IN THIS SKIN -- CHICAGO FIRE

11;

  It had been a month since the incident. Marley had tried to keep her head down and stay quiet so as to not cause anymore trouble. Unfortunately for her, summer break was over and she started school again. She hadn't missed waking up at 5:30am each morning but she was relieved that she was finally allowed to spend some time away from the firehouse. The last thing she wanted to do was to seem ungrateful for everyone's help, but she was tired of being babied and treated like a piece of glass.

Her alarm went off earlier than usual. She still wasn't fully used to covering her scars with makeup yet as she never felt like she had to when around the firehouse. It usually took her 20 minutes to do her makeup, but it took an extra 10 to find a way to cover the marks that were evident on her upper chest effectively. The cuts on her thighs were virtually invisible now. She hadn't cut herself in over a month and she was quietly proud of that, although it's not something she would brag about.

Kelly walked down the stairs at 7:30 am and they shared a quick greeting. Marley had already eaten some fruit salad for her breakfast but had made Kelly some toast.
"Thank you," he said as he sat at the counter. "You ready?" Marley nodded.
"Yep."
A short silence went passed.
"So, when are cheerleading trials?" Kelly asked. Although he and everyone else at the house thought it was too soon for her to start doing physical exercise again, she was stubborn and had her heart set on cheerleading again.
"Tonight Kel. So I'll be home late." She rolled her eyes. He knew when they were- he had asked her every day for a week.
"Okay. Well we're all on shift so come to the firehouse and tell us how it goes okay?" to which Marley agreed and they both walked out of the house to Kelly's car.

The car ride to school was quick and she said a short 'be safe' to Kelly before jumping out of the car and rushing into the school. Kelly sighed. She had become distant lately and he couldn't understand why. At first he thought it was for attention- but the entire firehouse paid attention to her 24/7 and it only made her worse so it couldn't be that. Taking a deep breath, Kelly put the car in drive and rolled away from the school.

Marley rushed to her locker and tried to keep her head down. The hallway was busy and it immediately went quiet as the loud conversations hushed. Marley couldn't help but roll her eyes at this- it had been a month since the incident and people were still hung up over it. Putting her gym bag in her locker and glancing at herself in the mirror, she grunted moodily, willing everyone to look away. Suddenly, her locker was slammed shut and she flinched. Turning around so she could yell at the person who was responsible, her frown immediately softened and she couldn't hide the smile on her face. Her best friend that she hadn't spoken to in a while was stood there.
"Elliott," she breathed out as he embraced her in a tight hug.
"Hey soldier, I've missed you!" Elliott responded with a large grin. Ryan hated Marley speaking to Elliott, despite him being gay.
"Me too."
"You trying out for cheer squad?" Marley nodded in response, and Elliott grinned wider.
"Me too!" He squealed just as the bell rang.
"I have French first. You have History. I'll walk you." Elliott said whilst linking arms with her.

The day went surprisingly quick and before she knew it it was tryouts. She met up with Elliott once they were both changed and they walked into the gym together.
"Okay wannabes, we have all the female bases we need, so if you're not a male bases or a female flyer please leave now." Cleo, the head cheerleader stated snottily. Marley's stomach dropped- she had hoped to be a base as she was not the most confident of flyers, but rather than leaving like the majority of girls did, she stayed stood. There were 6 males there, including Elliott, and 4 female flyers, including Marley. Cleo quickly assessed the 4 girls and immediately turned to a larger set girl stood besides Marley.
"Lacey, right?" The girl nodded. "Look, no offense, i'm sure you're a nice enough person, but a flyer has to be small and agile and easy to throw around. From my initial look, you're none of those things. I'm sorry. You'd make a good base, but we're not looking for that right now, so you can go." Lacey blinked back tears. Surprisingly enough, Cleo's eyes softened, and she placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Look, I really am sorry. You're just not what we're looking for right now. I'm sorry. Try again next term when more base spots are open." Lacey turned and walked away, trying not to look too offended.
(A/N: Skipping the actually cheerleading part because i know nothing about cheerleading whoops)

