam walking in interrupted me.
"Guys, have you…seen my twin?" He asks…again and I shake my head, desperately trying to wake up from this crazy dream.
"Sam has a twin?" I hear Kitty mumble to herself in confusion and I look over in her direction to see Jake shaking his head at her furiously.
"Dude…just don't ask." He pleads and I smile a little at the bewildered look on Kitty's face.
"Oh, getting a call. Hold on." Sam speaks up again, pulling his phone out of his pocket and pressing it to his ear again, a bright smile washing over his face. "Oh, hey man I was just looking for you!" He yells a little, rushing out of the room. Shaking my head slightly, I turn back to Unique to lecture some sense into her head.
"Unique, you cannot take birth control." I speak to her slowly and sternly but she just shakes her head in protest.
"Why not? Trans kids everywhere are doing it." She tells me and I purse my lips together in frustration as 'Evan' walks inside, phone to his ear and no doubt talking to his 'twin' Sam.
"Alright bro, well I'll tell 'em you said hi…Oh yeah, yeah…Have fun at the zoo." He speaks through the phone, hanging up after a few seconds and I have just given up on trying to understand what's going on in crazy town right now.
Going back to my song writing, I've just got to build up the courage to tell everyone that I want us to perform one of my songs at regionals. It would be a dream come true…
I'm brought out of my thoughts by Kitty coming up behind me and squeezing my waist making me jump and turn around, only for her to flick my noise playfully making me giggle slightly as we take our seats. At least Kitty hadn't changed and gone wacko.
"Big news, guys! I just got a direct tweet from the Greater Midwest Regional High School Show Choir Board of Directors." Mr Schue speaks up as he walks in, looking pumped and ready to go like always.
"Wonder how long it took him to learn how to say that." Kitty mumbles lowly next to me, making me snicker slightly as everyone whoops and whistles.
"The theme for this year's regionals is…Sweet Dreams!" Mr Schue announces, looking as excited as ever whilst everyone continues to whoop and cheer. I feel a smile spread across my face, nervous and excited for regionals.
We were all excited…until Mr Schue told us about his already made up set list.
"So, to save us the trouble of thinking up a set list, I have written one for you guys and I gotta say, I think this is a good one. We will be doing a mash up of three classic 'Dream' songs; 'Dreamweaver', 'Sweet Dreams' and ending it all with 'You Make My Dreams Come True'." He finishes with a beaming smile as everyone stares at him with blank looks, mine being more panicked as I begin to think that he'll won't let us perform one of my songs at regionals.
"Wait, didn't we sing that song last year?" Artie speaks up in confusion and I hear a few of the other mutter in agreement as Mr Schue's smile begins to dim in brightness at the response.
"Well yeah…but this time we'll do it even better and come on guys; it's the perfect song to go with the theme. Trust me guys, with this set list, we'll have regionals in the bag!" He states, trying to get us all excited again but everyone just continued to look at him blankly.
I took a deep breath before deciding to speak up. Come on Marley, it's now or never.
Are you seriously quoting High School Musical right now?
Wha-NO!
Haha, oh my God you were! Jesus Marley
Look, I don't ask a lot of things from you bu-
Um, actually you do…I'm your conscience…you ask me multiple things every day
Yeah well, you never give useful answers so, you owe me this
That is…completely true, okay so what do you want?
Leave me alone.
Wha...that's it? You just wanted me to 'leave you alone'? You ask me that every day!
Yup and you never do, so please, just this once?
…You got an hour
Just an hour-!
Wanna make it thirty minutes?
…I'll see you in an hour
I wait a few more seconds before plucking up the courage to say something and begin to speak up in a tentative voice.
"Um, Mr Schue? I've actually been thinking that we could do some original songs for regionals. I mean, I-I've actually brought some stuff that I've been working on-"
"Sorry Marley but we're not doing original songs this year; the club is only in the competition based on luck. There is no room for risk taking alright? Okay, moving on." He exclaims, clapping his hands together and I go to protest but Kitty beats me to the punch.
