(Mark's POV)
I didn't know Y/N all that well, nor did I know her brother Jakob all that well. Something ignited inside of me as the two of us searched for her brother. I wasn't quite sure what it was. All I know is that I'm relieved that Jakob called not just for me, but for Y/N as well. In the small amount of time I've gotten to know her over the course of searching for her brother, I've realized that she doesn't need this kind of stress in her life. Then again, no one really needs that kind of stress.
I sat there, Y/N's phone in my hand as I glanced at her. She was gesturing towards me, telling me to give her the phone. I was about to hand it over when I heard Jakob clear his throat on the other end.
"On second thought, I'd like to talk to you first buddy." Oh god, this wasn't going to go well. I held a finger up to Y/N, telling her to give me a few minutes. She glared when she saw my finger. I could see Y/N mouth out, "but it's my phone!"
"Who the hell are you? And what are you doing at my sister's place this late?" This late, it couldn't be that late. I glanced towards a clock that sat on an entertainment center by her flatscreen. 2:46 am. Well shit, he wasn't kidding when he said it was late. Time really does fly when you're searching for a missing girl's brother.
"I'm helping your sister look for you."
"Yeah, likely story." Jakob sarcastically spoke. I get he was just being the protective older brother, but he does remember he disappeared without a trace, right? "Well congratulations, I've been found! You don't have to help her anymore so you're free to go!"
"Doesn't really work like Jakob. I'm not going anywhere until you show up at her doorstep."
"Lucky for you, I'll be there in the morning." I heard Jakob sigh on the other end as he mumbled something under his breath. "I have to leave now. Just tell my sister I'm on my way home and that I'll explain everything when I get there."
"Alright, I'm sure she'll be thrilled."
"Oh, and one more thing, if I find out you pulled or try to pull anything on my sister it won't be such a happy reunion tomorrow, got it?" I had to stop myself from laughing. If he was anything like his sister, this would be interesting.
I could barely get out "Yeah I'll tell her" before Jakob disconnected the call. I stared down at the phone screen for a few moments before handing it back to her.
"So, what did he say to you?! Is he coming home?!" I could see the pure joy and excitement radiating from her face as she stared at me. For the first time since I've known her, I began to notice the smallest of smiles growing on her face. The feeling of relief washed through my system as I noticed this. What, just because I don't know her doesn't mean I can't be happy for her.
"He said that he'll be home tomorrow morning and that he'll explain everything to you once he gets here."
"What do you mean, 'he'll explain everything to me?'."
"I'm not quite sure, I didn't get the chance to ask him before he hung up." She sat there, nodding her head as if she were still trying to process all of this information.
"Did Jakob say anything else to you?" She asked, the hopefulness shining in her Y/C/E. I thought back to the warnings he gave me. I decided against telling her because one, she didn't need to deal with the fact that her brother thought I was trying to get with her. Second, nothing was actually happening between us so it's not like she needed to know.
"No, he didn't mention anything else." I've never been the best of liars so I prayed to god I was convincing.
Once again, Y/N began to nod her head. This time, much slower. I watched as a few tears began to make their way down her cheeks as she sat there, her elbows on her knees and her eyes cast down towards the ground.
"Hey," I rested my hand against her shoulder, rubbing my thumb along her skin. "You're brother's safe, ok? It's going to be ok."
"I know he's going to be," She wiped at the corners of her eyes. "I just can't help but think of what could have happened, you know?"
"You're going to drive yourself crazy thinking about the what if's. All that matters is he's coming home and you'll see him soon enough." I heard Y/N chuckle slightly as she continued to wipe at her eyes.
"One thing's for sure is that he's going to have hell to pay when he get's back."
(Back to you)
You woke up the next morning, the sun shining brightly in your eyes. You groaned as you covered your eyes with your arm. Whoever was a morning person wasn't normal, they had to be some type of alien lifeform.
Glancing at the clock, you saw that it was almost 9 in the morning. Shit, Jakob said he was going to be here in the morning! You had to look halfway decent for when your brother came home!
