Choices Chapter Fifteen
A/N: I know. Finally. Since it's been awhile since the last installment of this, a link to the previous chapter:
Choices Chapter Fourteen
And also if you'd like as a refresher, a link to the video project that goes along with this, as we have at long last hit Choices Part Three in the fanfiction.
Choices Video Project
I have no idea what will come next, lol. I have a couple chapters of a couple things close to being finished, but Choices still comes easier at the moment as I like all the characters I created;) For VM fans: I have some LoVe drabbles I may post sooner or later. If you don't watch VM: do it now because it's the best show in the history of anything ever.
Enjoy! And the logistics of Trey's stunt at the end will be explained later.
Choices Chapter Fifteen
Marissa had thought she was through with a life that constantly felt like a nightmare.
It was amazing, how incredibly fast an entire life could fall apart. Her father had been utterly enraged when he found out Julie had never told him about Trey and what he’d done, and wasn’t even waiting until Kaitlin left the room to rip into her every chance he got. No matter where she was, she had teachers, parents, and Ryan, Seth, and Summer surrounding her at all times.
How was it that Trey had committed the crimes and it was her life that had turned into a prison?
Trey hadn’t called or approached her in a week, but the waiting wasn’t any better. If anything, it was worse because the longer they went without any kind of incident, the less seriously the police were taking her.
“Do you want to go to the diner?” Summer asked suddenly one night as she, Seth, Ryan, and Marissa sat around the Cohen living room not doing much of anything at all. “Come on,” she cajoled at the wary faces. “It’ll be totally packed.” She had been studying Marissa’s face, noting the expression that had been growing clearer all week- that of a caged animal. She knew Marissa couldn’t just go wherever she wanted whenever she wanted, but she couldn’t stop living her life entirely.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Marissa said suddenly, overriding what seemed to be the start of Ryan protesting. He looked at her and sighed, seeing the same thing he knew Summer was seeing.
“Sure,” he smiled faintly, standing up and holding out a hand for Marissa.
Marissa had to give credit where it was due; Summer and Seth hadn’t lost any of their cheerleading, rallying abilities. Within a half hour, she’d relaxed somewhat and was fitted under Ryan’s arm on their side of the booth, smiling affectionately at their familiar, harmless bickering.
“Cohen, you watch way too many movies with like, entirely male casts to be complaining about seeing a chick flick,” Summer snapped at Seth.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Seth protested.
“Lord of the Rings was a little suspect,” Ryan said wryly, laughing at the wounded expression Seth sent his way.
“Don’t take it out on me if Marissa has you whipped,” Seth grumbled.
“I’m not…” Ryan weakly protested. Summer raised her brows at him. “Fine, maybe I am,” he relented, nudging Marissa playfully when he could feel her trying not to laugh.
“You’re not any better Cooper; laugh it up,” Seth said, tossing a fry at her.
“I’m a girl; I freely admit such things,” she shrugged unrepentantly. “It’s you guys who act like there’s something wrong with it.”
Ryan had raised his brows, seeing the truth in that, when he saw Summer’s face abruptly pale.
He knew even before turning around that Trey would be behind them.
Sure enough, there he was as Ryan twisted around in his seat. On the surface, he barely seemed to notice him, surrounded by a pack of equally suspect looking friends. But as he walked by the table; he locked eyes with Marissa and kept them locked, even walking backwards for a minute, his eyes cold and condescending and amused. Then he turned back around, and sat down at a booth not far from him.
Summer and Seth had abruptly cut off their banter, both looking stricken. “What should we…?” Summer started weakly.
“We’re leaving,” Marissa muttered, pushing at Ryan until he moved to let her up. “There isn’t any point in this; he’s getting what he wants. I don’t give a damn about winning this game.”
Ryan threw some money down on the table and hastily went after her as she bolted from the diner. She walked restlessly over to the pier, hugging herself and gulping in the night air. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “This isn’t a game and you shouldn’t care about winning.”
“It is a game to him and you know that,” she said softly. “And he thinks he wins every time he has me running scared. Maybe he does, I don’t know. But I don’t really care. My life is not a game.”
“No, it’s not. And it’s not a gamble,” Ryan said softly, coming up and putting a hand on her back.
