Tempus Fugit {Who Killed Markiplier}

~Anger and Survailence~

THIS IS A LONG ASS EMOTIONAL CHAPTER BUCKLE THE FUCKLE UP KIDS

-🦋

The next week was extremely hectic. Halloween was approaching and parties and rowdy gatherings were in the midst.. With that being said, more and more complaints were flooding in everyday, creating more work for all of us, especially me.

That morning, Damien came into my office with the biggest pile of reports yet. I hit my head on my desk at the sight of it. "It's going to be a long fucking day." I murmured. "Good thing I'm taking the day to help you hm?" he replied. I shot up, my eyes wide and fearful. "No no no no no you don't have to." I said quickly. He knit his eyebrows together. "You're going to need help with this. Iris are you sure you're not trying to avoid me?" he asked. I winced. "No.. I promise I'm not." I replied, fiddling with my sleeves, contemplating whether or not to tell him the truth. I chewed on my lip and sighed. "Damien there's.. There's something I need to tell you." I said hesitantly. He cocked his head to the side, clearly worried. "What is it? Are you okay?" he asked. I took a deep breath. "Mar-"

Just as I began to speak, Mari burst into the room. "Damien! Meeting! Let's go!" she said in a frenzy. I took a step backwards, surprised. She then dragged him out of the room whilst he protested. I sighed, hoping I'd be able to muster up the courage to try again to bring to light my situation. With an irritated huff, I got back to work.

~*~*~

Nearly an hour passed and he still had not come back. I made a bold move and decided to go into his office to ask for help. Sighing, I rose from my desk and walked down the hall to his office. But to my dismay, when I opened the door I found that he wasn't in his office. I looked across the hall to see Mari's blinds shut, and faint sounds coming from the room. I rolled my eyes and turned back to close the door, when I noticed something on his desk I had not seen before. It was a picture from our time at University. Damien was giving me a piggyback-ride, while Mark and the Colonel stood next to us, laughing.

The four of us looked so different; the Colonel had just cut his afro, Damien wore a University sweater and jeans, an uncommon sight nowadays. My hair fell in short curls at my shoulders, and I wore a romper that went down to my lower thighs. A smile wavered at my lips. So much changed in just five years, and not just in our physical sense.

I suddenly felt like I didn't even know my own sister. While she had always been headstrong, I never imagined she would have an affair. Maybe that was why I had feelings for Damien. He was more or less the same morally. Still kind and sweet as I knew him when we first met. I sighed and placed the picture back on his desk, than returned to my office, hoping he would eventually come in.

~*~*~

To my disappointment, Damien never did come to help me. By eleven that night I had barely plowed through half the stack. I sighed, tired and defeated. Deciding I needed to go home and rest, I began packing up my stachel, when suddenly I noticed something peculiar behind my desk. A security camera was planted above my desk in the corner of the ceiling. I sneered. Damien was keeping tabs on me?
I climbed onto a chair and ripped the camera from the wall, throwing it into my satchel. Then I stormed out of the office and out of the building.

I was halfway down the stairs when I heard a voice call out, "Iris! Wait!" I grimaced at the sound of Damien's dress shoes thumping down the stairs after me. I was absolutely not in the mood, now especially.

"Hey, I'm sorry I-"

"Don't, Damien. Just please.. Don't."

He froze. "I.. what?"

"I'm not in the mood for hollow apologies."

"I had ever intent on coming back to help you, I just got stuck with work and-"

"Bullshit!"

"What!? I had to work!"

"Oh, yeah, right, because your work involves knocking things around and obnoxious moaning coming from Mari's office."

"Iris stop it!"

"You act like I don't have a reason to be mad!"

"So why are you mad then? Help me understand!"

I finally looked him in the eyes for the first time in our confrontation, my face tired, angry, and hurt. "You left me for fourteen hours to file through those hundreds of reports. Four. Teen. Hours. Even after you promised to help me and-"

"Well you've been avoiding me for weeks so I was under the impression that you wanted to be left alone!"

I instantly fell silent.

"You never talk to me, you deny my dinner invitations, you turn down my help, and now you're mad at me for not helping you? What is wrong with you Iris? What changed since University? Why did you even work for me, knowing I've missed and worried about you for five fucking years, yet all you do is hide away? Do you how much this hurts me? I thought you were dead for fuck's sake! And this.. This.. horseshit is all I get from you. This-... Iris?"

It wasn't until he paused and his expression softened that I noticed the tears streaming down my cheeks. His eyes widened with guilt, his angry, relentless demeanor instantly dissipating. "Oh God Iris I.. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean.. Come here."

He swiftly pulled my shaking form into his arms, protectively holding the back of my head and keeping me firmly against his chest. Every pent up emotion spilled out as my tears fell. "No.. no no no you-you-you're ri-ight." I cried into his shoulder. He gently swayed back and forth, holding me close as I sobbed.

~*~*~

Fortunately it didn't take long for my cries to be mollified. "Iris I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I've just been so overwhelmed with work and-" I sighed and pecked his cheek to quiet him down, which, evidently, worked. "Oh hush. I have been too, among other things. I kind of instinctively shut myself off. It was wrong of me to do and I hope you can forgive me."

He smiled. "Of course I forgive you. No matter what happens, no matter how I act, I will always care deeply about you. I hope you can forgive me as well. I had no right lashing out like that." he said kindly.

I felt heat creep up my cheeks and I became thankful for the darkness. "Of course." I replied quietly. Than a thought came to my mind. "You know, you could have told me you were keeping tabs on me." I said with a grin. He furrowed his eyebrows. "What're you talking about?" he questioned.

"The camera? Behind my desk?" I pulled it out of my bag to show it to him. He took it, than slowly shook his head. "There isn't supposed to be a camera there Iris. I didn't authorize it."

My eyes widened as I realised what was happening. "I.. I have to go.. I'll see you tomorrow." I whispered, beginning to back up, but Damien grabbed my arm. "Wait! What's going on, are you okay?" he asked worriedly. I pulled my arm out of his grip and started quickly down the sidewalk. "I'll explain everything tomorrow!" I called before taking off towards my house.

I knew I found it odd that Mari always knew exactly when to come in, but I now understood why.

She was watching me.

a/n: thiS cHaPTeR iS fUCKinG dePreSSINg i'M sOrrY. but a certain evil assistant may or may not get what's coming to her in the next chapter ; )))

also it's worth mentioning that as of today i have nearly 530 reads!! holy shit thank you so much! it really means a lot to me that people enjoy my work, especially since i have so much fun writing it!

i'm going to finish the hard copy of this book soon, so i can focus on typing all the chapters *andplanningasequelahEM* very very soon.

i love you all, thank you for reading!!

-🦋