Chapter 28:
"There is never a time when new distraction will not show up; we sow them, so several will grow from the same seed."
―Seneca

Marceline sat on the floor with her back to Chibs' bed, the tears spilling from her eyes never stopping. She was sure that she was crying in her sleep at this point. Draped over her shoulders and so desperately clutched in her hands was Kip's kutte. Along with Clay's, Gemma had Tig's, Bobby's, Quinn's, Kip's and Chibs' kuttes since they didn't have an Old Lady to give them to.

The day that the Sons got arrested and Marci was bawling in Happy's arms, for almost two hours, Gemma had come and draped the leather over the distraught teenager. Gemma, Tara and Donna had been crying just like Marceline was, but they pulled themselves together and put on a tough face. Happy, Kozik, Piney, Opie and the Prospects were the only Sons that weren't detained. Opie and the Prospects didn't show up at the clubhouse until late that night, after everyone had left the clubhouse and Happy took Marceline home. He refused to let her out of his sight until she stopped crying, but as soon as they got to her place, she squirmed out of his grip and ran into her Dad's room. He got a call just a few minutes later from Opie saying that both Stahl's and Jimmy's bodies had been dealt with and that the Prospects rode with the paddy wagon carrying the arrested Sons, signaling that everything worked out like they planned. Opie then went to deliver a letter to Gemma and Tara, both written by Jax, then to Marceline's house.

Opie and Happy both tried knocking on the door to get permission to come in, but Marceline didn't answer them. They could hear her crying through the door, so Happy took the letters from Opie and told him to go home to his wife and kids while he stayed here, assuring his brother that he'd give Marceline the letters from her Dad and Kip.

Marceline cried well through the night and whenever she stopped, she was only given a moment's peace before the sobbing started again. Her body was relentlessly shaking and it felt like she was trying to suck in too much air through a thin straw. Her emotions were chaotically ricocheting off the walls, only to return to the source and bombard the suffering ginger.

Marci felt a crippling loneliness that she couldn't recall feeling before, save for when she realized that her Dad wasn't going to come back into her life. She felt vulnerable and exposed to anything that could hurt her because her Dad, her protector, was gone and Kip, the man she loved, was gone too. He may have broken up with her, but it was clear that he wasn't just going to drop out of her life and he was going to continue to act as her shield. That lingering presence of his is all that it took for her to never want to let him go entirely. She could say she hated him and never wanted him to be near her again, but it was just hot steam.

She wanted Kip to have a permanent place in her life. She was questioning everything he did now, so she wondered if he still loved her. If he didn't, she still wanted him to stick around because she was so attached to his presence and used to him being near. She had become so fond of the man and she didn't realize it until he was gone.

Marceline didn't come out of Chibs room for days. Happy, Phil and Kozik took turns staying at the house to make sure Marci was still alive. They'd never see her moving through the house, but would hear water running in the bathroom, a door closing or Diesel going to investigate another part of the house to let them know she was tending to her needs.

When Marci decided to leave her Dad's room for good, Phil was in the kitchen trying to mimic the multi-layer sandwiches Juice told him about. He abandoned his meal when he saw Marci and didn't say a word when he pulled her in for a long hug. She didn't return the embrace, but that was fine. He guided her to sit at the table and he took two letters, one from Chibs and the other from Kip, from his kutte, sliding them over to her. She stared at the letters for a moment, but made no move to open them.

Before Phil could suggest she read them, Marceline stood from the table and stole his triple-decker sandwich, going to the fridge to get a soda. She went into the backyard and sat under the tree as she peeled the crusts off the sandwich. Diesel, happy to find his owner out of one room, joined her and Marci tossed the dog the crusts to have. Phil watched from the back door, confused and unsure of what to do.

...

The rest of the week breezed by and Marceline still didn't read either of the letters that were left for her. She got sick of seeing them on the table, so she tore them up and burned the shreds in the sink. With her being out of Chibs' bedroom, the Sons' didn't stay at her house as often as they used to. They'd always drop by to check on the unusually quiet teenager, but she barely talked to them and the silence was too awkward not to be bothered by.

Marceline had recently taken up the habit of taking Diesel for a walk at night. It was a vain attempt to keep her mind from reminding her of how lonely she was, that everyone she gave a shit about would eventually abandon her, and to prevent her sleep-crying. She remembered how well-trained Diesel was, so she was experimenting with letting him walk off-leash and wasn't surprised to find that he was just as obedient.

She was taking her usual route now, about four blocks away from her house. Diesel was dutifully trotting along at her side and would only stray away from her to mark a telephone pole, tree or bush. He'd sometimes hear something or someone moving in the night and would stop, ears perked and ready to sprint into action, but the sound wouldn't be hostile enough for him to feel threatened.

