IN THIS SKIN -- CHICAGO FIRE

37;

  Marley was discharged the later that week, just in time for the beginning of her final year in high school. She was told by Kelly several times that she didn't have to go, didn't have to deal with high school on top of her rapist being out there still, but she was determined- she had missed enough school, she was already a year behind. That, and she had been alone with her thoughts for a while already, and she was more scared when she was alone, but she'd never admit that.
"Kids can be cruel," is what Kelly and Britney said to her, with Matt and Gabby nodding along behind them, as if she hadn't experienced 'cruel' before. But rather than causing a discussion, she just nodded along.
"Just keep your head down kiddo, remember they just don't understand what you're dealing with." Kelly added.

She had learnt to keep her head down and avoid eye contact with people now. It made them uncomfortable; to look into her eyes. Her eyes had been the victim of his piercing stare, so in a way that they had figured, they were staring at him really. They were being violated through her, and for that she was resented. She had learnt, promptly upon her return to high school, that it was better to isolate herself than to make them uncomfortable. Of course, she wouldn't tell anyone else this. The only people she tended to see were the people from the firehouse, and on occasion Antonio, Kevin, Hank and Al would check in, but they were focused on finding Greg, she knew that. It was their belief that she still had friends here, and they were helping her to cope with her thoughts and struggles, but this wasn't true. She was beginning to realise just how cruel people were- no, not beginning, not at all, they had already proved this to her throughout her life. Rather, they were confirming to her that teenagers were unrelentingly cruel, especially to her.

She kept her head down in class, in the hall, at lunch and she kept her mouth shut when the only thing that people talked about was her. It wasn't until she heard the people behind her in a class start making comments about how it was strange that Nadia had been killed but she hadn't, and how she was his only living victim, and so she must be an accomplice. She rose from her hair, hearing it fall to the floor behind her as she stood. It bounced twice before settling, she hoped her heart would do the same, but it continued racing, her hands shaking as she pulled the sleeves lower, as if trying to hide them. She thought it was to hide her hands but subconsciously she knew it was the bruises she wanted to hide. The memories. The shame.

With a strong glare on her face, her eyes shot to those of the people behind her. They looked away.
"Have you got something you want to tell me?"
The pair shook their heads, looking startled.
"Oh, of course not. You all only say it behind my back!" A sarcastic laugh left her lips. Her teacher shot her a glance, unsure of whether to discipline her or everyone else. Mrs Cooke, a middle aged lady who always wore the same expression- pursed lips and a permanent frown, reasonable of someone who taught geometry, Marley assumed- was beginning to grow flustered.
"Miss Severide, I suggest you take your seat, immediately. I do not appreciate the disruption to my lesson." She said sharply. Marley felt any level of self control dissolve.
"Well, Mrs Cooke, I don't appreciate you allowing people in your class get away with bitching about me because of what happened." Marley retorted, just as harshly. She took a step away from her desk, signalling that she was not going to let this drop anytime soon, feeling her frustration build as she heard snickers from people across the class room.
"What is funny about this? At all? How can you be laughing at me when you all know what I've been through?!"
"Oh my god, when will you let this whole 'rape' drop and get on with your life?" A girl mumbled from across the room, not realising that she could be heard by Marley. At this comment, Marley completely flipped. Fury and sadness flooded her body, and she couldn't control, nor remember, what it was exactly what was said, but all she knew was that altercation ended in her suspension, and like history repeating itself, she ended up sat in the back of the Squad rig whilst everyone sat awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. They all agreed the suspension was ridiculously unfair- the school should have taken into account her circumstances, and the fact that she was still a very vulnerable person. If Kelly was being brutally honest, he suspected part of the reason they were so quick to suspend her was due to their own fear- fear that other students and teachers were in danger whilst Greg was out there and she was in school.

Either way, she was left isolated once more. Her days were spent avoiding people at the firehouse. She didn't want to see any of the Intelligence unit, not until they had the news that they had found him and then her life could regain some level of normality. Until that point she wanted to hide away. Boden, of course, had a different view than her principle. He welcomed her to the firehouse, as always. He had viewed her as his own family and for all he was concerned, she was safer where himself, Kelly and the rest of the firehouse could look out for her. Marley appreciated this, of course.
When she was around the members of Firehouse 51, it was more than just being around her dad's work colleagues. It was being around people who cared about her. It was people who put her first. It was family.
She was home.