Scar Tissue ✹ All For The Game
rocklcnds, 2025.

       Marisol Beltran's life is finally going the way she wants it to. She's set to go to a big three school, the University of Southern California, on an Exy scholarship, something that she would dream about when she was a small child. The sport of Exy is the one thing she doesn't have to share with her siblings, it's her way of blocking out all the noise in her life.

For the first time in what feels like forever, Mari feels free.

She is buzzing from head to toe with excitement over this new chapter in her life. Though, once she gets to the airport, Mari can't help but feel a tinge of guilt as she sees the tired look on Antonella Dupont's face.

As the second oldest sibling, with Mari's departure, the burden of taking care of their family largely falls on Antonella. Mari can only hope that Antonella can hold her head above water while balancing their siblings and senior year. Though, Antonella does have her twin, Isaac. So maybe Antonella will be better off than Mari ever was.

Mari gives her sister a big hug, possibly the biggest show of affection she's ever given her. It feels like she's trying to hug the guilt away, like if she hugs her sister everything will magically be okay and her sister won't foster a silent resentment for her.

And with that, she leaves.

       Mari Beltran is free. But not for long.

       The start of her freshman year at USC is going great. She would even go as far as to say that it was going perfect. She's made herself a nice group of friends and her first season with the Trojans is going better than she could've ever imagined.

She is doing this for herself, to make herself proud, and she's doing a damn good job at it.

Until she gets the call in November. The call that tells her that her mother is terminally ill. The call that tells her that her mother more than likely wouldn't make it to Mari's sophomore year. Her mother would be lucky to even see the spring championships.

       It's then that she can feel the chains that she thought she was freed from start to pull her back. She finds a way to get a small job, something to send back to her family in South Carolina since her stepfather keeps gambling off money they don't have.

Her stepfather demands that she returns to South Carolina after her freshman year, that she will continue college at a local school. He needs her at the house, to help out with her siblings. Her siblings who were more than capable of holding their own. Not that he would know that, though.

       She was never free, Mari realizes. Her chains were simply replaced for longer ones.

       Mari is drowning, again, but this time there's no one there to save her. Her siblings are across the country and trying to look after each other to the best of their abilities, they didn't have time to check on their sister who happily left the moment she got the chance.

        She gets a couple messages from Valeria, who seems to be the only one who tolerates her nowadays. She responds when she can, between practices, between study sessions, between shifts, and between class periods.

      Mari doesn't know what to do. She can barely stay awake, and Jeremy Knox is on her ass about her performance on the court. Her irritability doesn't help either, Trojans pride themselves on their sportsmanship. That's when the pills come in.

       It starts off as one a day. That's enough to keep her focused and energized enough. But then that starts to fade and she ups it to two. Then she keeps on upping it and upping it until one day, during a match that could've brought the Trojans to semifinals, her body gave up. She collapses in the middle of the court.

       When she wakes up in a hospital bed, Mari realizes her entire world has crumbled down. It started with the phone call, and ended in her overdosing. When Jeremy Knox and Coach Rehmann come to visit her, she knows exactly what they're going to say. She knew she was done the moment the fluorescent lighting registered.

As soon as she's finished with finals, Mari packs her bags and goes back to South Carolina. Back to her siblings, and back to her own personal hell.

She wants to be angry at somebody. She wants to be able to take it out on someone. She wants to be angry and pissed at her stepfather for putting that much pressure on her. She wants to hate everyone for never checking in. But the only person she can bring herself to hate is herself.

Nobody else. Just Marisol Beltran.

By the time Mari's mom is dead, she's given up on herself. She'll continue college with Antonella and Isaac in the grade below her, and she'll graduate and get a job somewhere local.

But then, completely out of the blue, David Wymack appears on her doorstep. David Wymack offers her a second chance. A second chance. That's not something Mari is used to having.

She doesn't deserve it. She already let down one team, what's to stop her from letting down another? (Even if said team is currently the laughing stock of Class I Exy.)

It's Valeria Dupont who gives her the final shove. She tells Mari that she will never forgive her if she doesn't take this offer. That's enough for Mari to sign for the Palmetto State Foxes.

Mari doesn't know what she expects from the Foxes, but she doesn't expect them to be so divided. Maybe it's just the privilege from coming from a prestigious college, though.

Her roommates offer her what she never had back at home: stability, a figure to look up to, somebody to lean on without feeling guilty. She's never felt more out of place.

It's all new to her, she's not used to people looking out for her and taking care of her. She knows that Dan, Allison, and Renee don't understand her hesitation to accepting their comfort and friendship. But they're trying, and that's more than anyone's ever tried to do.

On the other end of the chasm that separates the Foxes, is who Mari's roommates call "The Monsters". Though, Mari doesn't see what makes them that. Sure, she's a little put off by Andrew Minyard and his psychotic tendencies, but that doesn't mean he and his lot are bad people.

Mari observes the way that Andrew and Aaron Minyard, Nicky Hemmick, and Kevin Day interact with one another, the way they care for each other in their own twisted ways.

What she fails to see, however, is the way that Aaron Minyard seems to be watching her with the same amount of delicacy and sharpness that she has.

Neither Mari nor Aaron know who initiated it, but they find themselves in a friendship that isn't very conventional. They find that they share a lot more in common than they let on.

Maybe this is the chance that Mari needs to find what she wants: peace, freedom, and herself. Maybe this is when Mari decides to finally be selfish and put herself first, put her happiness first. And sure, she could probably do it on her own. But it's a ton easier with someone helping her.

Mari thanks Aaron Minyard for helping her, and Aaron thanks Mari Beltran for helping him.

Marisol 'Mari' Beltran ✹ Maia Reficco
I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm.

19-20. Sophomore. Offensive Dealer. #11. Child Psychology Major.

Aaron Michael Minyard ✹ As Described
I was never good at coping.

19-20. Sophmore. Backliner. #05. Biochemistry Major.

The Beltran-Dupont Family

Sofia Dupont (nee Beltran) ✹ As described

Morgan Dupont ✹ As Described

Antonella Dupont ✹ Jenna Ortega

Isaac Dupont ✹ Benjamin Wadsworth

Valeria Dupont ✹ Anya Taylor Joy

Milan Dupont ✹ Zack Calderon

any other characters as described.

i. Trigger Warnings: mentions of homophobia, murder, rape, torture, drug addiction & use, alcohol addiction, and more that i might've missed.

ii. Disclaimer: i do NOT own the all for the game series, all rights go to nora sakavic. the only things i own are Maris character and her family characters + story lines.

iii. dedications: special shoutouts to flayedcrank & clarisseapologist bc they've been listening to my ranting for ages and were the first people to know about Mari. Extra special shout out to bailey who got me to read aftg in the first place.

this is also dedicated to all my amazing friends and mutuals, tvgirlmuse padfoots aquamcnti backcbiter pqnisher -girlhoodrot youngnwreck1ess

lali yaps

yeah this one's been cooking for a bit... i was very indecisive about this fic like i genuinely had zero clue what to do but i finally figured it out thanks to the help of my friends soo this is out now! Evie publishing her Kevin Day fic gave me the motivation to finally write for mari and aaron rather than just plot evilly in my notes 😭😭

i'm gonna be totally honest i lowkey blacked out while writing this so if it doesn't make sense blame the fact i wrote this in the middle of the night

genuinely so excited to write this fic you guys don't understand... mari has a special place in my heart like she's by far one of my fav ocs and i've barely created her 😕😕

okay bye!