IN THIS SKIN -- CHICAGO FIRE

41;

To say Marley was overwhelmed when she had found out about the money was an understatement. Her initial reaction was to refuse it- she told Kelly to do anything with the money but to give it to her. She didn't want any reminder of what Yates had done to her, and having that money was going to remind her of him every time she spent it. But when she thought more about it, she began to realise how helpful that money would be: she still wanted to pay Kelly back the money he had to use to admit her to the inpatient facility, and she knew without a doubt that Herrmann and Cindy were still struggling in a house too small for them after their home burned down in a fire she felt partially responsible for. The money would allow her to sort both of those things, and have some left over to put towards her savings.

Marley wasn't stupid. She knew that neither Kelly nor Christopher would just accept the money and leave it at that. She had expressed to Kelly her desire to rebuild the Herrmann's family home one lunch time at the firehouse. It was no lie that Christopher and his family were finding it immensely difficult to live with Cindy's family in their small three bedroom home. Marley's guilt was known to everyone, and thus people tried to avoid the topic when she was around. On this particular day, however, an extra frustrated Christopher (his mother-in-law had used all the hot water and his father-in-law had woken him up watching a rerun of a baseball game) had forgotten to take in the presence of those around him before launching into a rant. 

After hearing him complain for the best part of twenty minutes, Marley had stood up from her seat and paced towards Kelly's office, where her guardian was doing paperwork. Her exit hadn't gone unnoticed, and had immediately halted Christopher's speech. He raised a hand to his forehead, and groaned audibly. Cruz, who was sat next to him, slapped his arm gently. The others in the room all joined in giving Herrmann hell for it, assuming it had probably upset the teenager so much she had gone to cry in Kelly's office. Matt rose from his seat, giving Christopher a pat on the shoulder as he went past and assured everyone he would go and make sure she was okay.

When he arrived at Kelly's office, he was surprised to see Marley grinning from ear to ear sat cross legged on the chair. He entered, noting the confused expression on Kelly' face too.
"Is everything okay?" He asked cautiously, closing the door behind him.
"I knew it would be you that followed, perfect." Marley grinned again, patting the chair next to her, an indication for him to sit. Matt glanced at Kelly who shrugged, smirking slightly.
"She wouldn't tell me what was up until you were here." He explained. 
"Okay, so this is going to sound a little crazy," Marley began, laughing to herself as she thought of what to say, "now, please don't interrupt me until I'm finished, no matter what, okay?" She shot a firm look at the two men who nodded hesitantly. "I want to rebuild Christopher and Cindy's house." She spat quickly, tucking her knees under her chin with excitement. Both men raised an eyebrow at her, an action she would have found comical had she not been so eager to talk. "I know you all always tell me it wasn't my fault that their house burned down, but you all know that I do feel partially responsible, and hearing them be upset about where they live breaks my heart because every family deserves a home and theirs has been taken away from them because of me. So I've been researching and figured I can afford to give them the home they deserve so why not?" She finished, trying to read the expressions on their faces. 
"Wow," Kelly began, his eyes glistening with pride. "You know it really wasn't your fault, but I'mnot going to stop you. It's your money, baby."
"I know you say that, but it is. And they have done so much for me when we were having trouble after..." Marley trailed off, not wanting to bring up Shay. "Anyway, if I can repay them then I want to, and this is the best way to do it." She summarised, with a nod. Kelly smiled widely at her.
"Well I'm in." He said, pulling the teenager into a tight hug, which she returned gratefully.
"Where do I come into this?" Matt asked, knowing she didn't need his approval to spend the money on anything. 
"I can pay, but I know nothing about building houses or anything like that, so I need you two to help me, but I want it to be a surprise, so this has got to be kept on a need-to-know basis, okay?" She said, and both Kelly and Matt nodded.

 "So," she said, clasping her hands together. "When do we start?"

Hello!! Short chapter today, which I apologise for, but I have had this idea for a little while and wanted to kick it off. I hope you like the plan i have for Marley to use some of the money for, as I had wanted her to replace their home since I wrote the fire, but needed a way of her coming into enough money to make it possible, and figured that idea worked as good as any! haha. Thank you for all your continued support, and I hate to say it but I think this book is going to come to an end rather soon! I am running out of ideas, so I want to end on a high rather than people losing interest. Please leave me a comment letting me know if theres any burning desire you have for Marley's character, do you want her to go to college, do you want her to find love, do you want her to make friends, do you want a HUGE final ending for her, or would you prefer an ending that could leave room for a sequel? Do you want her to pursue medicine, policing, firefighting or something entirely different as a career? 

Please leave some comments or private message me and help me do with the book what you want to read.