She sighed heavily. “Neither is yours, but he’ll see it that way,” she said softly, turning to face him. “Is this what you really want? I don’t have a choice.”
“Neither do I,” Ryan returned calmly. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”
She smiled somewhat sadly and leaned in to kiss him, then smiled again at Seth and Summer who’d walked out. “Come on,” she sighed. “Let’s go find a chick flick to really piss Seth off.”
“Hey, kiddo.”
Marissa turned in surprise from her usual spot at her window seat as her father walked in the room. “What’s up, Dad?” she asked tiredly, resting the back of her head against the window.
He shrugged. “I just wanted to…” he trailed off. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he blurted out before he could stop himself. “Why didn’t you tell me what he was doing to you? I could have stopped this so long ago.”
Marissa felt a sudden flare of annoyance and resentment. “Why didn’t you see?” she shot back. “Even Mom knew I was falling down drunk all the time, before I even met Trey. You can blame her for not telling you all you want, but the bottom line is you didn’t even notice. You didn’t notice when I came in half dead that night I almost ODed. You didn’t notice the bruises I didn’t even hide from you.” She broke off, her breath coming hard and fast. “Maybe I should have told you. But let’s face it, I had reason to think you wouldn’t really care. You’re too busy calling Mom a slut to ever pay much attention to what’s going on with Katie and me.”
Jimmy had gotten progressively paler with each word of her tirade, but she had to give him grudging respect that he didn’t try to protest. “You’re right,” he said simply when she was done; she could tell the words had cost him. “I haven’t been the best father to you, and maybe if I had been none of this would have happened. But Marissa…” he sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair. “I would never get over it if something happened to you. No matter how bad I am at this.”
“I’m not blaming you,” she said tiredly. “Not completely, at any rate. I’m not stupid, all evidence to the contrary. I should have known better. A thousand times, I should have known better.”
“We will stop him,” Jimmy said softly. “One way or the other.”
Marissa smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I have to go,” she said softly. “Ryan’s waiting for me.”
“I’m glad you have him,” Jimmy said quietly, surprising her. This time her smile was genuine.
“So am I,” she sighed. “So am I.”
“So my dad officially likes you.”
“Should I be flattered or offended?” Ryan asked wryly, running his hands up and down Marissa’s back as she positioned herself in between his legs and rested her head on his chest.
She laughed a little. “Up to you, I guess.”
He sighed. “I guess I’ll take what I can get.” He played with her hair. “How’re you doing?” He didn’t want to mention that he’d seen her up in her window earlier in the day. Seth had once said she seemed like a ghost up there. The description now seemed to fit all too well.
Marissa shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t know. As well as I can be? Or not.”
Ryan had never considered himself a particularly angry person. He defended himself or someone else when he had to, but he wasn’t one to start fights or go into rages. But every time he thought about his happy, laughing girlfriend and compared her to the haunted girl in front of him now, the rage at the one who had done this was almost overwhelming. “It’s going to get better. I don’t know exactly HOW, but it will,” he said quietly, stroking her hair. She shrugged again and he lifted her chin up. “Hey.” She smiled faintly and leaned in for a kiss; as usual when they were alone, it didn’t take much for a simple kiss to turn into more.
“Have I ever told you how much I love this little spot right here?” Ryan murmured, nuzzling into the place he was referring to behind her ear.
She giggled. “Have I ever told you how much I love that you love that?” she sighed, running her hands up and down his back, sliding them underneath his shirt. It felt good. Amazing. Just like it always did. His gentleness combined with the passion made her feel as secure and wanted as it always did.
hands clutching the covers trying to keep from crying out at the harsh thrust
“Stop it!” She wasn’t even aware of what she was doing until she shoved Ryan off of her and her mind cleared enough to realize he was staring at her in shock.
“What did I do?” he asked in bewilderment.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again and buried her face in her hands.
Ryan had realized what happened as soon as the words left his mouth; his stomach crashed to the floor. For one of the first times, he wondered if it was okay to touch her. At length, he tentatively reached out and put his hand on her hair. As soon as he did, she reached for it and pressed it to her cheek, then turned to wrap her arms around him.
“I’m sorry,” she said tearfully. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he said somewhat helplessly, lowering his head to kiss her neck. “It’s not your fault.”
