SILVER LINED DOUBT. [JESS MARIANO]

TWENTY.

(hello friends! it's been a minute. please read the author's note after this chapter! i've made some changes to this book/series and they will be addressed below! not edited because i'm busy and lazy. will fix soon. hope you enjoy! -mags)

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"WELL, YOU TELL him that that's not my issue, Jacob," Marley said into her phone. She slammed the door behind her as she threw her lanyard on the small table beside her. "No. He can't pull this shit. He doesn't get to leave then decide two decades later that he wants a relationship. That's not how this works. I don't care how he's feeling. However he's feeling is on him."

Jacob's voice was hesitant as he attempted to speak. "Marley—"

"You know what?" She scoffed, turning into her kitchen. "There's no way that a relationship is his only motive. There's something else."

"And you're probably right," he said. Marley knew there was a 'but' coming next and she wanted none of it. "But what if you're not? What if he actually wants to fix this?"

"If he wanted to fix this he wouldn't have stopped sending money four years ago. It's not like he's pressed for cash."

"Marley, please." Marley sighed, leaning back on the counter behind her. Her eyes closed as Jacob continued. "Just think about it. Mom wants you to know that it's okay to think about too."

Jacob heard no response from her and for a second, he thought she'd hung up on him. "I've thought about it," she said softly. "I've thought about this so many times, Jacob. There is no positive outcome from this. He's not worth it. I've spent twenty years without him. Twenty more isn't going to kill me."

His answer was quiet and Marley could picture him nodding slowly against his cell phone. "Okay," he sighed. "Okay. The event's about a week after you finish finals. Please, call me if you change your mind." He took her lack of response as an agreement. "Okay? Love you."

Marley sighed once more. "Love you too." She held her phone against her ear until she heard the line go dead.

She shut her eyes and ran her hands down her face. She didn't understand. Why now? Why was this happening now? There had to be some ulterior motive, some other angle that nobody was seeing. Why now?

"What was that about?" Marley yelped as she heard Jess' voice come out of nowhere. She stabled herself on the counter behind her, sending an incredulous glare in his direction as leaned against the doorway of the kitchen.

"How the hell did you get in here?" she asked.

"Amanda from down the hall," he replied, a knowing sort of smirk on his face as Marley's expression became more annoyed. "She saw me sitting outside, all by my lonesome and just couldn't leave me in the cold."