Author's Note:

Thank you Straight Edge Queen for the review! I'm glad you think I captured the emotions well! (I found that chapter quite difficult to write)

Wow! Big thank you to TheWanderer for your review! That was one of the longest and most thoughtful reviews that I've received, and your English sounds pretty great to me! Thank you so much for your kind words, it really made my day and put a big smile on my face! I'm so happy that you're enjoying the story and that you are so dedicated to reading it! And I'm so so SO sorry about the German translation; I used Google Translate and was worried about it not being accurate, but I hope it's not too off. Thank you so much for your offer, but I have a German friend that I think is going to help me with some of the future translations :) Thank you once again, and I hope you stick around, there's definitely going to be some Marie and Malark things coming up!

Marie awoke with swollen, sensitive eyes. Right when she shut the door on Malarkey the night before she'd finally released her tears. Now her eyes were almost too puffy to completely see clearly out of. She rubbed them, feeling the soreness as her hands made contact with her skin. She heard snoring to her right, glancing over she saw Emilia passed out on the other bed, most likely sleeping off a hangover. Marie trudged to the bathroom, feeling exhausted and drained from yesterday. Her emotions had drained all the energy right out of her.

Her reflection made her cringe, although she was expecting it. Her eyes were misty, and had bags ran well beneath her lower eyelids. Her makeup was smeared while her curls had become tangled and tousled from sleeping on them. She sighed at her pitiful appearance. She ran a cloth under the sink water and wiped off all her makeup until it was completely rinsed from her face. She ran the water as cold as she could, putting her fingers under it. She pressed her freezing fingers to the corners of her eyes to reduce the swelling of the puffiness under her eyes. She repeated this several times trying to drain all the liquid that had accumulated under the eyes. She'd had done this so many times in her life that she had the quick fix down to an art.

Marie took her brush and started brushing out the curls in her hair. Her hair became fluffy and poufy, but she didn't care. She pulled her untamed hair back into a strict bun. Marie came out of the bathroom, feeling hardened and uncaring from yesterday's events. She changed into her dress greens, knowing that Winters was most likely going to be giving announcements about what was in store for everyone in the future. Tomorrow Easy would be starting PT in the mornings again to keep the soldiers sharp and ready just in case.

Emilia groaned and stirred, forcing to pick her head up. She shielded her eyes from the sunlight that was coming in from the window.

"Oh God…" Emilia groaned in feigned agony.

"Good morning." Marie greeted in a flat voice.

"That was a hell of a party last night." Emilia mumbled in a dazed voice.

"I wouldn't know."

Emilia craned her neck over to Marie, who was now sitting on her bed, putting on her heels. The Army insisted that women wear heels with their dress greens, much to Marie's annoyance. These uncomfortable shoes pinched her toes and were impractical for a soldier, in her opinion at least.

"How you doing?" Emilia asked, her tone growing serious.

Marie turned her head over to Em, giving her a strange look. "You know?" Marie questioned, almost demanding.

Emilia nodded slowly, flinching at the pain of moving her head. She held her hand to her head, nursing a headache.

"Malarkey told you."

"He told everyone."

Angry, Marie sprung up from the bed. How could he? It wasn't his place to tell the whole company about what happened. She didn't want anyone to know, it was none of their business. Everyone knowing would only cause awkward tension between her and the others now.

"Goddamn it, Donald!" Marie cursed, wanting nothing more than to kick something.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Emilia asked in a quiet voice.

"Because no one needs to know! Talking about that woman only opens up all those horrible memories!" Marie shouted, causing Emilia to flinch because of her headache. Marie furiously put on her garrison cap.

"He just wants to make sure you're okay. Everyone's worried about you, so am I." Emilia added.

"There's nothing to be worried about!" She snapped. With that being said, she stormed out of the room. She made her way down the stairs; the clicking sound of her heels hitting the marble floor irritated her to no end. She wanted nothing more than to put her flats back on. Vest was in the lobby, doing the same thing he was doing before the letter came. He noticed Marie, his face falling.

"Hey, Hun." Vest greeted in a soft voice. "Is everything-"

"I'm fine." Marie answered hollowly.

