Marked

Chapter Twenty-One: Chase

I didn't like how fresh the sheets of the hotel smelled. It reminded me that I wasn't home. At home, the sheets smelled like fear and sweat and Scarlett. Here, they just smelled like stale sweat from the night before.

Scarlett was laying on her side, facing away from me. Her bare back brought back memories of the night before and I smiled. She rolled on her back and I kissed her forehead. I got up and pulled on a pair of khaki shorts.

I cleaned up the hotel room a little then went down to the first floor to get some coffee. As I sat at one of the tables in the lobby, drinking coffee and reading the paper, I thought about how much I loved to see Scarlett lying beside me when I wake up. It's a better feeling than the heat from the sun in the summer.

I skipped all the news but the stuff about how Las Vegas is handling Unscripted stuff. After that, I read the comics. Scarlett came to breakfast with a smile on her face. Her hair was pulled back, bangs framing her face. Silver eyeliner framed her eyes and black mascara made the silver less noticeable. (I only know what she wears because one time—for fun—she told me all she knew about makeup.) She was wearing cut off shorts and a tie-dye shirt with a black and white filter, so to speak.

"Good morning, Beautiful," I said, setting down the paper.

"And that it is,"

I smiled at her and she smiled at me. "So,"

"So,"

"I'm going to get some coffee, want some?"

I lifted up my coffee cup. "I already got some." Scar flashed another smile and left to get her coffee. I watched her as she walked gracefully to the coffee and poured herself a cup. She put three packs of sugar in the cup and two packs of creamer. When she came back over and sat down, I said, "I take it you don't like coffee black?"

"Once again, you're right."

I smiled, then my smile—the same that I know Scar loves—faded. "I hate to bring up business, but—"

"Chase, no. Not here." Scar bit her lip, nervous. "We can't be so open about all of this until we know how Vegas reacts to it."

She had a point. "Then let's go back to the room and talk there."

Scar sighed. "Fine. But, Chase," she hesitated, obviously holding back what she really wanted to say.

"Just say it Scar,"

She looked down at her cream-colored coffee. "Listen, Chase, we have to be careful. One of us can get really hurt doing this. Do you understand?"

There's more to the story than she's telling me, but I know damn well not to push her for more details. "I understand."

She nodded. "Good. Let's go." Scar grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the table. She didn't let go of my hand until we were in the hotel room. "Okay, tell me what you've done."

"Well, I've done a lot while you were sick. I printed out flyers with our e-mail, no date or address for a protest yet. I slid them under the doors of people at the hotel. I hung up a few flyers around this section of Vegas too. Since then, we've gotten a lot of e-mails. People here really accept Unscripted, so I don't think it will be too hard to set up a protest."

Scar nodded. "That's good... So, all we have to do is set up the protest and get the word out."

"Basically."

A smile made its way to Scarlett's gorgeous face, lighting up her white eyes. "It's so easy. Chase, we're actually doing it. We're changing the world."

I nodded, the smile contagious. "Yeah, we are."

Scar kissed me. "I love you."

"I love you too."

There's only one word to describe someone who will spend thousands of dollars, thousands of hours, hundred sleepless nights, and everything in between to help someone change the world. To help someone with an uprising.

That word is simple.

Love.