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the-delta-42 · 6 months ago

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Firsts Part 7

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Firsts Part 7

Valentines

“Nervous?” Sophie looked at Lilly, who was leaning against the doorframe.

“Kinda,” Shrugged Sophie, “I mean, Ericson’s has been…isolated for so long, I’m not sure how to get ready for it.”

“Just be glad you don’t have a permanent GPS tracking you.” Grumbled Minerva, walking past with a pair of screwdrivers.

“You and Violet got those after that truck incident.” Lilly reminded her, “Why’d you try and hotwire a truck anyway?”

Minerva didn’t give a clear answer, mumbling how movies made it look easy.

/*/

Louis scowled, listening to his father talking to that Carol woman, he refused to call her mom, he ignored his father when he said Louis was to blame for her leaving. He would put up with Sophia, but she mostly ignored him, and he refused to call Henry his brother.

“Hey, asshole,” Louis looked up at Sophia, “get up, the bus is here.”

/*/

Marlon grimaced as he saw his new school mates walking through the snow. He saw a girl wearing a disgusting hat shoving snow down the back of a tall guy’s shirt. Glancing back in the bus, he noted that most of the Ericson’s students were at the back of the bus.

“How long before we’re running the place?” Asked Mitch, looking over Marlon’s head.

“A week.”

A snort in front of them drew their attention.

“Ooh,” Winced a guy, “I can’t wait to see when you meet Clementine.”

“That blonde one looks more like a guy than you do.” Whispered Becca, leaning towards Duck.

Clementine covered her snort with a cough, she glanced at Gill, who’s mouth was screwed shut.

“Do you think Sarah and Gabe are enjoying playing tour guide?” Asked Clementine, as she saw Sarah’s face go slack, before the Latina took off her glasses, crossed her arms and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Ooh, someone’s said something stupid.”

Sarah walked over to them, her half of the new students following her, “I think there’s going to be a problem.”

“Oh?” Clementine straightened up, “Why?”

“One of them,” Sarah pointed at the group, “thinks there’s a murderer on the loose.”

“That’s stupid.” Scoffed Clementine, glancing around, “I would’ve noticed the competition.”

One of the students squeaked, before falling over in a dead faint. They kept their composure for the grand total of ten seconds, before Clementine, Becca, Duck and Gill we doubled over laughing.

“S-s-s-sor-r-ry-y-yy.” Laughed Clementine, gasping, “I couldn’t resist.”

The blonde that Becca had been talking to Duck about scowled, “You’re a bitch.”

Clementine ignored her, laughing as she walked away.

In History, Omid had them pair off with their new classmates and, just Clementine’s luck, she was stuck with the blonde that called her a bitch.

“Okay!” Omid clapped his hands together, “So, let’s start off with something easy.”

Clementine and the blonde, Violet, glared at each other.

“What ships were lost in the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941?”

/*/

Omid looked over the groups, Clementine and Violet were hunched over their sheet of paper, as Clementine screwed up their spare sheet into a ball, ready to throw it.

“1774 not 1747.” Whispered Clementine, pointing at an answer, “And the Civil War started in 1861.”

“Right.” Violet scribbled the information down.

Across the room, Minerva and Gill argued, “What do you mean you don’t know? What do you do in this class?”

“I sleep.” Muttered Gill, “Clem’s usually the one telling us to stay awake.”

Duck and Louis were arguing who got to write, while Sarah silently moaned as Mitch started playing with lighter fluid.

“Do you have to play with that?”

“Yes.”

The sound of someone being slapped drew everyone’s attention. Becca suddenly standing up drew Clementine’s attention, as Marlon rubbed his face.

“Everything okay?” Asked Clementine, getting up.

“It’s nothing.” Dismissed Marlon, prompting Clementine to walk over.

“That wasn’t directed at you.”

Marlon glared at her, as Omid cleared his throat, “Everyone back to their seats.” He fixed Clementine with a look, “Now.”

Giving Marlon a piercing look, Clementine walked back to her desk, while Becca sat back down, glaring at Marlon.