"Wait, so you're not even gonna listen to one of her songs? Mr Schue they're awesome, we can totally win regionals if we-"
"Look we just don't have time to change the set list and it would still be way too risky to use original songs again, there's no way we can top the year we did original songs anyway." He cuts Kitty off and I'm grateful that at least one person was sticking up for me, but I had to keep trying.
"But I don't know any of the songs on the set list and I think that original songs could really win us regionals for sure-"
"Okay, listen up! We are not doing original songs for regionals. End of story. And Marley you're just going to have to learn the songs in your own time" Mr Schue interrupts once again, looking final and I sufficiently feel smacked down.
I slightly feel Kitty's hand rubbing my back in comfort as I drop my head down with a sigh and tuck my songs back into my binder.
So much for my dream coming true.
…
"Maaarleyyy," I faintly hear Kitty drawl out into my ear as my face is currently stuffed into my pillow.
As soon as I had gotten home I wasted no time in flinging myself on my bed face first. I hadn't moved for around ten minutes now and even though I could tell Kitty found it slightly amusing; she was still a little worried.
"What?" I muffled through the soft fabric of the pillow. I wish I could just fully sink into this thing and never have to come out.
Geez, dramatic much?
You're back…oh, the joys
"C'mon Marls, turn over, I miss seeing those bright blue eyes of yours." She mumbled into my ear once more from where she was lying next to me and I let my lips lift up slightly in a small smile at her words.
But, the stubborn girl I was, I still refused to turn over. I didn't want to yet; I just wanted Mr Schue to at least consider doing one of my original songs for regionals. I hear Kitty sigh deeply before gently resting her head on my shoulder, which made me feel a little guilty for making her feel so helpless right now.
"Look, I am sorry that Mr Schue was being a dick and didn't even consider your awesome idea of original songs…Maybe if you showed him-"She starts but I cut her off softly.
"I tried Kitty but he wouldn't listen…What if my songs aren't good enough for regionals? I mean, maybe Mr Schue's right, maybe it is too big of a risk." I mutter sadly and snuggle impossible more into the comfort of my pillow.
"Hey, your songs are amazing Marley, don't let anyone tell you different cause if they do just tell me and I'll kick their ass, I swear." She states softly and I can't help the giggle that escapes my lips at her words and I feel her smile slightly into my shoulder as she continues. "How about I go to the choir room after Glee tomorrow and talk to Mr Schue about original songs again?" She suggests gently.
I finally bring my head up and out of my small cocoon and turn to face her with surprise and gratefulness.
"Really?" I ask timidly, biting my lip slightly and I feel myself relax slightly from the warm smile on her face that was directed right at me.
"Really, really." Kitty replies softly with a playful glint in her eye which summoned a bright smile to spread its way across my face.
"Thank you." I say gently before pecking her lips gently, both of us grinning slightly at the delicate but powerful contact. After a few more seconds, we slowly pulled away from each other and gently rest our foreheads together.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Kitty asks in a hushed and soft voice. I pretend to think for a second before giving her multiple answers.
"Hmm…We could watch TV, maybe a movie, or cuddle…or have some fun?" I smirk slightly as I say the last few words and giggle as Kitty raises an eyebrow at me with a smile playing on her lips.
"Oh yeah? What kinda fun?" She asks me playfully with a wink, causing me to giggle once more before bringing my lips to hers again, only this time it was going to last a lot longer.
I am quick to request entrance and soon our tongues are in a battle for dominance. I can tell she's surprised at first but after a few seconds, she is quick to respond. The shooting also made me think about my relationship with Kitty and after thinking long and hard about it, I decided I wanted to take the next step in our relationship…Which would most probably be sex.
Now I know I said I wanted to wait but I love Kitty, with all my heart and I'm ready this time. Like I said before, we never really know how much time we have left. So, we should make the most of it…and I intend to do just that.
"Hey, Kit?" I whisper softly, pulling away slightly to speak, both of us panting slightly with smiles playing on our lips.
"Yeah?" She replies, her voice just as soft and smooth. I gulp a little before speaking up in a barely readable volume.
