torture week

TW: acts of violence, cruel words, mentions of suicidal thoughts
PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THE WARNINGS MENTIONED ABOVE.

MARTY DIDN'T REMEMBER BRUNCH, but it's okay, cause after her incident with Rafe nothing really happened. One thing was certain, there was no revenge plan insight.

Sarah and Nicki fully agreed with her statement of killing the malicious Rafe Cameron, but when they offered up very good ideas of how to do so, Martha shut them down.

She was afraid, afraid of her own body being shown to everyone she cared for, and if those pictures would make them see her differently. Would they see her as the slut or whore as Rafe said she was? The worst part was that she believed him, he had all control over her, and she hated it, but there was nothing —in her mind— to do anything about it.

She chose to forgive and forget.

But, how could she really forget when her most suppressed memories of that night came back to haunt her in her nightmares? For the past two nights, she has been awoken by her own screams and cries of agony and pain, she practically wants to vomit at the remembrance of her moaning. She didn't want to moan, and even when she was in excruciating pain, she still tried to feel pleasure in order to make the situation better.

She hated to look in her bathroom mirror, she became disgusted with herself, cried every night to sleep only to be jolted back awake from the ongoing nightmare.

She stared more and more at the Xanax pills she had for her anxiety, wondering if she could just pass out in the tub and drown and no one would know. It seemed like a good way to go.

But she always shook her head out of her thoughts and went to work.

Kie was so complimented by the text that Marty sent a couple of nights ago, that she spoke to her father about letting Martha work as a hostess. He automatically agreed because he knew that his daughter liked her a lot, and letting Martha work for him was a good thing for everyone.

She had morning shifts every day, from 9:30 am to 2 pm. It was good pay, too. Her parents were also very proud that their sixteen-year-old girl worked two jobs... yes, two.

JJ did her a favor, and he loved that she's working as a bus girl for the Oakland Inn restaurant. Martha got the night shifts, almost every day from 5 pm to 11 pm.

Bussing was always fun there, but now he can talk to someone genuinely, as an actual friend, and not as a coworker. He made fun of her ID, even though he found her adorable. He introduced her to Andrew, the sous-chef, and Mama L, the head chef.

It became aware to her that these people were more his parents than his actual father, and this saddened her —but it also made her warm and giddy inside because for some reason she knew, not a lot of people are introduced to his work parents.

He made her feel special. And, that's what she needed the most.

And after the first day of working two jobs, Martha went to sleep with no nightmares.

But, of course, happiness doesn't last forever.

➵ ➵ ➵

ONE DAY, WHILE WORKING HER QUIET AND PEACEFUL MORNING WORK SHIFT —that was almost about to end— in stepped some familiar kooks. It was none other than Rafe Cameron, Kelce, and Topper Thornton.

It wasn't like she never saw Rafe again, she is best friends with his sister. But she didn't talk to him as much as he liked her to.

He chuckled at her tired and annoyed expression, taking off his sunglasses and sliding them into his polo pocket. "Wow, I didn't know they hired whores here. Is this a brothel or a restaurant, Kelce?"

Martha gritted her teeth, not changing her dead stare, she wasn't going to let him get to her. She faked a smile, before looking down for the kid menus because they weren't mature enough.

Kelce knew. He saw the photos. He just thought they consented. "Whatever, I just want a breast. You know, like the one in the photos."

This stopped Martha from writing their names down on the table list. "What?" she croaked, her voice cracking.

"Yeah, you know the ones on the restaurant website, those chicken breasts looked really good in that white sauce, don'tcha think?"

At this point, Martha caught on. He knew too. "Y-Yeah, the white sauce is called Alfredo. I'll make sure to tell your waitress that." Then she spotted Topper behind them, he was unusually quiet and he was avoiding eye contact with her. "Hi, Topp, how are you? And, a booth or table?"

"I'm good, thanks. Uh, I guess the booth." He knew, he just didn't want to get on Marty about it because they made him uncomfortable, and you were his girlfriend's best friend, and it just felt wrong. But, he didn't have the balls to stand up to Rafe or Kelce and stop them.

She smiled at him, and he felt his heart click off another round of guilt.

Martha led them to a booth in the far back corner, that way they didn't bother her at all. As Rafe and Kelce scooted down, they whispered remarks like, "nice ass," or "nice rack." Even though she wanted to slap both of them, she was scared. Scared of Rafe's threat and losing the job that brought her so much joy.