“What’s rat-head’s name?” Asked Clementine, getting a snort from Violet.

“Marlon.” Violet glanced at him, “He’s got a bit of a vindictive streak.”

“Oh, really?”

“What did you do?” Asked Minerva, frowning at Marlon.

“I just touched her arm.” Shrugged Marlon, as Mitch scoffed.

“Well,” Everyone looked at Louis, “When that girl with the hat,”

“Clementine.” Violet supplied.

“Clementine, got up, Duck started to get up as well.”

“Now that you mention it, I think I saw Gill and Sarah do the same thing.” Said Sophie, “And I’m sure I heard Gabe get up as well.”

“That’s a near miss.” The group looked at a black girl with dreads, “You’re lucky Mr Saul intervened when he did.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Minerva, glaring at the girl.

“Look, I told Gabe on his first day here,” The girl dropped into a seat, “if one of them gets into a fight, they all get into a fight. Sure, some of them just tussle, but Clementine? She knows how to fight. She once broke a footballer’s jaw, and that’s not going on her dead eye.”

“Dead eye?” Minerva crossed her arms.

“She once shot a coyote from the roof of a log cabin on school grounds, with a handgun.”

Marlon scoffed, “There’s no way she has a gun, she obviously lied to you.”

“I saw her shoot the coyote.” Countered the girl, “You’d be surprised terrifying Clementine can be.”

As she finished, three staff members ran past them.

“Ooh, this’ll be good.” The girl ran after the adults, with Marlon’s group following after her.

Entering a courtyard, they saw Clementine pummelling Justin, while her friends brawled with other students. A second later, Clementine was tackled by Alex, and she rolled a couple of feet, before she brought her knee up and slammed it against their head, before she twisted their arm until it let out a sickening crack.

By that point, Duck and Gabe had dealt with their respective opponents, as the grounds keeper grabbed Clementine and hoisted her off the ground. Her legs flailed, kicking Alex in the face.

After the fight was broken up, Clementine and her friends were escorted to the principal, while Alex, Justin and their friends were taken to the nurse.

“Whoa.” Whistled Louis, “That’s so cool.”

“They’ll be in detention for the next few weeks.” Said the girl, “But, that’s why you don’t fuck with Clem’s group.”

Marlon scowled, while Louis looked a little too interested.

“So, is she single?” Louis shrugged as everyone gave him an incredulous look.

“Nope, that guy in the beanie,” the girl leaned against a wall, “he’s her boyfriend.”

Louis looked a little put out, while Sophie had a mixed look on her face.

“Okay,” Marlon paced around the front room of the residential house they’d been put in, “What are we going to do?”

“What do you mean?” Asked Aasim, looking up from his book.

“They attacked Justin.” Argued Marlon, “We can’t let this slide.”

“Oh no,” Said Violet, sarcastically, “Justin tried to grope someone, and they beat his ass.”

“Clementine did break Alex’s arm.” Said Ruby, from her place by the window, “It does seem a bit harsh.”

“But Alex did tackle her.” Said Violet, her arms crossed, “I’m more inclined to listen to Michelle.”

“So,” Marlon glared at her, “we’re just gonna let this slide?”

“Um, yeah,” Stated Violet, “look, you can do whatever bullshit you want, but I’m ‘this’ close to getting a clean enough record that I can get rid of this.” Violet gestured to the ankle bracelet on her leg.

Marlon huffed, trying to think up how he was going to even the score.

“How have we moved on from shovelling shit,” Grunted Gill, as he carried a tyre, “to this?”

“Maybe they’re training us to replace Daryl.” Quipped Duck, as he slid out from under the car.

“Guys,” Clementine looked down at them, “that’s Daryl’s car, we’re working on it, so we can clear this, like we were told to.”

“Yeah, but you’ve got the easy job.” Countered Gill, getting an eyeroll from Clemetine.

“How good’s your aim?”

“Okay, point taken.” Conceded Gill, as Clementine went back looking at the wood line.

