skinny || h.s. au [Rewrite Now Up!]

twenty

Marley's feet hit the pavement in a steady rhythm. Her heart beating nearly out of her chest. Her throat burning. But she still pushes herself faster as the wind blows at her wet cheeks.

Because she's not crazy. She's not, she's not, she's not. But no one believes her once they hear her talking to Maria.

Jax isn't the first to catch on. Marley always thought that was the reason her mom left them. Because she couldn't deal with her daughter's supposed insanity.

But maybe they're all right. Maybe she is crazy.

She just won't admit it.

Marley doesn't know where she's going as her feet carry her down a back road she's never seen before. Thinks maybe she'll get lost and pass out in the woods. Thinks maybe she could just not wake up.

She would sleep in the grass forever. The blades tickling her arms and sticking to her sweaty back. But she could be immortal, sleeping forever. The pinochle of beauty with pale, freckled skin and skinny, cold fingers.

The world starts to feel a bit dizzy and stars float in the edges of her vision. Marley slows to a stop and rests her palms on her knees. Her spine pokes through her shirt in a sickly way as she does so.

The burn in her chest is a good pain. It tells her that she's burning calories. Like a furnace is in her abdomen, with each step she is throwing more wood on the fire.

And she cant wait until she has burned through it all.

"Marley?"

She straightens up in surprise. Whipping her head around to face who spoke.

He looks at her carefully. She must have run here, but it's nearly six miles. And his brow furrows in concern.

"Are you following me, Harry?" She asks.

"No," he says carefully, "do you know where you are?"

"I ran back roads." She shrugs, shaking her head.

"You're around the block from my house." He says. "That's at least six miles, Marr."

"Really?" Marley is surprised. "I didn't pay much attention to where I was going."

And Harry does the one thing he has done since he saw those crystal blue eyes in his first period English class. He worries.

Because no one can just not notice that they ran six miles unless they've got more going on in their head than they let on. And he sees her slightly puffy eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asks. She is still breathing heavily despite standing still for a few minutes.

"I..." She pauses, swaying slightly on her feet.

"Marley?" Harry moves toward her, holding her shoulders to try and keep her steady.

She holds onto his arms, closing her eyes as the world feels like it's spinning. It doesn't help that Maria is screaming at her.

"Maybe you should sit down." He suggests.

Marley just nods, stepping away from the boy who has stolen the key to her wooden box of emotions. And sits down on the curb.

She bends and places her forehead on her knees. The world is tilting but all she can focus on is the soft touch on her back. The glide of his fingers up and down her spine.

Harry feels the way it sticks out in its sickly way under his touch. And he wants to kiss her. Boy, does he want to kiss her. But not for the same reasons as before. He wants to hold her close and tell her that she is beautiful, even if she doesn't believe him.