"Um, well I've been thinking about how…well, we never really know how much time we have left and I-I want to appreciate the memories that I have and not regret so many that I never got to make…I want to take our relationship to the next level, Kitty." I tell her, trying to sound confident but still feeling a small ounce of fear for her reply. I feel my heart stop when Kitty freezes and looks at me blankly. After a few seconds go by, I feel a tiny sense of relief when she seems to recover from her shock and gives me a half smile.
"Really?" She mutters, looking a little unsure and adorable, of course. I smile gently and feel myself relax as I gaze into her deep eyes, bringing my hand up to softly stroke her cheek. Instead of saying anything, I just nod my head a little and listen as she breathes out slightly.
"Okay…Alright, uh, a-and what's the next level?" She stutters a little and I can't help the giggle that escapes my lips at how adorable and nervous she looks.
Huh…I would have never thought that you would be the calm one in this kind of situation
Oh hush you
"Come 'ere." I giggle, with a hint of a smirk on my face, and pull the blonde in closer by the collar of her shirt, capturing her lips in a heated kiss.
I feel the familiar butterflies flutter wildly inside my stomach as the softness of her lips overwhelms mine. I breathe out a small moan of pleasure as our tongues make contact again when I tug her even closer.
The tingling sensation of nerves begin to wash over me again as I move my slightly shaking hand down from her collar to rest over hers that had currently been placed on my waist. Trying my best to focus on the mind blowing kiss, my hand grips hers a little tighter so that I could move it.
Slow and still a little shaky, I glide her hand further up my body, doing my best not to shiver at her touch. I sigh shakily into her mouth as I bring her hand up to rest on the destination I intended, feeling her halt in her actions in surprise.
I don't stop however and continue to move my lips against her still ones eagerly. I could tell she was hesitant, she wanted me to be sure and I loved her for that, but I wanted this, more than anything right now. Deciding to help her out, I give her hand a small squeeze over my breast, causing the both of us to let out small sighs of satisfaction.
"Babe, it's okay, I want this… I whisper against her lips before diving back in, my hand removing from hers to rest upon her cheek once more when I was sure that she wasn't going to pull her hand away.
It takes a few seconds for Kitty to react but when she does, can I just say whoa. When she takes another careful squeeze, I can't help the tiny moan that escapes my parted lips. Pulling her impossibly closer, our kisses become frantic with need and want, heavy pants and whimpers fill the room.
Just I was tugging on her shirt, the faint but there sound of the front door opening causes us to halt in our movements.
Uh-oh Marley, looks like mommy's home
Don't you have someone else to bother?
Nope, your conscience, your problem
I giggle slightly as Kitty groans softly against my lips in protest and I give her a chaste kiss before mumbling something against the two pink pilgrims.
"We will continue this later."
"Promise?" She grins playfully making me chuckle as I nod my head before giving her another kiss, this one lasting a few seconds longer before forcing myself to pull away. Gently pushing her sideways, I get up off my bed and look in my mirror to fix my hair, clothes and anything else that screams 'make out session' to my mom.
"How long is later?" I faintly hear Kitty ask as I'm walking out the door, causing me to let out a bright laugh as I skip down the stairs.
…
Kitty's POV
I sigh as the bell rings, signalling the end of Glee club and watch quietly as everyone gets up out of their seats, and heading straight for the door. However, I stay rooted to the spot in my chair, intending to have a little chat with Mr Schue about Marley's original songs.
"Dude, you coming?" Jake asks me from the bottom of the risers, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion when he notices I'm not beside him. I flick my eyes over to Marley for a second, who was being dragged out the door by Unique, before shaking my head slightly at him.
"No, uh, I gotta talk to Mr Schue about something." I answer and he nods his head in confirmation before turning and strutting out the door, probably following Marley no doubt. I stay seated until everyone has left and then quickly jump out of my seat to talk to Schue, who is stacking some sheets on the piano and humming some happy tune…does he even realise I'm still here?
"Uh, Mr Schue?" I speak up behind him, immediately causing him to jump in surprise before turning to face me.
Huh, guess he didn't know you were still here
Oh really, what on earth made you think that?
