My Key to Outside

You Weren't Alone

We just sat there, waiting for one of us to say something. Finally Marley spoke up.

"I guess I'll go first, since I brought it up," she said.

"Okay..." I said, and I waited.

"Well, you know I like Rory, but don't know how much. I really like him, a lot. You guys don't give him credit for how sweet he is. I have to tell you something about Rory and I," she said.

She's right. We don't give Rory credit for how cool he is. I need to hang out with him sometime, just to let him know that I do consider him a friend, even though I don't show it.

"Yeah?" I nodded my head, waiting for her to continue.

"Well, when we were together last night," she said, and paused.

"Keep going," I said.

"He.. He asked me a question," she said. After a few seconds, she continued. "He asked me if I would go on a date with him. Please don't freak out, unless you're freaking out with happiness for me. I'll be okay. I really like him. I'm sorry I felt like I had to hide this from you," she said.

"Okay," I nodded, "and I'm guessing you said yes?"

"Yeah," Marley smiled.

"That's really sweet," I quietly said with a smile.

"You're not panicking. What's wrong?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

"Nothing," I said.

"You're not mad at me?"

"No. I just don't want him to hurt you in any way. He's a vampire, so please be careful. Now, I'm not saying much, and I'm not freaking out, because I already knew," I sighed.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I've been hiding something from you, too," I said.

"What is it?!" she stood up.

"Okay, please sit down again," I said, and she calmly sat down.

"Go on. Tell me," she said.

"Okay. Well-"

"Did Rory tell you?" she cut me off.

"No," I said. "Benny and I found out on our own," I said.

"But, how?" she quietly asked.

"You and Rory weren't alone last night."

"What did you do?!" she yelled.

"We were eavesdropping. I wanted to-"

"Wait!" she cut me off again. "You were watching us?!" she stood back up.

"If you would just listen-"

"No! Why should I listen to you? You obviously don't trust me!"

"It's Rory!" I yelled back at her. I was now standing up with her.

She was quiet. "Why would you not trust Rory?" she asked.

"Because he's a vampire. Look, I like Rory, but my best friend was with him alone at night. You weren't answering any of my texts. Don't you think we would get suspicious? I was worried about you, so I checked up on you. I wanted to leave before he asked you out because I started to feel bad, but Benny wanted to stay. We heard everything. I also heard what you said about me. How can I trust you if you acted like you weren't going to tell me?" I asked.

She was speechless. "I.. I'm sorry," she sat down and looked at the floor. "I guess you really can't trust me," a tear started to roll down her face.

I sat down, too. "Look, you did tell me in the end. I didn't tell you my secret either. We're both guilty, but we both had a reason. You didn't want me to split apart you and Rory, and I didn't want you to get mad at me for listening. We both did something wrong, but it will be okay. I'll forgive you. Will you forgive me?" I asked.

She looked up and wiped her tears. "Yes," she said. I gave her a hug, and she hugged back.

"Just please don't do that tonight," she smiled when we were done hugging.

"I won't, and if he asks you to be his girlfriend, you better not keep THAT from me," I smiled back and she laughed.

"Now, you have to get ready for a date! We're going to the mall!" I said.