SEA OF LOVE ☀︎︎ C. Chambers ✔︎

009

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THE SUN SHINED ON MARIAN'S tear and dirt stained face as she rubbed her eyes. It was roughly seven thirty in the morning, and the hot sun already began to beat down on them as they packed away their bedrolls and made sure the fire was out.

Occasional glances where shared between Chris and Marian, however, neither of them would speak to each other. He felt even worse once seeing her red, emotionless brown eyes as she relentlessly wiped her face with her hand, trying to remove any evidence of her crying that night over him.

However, Gordie and Teddy knew the tension between the two was high. Marian didn't bother with breakfast that morning, which concerned Teddy because the only time she didn't eat was when she was upset. Last night's fight clearly got to her.

Once wandering in the back, Teddy joined her and tried to lighten her spirits. However, he noticed a small smile fall on her lips when Love Is Strange played over the radio.

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   "Love... mmm... love is strange. Yeah! Yeah!" Marian sang, without realizing Chris was watching her sing and brush her hair from her doorway.

   "Once you get it... you never wanna quit." Chris joined in, making her jump and look behind her. She immediately reddened from embarrassment as he smirked.

   "You heard that?" She asked.

   "I think China could her it." He replied, and she laughed. "How'd I sound?"

   "Like an asshole." Marian deadpanned.

   "Charming." He said flatly.

'Ohhh baaaby... my sweet baaaaby... you're the one!'

Once the song ended, Marian realized why he had came. When she got a better look at him, she saw a cigarette burn, a few cuts, and a black eye beginning to form.

   "Oh... Chris." She frowned, "I don't think you quite cleaned that up well enough. Do you mind if did it? I had to do it for Teddy when he burnt his ear."

   "That'd be nice, actually." He nodded. "You'd think after years of practice I'd be good at it."

She didn't bother laughing, as she felt for Chris. All though her father only laid a hand on her when 'the accident' happened, Marian certainly wouldn't want to experience that again. She had him sit on the counter as she bent down, grabbing rubbing alcohol, a clean cloth, and filling a small bowl with cold water.

   "Hold this cloth to your burn." Marian instructed, handing him the cold cloth. He obliged and put it to his cheek where the burn was made.

Chris looked down at her as she put rubbing alcohol to the small cuts made from a beer bottle Mr. Chambers threw at him after noticing that most of his cigarettes were gone. It wasn't him that took them, it was Eyeball. However Mr. Chambers didn't listen and beat him anyway. The scar across her eyebrow stood out as her eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she held her lower lip between her teeth.

Chris's gaze went down further, then he realized the shirt Marian wore that day was a v-neck shirt. He could see her bra! He quickly looked up, not wanting to invade her privacy. However, she surely wouldn't notice a few glances...