IN THIS SKIN -- CHICAGO FIRE

5;

It had been a week since Marley's breakdown at the firehouse, and everyone had seemed to have forgotten, or at least no-one was talking about it in front of her. Marley was grateful for this. She knew she had completely embarrassed herself in front of the people whose opinions she most cared about and that upset her. The members of Firehouse 51, however, did not think that Marley had embarrassed herself, rather they were extremely concerned about her and wanted to know she was okay. But neither Marley nor the members of the firehouse spoke up to each other and their conversations were dull and empty.
Despite Marley's best efforts, she had spiraled downhill quickly, and she was too scared to admit it to anyone, including herself. Instead, she sat everyday in her room, and only came out to eat. Homework was slowly taking over her life, but rather than talking to Kelly, Shay or Otis and asking for help, she struggled along and did it by herself.
The situation with Ryan hadn't got much better either. He had taken her out of her flat one day and taken her into town, much to her distaste, where he had hit her when she refused to have sex with someone who he owed money to. She ended up having sex with the disgusting man anyway, just this time she had a black eye to sport with it. It was Otis who had seen her eye when she had walked back into their abode late on a Saturday night and had questioned her about it. She replied with a simple "I fell", and when Ryan had supported this answer he quickly let it drop.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a Friday when Shay asked her to go to the firehouse again. Marley agreed, hoping that the shift would be a busy one and it would mean she could be alone for a while. Plus she hadn't had Mills' cooking for a while, and that was always something that put her in a good mood. After getting showered and dressed, Marley walked down the stairs and sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. It was 5:30AM and, like any other teenager, she was tired, but she was not one to complain. Kelly walked down soon after and was shocked to see her dressed and out of her room at this time.
"You're up early sweetheart." He spoke softly and gave her a small hug. Marley smiled. It had been a while since he'd hugged her.
"Yeah, Leslie asked if I would go with you today." She said and quickly added "If that's okay with you, that is." Kelly laughed.
"We all love having you there, of course it's okay with me! It's great seeing you out of your room for once." Marley cringed at this. She hated talking about stuff like this, like leaving her room because she wasn't comfortable yet. But rather than bringing this to Kelly's attention, she just nodded and smiled slightly.
Shift started at 6AM, and the four of them arrived just before that. Despite feeling nervous to see everyone again, she bit back her fear and got out of Kelly's car, putting a large smile on her face to reassure Kelly, who was looking at her worriedly, that she was okay.
Walking into the firehouse, the three adults rushed off to get ready for shift, leaving Marley to sit down and amuse herself for a while. Almost immediately the rest of the on-shift members walked in. After a quick greeting, squad all went to sit in their usual table, including Kelly. Marley was relieved that Kelly wasn't going to be bothering her all day. The buzzing of her phone interrupted her thoughts and she grimaced as she answered.
"Hey Ryan." This statement attracted the attention of Joe, who discreetly tried to listen in, although he was only hearing Marley's side of the conversation.
"I hid the drugs at your place last week and I need them back." He said sharply. Marley inhaled quickly and her eyes widened.
"What? Where?" She tried to speak quietly and calmly.
"That dude's bag, what's he called? Otis? Yeah, in the pocket of his bag."
"Why the hell would you do that?!" Her voiced raised slightly and she could hear Ryan getting angry.
"Because I can do whatever the fuck I want to, you hear me girl?" He shouted viciously down the phone. Marley flinched.
"Y-yes Ryan. I'm sorry." She mumbled.
"Good girl, so I need you to get them out of his bag and bring them over later. You need to be hear before 12 tonight otherwise there will be a rather angry group of men in my house and it won't be me that has to deal with them. Got it?" He snarled. Although Marley knew it would be impossible to do this, she was terrified of him, so reluctantly responded with an 'okay' before hanging up.
Marley blinked back tears as she threw the phone down onto the table, making it slide to the edge. Joe caught it before it could fall. He handed it back to her and sat down beside her.
"So, what did the boyfriend want?" He refused to say his name, so instead referring to him as 'the boyfriend'. Although he didn't really care what Ryan might have wanted, he wanted to make sure Marley was okay. They hadn't really spoken since the whole Leon incident that had occurred the previous weekend.
"Oh, nothing really. He left his jumper at mine the other day and wants me to take it to his later." She expertly lied and added a small grin to reassure Joe that she was telling the truth. Joe believed her and dropped it.
"Be careful with that phone of yours, I'm not always going to be there to catch it for you." He said, with a wink, before walking off.

'Truck 81, Ambulance 61, kitchen fire at...'

This was her chance. She could grab the drugs and hide them in her bag whilst they were out. Smiling as she watched them leave, her seemingly fool-proof plan hit a flaw, when Chief Boden's voice boomed through the walls.
"OTIS- MY OFFICE NOW!"
Marley watched in horror as Otis, with a confused look etched upon his face, reluctantly followed Boden into his office. What alarmed her most of all though, was that Chief Boden was carrying Otis' bag. The bag that Ryan had hidden the drugs in.