One More Time [A Larry Stylinson FanFic]

Chapter 8: Week Four

Marley was walking so fast that Tate had put a hand on her elbow, squeezing to finally get Marley to understand he wanted her to slow it up a bit. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" he muttered.

"Uh...did you not see that show?!" she asked. "I was on fire!"

Tate may or may not have snorted out loud.

"Shut your face. I need to re-watch the game tape before I can go to sleep," Marley retorted. And she did follow her teacher's instructions. Queueing up the first night's performances for a second time, listening more than watching as she took her make-up off, stripped, and showered, before throwing on a tee and flopping on the bed. She called Youks and screeched and then rambled her way through the post-game debrief. Youks told Marley what she was already slowly picking up on – she was a dark horse fan favorite whom everyone thought had emerged from nowhere. Everyone in the country was trying to figure out who she was.

"God! I'm basking in all of the compliments and credits, but Jules – if I'm getting this much attention, the script is gonna flip on me. It's a matter of days before Tom figures this out," Marley added.

"I think you're giving everyone too much credit. Not everyone's brain works at warp speed like yours does," Julie reassured her friend. "I wish I could come see you. But you've got this. Just don't go online or you'll get all meta," Julie added.

"God, it's getting harder to stay away from the songs I always sing. Bev stopped even questioning me if I vetoed song selections."

"The 80s are gonna be hard – I think we've sung our way through most of them, at least just here at the house," Julie said. And it was true. Their group of friends sang a lot. It was one of the times Marley had to grudgingly admit Tom had been attentive once upon a time. And she was regretting all that attentiveness right about now. Julie and Kevin weren't going to rat her out. The Brady family could be clannish, but Julie and Youks had declared themselves neutral after Marley and Tom's "amicable" split. Marley kept thinking. If Reethie picked up on her songs, she would keep quiet. Probably, Marley hoped. Her dad, big ol' tough defensive center that he was, Vince sang with them when he was around. He and Bianca wouldn't say anything. Although Marley really couldn't bet the farm on Vince not giving it away somehow, someway to Tom. His team alliances were probably deeper than her friendship ties with him. She couldn't fault him for that. She guessed. Oh god – he was gonna tattle!

But right now, Marley was focused on just getting through another week, so she would be one week closer to another collab with Sam.

✽✽✽

When Marley walked into the Ballroom East, with Tate dutifully at her side, the next morning, she wasn't surprised that Bev wasn't there yet. When Greg queued up Toto's Africa, and told Marley that it was the group song, Marley was a little more surprised, but not much. She knew her two hours with Bev didn't start til her vocal coach showed up, but it was still annoying.

Marley warmed her voice and ran through a few takes of the song, an old favorite, and one she could even sing in parts if asked. No one asked. But she offered her own take as background vocals, and Bev didn't stop her, so Marley figured she was doing something appropriate.

Bev queued up an 80s playlist and suggested a song almost immediately. Tina Turner's What's Love Got to Do With It? Scorned Woman, Part 4, apparently.

"You okay with that?" Bev asked, left eyebrow raised, as always.

Marley beamed. "I'm going to kill it! Leather jacket. Jeans. Stilettoes. Go ahead – stand in my way!"

Bev smiled at her and hit play before resetting, barking out corrections as soon as she pleased. After three more runs, Bev hit stop and let Marley chug from her water bottle without the ever-present look of impatience.