Beyond The Limelight ★ Markiplier X Reader

.*★ 32 ★*.

It's been three weeks and Mark was still refusing the idea of going public. The main reason: not only had the rumours failed to die down but they'd in fact gotten worse. The newest one was that you were pregnant and you didn't know who the father was since you'd apparently been two timing Mark and Sean. The account "SnakeWatch" was the main source of these rumours. They'd been taking pictures of you out and about, living your daily life, and it was driving you crazy. You'd confronted Mark and begged him to just go public and kill the rumours yet his stubbornness persisted. You loved a lot of things about Mark but his stubborn nature was an aspect of him that made some things... difficult.

Yesterday you'd gotten into a pretty heated argument and it ended with you storming out of the house in a fit of anger, feeling as though your thoughts and feelings were being dismissed in favour of Mark wanting to "protect" you.

As you stood there stirring your cup of tea, staring into space, you felt empty. Wrong. Weird. A feeling of impending doom looming over you.

Suddenly, you were interrupted by a knock on your door making you jump as you spun around. You walked over to your door and opened it.

"Y/N..." it was Mark.

He stood there holding a huge bouquet of your favourite flowers in all of your favourite colours. You stood there in shock as he brought you in for a tight hug and handed you the flowers. His body and clothes were cold from the chilly outside air and he smelled of musk and slightly damp from the fog.

"Mark what is this?!" You asked, taking the flowers and stepping aside to let Mark in. He walked in and stood in the middle of your apartment as you shut the door and walked into the kitchen to place your flowers in water. For now, you simply put some water in the kitchen sink and placed the flowers in there, making a mental note to tend to them later.

"I feel awful about how we left things yesterday and I wanted to come talk to you." He said, standing close to you and holding your hands.

You sighed and looked into his eyes. You felt conflicted, stuck between wanting to give in and keep your relationship a secret or standing up for yourself and making your needs known. After years of keeping your thoughts, opinions and needs on the down low around Josh, you felt so tired of it.

"Alright then." You started, taking a deep breath. "Let's talk."

Mark paused, trying to put his thoughts into words for a moment and then began. "I understand why you're upset I really do. But I need you to understand my perspective." He said as he held your hands tighter for fear of you letting go. "I promise if we wait there will be a better time to tell everyone about us."

"There will never be a perfect time." You said sternly. "No matter how long we wait."

"There will." Mark said, his voice equally as stern.

"There won't." You insisted.

You felt a pit in your stomach as you came to realise this was a differing in opinions that you were just never going to get past. And it heavily impacted the quality your relationship.

"Y/N." Mark said. To your surprise, Mark was the one to let go of your hands. He ran his fingers though his hair and sighed heavily, looking around in the kitchen. "Why are you refusing to see it from my perspective? You're being..."

"I'm being what?" You said with a hint of anger in your tone.

"Difficult." He said, looking you dead in the eye.

"I'm being difficult?!" Your voice raised a little. Mark nodded, his face turning a little angry. "You're the one making this whole relationship difficult! This could all go away if we just went public."

"But. It. Won't." Mark said with frustration. "Just fucking LISTEN TO ME!"

You both stood there in silence for a moment, stunned by his outburst. It dawned on the both of you that you were both at an impasse. The air felt thick. Heavy. Looming.

"So what now?" You said with a heavy swallow, staring into space, refusing to look at Mark.

"I don't know." Mark said, sitting down on a chair at your kitchen table, also refusing to look at you.

"My opinion isn't going to change." You said simply.

"Nor is mine." Mark replied.

"I think... I think if you're not willing to listen to my needs then... I don't think we can..." Your heart was racing and the pit in your stomach grew. You couldn't bring yourself to say it.

"I am listening to your needs-" Mark began but stopped, realising whatever he said wouldn't change what was about to happen. "Okay." He said with a shaky breath. "If you don't want to continue this relationship in private then... I don't blame you. I understand. I just can't go public knowing what it'll do for your image. Your job. Your mental health."

"Ok." You said. "Then I guess this is it." You forced your eyes over to Mark who sat staring at the table.

"I guess it is." He said and looked at you with tears in his eyes. "I care about you so much. I just want what's best for you and if you don't feel fulfilled with me then I want you to do what'll make you happy."

You nodded. "Likewise. If you want a private relationship then I hope you find someone who'd be happy with that."

Mark nodded in response. "Thankyou." He said quietly.

"Goodbye Mark." You said, folding your arms and blinking back tears.

Mark got up from where he sat and walked over to you. He stood there for a moment as you reluctantly looked up to meet his gaze. Quickly, he pulled you in for one last embrace, wrapping his big arms around you and holding you close as he sniffled and breathed in as much of your scent as he could. You hugged him back and felt tears begin to roll down your face but you looked away to hide it.

Mark opened his mouth to say something but thought twice and changed his mind, instead simply turning and leaving, closing the door gently behind him. As he stood there on the other side of the door, he tried his best to stay composed as he went downstairs and out into the car. As he sat in the car and the door slammed closed, he broke down. Tears pouring down his face as he audibly sobbed.

You stood there in the kitchen and wiped your tears, walked over to the tea you'd been preparing before Mark arrived and took a sip. Bitter and cold.

You poured it into the sink with the flowers and stood there staring at them.

Everything felt wrong.