Safe With You || Seth Cohen

||47||

I walked through the hallway at school next to Seth. I noticed Marissa standing at her locker in the distance and smiled. I hadn't seen her since Seth, Ryan, Sandy and I made our little trip to Miami on the weekend. I reached out and tapped Marissa on the back, and to my surprise, she jumped as if I'd really scared her. I wasn't expecting to see fear in her eyes as she turned to look at me. The fear was quickly replaced by relief, but I was still concerned. What happened to make her so upset? 

"Mariss, are you okay?" I asked her, removing my hand from her shoulder as it seemed to make her uncomfortable. Marissa avoided my eyes as she adjusted her jacket. "Yeah, of course I am. How was your trip?" 

"It was.. interesting, to say the least." I stated, glancing at Seth who smiled slightly. 

"How were things here?" Seth asked her and she winced slightly, but quickly forced a smile. "The same as always. I should really get to my class so-"

"Yeah, we'll see you later. Bye, Mariss." I stated, watching Marissa in concern as she walked off, looking very downcast. What was going on with her? I turned and looked at Seth to see he looked concerned as well. I only hoped Marissa would let me know what was going on so I could find a way to help her. 

~~~~

After class ended that day, I walked to the parking lot to find Seth and saw someone I didn't expect to be at school. My older brother was pacing near a bench nearby and he looked frantic. I glanced around the parking lot before walking up to him. 

"Trey, what are you doing here?" 

Trey jumped at the sound of my voice and met my eyes. He looked like hell. There was a cut on his forehead that looked fresh. There was also this look in his eyes- a look I recognized. I'd seen it countless times in my mother and Trey himself. He was on drugs again. Just when I thought he was doing better, he went and disappointed me once again. 

"Ally, I was actually coming to see you. You know, welcome you back from your trip." 

"I have a house, you know. You didn't have to wait in the parking lot." I told him, even though I knew he had no intention of welcoming me back. He was here for another reason, and I had a pretty good idea what it was. It was either some sort of drug exchange or he was here to see Jess Santhers. Both options seemed equally dangerous in my opinion.

"I know, I just wasn't sure if-"Trey broke off as he noticed something in the distance. I looked back to see Marissa standing at the edge of the parking lot, talking to Summer. I glanced at Trey and cursed silently as I saw the longing look in his eyes. 

"What the hell are you thinking, Trey? Marissa is with Ryan, and she's way too young for you." 

Trey scoffed in disbelief and looked over at me. 

"What, and Jess Santhers isn't too young for me?"

"I don't give a shit about Jess Santhers. She can fool around with whoever she wants, but I do care about Marissa. Stay away from her Trey." I told him, glaring at him before walking past him. What was I thinking  believing Trey would ever change? Here he was, once again trying to hurt Ryan. And Marissa was caught in the crossfire. 

~~~~

I walked into the kitchen later that night, not having been able to sleep. I couldn't stop worrying about Marissa and Trey. Something more was going on, and if I knew Trey, it definitely wasn't good. I walked to the dishwasher, opening it to grab a clean glass. I rinsed it and filled it with water, placing to my lips, when something touched my shoulder. I jumped, startled and dropped the glass. I winced as it shattered and turned to see Seth standing not too far in front of me, also wincing. 

"Seth, you scared the hell out of me!" 

"Sorry. I thought you heard me walk up." Seth said, leaning down with me to pick up the pieces of the glass. 

"I was just..lost in my thoughts." I explained, tossing carefully disposing of the glass before turning to Seth. 

"What's on your mind? Usually when you can't sleep, you come to my room, not to the kitchen." 

"I didn't want to bother you." I stated and Seth grabbed my hand. "Come on, you can never bother me. Now, do you want to tell me what's going on?" 

I smiled at him softly before sighing. 

"It's this whole thing with Marissa and Trey." 

Seth raised his eyebrows. "Marissa and Trey?" 

"I'll tell you all about it, but not here. I'll come up to your room, just let me clean up this water first." I told him and he nodded before leaving the kitchen. 

I opened one of the drawers to grab a dishcloth and reached in, only to feel something hard. I pulled the object out and gasped as I saw it was a bottle of vodka. A bottle that was nearly empty. 

~~~~

The next day at school was uneventful, although I had a lot on my mind. The situation with Trey and Marissa, and then the vodka bottle I'd found tucked away in the kitchen. As I thought more on both situations, I began to feel uneasy at the answers I was sure I'd found. I only hoped that neither of my theories were true.

As I walked into the parking lot; however, I saw something that made my stomach turn. Trey standing directly in front of Marissa and seeming to be scaring her. I began to hurry towards them. "Marissa! Hey!" I called loudly as I reached them, stepping in between the two of them. 

"Ally." Marissa stated in relief and I hated how scared she looked as her eyes darted back to Trey.

"So, are you ready to go?" I asked Marissa, who looked confused as I quickly made up an excuse to get her away from Trey. "We were supposed to study for our test at my house today, remember?"

Marissa quickly nodded and glanced back to Trey quickly before looking at me. "I totally forgot. Yeah, let's go."

I wanted to confront  Trey, but knew Marissa was ready to get away from him, so I just glared at him as Marissa and I walked away. 

As soon as we were out of Trey's eyesight, I glanced over at her. "Marissa, are you okay? What's going on with Trey?" 

"Nothing, he was just- asking me about something. It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Marissa, I don't know he seemed to be-"

"I said I'm fine, Ally. You don't have to worry about me." Marissa snapped and I glanced at her, nodding slowly. I knew she was lying, and I knew I had to get to the bottom of this soon. 

"Okay, well, if you want, you can still come to my house. Just to hang out, you know. I feel like we haven't in a while." I told her, knowing that even if she wouldn't tell me what was going on, she still needed a friend right now. 

"Yeah, that would be nice. I'll call Sum too."

"Perfect." 

An hour later,  I sat on the couch beside Summer and Marissa, laughing as they attempted to play Seth's new Star Wars game. 

"Oh, come on! Coop, where did you learn all this?" Summer complained as Marissa beat her once again. Marissa smiled and sat down the remote controller, leaning back against the couch. In that moment, her shirt moved a little and a large bruise was visible on her collarbone. 

"God, Coop, what were you playing? Rugby?" Summer stated as she also noticed the bruise. 

"Oh that, I just slipped." Marissa said, very unconvincingly. Summer and I shared a look. 

"And fell on your collarbone?" Summer asked her, seeming as unconvinced as I was.

"Yeah. Um, so listen, I need your help, Sum. I have this date with Ryan tonight, and I have to look perfect."  Marissa said, changing the subject very quickly. I watched as Summer began to tell Marissa all about the ways she could do her hair and makeup, but I couldn't bring myself to join in. I felt so uneasy thinking about everything that was currently happening around me. And I had a horrible feeling things were about to get so much worse....