Under Her Skin (16 page)

A couple of the girls shrieked when they finally recognized Tobias and immediately left their table to ask for autographs and flirt with him, completely ignoring his date who was sitting at the same table as him. Tobias being Tobias, he didn't tell the girls to leave him alone, or that he was out on a date with his girlfriend. Even worse, he went beyond being polite to the girls, and started flirting himself.

Marlo sat at the other side of the table, completely forgotten and fuming. Sure the girls were beautiful, but she didn't think that Tobias would forget all about her, just because a couple of pretty girls flaunt themselves at him.

Marlo had enough. Watching one of the girls whisper into her boyfriend's ear was more than she could handle. Sure he looked a little uncomfortable at that point, but he got himself into the mess, he could get out of it. And that was exactly where she was headed- out.

She grabbed her clutch purse and walked away from the table and out the door, not even pausing when she heard Tobias call her name. Luckily when she got outside, there was a cab dropping another couple off. She quickly slid in and gave the driver her address. As he drove away, the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

'What a fool, to actually think that he can give up all the other girls and be faithful to one person. Especially not me,' Marlo thought. 'I won't even give him something that he has probably never gone without!'

Minutes later, the cab pulled in front of her house. She threw some bills up front and ran into the house. She really hoped that no one was there, she just wanted to be alone, and she definitely didn't want to talk about what had gotten her so upset.

Luck was with her at the moment, because she was able to make it into her room without anyone seeing her. She slammed the door and fell onto her bed crying. Lately it felt like all she did was cry. She used to be such a strong person.

Not wanting to stay in the same dress for a minute longer, Marlo got up and put her pajamas on and went to the bathroom to wash the makeup from her face. Just as she lay back in her bed, someone pounded on her door.

"Marlo! Let me in!" Tobias yelled through the door. He sounded out of breath.

"Go to hell Tobias! I'm done with you!" She yelled back at him.

There was a loud cracking noise and her door flew open. "Well I'm not done with you." He growled after kicking her door open. "Why the hell did you leave like that?"

"I'm surprised you noticed I was gone. Looked to me like you had plenty to keep you occupied." She said stubbornly. The tears were gone, and replaced with anger.

"They were fans Lola! It's not like I can be rude to them. For god's sake, we're having enough trouble with the band without pissing off any more fans!" He yelled.

"You don't have to be rude, but you don't have to enjoy it so much either!" She shot back. "I felt like I was a voyeur, getting ready to watch you have sex with one of them or something! They were all over you and you let it happen! We were supposed to be on a date!"

"You know what, maybe I was enjoying the attention. That's a part of being in a band, and it's something that you're going to have to get used to. I'm sorry that it happened while we were on a date, but you need to get over your insecurities and realize how in love with you I am!" He shouted at her.

Marlo froze and looked at him. Her jaw dropped to the floor, barely processing what was going on around her. She couldn't believe what he had just said.

"Well, that came out at the wrong time." He said, as if kicking himself. He looked over at her shocked face and smirked. "It's true though, and wasn't nearly as hard to say as I thought it'd be." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Don't lie to me just to get me to forgive you." She said softly, feeling the tears resurface.

"I'm not lying Lola." He said and moved to where she still sat on the bed. "Marlo LaPointe, I never thought it could happen, but I am so in love with you." He told her as he knelt before her and grabbed her hands in his. "Those girls meant nothing to me, and for the first time I saw everything so clearly. I love you and only you. You're the one that I want to be with."

"You're wrong, you don't love me. Stop messing with me because I really can't handle you playing with my feelings right now." Marlo pleaded.

"I'm not wrong. I love you!" He smirked. "I can't believe that is so easy to say when you really mean it." He said, kind of to himself. "You better get used to hearing it. I've never said it before, and now that I have, I don't plan on stopping."

"You really love me?" She asked softly, a small smile appearing through the tears.

Tobias nodded. "More than I ever thought possible."

