and i love her ▸ tate langdon ✓

13. petals

All the lilies bloomed and blossomed
Wilted and they're shivering

-

**Major TW ahead for self-harm (not glorified)**

// Two Weeks Later //

Tate hadn't seen Marceline since the day at his house. They pass each other in the halls and sit on opposite sides of the classroom on biology, but other than that, they don't speak.

It was killing him.

He yearned for the day she'd forgive him. If she even would. He knew that she had Daniel now so why would she need Tate anymore? In his eyes, Tate was just protecting Marceline from Lily but apparently, that wasn't "protection".

Whatever it was, he knew he was in the right.

Tate was simply proving his loyalty to Marceline's happiness and safety. But she didn't like it. Why didn't she like it? Tate thought it was nice. The gesture of going to such lengths to protect her.

Marceline, on the other hand, was trying to get over her and Tate's friendship. He had pushed it too far and she no longer felt safe with him. She was afraid to be alone with him.

She had Daniel, who she had officially started dating recently. He was sweet and kind and caring. He listened to her stories and would be a gentleman. He understood her boundaries and never pushed it. She was happy.

As happy as she thought she could be.

She had also found out that her stepmother was in fact pregnant. Yay.

Gloria had announced the news earlier that week and Marceline hated it. She was itching to go to Tate and vent to him since he always let her just rant about random shit. But she couldn't because they weren't talking.

So instead, she had to settle on just venting in her diary.

Marceline also began having odd, impulsive and intrusive thoughts more often. She thought about doing things. Bad things. Not to others, but more to herself. She had seen a video in health class once about self-harm and how it helped to make you feel better by releasing endorphins.

She didn't have a bad pain tolerance, per se. But it wasn't the best. But what if it worked? What if she felt better after? She was willing to try anything right about now.

Maybe it was Gloria's pregnancy, maybe it was how boring and monotonous life had gotten. Maybe, possibly, it was the fact she hadn't spoken to Tate in two weeks. Whatever it was, it made her beyond miserable.

Worst part? Nobody noticed.

It was like she had truly become invisible. Her father didn't notice her retraction into her room at all hours of the day. Her father didn't notice her inability to sleep or stay asleep. Nobody noticed how she became "just tired" all the sudden.

Here's how it is; it's like if you were to achieve the best goal in the world. Solving world hunger or ending poverty. And slowly, over the years, people forgot about your accomplishment because nobody needed to worry about world hunger or poverty again.

You had become irrelevant. They sucked you dry of knowledge and wealth and here you were. Alone in your room, blasting music to drown your thoughts with a razor blade teasingly in your hand.

Marceline stares down at the blade, the music in her ears drowning out any sense of self-restraint. Silencing her subconscious.

It all happened in a split second, really.