[COMPLETED] where she sat and ate her strawberries, while he smoked his cigarettes.
-harry styles au
-set in summer of 1998
-mentions rape, sexual assault, abuse, fighting, and suicide
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~Marley~
She had felt as though her life up until this point had been all about one thing, doing everything she could to protect her brothers. There wasn't a day that had gone by in the past four years when they weren't the first thing she thought about when she woke up in the morning and the last thing she thought about as her head hit the pillow for the night. So the fact that she sat alone on the cliff, staring out at the water in the bank below not having any idea where they were... made her feel like she had failed at the one thing she was left to do.
It happened in an instant. One second she was sitting with Cole; and the next, they were pounding on the door, demanding that they had to be taken with them. It was all a blur, the memories of the event coming back like flashbacks as the cries from Cole begging Marley to help him echoed through her mind.
She could feel his hands slipping out of her grip as they pulled him into the van.
She could hear the shouts from Luke, demanding not to split them up as he cried for the first time in years.
She could see Cole's small hands frantically banging on the glass window as the tears streamed down his face faster than she had ever seen before.
Yet, she couldn't remember the conversation she had with the social worker clearly. She knew she had until the next night to grab everything that she needed, everything that her brothers needed before they would be coming for her too. She didn't know if she would be with them, but she could only hope that by her birthday they would all be together again.
Suddenly, her cheeks became soaked with tears, not even realizing she had been crying until a small sobbed escaped her lips. Soon enough, the small amount of tears falling from her eyes turned into a tsunami, drenching the neckline of her t-shirt as she tried to control the cries.
She bit the inside of her lip, pulling her knees up to her chest as she rested her head upon them. She didn't even flinch when the wind came her way, fiercely taking the stray piece of her hair that had fallen in front of her tear filled face and forcing them back. This time, the feeling of the wind sent her into a pit of rage, hating with everything inside of her that her father had seen her fail.
"I'm so sorry dad," she whispered, not even being able to speak properly due to the sobs escaping her lips. "I tried so hard to keep them safe, to make sure that they would never be hurt the way I've been. But I just couldn't do it, no matter how hard I tried... I just couldn't."
Her throat was raw due the volume of her cries, the world seemingly crumbling at the seams as she held her head in her knees. She had never felt more low.
She shook her head, the noises of the world not being heard over her intrusive thoughts manipulating her with every second that passed.
She was glad it was dark out, because she wouldn't have been able to face her father otherwise. She finally picked her head up, the wind causing the hair that had fallen in front of her face to stick to the dampness on her cheeks. She sighed heavily, trying her hardest not to completely fall apart.