Marlo launched herself at Tobias and tackled him to the floor, assaulting his face with kisses. Both of them laughed as they rolled around on the floor kissing and tickling. At that moment, everything was right in the world again.

Chapter 18

"Tacos!" She yelled.

"No chance. Pizza." He countered.

"Yuk. Seafood." She rolled her eyes.

"You don't even like seafood." He challenged.

"But it would be better than pizza right now." She said, sounding like a four year old having a temper tantrum.

"Burgers."

"Gross! Pasta."

Tobias opened his mouth to protest, then shut it quickly, thinking for a moment. "I could do pasta."

"Finally!" Marlo yelled. They'd been arguing about what to have for dinner for way too long. "Grab your wallet and let's go!"

"Why am I paying?" He asked as he walked to his bedroom to get his wallet.

"Because you love me?" She said oh so innocently.

"Don't make me regret telling you." He warned playfully. "I think I can still take it back. I'll have to check the return policy on the receipt though."

"Not a chance!" Marlo protested. She felt like she had been floating since he had made his little declaration. She hadn't expected it, and it still didn't feel quite real, like he had said those words to her. In some instances she felt like it was too soon, but then she realized that they had truly had feelings for each other long before they ever got together.

"Don't worry. I meant what I said, and I'll never take it back." He told her, pulling her in for a steamy kiss.

"Oh yuk! Can't you two find somewhere else to do that?" Sammy asked, walking in to the living room.

"We could, but this is so much more fun." Tobias replied with a smile, taunting him by nibbling on Marlo's neck a little more.

Marlo giggled and smacked his arm. "What's up Sam-man?"

"Just seeing if you guys wanted to hit a couple of clubs tonight. AJ and I were thinking about getting everyone together, maybe try to smooth things over." He told them, plopping down on the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table.

"I'm in." Marlo said, anxious to try to get back on her brother's good side.

"I guess that means I am too." Tobias replied. "See you about 10:00 here tonight then?"

"You got it." Sammy said good bye to them as they went out the door, in search of some good pasta.

*****

Ten o'clock sharp, Sammy, AJ, Marlo, and Tobias sat waiting in the living room for Dusty and Carly to finish getting ready. Finally, after fifteen minutes, Dusty and Carly made their appearance in the living room where everyone was not so patiently waiting.

She sneered when she walked into the room, and blatantly asked Dusty, "Tell me again why we have to go out with them."

"Carly, they're extending a peace offering. The least you could do is accept it." Tobias groaned, his impatience with her evident.

"Whatever. I forgot something. I'll be right back." She said dismissively and went back to her bedroom. Minutes later, she reappeared with a smile plastered to her face. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get this night of fun underway!"

Dusty smiled, relieved at Carly's change in attitude. He just wanted everyone to get along. It finally looked like Carly was going to make the same attempt that the rest of the group was making.

*****

Marlo was having a great night at the club, in the VIP section. She stayed a respectable distance from Carly, without making it look like she was avoiding her. No matter how much she said she was going to try to be civil, she just couldn't stand to be around the woman.

So instead, Marlo made sure she was busy on the dance floor. No one was safe from being dragged out there at one point or another. AJ was one of her most favorite dance partners so she spent a lot of time with him at the beginning of the night, until Tobias decided that he was getting tired of watching all the other guys grind against his girlfriend. From that point on, Marlo had only one dance partner.

Just as one of her favorite songs was ending, Marlo felt a tap on her shoulder. "Lola, can you do me a favor?" Dusty yelled over the music. "Carly's been in the restroom for a while, can you go check on her?"

Marlo looked to Tobias quickly, and gave him an all-knowing look before heading to the bathroom. When she walked in, there were a couple of girls at the mirror, but she didn't see Carly anywhere. She walked further into the bathroom, toward the stalls, and called out Carly's name.

When she got no answer, she called her name again. In response, she heard a faint moan at the furthest stall down. Marlo ran over and knocked on the door to the stall.

"Leave me alone." Carly slurred, weakly.

