i could never hate you {toni shalifoe}

11 . waterfalls and revelations

The next morning, Fatin was nowhere to be found, the girls noticed the two missing coke cans, and Toni had disappeared an hour prior for a run leaving Marley feeling vulnerable and nervous without them. In truth, Marley was nervous about Fatin particularly - especially given the fact that the girl had shown no previous desire to learn any survival skills - and could only hope that she was okay.

"Alright, look, can you fucking stop mumbling." Marley snapped at Shelby, effectively shocking the blonde into silence, who had been non-stop mumbling prayers for the last half hour. "You're not fucking helping."

"Marley." Dot uttered, warningly, having been made aware by Toni the day before how much her past would be affecting her and her moods, now especially. "That's enough, she's just scared like we all are."

"Doesn't mean I need to hear all the Christian nonsense spilling from her lips all the time." Marley snapped, wrapping her arms around her knees, which were pulled up to her chest.

"Guys!" 

The girls all turned to see Toni running over to the group, clutching a piece of fabric in her hand, Marley's face falling as she realised exactly what it was.

"That's Fatin's..." Marley mumbled.

"Where did you find it?" Leah piped up, cutting her off, earning a glare from the girl and a disbelieving look from Toni. 

"It was in the woods. I tried looking a little further but I couldn't find anything so I brought it back here." Noticing her dishevelled appearance, Marley ignored everyone else and moved in front of Toni, taking her face in her hands and checking her over for any injuries. Toni put her hands on the girl's arms, resting her forehead against hers and gave her a reassuring smile. "Mar, I'm fine. I'm alright." Marley simply shook her head and checked over the girl once more.

"Alright." Dot spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "Grab whatever you need and then we'll start looking for her. Best to start early so we can make use of the light that's available." The group dispersed, changing into more 'hike-worthy' attire that they could find from the remnants of Fatin's wardrobe. 

"Mar, can we talk?" Toni asked quietly.

"About what?" Marley replied, back to avoiding eye contact with the girl once more, knowing exactly what she wanted to talk about. 

"I'm not blind or deaf, Mar. Look, I know you've been through a lot. More than anyone should in such a small space of time. But we all have and you can't be taking it out on everyone here." Marley scoffed in disbelief, making to walk away from the girl and back towards the others when Toni took her hands in hers, stood so close that Marley was convinced she could hear the brunette's heartbeat against her own. "Mar, you can shout at me, push me, shove me, whatever you need to release all that built up aggression okay, but you can't take it out on these girls."

"I know," Marley mumbled, "I know I .. I'm just scared too," she admitted, resting her forehead against Toni's, holding her hands tighter. Toni wasn't sure how to respond to this as she knew it took a lot for Marley to admit any negative emotions and Toni didn't want her falling off the wagon, noticing how the girl's eyes continued to drift towards Dot, who was packing a few pills in case anything were to go wrong on their quest to find Fatin. 

"Hey, Mar, look at me," Toni muttered, taking the girl's face in her hands, placing a light to kiss to her lips, ignoring the slight gasps and invested looks from the girls around them, "You still have me and you will always have me,okay?" Marley simply nodded, tears gleaming over her eyes as she refused to let them fall. "We'll find her. She'll be okay."

-----

The girls (minus Nora who stayed behind to tend to the fire) had been trekking through the woods for hours, coming to no successful conclusion on where Fatin could have disappeared to, and the pure silence surrounding them only worried them more. No rustling leaves. No moving branches. Not even the faintest trace of footsteps gave them any hint to where the girl had gone and Leah was starting to spiral.