Beyond The Limelight ★ Markiplier X Reader

.*★ 38 ★*.

"What do you think she wants to talk to you about?" Mark asked as you both sat at Bojangles Bar, waiting for none other than Zola herself.

A day or two after Josh got arrested, Zola had gotten into contact with you again, basically begging to meet up with you and have a talk. Considering what happened last time, you thought it best to bring Mark with you. Not that he could be much in terms of backup considering his injuries but he could at least attempt to diffuse the situation in case it got heated. It was actually his idea to meet at an establishment as opposed to the wide open in order to keep things as civil as possible.

"I have no idea. I just hope she's not planning on cussing me out and trying to fight me again." You said with a nervous laugh as you played with your fingers. "Although her messages sounded... different."

Mark nodded then glanced behind you. "Too late to turn back now." He muttered quietly as he watched the tanned, dark haired girl walk in, clutching her purse nervously as she looked around and laid her eyes upon Mark. She forced a smile and gave a little wave before walking over to the table.

"Um... hello." She said, clearly very nervous, then sat down at the small square table and placed her purse in her lap. "I uh... didn't know you were bringing company."

"Well after what happened last time I'm surprised you didn't." You said a little bluntly.

"Do either of you guys want a drink? On me." She asked, to which you both politely declined, having just finished your drinks before she arrived.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" You asked, just wanting to get right to it.

"Straight to the point huh?" Zola laughed a little. "Um... okay... how do I put this?" You and Mark waited patiently for her to think of what to say. "I um... I wanted to say... um..." she took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

You looked at her with a hint of surprise, then let her continue.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done... and I'm especially sorry for what Josh did. I never would've thought he would do something like that. I realised what a tool he was and broke up with him which I think made him a little crazy. He was so obsessed with you Y/N, even said your name when we were having..." She sighed. "You know. I really despised you for it. But it's not your fault, he's a fucking dick and I can't believe it took me so long to just end it with him."

You nodded, listening closely.

"How are you by the way? After Josh..." Zola turned to Mark and looked at him with a sorry expression.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." He said simply, then urged her to continue.

"Y/N..." She said, turning back to you, clearing her throat. "I'm sorry for sleeping with your boyfriend behind your back. I'm sorry for how defensive and petty and insane I acted after the fact. I'm sorry for how our last meet up went."

You felt so many conflicting emotions run around in your brain as you finally heard what you wanted to hear from the woman who used to be your closest friend. All you wanted to hear was that she was sorry. Now you had it you had a sense of closure but also skepticism, confusion, anger for it taking so long. Nevertheless, you stayed quiet and let her speak.

"I'm sorry for what Josh did and... I'm sorry... for this..."

Zola reached into her purse and pulled out her phone, unlocked it then showed you her screen. On her phone was Twitter. She was logged in to the SnakeWatch hate account. The one responsible for the worst of the rumours. The one responsible for taking photos of you as you went about living your life. The one responsible for putting so much strain on your relationship.

You looked at her with a mixture of shock and anger, then at Mark, then back to her. Of course it was Zola. Who else would it have been?

"That was you?!" You spat. "You're SnakeWatch?!"

Marks eyes widened as he looked at Zola with an expression you'd never seen on him before. "You." He said simply.

Zola swallowed hard then nodded, a guilty expression on her face. It pained her coming clean in front of both of you but she also felt relieved that this petty, grudge holding part of her life could finally come to an end.

"I should've known! How did I not know?!" You said in anger. "You- you- do you realise how much stress you've given me? Given us?!"

"Listen." Zola said softly, trying to calm you down. "I don't expect you to forgive me but... I want to try and make it right. Here." She took her phone back then typed on it for a while and then handed it back to you. On it was a tweet typed out ready explaining that everything on the account was fabricated and urging people to leave you alone. It wouldn't undo all the damage done but it would certainly help. You nodded and she posted it.

"There. I'll delete all the previous posts too." She said. "Oh and uh... one other thing." She reached into her purse and pulled out a plane ticket. "Again, I don't expect you to forgive me but I want you to know that you won't have to worry about me any more. I'm moving to England."

Your expression softened as a wave of nostalgia hit you. "Just like you always wanted..." you said quietly, looking at the plane ticket, remembering all the times Zola had told you of her dreams of moving to the UK when you were friends. "But... why? Why are you apologising now?"

Zola took her plane ticket back and put it in her purse, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Hearing about what Josh did... I felt so ashamed and upset and I was so worried about you. As much as I've grown to hate you recently I just... I'm so over it. I want to move on from him. Move on from you. And start fresh. Finally achieve my dreams instead of blaming you for the things I couldn't achieve."

You gave her a soft smile. As much as you'd grown to dislike Zola after everything she did, hearing that she was finally ready to grow up and realise you weren't out to get her felt good. You could finally rest knowing that Zola understood that your career, life and goals were driven by your own dreams, not the desire to make
Zola look bad.

"I can't say everything you did will be easy to forgive but... thank you for your apology." You said quietly.

She nodded, then looked at Mark. "I'm such a big fan by the way." She said with an awkward laugh.

Mark laughed too. "Thanks." He said.

"I'm so ashamed of how I acted and I'm so embarrassed. I've looked up to you for a long time and I'm sorry for making your life so difficult." She said earnestly. Her heart raced looking at him, ever the fan girl.

Mark nodded. "Thank you."

Zola then sighed again, feeling like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders. "Anyway I won't stick around long, I have things to pack." She said, smiling at you. "Goodbye Y/N. Respectfully, I hope I never see you again. Although I'm sure I'll be seeing you online quite a lot fairly soon."

"Respectfully, the feeling is mutual." You said, returning her smile. "Bye Zola."

"See ya."

She then stood up and left. Just like that, she felt like a new person.