forum In Fair Verona // Modern Romeo and Juliet // Private RP - CLOSED

Started February 05, 2019 by @blue_topaz

tune

“But, Marina—“ I protested weakly, shaking my head. “You need it more than I do.” I held the glass out for her to take, my hands still trembling.

I got to my feet and stepped away, wanting him to drink, not me. “Drink up.”

I sat on my knees, taking a small sip of water. The cool water soothed my throat, allowing me to relax a little bit. I tried my best to pace myself, but I may have ended up chugging some of it.

I flattened myself against the opposite wall. “What time is it?”

I finished the water and set down the glass, staring up at Marina. She seemed to want to be as far away from me as possible. It sucked. I fumbled to pull out my phone. “It’s around 7. God—my parents are gonna kill me.”

"Shit," I swore, but an idea quickly rose to mind. "Tell them you're sleeping over at Romeo's, and ask Romeo to cover for you. I'll do the same, but with Juliet."

“Right, yeah. Okay…” I got to texting Romeo, it wouldn’t be the first time he covered for me anyways. I hit send and ran my hands through the rambunctious curls on my head.

I lowered myself gently onto the ground and fumbled for my phone, not noticing when Joe stood to hesitantly approach me.

MARINA: *Julie? I need u to cover for me… please?

JULIET: already on it. what's wrong? are you okay?

MARINA: smtg came up… i'll explain some of it tmrw, promise. i'm going to tell my parents that I'm sleeping over with you, is that okay?

JULIET: 100%. please be safe…

I glared at Joe, but didn’t stop him. It wasn’t my place to, as much as I wanted to defend Marina. Instead I sat still, texting Romeo.

ROMEO: Cover for you? Who’s the lucky one tonight?

MERCUTIO: It’s not like that. Please, man. Just cover.

ROMEO: Sure it isn’t. Use protection.

MERCUTIO: Bye.

After all of this stuff with Marina, the thought of having sex with someone again made me ill. Was that a thing? To not want anyone sexually? Or am I just going insane?

"Marina."

A voice pulled me from a hazy web of thoughts. Joe's voice, to be specific. I raised my head, blinking rapidly. "Joe?"

"Hey." Moving cautiously, he sat down beside me, careful to leave a few feet of empty space between us. Why was he acting like this? Like he knew? "Marina.. I just wanted to make sure that, you know, you're alright. I–I'm just worried about you."

I scrolled through my instagram, trying to look busy while eavesdropping on Joe and Marina’s conversation. A twinge of jealously struck bat my heart, but I ignored it. They’re just friends.

My breath hitched. He didn't know. Right?

"I'm fine," I forced out, gluing my eyes to the floor beneath the folds of my pale blue dress. "I just—I got anxious. Stuff happened early today. I was… unbalanced."

“Joe? Do you think you could get the sleeping bags now?” I interrupted, unable to sit still and listen to this. It made me antsy and anxious. It was something i couldn’t handle at the moment.

Joe ignored both Mercutio's complaints and my stiff posture. "Marina…." he sighed. "You don't have to tell my why that all happened. But I need you to acknowledge that it did, that something is wrong. Because there's no way you're fine. I know you."

Not as well as you might think.

After a moment, I nodded. "I'm not fine right now, but I will be. I promise."

I fidgeted, rapidly growing anxious. What about give her space do you not understand? He wanted to growl before punching Joe’s lights out. But he didn’t have the dexterity to successfully complete that feat at the moment.

Joe nodded as well, and after a brief moment of hesitation, I reached forward to give his shoulder a light squeeze. "Thank you…." I murmured, "It feels sort of nice to be asked."

I stared blankly at my phone, not taking anything in. Feels nice to be asked? Was that a lie? Didn’t she want space? The whole situation made me nervous. The longer I stayed then more I considered leaving.

He was only trying to help…. no matter how uncomfortable his questions made me, he meant no harm.

After a moment, I cleared my throat. "Sleeping bags?"

Joe clapped his hands. "Right, yeah. I'll be right back."

I waited for Joe to leave the room, trying my best to look like I had occupied myself with something interesting.

Once Mercutio and I were alone, I shifted ever-so-slightly closer to him. "Mercutio? Is everything.. okay?"

“No… God, I’m sorry. I think I should leave.” I mumbled softly, hanging my head. “I’m sober enough to move around. I can take the bus over to Romeo’s…”

"No!" I shuffled forwards as much as I dared and reached for his hand. "Please, stay here with me. Don't leave again. Why do you want to go?"

“I don’t think Joe wants me around and— Marina, he managed to figure it out. It’s my fault. I told him not to mention some stuff and he put the pieces together.” I squeezed her hand gently, but looked away out of shame.

I yanked my hand away as if it had been burned. No.

"No—" I breathed as my face went pale. "No. He can't—He can't know."

“I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me.” I whimpered softly, already feeling my eyes start to water. My breath hitches in my throat from fear of the words that might come out of her mouth next.