“I thought I was done with that,” she muttered miserably, pulling away from him and curling onto her side. “When he…at first, I couldn’t even stand it when Dad touched me, let alone anyone else. But I got better, and especially with you…that hasn’t happened in months.”
“Hey.” Ryan touched her shoulder, urging her to face him. Sighing, she turned around. “It’s not your fault. It’s NOT. It’s his fault. This isn’t something to be ashamed of.”
“Does it matter?” she asked tiredly. “You didn’t sign up for this. You didn’t start dating this girl.”
“Don’t tell me what I did and didn’t sign up for, and I started dating you,” Ryan said forcefully. “No one but the Cohens even gave a shit about me before you, and even then it wasn’t the same.” The words spilled out of him before he had a chance to think, and he flushed a little when he realized what he’d said.
Sometimes Marissa thought she should have more willpower to let him out of this nightmare. Sometimes she even felt it building. And then he had to go and say something like that. Logically, she knew he could find someone better, someone so much better and stronger and more normal than her. She just couldn’t wrap her brain around the idea of being one more person who made this amazing boy feel like he was nothing. “Then they’re all stupid,” she mumbled, turning around to more fully curl into him.
Ryan smiled slightly, feeling some of the tension in his body ease. “So you keep saying.”
“Until you realize I’m right as always,” she tried to tease.
He tried to ignore the fact that the banter that used to come so naturally to her now seemed like a forced game. He was trying to ignore a lot of things these days.
In an easier time of her life, the noise never would have woken her up. But Marissa was a light sleeper these days.
It was just the faintest sound, only vaguely sounding like someone moving around downstairs. She heard it through a fog, only waking up fully at the sound of what could have been someone leaving. “What the…?” she muttered groggily, sitting up in bed. Her father was out of town as usual and her sister was at a friend’s- she was there more often than not at Marissa’s own encouraging these days. Her mother definitely WAS a sound sleeper, however.
Slowly and quietly, she got up, grabbing her phone as she did so, sliding on some pajama pants. Her gaze fell on a picture of her and Ryan on her dresser and she faltered- had it been moved? Stop it. You’re being paranoid. Hesitantly, she made her way to her mother’s room, fear running icy lines up and down her back. She won’t be there, she won’t be there, she must have needed something late at night-
Her mother was sound asleep in her bed.
For a split second that seemed to last a lifetime, she froze. It was like everything in reality was moving away from her at a lightning fast pace, leaving her stuck in this moment, stuck as this person whose abusive ex boyfriend stalked her and broke into her home. Then everything came crashing down on her again, and she moved fully into the room. “Mom,” she hissed. “Mom.”
“Marissa?” Julie mumbled, stirring. “What is it, sweetie?”
“We have to leave. Right now.” Her breath was starting to come quicker; she fought back the now familiar signs of a panic attack. “Mom, we have to get out of the house, I’m serious.”
Julie was fully awake now. “Is he still here?”
This was her life. That that would be the first question on her mother’s lips. “I don’t think so, but we still have to leave.”
********
Ryan was awakened from a restless sleep by Kirsten gently shaking him. “Ryan, sweetie…wake up.”
Ryan groaned. “Kirsten, it can’t seriously be time for school…”
“It’s 3 a.m. Marissa and Julie are here.”
Ryan sprang up as if he’d never been asleep. “What? Why?”
Kirsten ran her hands over her face. “Marissa thinks Trey broke into their house tonight.”
Ryan didn’t wait to hear anything else; he jumped out of bed and threw on a tank top and jeans so fast that Kirsten stepped back like he was making her dizzy and he tore into the house.
As soon as Marissa saw him, she knew she was going to crack. She’d been trying to keep up some semblance of normal as they waited for the cops- again- but one look at Ryan’s face, at the fear and the rage written all over his features, and she knew she couldn’t hold on. Impulsively, she got up and made her way into the empty living room. She could hear him follow her, but she didn’t turn around.
Ryan caught her by the arm in mid pace. “Marissa-” She went still and limp so suddenly that he almost fell down himself as he pulled her into his arms.
“I can’t do it,” she gasped out, her breath harsh and choppy as she felt the sobs coming. “I can’t take this anymore.” She was suddenly clinging to him. “I can’t do it. I can’t do it.”
Ryan opened his mouth helplessly, feeling bizarrely on the edge of tears himself. He wanted to say some kind of words of comfort, words that would make this better.
