Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 14 - Before

You watch Marlon fall, almost in slow motion. When you'd wished he'd just leave you all in peace, this isn't exactly how you meant it. 

You hear a quick 'I'm okay!' from your brother as you peer down at him. Fortunately, it seems neither Manu or your mum heard anything, as all lights in the house remain unlit, and there's no movement beneath you. 

Ari doesn't even seem to care that he practically pushed Marlon off the roof, and to be honest, in that moment, you wouldn't have cared either. What Marlon did was unforgivable. 

You watch Ari shake his head as he stares down at your brother, before climbing back down from the roof. For some reason, you follow him, being completely silent as you enter the house again.

You wonder if he's going back to sleep, but he wanders straight past his room and down the stairs. From the second floor, you hear the lock click in the front door and a creak as it is carefully closed. As quietly as you can, you run downstairs, heading straight out the front door. Luckily, you still have shoes on from being on the roof, but you suddenly realise you're still wearing your pyjamas. Oh well. You need to catch up with Ari, otherwise you don't know what he's gonna do. You're not afraid to admit that you're worried about him; you have been ever since that time he had a panic attack in front of you. You suddenly realise that's what could be happening now - that's why he's running, to get away from people so he wouldn't have to face them.

Quickening your pace, you hurry down the coast path, the wind whipping at your face and your hands slide into your pockets. It's completely dark now, even the moon is hidden behind the clouds and the stars are barely visible.

You catch a glimpse of him in the distance, leaning up against a tree to catch his breath and your feet slow as you wander towards him tentatively. He jumps as he sees you, and puts a hand to his chest as he relaxes. "Oh, Y/n, you scared me."

"Is it happening again?" you ask quickly, leaving yourself no time to catch your breath.

"Is what happening?" he says shakily.

"Are you having another panic attack?"

"Oh, no. I just can't catch my breath. I walked down here pretty fast." he says, and your shoulders drop as you relax - you can't imagine having to watch him go through that again.

"To get away from Marlon?" You ask, and Ari nods slightly. "I'm so sorry Ari. I would have come to see you last year, you know I would've, Marlon said..."

"Yeah, I know what he said." Ari says, his fist clenched. "And I seriously thought we were starting to be mates again." he shook his head.

You feel like you should tell her that he still can be, if him and Marlon just sit down and talk it out, maybe they'll work things out eventually. But right now you can't forgive what he did. He lied straight to your face for months, making you think Ari wanted to be alone when really he thought all his friends had just abandoned him.

"I'm sorry Ari. I should've come anyway, I should have heard that you didn't want to see us from you and not Marlon." that name is like poison as you think of what he's done. "And I know that Ari and Bodhi feel the same."

"I know. And don't blame yourself." he says softly. You can't see his face too well under the shadow of the trees and the night, but you swear you can see tears trailing down his cheeks. 

"I nearly went y'know. To see you. Marlon stopped me."

"What? When?"

"Marlon walked barefoot into the surf club, dripping water all over the place and told us what happened. Said he'd already found you help." you breath deeply; recalling what happened last year wasn't as easy at you thought it would be. "I didn't go home; I went to yours and stayed with Honey just as your parents left for the hospital."

"Yeah, Honey mentioned that a while ago." he said, gears clearly moving in his mind as he too tried to bring to mind what had happened.

"I'll never forget the look on your mum's face as she drove off, or Honey's for the rest of the night. She kept crying and I didn't know what to do. I had no idea what was going on and I'd heard nothing. Your dad came to get her the next morning to take her to see you, so I went home," you can barely see Ari now as tears blur your vision, "and Marlon was in the living room...he was practically going insane." you recall the image in your mind, and suddenly, your anger towards Marlon dials down slightly. "I'm not asking you to forgive him for what he did. But he went through stuff too. Seeing his best friend like that...well I can't imagine it." you say quickly - no matter what you said about Marlon earlier, you, and Poppy and Bodhi, never blamed him for Stairway. Of course it doesn't mean he doesn't have some explaining to do.

"Feels like I haven't talked to you, or anyone, for ages. Properly talked, I mean. About everything that happened. Like the other day I asked Bodhi: 'how was your year?' even though we're meant to be friends." he laughs slightly.

"It was weird not having you around for a year too." you reply. "I missed you." you add quietly, but he clearly hears.

"Missed you too, Y/n." he smiles back.

"Are you gonna come back to the house?" you ask, your tone slightly more bright, but you're shivering in the cold breeze, and you both need sleep before tomorrow's final.

"Yeah. Doesn't mean I've forgiven Marlon though." Ari says as you reach out a hand and pull him up from the base of the tree, one hand still in your pocket.

"And that's fair enough." you say, turning on your heel towards the direction of the coast path, Ari's footsteps in the background. You keep your eyes ahead, but he's looking directly at you.