Sarah, Gabe and Becca returned with Daryl, as Clementine looked on from her place on the cabin’s roof.

“Do you live out here?” Asked Becca, glancing at Daryl.

“As good as.” Grunted the man, as a loud pop was heard from the roof, “Coyote?”

“I think it was a Mountain Lion.” Answered Clementine, “How come you get to keep my gun, but I can’t?”

“Do I really need to answer that?” Retorted Daryl, getting a huff from Clementine, “Get down here, I don’t think we’ll have any more visitors.”

Clementine hung down from the gutter, before slowly climbing down the side of the cabin.

“So, what caused the fight this time?” Asked Daryl, as Clementine joined them.

“Some perv tried to rip Sarah’s shirt off.” Said Becca, as the Latina flushed.

“I’m surprised you left him alive.” Remarked Daryl, as Duck got out from under the car.

“We’ve already got community service shit,” Dismissed Duck, “fortunately the school’s dealt with the more serious stuff.”

“Oh,” Everyone looked at Clementine, “the school’s hosting a party in the middle of March.”

“How do you know that?” Asked Sarah, frowning.

“Why do you know that?” Pressed Duck, also frowning at her.

“It was on Crawford’s desk.” Answered Clementine, “Do none of you use your eyes?”

“I mean,” Gill laughed, “Sarah does have to pay to see.”

Sarah gave him a flat look, “I have at least a hundred years’ worth of responses to that, all of them from before the civil rights movement.”

“See,” Exclaimed Gill, dramatically, “I am blessed with perfect vision, so she stoops to racist threats!”

Daryl cleared his throat, making all of them go silent, “We’re gonna be clearing one of the fields.”

“Why?” Asked Becca, frowning.

“Because of that damn party.” Answered Daryl, “The sooner we get this fixed, the sooner we can get started.”

“Is the field on school grounds?” Asked Sarah, getting a nod from Daryl, “We were told to clear here.”

“Yeah,” Daryl looked at her, “but you’re gonna be working there anyway.”

Duck toppled over when a Knut on the wheel gave way, “Why can’t we use power tools again?”

“Because Crawford hates us?” Snarked Clementine, frowning as she saw something move.

“Clem,” Said Daryl, stiffening, “d’ya still have your gun?”

Clementine nodded, aiming at the piece of brush that was shaking. After a tense few seconds, a rabbit popped out of the foliage. Sighing, Clementine lowered the gun, carefully disengaging it.

“Am I the only one who thought that mountain lion was gonna jump out?” Asked Duck, letting out a nervous laugh.

“Stay here.” Said Daryl, walking towards the bushes.

“He does know he can shit in the cabin, right?” Asked Becca, after a moment.

Clementine frowned, before slowly following Daryl, before the man returned, scowling at something.

“What was it?” Asked Clementine, making Daryl pause.

“Footprints.” Answered Daryl, “Someone was watchin’ us.”

“Do you think it was Chuck?” Asked Gabe, sliding the jack under the car, “He’s not been in his usual places.”

“Then, why did he run?” Asked Duck, as Clementine handed her gun back to Daryl.

“Maybe the gunshot startled him.” Suggested Sarah, as Gill rolled a tyre towards Duck and Gabe.

“He barely acknowledged a car exploding a foot away from him.” Dismissed Clementine, “A gunshot wouldn’t do shit.”

“Maybe,” Duck grunted as he twisted the nuts on the wheel, “it was one of those new guys.”

“They’re cleaning the gym.” Said Daryl, “Normally, they’d be with you, but since they’re new, they didn’t want them to get lost.”

Clementine frowned, before walking over to Duck, “I thought it was righty-tightie and lefty-loosie.”

Duck paused, before twisting in the opposite direction, “I need to get more sleep.”

“That was surprisingly easy.” Said Becca, looking over the clean field, “That didn’t take long at all.”

Clementine hummed, before looking at Gabe and jerking her head, “We’ll see you guys later.”

“Where’re you guys going?” Frowned Gill, as Duck helped Daryl load the tools into the car.

