Pretty Boy: The Lost Chapters

Alternative: Marshall's Breakdown

Trigger Warning: past thoughts of suicide, implication of past self harm, homophobia, referenced sexual assault

*

Note: So...yeah. That trigger warning sets the tone for this chapter without saying much. Which actually says a lot now that I'm thinking about it.

Similarly to Marshall's grief chapter, I actually took a lot of really emotionally driven points out when writing Marshall's breakdown scene in "A Broken Mask". Again, I did this in the final draft because I didn't want to bombard my readers with too much at once. Because of that, though, you guys kind of got, like, a more censored version of what Marshall was really feeling after leaving the Olympic coven. I really do mean it when I say I took out paragraphs worth of really heavy confessions.

Still, since this is the extras book, I think it'd be unfair to not put this in here. Not only because it's expected, but because it's just as, if not more, impactful as the chapter in the final draft. There will be a lot of talking with minimal breaks in between because Marshall is given the floor to vent.

Timeline wise, this would've happened after giving a rundown of the argument that happened with Edward.

Grab your tissues and head to The Crying Corner 😭

Also: I know I never included it in the final draft, but Marshall actually has a piece of jewelry which acts as his signature Cullen crest. It will be referenced in this chapter.

***

Marshall was done.

Honestly. 

Legitimately.

The drive back to La Push gave him time to truly think about his standing with his adoptive family. A group of people he knew for years that still felt like strangers. People who were meant to love unconditionally but would only ever hate eternally. People who were meant to shelter him from a cruel, merciless, unforgiving world—and who turned out to be the most brutal of monsters he ever had the displeasure of facing.

The Cullens were a coven of deceitful liars who hid their repulsive nature behind friendly smiles.

They didn't deserve to have their hideous mark brandished on Marshall's body.

So, finally giving in to his anger and pain and sorrow, Marshall took hold of a chain necklace with a familiar crest dangling over his sternum. The piece of jewelry was pulled upward from its hidden perch beneath his shirt. As soon as pristine metal was completely free, the pendant was grabbed.

A single pull broke the necklace in two.

It fell to the floor with a series of loud clatters.

Marshall stomped on the crest, and it shattered beneath his foot.

The pack members watched on in genuine shock.

Learning of the vampire's severance from his coven was surprising enough. But watching him tear apart something which symbolized his previously invincible relation to them only solidified the irreparable breakage of invisible tethers no longer connecting everyone to him.

Marshall Hale, son and brother of the Cullen family, as well as member of the Olympic coven, was no more.

In his place stood Marshall Lahote: a man no longer able to don the fabricated mask he'd been forced to wear for decades.

Smashing his Cullen crest was like bringing a hammer to a tank full of water. 

Emotions he'd hidden were rushing out of their damaged confines; and he wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold them back anymore.