𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 - Ginny and Georgia

28

His warm and gentle hand stroking her back comfortingly, that was what she felt as they walked down the hallway that morning.

Long story short — She had spotted Peter's bruised up face by his locker surrounded by some of the boys from the football team, his eyes had met hers and he gave her a mocking wink which caused her body to stiffen and her breathing to become quicker.

Marcus had picked up on it all and in an attempt to calm her down he had subtly slid his hand onto her back. It wasn't all that noticeable, her backpack covered most of it. But, as his hand moved up and down her back, he sensed a small frown make its way onto his lips as he felt what seemed like glass bottles press into the fabric of it.

He stopped the two of them up, removing his hand as he turned towards Max. "Amelia's going to help me with my math homework so, we'll see you later"

Max gave them a disgusted grimace at the mention of math and was gone within a second just like Marcus thought she would.

"Since when am I helping you with ma—" She questioned with a puzzled expression, not able to finish her sentence before she was being dragged with him for what seemed like the thousandth time this year.

Oh, surprise! Of course, they had to end up in a public restroom again.

"You're being weird" She spoke out with a small chuckle, putting her backpack beside her as she sat down on the benchtop of the sink. She wondered what he had to say, it was always something when they ended up in here.

But, the atmosphere around them felt different this time, and as she awaited a silly remark or charming smile, she was meet by a serious face expression accompanied by what seemed like glossy eyes.

He went to the door, locking it before he stopped in front of her again, resting his hands on each side of her legs. His head was tilted downwards as several hair strands fell out of his perfectly styled hair.
"You need to stop, Amelia..."

"Stop what?.." She muttered out utterly perplexed. What did she need to stop? Had she said or done anything wrong?

He stretched his arm, reaching over to her backpack causing her to realize what he was talking about. As she watched him put it in the open space between her legs, she became aware of her sudden rapid heartbeat and a deep pit in her stomach.

"Don't" She pleaded in almost a whisper as his hand moved to the zipper, putting her hand on top of his to try and prevent him.

His eyes perked up, meeting her distressed ones and he could sense what she was thinking. She was so afraid that the second he opened it, he would view her differently. But, he already knew that this was something she was struggling with and it didn't affect anything. And, so he squeezed her hand reassuringly before he let out "Everything will be alright. Nothing is going to change the way I see you"

All she did was give him a weak nod as she removed her hand, her eyes glued onto the backpack as he started opening it.

He could feel his chest start to hurt as he peered inside to see two medium-sized vodka bottles, one of them empty and the other half full. They were surrounded by tiny travel-sized bottles of liquor, everything wrapped in thick fabric so it wouldn't make any sound. It made him realize it was worse than what he had imagined. He thought she would make herself drunk a bit here and there, not something like this.

"Amelia" He breathed out gently, his voice trembling, his facial expression showing nothing but hurt and worry. "Abusing like this can kill you"

"I'm not abusing it" She denied as she looked down at her lap, her whole body shaking and tears forming in her eyes. "I got it under control"

He gave her a sad smile as he put his hand on the lower part of her thigh, stroking his thumb back and forwards comfortingly. "Look, I get it how difficult it is admitting you're struggling, especially when everyone around you thinks you're completely fine. But, still, you want someone to notice, to realize that you actually aren't. At least that's what I wanted when I was at my lowest"

Amelia looked up at him through her blurry eyes. tilting her head slightly to the side. "When you were at your lowest?"

"For a couple of months after Daniel died things got...really bad for me. I'd be at school talking to people and all I wanted to do was scream at them "Can't you see I need help?, obviously I never did that" He let out, confessing something he hadn't been able to talk about with her before. She intertwined their hands, her eyes glued onto him as he continued. "And, I thought about dying, a lot. Like, ok, at least I got that option. Things just got really dark, and I really scared myself"

"I should have known," She answered her face filled with guilt and sadness as tears started to fall down her cheeks. "I should have noticed. You're my best friend"

"Hey, you couldn't have" He replied softly as he put his hand up to her face, wiping away her tears with his thumb. She was sure some of the foundation under her eyes had disappeared by now, making her bruise more visible. "I never showed any signs, I pretended like everything was fine. But, my point is I got better, I went to therapy, took medicine. And, I'm not saying that's something you have to do if you don't want to. But, for now, maybe it'll help to talk to someone?"

She jumped down from the benchtop of the sink, turning around to the mirror only to feel a sense of relief that the foundation still was in place.

"I started to drink the day we kissed when I left..." She let out suddenly, her reflection staring right at him with uncertainty dancing within its eyes. She had said it so lowly he wasn't even sure she had said it at all. "My mom always used it to cope with different things, and after I kissed you I felt so terrible. Terrible because I had kissed my best friend which could put our friendship in jeopardy and cheated on my boyfriend. So, I tried my mom's way of dealing with things like that and at first, it felt fucking amazing. I didn't want to let that feeling go"

She paused to breathe her eyes darting down only to see that her body had become all shaky. The room had fallen completely quiet, so quiet she was able to hear her heartbeat. She turned around, wanting to see Marcus properly when she was met by him standing right in front of her, not a bit away like he was only mere seconds earlier.

She scanned the entirety of his face to look for any sign of disbelief and or disappointment. He put some of her hair behind her ear, an affectionate look on his face as he nodded his head, encouraging her to go on. It made her fear completely demolish.

"Quickly, I came to realize that every time that feeling came to a halt and I became sober my bad emotions about everything and nothing only magnified. My drinking steadily became heavier, grasping onto that feeling for as long as I could. And, so, now, especially after everything that has happened lately, whenever I have no alcohol in my system, I seem to feel nothing but the bad"

"So, you're telling me there's absolutely nothing else anymore that gives you happiness, something that can help you overcome it?" He questioned, his eyebrows furrowed as he scratched the back of his neck, deep in his thoughts.

"There is one thing..." She confessed delicately causing him to straighten up a bit more, awaiting an answer. Instead, she put her hand up to his cheek, her thumb grazing his lips, not able to remove her gaze off of them. The last time his lips were on hers wasn't that long ago, but it felt like it. It was as if she had completely forgotten the sensation like it was all she craved. "But, it's just as addictive"

She started pulling away her hand, but to her surprise he held onto it, placing it on his neck. He stepped closer, her back hitting the bench. "Is it more damaging though?"

"Possibly" She let out in nothing more than a whisper, too focused on keeping her willpower to form a sentence properly. But, this time she didn't think she had it in her to contain herself, to ignore the way her body reacted to him. "But, I don't care"

She needed to pick her poison.