✧✧✧

JESS WASN'T AT work the next afternoon.

To say that Marley was concerned would be a bit of an understatement. She didn't remember much of what had happened last night, but from the bits she could piece together and what Courtney had told her when she called in the morning, she knew that she had been a mess. She had also missed a mess.

She vaguely recalled Ryan harassing her in a drunken stupor and decided to use alcohol to make his comments sting less. She remembered Jacob and Jess finding her on Kyle's porch, and she had the faintest memory of being guided over the bridge by Jess. Everything other than that was blurry. She certainly didn't remember Jess' rather annoyed state that Courtney said he'd had all night. Maybe that explained the fight.

The fight. Marley couldn't believe that she'd missed that. From what she'd heard from both Courtney and Jacob and judging by Luke's attitude this shift, it was bad. Really bad. But that wasn't what concerned Marley the most.

What concerned Marley the most was the conversation she'd had with her school's secretary while serving her lunch this afternoon. Between the pleasantries, the seventy-year-old Secretary Kerry had asked Marley if she was being forced to work with Jess today (technically, she'd asked Marley if  she had been 'forced to work with that punk today,' but Marley knew exactly what she'd meant) and only when Marley laughed it off and told her he called out, was the bomb dropped.

"Not only is he slacking at school, but he's also slacking at work too," Kerry had said, shaking her head. When Marley questioned this, Kerry's eyes became wide from behind her coffee cup. "You heard he was expelled from school right? Because of how many times he skipped?" She clucked her tongue. "I hope that hoodrat goes back where he came from. He's been in this town for too long. It's time for him to go home."

Marley had eyed the cross on the dainty chain hanging around her next. Maybe you've been here for too long too, you old bat, she'd thought. However, she kept that to herself, giving Secretary Kerry a plastic smile and leaving her with her bill.

The thought had been rattling around in her head ever since. Jess had been expelled. Expelled, expelled. He had broken the agreement he'd set with Luke. After hearing it from both of them, she knew something set in stone, something that Luke was going to hold on to. She feared the consequences to come.

As if to prove her point, Luke slammed a plate holding a Reuben sandwich in front of her. "Take that to the guy reading the newspaper in the corner."

Marley said nothing and did as she was told. She slowly walked back toward Luke, wiping her hands on the rag she kept with her. She prayed that Caesar would call another order.

To her chagrin, he did no such thing. Marley found herself next to Luke again and she knew he had questions for her. It was only a matter of time before he started to make small talk to sneak his questions in.

However, Luke went for the jugular immediately. "Were you there last night?"

Marley looked at him, slightly shocked. "Where?"

"The party. Kyle's party. Where you there?"

"For a little while," Marley said. She shrugged. "I kind of left early."

Luke nodded slowly. He still wasn't looking at her. "You see the fight?"

"No. I left before that."

"Why'd you leave?"

Marley furrowed her brow. "Did I do something wrong?"

Luke finally met her gaze. It was blank, accompanied by a scowl. "Of course not. I'm trying to figure out what the hell my shithead nephew did." He sighed, leaning his back against the counter. He ran a hand down his face. "You two get along now. I was hoping you were with him and saw what happened."

Marley rested against the opposite counter. She crossed her arms over her chest. "I, uh, I--" She stumbled over her words, wondering whether or not this was something she should be telling her boss. She glanced at him. It was Luke. What the hell. "I hung out with him and Rory toward the beginning, but, uh, Ryan was at the party last night." She shrugged again. "He wasn't being his nicest so, like the mature seventeen-year-old I am, I drank a lot and used that to ignore him. Wasn't the smartest choice, but it made the party a little more bearable. I was on the porch and I remember Jacob and Jess came out and found me," she said, pausing to take a breath and then heavily sigh. "Jess took me back home. Put me in the recovery position and everything. That's what my mom said at least."

"He met your mom?" Luke asked.

Marley nodded. "Yeah," she chuckled. "I think he impressed her a bit. From what she'd heard I think she expecting a little more Don Corleone, less Ponyboy."

Luke huffed a laugh. He stared at the mugs on the shelf behind her, looking lost in thought. "God, Marley, what am I gonna do with him?"

Marley didn't know how to answer that. She knew what she wanted to say, but she knew that Luke would never accept that. She also realized that Luke probably didn't even want an answer.

After a while of quiet, Marley finally spoke. "He's not a bad kid," she began, her voice so quiet that Luke had hardly registered that she was talking. "Can he be an asshole? Yeah. Is he kind of misguided? Yeah. You knew that when you agreed to take him in." She swallowed, feeling Luke's eyes boring into the side of her face. "He's not in a good place right now. Shit, Luke, He's been in a bad place all his life."

"So you think I should let him off the hook?"

Marley's eyes flashed to his. "That's not what I'm saying at all," she stated. "He and Dean got into that fight. It happened. No matter who started it or what it was about, what they did wasn't okay. There are consequences for that stuff." She moved from her leaning position to face him completely as she heard Caesar's voice yelling her table's meal from the back. "All I'm saying is even though it takes a little while to find, there is some good beneath whatever bad front he puts up. I've seen it. Rory's seen it. You've seen it. I know you have. If you hadn't seen it, there'd be no way in hell that he'd still be here." There was a small smile on her face as she picked up the two plates. "He's a kid, Luke. A kid in a bad place. Remember that."

Luke couldn't find a way to respond to that. He simply watched Marley deliver the food her customers, then round them to clear the table beside her.

Luke would remember that. He'd remember that when he went to go confront the creep sitting alone in his diner this morning who just so happened to be Jess' father. He'd remember that when he found Jess waiting for him upstairs the next night, angry with him for not telling him about it. He'd remember it as he fought with his nephew about him not graduating.

However, it wouldn't resonate with him until he heard the door of his apartment slam shut after he told Jess that he had to leave. Not that it mattered anymore. He was a kid in a bad place who he'd failed.

He wanted to punch a hole in a wall just thinking about that.

✧

MARLEY ACOSTA'S SUNDAY was going pretty smoothly until about eleven thirty at night. She'd gotten the day off, so she was able to spend the morning with her mom and brother, eating pancakes and beginning to make checklists for Jacob for college. The rest of the day involved Marley watching two different movies that had been recommended to her by a friend, and studying for a physics test she had on Tuesday. Mixed in somewhere between those things was her dinner of leftover lasagna she'd put in the microwave after her mom left for her night shift.

At roughly eleven thirty, she heard someone knocking on her bedroom window. She nearly jumped out of her skin at this, the book she had in her hands landing on the ground with a resounding thud. She leaned back in her chair toward the window and threw her hands up in question once she saw who was there.

Marley's window creaked as she opened it. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, squinting at Jess.

The light in her room illuminated his face enough for Marley to see that something was wrong. He tried a tight smile, but it didn't sit right. He avoided eye contact, shrugging. "I don't know," he said quietly. Marley's brows drew together.

"You don't know?"

He shook his head. "I don't know," he whispered. "I don't know what to do."

Marley's heart sunk into her stomach. Had it happened? Did Luke actually do it? Marley stiffened, biting the inside of her cheek. Jesus, Jess. Why couldn't you have followed the rules one fucking time?

Jess only looked up at her when she released a heavy sigh. "Front porch," she told him, shutting the window shortly after. He nodded weakly, turning to walk around the house.

As she made her way through her house, Marley couldn't help but wonder why he'd picked her house to go to. Was Rory not home? Were they fighting? Had the fight affected more than Kyle's living room?

He was sitting on the railing when Marley unlocked and opened the door. She enclosed her hands into the sleeves of the sweatshirt she was wearing and slowly walked to where he was sitting. She sat on the rail, throwing her legs over so that she was sitting beside him.

They didn't speak for a while. The wind blew gently against Marley's face, sweeping her hair from her face. It was rather warm for eleven-thirty at night in the middle of spring. Not that Marley was complaining. This conversation would be going very differently if it were below freezing and she--

"They expelled me." Oh. They were going right into it. Straight, no chaser. "I missed too many days."

Marley didn't look at him. She only nodded. "I know."

"You know?" he asked, turning his head to look at her.

There was a sad sort of smile on her lips. "Secretary Kerry's a Saturday afternoon regular."

Jess swore under his breath and shook his head. "Of course she is," he muttered. "I'm surprised she was able to talk about something else other than The West Wing."

"Hey, if you take issue with The West Wing, you take issue with me, okay?"

"Geez. You would watch that show."

Marley grinned at him. "I'm a proud member of Lemon-Lyman, Mariano."

Jess chuckled and shook his head, a look on his face that Marley couldn't exactly read. He sighed, gripping the railing beneath him. His shoulders sunk and he hung his head. "What am I gonna do?" he whispered.

She held her breath. "What do you mean?"

"Luke kicked me out," he said. Marley deflated completely. Luke did it. He did it. When he felt Marley's wide eyes on him, he began knew he had to explain. "You want to hear something crazy?"

Marley was almost afraid to answer. "What?"

"I met my dad for the first time today."

"What?" Marley was gaping at him. "When? Where?"

"At the diner. He's here for whatever reason. I didn't have time to ask why." He scoffed, his grip on the rail getting tighter. "He said he was my dad, we listened to a Bowie song and then he left."

Marley swallowed the lump in her throat and, in an attempt to brighten the mood, raised her brows. "What Bowie song?"

Jess didn't scowl like she was expecting him to. Instead, he huffed a laugh. "Suffragette City."

Marley shrugged. "At least it was a good Bowie song."

"You say that as if you've listened to more Bowie than that one that just so happens to be on the CD."

"I have," she insisted.

Jess didn't believe her. "Since when?"

Marley went to answer but found herself shutting her mouth as soon as she met his gaze. By his expression, Jess knew exactly when she started listening to Bowie. Something that looked like pride flashed across his face for a split second. He nodded, the corners of his lips quirking up.

"Did he say where he was going?" she asked after clearing her throat.

"No," Jess said. "He just got up and left. He looked as freaked as I was."

Marley sighed. "I'm sorry."

"The hell are you sorry for?"

"I don't know," she said. "I just know I'd be pissed if the first time meeting my dad was us sitting down and listening to Bowie and then he just dips."

"It's fine," he replied, shaking it off. There was a slight hesitation before he said, "I think we'll have plenty of time to catch up in California."

Marley quickly turned her head to look at him. Her stomach churned. Jess looked at her reluctantly. He didn't like how the way she was looking at him made him feel.

"California?" she whispered. "You're going to California."

"Yeah," he answered. "I'm going to California."

"Does your dad know?"

"He will."

"Does Luke know?"

Jess scoffed. "Please."

Marley nodded slowly, still trying to take everything in. "Why California?"

"You see anywhere else I should go?"

"New York?"

"I'm not going back there until I have to."

"Why not?"

"Shit, Acosta, what is this, twenty questions?" He looked at her in a mixture of disgust and disbelief and Marley couldn't help but transport back to the first month she knew him. She nearly shuddered at the thought of returning to that relationship with him. "I can't stay here. I don't want to go back to living with my mom. So, if you have a better option for me, I'm all ears!"

Marley clenched her jaw. "You don't get to do that," she said quietly.

"What?"

"You don't get to yell at me just because you fucked up and Luke stood by his word," she told him, voice more confident than she was feeling. "I'm trying to help you. So, unless you want to revert back to the day we met, I'd suggest that you don't take this out on me."

Jess didn't say anything. Marley honestly thought he was going to get up and leave. Instead, he shut his eyes. His response was hushed. "I'm sorry." He looked like he wanted to say more, but he stumbled over his words. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She looked at him. "You're going to be okay."

"You don't know that."

"I do," she said. "You're going to go to California and if that doesn't work out, you'll go back to New York. You'll write your book. You'll actually give it a goddamn title. You'll get a job or something." There was a sad sort of smile on her face. "It all works out eventually."

Quiet again. The two of them watched as a car drove down the road before them, the lights illuminating them for a moment. Quiet. Nothing but dead air and unspoken words.

She bit her lip. "Does Rory know?" 

"No," Jess said through a labored breath. "I can't do that."

Marley then dared to start a conversation that she knew could go both ways. It had been eating at her for months. But Jess was leaving. Might as well do it now. "Can I ask you something?"

"What?"

"Did you really mean what you said?"

Jess raised his brow. "I've said a lot of things to you, Acosta."

"A couple of months ago. The whole Ryan day." She saw Jess roll his eyes at the mention of his name. "You said that I knew you better than almost anyone in this town. We hadn't even known each other for that long."

Jess went completely silent. There were quiet crickets that sounded around them as they sat on the front porch railing of Marley's home. The question hung comfortably in the air, no pressure coming from either side. There never was.

"Of course I meant it," Jess said softly. "Right now, you know me better than anyone."

Marley looked at him. "Why?"

He met her gaze. There was confusion in his eyes. "The hell do you mean why?"