She places down the kid menus, automatically knowing it'll start something. But she was bored, just about to leave, and burns are always fun to give.

"What the hell is this?" Rafe exclaims, holding up the tiny, blue kids menu.

"Well, I thought you knew that only adults get the adult menu." She states, clasping her hands together, just waiting for him to explode in order for her to explode with more power.

Rafe scoffs, "you dumb cunt, I'm nineteen, I'm an adult—"

—"No."

"No?"

"I mean, Topper and Kelce are what? Sixteen, seventeen years old? You're a nineteen-year-old college dropout who still lives with his parents. What do you do for a living? Nothing. Absolutely, nothing." She doesn't break eye contact with him.

"Shut up, you stupid bitch, if you know what's good for you--"

"Oh! I'm sorry, you do, do something. You rape an innocent girl! You snort cocaine! And- AND, you take naked photos of girls without consent!" Martha yells, not caring if she was drawing attention or a crowd. He needed to be held responsible. Maybe he wasn't going to get into trouble, but people will know the truth.

She's crying without even noticing it, tears just flow down her face, but she's so confident and proud for speaking up she doesn't even care. She stares into his angry eyes, before breaking eye contact and locking her watery eyes onto a shocked Kelce.

"Do you still want that chicken breast?"

➵ ➵ ➵

BEFORE RAFE COULD LITERALLY STRANGLE HER AGAIN, Mr. Carrera and Kiara stepped in between the two hostile creatures. Kie led Martha to the girls' bathroom, trying to calm her down. Martha was -- unbeknownst to herself — shaking, crying, and having a full-blown panic attack when Mr. C kicked the group of boys out of his family-friendly restaurant.

It was in the second bathroom stall where Marty told Kiara about that life-changing and trauma-inducing night. It was then that Kie started to put all the pieces together, Martha's same outfit, her limping that was noticeable by practically everyone who saw her that day, her outburst on jj, everything. And all Kie could do for Martha was hug her, and try to keep that night a secret because Martha wanted to tell the boys when she was ready.

Mr. C let both Martha and Kie have the rest of the day off since it was 1 pm. Kie dragged tired but strangely happy Martha out onto the beach, bringing along some food for the poor girl.

"Hello, boys! Please do not eat Marty's food, she's hangry and has had a very long day." Kie says placing a delicious platter of seafood pasta and bread in front of the teenage vultures named JJ, JB, and Pope. Marty giggles at the three boys before sitting down in front of them, sighing from exhaustion.

JJ's the one to first sit back down, smiling and sticking his hand out for the secret handshake they made up when they worked at O.I. Martha smiles back at him, grinning as she does their secret handshake. Every time she does it, she feels goosebumps and electricity flowing throughout her body; sending waves on her skin.

"What happened in there? I heard some yelling," Pope states, subtly stealing a piece of bread. Martha's just letting him.

"I handled it, it was just kooks messing around, saying shit."

"Goddamn, they ruin everything don't they?" John B says, pinching a shrimp from Martha's plate before stuffing it down his throat as if she didn't see him reach over and do just that.

"Yo! What did Kie just say?!" She yells at her friends, laughing in disbelief. JJ gives her puppy dog eyes before also subtly stealing another piece of your bread.

"Okay, fine, you vultures!" Martha scoffs, shoving the plate forward on the table. The trio of boys smiles in delight, before stuffing their mouths with food and trying to say thank you's. "Yeah, yeah whatever. As long as we throw food at Kie?"

Kie walks out ready to collect Martha's plate when she is bombarded with seafood bits, pasta noodles, and bread pieces. She shrieks in fear and disgust before laughing at her four friends. "Stop, guys! My dad's gonna kill me!"

➵ ➵ ➵

AFTER THE FOOD FIGHT AT THE WRECK, the four pogues and one touron split apart because Johnny B had to go to see his school's social worker about his living situation. So the rest of the group went to chill at Heyward's for a bit, before going back to John B's for a campfire.

The four were just hanging; goofing off; you know, teenagers being teenagers. Kie and Pope wound up behind the desk, playing with the cash register. Marty sat on the desk's counter, playing and observing the tourist gifts of little knick-knacks.

JJ was to the right of her, he leaned on the counter putting weight on his left arm. He looks up at her in awe, her bare legs right in front of him, how her eyes sparkled with curiosity and excitement when she held a sailor of a mermaid in her tiny and fragile hands. He's been tapping the beat of a random song on her knee and thigh, having small talk here or there.