Clementine and Gabe glanced at each other, before Clementine answered, “On a date.”

“It’s valentine’s day.” Said Gabe, “Didn’t you guys know?”

“Kyle and I broke up.” Shrugged Gill.

“I’m not seeing anyone.” Answered Sarah.

“Duck and I are going to see that new horror movie.” Said Becca, getting everyone’s attention, “What?”

“It’s not a date.” Called Duck, “We’re going as friends.”

“And there’s a couples discount on food.” Supplied Becca, as Clementine bit the inside of her cheek.

“Just,” Clementine started to laugh, “just remember to use protection.”

Clementine had to dodge the clump of snow Duck threw at her, before she and Gabe took off running.

Clementine and Gabe slowed to a stop, both laughing.

“Ooh,” Laughed Clementine, leaning against a fence, “That was fun.”

“Yeah.” Gabe’s chuckles slowly stopped, “Ready?”

Clementine glanced up at the skate rink where she and Gabe had their first date, “Did I every tell you about the first time I went to one of these places?”

“No, I don’t think you did.” Answered Gabe, as they went through the door.

“I was taken by my babysitter,” Started Clementine, “her name was Molly…”

The pair continued their date, going into the rink.

Meanwhile, back at the school, Marlon smirked to himself when he found the file he’d been looking for.

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creoterative · 11 months ago

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Let's Play a Game then - Chapter V

Feckin' Finally.

I thought I'd never finish this, but here I am xD

I finally got a new chapter for my Marlon Redemption Arc, Let's Play a Game then, available on AO3!

As always, a little preview for you, but if you wanna read the whole thing, hop over to my AO3 page, if you'd like ;)

The night hadn't been particularly long, but thanks to Louis' good coaxing, what was left of it had turned into a dreamless, relaxing round of sleep. The thick down comforter draped over his exhausted body while the icy winter air outside tried to make its way into the room, along with an old, softly creaking mattress that brought back many memories. Before Marlon had fallen asleep, a few of these memories had actually flashed through his mind.

Moments that he had long forgotten, but should never have forgotten. Because they reminded him of a time when he was on his way to becoming a better person. A time when he made friends, when for the first time he really felt as if people were looking at him and not just at the walls he had put up. Times that had been brought back to him because of the words of his best friend.

He wished those times back. They had brought with them a carefreeness that he could use right now, but above all, he hadn't carried the burden of three dead and three kidnapped on his shoulders back then. Not to mention the whole thing with the twins and... Brody.

Yes, if he could, he would take himself back to the time when his greatest enemy was the slug in the school playground that he had accidentally stepped in. But those days would never come back, never again.

Louis had shown him, however, that there were ways to reconstruct them at least a little. And Clementine had promised him - everything would be all right. Even if Marlon was not of the same opinion - he had experienced too many disappointments for that - he wanted to believe her.

So after a while, he finally got back to sleep and only woke up when the first rays of sunshine began to tickle his nose. Blinking slowly, the blond boy opened his eyes, feeling a slight stinging sensation as they were still sticky from sleep. He wanted to lift a hand to rub the grains of sand out of his eyes, but neither one hand nor the other was able to move.

Confused, he looked down at himself and realized that something heavy had settled on his hip, and therefore also on his arm. "Rosie...?" The brown dog raised his head a little at the mention of her name and began to wag his tail happily. When on earth had she come into the room? Not that he was complaining, quite the opposite.

With a small smile, he pulled his arm out from under her chin, rubbed his eyes with his hand and then placed his arm around Rosie's neck. She rested her head back on his hip and closed her eyes while Marlon lay back down as well. However she had come in without waking Louis, because he was a lighter sleeper than Marlon, it didn't matter. She was here now and that made the new morning a lot better.

If he was honest, he didn't really want to get up. Yes, there were things to do - for example, the preparations for the rescue operation that Marlon was secretly dreading. But not a single child had slept properly in the last few days. In fact, none of them had slept at all yesterday. And if they arrived at the boat completely exhausted, they would be caught immediately. They weren't allowed to rush in there without a plan anyway.