The words never came.
Choices Chapter Fourteen
And also if you'd like as a refresher, a link to the video project that goes along with this, as we have at long last hit Choices Part Three in the fanfiction.
Choices Video Project
I have no idea what will come next, lol. I have a couple chapters of a couple things close to being finished, but Choices still comes easier at the moment as I like all the characters I created;) For VM fans: I have some LoVe drabbles I may post sooner or later. If you don't watch VM: do it now because it's the best show in the history of anything ever.
Enjoy! And the logistics of Trey's stunt at the end will be explained later.
Choices Chapter Fifteen
Marissa had thought she was through with a life that constantly felt like a nightmare.
It was amazing, how incredibly fast an entire life could fall apart. Her father had been utterly enraged when he found out Julie had never told him about Trey and what he’d done, and wasn’t even waiting until Kaitlin left the room to rip into her every chance he got. No matter where she was, she had teachers, parents, and Ryan, Seth, and Summer surrounding her at all times.
How was it that Trey had committed the crimes and it was her life that had turned into a prison?
Trey hadn’t called or approached her in a week, but the waiting wasn’t any better. If anything, it was worse because the longer they went without any kind of incident, the less seriously the police were taking her.
“Do you want to go to the diner?” Summer asked suddenly one night as she, Seth, Ryan, and Marissa sat around the Cohen living room not doing much of anything at all. “Come on,” she cajoled at the wary faces. “It’ll be totally packed.” She had been studying Marissa’s face, noting the expression that had been growing clearer all week- that of a caged animal. She knew Marissa couldn’t just go wherever she wanted whenever she wanted, but she couldn’t stop living her life entirely.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Marissa said suddenly, overriding what seemed to be the start of Ryan protesting. He looked at her and sighed, seeing the same thing he knew Summer was seeing.
“Sure,” he smiled faintly, standing up and holding out a hand for Marissa.
Marissa had to give credit where it was due; Summer and Seth hadn’t lost any of their cheerleading, rallying abilities. Within a half hour, she’d relaxed somewhat and was fitted under Ryan’s arm on their side of the booth, smiling affectionately at their familiar, harmless bickering.
“Cohen, you watch way too many movies with like, entirely male casts to be complaining about seeing a chick flick,” Summer snapped at Seth.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Seth protested.
“Lord of the Rings was a little suspect,” Ryan said wryly, laughing at the wounded expression Seth sent his way.
“Don’t take it out on me if Marissa has you whipped,” Seth grumbled.
“I’m not…” Ryan weakly protested. Summer raised her brows at him. “Fine, maybe I am,” he relented, nudging Marissa playfully when he could feel her trying not to laugh.
“You’re not any better Cooper; laugh it up,” Seth said, tossing a fry at her.
“I’m a girl; I freely admit such things,” she shrugged unrepentantly. “It’s you guys who act like there’s something wrong with it.”
Ryan had raised his brows, seeing the truth in that, when he saw Summer’s face abruptly pale.
He knew even before turning around that Trey would be behind them.
Sure enough, there he was as Ryan twisted around in his seat. On the surface, he barely seemed to notice him, surrounded by a pack of equally suspect looking friends. But as he walked by the table; he locked eyes with Marissa and kept them locked, even walking backwards for a minute, his eyes cold and condescending and amused. Then he turned back around, and sat down at a booth not far from him.
Summer and Seth had abruptly cut off their banter, both looking stricken. “What should we…?” Summer started weakly.
“We’re leaving,” Marissa muttered, pushing at Ryan until he moved to let her up. “There isn’t any point in this; he’s getting what he wants. I don’t give a damn about winning this game.”
Ryan threw some money down on the table and hastily went after her as she bolted from the diner. She walked restlessly over to the pier, hugging herself and gulping in the night air. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “This isn’t a game and you shouldn’t care about winning.”
“It is a game to him and you know that,” she said softly. “And he thinks he wins every time he has me running scared. Maybe he does, I don’t know. But I don’t really care. My life is not a game.”
“No, it’s not. And it’s not a gamble,” Ryan said softly, coming up and putting a hand on her back.
She sighed heavily. “Neither is yours, but he’ll see it that way,” she said softly, turning to face him. “Is this what you really want? I don’t have a choice.”
