Stairways | A Surviving Summer FanFiction

Part 50 - Shouting

Friday morning, you wake up to the sound of a heated argument coming from the kitchen - Marlon and your mum. You glance at your alarm clock and groan: 7:23 am. Couldn't they have waited a little longer before evolving into an all-out screaming match below you? No doubt Marlon was about to head out, continuing his silent treatment of you, before your mum must have stopped him. No prizes for guessing what they were arguing about, though.

After wrapping a blanket round your shoulders, you make your way downstairs slowly, and their voices begin to become clearer. Your mum is shouting something involving the words 'dangerous' and 'idiotic', while Marlon tries in vain to defend himself.

When you eventually enter the kitchen, they stop talking as soon as your mum lays eyes on you. She sighs, and turns back to your brother who looks slightly embarrassed but mostly displeased.

"What's going on?" you ask cautiously.

"Your brother is trying to sneak out again, despite being grounded!" she exclaims, aiming her words at Marlon despite speaking to you.

"I wasn't sneaking out; I was just walking out," he corrected. "I'm not a prisoner."

"No, you're not a prisoner, but you're my son and you're grounded," she said sternly, then turned to you with a sweet smile and led you to a seat at the table. "How are you today, Y/n? Do you feel okay?"

You raise your eyebrows confusedly, but Marlon is quicker to respond. "What the hell?! She was there too and she actually surfed at the freaking place!"

"Marlon," your mum responds in a cold tone. "Your sister is injured. Would it kill you to have some compassion?" She turns back to you for a second. "You are still grounded, though."

You shrug. You would expect as much. Marlon sighs exasperatedly, and within a moment he's ignored his mum's warnings and has sped out the front door.

__________

After around three hours of lazing around on the sofa, watching TV and basically doing nothing all morning, (there's not much to do when your surfing season is over), there's a knock at the door. Your mum answers it, then opens the door to the living room where you're sat and leads the visitor in.

"Y/n, there's someone here to see you." your mum says, ushering Ari inside as you for some reason rise to your feet upon seeing him.

"Hey," you murmur - your surprise upon seeing him making you sound breathless. "Um, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how you were," he said, fidgeting."And, I just wanted to talk, y'know?"

You nod, and your mum seems to take this as her cue to leave. Ari takes a seat next to you, and you sit back down too, slightly awkwardly.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" you ask, your breathing hitching slightly when Ari shuffles closer on the sofa.

"Mostly just about what I said to you, and about...Summer, leaving." he mumbles the last word, as if not saying it clearly could mean you would just ignore the whole topic.

"Oh, right, yeah." That's what he says he wants to talk about, but you just kind of look at each other awkwardly for a second or so, before he changes the subject completely.

"Are you...going to Bodhi's party tonight?" he asks with a forced smile.

"Keep your voice down," you say, wary of your mum in the next room. "But yeah, I'm going to sneak out with Summer. Are you coming?"

"I dunno, really. I don't really feel like it, and I'm not sure if Summer will want to go with me."

"Are you kidding? You're the one who was going on about how much you hate having her here - you should be the one who doesn't want to go with her. I'm sure she'd be fine to go with you." you ramble, cutting off quickly at the end.

"Have you spoken to her?" he says rapidly..

"...Yeah," you say, cautious at his speed. "She came round the other day and told me she was sorry for how she acted to you and the girls."

"Yeah. I'm sorry too, for how I acted, and what I said to Summer about her mum not wanting her back."

"There's no point in saying that to me - have you told Summer this?" you ask.

"Not yet. I'll try when I get back." he says dismissively.

"Good," you sigh. "I just wish everything could get back to normal for us all. Without all this drama."

Ari shrugs. "Maybe after this it can." he offers.

"I don't think so," you pause, then lower your voice. "Marlon's being weird."

"Well he did go to Anchor Cove, so...." he mutters in response, and you groan internally. Not this again. As much as you hate your brother switching teams and not telling anyone about it, Marlon going to Anchor Cove should not be causing all these problems, breaking up the group and ruining not only his but your relationships. This has to stop.

"By the way," he somehow moves even closer to you, so close that your hand brushes against his for a moment. "I feel like I haven't properly spoken to you recently." he says softly.

"What do you mean? We spoke at the hospital, and here, and-"

"No, no, I mean I haven't spoken to you properly. Like, we seem to spend a lot of time talking about Bodhi, Marlon and Summer and everyone else, but when do we actually talk about ourselves."

"Well, they are our friends." you shrug with a smile.

"Yeah, but, maybe sometimes we should talk about ourselves as...more than just friends..." he stumbles over his words, and you feel you should jump in and save him, but you have absolutely no idea what to say, or what he's trying to say in the first place. "I think we should tell other people...that is, at least be less secretive."

"What do you-" you're about to ask, but the dots suddenly connect in your mind: Ari wants to properly date you. Go out with you. Be public. Shit.