You went to stand up from the couch, but an arm around your waist tightened it's grip and pulled you back. What the hell? It was now that you noticed you were against something solid and warm, unlike the cool, soft material of your couch. You glanced up and saw Mark's head a few inches above yours. His head was propped up on his forearm as his arm was around your waist. Well, to say this was awkward would be the understatement of the year.
As you went to nudge MarK, you heard footsteps up to your door. Then a key being inserted into the lock. The only people that had a key to your place were you and Ja- shit. You couldn't get Mark's arm off your waist before your brother walked in, a mixture of a glare and smirk on his face.
"Well, what do we have here." His voice rang through your house. Only then did you see Mark's eyes pop open. You heard him mutter something under his breath before he ripped his arm away from your waist, pushing you away from him slightly as he began to stand up from the couch.
"Wait a minute, you're the guy that fired my ass!" Once Jakob started taking a few steps towards Mark, you couldn't help but step in between them. "I thought you said you weren't going to pull anything on her, huh?! What, firing me wasn't enough so now you're trying to get my sister in your bed?!?!"
"Whatever the hell is going on is not important." You raised your voice, shocking both Mark and your brother. "What is important is where the hell you've been Jakob!" Turning towards him, your eyes were filled with anger. "Why did you just leave? You didn't tell me, you didn't say anything! I thought something happened! I've spent weeks, with Mark's help, searching for you! Do you know how many times I thought you did something to yourself?!"
"I know sis, I know. I'm sorry I left you, I should have at least told you what was going on." You heard Jakob clear his throat as he scratched the back of his neck. "You're right, I was in a bad place after- he fired me. I left because if I stayed here, I would have done something to myself. I also didn't want you to worry about me, you do that enough as it is."
"You may not understand Y/N but that job I had was my life. It finally brought me back to the position I was in before mom and dad died. When this joke over there fired, I couldn't take it. So I left, to Nevada. I have an old college friend who lives there so I stayed with him until I felt that I could come back. I knew that if I told you, that you would have tried to bring me back home, and I didn't want that, nor did I need it."
Mark cleared his throat and moved to step in front of you. He must have seen the look in your eyes because he whispered, "I'll be ok."
"First of all, I'm not sleeping with your sister. I've simply been helping her since you've been gone. She actually came into my office a few days after you disappeared, made quite a scene." He chuckled before continuing. "She pled her case and won me over, so I started helping her. There's no hidden agenda with what I'm doing, I'm doing this to help you and your sister."
"About your job, I'm sorry I fired you, Jakob. That was not my call to make, I was just doing what my bosses were telling me to do." Mark took a few steps towards Jakob, his hands raised in defense. "If I would have known that all of this would have happened beforehand, I never would have fired you."
"Without your sister's knowledge, I've been looking into the work you did while you were with my company. You not only saved us money each month, but you're one of the most creative minds I've seen step through my company's doors in a long time. That's why I want to offer you a job. Head engineer in the engineering department. I truly think with you leading the department, you can bring MF Municipal Center to heights it hasn't seen yet." Mark stuck his hand out towards Jakob. "What do you say?"
There was an unreadable expression on Jakob's face as he thought about it. After a few minutes, he accepted Mark's hand. "I'll take it."
"Good."
"This better not be a way to get you in my good graces so I'll let you get with my sister." All three of us laughed slightly as we stood there. "I'll call you later sis, I've got some things I have to take care of." With a quick kiss to your cheek, Jakob was out the door.
Once he left, you couldn't help but blurt out, "What the hell just happened" which made Mark laugh.
"That, my friend was me making amends." Mark started walking towards the door himself, then turned back towards you, his eyes shining. "Are you coming or what?"
"Coming where? Where is it I'm going?"
"I said I was making amends, this is me- making amends. Come on , let me take you to breakfast. You can finally go back to eating balanced meals since your brother's back." You thought about his offer, then accepted it.
You weren't going to pass up the chance to get some free breakfast.
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I don't know about you guys, but the ending was definitely my favorite part :D I would love to hear any sort of requests you guys might have for Imagines, I'll hopefully be able to do justice to your idea ;)
I know I said I would be taking a week break after the next Imagine was up. I'll still be taking a week off, I'll just be doing it after the next chapter for It's Never Too Late instead of this!
~Miranda~