At this point, Marci would usually turn around and go back home to involuntarily let her mind torment her for the rest of the night, but her legs decided to keep moving, venturing into unexplored territory. She wasn't worried about getting lost, but she really didn't care if she did.

After everything that's happened, Marceline couldn't really find anything to care about.

After a few minutes, Marci lit a cigarette and was lazily puffing it as she glanced around at her surroundings. She slowed her walk when she recognized an orange mid-century Bungalow, but the developing neighborhood seemed to have finished construction. The house was still unoccupied, but it seemed like more people moved into the new homes.

"Marceline?" Someone called her in the night and she stiffened, unknowing of who the hell could be wandering the streets of Charming that knew her name. Jasmine lived all the way in Lodi, but she hasn't popped into town recently.

Marci never left the house without her pistol and it was snugly tucked in an ankle holster she bought online. Diesel was sitting next to her now, his canine eyes being able to see who was approaching her in the dark. He scented the air and recognized the aroma of two Humans he's smelled before, but was still cautious. Heeding her dog's body language, Marci squinted in the dark to see the faces of the two figures approaching her and let out a quiet sigh when she did. Evan was a smiling sight to behold and Cameron was right next to him.

"What up, girl? Long time no see." He casually greeted her, still suspiciously cheery for a guy who had a gun pulled on him by the same girl he was trying to spark up a conversation with.

"What're you doing around here, Evan?" Marci questioned.

Evan grinned, bright and wide. "There's a kick-ass party tonight. We're on our way there."

"Wanna come with us?" Cameron asked with a smile of his own and Evan's brows went up in delight at the suggestion.

Marceline looked between the boys, still wondering why the hell Evan would want to be bothered with her after she threatened to shoot him and Jasmine punched his lights out. She remembered the weekend she spent with her best friend and how she told Evan off on the phone, which only made her wonder what Evan could possibly want from or like about her.

Speaking of that weekend, Marceline knew this wasn't going to be like the party she went to with Jasmine and her cheerleader friends. If Evan and Cam were going to a party, it was likely going to be hosted by Savannah Kyle and there would probably be drugs everywhere. Marci could have a spiked drink and not know it or she could have a bad trip and lose her mind or worse, she could become a goddamn addict. Other than that, Cam and Evan could barely be considered her friends. Evan seems to like having her around for some reason and Cam was nice enough, but would either of them keep an eye on her like good friends would? She had a feeling Evan would be too high to notice what was going on around him and Cam was so shy that she was unsure if he'd stand up for her if needed.

Those were only a few reasons why going to this party, that would be full of people Marceline didn't know and didn't give a shit about her, would be a bad idea. Common sense was screaming at her to tell them that she didn't want to go, finish her walk and go back home. It wasn't much of a home anymore and she hated being there alone, but her other options weren't better.

If she went to the clubhouse, she'd just be reminded of all the missing Sons and that was more depression that she didn't need. Donna and Opie had a full house already with their kids and she'd rather save them the burden of taking her in. She knew Gemma had Tara and Abel staying at her house for the time being and she had more than enough room for another guest, but she probably wanted time to herself too.

Staying home and out of everyone's way just seemed like the best thing to do, but Marci was sick of staring at the same four walls. These spontaneous walks lost their appeal days ago and she needed something more. She knew she'd be standoffish and probably clinging to Evan and Cameron, but maybe this party, really getting out of the house and into a new setting, would make her feel better.

"Yeah." She agreed and the boys let out little shouts of praise. Marci looked down at her outfit of baggy sweatpants and a navy hoodie she stole from Chibs' room, frowning a bit. "Can we stop by my house first? I wanna change."

Even in the darkness, Marceline could see how quickly Evan's good mood vanished. He looked just like he did the day he asked she and Jasmine to snort Crank, but they refused. "Are there any Sons at your place?"

"Nobody's there except me and Diesel." She assured and just like that, Evan was back to being compliant and happy.

With the boys escorting her, Marci went home and she couldn't get Diesel to budge from the living room where Cameron and Evan were, so she had do choice but to let the dog watch them. She wasn't going to get gussied up like she did when she went to that party with Jasmine and the Blazers because she doubted she'd even stay for an hour. She threw on some distressed jeans and a black tee with cherries all over it. Even in such casual attire, Evan and Cameron said she looked great and after making sure Diesel had full bowls of food and water, they piled into Marci's car and drove off into the night.

...

Marceline had no idea where the hell she was. She wasn't sure if this area was within Charming's borders and was the upscale side of the small town for those of the higher-class or if they went to an entirely different community. Evan had given her directions to a lively McMansion home that had it's exterior decorated with balloons and streamers; music was blaring through the walls.