“Neither do I,” Ryan returned calmly. “I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”
She smiled somewhat sadly and leaned in to kiss him, then smiled again at Seth and Summer who’d walked out. “Come on,” she sighed. “Let’s go find a chick flick to really piss Seth off.”
“Hey, kiddo.”
Marissa turned in surprise from her usual spot at her window seat as her father walked in the room. “What’s up, Dad?” she asked tiredly, resting the back of her head against the window.
He shrugged. “I just wanted to…” he trailed off. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he blurted out before he could stop himself. “Why didn’t you tell me what he was doing to you? I could have stopped this so long ago.”
Marissa felt a sudden flare of annoyance and resentment. “Why didn’t you see?” she shot back. “Even Mom knew I was falling down drunk all the time, before I even met Trey. You can blame her for not telling you all you want, but the bottom line is you didn’t even notice. You didn’t notice when I came in half dead that night I almost ODed. You didn’t notice the bruises I didn’t even hide from you.” She broke off, her breath coming hard and fast. “Maybe I should have told you. But let’s face it, I had reason to think you wouldn’t really care. You’re too busy calling Mom a slut to ever pay much attention to what’s going on with Katie and me.”
Jimmy had gotten progressively paler with each word of her tirade, but she had to give him grudging respect that he didn’t try to protest. “You’re right,” he said simply when she was done; she could tell the words had cost him. “I haven’t been the best father to you, and maybe if I had been none of this would have happened. But Marissa…” he sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair. “I would never get over it if something happened to you. No matter how bad I am at this.”
“I’m not blaming you,” she said tiredly. “Not completely, at any rate. I’m not stupid, all evidence to the contrary. I should have known better. A thousand times, I should have known better.”
“We will stop him,” Jimmy said softly. “One way or the other.”
Marissa smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I have to go,” she said softly. “Ryan’s waiting for me.”
“I’m glad you have him,” Jimmy said quietly, surprising her. This time her smile was genuine.
“So am I,” she sighed. “So am I.”
“So my dad officially likes you.”
“Should I be flattered or offended?” Ryan asked wryly, running his hands up and down Marissa’s back as she positioned herself in between his legs and rested her head on his chest.
She laughed a little. “Up to you, I guess.”
He sighed. “I guess I’ll take what I can get.” He played with her hair. “How’re you doing?” He didn’t want to mention that he’d seen her up in her window earlier in the day. Seth had once said she seemed like a ghost up there. The description now seemed to fit all too well.
Marissa shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t know. As well as I can be? Or not.”
Ryan had never considered himself a particularly angry person. He defended himself or someone else when he had to, but he wasn’t one to start fights or go into rages. But every time he thought about his happy, laughing girlfriend and compared her to the haunted girl in front of him now, the rage at the one who had done this was almost overwhelming. “It’s going to get better. I don’t know exactly HOW, but it will,” he said quietly, stroking her hair. She shrugged again and he lifted her chin up. “Hey.” She smiled faintly and leaned in for a kiss; as usual when they were alone, it didn’t take much for a simple kiss to turn into more.
“Have I ever told you how much I love this little spot right here?” Ryan murmured, nuzzling into the place he was referring to behind her ear.
She giggled. “Have I ever told you how much I love that you love that?” she sighed, running her hands up and down his back, sliding them underneath his shirt. It felt good. Amazing. Just like it always did. His gentleness combined with the passion made her feel as secure and wanted as it always did.
hands clutching the covers trying to keep from crying out at the harsh thrust
“Stop it!” She wasn’t even aware of what she was doing until she shoved Ryan off of her and her mind cleared enough to realize he was staring at her in shock.
“What did I do?” he asked in bewilderment.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again and buried her face in her hands.
Ryan had realized what happened as soon as the words left his mouth; his stomach crashed to the floor. For one of the first times, he wondered if it was okay to touch her. At length, he tentatively reached out and put his hand on her hair. As soon as he did, she reached for it and pressed it to her cheek, then turned to wrap her arms around him.
“I’m sorry,” she said tearfully. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he said somewhat helplessly, lowering his head to kiss her neck. “It’s not your fault.”
“I thought I was done with that,” she muttered miserably, pulling away from him and curling onto her side. “When he…at first, I couldn’t even stand it when Dad touched me, let alone anyone else. But I got better, and especially with you…that hasn’t happened in months.”
