Since I've had multiple questions about the update schedule I want to make sure everybody's on the same page! Here is the official one that won't change unless I otherwise announce it has:
Tuesday 12:00am
Saturday 12:00am
Eastern Standard Time
You can also always find my update schedules for any of my active works on my profile in the description of the story.
Enjoy Chapter 72 ❤️
-
"I know you're not asking about Kelly and Ryan's most recent relationship drama because you're genuinely interested in what those two have going on. What's really on your mind?"
"Sarah for nearly a solid month we all had to put up with your and Leo's shit-"
"Hey do not bring me into this! I'm a handsomely innocent bystander!"
"Focus on the damn homework Leo Kahn or so help me God!"
"At least Leo and I knew we weren't meant to be and accepted tha-" thump. "OW! Kelly you bitch!"
"Ryan and I are meant to be! If he would stop texting Adrianna-"
"Wait, hold up. I thought it was Nikki?"
"Nikki was the problem of an hour ago, Bree. Keep up." Tristan droned tiredly.
"Well if my relationship drama is so-"
"We're here to talk to Marley not about Kelly and Ryan!" Gabby's voice attempted to shout over the slew of voices currently blasting through Marley's speakerphone. She managed to find her phone yesterday and had brought it with her back to her house but she was sure the speaker was close to being shattered from the continuous abuse of six people talking at once.
"Blondie clearly said if you're not here to catch up with Marley or do my homework for me you're not invited."
"Homework for yo-Leo!"
His laughter was booming on the other end of the line, which had Marley rolling her eyes in light humour. The background noise of her friends was helping her better deal with the piles of her fathers' laundry she was nearly drowning in right now, and she and Aiden's first argument which was still sickening her. Marley did leave with his car strictly because she had no other transportation, and she didn't want to have to wake Bryan and Jenna at five am — which was a predicament Aiden put her in himself. Suitable punishment would be taking his car like he offered.
It was now ten am. Since it was Friday, Marley called Gabby when she knew it was break time at school for a distraction. She spent the last five hours going between meticulously cleaning and scrubbing at every room in her house, to re-reading the journal obsessively, but the nature of distractions is that they start losing their zeal after a few hours, and the dark thoughts take over again.
The most she and Aiden have communicated since five was a total of three whole text messages.
Aiden Matthews: Text me when you're home safe.
Aiden Matthews: Please.
Marley: I'm home safe.
Clearly, they were handling this like the mature people they are.
At the moment though, Marley was trying not to dwell on: what Aiden's been doing for the last five hours, on every shred of half the blame she deserves for their fight, and how pathetically she misses him right now.
"I'm sorry, Mar," Gabby rushed out into the phone after the line crackled for a few seconds. Her best friends' soothing voice was another reason why she wishes she could be back at camp right now. She felt so lonely. "Our break is fifteen minutes and I've been ignoring you for five of those. What's going on? You're upset."
Marley swallowed the lump in her throat, dumping soap into the washing machine and starting a new load. Once that was done, she took the basket of clean clothes from the top of the dryer and dropped her phone among the fabric somewhere, walking out of the laundry room, "I'm fine, honestly. I just missed you guys."
"Best friendtuition is telling me you're not fine and as much as you missed us, you're calling as more of a distraction than anything. Any new information on..." Gabby trailed off as to not reveal Marley's personal family problems right now. But honestly that didn't even hold a candle to the large part of her obsessing over she and Aiden's fight.
"No," she replied quickly, "Still nothing new." Marley decided she'd tell Gabby about Max when she arrived back at camp, and they could have a genuine conversation about it face-to-face.
"Ian and I have been trying to call Matthews but he's not picking up. Tell him to answer his goddamn phone!"
Marley pressed her lips together, dropping the pile of clothing on her bed and dumping it out to start folding. She struggled for an answer for a second because the fact that Aiden hasn't been answering Ian and Leo is throwing her off. Where is he? What is he doing that he can't answer his phone?
"Ah." Gabby's simple, one word response told Marley that her best friend and herself have some kind of telepathic connection. Gabby's figured it out — of course Gabby figured it out. It's difficult to hide things from each other over the phone, and impossible in person.
"What's that realization nose wrinkle you've got going on?"
"Nose wrinkle?" Marley and Gabby questioned at the same time, momentarily distracted from the matter at hand.
"Yeah. Nose wrinkle. Whenever you can't figure something out you have a forehead wrinkle and whenever you manage to figure it out it shifts to your nose. So tell me blondie what caused the nose wrinkle this time?"
Marley blinked in shock. Leo Kahn and observant is another example of chalk and cheese — or so she thought. It was quiet on the other end of the line for a few seconds. Marley could imagine her best friends' mouth hung open in the same surprise.
"Oh shit!" Leo's sudden shout had Marley jumping on the spot, "I get it now! Forehead wrinkle when blondie asks you what's wrong, I ask why Aiden isn't answering and it's nose wrinkle back in action! Trouble in paradise! Boom! Take that assholes! I'm fucking smart!"
"Wait wait, hold on," Sarah butt in with a tone light with surprise while Marley struggled for words, "Mr. and Mrs. Perfect Couple Goals are arguing? Do tell."
Marley scoffed at the idea that she and Aiden are a perfect couple in any way, shape or form. They're so dysfunctional she's wondering how they've managed almost two months together without a single major argument like this. The others were misunderstandings and she wouldn't consider their break a fight, but this was the underside of an iceberg being flipped over and revealing all of the dirt, grime and unsolved issues beneath it. Perfect couple? Hardly.
"It's really nothing," Marley managed to find her voice again with much internal panic on how to respond, "And we're not a perfect couple."
"You sure as hell aren't right now," Tristan replied bluntly, shortly before she yelped — probably being smacked by either Bree or Kelly, maybe both.
