One More Time [A Larry Stylinson FanFic]

Chapter 15: Week Ten

After Show Night #2 ended, Marley whipped up the stairs with Tate. Or was whisked by an elevator, in any case. She showered, blew her hair dry with her straightening brush, and put on a new face of make-up. Who does this at 10 p.m.? Not many.

But tonight was a little different. She wasn't getting ready for Harry for once. He had been a little bummed when she told him she had other plans. "Which one of these stagehands has turned your head, eh? I'm going to lose my best friend to a roadie," he pouted. Marley happily informed her guy that she was only FaceTiming in to the end of her high school reunion; nothing to worry over. "Alriiiight!" Harry perked up from his end of the phone. "Go make 'em jealous! Ask if they've seen the show!"

Which was maybe a bit prescient. Because halfway through, someone brought up the show and Marley had her second scare in as many days.

There weren't many people still in the bar where everyone local met up. Jenna had FaceTimed Marley in so she could participate. Marley told everyone she was on the road working (technically true, just not the "work" they conjured, she would bet) to explain the hotel room in the background. There were quite a few people still around who Marley had gone through school with since kindergarten. And it was one of the those who was in Marley's inner circle as a kid who joked that suuuuure Marley was away for work – she was probably stuck in NYC for One More Time, and that's why she was late. Marley was so afraid of what her face betrayed, but she tried to joke around with everyone and play it off. Tony said she must be Ciara (who everyone thought she was), and one quarterback's significant other is good as another. And then Mikey added that she and Brady had broken up a year ago. There was a short discussion about whether a girl would be hung up on a guy a year later and still feel scorned. Marley laughed and told them that the PR Firm would have descended on her in ten seconds if they thought she would do something like that. "And besides – my mum," she finished. Everyone held an awkward moment of silence while they silently waited to see who would pick that one up. And predictably, the conversation turned to gossip about people who had already left the reunion, but the save was still too close for Marley.

Marley had dipped from the reunion and was getting ready for bed when she got the text from Production.

          An unpredictable ending to Week 9! And Week 10 could be even more open to wild happenings entirely out of our control. That's right – the theme for Week 10 is Guilty Pleasure Songs. What gets you jamming in front of a crowded room, no matter what? Or that you only put on when no one is around? An unconventional song that resets your Crazy every single time. There is no other theme as open-ended as this one: wield your power carefully!

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Marley didn't sleep much that night, worrying over how much traction the rumor her friends started would grab in the end. It made the morning a little rougher than it had to be, and all she wanted was to dive face-first into a bowl of coffee. She threw her hair up in a messy bun, half-straight half-monstrous, ripped jeans, and an olive tee with camouflage jacket and sandals, extra-large to-go coffee in her hand. Tate led her out to the car and Marley hit the highway, throwing her bag onto the backseat to signal to Harry that it was okay to climb off the backseat floorboards.

"How was your reunion?" Harry asked as he was buckling his belt.

Which he might have regretted a minute later because Marley's hand shot out and clamped over his forearm. "OMG, Harry! It was...they...it was..."

"I'm dying, Smalls..."

"They think I'm Ciara!!!" Marley finally spit out, both hands on the wheel(ish), but keeping a laser focus out the windshield because she knew she was freaking out.