“Hey.” Ryan touched her shoulder, urging her to face him. Sighing, she turned around. “It’s not your fault. It’s NOT. It’s his fault. This isn’t something to be ashamed of.”
“Does it matter?” she asked tiredly. “You didn’t sign up for this. You didn’t start dating this girl.”
“Don’t tell me what I did and didn’t sign up for, and I started dating you,” Ryan said forcefully. “No one but the Cohens even gave a shit about me before you, and even then it wasn’t the same.” The words spilled out of him before he had a chance to think, and he flushed a little when he realized what he’d said.
Sometimes Marissa thought she should have more willpower to let him out of this nightmare. Sometimes she even felt it building. And then he had to go and say something like that. Logically, she knew he could find someone better, someone so much better and stronger and more normal than her. She just couldn’t wrap her brain around the idea of being one more person who made this amazing boy feel like he was nothing. “Then they’re all stupid,” she mumbled, turning around to more fully curl into him.
Ryan smiled slightly, feeling some of the tension in his body ease. “So you keep saying.”
“Until you realize I’m right as always,” she tried to tease.
He tried to ignore the fact that the banter that used to come so naturally to her now seemed like a forced game. He was trying to ignore a lot of things these days.
In an easier time of her life, the noise never would have woken her up. But Marissa was a light sleeper these days.
It was just the faintest sound, only vaguely sounding like someone moving around downstairs. She heard it through a fog, only waking up fully at the sound of what could have been someone leaving. “What the…?” she muttered groggily, sitting up in bed. Her father was out of town as usual and her sister was at a friend’s- she was there more often than not at Marissa’s own encouraging these days. Her mother definitely WAS a sound sleeper, however.
Slowly and quietly, she got up, grabbing her phone as she did so, sliding on some pajama pants. Her gaze fell on a picture of her and Ryan on her dresser and she faltered- had it been moved? Stop it. You’re being paranoid. Hesitantly, she made her way to her mother’s room, fear running icy lines up and down her back. She won’t be there, she won’t be there, she must have needed something late at night-
Her mother was sound asleep in her bed.
For a split second that seemed to last a lifetime, she froze. It was like everything in reality was moving away from her at a lightning fast pace, leaving her stuck in this moment, stuck as this person whose abusive ex boyfriend stalked her and broke into her home. Then everything came crashing down on her again, and she moved fully into the room. “Mom,” she hissed. “Mom.”
“Marissa?” Julie mumbled, stirring. “What is it, sweetie?”
“We have to leave. Right now.” Her breath was starting to come quicker; she fought back the now familiar signs of a panic attack. “Mom, we have to get out of the house, I’m serious.”
Julie was fully awake now. “Is he still here?”
This was her life. That that would be the first question on her mother’s lips. “I don’t think so, but we still have to leave.”
********
Ryan was awakened from a restless sleep by Kirsten gently shaking him. “Ryan, sweetie…wake up.”
Ryan groaned. “Kirsten, it can’t seriously be time for school…”
“It’s 3 a.m. Marissa and Julie are here.”
Ryan sprang up as if he’d never been asleep. “What? Why?”
Kirsten ran her hands over her face. “Marissa thinks Trey broke into their house tonight.”
Ryan didn’t wait to hear anything else; he jumped out of bed and threw on a tank top and jeans so fast that Kirsten stepped back like he was making her dizzy and he tore into the house.
As soon as Marissa saw him, she knew she was going to crack. She’d been trying to keep up some semblance of normal as they waited for the cops- again- but one look at Ryan’s face, at the fear and the rage written all over his features, and she knew she couldn’t hold on. Impulsively, she got up and made her way into the empty living room. She could hear him follow her, but she didn’t turn around.
Ryan caught her by the arm in mid pace. “Marissa-” She went still and limp so suddenly that he almost fell down himself as he pulled her into his arms.
“I can’t do it,” she gasped out, her breath harsh and choppy as she felt the sobs coming. “I can’t take this anymore.” She was suddenly clinging to him. “I can’t do it. I can’t do it.”
Ryan opened his mouth helplessly, feeling bizarrely on the edge of tears himself. He wanted to say some kind of words of comfort, words that would make this better.
The words never came.