SILVER LINED DOUBT. [JESS MARIANO]

SIX.

"C'mon, he's not that bad."

"Please."

"Leaning Tower of Cheeza?"

Jess nearly laughed at the impression but instead dropped the rag he was using and put his face in his hands. "Oh my god, stop talking."

"I grew up on A Goofy Movie. I'll never stop talking about it."

He looked at her in such a way that Marley thought he might start yelling again. However, his look softened and his shoulders deflated. "Fine. But only because I did too."

"Seriously?" she asked, gaping at him.

Jess scrunched his brow, turning to place a mug in its slot on the shelf. "I was a nineties kid, Acosta. That concert scene was the best thing to ever happen to me," he replied.

Marley couldn't hide her smile as she drew out, "A little smoke-aaage."

"I will give you all of my tips for the day if you never do that Pauly Shore impression again."

Marley quickly threw her hands up in defense. "Who's Pauly Shore?"

"Better," Jess said, chuckling to himself as he watched Marley walk over to the tables to begin stacking chairs.

All was quiet between them for a moment. The string lights around the diner windows were the only light source used (besides the lamp they always kept on in the corner because Marley liked it), the dim light making the restaurant look warmer and more welcoming than usual. The scraping of the chairs against the tile made up for the lack of conversation between them. It was nice to have a quiet that wasn't tension-filled for once.

As Marley glanced up to see Jess beginning to refill the salt shakers, she thought about how far the two of them had come. While they weren't friends (or maybe they were. Maybe. It wasn't like they had talked about it. At the moment, neither of them would be caught dead calling the other that), they weren't enemies. They'd created a hazy, gray middle that both of them seemed to be trapped in, with no motivation to find a way out. They didn't need to. All Marley cared about was the fact that they weren't screaming at each other anymore.

The arguing was fine. It was one constant between them that she could deal with. She figured it would remain a constant for as long as they interacted with each other. She could live with the Pauly Shore type arguing. She actually liked that type of arguing.

Marley shook her head to hide a smile. She placed the chair in her hands on the table gently, weaving through the tables to get to the other side of the room. As she approached her first table, she glanced back at Jess.

"Any letters?" she asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

She didn't have to be looking at him to know his face had turned sour. "No idea what you're talking about."

"I'll take that as a no," she said.

The quiet came again. Marley knew it wouldn't last long. She knew Jess wanted to say something.

After a moment, she was proven correct. "Why?" he asked. "You hear anything?"

Marley shrugged. "She hasn't replied to any of Dean's letters," she answered. Marley shrugged again, more hesitant this time. "If that's the kind of thing you're looking to hear."