Sorry I'm so crap at updating quickly nowadays! I'll try and get back to how I used to be :p
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee…
Social Studiesclass was a chore. Marley was grateful that, given the performing arts orientated nature of NYADA, she didn't have to take so many what she deemed to be 'irrelevant' classes, but she still grumbled and groaned about the non-music classes she did have to take. It was far too easy in classes like these, to slip into daydream-world, or think about things she should be avoiding thinking about;
The initial buzz Ryder had gotten from having a real job was wearing off, and fast. It hurt her to see him so frustrated, and still so lost. He would get home late at night after hard and busy shifts at the bar, collapsing into their bed long after midnight and staring at the ceiling with an exhausted, empty expression on his face. Sure, she had learnt some very effective…'cheering up techniques' in recent weeks, but physical intimacy only lasted so long, and once they had come down from their high and the pleasure had drifted out of their bodies, he would often cuddle into her, worriedly asking her if he would be working in grotty city bar forever and craving her reassuring words.
It would have been hard enough if this was the only problem. But it wasn't. There were other even more worrying issues at hand.
Like that man that kept lurking on the sidewalk outside their apartment.
In the three weeks that had passed since new year, he had returned over 10 times. She still hadn't gotten a really good look at him yet. Each time, Ryder had told her to ignore him, stay away from the window, overly concerned that she would be traumatized, or something like that. In all honesty, it irritated Marley that her boyfriend thought she was that weak, that pathetic…but she pushed it to one side, reasoning with herself that going to ogle the creep at the window would probably give him the satisfaction from the attention he clearly craved. It didn't stop her curiosity though; in fact it only strengthened it. Why was the man there? Why had he chosen their window to monitor several nights a week? Was it just theirs, or did he go and stalk out more than one city apartment? Ryder brushed him off as some harmless, unhinged guy who wouldn't do anything if they kept their distance, much to Santana's disgruntlement, as she regularly expressed the desire to use the 'razors she kept in her hair' on him and get him to leave once and for all, but Marley felt they were both avoiding the real issue at hand…that one of them might be an actual target for whatever malicious plans he had, if any.
There I go again, she thought. 'If any'. She was trying to downplay it and she knew it…but it was the only method she could think of to make it any less terrifying.
She pushed it to the back of her mind, trying to ignore it before the uneasy feeling inside her made itself evident on her face.
When the hour was finally up, she packed up her things quickly; very aware of the fact that early evening was approaching, eager to get back to the safety of the apartment before darkness fell, which it did early on these January days, avoiding the risk of coming face to face with the shadowy man.
She left the lecture theatre as quickly as she could given the crowd bottle-necking towards the one small door, saying a polite goodbye to the acquaintances she had made in that class. At times she often wondered if she should make more of an effort to become friends with the people she would share classes with for another 3 and a half years, but she accepted that she had perhaps elected to sacrifice the more traditional social experience of college when she had abandoned her dorm room not long into her first term.
When she finally got through the door, she began the long amble down the corridor towards the exit, seeing the irritable head of accommodation stood outside her office, a peculiar expression etched on her face.
"Hello Marley," she said, causing her to stop walking, somewhat surprised that the woman remembered her name- after all, she didn't remember hers.
"Evening," she replied politely, with a weak smile.
"Settling in to your new home well? It must be a couple months you've been there now," the woman continued.
"Yes thanks," came another short reply. Marley didn't really have time for small talk, especially not with rude university staff with slightly unsettlingly good memories. "I should probably be going," she added, earning a nod from the woman. Marley continued walking. That was…weird. And not what she needed at this time of the evening.
Sure enough her subway home was hellish, caught right in the middle of the New York City evening rush hour and borderline suffocated on a much slower than usual journey. By the time she surfaced from the underground train network and onto their street, it was almost completely dark. Her stomach dropped and a rather nauseous sensation made itself present. He could be anywhere around here, lurking in the shadows, waiting for a moment just like this when either her, Ryder or Santana were caught alone after dark. Up until a couple of weeks ago, her biggest fear about walking home alone in the darkness was the rather suspect gang-like group of guys who would congregate outside the convenience store on the corner, but since the shadowy man's appearances, she would have been grateful for some presumably strong and unopposed to violence males to defend her from any potential attack. Typically, it wasn't quite early enough for them to have gathered yet, and she had the entire dark street to herself…she hoped.
You can do this Marley, she thought. It's 100 yards tops. For some reason this comforted her, despite knowing deep down that a fully grown man would catch up to her, former last place at every school sports day, no matter how short a distance she had to run in vain.
With that, she began to walk, as fast as she could without losing control of her balance and sense of direction. She was painfully aware of how loud every footstep she made was, no matter how gently she tried to walk, each contact of her shoe with the sidewalk making a resounding clang. It was surprisingly loud really. In fact, it quickly dawned on her that that level of noise could only be created by…two sets of footsteps.
One of the things Marley was most talented at, she admitted, was panicking, and that was exactly what she did here. She threw her bag over her other shoulder, securing it in place, and began to sprint as fast as she could, whimpering slightly, realising, beside herself, that the footsteps behind her were naturally faster than hers, evidently belonging to a male with long strides, and that running sure enough probably wouldn't do her much good. Coughing and spluttering for breath, she just about reached their building, fumbling to stab in the code to open the door, hearing the shadowy man close in behind her, feeling hot tears hurriedly make their way down her face. To her relief, she got open the door just in time to scramble behind it and slam it shut, before spinning to look through the door's large window to finally get a good look at the man, and seeing before her…one of the gang members, making his way casually down to the convenience store, looking at her rather amusedly as if she was mad, muttering 'Jesus, lady," under his breath, the shadowy man nowhere to be seen. Mortified, Marley would have rolled her eyes at herself, if she could have mustered the energy to do so.
"Babe, what's wrong?" Ryder asked, immediately noticing his girlfriend's tear stained face as she came through their apartment door.
"False alarm," she muttered. "Could do with a hug though."
Ryder smiled and opened his arms wide, enveloping her in them when she walked into his chest.
"You worry too much," he chuckled, leaning down to connect her lips.
"You're right," she admitted, considering the way she had just completely overreacted to a random guy walking down the street.
"It's cute," Ryder offered, unaware of the man currently positioning himself outside their window, ready to wait for a flicker of a curtain or an opening window for a glance at what, or who, he had been searching for.
And dun dun dunnnn…I hope this is an acceptably tense and dramatic chapter considering I haven't updated in literally forever…please let me know what you thought!
Dear reviewers:
Ember411: Stay tuned to find out!
RocioMelinatic-Ryley15: Bad things may happen, I have to admit…but happy things too! Maybe ;)
Chubby4567: I'm glad you're intrigued! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
TeaAndGlee: So happy you liked it :)You won't have to wait too long to find out. (Presuming I sort my updating speed out…)
Savannaramirez35: Ahaha, glad you liked that part, I was trying to make it funny so hopefully it was :p Hmm, interesting theory.
Jennoist4eva: Glad you are enjoying the story and liked the one shot :)
Allyson B: Haha, I don't want to distract you from you studying but good decision lol ;) Gosh, a Marley pregnancy really would throw a spanner in the works :p
Guest: I like to think that Millie really ships them now :p I think you may be on the right track with that theory, that's all I'll say ;)
Lauren xxx