"Kitty, I didn't know you were still here! What can I do for you?" He asks me with that overly excited smile of his. I take in a small breath, coming around to rest on the piano so that we were opposite each other.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you…it's about Marley's songs," I start and I see him sigh, about to interrupt me but I stop him before he has the chance, "Now I know that you said you didn't want to do original sons this year but if you just listen to one of Marley's, I promise you, you'll love it."
"Look Kitty, it's nice that you and Marley are getting along but like I've said many times now, we are not doing original songs for regionals. It's too risky." Mr Schue tells me in a stern voice but I'm not backing down that easy.
"No but see that's the thing, it is going to be so much more risky using your set list than using Marley's. She is an incredible song writer and if you just give her a chance-"
"Kitty, I am starting to lose my patience with this. I don't care how good her songs are alright? I have enough on my plate right now; I don't need to add the set list for regionals to the pile." He says in final and I let out a scoff of disbelief, staring at him for a few seconds before speaking up again.
"Aren't you the one who always tells us to 'be ourselves' and that we should always 'speak up and share our ideas…that in this room, we shouldn't be afraid to express ourselves'? Well, how come when Marley plucks up the courage to finally do that, you shoot her down?" I ask him before turning and storming out of the room. I honestly thought that guy was different.
…
I sigh deeply as I walk slowly down my street, having just finished one of my special lessons. I was getting much better actually and she said I only have maybe a few months left before I'm…well you know, normal.
The buzzing of my phone snaps me out of my thoughts and I whip it out curiously, only to frown and sigh again at who it was. Opening the text up, I halt in my tracks as I read what the mystery person had sent me this time.
Wow, second base huh? That's a big step for a relationship that's STILL in hiding.
With my eyebrows furrowed, I look over the text once more, wondering how in the hell this person knew about me and Marley taking the next step in our relationship when it only happened yesterday.
To be honest, I was still confused as to whether this person was trying to help or antagonize me. One minute they're threatening to tell everyone my secrets and the next they're encouraging me to tell everyone about me and Marley. Don't get me wrong, whether their intentions are good or not, when I find out who they are in the glee club, I'll never talk to them again.
A loud crash immediately made me look up from my phone, only to gap in confusion when I see that it came from my house. Looking and walking closer, I also see that the door is slightly ajar. Violent yelling snapped me into action as I suddenly sprinted forward.
Slamming through the already open door, I quickly rushed to the kitchen where the source of the noise was coming from.
When I come to a stop, I see my mother and some tall, blonde guy yelling at each other and neither looked like they would back down soon. My protective instincts kicked in as I slowly begin to walk towards the man, whom of witch had noticed that I was here and stopped shouting. I can tell he looks a little intimidated too. Awesome.
"Huh, you must be-"I cut off whatever he was about to say by lurching forwards and slamming him into cabinets behind him, faintly hearing my mom yell out behind me to stop.
I wasted no time in decking him across the face and using his moment of weakness as an advantage for me to drag him out back to the front door and tackle him down to the floor on my yard.
We began rolling around, getting really dirty in the process of our wrestling. A few punches were thrown in here and there, one of his managing to clip my right temple.
Haha, we've had way worse than that buddy! Hey, remember when we kicked that group of jocks ass-
Conscience, this is really not the time!
"Kitty! Kitty, get off of him!" My mother scolds me whilst scrambling with my hoodie to get me up.
Aww, come on! We were just about to kick this dudes-
Conscience!
Panting slightly, I turn my head to look at her with furrowed eyebrows, incredibly confused. "Mom? What are you doing, that guy-"
"Is your Uncle." She finishes for me with a tired sigh and my eyes widen in surprise and disbelief.
"My…My what?" I stutter slightly, slowly calming down the little 'misunderstanding' I just had with…my uncle, apparently.
"He's your Uncle, Kitty." She repeats and with furrowed eyebrows, I look between her and the blonde guy who was just beginning to get up from the ground, with a small ounce of guilt in his eyes.
I have an Uncle?!
