The next day, Marshall was determined to keep Scarlette safe. She came home around midnight with tear stains on her face. He was awake, watching TV. He saw her, and she saw him. But no words were exchanged. He understood. But she felt like he just didn't care. Little did she know, he did. He did very much. He wanted to save her from them. The monsters that she was forced to call her parents. He was now determined to become her friend.

"Heya Scarlette." Marshall said, smiling at breakfast.

"Uhm... Hello..." She whispered to him.

"So... Uhm... Look. I know I've been a huge dick. And I'm sorry. I really am... And... If it's okay with you... I'd like to be friends."

She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. "Uh... You don't have to." She said, looking towards the floor.

"I-I know, but I want to! Really." He insisted.

Scarlette shrugged. "Sure, I guess. Whatever." She was so calm on the outside, but on the inside, she was smiling. 'I have a friend. I have... A friend.'

"Great! So... What do you wanna do?" Marshall asked smiling.

"I don't... I don't do much. Let's... Go to... The mall?" She said, more like a question than a statement.

"Yeah! Let's go! I'll get the limo, you just... Get ready!"

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Scarlette stepped out of the limo and smoothed out her shirt. She was wearing a pair of booty shorts with tights underneath, and a Black Veil Brides band shirt. Depite the emo appearance, Marshall thought she looked pretty. To him, no matter what she wore, she was pretty. But he shook himself of that thought. It was improper to think of her like that. She was his boss' daughter... Not to mention the fact that she was only fourteen.

"So. Hot Topic?" She asked, looking up at Marshall.

Marshall was confounded. "What's... Hot Topic?" Scarlette's jaw dropped.

"You don't know what Hot Topic is?" She gasped. "C'mon, Marshall. I'll show you a punk rocker's heaven."

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Scarlette pulled Marshall to a scary looking shop with clothes and piercings. "THIS. Is Hot Topic." She said, pulling him by the wrist to a rack of shirts. She pulled out a bunch of shirts from a rack. "I'll be getting these so... Hold them for me." As she said that, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and sighed.

"Hello? Mom? Yeah... No... Wait why... Fine. Does he have to come? What?! Why? Can't I just... Ugh. Fine." She hung up in a huff. "Stupid... Fucking banquet..." She started to mutter as she stomped over to the dress section. "I don't want Marshall to be my date. He's eighteen."

"Uhm. Scarlette. If I may ask, why are you muttering about me?" Marshall asked slowly, not wanting to upset her even more.

"You and I are going to a grand banquet. You, are my date. We'll get you a tuxedo after this.

Scarlette picked out three dresses, and even then she wasn't sure about the three of them. She out on a blue lacy high-low dress. She looked at herself in the mirror and wrinkled her nose. She looked paler in the dress. Beautiful, but like a vampire. She went out of the changing room. "How does this look?" Marshall turned and shook his head.

"Pretty. But you look so pale." He mumbled. She nodded in agreement as she went back in. She shimmied out of the dress and put on an abstract dress. It was one sleeved and looked like something an eccentric artist would wear. She turned to look at the back, which was just as strange as the front. She took a deep breath and walked out.

"How about this... Shocking piece?" She said, bracing herself for a fit of laughter directed towards her.

He was stunned. "You look nice. Really nice. But it's a bit too far from who you are. You aren't really that loud, in-your-face type of person. It doesn't suit you, but you look really nice." He said, eyes shining. Scarlette blushed.

"So I'll be getting this, but I won't wear this to the gala. Okay there's one last dress left. Wait a second." She said, scurrying back to the dressing room. She unzipped the dress and let it fall. What she saw then made her gasp. The long gash she put on herself has horrible. She looked at the last dress. This one wasn't knee high, it was up to her mid-thigh so... It covered all of her other scars. Her only problem was the long scar. She sighed and put on the dress. It wasn't that concerning, so she thought she's be fine. It was a red and black corset type dress with a tutu-ish bottom. She twirled an end of her straight hair. Would Marshall think that she was pretty? Or maybe she is pretty and doesn't know it. Would Marshall like her if she dressed like this more often? She shook herself.

'I can't like him. No. He's my bodyguard. He's in a lower class. Father would beat the living shit outta me.' She thought to herself. She sighed and smoothed the dress, showing off her amazing curves. 'Please think I'm pretty.'

She walked out shyly. "Marshall?"

Marshall turned to face her and his jaw visibly dropped. Marshall thought she was beautiful. Like something you see only in magazines. "Scarlette..."

She winced. "Do I look that bad?"

"No!" Marshall cried out. "No... You look so... So beautiful. Scarlette you're so beautiful." His breath was taken away from him. He thought she was the prettiest girl in the world. "Buy it. You look so good. It suits your personality as well. It's perfect" Scarlette started to blush.

"Do you really think I'm pretty?" She asked, hope sparkling in her eyes.

Marshall walked up to her and put his arms around her, encasing her into a hug. "I do. I really do. You're beautiful." Scarlette teared up a bit as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around him as well.

"C'mon... Let's pay for all this." she said, quickly changing and heading to the counter. They left together, arm wrapped around each other. That made Marshall smile. There was a crack in that wall of hers. And he wasn't going to stop breaking down that wall until he's in.