She followed her male companions to the front door and Evan decided to ditch being civil by kicking at the door instead of knocking. After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened to reveal a very bored-looking girl. She seemed to be an inch or so taller than Marceline, had impossibly tangle-free champagne blonde hair and stunning turquoise eyes. The girl was model skinny and was wearing a white bathing suit cover-up with woven Carrie Forbes sandals.

A look of relief washed over the blonde when she saw Evan. "Oh my God, I thought you weren't coming." She grabbed his arm to pull him inside, Cam and Marci following behind.

The inside of the house was beautifully decorated and looked like all the furniture was very expensive, but there were people everywhere. Some were dancing and chatting, leaning on walls or sitting on whatever solid surface would support them. A few guys were chasing girls around the house and they were wearing bikinis, so Marci was sure that there was a pool in the backyard. There definitely were Frat boys around because she could hear them chanting and they were most likely occupying the kitchen or there was a keg nearby.

"Fashionably late." Evan smirked at the blonde and she smiled back, but her eyes drifted over to Cameron and the boy was already ducking his head.

"Hi, Cam." She purred and Cam let out a nervous laugh, but raised his hand to wave; the blonde giggled. "He's so shy, it's adorable. I just wanna eat him up!"

"Savvy, I want you to meet someone." Evan announced and confirmed that the girl was Savannah Kyle. He stepped next to the ginger and threw an arm around her shoulder as if they were close friends. "This is Marceline, the chick I've telling you about."

Savannah's eyes went wide, but not with shock. She seemed excited to be in the presence of the girl that Evan's been bragging about for who knows long.

"OMG, I love how dangerous you are, Marceline." The blonde complimented. With her eyes still on Marci, she waved at Evan and without a word, he took his arm off Marci and stepped away from her. While Cam filled the space next to his friend, Savannah was giving Marci a look-over and seemed to approve because she nodded, then held her hand out. "C'mon, you're totally gonna be my bestie tonight."

Without much of another option, Marceline took the blonde's hand and was easily led through the living room. The party-goers, no matter how much fun they were having or how drunk they were, made sure to make a path for Savannah and she was constantly being spoken to, but she ignored everyone. Finally reaching a long, red sectional sofa, Savannah picked one end and told the five people sitting there to move, then sat down and made sure Marci set on the cushion beside her, then Cam and Evan found a spot. From their seats, there was a perfect view of the open patio doors and Marci could see a large pool outside with a bunch of people splashing, lounging around the edges or drifting on giant floats and a fire pit that was also surrounded by a chattering crowd.

"Evan, what treats did you bring me?" Savannah asked and Marceline turned to Evan. She didn't notice the boy had the same backpack that he brought to the house they broke into, but he pulled it off his back, unzipped it and pulled out what looked like a book's worth of colored sheets of paper?

Marci furrowed her brows at them, unknowing of what their purpose was. Surely, Evan didn't bring along printed-out coloring pages for everyone to entertain themselves with.

"Acid Tabs, doped 'em myself." Evan proudly explained and Savannah gave another nod of approval while people close enough to hear whooped in joy, some coming to sit on the carpet floor around them.

Evan began handing out sheets, but gave Savannah the most of them. Marceline's sheet had a retro-pop Marilyn Monroe printed on each tiny square. Savannah was flipping through the sheets she had and decided on a red sheet that had a blue outline of Crash Bandicoot printed on the red squares.

Savanna looked like she was about to praise Evan, but her elated expression quickly dropped to what could only be described as Total Bitch Face. Some of the people around them, who seemed to be waiting for permission to take the Acid Tabs, actually looked a bit uncomfortable or nervous due to the blonde's expression.

"I don't want anyone OD-ing at my party, Evan." She told the brunet with her sharp turquoise eyes. "So not cool."

"LSD is a psychedelic drug. So long as nobody tries to take more than one at a time, we're cool." Evan reasoned and the Common Sense gland in Marceline's brain was having a complete meltdown at those words. Evan claimed that he 'doped' the Tabs himself, so there was a pretty big damn chance of overdosing. Eyeing the sheet in her hand, she gave it a sniff and didn't detect any fragrance coming from it, but was it still safe? It had to be if Evan was supplying Savannah with it. "It's all rainbows and sunshine, my friends. Everything's gonna be fine and the party's gonna be extra fun after this."

"Better be." Savannah warned, before nodding to the group of people sitting on the floor. "Show the noobs how it's done."

As he was told, Evan stood with his sheet and all eyes were on him as he tore a square from the page. "There's two ways of doing this. My way is to stick your tongue out, lift it up and keep the tab under there until it dissolves, but don't swallow." And for a visual demonstration, Evan did just what he said. He opened his mouth, lifted his tongue and placed the Tab underneath it before closing his mouth. "Or you can put it on your tongue and let it dissolve. Again, don't swallow-"

"First time I've heard you say that." Cameron snickered, earning a few laughs and a smile from Marceline.