"In all seriousness," Bree said after the phone rustled again for a few seconds, "We all hope you're okay. Take this from a girl whose been with the same guy for over a year — the only way you work things out is communication and compromise-"
"Don't forget sex! Bang it out! Problem solv-OW! For such a small human you sure can pinch, blondie. Christ."
"Do your homework. Stop being so insensitive, Leo. And maybe tell your best friend to stop upsetting mine!"
"Gabby," Marley cut in quickly, "It's not Aiden's fault...entirely. It was both of us." She sat down on the edge of her bed, picking a strand of lint off one of her fathers' shirts.
"Don't sweat it too much, Marley. You've got my best friend hanging by his dick."
"Shut up, Leo." Gabby's voice was beyond tired. Marley's assuming she has been spending a lot of time dealing with him due to their tutoring situation for extra credit. There's no way Gabby would pass up on an opportunity to earn extra marks — even if it means having to deal with Leo, "In all seriousness, are you okay now? Not...upset?"
Marley couldn't admit — even to herself — that she spent a good fifteen minutes hyperventilating in Aiden's car in the parking lot of the fitness centre. But after their misunderstanding about the text messages on Aiden's phone back in November, Marley learned a valuable lesson: just because she and Aiden need time apart, it doesn't mean he's going far. Just because they're arguing and upset with each other, doesn't mean he's walking away.
Marley needs to grow up in that sense, and she was proud of herself for handling this situation better. That's not to say she enjoyed this at all, but she knows how to handle it maturely, at least.
"I don't like fighting with him," she admitted quietly, "Obviously I'm upset but I can handle it. One argument isn't going to break us."
Bree snorted in the background, "If one argument makes or breaks a relationship Jay and I would be long gone. Probably within the first week."
"Shut up," Kelly retorted glumly, "You two never argue. About anything."
"Because we've gotten over the worst of it. Marley, there's always growing pains in a new relationship. It won't break you and Aiden because he's not the guy to give up. We all know that about him. Never take for granted the people who pull you closer when you push them away."
"Though I love motivational speeches as much as the next basic white girl, Matthews is whipped Marley. If he's not kneeling at your altar in the next hour I'll run across camp buttass naked."
"Gross, Leo."
"You'd enjoy the view. Don't try to deny it blondie."
Marley was too deep in her mind considering Bree's advice to pick up on Gabby and Leo's usual banter. She can't decide if they're too far into denial to admit they have a connection, or if they genuinely don't have enough in common to get any closer. Marley made a mental note to ask Gabby if they ever talked about their first kiss or if they've decided to push it under the rug like most things.
Because beneath said rug is crowded right now.
"I'm not trying to deny it, I AM denying it. Mrs. Weiss said she wouldn't dock you marks if you finished the questions on first break. You have one question left. You're on the home stretch Leo. Work with me, please."
"You probably think that you are better now, better now,
You only say that cause I'm not around, not around
You know I never meant to let you down, let you down-"
"For fucks sakes I can't focus with the human 95.5!"
Marley questioned a while ago why Sarah's typical singing hadn't changed its tune for Christmas. Turns out, the girl detests Christmas music. One of her two part time jobs back home is at the grocery store where they play Christmas music for months before the actual holiday. Apparently, it is possible to get tired of Jingle Bells and Walking Around The Christmas Tree. Who knew.
"Leo if I wanted to kill myself I'd climb up your ego and jump to your IQ."
Laughter ensued on the other end of the line at Sarah's accurate insult, and Marley could distinctly hear the sound of Gabby's pealing giggles. She'd be enjoying Leo taken down a notch considering he's made a joke out of most things — including Sarah's thoughts and feelings.
"I would come back with something worse but I don't want to stoop to your level. I don't like being on my knees."
Silence.
Gabby cleared her throat, the phone rustling, "Not only is break over, but I think Sarah may be about to commit first degree murder. Her face is redder than her hair right now. Text me?"
Marley smiled through the ache of missing her friends. It's never a dull moment with them and she knows leaving camp is going to be hard. She's never had such a big group of people to call herself a part of and the idea that they were all going their separate ways was disappointing.
But there's one person who won't be going their separate ways, but rather even closer. Someone she needs to apologize to, and make things right with. Bree's right — a new relationship comes with growing pains and communication and compromise is key.
"Yeah," Marley replied, "I'll text you. Thanks for calling me. I feel better now. You're the best."
"Love you," Gabby said into the line before it went dead.
Without the distraction of her friends, the loneliness hit again. Marley folded her fathers' clothing with deliberate slowness like she's done everything the past hour. There's not much left to do and she's trying to delay the inevitable — facing her problems.
Procrastinators unite!
...Tomorrow.
Once the basket was full, Marley trudged back down the stairs with it, considering asking Gabby to ask Leo for the address to Aiden's house — for about two seconds before she realized that was the worst idea on the face of the planet. Not only would she be upset if he wasn't there, but she'd also be invading his privacy.
Admittedly, it did hurt her that he was so adamant against bringing her to his house. It felt symbolic — as if there wasn't a place for her in his life away from camp. As stupid as that thought pattern was, given the ring on her finger and the many promises he's made to her. Promises he won't break. Promises she needs to believe in more than she does.
When the doorbell rang, it was literally and figuratively facing the music. Marley set the basket down on the couch, pausing by the door and glancing down at her outfit in mortification.
She changed out of her workout clothes and into sweats and a sweater with a hole in it, not to mention the state of her hair in a messy bun on her head. Not her best look by a long shot, but she'd have to get over the idea that Aiden is going to see her in every shape and form, and will have to put up with it.
Marley took a deep breath, opening the door and facing the person on the other side.
"Hey," he said quietly, leaning against the side of the door with a soft expression, "Can I come in?"
***
Next chapter: