SILVER LINED DOUBT. [JESS MARIANO]

THIRTY-EIGHT.

(hi there friends! we're just going to pretend like i didn't take a 5 month hiatus, okay? cool! i've got a whole explanation for my absence on my message bored if you're interested, but just know I'm back in action! and what a fuckin chapter to return on. this is a sad angsty one with some banter here and there. lots of tears from our pals. not from me though. had this shit planned since 2019. cannot wait to go into part 3.)

(also, i've had five months to do this, but she's still violently unedited. at least that hasn't changed. consistency is key! love you all tons! -mags)

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LUKE DANES ARRIVED in Philadelphia for Marley's graduation a day early. This was a problem for three reasons.

One, Jess Mariano, sweet boy that he was, had completely forgotten that he'd told his uncle that he could come a day early. He'd agreed to it so long ago, and with his book, Marley leaving for London in a few days, and the craziness that was leading up to his friends' graduation, he felt that it was understandable for it to have slipped his mind.

The second reason laid within the fact that Marley and Jess were currently asleep. Together. After they'd slept together the night before.

This reason led straight into the final one, and it was a big one; Marley and Jess hadn't actually told Luke that they'd gotten together yet.

It wasn't that they were avoiding it. They weren't embarrassed by it whatsoever and they certainly didn't fear that they wouldn't get Luke's approval, because it was a known fact that he was rooting for them. It was literally just because they forgot.

The relationship had happened so naturally that it felt like nothing had changed in their daily lives, and with their schedules being as busy as they were, their communication with Luke had been less than stellar. So, in the moments they caught up with him, their focus was usually on other things that were more present. Somehow, that thing was never their relationship.

These issues became abundantly clear as Marley awoke to the sound of their buzzer echoing through the apartment. She grimaced at the sunlight peeking through the shades, missing the curtains she'd taken down and packed up two days ago. A grunt of displeasure left her lips, groggily attempting to figure out who could be outside right now. She moved Jess's arm off of her, hushing him as he groaned at the disturbance. "Who is that?" he asked, voice slightly muffled as he put a pillow over his head.

Marley rolled her eyes. "Laser-vision tragically isn't in my wheelhouse yet, Mariano," she said, throwing on Jess's shirt that he'd discarded on the floor last night. "Did you invite Matt or Chris over or something? Because Lauren's not supposed to be here until two."

"I don't know," he replied groggily. "Maybe."

A scowl appeared on Marley's lips at his lack of answers. "Helpful," she muttered as she jumped over the moving box by her door and left the room. Bowie's head perked up from his regular spot on the couch when she entered the room, a soft meow leaving him in greeting. He hopped off the couch to follow her to the door where the buzzer was still going off on the wall. "What?"