Under Her Skin (3 page)

Sammy ran into the hall and pulled Tobias off the man. "Dude, that's enough. You're going to kill him."

Tobias stopped struggling to get out of Sammy's grasp and calmed down a little once he saw that the man was unconscious. "He deserves to die!" Tobias said and spit on the man. He turned to where Marlo sat crumpled on the floor. He got down on his knees in front of her and took her face in his hands. "It's ok, he won't touch you again."

Marlo looked into his eyes, and it was as if she was really seeing for the first time since the man had grabbed her. A sudden clarity flashed in her eyes and she threw her arms around his neck.

Tobias held onto Marlo, whispering comforting words in her ear and rocking her back and forth. Realizing that he was feeling her bare back in his hands, Tobias backed up. He pulled his shirt over his head, then put it on over Marlo's head. She finished putting the shirt on, and Tobias lifted her to her feet.

Dusty came running down the hall and pulled his sister into his arms. He gave a silent plea of thanks to Tobias as he ushered Marlo back to the bus. The security guards all ran in and cuffed the assailant while waiting for the police to show up.

Tobias walked up to Pierce and shot him a fiery gaze. "Why didn't you help her?" He yelled.

"He had a knife and threatened to use it on me." Pierce stammered.

"So your safety is more important than hers?" He yelled unbelievably. "She was almost raped! Did you see her when she left here? She could barely walk on her own. But I guess all that matters is that you didn't get hurt. Right?" He added. It took everything he had in him not to hit Pierce too. Instead, he went back to the bus to check on Marlo, and be there for her in case she needed him.

*****

Marlo stood in the shower long after the water had run cold. She didn't think she'd ever be able to get his smell off her body, and she wasn't sure if she would ever feel clean again. She finally gave up and got out of the shower. She dressed in her pajamas and left the bathroom.

Dusty had a mug of hot chocolate waiting for her, the top overflowing with marshmallows. Marlo gave him a weak smile, and curled up next to him. They sat in silence as she drank the warm, rich fluid. Dusty had no idea what to say to her, so he didn't say anything at all.

Marlo took her empty mug and put it in the sink. She gave her brother a hug and walked back to the sleeping quarters. She started to climb into her bunk, but stopped, and instead peaked her head into Tobias' bunk.

He looked at her and moved the back wall of his bunk, making room for Marlo to lay next to him. She crawled in and cuddled up next to his body. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, neither one saying a word. Together, they fell asleep.

Chapter 4

Pierce knocked on the door of the band's tour bus. He knew that he had some major apologizing to do, and wondered if there was any way that he could ever make up for the night before. He was dreading the visit, and wanted to get it over with as quick as possible. For all he knew, she wouldn't even want to talk to him.

He entered the bus slowly after the command to go in had been shouted. The first person he locked eyes with when he got on the bus was Dusty. He saw how Lola's brother tensed and got a look of pure hatred in his eyes upon seeing Pierce.

"Hey." He said solemnly. "I, uh, want to apologize for last night. I froze, there's no other way to explain it."

"No, there 
is
 another way to explain it. You're a selfish pussy, plain and simple." Dusty told him, a sharp edge in his voice. "You're lucky Tobias found her when he did, otherwise things could have been much worse."

"I know. I was awake all night thinking about how lucky we both were that Tobias came when he did." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Listen, I know you're upset with me now, but I hope that we can move past this and not let it interfere with my relationship with Lola, or with my article."

"If she even wants a relationship with you anymore." Sammy entered his two cents.

"If my sister can forgive you, then we'll be civil. But if what you did scarred her in any way, you'll be off our tour so fast your head will spin. Not to mention you won't have a job anymore after we get through talking with your boss." Dusty threatened.

"Understandable, I guess. Where is she? Can I see her?" He motioned to the back.

"Yeah, she's still in bed, head on back." Dusty told him. After Pierce had walked back to the bunks, Dusty smiled at Sammy and AJ. All three knew that she had slept in Tobias' bed last night, and Pierce was going to flip.

Marlo cuddled even closer to the warm body at her back. There was something comforting about being in the spot that she was in, something reassuring. A small smile spread across her face, enjoying the feeling of the moment.