He even mentions to her that he would love her to ride his bike any time, and they both knew that he wasn't just talking about bikes.

Twenty or so minutes pass of just straight chillin', the rest of the group decides to go back to the Château, taking the HMS pogue with them. JJ greets their neighbors as they ride past. "Hey, Mr. Sanchez! Good to see ya."

JJ decides that they should start a campfire, that way when Johnny returns, the fire would be boastingly hot and warm for him. The group immediately agrees, especially Marty because it's been so long since the last fire she's seen.

John B greets the group, just as the fire really starts to cook. He plops down in between JJ and Kie, grabbing a beer from a cooler that Kie packed.

Martha sat in JJ's lap, both didn't really seem to mind. She didn't really have any warmer clothing, so the warmth of JJ's arms around her cold body brought her enough justice. It also didn't help that he was pushing his hot breath up against her neck and ears.

The campfire pit on the beach was breathtaking. The sun was setting, and it was so beautiful that no one cared when John got up and left to be swept away by his own fears.

Pope says "Jefferson!" and laughs in disbelief. Kie, JJ, Marty laugh along with him. "Mrs. Jefferson was The Swamp Thing."

But Marty quickly notices that the prominent laugh of a certain someone isn't there. She looks around to find that John b is alone, facing away from the sunset and towards his house; his home. She whispers into JJ's neck so only he could hear, "I'm going to comfort JB, I'll be right back." And without hesitation, she kisses his neck goodbye.

Marty giggles softly, she became very amused by the way JJ reacted to her affection, but she decided to turn away and comfort her friend. She sits down next to him, saying a soft 'hi' and 'what's wrong,' before playing with the sand beneath her. He sighs but begins to complain that the DCS is coming to take him into foster care and that he doesn't want to leave his whole life and family behind.

She nods in understanding, but then an idea pops into her head. Her mother has always wanted a second child. "Well, you're in luck! Because I feel as though my mother would love to adopt you! She didn't want me to be an only child, you know, but there were problems with the birth of her second child and we lost my little brother, Joseph."

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, all good. I didn't even know him. And besides, you're my baby brother now."

John B smiles at her, placing his arm around her shoulders. "Thanks, Martha, but I am older than you."

She cackles, shaking her head. Boys can be so stupid sometimes, "you're still a baby."

He gasps, acting offended as he puts his hand on his heart. "At least, I'm not covered in sand." He says, smirking mischievously.

"Wha—" And before Martha could reply, he playfully pushed her off the sand dune, making the girl roll into the sand, gaining thousands of grains of the tan-colored dirt on her clothes and in her hair. She shrieks as she lands, gaining the attention of the other pogies— especially JJ.

"McFly, baby, you good?" JJ questions, wondering what on earth was going on. Martha grunts, getting up, shaking off the light dirt particles off her legs and arms. John B belly laughed at the sight.

"Oh, baby, I'm fine!" Martha exclaims, blushing at JJ's stare —it was the first time she called him a pet name. His eyes gleamed at the way she said it, wanting it more and more.

"But my baby brother, here!" She points to John B, giving him the best death stare she could muster up. "You better run, cause imma bout to beat your ass!"

➵ ➵ ➵

MARTHA WAS SURPRISED THAT SHE HAD TO COME TO WORK ON A DAY OF A HURRICANE, but she figured the restaurant at Oakland Inn needed all the help they could get because the kooks needed to spend their last day somewhere before all hell broke loose. She picked up her friend Sophie's morning shift, making her have a double. Before the restaurant opened up to the public, Mama L and Andrew told everyone that they would close early at nine pm because of the storm.

Her day was chaotic, tourons and kooks and their families bombarded the restaurant, but she made quick haste and kept everything in order. It better be worth it for the double pay and extra tips. Soon five pm rolled around, and the night shift started. She remembered that JJ would be there soon.

He saw her wiping her brow as she punched in her numbers for her break. He smiled at her body, recognizing it from behind. She looked good in the uniform —a tight shirt, short shorts that showed off her tan legs, and black sneakers.

He sneaked up behind her, but she could sense him. His lavender and ocean breeze-induced body caught her scent. "McFly, baby, how's my girl doing?" He says, putting his left hand on the wall, shifting his weight on the same foot.

Martha blushed at his choice of words, shaking her head downwards in order to not let him see the red hues of her cheeks. She giggles before saying, "hi, J," and sticks her hand out. They made a secret handshake that was way over the top with too many steps, but it was silly and fun, and she soon loved the feeling of touching him.

