Surviving Summer One-Shots

Blame

Summary: What I imagine happened after Marlon found Ari's snapped board at Stairway.

TW: Tiny mention of blood

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His hand dipped into the icy water, chills creeping up his spine as he lifted a board out of the water. Half a board. The edges were lethal spikes from where the material had split; probably from where the board had impacted the reef.

It had only been a few minutes since Marlon had seen Ari catch that wave. Only a few minutes since Marlon wished he'd jumped too. Only a few minutes since Ari had gone under, and all Marlon could do was watch, frozen at the top of Stairway like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

"Ari?" he calls, but his voice caught in his throat and all that came out was a soft cry. The waves were still hammering down around Stairway, but by the slipway where he stood then was surrounded by calm, glassy water which had allowed Ari's board to get washed up. But where was Ari?

As soon as Marlon had seen his friend go under and not resurface, he'd turned back immediately and clambered down the rocks, running out towards the slipway as the waves at Stairway were still so powerful, and the jump was the only way of accessing it. And after seeing what had just happened there was no way Marlon was ever making that jump again.

Marlon decided to wait another minute; Ari would eventually surface, right? But the seconds that passed so slowly failed to have any positive result. The waves just carried on hammering, gravity pulling the mass of water down and smacking it against the surface which such force Marlon thought it sounded just like thunder. Which wasn't good news for Ari.

Marlon didn't know what to do, so he ran. He ran like he always did, and he hated himself for it. But if he'd gone in after Ari he could have got in serious trouble. That's what he told himself at the time, anyway. And he was right. Still barefoot, he felt stones scrape his skin as he sprinted towards the coastguard's hut at the top of the cliff. He beat his fists on the wooden door, looking out at the surf as he did. The waves at Stairway weren't even visible from there - one of the reasons surfing the break there was so dangerous - so it was no wonder the coastguard hadn't seen.

The second the door opened Marlon let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, leaning against the door frame as he tried to regulate his breathing a little bit.

"My friend...he...he was surfing...Stairway...and now..." Marlon didn't even have to finish as the coastguard gave a knowing look and sent out a warning on his radio that Marlon didn't really listen to. Everything seemed to go so quickly after that. The coastguard told him to stay in the hut whilst him and his colleague ventured down to Stairway, talking urgently into their walkie talkies until their voices disintegrated into the wind.

There was no way Marlon was staying there; he followed the two men down the cliff path, but kept a safe distance away so that they wouldn't see him, jumping behind rocks as he thought they were about to turn round.

He watched them call in for backup; people came out on jetskis and boats and Marlon just looked on, paralysed to the spot as he watched a desperate search mission for someone whom he'd left to jump in the water by himself. That was when Marlon began to blame himself.

He suddenly realised no one knew what was happening - Ari could be hurt, or worse, and yet not even his family knew he'd been trying to surf Stairway. They'd kept it a secret; it had been a joint idea to surf the break, but if anyone knew what they were up to Marlon's mum would probably ground him for life - everyone knew what they were doing was dangerous. But they still did it.

Guilt consumed Marlon as he watched the rescuers search for what seemed like hours. He began shivering on the spot despite the warm breeze of the summer. Eventually, his eyes caught on one man on a jetski, calling out to someone on the boat. They were positioned right over the reef.

The boat carefully manoeuvred to where the jetski had previously been, and two men reached arms down into the sea, and Marlon felt his stomach drop when they pulled his friend onto the boat.

Even from his distance away, Marlon could see some of Ari's situation. He looked bad. Around the boat, something had stained the water red as Ari's lifeless body lay at the bottom of the boat.

Within a few seconds they were gone.

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As Marlon reached the surf club, his feet were so tired. He'd practically dragged them there - maybe from exhaustion, maybe from reluctance at what he knew he had to do next.

Ari's lifeless form kept pushing its way to the front of his mind, making his stomach turn as he wondered where his friend was now. Maybe he should have followed them, but how?

He was still dripping water from his wetsuit as he wandered inside the surf club; Poppy, Bodhi and Manu were all there, and as much as Marlon was dreading it, he knew that this had to come from him.

"Guys." he said, slightly too quietly, for only Poppy really looked up.

"Marlon?" she said, eyes studying his attire and the look of dread on his face. "Marlon what's going on?" she said, slightly more urgently as anxiousness crept across her features.

"Um..." he stuttered, tears threatening to fall as Poppy's sentence had caught the attention of the others, who were now looking at him for an answer. "We were...surfing...Stairway..."

"Who's 'we' Marlon?" Bodhi asked, her voice rising.

"Me and...Ari." he said slowly. "He got hurt and I don't know where he is." A tear dripped down his face nonchalantly.

Poppy covers her mouth with her hand, tears gathering at her eyes quicker than Marlon's ever had, and Bodhi clutched her friend's hand.

"What, you mean he's still out there?!" Manu excaimed, jumping up to Marlon, who shook his head aggressively.

"No! No, I went to the coastguard. They found him and now I don't know where he is." he replied in one breath.

Manu closed his eyes for a second, muttering something incomprehensible. "I better go phone his parents; they might not know anything yet." he said, practically sprinting upstairs.

Marlon turned to the girls, their faces conveying everything they felt: sadness, for Ari, and Marlon was sure he could see a hint of resentment. For him.

He may have lost Ari. He couldn't lose his other friends too.

And that's when Marlon disappeared from his best friend's life.