Tobias groaned quietly. Marlo had just rubbed against him as they were spooning, and he was having quite a reaction to her. He wrapped his arms around her tighter, hoping to hold her in place to keep her from moving anymore. He needed a chance to calm down before she woke up and freaked out about something poking her.

As soon as his arms tightened, he heard a peaceful sigh come from Marlo. He had been so worried about her the night before. Even after she was safe with him in his bed, he worried that she would relive the moment time after time in her sleep. He thought for sure she would be wracked with nightmares, but she seemed to have slept rather peacefully.

As Tobias was drifting back to sleep, the partition to his bunk opened up. "What the hell are you doing?" Pierce yelled when he saw his girlfriend sleeping with another man.

Marlo shot up, her heart was racing. Just a minute ago, everything was quiet and calm, and now she felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest. Having just woken up, and in such a startling way, Lola was confused about what was happening. She looked at the man who had yelled and recognized Pierce. Slowly she looked behind her and saw Tobias. 
Uh-oh
!

Tobias narrowed his eyes when he saw Pierce. "What gives you the right to open my bunk?" He didn't yell, because Marlo had heard enough of that this morning, but he was stern and Pierce knew he meant business.

"My girlfriend is in here, and I want to know why." Pierce whined.

"Because he had the balls to take care of me. And because he was here to comfort me. Where were you when I needed you?" Marlo suddenly turned from confused to angry as the memories flooded back to her.

Tobias put his hand on Marlo's shoulder, and gave it a little push so that she laid back down. "I think you need to leave. Now. Before I get really mad and kick the living shit out of you." He told Pierce icily. He wrapped his arms back around Marlo and ran his hand over her hair in a comforting gesture.

Marlo closed her eyes again, feeling the peaceful feeling return. "I'll talk to you later Pierce. I need some time." Her voice held no emotion at all.

Pierce was about to say something else, but when Tobias' eyes shot him a warning look, he turned and left. Tobias closed the partition again and held Marlo while she slept.

The three guys sitting in the front room of the bus all laughed as Pierce left. He was sure heated that Marlo was with Tobias at the moment, and he wasn't given a chance to explain. They thought he got what he deserved. Actually, he got less than he deserved, but it was something.

Later that day, Marlo opened her eyes to see Tobias staring at her. "Hi." She whispered.

"Hi. How're you feeling?" He asked softly.

"Like I was almost raped last night while my boyfriend watched and did nothing to help me." She softly touched her face at the spot where the man had hit her. She winced as even the slightest touch sent her into a whole world of hurt. Her arms ached from where he had his grasp on her, and she was sure if she looked, there would be bruises in the shape of fingers. "But thank you for letting me sleep here last night. I don't think I would have made it through the night without you here."

"I know, you've just been dreaming of ways to get into my bed." Tobias teased. Marlo tried to smile, but the cut on her lip split and she groaned in pain. "Sorry. I won't joke anymore."

"I should probably get up and face the day." Marlo said, a little hesitant.

Tobias understood, for the most part. "Hey, if you need me, just let me know."

"I will. Thanks." She rolled out of the bunk and went to her drawers to grab some clothes.

Tobias followed her out of the bunk. He stretched his arms over his head, trying to work out the kinks from being in his cramped bunk. He scratched his stomach and walked to the front room where the other guys were.

Marlo looked up at him, and for the first time, she realized that he was wearing nothing but a thin pair of boxers. Her cheeks flushed remember how close they had been just a few minutes ago. Then, something hit her. "Hey Tobias?" She asked, her voice shaking. He turned, standing at the threshold between the front room and the hallway to the bunks. She picked her clothes up and walked over to him. "Thanks. For everything. You're my hero." She told him, her eyes sparkling. Then she did something that no one would ever have expected. She raised up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek.

Before Tobias could say anything, Marlo had disappeared into the bathroom. Instead, he looked to his band mates for answers.

"Man, the look on your face!" AJ laughed.

"I think we need to write this date down. This is the first time since Lola and Tobias met that they've gotten along." Sammy said in awe.

