xp_logs | Log - Angelo and Marie (Reply)

She needed to talk to Skin. The realization hit Marie before she could get into the shower, so she pulled her clothes back on and got out another pair of gloves. -Oh, please, let him be in his room.- She knocked on his door when she got there and leaned on the frame, waiting.

Angelo glanced up from where he was curled up on the bed, and called out, "Who is it?" If the answer was "Amanda", he was fully prepared to tell her to go away, and not so politely...

"Marie. Can I come in?"

Angelo sighed, but got up to open the door. "Hey, Marie. Sure, come on in."

"You missed your classes," she said without preamble. Tucking her limp hair behind her ears, Marie stepped into the room and stood in the center of it, arms crossed over her chest, looking at Angelo. "And Amanda said she said a bunch of really shitty things to you... and then asked me to check up on you. I don't know what's going on, but here I am."

Angelo scowled at the mention of Amanda's name, returning to sit on his bed. "Feelin' bad about it, is she? Good."

"She had her reasons, whatever they are." Marie shrugged. "Want to talk about it?

Angelo didn't look at her. "Reasons?" he said, deceptively calmly. "Wanna explain to me what reasons she could have had for tellin' me I'm "nothin' but a whore an' always will be"? Or that nobody'll ever let me really be with Paige because of that, Paige included? Or that that's why she won't let Jono go an' choose me? 'Cause if you've got any, I'd love to hear 'em..."

"Because she's convinced that there's something dark and evil in her and she's got to chase off everyone who might love her by hurting them as badly as possible," Marie said flatly. "That's my best guess."

Angelo closed his eyes, defeated and drained suddenly. "Right. Well, if that's what she wants, she's off to a real good start."

"Yeah. She doesn't waste time, does she?" Marie flopped unceremoniously on one of the vacant beds. "I'm sorry she hurt you, Skin."

Angelo shrugged. "Wouldn't've been so bad if I hadn't told her things. She knew where to hit. An' the worst thing is... " His voice dropped to an almost inaudible level. "She didn't say a single word I haven't thought, before. Just makes it that bit harder to convince myself I'm wrong..."

"Well, you both are," Marie said irritably. "I want you to do me a favour."

Angelo glanced up at her wearily. "What's that?"

"Have some faith," Marie said, meeting his gaze with equal weariness. "Trust me."

"I do trust you", he told her, leaving the "I don't trust myself" unspoken.

"She's wrong, first and foremost. I think she knows it too. You've nothing to be ashamed of and it's got nothing to do with your relationship with Paige right now, okay? And have some faith that this is /Amanda/ here. She's a pain in the ass but when has she ever been vicious to someone who's been good to her like you have?" Marie sat up, looked down at herself, realized her shirt was misbuttoned and sighed. "You saw how torn up she was after the whole potion disaster, right? This is not someone who wants to throw away friends."

Angelo shrugged. "Sure seems like she's tryin' to, here."

"And maybe, just maybe there's a reason for it, Angelo." Marie tugged at her blouse and started rebuttoning it. "Friends give each other an extra chance."

He bowed his head. "I'll try. But what she said really hurt, y'know?"

"That's because you're friends," Marie said. "But you can lean on me, Skin. I can promise you, it's not true, what she said."

Angelo nodded hesitantly. "I don't want to think it is, an' most of the time I don't... but sometimes..."

"Yeah. And she got you where you live." Marie leaned back on the wall, looking across at Angelo. "That's when you lean on your backup." She waved a hand. "Or, preferably, Paige. Did you talk to her about it?"

Angelo shrugged. "Sorta. Not exactly easy to tell her that..."

"And Amanda still lives and breathes, yeah, I figured you didn't tell her the whole thing." Marie bit her lip. "First. Are you going to be okay? Straight up, because I need to know and I'm too damn tired to guess."

Angelo looked up at her, and gave her the straight truth. "Okay? No. Goin' to be? Probably."

Marie held out her arms to him. "C'mere, Skin. Whatever she said, baby, it was meant to hurt but that doesn't mean it's the truth."

Angelo unfolded himself from the bed and went to her, taking the hug gratefully. "Most of the time, I know that. Mostly."

"Well, I'm here to remind you. She was being a bitch. And she was wrong." Marie stroked his hair gently. "You weren't a 'whore', Angelo. You survived, and I love you for it."

Angelo leaned his head on her shoulder, suddenly very tired. "Might need you to keep tellin' me that. Love you too."

"I don't mind saying it, Skin." She rocked him a little, stroking his hair still. "I'm proud of you. I'm glad you're here, I'm glad you made it. You're going to do a lot of good now that you're here. I can tell."