Vest only nodded. "There's no mail for you today, ma'am."

"Thank you." Marie replied. She left the hotel to head to the building where they'd been serving chow for the past week. Marie's empty stomach clutched in pain; she realized she'd hadn't eaten at all yesterday.

She walked into the building, noticing only a few men were scattered around. Most of them were most likely off sleeping off their hangovers, or spending some time with those English women that had entered the pub the night before. Marie strode in, ignoring their pitied faces as she passed. Their concerned expressions were only reminders to all the pain. All she wanted to do was forget about it, forget about all of it. Erasing all memories was the best way to move on.

Marie got herself some breakfast, two eggs sunny-side up and some toast. She even got coffee, even though she never enjoyed it that much. She sat down at a table by herself. She thought about Malarkey as she stabbed her fork angrily into her egg, she still couldn't believe that he'd tell everyone. She was so busy assaulting her food that she didn't notice Lipton had come and slid into a seat across the table from her.

"Good morning." He said. She snapped her sharp gaze up; realizing it was Lip she softened a little.

"Morning." She grunted, still concentrating on breaking up the egg.

"How are you doing." Lip asked, observing her angry actions.

Marie shrugged, hesitant to answer. She rolled her breakfast around her plate, still starving but her brooding was slowly taking over again. Lip sensed her mood and didn't press her for an answer. He took a sip of his coffee as the two of them started to eat in silence.

"It hurts a lot at first, but the pain gets less strong as time goes on." Lip finally spoke between mouthfuls.

"What?" Marie questioned, growing defensive.

"It's always hard at first, but you learn to move on and realize that it isn't your fault." Lipton added, his eyes downcast on his tray.

Marie didn't say anything, better yet she didn't know what to say. She was annoyed at him trying to rationalize her feelings but at the same time it sounded like he was coming from experience.

"When I was ten years old, my parents got into a car accident." Lip continued, his voice growing slightly gravelly. Marie stopped eating, listening to his words. "My father was killed and my mother was paralyzed."

"God… Lip I'm so sorry. I had no idea-" Marie quickly apologized, feeling awful that she didn't know. She now realized why Lip had such a parental role with the company. She knew he had younger siblings, after his father died he most likely had to become the man of the house, taking care of his siblings and his paralyzed mother.

He held up a hand to stop her. "It took me a long time to move on. I felt angry, confused, and guilty although I knew that it wasn't my fault at all. The pain will always remain, but after awhile you learn to cope and move on. The ache gets less and less prominent."

Marie nodded, solemnly. She knew what he was getting at.

"I know my words must seem trite to you. I'm sorry." Lip continued in a hushed voice.

"It's okay… I think…" Marie paused a minute, reflecting back on his words. "I think I'm going to be alright now. Thank you, Lip." She thanked. His words didn't come across as trite to her at all, in fact she felt that they lifted a great weight off of her soul. Marie stood up, knowing what she was going to do.

"No problem." Lip replied with a warm smile. "Looks like you're the only one dressed appropriately today. I heard Sink is coming to evaluate us."

"Oh good Lord." Marie sighed. "All he's going to see is a bunch of drunk and passed out soldiers. Something tells me we're going to end up doing more than just morning PT for now on."

"I agree, what else would he expect from the best company in the regiment?"

Marie rolled her eyes at that. They sure didn't look like the best company in the regiment anymore.

"Take care, Hun." Lip added before she left. Marie waved at him before she left the makeshift mess hall. Marie knew where she had to go; she had to make sure that he knew that everything was alright.

Marie made her way back to the hotel. The streets of Aldbourne were quiet and still. A group of storm clouds started to come rolling in. She hustled, knowing that she'd get caught in the rain if she didn't hurry. Marie was surprised with herself, she had a bad habit of holding grudges and now she found herself going to forgive someone. Even if a person did the slightest thing that upset her, she'd never view them as the same again. She would often hold people so much higher than herself, so when they finally viewed who they truly were or betrayed her trust, her faith would shatter.

She was upset with Malarkey for telling everyone something so personal, something that she'd opened up to him out of trust. She didn't want everyone to know about her mother because it was a part of her life that she wanted to keep closed, and she was afraid of how everyone would view her if they found out that she was abused. She didn't want them to worry, and she didn't want to be pitied. But something inside her made it so she couldn't stay mad at Malarkey.