…Well this is awkward
…
After everything, including me had calmed down, my mom and…Uncle sat me down at the kitchen table and began to explain things. I learned that he was my dad's slightly younger (by five years) brother and that I'd never met him because apparently he and my dad didn't get along very well, and he never even knew I existed until only recently.
As for the yelling that was going on earlier, well they told me that it was because my mom was 'surprised to see him' and that 'she was angry at him for not being around'. But I know a lie and a fake smile when I see one, I had done my fair share and it was obvious they weren't telling me the whole truth.
Oh and let's not forget that his name is Toby
Right, thanks for that super important piece of information there conscience
No problemo
"Now, we know that this may be a lot to take in, but I just want you to know that I'm not going anywhere this time." Toby speaks up after a few moments of silence making me look towards him. I hadn't said anything since they started talking; I couldn't decide whether I should be incredibly angry that I had an Uncle this whole time and no one told me, or overjoyed that I finally have another relative that I can talk to, especially since he could tell me more stuff about my dad.
"Kitty, honey?" I hear my mom speak up, looking a tad bit concerned. Ever since the shooting, she'd been much better, kinda reminded me of what she was like before dad died…it was nice.
I take in a much needed breath before letting it go with a small sigh and flicking my eyes between the both of them. "Do you mind if I…if I could have some time to…process everything?" I ask, watching as they both nodded furiously.
"Of course Kitty, take however long you need." Toby smiles kindly at me and I almost feel bad for the couple bruises that were starting to make an appearance on his pale skin. Almost.
I nod to him before getting up and out of my seat, heading for the front door but stopping in my tracks when I hear him call out to me.
"Oh and sorry about the uh…" he taps his temple, causing me to furrow my eyebrows in question until I realized he was talking about when he had clipped me earlier. I slowly bring my hand up to gently feel my right temple, only to wince slightly when I sharp, stinging sensation shoots through me.
Hmm, maybe Marley could do that thing she did last time with the ice pack
You mean numb it?
Yeah, that!
"It was just reflexes I guess when a freakishly strong sixteen year old girl starts attacking you." He smirks at me jokingly and I allow myself to crack a small smile before looking down and slowly turning around to walk out.
"Its fine, I can barely feel it anyway!" I call back to him, faintly hearing his amused laughter as I step out the front door, my feet already taking me in the perfectly memorized route.
…
"Y'know, I'm getting pretty tired of always having to do this for you." Marley mumbled, gently dabbing the ice pack over my right temple as I sat comfortably on the floor, my head resting back on the end of her bed. As soon as I had climbed through the window, she was worrying all over me, frantically asking me what had happened.
When I explained everything to her, she was just as shocked as I was. After watching her gapping like a fish for a few seconds, I finally asked if she could help out with my temple. Even though she looked incredibly adorable, it was starting to sting like a bitch.
"I could always go to the school nurse instead." I said playfully but Marley just sighed, giving me a stern look.
"This isn't funny Kitty; I get so worried about you all the time." She tells me, her eyes getting a little misty as she focuses them back on my tiny injury. Crap, now she's starting to cry. Great, now I feel like a giant ass.
"Hey, hey come on, look at me." I cooed softly, bringing my hand up to gently take the one that was holding the ice pack to my head and slowly bring it down, tilting my head slightly so that I was looking into Marley's piercing blue eyes. "I'm sorry, alright? My protective instincts just kicked in and when I thought he was going to hurt her, I guess I just snapped. I promised you that I wouldn't get into fights more often and I will keep that promise to you, I swear…But, I can't promise not to protect the people I love. I'm always gonna protect you, Marley." I speak softly, bringing my hand up to stroke her cheek, wiping away a couple fallen tears in the process.
She sniffs slightly before covering my hand with hers and giving me a watery smile, to which I internally fist bump to.
"I love you, Kitty Wilde." She smiles, leaning her forehead against mine gently and sighing softly in content. I feel my lips start to lift up, beginning to form a small grin as an idea comes to mind.
"Let's get out outta here." I state softly, causing Marley to pull away with this adorable, confused look on her face.