"I don't think I've ever seen the two of you that close without Marlo's fists swinging." Dusty said, joining in with the others, teasing Tobias.

They stopped their cajoling as soon as the bathroom door opened back up. The room went silent and all eyes went to Lola. She put her hand to her face. "I know, it looks bad, huh?"

"It's a good thing Tobias nearly beat the man to death, because if he hadn't been so bad off, we all would have wanted to get a piece of him." Sammy said and got up to hug Marlo.

"You're still beautiful though Lola." AJ told her and hugged her when Sammy let her go.

"Yeah right, but thanks for trying." Lola had been shocked when she looked in the mirror. The whole right side of her face was black and blue from where that creep had back-handed her a couple of times. She also had a huge knot on the back of her head from where he had slammed her head against the wall, not to mention the bruises that covered the rest of her body.

She sat next to her brother on the couch, and he put his arm around her. "Hey kid, I know this isn't what you're going to want to do, but you need to go to the police station to give your statement, and they're going to want to take some pictures."

"I don't mind talking to the cops, but can't they come here? I don't want to walk into the police station and feel like I've done something wrong." No matter what, any time she stepped into a police station, she felt like they were going to accuse her of doing something.

"I'll give them a call and have them come right over. We'll get it done as soon as possible. Hopefully you'll be able to move on after all this." Dusty flipped open his cell phone and dialed the numbers from the card he held in his hand.

Tobias went to get dressed, knowing that it wouldn't be a good thing to greet the police in his boxers. He wanted to make sure that he was around, just in case talking about what happened got hard for Marlo. He had to be there for her, no matter what. It didn't even cross his mind that he may get in trouble for beating the man so severely.

The police showed up half an hour later and took Marlo's statement. They showed her a bunch of pictures, and she easily identified her attacker. Turns out he had a long history of violence, and she wasn't the first woman he had tried to violate. A female officer took her into the lounge in the back of the bus and took pictures of all her bruises.

Back in the front of the bus though, the male officer was asking a few questions about the attack on the man. "Who found Ms. LaPointe?" He asked.

Tobias spoke up, ready to face whatever wrath was thrown at him. It was worth it to save Marlo. "I found them. Her boyfriend had been there watching the whole time and didn't do anything to stop him. The man had a knife and threatened to use it on Pierce and he got scared."

"So then I'm guessing that you stopped the man?" The cop asked Tobias.

"Yes, I did. I did what I had to do to make sure Lola was safe." He raised his chin up in pride, ready to face the punishment for what he did.

"Well, unofficially, I want to shake your hand. Officially, no one knows who beat that man to within inches of his life. He's a dirt bag and deserves everything you gave him." The officer held out his hand to Tobias.

At first Tobias was confused. He wasn't sure if he was in trouble or not. He shook the officer's hand, giving him a questioning look.

"All I got out of the interview is that some man beat the attacker while you rescued Marlo. No one knows who the other man was, and he disappeared before anyone could catch him." The officer was letting him off. No charges were going to be brought against Tobias.

"Thank you officer. That's exactly how I remember it." Tobias said, a look of relief washed over his face.

"That's what I saw too." Sammy confirmed, even as he remembered the look in Tobias' eyes as he struggled to pull him off the man. It was a look that confused Sammy since Tobias and Lola fought all the time, but Tobias was ready to kill. As much as Sammy loved Lola, he didn't think even he would go as far as Tobias had.

Marlo came back into the room, the female officer trailing behind her holding three different cameras, a Polaroid, a digital, and a regular one. She explained that they needed the different forms in case anyone were to question the legitimacy of the pictures.

A few tears were falling from Marlo's eyes, and Tobias was immediately at her side comforting her. He imagined that the session with the police had been really hard on her. Though he knew that he would never completely understand how she felt, he could just imagine how violated she felt. He couldn't fathom how any man could treat a woman that way. Sure, he was really into sex, and there were times when he got extremely horny, but he would never force a woman, just so he could get some pleasure. He made sure that each woman that he was with was completely consensual to what they were about to do, because he never wanted to feel like he had taken advantage of someone.