Marlon breathed in and out deeply, causing Rosie's head to rise and fall a little. She blinked briefly and ran her tongue over his side, which made him grin. "Don't, it tickles." She understood and closed her eyes again before Marlon started scratching her behind the ears. Good thing she'd been able to clean herself up at the river yesterday. They had both looked like death itself and even if Marlon would have thought that was cool under normal circumstances, these weren't normal circumstances.

Then he heard something rustling next to him and raised his eyes slightly until he could recognize Louis, who was stretching out lying down and humming softly. "Aaahhh.... Morning..." "Morning. How are you?" "If I ignore the things that are constantly trying to spoil my mood, then I'm actually doing great. And you? How's your shoulder?"

The boy's brown eyes focused on Marlon's injury, which the blond looked at suspiciously for a moment. "Hm... It hurts, but it's not so red anymore," he remarked after lifting the bandage a little, which didn't satisfy Louis. "You're going straight to Ruby, you hear?" "Yes, yes, on my way." Marlon grumbled and stroked Rosie's back with his hand, which she enjoyed with her tongue hanging out relaxed.

"I think the cold water did me some good. Plus the air from tonight. Don't worry Lou, it'll heal up." Louis seemed to really want to believe it, but Marlon could see the worry in his eyes. So he thought about how he could calm his best friend down a little and let his gaze wander around the room.

He hadn't been in this room for so long. Not because anything had stopped him, but because there had simply been no reason to come here again. Louis had hung up a few pictures of Tennessee during the time they had slept apart, but otherwise everything had stayed the same.

The wardrobe now had a dent, okay. But the old, rancid carpet was still the same. There were the same curtains, the same chairs, the same old desk. The same lamps that no longer worked, the same hat stand, whatever it was for, and not forgetting the same stain on the wallpaper from the day Louis had found a water pistol.

As Marlon let his gaze wander, he remembered quite a few things that had happened in this room. But the one that immediately came to mind was the day Marlon had first set foot on the floor of this school. Boy, had he been scared. Of course, he hadn't shown it openly, preferring to overshadow that fear with aggression. But Louis had approached him. He hadn't been impressed by the outer façade.

"Hey. Remember when we used to build caves out of mattresses and comforters?" The thought of the crazy activities from before, when it was easier, made Louis put his arms under his head and settle back down on the bed, as if he wanted to fully indulge in those memories. "Of course I remember. We used to steal candy from Ms. Maddie and hide it as treasure in the cave. You always wanted to be a dragon." "And you a knight." "Mmm. Even had a wooden sword. Until Justin broke it."

At that, Louis turned his head to Marlon and began to grin broadly. "I remember you kicking his ass after that. You should have seen yourself, you went at the poor guy like a fucking lion." The left corner of Marlon's mouth twitched slightly and he turned his blue eyes on his friend. "Well, I guess he deserved that. Idiot, first he bursts in and interferes in our game without being asked, then he breaks your sword. I could have wringed his neck." "Yep, that's why Mr. Wróbel made you do the punishment work."

Marlon had never understood that. Why hadn't Justin been punished, that scumbag? "I never liked him anyway." "Oh, believe me, we know that. It was more than obvious." That made Marlon a little skeptical. Really? Had it been that obvious? Well, when he thought about it, Marlon had never really made an effort to hide his dislike of Justin. The guy had always tried to outdo him, no matter what, and he would have loved to tear him to pieces in his first year.

Then Justin had died. And you really wouldn't wish that kind of death on anyone you cared about in the slightest.

Louis sighed softly and stretched once more before his shoulders cracked slightly. "Damn, I'm getting old too." "Well, soon you'll be in your golden twenties too, my friend." Marlon sat up slowly, though he grimaced slightly as his shoulder began to ache again. Rosie slipped from his side and crawled to the edge of the bed, from where she let herself slide to the floor.