"Let's just get outta here." I grunt playfully making her giggle as she tries to pull away, only for me to pull her straight back into me. "Please, can we?" I beg softly as I rest my forehead against hers again when she sighs softly.
"No."
"Yeah."
"No, Kitty we can't-"
"Yes."
"No, I have to fix your bruise, it's starting to look worse, I-"
"Marley," I interrupt softly after our little banter, getting a serious look on my face as she sighs and gazes back at me. "Please." I finish and I can see she's having an internal battle with herself here, her cautious eyes flicking from me to her bedroom door.
"…No, Kitty if my mom sees me leaving, I'm dead." She explains looking a little disappointed but I give her a charming grin, shaking my head slightly.
"Your mom's not gonna see you leaving."
…
"Well, this certainly brings back memories." Marley states as she steadily climbs down the tree outside her window, me right beneath her, making sure she doesn't fall.
"Oh, yeah? You thinking about our first kiss?" I ask her, smiling as I almost reach the bottom, looking up to see her shrug her shoulders slightly.
"Actually, I was thinking about how scared to death I was climbing that huge tree with you." She jokes as she shakily climbs down and I laugh softly, jumping down the last few branches and landing on my feet.
Looking up, I see Marley begin to lose her footing and slip with a sharp squeal falling from her lips. Reacting fast, I quickly catch her, my arms wrapping tightly around her waist as hers grip onto my shoulders, both of us breathing heavily from the close call.
"You caught me." She pants softly, both of us smiling and breathing out small laughs.
"I told you I would."
…
About ten minutes later sees me and Marley cuddling at our usual spot in the meadow, we hadn't spoken much, only the odd word here and there, just enjoying the peace and quiet since we didn't get much of that lately.
"So, I talked to Mr Schue about your songs." I speak up after a few minutes of calm silence, I guess now is a good time to tell her the bad news. She eagerly lifts her up from my shoulder to look at me, her blue eyes twinkling with excitement which just makes me feel even more like an ass for having to be the one to tell her.
"Really? Well, what happened? Did you convince him? What did he say?" She asks and I gap at her for a few seconds before sighing and speaking up once more.
"Uh…It's not good news, Mar." I say regrettably, feeling a piece of my heart break when her face falls and the light in her eyes goes slightly dimmer.
"Oh…well um, that's…that's okay." She says in a small voice and I sigh as she rests her head slowly back on my shoulder.
"I could keep trying-"
"No, you don't have to…It was a long shot anyway, its fine." She mumbles, cuddling in closer to me and I shake my head in protest.
"Marls come on; there must be something that we can do." I insist, trying to come up with something as I stroke her hair comfortingly. Suddenly, an idea comes to mind, causing a smile to slowly spread across my features. "What if you sing one of them for everyone?"
"What?" Marley asks, her head shooting up to look at me curiously.
"What if you get a ton of the glee club to come to the auditorium after school and sing one of your songs for them? That way, they'll see how great of a songwriter you are and Mr Schue can't argue with all of us, so he'll have to let us do original songs." I explain to her, smiling happily when I see her start to look a little more hopeful.
"You really think it'll work?" She asks, biting her lip softly and I shrug a little, before grinning at her.
"There's only one way to find out."
…
I was currently sitting in the choir room with the rest of the glee club whilst Mr Schue was droning on and on about something I wasn't really paying attention to. In fact, looking around, I can see that no one looks particularly interested in what Mr Schue had to say right now.
Marley and I had agreed that she would meet up with Blaine, Unique and Sam after this lesson to sing one of her written songs, 'You Have More Friends Than You Know'. I would go with them but I have to go to my special lesson, I couldn't afford to miss one when I'm so close to getting better.
"Mr Schue, I'm sorry but as the honorary Rachel I really think we should change our set list for regionals." Blaine informs the now silent teacher, breaking me out of my thoughts and I'm glad me and Marley aren't the only ones who thinks his set list sucks. I begin to think that maybe Mr Schue will change his mind now, but that small hope goes away when a look of rage takes over his features as he slams the sheets in his hands down on the piano.
