Hi everyone! Finally got this done just in the nick of time! My apologies for this taking a little while, but I did say at the very least this would get uploaded before the end of the year (at least where I am). I think me taking it easy during Christmastime was probably the main reason for the delay. Speaking of which, hope you had a great Christmas to anyone who celebrates it! I know I did being the new owner of an iPhone 13 mini in my case.
Okay, I'm not going to waffle on for much longer, so sit back and enjoy!
The evening after a very busy and jam packed day had arrived. But it was also a day filled with relief and joy for one very huge reason.
In a stark but postively delightful turn of events compared to that of the last few days, Marcy had finally pulled herself out of her self-isolation and appeared to be making considerable strides in returning to her normal happier self. The instance where she cried her eyes out with Sasha being by her side the previous day did seem to go a long way in helping improve her mood. She still took it easy in not taking part in any strenuous physical activity and still understandably wasn't entirely in the mood to talk about all the horrifying experiences she endured, but still her being more outgoing and talkative over anything else was still an improvement that everyone embraced wholeheartedly.
While Olivia, Yunan and Grime were either preparing for or had already gone to bed, Sasha remained awake primarily because she wanted to get in one last check up on Marcy. Even if the latter was doing considerably better, it certainly never hurt to ask how she was doing all the same.
As Sasha was on her way down the stairs to check up on Marcy, she didn't have to presently go further than that as it turned out her friend was sitting over at the kitchen table.
"Hey, how's it hanging, Mar-Mar?" Sasha asked while she approached her.
"Huh?" Marcy muttered after a slight delay, turning her head around. "Oh, hi Sash. I'm doing all right."
Despite that being said, Sasha was already beginning to have some doubts. She thought that she saw Marcy appearing to have done a wiping motion with her arm across her face just before turning around. And even with the relative low light in the room, Sasha also thought she could've seen a shimmering in Marcy's eyes perhaps indicating tears.
"Marcy, were you crying just now?" Sasha wondered.
"What? Oh no, I was, uh...yawning," Marcy attempted in explaining. "You know how when you yawn big enough sometimes you'll get a couple of tears forming in your eyes and...and…"
But it was becoming apparent very quickly that this explanation wasn't swaying Sasha judging by the look on her face.
"And you're not buying this at all are you, Sasha?"
"Eh, not one little bit." Sasha answered flatly.
Her expression though changed to one of concern as she laid a hand on Marcy's shoulder.
"Marcy, you know you don't need to hide anything from me. Is something wrong?"
Marcy seemed primed to answer as she raised her hand and opened her mouth, but stopped herself short of saying anything. She would try it again a few seconds later, but still nothing except for a sigh.
Instead what Marcy did next was stand up and motioned for Sasha to follow her, leading them down to the basement and with Marcy shutting the door behind them. After that, she went over to the bed and sat down on it with Sasha following suit right next to her.
"So what's going on?" Sasha asked.
"I...I'm…" Marcy began answering hesitantly. "I think I'm ready to talk about...well, you know. It might not go exactly the way you want it to, but…I wanna try it anyway."
She let out a deep sigh as Sasha looked on in anticipation and stood ready to help however she can.
Yet like just only seconds earlier, Marcy kept attempting to speak but stopping herself short. It got to the point where she covered her face with her hand and whimpered.
"I'm sorry, Sasha…" Marcy said softly.
"Hey, it's okay, Marcy," Sasha said, putting an arm around her friend. "Take your time. Either that or you don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to or aren't truly ready yet. I'm certainly not gonna pressure you."
"No, I insist…" Marcy reaffirmed.
She pulled her hand away from her face and stared down at the floor. Eventually after giving herself a little more time, she sighed again and felt ready enough.
"You...you...you did touch on it the other day when you said that it had to be hard for me to so much as think about all that's happened to me let alone talk it over. And you're right, because...that's almost all I've been thinking about these past several days. Every other thought that dominates relates to it...the guilt I have...Andrias' betrayal and manipulation of me...being under the control of that...thing…"
She sighed yet again and looked back over at Sasha.
"And I really thought after all you did to help me yesterday and everything I did today to keep myself occupied would've finally clear my head...but it hasn't. I've tried my hardest and yet still it's all that haunts me."
As she was listening to Marcy explaining everything, Sasha felt her heart sinking. She really thought her friend had been making strides in feeling better since the other day, yet now was fearing they were back at square one.
She was about to speak up, but Marcy continued on first.
"And if those thoughts constantly invading my mind weren't bad enough...then the nightmares I've been having are even worse…"
"Nightmares?" Sasha said, eyes widening.