Finally, she started scratching at the door and Marlon got up to open it for her. Just as he pushed the door handle down, he felt a pressure from the other side and as he was about to let Rosie out, he saw Ruby standing outside the boys' room with a small red suitcase in her hand. She had one hand raised, as she had wanted to knock and enter, while her sapphire blue eyes were fixed on Marlon as if she had seen a ghost.

Rosie greeted her old friend with a soft bark before pushing past her to do what old dog ladies do when it's still early in the morning. Marlon hadn't been expecting the visit, but managed a smile. "Hey Ruby. Is everything all right?"

The red-haired girl from the south dropped her arm again and forced herself to look a little friendlier. "Well, aside from the obvious... I think I'll need a good night's sleep once this is over." The bags under her eyes were clearly visible now, which was no wonder since she'd been checking for wounds and protecting Brody.

Marlon stepped aside so Ruby could get into the room, where Louis was already there to greet her. "Hey Rubes." "Hey Lou. You both look like you've hardly slept." "We haven't really." Marlon said, leaning his healthy shoulder against the doorframe. Louis glanced at him before looking him over and then taking the blue sweater that was lying on the desk. "You idiot didn't put this on again!"

Marlon caught the item of clothing with one hand and looked down at himself. "Seriously, am I so ugly that you want to cover me up every chance you get?" Louis stuck his tongue out at him playfully, which Marlon responded to by giving him the middle finger with a big grin.

Ruby, however, just rolled her eyes and put the suitcase down on the desk. "Honestly, you can leave the sweater off for now." "You see! There are people who think I'm great without a top!" However, this earned him a reproving look from Ruby. "Well, firstly, I don't think you're great without a shirt. Secondly, you'll have to leave your sweater off if you want me to take care of your wound. And thirdly... I don't think anyone wants to see that."

Outraged, Marlon looked down at himself, then at Louis. "Really?" "Nah, bro, I can do without acne." The older of the two slumped his shoulders and drew his eyebrows together. "Oh come on, I can't help it!" "Sit down here."

Ruby pointed to his bed, whereupon Marlon settled down. And when Ruby slowly and carefully removed his bandage, all thoughts of a possible modeling career were forgotten. He narrowed his eyes to slits, trying not to allow too much pain, but that was difficult with the irritated wound.

"Jesus Christ, what the... Marlon, it looks like you've had three wasps' nests stuck in your shoulder!" "It feels a bit like that to be honest, now that the bandage is off..." "Did you put the ointment on it that I gave you?" "...." "I thought so."

She pulled off the bandage, which was already badly discolored, and threw it in the trash can near the desk. Then she looked at the wound again. There were still a few stitches in it to allow it to close completely, but the swelling meant it was almost done. Ruby put a hand on Marlon's shoulder, then on his forehead. "You don't have a fever yet, but the wound is way too hot."

Great, and what did that mean? "Have you been feeling sick lately?" Marlon bit his tongue at the question and avoided her gaze. "Last night, yes..." "...How bad?" "I almost threw up. But I had a nightmare, I thought it might be because of that." "It can't be ruled out, but if a wound is infected, it can also cause nausea, as well as fever and chills." "Well, he doesn't have chills, otherwise he wouldn't be running around shirtless all the time."

Louis was joking, but his concern was clear to see as he tried to get a picture of the wound. "Will you be able to fix it, Ruby?" "That depends entirely on him," she replied, looking Marlon straight in the eye. "It's still only a slight infection. Redness around the wound, swelling, warm skin, no bad smell yet and no fever. That means there is still a chance that it will heal on its own. But if you don't take it easy and end up developing a fever or the wound starts to fester, then we'll have a problem."

Marlon looked at his shoulder for a moment and then nodded curtly. Antibiotics were long out. So that meant he really had to take it easy or he could die. If the infection got worse and spread, it would mean a very agonizing and protracted death for him.

Ruby took a cotton ball and some disinfectant, which she used to clean the wound, causing Marlon to wince and draw in a sharp breath. "I think we can take the stitches out, but-" "No way." He knew that it was probably better to remove all foreign bodies from the wound, but he could do without any more pain right now.