"Alright, that is it! What happened to you guys? Openly defying me. I don't see any of you making an effort to prepare for regionals and I have been kind enough not to say anything for a while now but since you have no problem expressing your feelings about me, I guess I'll just do the same for you guys. Unique, you need to cool it with the boob thing, Tina the steam punk thing just looks plain ridiculous, Sam can you please can it with the fake twin brother crap and Blaine, I am so disappointed in you for letting things get out of hand. Now I expect you all to be ready to rehearse when I get back from my coffee run in five minutes." Mr 'Bitchy Pants' orders before storming out of the choir room, leaving behind its pissed off and slightly hurt club members.
"…What the hell was that?" Jake speaks up from beside me after a few seconds of surprised silence, looking around at everyone and I just shrug at him when his gaze turns onto me. That was pretty weird, why was Mr Schue being such a dick lately?
…
The next day, I see Marley at the end of the hallway, messing around with stuff in her locker. Grinning slightly, I make my way up to her, making sure to make as little sound as possible before tapping her on the shoulder causing her to jump in surprise before turning around.
Her surprised look turns into a bright smile when she sees me and I give her a grin in return whilst leaning on the locker next to her.
"So, how'd it go yesterday?" I ask curiously as she goes back to moving things around in her locker.
"It was…awesome." She admits with a wide smile that automatically makes me give her one in return. "They sang my song with me and afterwards they said it was amazing. I think they're on board with the original song idea." She informs me, practically bouncing with excitement which makes me let out a small chuckle.
"As they should be, your songs are totally gonna give us a ticket to nationals, Marls." I smile when she blushes slightly, only adding to her cuteness right now. She opens her mouth to say something but someone interrupts her before she can.
"Sup dude, hey Marley." Jake greets me and winks at Marley making her roll her eyes as she shuts her locker.
"Bye Jake." She gives him a fake smile before spinning on her heel and walking off, with me smirking after her. Ha, that's my girl.
"When is she gonna admit she wants me?" Jake sighs next to me making me look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Probably around the time pigs start to fly." I joke, patting him on the shoulder a couple times as he glares at me, before turning round to go to class.
…
All the glee club members were standing around in the choir room waiting for Mr Schue, who was late once again. I was currently talking with Marley, Unique, Jake and Ryder when said teacher walks into the room. Suddenly, everyone stops talking and turns to look at Mr Schue as he stands there with a guilt radiating off of him.
We all turn away to take our seats as he attempts to give us a smile, probably trying to get us to forgive him.
Nu-uh, it's gonna take a lot more than that jackass. Come on; time to suck up to us.
"Uh, hey guys. Unique, Tina, you both look really nice today. Hey, Sam." He greets, taking cautious steps towards us and Sam unfolds his arms as he quickly walks away to sit somewhere.
"It's Evan, Sam's away right now." Sam-I mean 'Evan' speaks up in his Australian accent and Mr Schue stands there blinking for a second before smiling over enthusiastically.
"Right, sorry Evan, tell Sam I said hi." He smiles at us but we all just give him blank looks, making him sigh deeply before looking at us seriously. "I wanna tell you guys a story of when I was sitting where you are right now and my crazy teacher, Mrs Adler would be standing where I am. Mrs Adler, who used to stuff used Kleenexes up her sleeve."
He pauses for a second and I furrow my eyebrows at the weird picture on the wall of this 'Mrs Adler' person, she sounded crazy.
"Yeah, she was crazy." Mr Schue continues; huh I guess he agrees with me on that then. "But we loved her…And heck, aren't we all a little crazy sometimes? Like I was the other day and I am sorry you guys. I'm sorry if I made any of you feel like you didn't have a voice in here because you do." He says softly, looking at each of us with remorse in his eyes.
"So, I know it may be a long shot but, am I forgiven for being a giant jerk to you guys?" He asks with a hopeful look in his eyes. We all look at each other, coming to a silent agreement before turning back to him with big smiles, each one of us shouting out some kind of agreeing statement to his question.
"Yeah!"
"Of course you are!"
"Sure."
"Yes!"
Mr Schue laughs and then claps his hands together, the choir room filled with the familiar light atmosphere it usually holds.