She walked into the hotel, trying to remember which room Malarkey was staying in. She hoped that he was inside, she didn't want to go running through the storm to go searching for him when she knew that Sink was coming.

Room 214, second floor. She thought, the number suddenly popping into her mind. She made her way up to the floor. She made her way through the hallways and came upon the door to room 214. She rapidly knocked on it, swallowing all her second thoughts.

Muck opened the door, his hair uncombed and his eyes drowsily acknowledging her as he slowly pulled open the door. He squinted at the light coming from the hallway, moaning in displeasure. Marie could tell that he was also nursing a hangover.

"Hun…" He muttered in a raspy voice. He immediately drew her into a tight hug. "Malark told me everythin', I'm so sorry, darling." He slurred into her ear in a low voice. Marie didn't respond, her words choked up from his sentiment. She remembered the reason that she'd come.

"Skip, may I talk to Don please?"

"You're not going to kill him are you?" Muck asked, trying to be funny but his words faltered. He knew that she'd be furious with him, but her calm manner made him uneasy.

"No, I just want to talk." She clarified.

Muck nodded slowly, retreating back into the dark hotel room. Moments later Malarkey appeared, sloppily dressed with his garrison cap askew. His cheeks were still flushed as his dark eyes searched her face in caution. She saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, preparing to say something.

"It's okay, Malarkey. I'm not angry." She said before he had a chance to speak. "Everyone would find out eventually, I'm just happy that you care so much to-"

"Of course I care!" Malarkey interrupted, taking a few strides closer to her. He gripped onto her shoulders lightly. "I don't know why you always question that."

"I don't."

"Coulda fooled me."

Marie closed her eyes and sighed. She knew that she'd been unfair, and her pushing him away must have been hurting him more than she thought it did.

"I'm sorry, Malarkey. I'm just…" Marie started.

"You." He finished with a smile.

Marie nodded, returning his smile. He knew her as well as he knew his favorite book or song. "I'm sorry, I won't hide things from you anymore."

"I'd appreciate that." He chuckled. He cupped his hands around her face, and kissed her on the cheek. It was a lingering and intimate kiss that made Marie's stomach flip and her knees almost buckle. His breath smelled heavily of whisky, but she didn't mind, she actually liked it. He pulled away, but then kept the side of his face pressed to hers, dropping his hands so he could embrace her. Taken off guard, Marie didn't move at first, confused but also guiltily excited. He didn't kiss her on the lips, but there was still a sense of hesitant yearning behind his motive.

She hugged him back, letting herself relax. Marie remembered Bernice, his girlfriend. Girlfriend… the word echoed in her mind. She pulled away, leaving Malarkey looking confused. She felt vulnerable with her blushing face being exposed to him, but his confused look soon fleeted. He knew what her hesitation was about. They both averted their gazes awkwardly, fidgeting in place.

Marie heard a feminine voice murmur from the room.

"Joe and Bill brought a girl back from last night." Malarkey quickly explained, not wanting her to think it was his fault.

Marie smirked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Not you and Skip?" She teased.

"Damn, Marie. What kind of guy do you think I am?" Malarkey retorted, but the corners of his lips pulled into an automatic smile. "And you know that Skip would never cheat on Faye. He's just all talk."

"I just hope they didn't catch anything. That's not a call I'd like to answer at the medical station." Marie groaned, making Malarkey laugh. "Oh, by the way, Sink is coming in today."

"Oh, shit." Malarkey cursed under his breath. He darted back into his hotel room. Before Marie could leave, Malarkey came back out, kissing her hastily on the cheek again, an inch from her lips.

As he went back into his room, Marie couldn't help but beam. She turned on her heel and made her way back down the hallway. Her thoughts strayed to imagining how it would feel to really kiss him fully on the mouth. She shook thoughts from her mind, not wanting to indulge too much on the guilty pleasure. She tried to tell herself that a relationship with Malark would never work, but the more time went on, the more she realized that her feelings were getting harder and harder to deny.