'Cause baby you look happier, you do
My friends told me one day I'll feel it too
And until then I'll smile to hide the truth
But I know I was happier with you
Ed Sheeran
"She's happier, isn't she?" Marcus asked. He was sat watching the TV with Gianluca and what Y/n had been saying was eating away at him since she said it. "Probably. There's nothing you can do though. You'll be happier soon enough too mate." Gianluca replied. "That's the thing, I thought Lauren would make me feel better but she hasn't." Gianluca looked over to Marcus and arched an eyebrow. "That's why you broke up so quickly?" Marcus didn't speak and that silence said a thousand words. "Marcus, you can't just expect to run back into her arms, I guarantee you she's already in a better mindset now. The best thing you can do is to try and move on." Marcus let out a sigh and sat up. "You know what? I'm going out." Marcus announced as he marched towards the door. "Mate, it's raining." Gianluca said in disbelief. "I need to clear my head, I'll be back soon enough." and before Gianluca could get another word in, Marcus was already gone.
Marcus kicked a stone along the pavement as the rain lashed down onto his hooded figure. He was feeling down and he didn't think anything could make him feel better. Just as that thought whizzed through his head again, he heard a sweet laugh that filled the skies and travelled up to the heavens. He looked over across the street, his hopes as high as ever and there she was. Y/n, with a comfy looking jacket on and an umbrella over her head. "Hey Y/n-" He was going to call her but then he spotted a man curling his arms around her. He watched as she smiled along with this man. He'd never seen this guy before but she looked happy. A loud, joyous laugh erupted once again and that practically shattered Marcus. The smile they shared was twice as wide as theirs when they were dating. "Marcus!" He was torn from his thoughts as he heard her voice call over to him, a wave to accompany it. He waved back awkwardly and silently prayed that she didn't come over but of course, she did. "Hey Marcus. How have you been?" she asked. She was noticeably happier than two weeks ago when she saw Marcus with Lauren. She must have moved on and tried to find someone too.
It hurt Marcus. He could try and smile to hide the truth but Y/n would know he was faking it. "Gert in under myy umbrella, it'll keep you dry for a bit., Y/n said pulling Marcus underneath. "Hey Y/n. You doing good?" She let out a sigh. "Doing good I think. Just working on myself right now." She was doing so well without him. Why wasn't he doing well without her? Was he that stupid and useless and- "Yeah. You look happier." he said. "Really?" He broke a little bit when she didn't notice that he was actually sad. Usually she'd be able to notice even if he wasn't feeling sad but now it was different. "Yeah. You really do." he repeated. "So, how's you and Lauren working out?" Marcus shrugged his shoulders. "Look, we just didn't work out." She smiled pitifully at him. "I'm so sorry to hear that." Y/n said sincerely. "Gianluca kept telling me I'd feel happier but it's not happening right now." Y/n put her hand on his shoulder and offered yet another pitiful smile. "It'll work out Marcus. It'll work out one day." Marcus scoffed. "It sure worked out for you, didn't it?" Y/n arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" she asked. "Well look at you. You've got your life sorted now and I'm just going backwards."
"You couldn't be more wrong actually. I'm building myself, it doesn't mean I've got my life sorted and as for you-" Marcus chuckled a bit and finished her sentence for her. "I'm kinda just washed up. I can't function without you here. I broke up with you with the intention to make you happier and now I'm miserable and everything is basically going to shit. That was always a fear, knowing one day you'd fall in love with someone else and you'll forget all about me." Marcus' voice cracked with that last part of his statement. He was beyond missing her at this point, it wasn't exactly jealousy either. He couldn't put a word to it. "Marcus, I could never-" She lifted her hand to his face but he pushed it away just liek he pushed her away before. "Just forget it. It was nice bumping into you but I don't want to waste your time." Marcus started walking away again, back towards where he came from. Some small tears flowed down his face. He wasn't one to cry in public but this must have been what rock bottom felt like, what the end was like.
"Marcus!" He looked back and saw her running after him, her umbrella inside out at this point and her mascara now dribbling down her face. He stopped and waited for her to run up to her before catching her in his arms to stabalise her from basically being thrown about in the wind.
"Marcus! Marcus just stop!" Y/n shouted out of breath before halting right before him. "What?" he asked. He had his hopes built up a little bit but he knew she wasn't going to say what he wanted herr to say. "I wanted to say goodbye this time. We didn't say it any other time and I can't watch you walk away again without saying goodbye." Marcus just stared at her. She was actually leaving him. "I'll settle for a see you later." he chuckled. Y/n smiled and pulled him in for a hug. He was reluctant to hug back at first but he hugged back after he wrapped his mind around it. "I'll settle for that too." she whispered. They let go of each other, both smiling. "Just do me a favour and remember something?" She nodded her head as Marcus continued on. "You look happier, you really do and I knew you'd fall for someone new one day." She felt the pain in his eyes as he said what he was saying. His hand found its way around hers, playing delicately with her finger. "But if he breaks your heart like they do, I'll be waiting for you." Her finger slowly broke away from his hand before she smiled. "I'll see you later Marcus." she said as Marcus watched her walk away. "Of course you will my dear."
"Of course I'll see you later."
The End