skinny || h.s. au [Rewrite Now Up!]

eight

Marley stands in front of her bathroom mirror in the same dress she wore to her grandfather's funeral two years ago.

It's sleeveless and black with a conservative neckline and a fit-and-flare cut that once hugged her sides, but now hangs a little too loose. So she throws on a cardigan and pretends that she isn't all cold fingers and half-crazed minds and sleveless black dresses that hang a little too loose.

When Marley walks down the stairs, she sees her brother on the couch. He looks like deception and smells like addiction but Marley is used to that. What she's not used to is his closed eyes and unmoving limbs.

For a moment she panics because her brother never sleeps. And Marley is a girl who cares about her brother.

"Jax?" Marley says, kneeling beside the couch. Eye level with her brother.

With a closer look, she sees his chest rise and fall in a calm rhythm. And she lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

Because despite cold fingers and half-crazed minds and sleeveless black dresses that hang a little too loose, Marley is a girl who cares about her brother.

He groans and opens one eye. "Why are you dressed like a nun?"

"I'm going somewhere. Do you need anything?" Marley asks her normally insomniac brother.

"If you can afford to go out you can afford to get me heroin." He grumbles.

"No, Jax. You need to go through this. I'll do what I can to help make it easier but this addiction has to stop. We can't afford it and all you're going to do with that stuff is end up killing yourself." Marley says, standing from the dusty floor.

He grumbles something close to, "I don't fucking care," but Marley is already on her way toward the door.

She peaks out the window next to the door, the glass once crystal clear on happier days but now is muddy and fogged like the rest of Marley's life. She sees nothing but mailboxes and overgrown grass. Not a charming boy--who is now five minutes late--in sight.

The sound of Jax vomiting into the trashcan by his side snaps Marley out of her trance.

"I'll get you some water." She says before walking into the kitchen.

And Marley admits, she's scared. Because she knows nothing about drug addiction or withdrawal. Doesn't know how bad it could get or how long it might last.

Could something like this last forever? Could it kill him?

The water overflowing the brim of the glass in her hand brings Marley out of her thoughts. She shuts off the tap and takes the glass in to her brother.

_______________________

Harry should have left ten minutes ago to go pick up Marley. But instead he stands in front of his mirror, retying his navy blue tie. Again.

His hands fall to his sides as he inspects his work in the mirror. And then decides he looks like he's trying too hard and takes it off.

For the sixth time.

"This is painful to watch." Harry's little sister steps into the room. Ignores his surprise.

"How long have you been standing there?" He asks as she undid the top three buttons of his shirt.

"Long enough to know that you must really fancy this girl." Vivian shrugs before moving to his right sleeve. Begins rolling it up. And then moves to the left. "Are you going to do something about that bruise?"

"No. Mum's makeup will never go anywhere near my face ever again." Harry smiles.

He can't help but think about how Marley laughed at him that morning. Her hand over her mouth. Her crystal blue eyes shinning. And how she looked so beautiful.