Beyond The Limelight ★ Markiplier X Reader

.*★ 4 ★*.

Before Mark drove off, he sat in his car, looking at your apartment building for a moment, not wanting to leave.

Get ahold of yourself.

He thought, sighing then setting off. The sun was beginning to set, casting rays of light through the thick clouds, painting the LA cityscape in shades of orange and blue. It was calm, peaceful, but Marks brain was still running at a hundred miles an hour, thinking about all the work stretching out before him, thinking about what he should set the donation goal to, thinking about when he would next see you, thinking about what he was going to do when he gets home. The plan was to take Chica and Henry on a walk, film a video- something easy- then relax.

He walked into his house and as he stepped inside, Chica and Henry greeted him, wagging their tails happily.

"Hello! Hi!" Mark petted them, greeting them back excitedly. "Wanna go for a walk? Wanna go walkies?" Before leaving, he grabbed a pill bottle labelled "azstarys" and took his medication, tired of not being able to think properly.

The dogs started wagging their tails harder, padding around on their feet and looking at Mark expectedly. He walked through his house, out the back door and the dogs went running across the field happily. As he made his way across the field, enjoying the last few rays of sunshine for the day, he took a deep breath, feeling the cool evening air fill his lungs. The medication was beginning to do its work and for the first time all day, the swirling chaos of his mind began to settle. His thoughts, usually moving a in a million different directions, began to align, letting him think with a rare clarity.

He started with the stream- that was something productive he could focus on- wondering if there's anything he hadn't thought about so far. This had been at the forefront of his mind for a while now so it was unlikely, but the excitement hadn't died down. It was an event he would have so much fun doing while also helping a cause he felt so passionately about. It was ambitious, sure, but that's how he liked it. Ambitious meant exciting, exciting meant more people would be interested, more people meant making a bigger impact. He thought about how grateful he was for having such a great team behind him already. Friends helping him out, professionals recommending other professionals, and then there was you.

He hadn't expected you to take up so much space in his mind, but there he was, after the first day of meeting you, feeling enamoured like never before. The fact that you were so professional and confident in the meeting despite sleeping in and being late, not knowing anyone else in the room, intrigued him and he admired you for it. You were so easy to talk to and work with, experienced and knowledgeable, but there was something else there under the surface he couldn't quite put his finger on. There seemed to be some sort of vulnerability there hidden under your stony exterior you tried hard not to let slip. It was hard for him to hide his interest and he couldn't help but wonder if you knew how much you intrigued him.

As the dogs circled back to him, tongues lolling and tails wagging, Mark felt a wave of calm wash over him as he led them back to the house.

The next two hours was spent filming a "three scary games" video. He liked filming these because they were fun, people liked them, but they were also quite easy and helped him unwind. Some might find it weird that his way of relaxing was playing (mostly) shittily made horror games but it's just what he liked.

When he finished up, he sent the video to his editor and sat back in his chair. He stopped for a moment as, once again, you crossed his mind. Picking up his phone, he opened instagram and searched your name, bringing up your account and clicked follow. As he scrolled, he smiled to himself, seeing you in all sorts of different places and scenarios, smiling and having a good time. A picture of you in a coffee shop, an outfit check for your first day as an intern, a selfie of you in headphones, playing a video game, it was a collage of your life, your goals, who you were.