#ach!jarley

Jake stared back at Marley, trying his best (and failing) to suppress the anger that was bubbling up inside him. “Stupid? No, but I am going to kick his ass.” He snapped, turning away from Marley and reaching for the door handle. He’d come to pick Marley up from one of her usual Cheerios parties, he always offered to be her ride home from them if he wasn’t attending himself, mostly so he could make sure she got home safe. She usually appeared fairly quickly whenever he texted her to let her know he was waiting outside. But tonight she had taken longer, and he could tell something had happened as soon as she’d gotten in the car. It looked like she’d been crying and she was much quieter than usual. Jake tried to push her for an explanation, piecing together that one of the jocks had said something about her, or her mom or maybe it was about him. He wasn’t sure, the explanation had been mumbled and slightly incoherent - which was most likely related to the alcohol he could smell on Marley’s breath. 

But details weren’t important to him, not when the girl he cared so deeply for was upset. It provoked something within him and it was something he wanted to do something about. So he climbed out of the car, ignoring Marley’s repeated plea not to do anything stupid, and headed towards the house to find the asshole responsible. Jake hadn’t thought about what he was going to do when he found him, his rage was clouding his judgement and he would just do what felt right in the moment. He heard the other car door open and shut behind him, followed by the sound of heels tottering along the ground before Marley was pulling at his arm, trying to persuade him back to the car. He ignored her, continuing up the steps to the front door before Marley swung herself round in front of him, blocking his way into the party.

Marley began pleading with him again and he could feel the rage beginning to ebb away as he focused his attention on her. “Fine, because this is apparently what you want, I will go back to the car.” Jake sighed after a few moments of stand off between them, she only had to bat her eyelids at him though and he’d do whatever she wanted. He was weak like that. Weak for her. 

“But we’re stopping for milkshakes on the way home. And burgers, or fries, or whatever you want.” He knew that there was nothing better than comfort food when you were drunk, or upset or in this case, both. He held out his hand, helping her back down the steps before wrapping his arm around her as they walked towards the car. “You’re paying though, it’s your forfeit for being a drunken mess.” He teased, attempting to lighten the atmosphere and put a smile back on Marley’s face. He knew he’d do anything at any point to see that smile and maybe, just maybe, he was starting to realise exactly how hard and fast he was falling for her.

          Here was the thing about Marley and Jake’s friendship - casual was key. The two spent a lot of time together as of late, whether it was netflix and chill or goofing around on the football field during free period to stretch and practice respective dance routines - which usually ended with Marley draped over his shoulder or the pair spraying each other with ice cold water bottles. But then the bell would ring and Marley would drift into her friends and Jake do his own thing and they both knew if they wanted a hook up, the other was just a text away. They were friends. Honestly, as of late, it felt like he was her best friend. 

So when he drove her to the homecoming after party, held by the infamous Santana Lopez herself, she figured that the two of them would make their rounds, get some drinks and eventually make their way back to each other before the night was through, as per usual. Marley had obviously went to the dance earlier with a date - but he was a jock, and in true jock nature, spent the rest of his night shotgunning beers with the rest of the football team. It was a relief, to be honest. The blonde was over trying to keep up appearances at this point of the night. 

She knew Jake’s mom usually worked overnights on Friday and wasn’t exactly a stranger to inviting herself over - not that he’d ever complained about it. So, finishing off her last drink of the evening, she dismissed herself from her fellow cheerios and weaved through the crowd of party goers to find him. Santana’s house was huge, so it took a couple minutes and a few main rooms before Marley made it too the kitchen - halting in her spot when she caught Jake in close proximity with some skank! girl who hung out underneath the bleachers. Not exactly who she pictured as his type, but he didn’t seem all that opposed to the way her hand ran over the collar of his leather jacket. 

She didn’t know why it pissed her off so much. God knows Jake had seen many a boys flirt with her in the past. In what universe was she the one who god jealous over something so stupid? But she did. She felt annoyance wash over her features, but despite the response it was invoking - she couldn’t look away. Pulling out her phone, she ran through her contacts until she found someone remotely dependable to give her a sober lift home, sending them a text asking them to do so before constructing one for Jake. 

“Tired. Going home, ttyl”. 

💃 Our muses go ice-skating!

