Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me a while to update, but I wanted this chapter to have some drama and different perspectives, so there is a little bit of sad drama at the end. So...Enjoy!
Chapter 11
MarleyPOV
“Okay, so if you just would sign here, here and here… and Mr. Humphrey if you would sign here, here and here and both of you initial here.” The divorce attorney instructs Andy and I.
We finally got Andy to agree to a divorce, under a few conditions. He wanted to be able to see the kids, which basically killed our restraining order, and he wanted the times he could see them to be without me present. I’m not totally comfortable with this but, I had no other choice. I hope the courts can make it so that someone has to be there though. So now we’re sitting here, signing the divorce papers, with Ryder and Claudia- I think her name was, sitting next to us. Ryder has been super supportive the last few weeks, knowing how much this has been stressing me out. I look at him nervously, wondering if I really should do this. He just takes my hand and squeezes it, comforting me.
“Okay, once you two sign these, you will officially be divorced.” The attorney said once more. I sign the dotted lines and initial where I was told.
“Okay, so I sign this thing and we’re not married anymore?” Andy asks.
“Yes, once you sign these papers, you marriage will be terminated.” The attorney answers him.
“What does that mean about the custody case though? Is this going to affect their decision at all?” He rudely asks, still refusing to sign the papers. I can see him getting angry… It kind of scares me.
“No sir, this is not going to affect who gains custody of the children. Now, please will you sign where I told you?”
“Why do I have to sign this, if I don’t know for certain whether it will affect the decision?”
“Andy just sign the damn paper…” I say quietly.
“Why should I?” He demands.
“You should sign that damned paper because she’s done dealing with your shit, and frankly so is everybody else… you should sign it because you don’t give a shit about her or her children, even if you say you do…you just care about yourself, and what will happen to you if you can’t be around her somehow, even if it’s just to pick up the children you share every other weekend if we even let you near them, because she is an angel and makes you think you can be a better person even though all you’re ever going to be is a worthless piece of shit. You should sign it because if you don’t I’ll personally make sure you do and then make sure you can never sign anything ever again…” Ryder rages, standing up, grabbing Andy who had stood up on the other side of the table to stand over me as he yelled. Ryder then, faster than I can think, has Andy slammed against the wall of the office.
“Dude, what’s your problem?” Andy says, now I know that Andy is trying to get Ryder to hit him… and Ryder is giving in.
“Andy, just shut up… you going to get yourself in trouble.” I tell him, getting a little scared; I’d never seen Ryder this pissed.
“My problem is that you obviously don’t know how to treat the person you’re supposed to be in a relationship with… you don’t treat them like they are worthless…” Ryder says through his teeth.
“Why are you freaking out? She was being stupid and a bitch… She damn deserved it.” As soon as Andy gets the sentence out, Ryder’s last nerve has been cut. I watch helplessly as he punches Andy in the face, causing his head to slam into the wall.
“RYDER! STOP! RY! PLEASE STOP!!” I scream, almost crying as I try to get him to stop and as I do the door opens. It’s Finn, who came with Rachel for moral support. He must have heard the chaos, and came in to see what was going on.
“What the hell is going on? RYDER! Man, quit it! He’s not worth it!” He yells trying to pull Ryder off of Andy but failing. By now I’m full on sobbing and screaming at Ryder and have no clue what to do. As I watch Ryder continue to pound his fist into Andy, I feel Rachel pull me from the office, into the lobby of the law firm.
“Marley, what the hell happened?”
“I don’t know… I don’t know what happened to him… That’s not my Ryder, Rachel…” I sob into her jacket.
“I know Marls, but what happened?”
“Andy kept asking why he had to sign the papers… he was really angry, then I told him to just sign them… and he- he kept demanding to know why and he… he kinda got up in my face and then Ry, he got super angry and start ranting and he- that wasn’t the person I fell in love with in there Rach, I don’t know who that was…” I tell her sobbing again as I slide down the wall I’m leaning against.
FinnPOV
I finally get Ryder off of Andy and haul him out of the room past Rachel and Marley and into another office.