"You've been here all day?" JJ questions, looking over at her outfit —which was covered in food debris and water, and sweat stains.

"Is it that obvious?" She tilts her head to the side, sighing and grabbing her break receipt.

"Yeah, it looks like you've been through shit."

"Oh, you have no idea," she says, playing it off as if she was joking. But deep down, she ached to tell him everything.

"Take that break, doll. You've earned it." He says, patting her on her bare arm. She smiles at him, whispering a 'thanks,' and walks into the kitchen to get some food.

➵ ➵ ➵

BY THE TIME HER THIRTY MINUTE BREAK WAS OVER, it had gotten a lot more quiet and peaceful than before. Most kooks and tourons and their families were gone in order to prepare for the crazy night everyone on Outer Banks will endure. But of course, there were some stranglers.

Rafe was alone this time, drinking his sorrows away. He didn't need a fake ID, the bartender knew who he was and who his daddy was. The banished kook prince knew Martha was here, and the innocent girl he corrupted also knew he was here. He eyed her everywhere she went, anger from the embarrassment he received yesterday afternoon built up inside him. He sat at a lonely table, surrounded by other rich kooks and touron couples.

"Hey, bus girl! Hey! My table's dirty!" He shouted at you.

"I'm so sorry, lemme get that for you." She said in the politest way possible.

"Yeah, you better say sorry to me. I didn't know how much of an attention whore you really are! Do you know how much embarrassment you cause for me?! No one believed you by the way. I mean, who would believe a dirty bitch like yourself?! I mean, look at you! You're a slob! I guess you can't keep your mouth shut, just like your legs!"

Martha's eyes started to faucet because usually, it was private little snippets from her attacker and his friends, but he said this in front of other people; in front of customers trying to enjoy their dinner; in front of her work family, and friends. She quickly stormed off but tried to make it to the back of the kitchen where no one was, but she ran into someone.

That someone happened to be JJ, coming back from refilling the disinfectant spray bottles.

"Woah, Martha! Are you okay? Baby, what happened?" He questions, grabbing her arms away from her face in order to look at his hurt girl.

"JJ, nothing ha-happened. Don't worry about it, I'm fine," she says, trying to calm down her sobs. If JJ knew all hell would break loose and both of them would lose their jobs. She placed her hands on his heaving chest and looked up to meet his electric blue eyes. They became bluer when he got mad.

"Bullshit! Please, tell me what happened, please McFly." He grabbed ahold of her face, practically begging her to tell him the truth.

Her lip quivered, and her hands went on top of his, rubbing his skin with her thumbs. "Rafe, he-he called me a dirty whore."

JJ's eyes flashed with a blue spark of fire, as he gritted his teeth before shouting, "I'm gonna kill him!" And before Martha could stop him, he was out the back door, protecting her honor.

Rafe had walked outside because the bartender cut him off and the owner had gotten some complaints about the banished kook prince. The wind was howling, and it was dark, and the only thing anyone could hear was the waves crashing upon the beach and the thunder clashing with lightning. He hadn't walked that far from the Inn, because he was drunk as fuck and could barely walk straight.

When JJ finally found him, he was seething, he wanted to kill this guy for what he put Martha through. He kinda put two and two together and finally figured out why Martha was so upset and disheveled a couple of days ago. He knew the gist, but he was too mad to confirm, so he thought the worst.

Rafe didn't know what was going on until he felt JJ push him hard into the sided wall, holding him up by the collar. "How dare you treat Martha that way! You fucking shithead!"

"Hey! If you want her, take her! She's easy! She'd definitely fuck anything! Even a dirty pogue like you!" Rafe yells over the rain, his words hit hard at JJ.

JJ throws a hard fist, a right hook into Rafe's cheek, so hard he definitely tears his knuckles. "You're dead, you hear that! Dead!"

"JJ! Stop! Killing him won't help anyone!" Marty yells over the pouring rain and thunder, she was getting extremely cold and wanted to go home. She was happy that Rafe got what he deserved, but she didn't want to be the reason for JJ to be fired.

JJ turns around quickly to see his girl standing there in the pouring rain, he grunts in frustration, before shoving Rafe back into the wall one more time. "Stay away from her, if you know what's good for you!"

He pushes Rafe away from him, and starts to jog over to Marty, "we have to get out of this storm!!" He grabs Martha's hand, pulling her as they both run to his bike.

"Let's go to my place!" Marty says, leaving the Oakland Inn with JJ, as Rafe furiously watches them escape.