"Yeah…" Marcy replied with a little nod.
By now Sasha could feel Marcy starting to tremble within her grasp.
"And a couple of them were so bad that I felt like screaming after waking up, but I didn't want to draw any attention towards myself from anybody, so I would scream into the pillow instead."
Upon hearing all of this, Sasha stared in disbelief. She had figured that Marcy would have an understandably difficult time adjusting back to normal after the horrors that she endured and didn't blame her for perhaps needing time to keep to herself. Yet hearing these revelations about nightmares and just having constant thoughts of such assaulting her mind so often was beyond what Sasha had assumed Marcy was going through.
"Marcy, has this been going on ever since we brought you back here?" Sasha inquired worriedly.
"Uh-huh…" Marcy softly responded.
"It has? Well...I...I, uh…" Sasha struggled in saying. "I guess the only thing I have to ask is if that's the case, why didn't you say anything sooner? Yes, it was your choice as to when you'd wanted to talk like I've said before, but it probably would've helped a lot had you done so."
"I know, I know!" Marcy blurted out rather suddenly, sighing afterward to try calming herself down. "I mean, yeah, you're right, but...I didn't because I thought bringing this up would burden you and everyone else too much. You've all probably been through enough just from the lengths you must've had to go in order to rescue me."
Sasha was flummoxed by Marcy's reasoning. She wanted to say something, but the latter would continue on first.
"Also, I've hurt everyone around me through my actions, so who'd want to suffer through me whining about some stupid nightmares anyway?"
"Marcy…"
"And besides, maybe I had everything that did happen to me coming all things considered…"
"Marcy!"
"You know what, I did! I absolutely deserved all of that for being such a stupid, selfish little idiot!"
"Marcy, will you stop saying stuff like that?!"
By now Sasha placed both hands on Marcy's shoulders and made the latter look at her. Not only that, Marcy could also see tears starting to form around Sasha's eyes. Between this saddening sight, the worry that she caused within her friend and all the guilt that filled her heart from everything she's been experiencing, Marcy was feeling the urge to breakdown yet again.
"I'm...I'm sorry, Sasha…"
Sure enough, she began to sob and even as Sasha was tearing up herself, she still encircled her arms around Marcy and brought her in close.
It soon felt like a repeat of the previous day when Sasha gave Marcy the chance to release all the emotions she had kept inside for several days, only now with the more horrifying added context of nightmares put on top of that. The whole ordeal was hurting Sasha to such a great degree as again she really thought that Marcy was starting to feel better, yet it turned out the latter's emotional and mental state was worse than previously imagined.
But of course Sasha wasn't going to hold anything against Marcy for not disclosing these latest details right away. She totally got that it would be so hard for her friend to mention that, even if her reasoning was kind of shaky and hoped to address any worries over it. Until then, she simply held on to Marcy tightly in her arms and did her best in consoling her.
It took several minutes, but finally Marcy calmed down enough so that Sasha could hope to reassure her over all she had learned just now.
"Okay, first of all, I don't want to ever hear you say that you deserved any of the horrible things that happened to you," Sasha said firmly, wiping some tears off her face. "Nothing, and I do mean nothing justified what you went through. Do I make myself clear?"
Marcy gave a very gentle nod, which was then followed up with Sasha brushing away some of the tears from her face.
"Second, while I totally get why you wouldn't want to talk about your nightmares and bad thoughts right away, don't ever think it would've burdened anyone had you done so. We've all been worried sick about you and would've done anything to help had we known sooner."
Internally, Marcy would admit to herself that she probably knew this already and made her feel only that little bit more guilty about holding back until now to say something, causing her to let out a small whimper.
"And hey, don't act like you're alone in making some questionable choices here. I've certainly made plenty of mistakes as well. Heck, we'd probably be up all night if we were to list some of the bad stuff I've done...and that's just only counting what I've done since we've were zapped here in the first place."
Sasha let out a self-deprecating laugh, then she reached down and took Marcy's hands into her own.
"And finally, no matter what you've done, what you've went through or that you have any sort of worries about everything, the only thing that matters now is knowing your safe and sound…"
She took one of her hands and placed it on Marcy's cheek before then having their foreheads press together.
"Because right next to Anne, you're the most important person in my life and until the time we finally reunite with her...nothing else matters to me other than keeping you safe. I said it yesterday and I'll say it again: you mean the world to me, Mar-Mar and I'd do anything to make sure that nothing like what you've been through ever happens again."
And with what she hopes will be an everlasting promise, Sasha closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Marcy's hand; simply wishing to take in the moment.
