Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 33 - Guilt

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated for a while! Hopefully this pretty long chapter makes up for it. Also sorry if there's any mistakes I didn't have time to go through and edit it :)

__________________

It doesn't take you long to realise you've made a mistake. In hindsight, jumping in was not the greatest decision you've made, considering you're not much help to Ari and Marlon as you struggle under Ari's weight. Being in the deep end of the pool doesn't exactly help either as your legs kick relentlessly just to keep your head above water.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Marlon exclaims, spitting out a mouthful of water. "I told you to get Manu!"

"And leave you guys here to drown?" you reply.

"Y/n, how does you jumping in to help us decrease our risk of drowning. You're not exactly helping!" Marlon shouts above the noise of you and him thrashing in the water as you try and keep yourselves afloat.

"Just swim to the side, Mars!" you say, and the lack of response from your brother serves as an agreement.

When you reach the edge, Marlon hauls Ari up onto the pool side, his strength surprising you as his body touches the cool tiles. Ari's eyes fly open and he pushes himself onto his lower arms frantically, trying to get his bearings before he locks eyes with you. You kneel down at his side, one hand on his shoulder as you feel him shaking violently, unbeknownst to the human eye at first glance. "Ari." you say, but obviously he's got other things on his mind. He stumbles onto his feet, and launches himself at Marlon, who falls on to his knees in surprise as Ari sends punch after punch towards your brother, who seems to not even try and fight back. 

"Ari!" you exclaim, grabbing his arm to pull him away, but your efforts are futile. Eventually, Ari stops, stands up, breathing heavily. "Don't you want to finish what you started?" he says breathlessly. 

"It was an accident, man. I swear." Marlon says softly, blood dripping from his nose to match what you suppose he did to Ari underwater. 

"Oh yeah. Just like you not jumping at Stairway was an accident."

Marlon scrambles to his feet, but unlike Ari, manages to stop himself from attacking him. Instead, he simply looks straight at him, their eyes burning holes in each other's skulls. You'd thought this was all over, their rivalry. But this is a blatant reminder of how many issues these two still have - and how much it puts you in the middle. 

"Hey!" Manu comes running around the corner, the equipment he collected from the club having been dropped at the entrance to the pool after he saw the scene in front of him. "What's going on? What happened?" 

"Nothing. I'm good." Ari says. Marlon takes one last look at his friend, if you could even call him that after today, and turns around and heads for the exit.

"Hey! Marlon!" Manu shouts after him. "Where do you think you're going?!" 

Marlon completely ignores him, walking purposefully towards the exit. Trying to make a point.

____________________

"How's your head?" you ask Ari as you sit down in a cafe in town with him, Poppy, Summer and Bodhi later on that day. You and Ari went to your respective houses to change and get dry first, before heading into town and meeting the others.

"It's fine, honestly." he smiles back. "It was nothing."

"I can't believe Marlon hit you." Bodhi says incredulously.

"I can't believe you used to date him." Summer says to Bodhi, who just rolls her eyes. "At least you're over now, I don't think I could deal with any more drama between you guys."