Tryouts passed quickly and before she knew it she was walking into the firehouse. She noticed it was empty- they must have been on a call. Placing her bag on the large table, she sat down and got out some work. Around 20 minutes later, she had finished the Spanish work and the members of the house were walking back in.
"Hey babe!" Kelly greeted when he spotted her. Marley smiled up at him as he kissed her head and sat besides her.
"Hey Kel."
"How were tryouts?" This caused Marley to grin.
"I'm officially a flyer." She stated proudly, thinking only Kelly and Cruz, who had sat next to her other side could hear, but quickly the house had erupted into cheers and claps and congratulations to Marley who blushed and thanked everyone. Everyone but Kelly.
"Flyer? I thought you were trying out for a base?" He frowned. Marley's brow furrowed.
"I had planned to, but they didn't need any female bases- only flyers." She shrugged, not thinking much of it.
"So you decided it was perfectly fine to offer to be thrown around in the air without asking permission?" Kelly snapped. Marley looked at him shocked.
"Kelly, you said I could try out!" She raised her voice slightly, growing annoyed with him already. The rest of the house had gone quiet so they could assess the situation and intervene if they needed.
"I said you could try out because you told me you were trying out to be a base. I wouldn't have let you if you'd have told me you wanted to be a flyer!" Kelly shouted back at the girl. Marley, where she would usually start to cry at him shouting, turned and glared at him.
"Why can't you just be happy for me?! Cheerleading is something I enjoy and if i'm on the squad as a base there will be times when I have to step in to be a flyer because that's how i'm built. It's not like I've never done it before! You let me be a flyer last season!" She snarled at him, narrowing her eyes.
"That was before your accident. If you fall you could aggravate your arm injuries and your lungs are still not great if you land on them funnily!"
"Don't you think that's a bit hypocritical, coming from you?" Marley folder her arms and smirked. Shay frowned, knowing where Marley was going with this, and decided to intervene.
"Marley, that's enough." She stated firmly. Almost nervously, worried what Kelly was going to do, Marley nodded and sat down.
"No, say it." Kelly dared.
"No, I, it doesn't matter. Sorry." Marley stuttered looking down, trying to steady her shaking hands. Cruz glanced down and saw her shaking and frowned. Was she really that scared of Kelly getting angry?
"I do this because I care about you Marley. You keep pushing us out and spending more and more time alone in your room doing God knows what and I do nothing but make sure you're okay and safe but this is the thanks I get?! D'ya know what, go out there, go be a flyer, go fall on your ribs and break them and end up piercing your lung again, but let me tell you right now, I won't be there to see you fall and I certainly won't be there to pick you back up." Kelly snapped whilst storming off. Ignoring everyone's shouts, Marley followed him quickly.
"What on earth is that supposed to mean Kelly?!" She shouted after him and he stopped and paced towards her.
"It means I'm done. I'm done with this. I thought adopting you would be a good idea. It was at first. But the amount of times I've missed out on things for you- and I was okay with it- but now you treat me like this?! I've done nothing but care for you, but you disobey me, you're rude to me and humiliate us both in front of my friends and colleagues. I won't take it anymore." He stated angrily. Marley blinked back tears.
"So you're sending me back?"
"I don't know yet. Look, speak to Mills or Herrman or Cruz, see if you can stay with one of them for a while. I need space. We both need to figure out what we want." He said more softly this time. Marley shot him another glare and nodded.
"Whatever. I knew you'd get bored eventually. I'm not a shiny new toy anymore, I'm damaged and that's not what you want."

Grabbing her bag and storming out of the firehouse, she took to the road. She had enough money for a bus ticket with her, and no other clothes apart from the gym clothes in her bag, but she didn't care. Her phone was on 27% and it wouldn't last her long. Wiping away the angry tears she didn't realise had fallen, she sent Kelly a quick text.
'wont be a bother to any of u anymore. bye.'
Immediately after that, she felt her phone ring. Hoping it was Kelly about to express how much of a mistake he'd made she eagerly answered it, ignoring the caller ID.
"Marley?" Her heart sank when she realised who it was.
"What do you want?" She spat.
"Dawson called Antonio and he called me. She told us what happened. Where are you?" Jay asked. Marley hesitated.
"Nowhere important."
"Marley we can track your cell. Tell me where you are and I'll come and get you. You can stay with me, or Antonio, or Mills has offered too."
"Fine," Marley told him where she was, there was no point in arguing as he really would just track her phone and make a scene.
"Thank you Marls. I'll be there soon."

After he hung up she sat on the bench and sighed.
The one person in her life she thought would never give up on her had.
What was keeping her from giving up on her too?