But what she didn't anticipate by the time she opened her eyes was for Marcy to come forward and place her lips onto that of Sasha's own for a brief kiss. It was so brief that Marcy almost immediately pulled back and had a major look of embarrassment.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Sasha!" Marcy said in a panic. "I didn't know what came over me! I guess that I was so moved by how much I mean to you and such and I just…"
"Hey, hey, chill out, it's okay…" Sasha said, a warm smile forming across her lips. "No need to totally freak out or anything. That's the kind of thing you do to show how much you love and care for someone, right? I know that's what I would do too."
"Oh? Heh, well that's a relief. Glad you're not upset with me."
Marcy chuckled lightly, but then a couple of seconds later her eyes widened as realization began to hit her.
"Wait a minute...Sasha…?"
She saw Sasha gently put a hand under her chin, closed the distance between them and initiate another more longer kiss, and by the time Sasha did pull back after a few seconds, Marcy was left in a state of stunned shock.
"Sasha...did we...do you…?"
"Sure we did, but there was nothing to it. Just something besties do from time to time, am I right?"
That explanation left Marcy feeling confused and disappointed as evident by the frown she was showing off. That would lead Sasha to playfully flick part of her hair.
"I'm kidding, you nerd. Why else would I do something like that unless it was patently obvious that I love you?"
The frown quickly became a smile on Marcy's face in an instant and her heart was sent aflutter, which only intensified when both she and Sasha then leaned in and their lips met once more.
"Sasha...I...I...I love you too," Marcy said in an ever so heartfelt manner once they parted. "I didn't think you would feel the same way, but you don't how happy it makes me knowing you do."
All Sasha did next was show a smile and gave Marcy another brief kiss. It wasn't too longer afterwards that the latter started to yawn.
"Getting sleepy are we, Mar-Mar?" Sasha said, chuckling and patting her head.
"Yeah…" Marcy answered simply as her eyes and head started drooping. "It's been kind of a long day…"
"Won't disagree with you on that."
They both laughed very lightly as Marcy crawled under to the covers of the bed. But she hardly had any time to lay down and settle in when Sasha also began joining alongside her.
"Sasha? What are you doing?"
"What, you think I was gonna leave you alone tonight after telling me all that stuff about having nightmares? Not on my watch, so scoot over a bit."
"Really? But you don't have to do something like this."
"Maybe not, but I want to though. Either that or I'm just too tired or lazy to go back to my own room, so you're kinda stuck with me one way or another."
Even though again she wasn't sure if this was absolutely necessary, Marcy nonetheless appreciated Sasha's offer and moved over to the side to give the latter enough room, and just before Sasha laid herself down, she took her scrunchie off; allowing her hair to flow down freely.
As she put the scrunchie off to the side, she also couldn't help but see the rather dreamy look that Marcy was staring at her with.
"What?" Sasha wondered.
"Huh? Oh, sorry, it's just…you look really pretty with your hair down like that." Marcy replied, averting her gaze somewhat as she was blushing as well.
"Oh, um...thanks." Sasha said as she too blushed.
Following Sasha's lead, Marcy pulled off her hairclip away as well. After that, both of them at last settled in getting comfortable in bed and couldn't help but then take a moment to look at one another while smiling lovingly until Sasha took the initiative in leaning over and kissing Marcy once more.
"So, uh...we're really at thing now together I guess." Marcy said.
"Yeah, looks like it to me." Sasha agreed.
They both giggled and kissed again.
"Sasha, I can't thank you enough once again for all you've done for me and still do. I'm not sure how I'm ever gonna repay you."
"Ah, you don't need to worry about that. Yes, I know that might sound shocking coming from me since in the past I'd probably list all sorts of things that I'd expect anyone to do for me in return, but the key words are 'in the past'. Now with everything that we've both been through, knowing you're here with me safe and sound is all the repayment I'll ever need."
Sasha gently caressed Marcy's cheek before they both engaged in one final kiss for the evening. Afterwards Marcy snuggled herself close against Sasha's chest while the latter secured her into an embrace as they slowly drifted to sleep.
For the first time since being rescued, Marcy really and truly felt relieved and safe. The weight she felt like was bearing down on her in the last several days of holding in her fears and worries was finally lifted, and even if another nightmare should try to come along, she at least took solace in knowing that there's someone by her side tonight who can help console her should such a case arise.
Someone that she also takes great pride in officially seeing as her girlfriend now as well.
And that shall do it! Even if this did take a little longer for me to finish than I anticipated, I still had a ton of fun writing it. It's what I think my current favorite pair in the entire world deserves and then some.
All right, thank you for your time and I guess all there's left to say is have a Happy New Year and take care until the next time!