"I hope so", he said quietly. "Wish I could be so sure."

"That's what I'm here for," Marie assured him. "Friends do this kind of thing." She snuggled him close to her. "I'm going to talk to Amanda and sort this out."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah. If you're right about why she did it, somebody should. Just not sure I can, right now."

"And once I find out, if I am right, can I count on you for back up? Can you let it go enough? Because she's small but she's wiry." Marie's voice was light but her expression was serious.

"I'll try", he promised. "Long as it's not today. It's too fresh still."

"Not today," Marie agreed. "I'm too damn baked to save the world today."

Angelo pulled back a little to look at her, worried. "You okay?"

"I think... I don't know..." Marie said with a little shrug. "I had a long talk on the phone with Logan. And... well... it's kinda hard to tell how it went."

Angelo nodded, no less worried for that. "Want to talk about it? Least I can do is return the favour..."

Marie shook her head. "Let's just say I'm never going to ask him if he wants to get married -- in the general life plans sense -- again." She laughed and put her head in her hands. "I think we agreed that that is a no."

Angelo chuckled. "Married? Wow. Guess he didn't take it like you hoped?"

"I wasn't asking." She was still laughing when she lifted her head and leaned back on the wall again. "It was just... I wanted to know where he's going, you know? What's in his head. He's... way older than I am. I don't know how he thinks things should work."

Angelo nodded. "Sounds fair enough to me. You two're still just workin' stuff out, after all. You've not been together that long."

"In some ways, it's the dumbest idea ever," Marie said dryly. "It's a useless concept given what's between us. On the other hand, the whole potion thing... it freaked me out. I realize that most people aren't going to look at us and take us seriously. He's got no right to me except what other people allow him if something happens to me and I can't speak for myself."

Angelo squeezed her hand gently. "For what it's worth, if somethin' happens, I'll do what I can to back him."

"Thanks." Marie's smile was genuinely grateful. "I'd just hate to see the mess if someone got between us in a crisis, you know? Anyway...we'll talk more when he gets home." The look on her face now was apprehensive. "I don't know how these things work, Skin. I came from a totally traditional family, and it worked for my mom and dad, but that's not the way things are for me. Sometimes I hate being only eighteen." She sighed heavily.

Angelo nodded. "You might've found that way wasn't right for you even if you weren't a mutant", he pointed out quietly. "Plenty of people do."

Marie smiled thinly. "Oh, I think I already knew that I wasn't cut out for the whole apron-wearing thing. I guess I'm just too... adventurous. Or I was. I'm so tired these days and so tense, I don't know which way is up."

He nodded again, squeezing her hand tightly. "Can't be blamed for that. You've been through a hell of a lot, in... what is it? Less than two years?"

Marie nodded. "Something like that, yes. I forget who I am some days," she said sadly. "It's all been so sudden and it never stops long enough for me to catch my breath. You understand... it's got to be like that for you too."

"It is", he replied. "It's been... just over six months, all told, since I manifested, an' it feels like it hasn't been peaceful for a whole week at once since then."

"Well, spring break is coming," Marie said hopefully. "Maybe you can spend some time with your mom here in New York or something? I'm going to run away with Logan again, I expect."

Angelo smiled. "That'd be good. I'll call her in a few days, see if she can make it over here. An' runnin' away with Logan can't be a bad thing. Get yourself some breathin' space."

"Well, provided we don't break anything between us over the next week or so, it'll be a good thing," Marie said wryly. "Talking's a hell of a catch-22, isn't it?"

Angelo chuckled. "Can be, yeah."

"But, back to you," Marie said, looking Angelo over speculatively. "You going to be okay?"

"Probably", he answered honestly. "Couldn't face class yesterday - needed some time to put things back together - but I'm doin' better today."

"You're going to be able to make it back to class tomorrow then?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think so." With a wry grin, he added, "Dunno if I'll be as okay as I could be, but hey - I've got real good at pretendin'."

Marie laughed and shook her head. "Trust me, your teachers are faking half the time too. Let me know if you need me to sign any absence slips for you." She reached out and ruffled Angelo's hair affectionately. "I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to do that now, you know."

He grinned at her warmly. "Will do. But I should be okay for the next little while, at least."

"Okay. I have got to go shower and change and all," Marie said, getting to her feet. "But you can call me if you need to talk more, okay?"

Angelo nodded with a half-smile. "Okay. An' the same goes for you. Come find me whenever you need to."

Marie stopped, leaning on the doorframe, and gave Angelo a small smile. "I will, you know?" She sounded a little surprised at that. "Thanks." She let herself out and closed the door behind her, feeling a little bemused.