Love Is Endless

Chapter 14

Mark watched as Natalia smiled through the pictures they took on his phone and smiled. He stretched his arm out and tucked that one strand of hair that was always out of place. They packed the remaining food in a container and then stood up. The car ride to Natalia's house was silent. But comfortable. He parked onto the side of the road and then crossed the road over to Natalia's house while holding her hand. Mark's hand stopped midway from ringing the doorbell when he heard the shouting from inside. Natalia felt her ears burns with embarrassment when she looked at Mark.

"You should go home, Mark," she whispered. "You probably have stuff to do anyways."

"You're right. I do have stuff to do." Natalia forced a smile and then opened the door. When she stepped in, Mark followed. Before Natalia could speak, he whispered, "I have to make sure my girlfriend is okay. And I have to make things better between us before she finds someone better. Now come on, let's give the food to Sanjit and you can take a nap." Mark felt a sharp pain in his arm and hissed.

"Why do you always have to scare me like that?!"

They quickly walked past the parents and went into Sanjit's room. He didn't notice them since he was playing his ps3 and had headphones in that even Natalia could hear clearly. She put down the two full containers in front of him and he took off the headphones.

"Thanks."

"How long have they been going on for?" Mark asked.

"When I came back from school, I found them like that. I couldn't even get anything to eat since they were chucking plates around." As if on cue, Mark heard the smashing of glass and jumped.

"You get used to it," she whispered as she walked out. Mark quickly followed after her and locked her bedroom door.

"I didn't know it was that bad..."

"They are so lucky I kept my grandma's plates and cups in my cupboard. That reminds me, let me talk to her."

"You close to her?"

"Very! I literally talk to her every day and if I don't, then I text her." Natalia quickly pulled her laptop out and turned it on. "I'm gonna skype her so if you see her then don't say anything. She has a massive scar that goes across her head from a surgery she had. And she has several cuts on her face from an accident she had last week," she said while signing in. She put the laptop on her bed and sat down in front of Mark. He leaned over her and put his phone on charge.

"Nan! Oh, I've missed you!"

"You're worse than me, Talia," a raspy voice said.

"Oh, she calls you the same name as me," Mark said while putting his phone down and straightening up. "Hello there, Nan. Might I say, not many women rock that bald hair style but you are pulling it off."

"Natalia, who is that?"

"Nan, this is Mark. The one I was telling you about. My boyfriend."

"The one who went to see his friend about her bloody dead cat instead of comforting you? I don't know why you sound so proud." Mark's smile dropped and Natalia put a hand on his knee.

"Ignore her, she's just a little spiteful sometimes," she whispered as she turned back to him.

"I'm not spiteful, Talia. It's called being protective of you. Mark, I'm sorry I hurt you. I guess that was out of order."

"That's okay. What you said was true so...Why don't you talk to Talia while I go to Sanjit."

"No. Stay. I wanna get to know the person my granddaughter has been talking about for the last couple years. Anyways, what have you guys done today?"

The next hour, both of them talked to her. When Natalia turned off her laptop she sighed and looked up at Mark.

"Did you really think I wouldn't see you making faces behind me? It's on a bloody camera, Mark!"

He shrugged. "It was worth a try."

"Sometimes you worry me." Natalia put her laptop on the desk and sat back down on the bed. "You should be going home now. Does your dad even know you're here?"

"Yeah. I told him when I went to the toilet. You should get changed and start going to bed."

"It's just past six." Either way, Natalia went to her wardrobe and took out her clothes. She then went into the bathroom and returned two minutes later where she found Mark rolled out in the blanket.

"A little help here, please," he said.

"I think you need a lot of help," she said with a laugh.

After she rolled him out, she then sat beside him. Mark pushed her head down onto his lap and she put a pillow under her head. Silence over took the house.

"Are they finished?"

"That was them getting started. Just wait till the come upstairs and then go back down."

After another two hours of hearing her parents scream foul words at each other, she felt a few tears escape her burning eyes.

"Talia, what's wrong?" he said, concerned.

"It was never this bad the first time. I could have dealt with it if it like the first time but it isn't." She sat up and wiped her tears away. "You should be going home. Your dad might worry."

Mark lay under the blanket and then put his head on the pillow. "I'm not going until I know you're okay." Natalia lay beside him and he whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry about yesterday. I should have been here with you. I didn't know it was this bad, Talia. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You're here now. That's all that matters." Natalia picked up her head when Mark put his hand underneath it and then turned her back to him. Mark kissed behind her ear and closed his eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered before closing her eyes.