revenge is best served at brunch

TW: physical assault and verbal abuse
PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THE WARNINGS MENTIONED ABOVE.

"WE HAVE TO TELL SOMEONE MARTY! That asshole isn't going to get away with it!" Nicki yells, getting up from Marty's bed and waltzing back and forth in the baby blue bedroom. "I just wish I would've stayed with you, I'm so sorry." Strains of tears begin to fall down both of the girls' faces again.

"No, Nicki, it's mine. If I hadn't—" Martha says sternly, sitting up from her mattress.

—"Martha Jane Holland, babygirl, listen to me. Don't victim-blame yourself, it's his fault, clothing doesn't equal consent, and you know that." Nicolette interrupts, completely shutting down Marty's broken idea. She walks over to the bed, keeping eye contact with Martha, and falls into a warm embrace.

After the longest thirty seconds —but oddly refreshing— of their lives, the two pull apart smiling at each other. "I feel like we should tell Sarah, she would want to know." Nicki offers because Sarah is also their best friend.

"I will, today, at brunch," Marty sighs, flopping back down on her comforter. "You'll be there, right? Isn't Topper going?" She tilts her head in the direction of Nicki.

"Of course, I am going to be the one to put poison in Rafe's food." She declares, pointing her left finger upward.

"No, I don't want to kill him, just torture him severely." Marty laughs. But one thought couldn't leave her mind: 'Shouldn't I want him dead? He ruined me. Did I subconsciously forgive him because it's my fault? I'm the one who kept drinking his poison even after it made me dizzy.'

"Okay, so what do you wanna do?" Nicki laughs along, raising her eyebrows because she knows Marty's ideas are always lame and she always plays it safe.

"I don't know, but I'm sure Sarah will have some ideas."

➵ ➵ ➵

SOON THE HOLLAND FAMILY AND THE THORNTON FAMILY arrive at the Cameron mansion punctually one after the other. The dress code was semi-formal casual, so Marty is dressed in an orange floral mini dress paired with a denim jacket and white chucks. She chose this outfit because she longed to feel confident in her own skin, and sometimes that means dressing up.

And she looks fucking good.

Rafe watches her from his second-story bedroom window, taking a sip from his mimosa. She smiled as she greeted the parents of the household, Rose, and Ward, and it confuses him greatly. He had broken her down to nothing, why could she ever see him again? And have brunch with him no less.

'She better not tell anyone what he did, cause it'll be an embarrassment for her. Who would believe her story? No one.' Rafe thinks to himself as he left his room for the grand hall and dining room.

When he reaches the base of the stairs, he finds Marty talking with Mrs. Thornton and Nicki about her life back in Richmond.

"Marty, babe, how are ya?" He says, putting an arm around the poor girl and interrupting the pleasant conversation.

She smiles a goodbye at Nicki's mother —excusing herself from the conversation.

Marty grits her teeth as she eyes Nicki, whose face also immediately fell as he spoke. She doesn't want to speak to him, she doesn't even want to look at him, can you blame her?

"Come, I need to talk to you." Rafe pulls her away from the comfort of the crowd, back into a hallway that was sectioned off.

➵ ➵ ➵

NICKI FOLLOWS CLOSE BEHIND, not forgetting to bring Sarah along. She interrupts Sarah's talk between Ward and Chris saying something along the lines of "I need help with the food," and steals her away from a boring conversation.

"Umm, Nicki the kitchen's that way," Sarah points out, as Nicki pulls her towards the direction that Rafe took Marty.

"Be quiet! Marty's in trouble!" Nicolette whisper-yells, pushing Sarah back against the wall as she sees Marty and Rafe begin to argue...

"Get off of me, and I'm not your babe." Marty grunts, shaking his disgusting pile of skin and flesh of an arm off her denim-covered shoulder blades.

"That's not what I heard the other night, slut." His eyes glint with lust and madness as if he reveled in the memories of that dark night.

Before Marty could think rationally, she slapped him hard across the face. So hard that the sound penetrated the walls and Nicki's and Sarah's eyes widened.

Rafe grunts in anger as he holds his jaw, slowly beginning to grin as he was surprised by her actions. "Don't be so emotional, you were practically asking for it!" He exclaims, slamming his hand right next to Marty's head, making her flinch.

"How could you do that to me? I-I trusted you!" She yells at him, tears falling down her cheekbones as she looks into guilt-ridden eyes. "Why did you?! Huh?!" She yells again, pressing on his chest and body, but her strength doesn't move him.

"You hurt me!" She begins to hit him in the chest over and over again, tears falling on the floor, her legs and arms shaking in fear and anger. "You—"

Rafe harshly grabs and throws her hands off from him, and grabs her by the throat, trapping her voice and breath. "Shut the fuck up! Who's going to believe you, huh? No one. You are nothing," his grip tightens as he says back the words his mother once told him long ago.

"Rafe—" Marty whispers, clawing at his hands around her neck.

"You don't deserve anything. I don't care for you! Your father doesn't! No one loves you, no one ever will. You got what you deserved!" With each phrase, his grip tightens around her neck.

Her claws get weaker and weaker, she starts seeing spots and before she could pass out she sees a tiny television screen of a phone with pictures of her naked body.

"Don't tell anyone about that night, or I will share these and everyone will see what a whore you really are. Understand?" He questions, putting his phone back into his front pocket.

He didn't bat an eye when Marty's eyes fluttered shut. Her head dips up and down, doing a subtle nod.

"Rafe?!!" Topper yelled from the stairs, Ward told him to find his son because the men were going out for some smoke and drinks while the women stayed in the kitchen, preparing the food. It was a kook tradition. "Rafe?!"

Rafe immediately lets go of Martha's neck and walks out of the dark hallway. Her body drops to the floor, and as soon as she can breathe again, she starts to sob. Nicki and Sarah heard the whole thing, and they wanted to stop it but they were afraid for Martha's life. The pair of girls sneak around the wall, to find Martha shaking and sobbing in the dark corridor.

"Marty, are you okay?" Sarah asks, running to where the broken girl sat on the tear-soaked wood boards.

"It's okay Marty, he's gone now, you're safe," Nicki says, crouching down next to her best friend, hugging her immediately. Sarah starts to cry too, as she also sits next to Marty, wrapping her arms around both of them.

After the trio of girls cries together for a good minute, Marty finally speaks up. Her voice cracks—

since her voice box was literally cut in half five minutes earlier.

She lifts her head from her knees, her eyebrows contort, and she grits her teeth together in anger. Her eyes darken with hatred. Her voice is serious and cynical.

"I know he's your brother Sarah, but I want him dead."