A/N: No idea where the hell this came from, but it kept me up last night. xD I hope it's actually good.
"I don't know why, Marco, but Sean's been acting so weird lately," Ellie confided to her best friend as she lay next to him in his front yard. The grass was covered in damp, dirty leaves and heavy rain is pouring on them, but still there they lay, hands entwined softly on the ground. Ellie stared at them, transfixed, and then her hazel eyes wandered up to her scars. She felt the strangest need to see red.
Red.
Dripping.
Agony.
Pleasure.
Hope.
"Why not just talk to him?" he asked her reasonably. "Tell him how you feel."
"You are aware of who we're talking about, right?" Ellie rolled her eyes darkly. "We haven't talked for real since that day on the roof."
"That's my point." Marco sighed as he twirled her fiery hair through his fingers boredly.
They lay there in silence for a while longer, staring at each other, at the sky, at their hands, at the neighbor across the street that kept winking at them. Marco cracked up at this. "If only she knew," he chuckled. "Well, Miss Nash, it seems that no matter what, I'm always going to be considered your perfect boyfriend."
Ellie stuck her tongue out, using her free hand to thump him on the forehead lightly.
"So are you going to talk to Sean?" Ellie groaned loudly. Was that the question of the day or something?
"I will if you come with me," she sighed. Marco beamed and pulled them both to a standing position.
They walked in the rain towards the apartment Ellie shared with Sean, making small talk occasionally, and even stopping to chat with Spinner at The Dot for a few minutes.
The two arrived at the door, Ellie staring it down with a glint in her eyes. She looked back at Marco, who motioned for her to go in. "I'll wait out here," he told her, wishing her luck.
"Sean?" Ellie called, looking around the living room. "Hello?" She slowly walked through each room of the house, knowing he was there somewhere. Their bedroom door was closed. Ellie stood, confused. Sean never closed the door when he was home alone.
"Sean?" She pushed the door open, staring wide-eyed at the sight before her. Sean Cameron, stripped down to boxers, with a blonde under him. Ellie crossed her arms over her chest, trying to mask the pain in her eyes as she cleared her throat lightly. Neither of them appeared to hear her through their rough kisses and moans.
Ellie let out a breath and marched over towards the bed, pushing Sean off the blonde – Emma Nelson. She grabbed Emma by the throat, pulled her off the bed, and slammed her against the wall, hate etched in hazel as they stared menacingly into brown. "Why the hell are you here, bitch?" she growled, tightening her grip.
Emma clutched at her throat, trying to pull Ellie's hands off. When she released her death lock, Emma squeaked, "I think I should go," and vanished from the house without even picking up her clothes.
"Um, Ellie," Sean began, but Ellie held up a hand.
"Save it," she growled, pushing her way into the bathroom, slamming it shut and locking it. Sean wondered why he was still in the house when realization dawned on him. He ran into the living room and paced around the phone, trying to remember what the hell that number was, knowing full well she'd never come out for him now.
"Ellie?" asked a timid voice from the door, knocking lightly. Hallelujah, Sean thought, opening the door to a concerned Marco Del Rossi.
"Bathroom," Sean whispered hoarsely.
"Ellie, come on, El, please open the door!" Marco was still begging two hours later, tears streaming down his face. "Why are you doing this again? I-I thought you had it under c-control!"
"Ask Cameron."
"What the hell did you do?" Marco screamed at Sean, who looked slightly frightened of the raging Italian.
"I – Uh – Emma – Ellie – Door…" He trailed off trying to make a proper sentence that didn't make him sound so wrong.
"Emma Nelson, huh?" snarled an angry Marco, still trying to persuade Ellie into opening the door. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Am I the only one who didn't see it coming?" Ellie shrieked from the bathroom, slashing at her wrist once again.
"El, please open the door," whispered Marco, taking several deep breaths. He curled into a ball, one arm still clenched tightly around the doorknob, as if it would magically open for him. He turned it occasionally, knowing it was useless.
"Is Sean still there?"
Marco sent a look full of pure hate at Sean, as if saying, Go the hell away and spend it with Nelson. He left quickly. "No, El, not anymore. I got him to leave. That's what you wanted, right? If not, I can get him to come back. Anything for you, of course, Ellie. You're my best friend, you know that? And I love you; you know that too, right? And if anything happened to you, I couldn't live. You know? So please, stop, I can't take it…" Marco trailed off there, fresh, hot tears staining his jeans as he lay down on the floor, still clutched into a ball, with his hand on his heart as if to stop the breaking.
Ellie slipped out the door, her armbands tightly around her small wrists. She saw Marco breaking down on the ground and pulled him into a tight hug, which he returned gratefully.
"Sure you can do this by yourself, El?" Marco asked, peeking around the corner and staring at a room in front of him, glaring at if as if he hated it. His grip on her hand tightened instinctively.
"Of course," Ellie smiled at him. "Love you."
"Love you, too," he grinned and mouthed a good luck.
Ellie knocked on the door before opening it. "Ms. Sauve, can I talk to you?"