Jake tended to take a lot of girls ice skating as dates in the winter. He was good at it, which meant he could show off whilst all the girls thought of it as a cute romantic outing as they wrapped up in big coats and got to hold his hand whilst he pulled them along on the ice. None of them had known his secret though, the fact that he danced. It meant that he had the balance and control over his body to keep him stable on the ice, and he knew how to add an extra certain flair to his movements too. 

Except this time he’d brought Marley with him. Now Marley knew he was dancer, and she was a cheerleader so she was probably going to be just as good as he was. Not only that, but he actually liked her more than most of the girls he usually took out so there was an extra pressure on him to not mess it up or fall on his ass in front of her.

They’d laced up their skates and hit the ice about twenty minutes ago, and after a rocky start with a few slips and near-falls, they were starting to get into the swing of it as they glided around hand in hand. 

“You’re not too bad, Rose.” Jake teased, holding his arm up so she could twirl around underneath it. “We could totally nail one of those skating routines.” He commented, laughing as he slipped a few seconds later, managing to regain his balance before he hit the ice.

Marley sighed, sorting through her books at her locker while she searched for her green biology text book. It was fairly organized, but she was a little distracted. Ever since Sam had asked her out, Jake had been acting kind of weird, she had no idea why.  It's not like she hadn't dated before since they started 'spending time' together. Now, asking her not to go? It seemed to come completely out of the blue; so she just equated it with Sam's reputation of getting deep super fast. 

"Jake, common. He made a huge scene in the cafeteria. I can't exactly turn down a dozen roses while being serenaded in the middle of our entire student body." she laughed softly. Sure, it was over the top - but it was actually nice  to have such a huge public display of affection. "Plus this might help you in more ways then one, if he asks me to prom - I won't have to force you to take me." she teased, playfully, as she finally pulled her books out and wrapped her arms around them tightly. 

6. My muse finds yours unconscious in an alleyway.

Jake sighed as Marley’s phone went to voicemail once again, wondering where the hell she’d gotten to. The Cheerios had hired out the local bowling alley for a party with the jocks, and while Jake had most definitely passed on attending himself, he’d agreed to swing by at the end of the night to pick Marley up. So here he was, sat in the parking lot half an hour after the time they’d agreed on and there was still no sign of her. He’d texted her and tried calling but she wasn’t responding so he knew this meant he’d actually have to go in and find her in the crowd of superficial cheerleaders and meathead jocks that attended these things. 

So he reluctantly got out of his car and headed for the bowling alley entrance. Once inside, he slipped through the groups of people as he avoided conversation with anyone and just looked for Marley. Except he couldn’t see her anywhere inside either. He eventually spotted one of her friends, making his way over to ask if she’d seen Marley. The answer was a no, and the girl also agreed to check the bathrooms for Jake once he explained that he was here to pick Marley up. However the answer was still a no even after the girl returned from checking all the girls’ bathrooms in the building.

Jake thanked her anyway, starting to worry as he made one last lap of the party in case he’d missed her. But she definitely wasn’t there. He headed back outside, pulling out his phone as he tried to call her once again. Except this time, he swore he could hear the faint sound of her phone ringing as he stood on the sidewalk. He knew it was hers because he’d jokingly customised the ringtone on her phone so it played Sexy and I Know It whenever he rang her, and she’d never changed it back. The sound seemed to be coming from around the corner of the building, from the alleyway between the bowling alley and the Italian restaurant next door. 

Now he was definitely worried, and the worries seemed to be perfectly justified as he turned the corner and saw the outline of Marley’s body sprawled on the floor at the end of the alley. His heart seemed to stop for a second before plummeting to his stomach as he raced over to where she was lying. “Marley! Oh my god. What happened? Are you okay? Marley?!” Jake stuttered, feeling even more sick when he got no response. “Marley, come on... wake up. Marls, it’s me.” Jake whispered, using one hand to shakily dial 911 on his phone while the other hand brushed Marley’s blonde hair out of her face. “Marls, you can’t leave me, okay? I love you. You’re gonna be okay.”  He added, trying to reassure himself more than anything as the 911 operator began to ask him questions. He quickly focused on answering them, wanting an ambulance to get to them as soon as possible so they could tell him Marley was going to be okay, and then maybe the sick feeling in his stomach would go away.