"I don't know," Marley mumbled, shrugging her shoulders. "Shouldn't Luke know you better? Shouldn't Rory?" Jess didn't speak. He looked away, obviously uncomfortable with her question. Marley took a breath. "Why me?"

It took a minute for Jess to answer. But eventually, a quiet voice said, "Because you're my friend, Marley. And friends know each other." Jess swallowed before adding, "That's what we do."

Marley found herself rendered speechless. She didn't know what to do with that. How the hell could she reply to that? He'd just outwardly called her his friend. She hadn't even done that yet. No times that she remembered, anyway.

There was a soft smile on her lips that made Jess smile too. "That's what we do," she repeated. They looked at each other for a little while longer, quickly glancing away once they realized what was actually happening. Marley stuffed her hands in her sweatshirt pocket before letting out a quick sigh. "So. California."

Jess chuckled. "California."

"You know you can't wear leather to the beach, right?"

"Thanks, Acosta."

"Just a reminder. It's hot there. I mean, unless you want to pick up a pair of those little leather shorts."

"Oh, my god-"

"I'm just saying, If you want to stay on theme, these might be some of the sacrifices you have to make."

Jess groaned, but the smile on his face was one that Marley wouldn't forget. "Enough," he groaned. Through Marley's laughter, he asked, "What are you going to do now that you won't have someone to harass anymore?"

Marley ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach by laughing it off. "I have Luke. Courtney too," she said. "I'm just not going to get the same level of bullshit in return."

"That's a shame," he told her.

Marley sighed, looking at him, lips having a harder time finding the ability to smile this time. "Yeah," she said. "It is." She laughed hastily at herself, biting her cheek after. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm gonna miss you."

Jess paused, but he wasn't as tentative as Marley thought he would be. "I'm gonna miss you too," he admitted.

Their conversation was done, but it didn't seem like either of them wanted to leave. Marley was positive that they would have sat on that rail all night until Jess had to leave in the morning if it wasn't for Jacob opening the door and calling to Marley that he needed her help to fix the microwave.

Marley rolled her eyes at her brother, shooting Jess an apologetic look as swung her legs back over the side. She watched as Jess did the same, playing with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. She tried a smile, glancing back at the door. "I-I'm sorry. I-"

"Don't. Go help him," Jess said.

Marley didn't want to help Jacob. She didn't want Jess to leave. She wasn't sure if she'd ever see him again, for fuck's sake. The microwave surely could wait. "I don't-"

"Jesus, I'm not shippin' to 'Nam," he chuckled. He reached into his pocket, then held his hand out to her. "You're gonna see me again." She moved forward to grab whatever he was holding out to her. She felt a slip of paper placed in her palm, followed by his hand squeezing hers lightly.

Marley grinned a bit more easily this time, but still felt her eyes burn a bit. God. "Bye, Mariano."

His smile matched hers. "Bye, Acosta."

She watched as he walked down the porch steps, hands in his jacket pockets. She felt the overwhelming need to sit down and cry. She didn't know what had gotten her like this. It wasn't like she was an overly emotional person. He'd said it himself. They were going to see each other again. Somehow. Some way.

This wasn't the end. There was a calm in that thought. It wasn't the end. That would have to suffice for now.

Marley took a deep breath and turned to walk back into her house. It was good. Everything was okay. It was going to be okay. Before she could even close the door, she heard Jess' voice calling out to her.

"Marley!" he said. She turned to look at him from the doorway. It was dark, but the dim street lights lit his face just enough for her to see the smirk on his face. "Remember to get some sleep." And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving Marley to watch him disappear down the road.

Once Marley finally got inside, she opened the folded note he'd passed to her.

She heard Jacob walk into the room talking to himself. She looked up, wiping her face free of the tears that had fallen. She chuckled, folded the note back up, put it in her pocket, and then joined Jacob and his rant about the microwave.

They were going to see each other again. Because they were friends. Because that's what they did.

✧✧✧

author's note: oooooooh boy this chapter was a long time coming and took me even longer to sit down and write. hope the wait wasn't too long. it's been a while. sorry about that!

also, i did change their parting conversation a little bit from what it was in the art of pining. this one fit the pacing of this story a little better. hope that's okay.

also if any of u watch the west wing and understood the lemon-lyman reference just know that i am willing to marry you and will pay for the wedding wow

okay i need to study for a stats test love u all tons!
-mags