“What the hell Dude!? What happened to not flying off the handle?” I ask him super concerned.
“I don’t know man, I just- I couldn’t take it anymore… I know Marley can handle herself, but when he got up in her face… I just couldn’t let him get away with saying things like that…”
“What did he say, dude?”
“He said that she was stupid and- and a bitch and that- he said she deserved to be treated how she treated her… God, I just want to- Why didn’t you just let me strangle him?!” He tells me and then starts to ramble again.
“Dude, as uncool as what he said was, you have to be stronger… prove to him that he’s worthless and that everything he says is too…” I tell him. He interrupts me though.
“And I could have proved that to him, if you had let me finish pounding his face in.”
“Ryder, that’s not what I mean man, you have to show him that he has no effect on you. And you know what else you have to do?”
“What?”
“Dude, you have to show Marley that you’re not going to let dumbasses like Andy change you. You know, you went from sweet and supportive to flying off the handle, in like two seconds... Right? I think it might have scared her a little bit.”
RyderPOV
Shit. Shit, Shit, shit. What the hell is wrong with me? I knew this would happen if I acted like this... I knew she would be terrified. She’s never seen me like that, completely out of control.
“Where is she? Is she still in there? I swear to god Finn, if you left her in there I will-“
“Dude, dude, dude, chill! She right outside with Rachel… I want you to calm down and take a few deep breaths before you go out there though, she’s kinda pretty shaken up… you know, maybe doing all these different things at once wasn’t such a good idea… The stress you know? Didn’t you say she didn’t want to eat the other day?”
“Fine, fine, fine… I’ll stay here for like five minutes… and don’t mention the eating thing to anyone, okay… I want to try and work that out between me and Marls… last time everyone got involved it ended with her fainting… remember? You were in charge.”
“Okay and shut up, I still feel guilty about that. Just relax before you come out.”
“Trust me dude, I know you do… So do I.” He leaves and I just walk around the room I’m in. I walk over to the desk and slam my fist down on it… which kind of relaxes me a bit… but then I remember that Marley is right outside and that if I punch a hole in one of these walls I’ll probably get arrested or something. So I take a couple deep breaths a walk out into the lobby and see Marley sitting on the floor against the wall, crying. I jog over to her.
“Baby, baby, baby, I’m sorry I flew off the handle, I just, I couldn’t let him get away with saying stuff like that, I wouldn’t feel right about it.” I apologize as I pull her into my arms.
“I just- I couldn’t see you, when all that was happening… and I thought I’d lost you…”
“Never, you would never lose me, baby. I’m not going anywhere… I just, lost myself for a moment… I don’t know what got into me.”
“It’s okay… I forgive you… You should know that I’ll always forgive you.”
“Even if I break your heart?”
“I already did, didn’t I?”
“And I’ll always be here… don’t worry.”
“I know… Let’s get home to the kids… and free Quinn and Puck.”
“You know, we probably could go to dinner, they won’t mind… plus, I just want more alone time with you…”
“Yes. Let’s go.” She tells me smiling widely.
MarleyPOV
“When was the last time we actually went out, just us?” I ask Ryder once the waitress at Breadstix takes our orders, leaving us, coincidently in the booth we always sat in when we came here in high school.
“In this life or our high school life? Because I’m pretty sure that was the last time we went anywhere outside of the house without the kids… and not to go somewhere that had to deal with the case or anything other than us.” He answers, taking my hand across the table, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles.
“I love when you do that…” I tell him softly.
“What?” He asks looking at me with that adorably confused look he gets.
“That.” I say nodding at our entwined hands. He smiles and leans over and kisses my cheek.
“You know, when the girls hear about all the amazing, extravagant and wonderful things you do for me and fawn over all of it… I kind of have to laugh to myself, because as much as I love those things you do for me… I love the little things, the ones you probably don’t even realize you do, and the things that I know are never going to change… that are the things that mean the absolute world to me.” I tell him, laughing at how he blushes.
“Like what?” He asks smirking, still blushing slightly.
“Like I told you, when you hold my hand and rub your thumb over my knuckles. How I know that every morning when you get up for work, you check on Rachel and Mikey (A/N: Just assume that Ryder basically lives at their house, he’s there that much.) and then you come back in the bedroom, kiss my hair and shower, How I know the only songs you ever sing in the shower are ‘Juke Box Hero’, ‘Superman’ and ‘I Only Have Eyes for You’, I love how when you work on the cars at Burt’s shop, you hum ‘Greased Lightning’ to yourself. And how you like to take whatever I’m cooking with or holding and use them as drumsticks. I love how when you’re nervous you rub your hand up and down your arm seven or eight times, depending on how nervous you are, then you run your hands through your hair and down to the back of your neck. How you defend every one you meet until you have a reason not to.”
“Since when have you paid that much attention to me, Ms. Rose?”
“Since forever, Mr. Lynn. You WERE my best friend before my being my boyfriend… REMEMBER?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know.”
“Well, you already know everything I love about you, it’s not like I haven’t told you a million times.” I laugh at his words.
“I still like to hear it…” I whisper softly, looking at my lap.
“Marley Rose, what is this about? One second you’re all smiles and giggles, and now you’re upset… what’s wrong.” I giggle once more; look up at him to see him smiling. “There’s the giggling I was talking about! Now, what just happened?”
“I don’t know, I guess I kinda forgot what it felt like to hear someone beside my children tell me they love me… so now it’s all I ever want to hear… Is that lame?” He chuckles, picks up my hand and kisses it.
“No it’s not lame, I understand Marley… and I love you, and I will tell you every day, every hour, every minute and every second if that’s what you want…”
“You know I don’t need that, I just… It’s nice to hear…” I tell him, blushing furiously.
“I know.”
As silence falls over us, I look down at my phone and see we’ve actually been here for almost an hour. Quinn and Puck are probably wondering where we are. We should probably get home. The kids are probably asleep and wondering where we are.
“We should probably get home… save Quinn and Puck from anymore boredom.”
“Okay, just let me pay…” He says reaching for his wallet.
“No, Ry let me…” I say trying to reach into my purse but he grabs it before I can and holds it out of my reach.
“No, no, no… Come on Marls, let me pay… I want to…” He tells me, leaning over and kissing my cheek and then my lips.
“Fine, you’ve convinced me… but next time, you’re cooking dinner.” I tell him, giving in.
“It’s a deal… now let’s get going.” He agrees, grabbing my hand, pulling me out of the booth and then wrapping his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close.
“Have a nice night!” the young hostess tells us as we walk out.
“The same to you.” Ryder says, winking at the teen, causing her to giggle and blush.
“What the hell happened here!?” I screech as I walk in the house. Quinn, Puck, Jake and Kitty are all sitting in my dining room chairs, but they are tied so they are all back to back facing away from each other.
“Really, we stay out for a little while longer and you two call in back up and still can’t get them to calm down? What the hell?” Ryder says laughing. He walks over to the kids, who are jumping up and down from couch to couch and to the chair, screaming and throwing pillows, and picks both of them up by their ankles and holds them up so they look him in the eyes.
“Did you two tie you babysitters to those chairs?” he asks, smirking slightly.
“Maybe… But Mikey made me do it!!!” Rachel screeches, grabbing onto Ryder’s calf, holding for dear life.
“Aren’t you just like the Diva you’re named after… She was the one who tricked us in musical chairs.” Puck tells me. I walk over to where Ryder is, and crouch down in front of Rachel.
“Mini, is that true?”
“Maybe…” She tells me, looking extremely guilty.
“Yes or no, Rachel?” Ryder asks her sternly. She flings herself into my arms.
“Yes! But I’m really, really sorry! It WAS Mike’s idea to tie them up though!” she confesses. I watch as Ryder Flips Mike up so he’s once again right side up.
“Was it your idea Mike?”
