You're My Everything (Septiplier)

"You said to be brave...so I really tried to be."

-Jack's POV-

Morning rays of light float through the opened curtain as I blinked myself awake again. My eyes squinted at the clock on the end table and I wondered why I still hadn't heard from Mark. The promise we had made to not contact each other until after his talk with Hunter was over felt lodged in my throat, and almost out of habit over the last two hours I had been lying in bed drifting in and out of sleep, I checked my phone for text messages.

Still nothing.

I wished now that I had asked more questions as to what Mark planned to say, or if there was a certain amount of time that regardless of what the plan was that I called him to see how things were going between them. What if Hunter took it so badly that Mark needed help?

The light sound of Chica's dog tags came into the room and just on cue I felt her hop onto the foot of the bed and curl up into a golden ball of reassurance.

"You always know when we need you, pup," I whispered, and she yawned and softly wagged her tail.

It was only when I felt the bed shift again that I realized I must have dozed off again, and this time the gentle aftershave and warm arms curling around my waist helped me know that it was Mark. I twisted around to face him, my mind racing with a thousand questions, but all of my needs to know the details froze at the look on his weary face.

The kind brown eyes that I fell so much in love with were reddened, and the thin lips that created a laugh so loud that it could shake the moon out of it's orbit were arched into a broken frown. Before I realized what I was doing my hands are moving to snake around his neck as he pulled me almost impossible close, our foreheads touching and inhaling the shattered pieces of what was left of the person he was.

"I did it," he said, the words forced out as if going to an execution. "I told him everything."

The air felt hot...and almost angry around us, and Chica whimpered at the foot of the bed.

His eyes closed and burning tears escaped to die on the pillow case underneath his head, and I rubbed the back of his neck more out of something to do, but I hoped at least some part of him was comforted by it.

"I never seen someone break right before my eyes," he continued as my thumbs pushed away additional tears. "It was like watching something so beautiful fall away, and there's nothing that you can do to stop it."

He moved his head so that for once, our nap time positions changed, with him curling himself into the middle of my chest as I wrapped him up in my arms as best as I could. He sighed as I rubbed the middle of his back with my left hand, with my right hand fingers finding homes in between his left.

"He...told me that he hated me, Sean."

The last admission hung in the air like a ghost, and any strength he had left over that held him through the talk with Hunter, and the drive back home disappeared. I could feel my heart break as a sob rang out in the morning light of our bedroom, and he fell apart in my arms.

I held him tightly as he wailed into the crook of my neck and the soft places of my shoulders. Kissing his face and cheeks, I held onto the best parts of him while he wrestled with disgust and anger. Regret and rage.

"I'm so sorry..."

The three words were enough to push him again into violent tears and I pressed my lips against his thick black hairline. The grip on my fingers grew painfully tight, but I didn't pull away. I'd never pull away from him.

"I love you, Mark," I muttered into the rising sunlight around us. "I love you for what you did for him, and for yourself, and for us."

"I didn't do anything to earn your love today," he mumbled back, his strong nose brushing against my neck again. "I just finally grew up enough to do what was right. I just...finally stopped being a fucking coward."

Our eyes met as I leaned down, and he looked up at me. The irises of gold sparkled in the warm brown gaze of the only one I ever wanted to be with, again.

"You'll never be a coward, Mark Fischbach," I said, my voice stronger than I realized it could be. "You're the bravest, kindest and most loving person in the world to me. I'm more proud of you now than I ever thought was possible."

The thin lips moved just enough to make the faintest of a smile, and I surged forward to kiss him, our tears finding each other's cheeks and chins. His heart slowed down and mine sped up until they beat as one in the bed that we shared together.