Marley didn’t have people over to her apartment very often. Despite it not being the fanciest of places, she wasn’t ashamed or anything. It was a small studio, but cozy, and it felt like home to her. She just had a tendency to stay busy, and when she did spend time with others, usually opted to at one of their much nicer homes. She was at least glad to have acquired an apartment outside of Lima Heights, where she had ended up when first moving out on her own. This was a step up for sure. Either way, she hoped Finn wasn’t expecting anything extravagant. Comfy and clean was more her jam. With such little room to work with, it had to be one of the most organized places she could have ever dreamt up. And Marley was a little proud of that.
The rumor mill had been abuzz with gossip that she and Finn were secretly a thing. While Marley knew that was far from true, it further fueled her long-time crush on him. She knew better than to think Finn would ever consider her as more than a friend, but regardless, she was happy they were spending a little time together. If he really did teach her some cooking skills, well, that made it even better. Still, Marley tried to look her best. Her favorite pair of jeans were paired with a flowery camisole that perfectly suited the summer weather. Her hair hung in long, golden waves, and she’d only used minimal make-up for a more ‘natural’ look. When she heard a knock at the door, Marley checked her reflection once more before dashing to answer it.
Greeting Finn with a smile and hoping he couldn’t hear the way her heart picked up in pace at the sight of his handsome face, she drew back to let him inside. “Hi, Finn! Welcome to my very humble abode,” she mused warmly. “Glad we were able to finally hang out.”
Even though they’d discussed it a bunch and had tentatively made plans before, it wasn’t until now that Finn and Marley had actually been able to coordinate their schedules enough to get together and hang out. He’d promise to help show her the tricks of making his patented grilled cheese sandwich; the truth really was that he didn’t do much special with it but nevertheless was happy to be able to spend time with her and that she seemed interested to spend time with him as well. And being invited to her apartment for the first time was pretty cool too, Finn figured she might feel better about being on her own home turf rather than coming over to his place instead. Making sure to clean up after work and change into some better clothes than he normally would have worn, Finn went with jeans and a simple dark grey t-shirt so at least it wouldn’t look so obvious that he’d dressed up.
Thanks to a town with a very active rumor mill and some even more active busybodies there was word around town that perhaps he and Marley were keeping it secret that they were dating. It wasn’t true, but that didn’t stop Finn from wishing there was more legitimacy to it. A couple of years younger than him, Marley had just entered high school around the time he was thinking about graduating and they’d never really been been in each other’s orbit much. It wasn’t until both had left school that they’d really crossed paths much at all, usually around town but Finn always noticed how much happier he tended to be after running into Marley. Still, his lot in life was as a simple mechanic, and with her artistic dreams he knew she was destined for bigger things and not to be tied down to Lima, Ohio for long.
Knocking on her door Finn took a deep breath, and as Marley soon answered his knock and greeted him her smiled brightly back at her. “Marley, hi!” Her words were sweet and as she stepped back to let him into her apartment, he scanned it quickly before returning his gaze to her vibrant eyes. “Me too, I’ve been hoping we could make it work out. And hey, I love your place here. It’s very cool!” Finn groaned inwardly, hopefully he didn’t come across to Marley as too exuberant that it was off-putting, but gave her another smile. “It looks great, and so do you.”