"Alright then, time to get down to business! Marley, you're up!" He exclaims and I look at the brunette beside me to see her sighing slightly before standing up to tell Mr Schue her progress.
"Okay well, I think I've got Sweet Dreams down but I'm still working on learning Dreamweaver-"
"Oh, didn't I tell you? Those songs are out and original songs are in!" He exclaims and Marley's eyes widen as every whoops and whistles. "Do you think you could teach everyone one of your songs?" Mr Schue asks, laughing at the disbelieving look on my girl's face.
"Um I guess, I mean yes! Of course I can, are you serious?!" She asks, smiling brightly as Mr Schue laughs heartily with a nod of his head.
She covers her mouth with her hands in shock and laughs happily. I get up out of my seat like everyone else with a charming grin and tap her on the shoulder so she turns away from celebrating with Unique, only to squeal and jump in my arms.
"We're doing original songs!" She exclaims excitingly in my ear making me laugh and spin her around as everyone continues to cheer and enjoy the new, much wanted information.
…
Moments later brings us to the auditorium where Marley was centre stage, all of us standing below with our eyes on her as she begins to sing.
Who's to say, who's not okay?
The breakaways,
Will outlast, will outlast
I smile softly before pushing off the beam to go sing with her, making her beam at me with a loving look in her eyes.
Sticks and stones,
Won't break these bones
They're just some drones,
To get past, I'll get past
We continue to sing her original song 'Outcast' (one of my personal favourites) and soon enough everyone else joins in as we dance and spin each other (in this case, me spinning Marley) around on stage.
As the song slows down a little and Ryder sings his solo, we all get in a line, me with my arms wrapped comfortably around Marley's waist as she leans her head back on my shoulder. We all then move to wrap our arms around each other for the end of the song.
Oh, whoa, whoa!
Oh, whoa, whoa!
Mr Schue gathers us all together as we put our hands in.
We are, we are, we are,
The outcast! O-o-outcast!
We finish enthusiastically, shooting our hands up and cheering happily, high fiving and hugging.
Yeah, we totally got regionals in the bag.
…
I smile to myself as I walk through my front door. After singing Marley's song, she waited for me after my special lesson was over and I walked her home in thanks, getting a sweet kiss on her doorstep in return. Let me tell you, totally worth it.
I've pretty much been smiling ever since and I'm almost certain that nothing could possibly happen right now that could ruin my mood.
"No Toby, there is no way that is going to happen, not now, not ever." I hear my mom's hush voice and furrow my eyebrows as I quietly shut the door behind me and tip toe to lean against the wall that entered the kitchen, where the low voices were coming from.
"Ashley, we have to tell her!" Toby speaks up in a low voice making me furrow my eyebrows.
This is weird
"We can't tell her! How is this going to help her, Toby? She doesn't need this right now." My mom replies in an exasperated voice and I can here footsteps go back and forth, so I'm assuming she's pacing.
"Look Ashley, I've hid away long enough, I have the right to get to know her-"
"No, you have no right to 'get to know her'! This isn't about you Toby, this is about Kitty and she has dealt with too much, she doesn't need this!" My mom insists, making me even more confused.
"She deserves to know the truth, Ashley!" He exclaims, his voice rising in volume and I should've made my presence known then, but I was too curious as to where this was going. I hear heavy breaths as they both calm down from their small argument and after a few seconds of silence, I go to make my way inside but Toby's voice once again stops me. However this time, I can only wish that I stepped in before it could.
"She deserves to know that I am her father."
…
A/N: Okay, I'm not even going to try and get you to forgive me this time, I am sooo sorry for how late this one is! I've been so unbelievably busy with school and tests and homework and…well, if I'm being honest, watching Pretty Little Liars…sorry?
I made this chapter REALLY long to make up for it though so I'm really hoping you liked it and I can't wait to hear what you think, so please please please review! And the more reviews I get, the faster I'll update for you ;) OH! And did you know that it's been over a year since this story was published? How insane is that?! Haha, well happy one year guys and thank you so much for all the continued support for this story, it means a lot :) Bye for now.