"Carly, are you ok?" She yelled through the door.

"I said leave me alone!" She slurred again, a little louder.

Marlo went into the empty stall next to Carly's and put her foot on the toilet to try to get a boost up so she could look over the partition. Just as she was pulling herself up, her stiletto heel slipped and landed right in the toilet bowl.

"Great!" She cried out, taking her foot and shoe out of the water, and shaking it. "This isn't even worth it!" She started to walk out of the bathroom, but thought back to her brother and wanting to mend their fences. In the end, despite her inner struggle, Marlo walked back to the open stall and hoisted herself up onto the toilet bowl. She tightened her grip on the partition and slowly peered over into the next stall.

Carly sat sideways on the toilet, leaning her back against the partition opposite Marlo, her head rolled to the side. Marlo saw a rubber tie loosely hanging around her arm, along with a needle, spoon, and lighter sitting in her lap.

"Carly! Are you ok?" She yelled and got no response. "Carly!" She yelled louder. Carly didn't flinch. "Ah, damn!" She complained, climbing from the toilet and running out into the hall, as fast as her stilettos would go on the marble floors. "Someone call 911! There's been an overdose." She yelled out the door to the restroom, then went back to be with Carly.

Marlo ran back to the stall and got on her knees. She tried reaching under the door to get to Carly, but she was just out of her gasp. She knew what she had to do, but wasn't looking forward to it. She slid down to her back and wiggled her way under the door to the stall that Carly was in. When she was far enough in, she sat up and unlatched the lock, swinging the door open. "God, I hope these people remembered that they were VIPs!" She said to herself when she thought of what she could have possibly just crawled through.

Marlo stood in front of Carly and slapped her face a couple of times, calling her name and trying to get her to wake up. There wasn't a single movement out of the woman.

Thankfully the paramedics stormed into the restroom at that point. Marlo moved aside and let them get to work on Carly, while she took her phone out of her purse and made the dreaded call.

"Dusty, you need to get to the restrooms now." She said and hung up before she had to answer any questions. Best for him to see for himself, how she looked at that point. She didn't want to leave Carly alone to go find Dusty, so the call was her best option at that point.

"What the hell is going on!?" Dusty yelled, running through the doors.

"Your druggie girlfriend had an overdose." She said smartly. Marlo pointed to where the paramedics were strapping Carly to a gurney.

"She doesn't do drugs." Dusty yelled. "There has to be some mistake."

"Does that look like a mistake to you?" She said, pointing to the drug paraphernalia that the EMT's were packing up for the police.

Dusty had his confusion written all over his face. Nothing could mask the hurt, the anger, or the questions that were there. Instead of saying anything, he followed behind the paramedics when they took Carly out.

Marlo stayed behind, answering all the questions that the cops asked of her. She said that she knew nothing of the drugs prior to this accident (mainly to keep the police from invading their house to search for a stash hidden somewhere by Carly), and that she had just come to look for Carly because her brother was worried. The police thanked her for her cooperation and left soon after.

After walking away from the cops, she collapsed into the waiting arms of Tobias. "Take me home?" She whispered.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital to be there for Dusty?" He asked.

"No, I think he needs some time alone to process what's going on." Marlo told him. "Besides, maybe he needs to realize how much he's isolated himself lately because of her."

"If you're sure…" Tobias said, leading her out front to his car. "AJ and Sammy left already and said they'd stop at the house in the morning."

Marlo sat in Tobias' car on the way home, staring out the window. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing by not going to the hospital for Dusty?" She asked softly.

"I'm not really one to say what you should or shouldn't do, but I do know that you should always trust your instincts." Tobias pointed out.

'Trust my instincts….trust my instincts.' Marlo thought. She knew that he was right. "Me too." She said, still looking out the window trying to gather her courage to look at him.

Tobias grabbed her hand, as a means of comfort, but also trying to get her attention. Her head finally turned towards him and their eyes met. Even in the dark of the night, he could still see the emotion that pooled in her intense gaze.