He seemed like he wasn't as shy as he was when they got here and Marci wondered if he went to get a drink at some point. He looked at her and smiled such a sweet smile that made her blush a bit. Cam was so sweet and shy, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something hiding under his bashfulness and Evan had something to do with it.

"Blow me." Evan joked back and Cam just smirked at his friend, making the brunet laugh again before returning to his lesson. "If you swallow the Tab, it'll take longer to feel 'cause it has to digest. You can chew it a little, just don't eat it."

Now that his audience was supplied with vital information, the party-goers began ripping Tabs to take. Evan actually snapped on a girl, almost making her cry, who wanted to take three Tabs at once, but it wasn't out of concern. He told the girl that Savannah made it clear that nobody was to overdose and ruin her party. Then, he took her sheet of Tabs away and gave it to Savannah as an apology.

A tap on her shoulder made Marceline look to her side and Cameron scooted closer to her. He reached for her sheet of Tabs and she handed them over, curious as to what his intentions were. Cam ripped one square from the sheet and placed it on the pad of his index finger, green eyes filled to the brim with playfulness. As his finger hovered inches from her lips, Marci understood that he wanted her to take the Tab. She looked at Evan and he was talking with Savannah about her small collection of Tabs, but still keeping an eye on the group around them.

You came out to have fun, so have fun.

The wilder side of her brain, that Jasmine influenced, began chanting, almost coaxing her to let loose for once. And Marci started to think about all the hardships she's had to endure all her life, how happy she was that day when she was hanging out with Jasmine, Cam and Even, regardless of the hard drugs that were offered to them. She thought about the party she went to with the Blazers and how much fun she had then too.

She was still young and could be reckless, so why not? She was tired of being the good girl all the time and wanted, just for one night, to act her age.

Marceline kept her eyes locked on Cameron's as she opened her mouth and extended her tongue. The blond smirked and placed the Tab on her tongue before tearing one off for himself.

Almost a half-hour ticked by and Marceline was watching the attendees of the party react to the Tabs. Everyone seemed to be having a good trip because nobody was freaking out and rambling about nightmarish hallucinations. Most people were just smiling and giggling or simply lying on the floor while their arms and fingers traced unseen figures. In that time, Savannah sparked up a conversation with the ginger next to her and mainly asked where she placed herself on the crazy scale. The blonde had then declared that Marci was invited to all her upcoming parties before strutting off to the pool.

With Savannah gone, Marci stretched her legs out on the newly unoccupied cushion and Cam put his arm on the back of the sectional, allowing her to lean on his chest.

"Marci..." Evan called the ginger from the floor. She wasn't sure when he joined the others down there, but the brunet was being flanked by two girls, one a brunette and the other had dyed purple hair, that couldn't take their attentions from the ceiling, their eyes as big as marbles. Evan was petting the purple-haired girl and had such a dopey grin on his face. "How you feelin up there'?"

To be honest, Marci felt great! Her body had a buzz to it that was nothing compared to when she got drunk, felt so relaxed and with that came a bucketful of happiness. She felt like she was properly hearing music for the first time and she was gently kicking her feet to the beat. Everything just seemed so tranquil. She looked around the lively room and noticed that the lights were beginning to turn into sparkles the longer she looked at them, almost like pixies, and whenever she saw a phone screen, it looked like someone was waving a glow-stick around.

She was grinning as her eyes drifted back to Evan, but were pulled to the opened patio doors. Someone must've been carrying a pool float to another side of the patio. This one just so happened to be an adorable unicorn with a sunken in section for people to sit in. It was mainly white, but the rainbow hue of its mane and tail stuck out the most.

Marci, very slowly, let her head fall back and into Cameron's lap. He looked down at her and his eyes seemed so beautiful, like emerald gemstones. The look of total awe on her face was from what she just saw and the new sight before her.

"Did you see that?" She asked, still mesmerized.

Cam's head tilted to the side, but his expression remained lax. "What was it?"

"Unicorn." She said, pointing to the patio, and Cameron looked, but the pool float was long gone. Left in its wake were sparkling lines of color that began to fade away. "What's a...unicorn called if it's got two horns?"

"A...dupli-corn?" Cam pondered, then broke out in a fit of laughter that only served to make Marci catch a case of the giggles, then she was laughing her ass off with the blond for no reason.

"Y'all are trippin' real good." Evan commented. He managed to roll on his side without smashing the brunette and he pat himself on the back. "Good job, Evan."

As humans, we all have different ways of coping with our feelings and mental struggles. We find release or distractions from our feelings through all sorts of things, both good and bad. This chapter was created with the intention of character struggle. I'm not condoning or supporting drug use/abuse in this chapter. I understand that it's an epidemic plaguing society and that people get hurt or hurt others when they use drugs. For all my readers out there, please be careful and vigilant when going to parties or festivals and such because anything could happen.