Bittersweet - Bubbline AU

Chapter Thirty One - How Were You To Know?

Hi again!

One more for today. Maybe I updated one more time later, but probably I'll be kinda busy so I'll just try two more chapters tomorrow if it happens.

Good reading!
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Well, at the end of the day, the whole situation was more of a huge misunderstanding than anything else.

Marshall Lee was one step away from walking up to the two of them and starting a big fight. He was far from the jealous type, but rather the type to defend his friends' honor on the basis of violence.

But it wasn't necessary.  All it took was Keila's time trying to stop him from screwing up for the truth to open up right in front of them.

When they turned their attention to where the other two were, they only saw Kevin leaning against the wall with a weird expression. Brad was already turning the corner at the end of the street. And there wasn't much time to worry about where he was going, as it was a matter of seconds between seeing the boy walk away, then realizing Kevin's eyes widen and then just having time to turn his face to the side and throw up. And then fall helplessly to the ground.

The next moment Marshall was on him, trying to lift him. The girls followed close behind, and as much as they were all a little mad at him, they felt in the air that something was wrong.

It took a while for Kevin to respond, but he eventually woke up. But he was so weird. He didn't talk a lot and didn't seem to recognize any of the three well.

It was Keila who noticed the tumbled glass. She recognized the object: it was a green cup, she had seen the same one in Kevin's hand a little earlier. For some reason, she took it and looked inside. There was a poorly dissolved pill inside of it.

At this point, Marceline had just reached them, trying to understand what all the commotion around the boy was about.

"Did you see anyone pour him a drink, Marcy?"

"About two hours ago I saw Brad give his cup. Why? What's going on here?"

Keila looked at Marshall and the two exchanged a worried look. Kevin was looking at the sky in a strange, glazed way. He was in no condition to communicate, let alone consent to anything.

The moment faded when Marceline's terrified voice broke the silence:

"Peebles, why the hell are you crying?"

[...]

The whole situation was stressful. Dealing with Priscilla breaking to pieces at the thought that she'd spent all that time in love with a guy capable of such a thing was too much for Marshall.

Dealing with Kevin the next day, scared and distraught, as it dawned on him the kind of horror that could have happened if he'd been alone with Brad somewhere else. It was too much for Marshall.

It was too palpable. It was all too understandable. Too much like something else, and he should have somehow moved on by now. It was more than stressful. And he did his best not to fall asleep that night, because he knew what was coming next.  But he fell anyway.

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He was on the sidewalk, his back to the house. He knew the narrow street that led to the driveway in front of him. He didn't want to turn around.

Wake up. Wake up, Marshall.

Didn't woke up. He could never wake up. He turned toward the house.