“Yes, I told them we were playing Cowboys and Indians… and they were the Cowboys…” He says, he then tries to get sympathy, by burying his face in Ry’s neck.
“This could be a dumb question, but didn’t you two go through this same experience before?” I ask Quinn and Puck. They both look down in shame.
“Yeah, sophomore year we babysat for Shue’s sister in law and they were triplets… damn little c-“ Puck starts to rant.
“That’s beside the point though… they weren’t as vindictive and manipulative as your children seem to be…” Quinn interrupts.
“Yeah, well they must have learned it somewhere else because I-“I start to defend my parenting but Kitty blows up.
“Oh for God’s Sake!! Will you two just get over yourselves and will someone just untie me? I cannot stay attached to them any longer, they are driving me nuts!” She screeches, moving back and forth, trying to undo the knots.
“Kitty, babe, don’t even try. Not only is Mike in Cub Scouts but I may or may not have taught him a few tricks…” Jake finally speaks up.
“Now why the hell on God’s good earth would you do that!! This is your fault!”
“Okay, okay, put your claws away Kitty Kat-“Ryder starts and Kitty shoots him a glare, causing him to pause. “If you all don’t stop your whining I’m not going to cut you out.”
“Fine, fine, fine! I’ll be nice. Just get me away from them!!! Please!” She begs. Ryder throws Mike down on the couch and he runs to me. I watch as Ryder pulls out a pocket knife and walks over to our tied up babysitters.
“Have you had that one you all day?!” I screech… If he did that means he had it while we were in the law firm…
“Yeah and that jerk-off is lucky Finn pulled me off him, I may or may not have felt a need to use it if he hadn’t…” Ryder mumbles his answer as he cuts Quinn, Puck, Kitty and Jake loose.
“What happened?” Kitty asks, a concerned look crossing her face.
“Kids, go to your rooms… get ready to bed… we’ll be in to tuck you in soon.” I tell Rachel and Mike, watching them hug the others and run down the hall.
“Well, long story short, Andy is a dick and Ryder flew off the handle… Which he promised he wasn’t going to do.” I say, slightly bitter.
“Baby, I’m so sorry, I just-“He starts but I stop him.
“I know, I know… and he did deserve it, if you ask me… but don’t be surprised if assault charges come at us.”
“I was provoked though!”
“That’s not going to change anything, Ryder! They are going to use anything they possibly can to break our case! Don’t you see that?!” I yell at him, watching the others as they leave out of the corner of my eye.
“I do see that Marley, but even if they can kill our case… Where the hell is theirs?!”
“I don’t give a damn about whether they have a case or not! I care if we do and if you go around acting like a maniac, it’s going to give them a reason to doubt us!”
“Oh! So this is my fault!?”
“Ry, that’s-“I start to quietly correct myself, but he interrupts me.
“I know what you meant Marley, and if I’m the problem, I’m gone.” He says, turning around, going to the coffee table and picking up his keys and heading for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Out. Don’t wait up… and don’t be surprised if I don’t come back.” He says, turning cold.
“Ry- Don’t leave, please…” I try and reason with him… but before I can finish, he’s gone and out the driveway. As tears run down my face, I walk to my bedroom, changing into Ryder’s t-shirt and a pair of his sweatpants that are lying on the bed. I crawl into bed and continue to cry. Soon I feel the bed shift on both sides.
“Mommy?” Rachel asks, cuddling into my side.
“What baby?” I ask.
“Where did Ry go?” Mikey asks.
“He may not be around as often for a little okay?”
“Okay… but why mommy? I though he loved you…” Rachel says.
“Sometimes people think they are supposed to be together, but really they’re not…”
“Is that what happened with you and Ry?”
“Maybe, I don’t know… now go to sleep guys... I love you.” I tell, really not in the mood to talk to my toddlers about my love life.
“I love you too.” They say in unison. Soon silence is the only thing you can hear, and I’m left in my thoughts.
Why did I think this would work? We were toxic in high school, why wouldn’t we be now? God, I’m so stupid… and I really thought he loved me, and would never leave.
Well, I guess people change…