"It's my body, so we'll leave the stitches in. Just to be on the safe side." Marlon stroked two fingers along the stitching and gritted his teeth as the burn got a little stronger. Yes, he would like to delay that a little longer, if it was possible.

Ruby shrugged her shoulders and pushed his hand away to clean the wound a little more. Then she fetched a new bandage from the box and wrapped it around his shoulder and chest after securing a soft covering over the wound. Finally the bandage was in place and Marlon had to admit that he now felt much better. The feeling of a fresh bandage and the smell of disinfectant made him feel clean and his worries about inflammation faded somewhat.

Ruby's look, however, was a little... unsettling. She avoided his questioning eyes and the corners of her mouth turned downwards, which only changed briefly when he thanked her. "Thank you. I'll be all right. I'm not dead yet and without your help I would have been in the ground long ago."

The girl with the red hair seemed a little more content, but there was still an aura of guilt surrounding her, which made Marlon tilt his head in surprise. "Are you okay?" Ruby nodded curtly as she closed the box. "Yeah, it's all right. I just should have checked the wound sooner. And it really would be better to take the stitches out, Marlon. Every foreign body less makes for better healing."

Marlon sighed softly and put a hand over the wound as if to protect it from Ruby's intervention. "I know, just... Can we do this tonight? I'm sure it's going to hurt." "If you act like a child, yes, it will hurt." "Urgh... Well, then go ahead."

There was silence in the room for a moment and neither of them knew what to say. Until Ruby reached for the tweezers in the case and looked at the former leader with a soft sigh. Her face showed a mixture of sternness and pity, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry I chased you out like that yesterday. I... I'm just worried about Brody. She's back on her feet and we've all talked to her, but I don't think she'll be back to her old self until you two have a talk." That sounded bad. Very bad. Why couldn't Brody just carry on as before? After all, Marlon had been the one who had silenced her. Why did she let her fear eat away at her like that?

The moment these thoughts crossed his mind, Marlon felt incredibly bad and avoided Ruby's gaze. Questions like that were just stupid. He might as well ask why they had all come to this school for troubled children in the first place. Why are you the way you are? A difficult question to answer when you had no idea yourself.

Besides, there was a reason why Brody couldn't just carry on as he had before the incident. He was the reason. He had seen it yesterday, she was afraid of him. Surely she was afraid of the moment when they happened to be alone and he got the chance to take revenge on her. He felt no desire for revenge as far as Brody was concerned, no, quite the opposite. It hurt him that she was so afraid, but if he was honest, he had only himself to blame.

Marlon ran his fingers through his blond hair and slumped his shoulders. "I'll talk to her as soon as I get a chance. She.... She didn't seem like it would be a good idea for me to do this alone yesterday, though." "You're not going to talk to her alone either. We'll be there." Louis gave his friend an encouraging smile and nudged Marlon's healthy shoulder with his fist. "You'll manage. It won't be like before, but we all know Brody deserves more than an apology. I suggest you just treat her like a princess from now on to get your karma account back on track a bit. Okay?"

"Mhm, totally easy." Marlon grumbled and shook his head dismissively. "I just have to think carefully about what I say to her. A simple apology won't be enough, I don't want it to be enough because... that just wouldn't be right. Not after all this. But... What else can I tell her?" Looking for help, he lifted his eyes from the floor and looked back and forth between Louis and Ruby.

Both looked first at each other, then at Marlon. A moment that clearly showed how difficult things were for him, because there was obviously no real solution to his problem. Or he was simply too blind to see it.

No answer was also an answer. Admitting defeat, he lowered his head slightly and Ruby took out a pair of scissors to cut the first thread. "This is going to hurt, but pull yourself together and don't scream all over the house, will you?" "I'll do my best." She cut the first thread and slowly and carefully pulled the foreign body out of his skin with the tweezers. It was an extremely unpleasant procedure and Marlon couldn't avoid clawing his fingers into the sheets while he gritted his teeth.

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