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TW: physical assault and verbal abuse PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THE WARNINGS MENTIONED ABOVE.
"WE HAVE TO TELL SOMEONE MARTY! That asshole isn't going to get away with it!" Nicki yells, getting up from Marty's bed and waltzing back and forth in the baby blue bedroom. "I just wish I would've stayed with you, I'm so sorry." Strains of tears begin to fall down both of the girls' faces again.
"No, Nicki, it's mine. If I hadn't—" Martha says sternly, sitting up from her mattress.
—"Martha Jane Holland, babygirl, listen to me. Don't victim-blame yourself, it's his fault, clothing doesn't equal consent, and you know that." Nicolette interrupts, completely shutting down Marty's broken idea. She walks over to the bed, keeping eye contact with Martha, and falls into a warm embrace.
After the longest thirty seconds —but oddly refreshing— of their lives, the two pull apart smiling at each other. "I feel like we should tell Sarah, she would want to know." Nicki offers because Sarah is also their best friend.
"I will, today, at brunch," Marty sighs, flopping back down on her comforter. "You'll be there, right? Isn't Topper going?" She tilts her head in the direction of Nicki.
"Of course, I am going to be the one to put poison in Rafe's food." She declares, pointing her left finger upward.
"No, I don't want to kill him, just torture him severely." Marty laughs. But one thought couldn't leave her mind: 'Shouldn't I want him dead? He ruined me. Did I subconsciously forgive him because it's my fault? I'm the one who kept drinking his poison even after it made me dizzy.'
"Okay, so what do you wanna do?" Nicki laughs along, raising her eyebrows because she knows Marty's ideas are always lame and she always plays it safe.
"I don't know, but I'm sure Sarah will have some ideas."
➵ ➵ ➵
SOON THE HOLLAND FAMILY AND THE THORNTON FAMILY arrive at the Cameron mansion punctually one after the other. The dress code was semi-formal casual, so Marty is dressed in an orange floral mini dress paired with a denim jacket and white chucks. She chose this outfit because she longed to feel confident in her own skin, and sometimes that means dressing up.
And she looks fucking good.
Rafe watches her from his second-story bedroom window, taking a sip from his mimosa. She smiled as she greeted the parents of the household, Rose, and Ward, and it confuses him greatly. He had broken her down to nothing, why could she ever see him again? And have brunch with him no less.
