Truth and Lies || Jack & Marley
One not-sure-if-it’s-a-date turned to a second date, and a third. It turned to a first kiss, to being invited to her place, to opening up to her about just enough that she trusted him. Jack told himself he was getting close to Marley for that big score, that one brilliant moment when he could pull the plug on the whole thing and vanish without a trace. It was more complicated than that though. Because he let her in. He never told her the whole truth. Of course not. She knew his father had died recently, she knew he was basically an orphan twice over, where he lived, the crappy car he drove. Jack had never let anyone that close before.
Marley Grey was an anomoly. An anomoly he couldn’t quite be honest with himself about. Waiting and waiting and waiting for the moment where he could finally screw her over had only resulted in him wanting to stick around. But he knew it couldn’t last. She would never accept him when she found out the truth, and it was only a matter of time before she did. Her online presence meant he did his best to stay in the shadows, but that didn’t stop the occasional photo of them together from sipping out.
‘Is this you?!’ the text on his phone read, and Jack’s heart leapt into his throat when he saw the his friend had sent him a twitter thread and some gossip website theorizing 'Who is Marley Grey’s Secret Boyfriend’, and with a far enough reach, he was sure someone in the replies must have recognized him. He scrolled through them, waiting for those words to jump out at him, his chest growing tighter and tighter, palms sweating. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. He checked the time. Marley would be home right now. He was supposed to meet her there to watch movies and have takeout tonight. Now, his first instinct was to get in his car and drive as far away as possible.
Something stopped him though, and when he got in his car, he found himself driving to her place, admittedly a few hours early. He buzzed, waiting for her to answer, and when she finally did, he knew something was wrong. He should have run. “Hey. Uh, can I come in?”
marley isn’t really the type to spend much time perusing what anyone says about her for being in the public eye. she’s not immune to it, of course, and her curiosity does get the best of her sometimes. but overall, the bulk of her time spent on twitter is interacting with her fans and peers, not worrying about negative opinions or rumors. she’s apparently dated every single person she’s exchanged oxygen with, it’s nothing new.
but this is different a text from her manager that’s like, way too serious in a really terrifying way has her actually taking a look, and she gets far too lost in the thread. she knows she’s inherently trusting, more than she should be, all things considered. but the things she’s reading in this thread... they make her palms sweat, make her chest start to ache, and she’s not really sure how to go from here.
who is she not to believe these people?
marley wants to be surprised that he’s at her door, kind of almost wishes she’d never met him in the first place, and that feels mean. she doesn’t have mean thoughts often, but there’s a first for everything. “i don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she finally says through the barely cracked door.