Marked

Chapter 39

Skeppy POV

Or so they thought. The lack of good sleep from the previous night left Skeppy irritable. As he sat at his desk, thoughts flooded his mind. Annoying, painful thoughts. The same type he tended to have during his nightmares. It was as if he was having another nightmare, but this time he was awake. No easy escape, waking up wasn't an option here.

Skeppy rested his head on the desk, trying not to think too much. It had been so long since he had felt normal. Summer was fast approaching, but the last time Skeppy had lived out a normal day was in early January. A pleasant day. Waking up in the afternoon, eating "breakfast," getting online to record videos with Bad, streaming until late into the night. It was how he had always lived.

Now, everything was different. Skeppy had to read into every word he or Bad said. He had to pay close attention to and control his emotions. One playful argument and their fate goes spiraling. Part of Skeppy knew that the fates had already decided they would fail.

As close as the end was... Just barely out of reach. Skeppy heard a knock at the door. He mumbled something, not quite resembling 'come in' or 'go away' so Bad opened the door.

"Skeppy, are you ok?" Bad asked.

"No."

"What's wrong?"

"Everything." Skeppy thought for a moment. It was always Bad taking initiative to do things. It was always Bad who spent hours each night working. Bad seemed so productive when Skeppy spent his time sitting around, trying to be useful, but usually not helping.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bad sat down on the bed. The one Skeppy had only used once since he returned.

He stayed there with his head down. Part of him wanted to tell Bad all of his thoughts. He wanted to tell Bad about all his demons, but fear of burdening Bad stopped him. Another of his demons. Burden.

"All my life..." Skeppy began. "I've felt like a burden to those around me. I just want to be useful for once..." With each word, more thoughts flooded his mind. "And I think too much. I'm constantly overthinking."

"Skeppy..." Bad didn't have the words to say, so Skeppy continued.

"I'm so used to feeling this way... I'm tired of caring," Skeppy didn't feel relief, nor did he feel regret. He was tired of fearing his nightmares, tired of overthinking every word he said.

"Skeppy, it's just two more days. Everything will be fine in two days. No more overthinking, we can both just be happy."

"It's not about that. Even before all of this, I've felt like a burden to you. I'll still feel the same after. I just want to be useful!"

"Your company is enough! Believe me when I say: you are not a burden, Skeppy."

"You know it's not as simple as that. We've had this conversation before. I need some way to prove myself..." He set his head down on the desk again.

"If you won't listen to what I'm saying, maybe you just have to figure it out yourself." Bad got up and left, leaving Skeppy alone again.

He was tempted to allow himself to fall asleep. Maybe sleep was what he needed, but he knew there was no way he could sleep peacefully after what had just happened.

Part of Skeppy was glad Bad had left. No chance of fighting. But the other part of him hated it, he hated being alone. He had had his share of solitude in his life. In the past month by itself, he had experienced more solitude than he ever would've wanted to.

BadBoyHalo POV

Bad stared at his screen. Skeppy really never believed him. Bad had told Skeppy many times that he was no burden, but Skeppy had some sort of voice in his head telling him not to listen. Demons. Bad had his own demons. His were nowhere near as prominent as Skeppy's.

Bad had learned to deal with them. He would gladly fight side by side with Skeppy to help him overcome his demons, the only thing he needed was for Skeppy to accept his help.

When he came to check on Skeppy, his original plans had been to ask if he wanted to go out and do something, but that idea seemed so far away now. Part of Bad had been thinking about what Skeppy had said earlier.

What if they had already failed? Bad wanted to believe they hadn't, but he wasn't so sure anymore. Bad had always believed the tattoos dictated his life, but Skeppy's words had made sense. He also felt sorry. Skeppy had told him many times about how he felt, but Bad wasn't sure what to do about it. There had to be something he could do. Maybe once the time was up, they could live their normal lives again. Hopefully.

Word Count: 829 Words

Author's Note:

Heya! Feels like it's been a while since I did an author's note. Anyways, Merry Christmas if you celebrate it. (To anyone reading in the future, Merry no longer Christmas!) I can feel the book coming to a close soon. Part of me wants to write a second one. Would you read a second one? I don't know, I just like the idea of messing around in the world I've built. Marked acts as a stand alone, but you could read the second one if you want. 

Hopefully this book ends around the 50 chapter mark. I don't want to drag it out too much. Anyway, have a good rest of your day! Happy holidays from the Marked cast :D

Total Word Count: 956 Words