"What do you mean I, Marshall?" You asked him incredulously. "You aren't going alone, besides he said he wants me come as well." You told him. He stood up from the couch and walked towards the living room looking considerably stressed.
"Fuck, Y/n I don't know okay!" He said, his jaw set in exasperation. "All I know is I don't have time to fuck around with Clarence. If he wants to tell me something he should just get straight to the fucking point instead of going to you!" He shouted. You looked up at him with wide eyes, and for a moment you saw him falter. He sighed deeply and shook his head, you knew it was the closest he'd get to apologizing for yelling.
"Whatever it is, it really can't be that bad can it? I mean it's Clarence." You reminded him after several moments of silence. Before you could stop yourself you placed your hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him into a sitting position onto the couch. He didn't swat at you or even make a snarky comment, a testament to how tired he really was. "Marshall, seriously. Something's been going on with you.." you said, your eyebrows furrowing in concern as you addressed him. "What's wrong?"
He looked away stubbornly and said nothing. For a long moment you were sure he was going to just ignore your question entirely.
"This is how it always is." He stated, still not really looking at you as he talked. He leaned forward on the couch a little and slipped his hat off. He rubbed at his tired face for a moment and sighed. "This is how it always is when I'm living with my mom." He explained with a stifled eyeroll. "Like I said I'm taking care of Lilly right now, or at least damn well trying to. My mom doesn't work, and she doesn't give a fuck whether or not the kid eats." He mumbled. "Doubled with.. paying the rent so she doesn't get kicked out, it all means longer shifts and no time for anything else."
You thought about this for a moment. You realized with a start that you hadn't heard him talk about battles or even any new ideas in several days, another thing that was unusual for him."Rapping?" You asked, turning to face him on the couch and crossing your legs.
"Rapping, sleeping, an' all the other crap I used to do before I moved back in." He said. You frowned as you listened to him.
"So, in other words, you're tired?" You asked him gently, deciding to just put it in simple words. He glanced away stubbornly and scoffed.
"I'm not tired." He contradicted. He crossed his arms and kept his gaze away from your questioning one. You knew that if you could get him to look at you, he'd tell the truth. You tentatively brought your hand up to his cheek and turned his head to face you. Though you turned his head, he kept his gaze trained somewhere else.
"Marshall." You said knowingly, your eyebrow slightly raised. His eyes finally trailed over to meet yours. They looked dull, stifled and generally just not like Marshall's eyes at all. You understood at once that the problem was something bigger than just sleep.
"Yeah. I'm tired." He admitted, his voice slightly hesitant. "I'm fucking exhausted. I can't stand being in that crap trailer."
You knew that if he was admitting it then it was worse than you thought. He truly did look exhausted. Though he always seemed to have dark circles under his eyes, it seemed a lot worse than usual today.
"Marshall I know you don't want to hear this, but I really think you should take the night off." You suggested quietly. He looked like he could barely keep his eyes open, you knew that working would be an impossible feat.
He shook his head and looked away again. "Y/n, I can't. If I'm staying there, I gotta work. That's just the way it is."
You thought about his words for a moment before an idea came to mind. "Just come stay with me for the week, or however long you need to catch up on.. sleep, life, all of it." You offered.
He stared at you incredulously when he heard your offer. For a split second his eyes seemed to widen in surprise before he quickly turned on his elusive demeanor again. He looked away and shook his head a little stiffly.
"Can't, Lilly." He stated flatly.
"She can come too." You said, not letting him get around your offer that easily. "I have more than enough room, I'm always alone here anyways. It won't be a bother at all."
"Y/n.." he sighed, sinking against the couch.
"Marshall.." you copied him, also moving against the couch. "Look, when are you going to get it through your head that I care about you and you dont have to do everything alone anymore? You're pretty much stuck with me, hate to break it to you."
He looked over at you without saying anything for a long time.
"Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly. You almost didn't catch the question.
"I'm sure Marshall. Really, it'll be fun." You assured him.
He scoffed a little and looked away. As you studied him, you could tell he was trying to hide his smile, something he did often. "Fun?" He asked, sounding skeptical.
"Yes fun. When we're together we always have fun don't we?" You reminded him cheekily. He thought it over for a moment before shrugging.
"I guess so." He mumbled tiredly. You narrowed your eyes at him and he lifted his hands in surrender.
"Love the enthusiasm Marshall." You huffed playfully. "But seriously. I'm not taking no for an answer. You really can't keep going on like this. It isn't healthy."
He looked away from you once again and stared down at his hands which he rang together. "Why do you care so much, y/n?" He asked. You realized this was the most mellow conversation you'd ever had with Marshall. He seemed like almost an entirely different person when he was tired and worn out.
"Because I do." You stated simply.
He snorted and rolled his eyes, resting his head against the armrest of the couch. "You must be a genius at school." He responded sarcastically. "That's not a real answer."
"Says who?" You asked, looking over at him.
"Never mind." He said, looking up towards the cieling. You frowned a little again. It wasn't like him not to argue back with you. You could feel your heart beating quickly in your chest as you felt yourself starting to answer. You of course knew the reason, but there was no way you could actually admit it to him.
"The real question is, why wouldn't I Marshall?" You asked him. "You make it sound as though it's this huge farfetched thing for someone to care about you. When really I have a hard time understanding why someone wouldn't. You're a great friend, and one of the most honest and genuine people I've ever met. I'll always care about you."
You couldn't see how he reacted to your words. Somewhere along the lines of your speech he had put on the beanie again and it covered up most of his face. You knew that meant he was trying to mask whatever it was that he was feeling right now. Before you could talk yourself out of it, you leaned forward and casually slipped off the beanie.
He blinked up at you and the first thing you noticed was the slightly reddish tint to his cheeks. Your eyes shot up in surprise and he immediately scowled at you.
"Marshall are you.. blushing?" You asked incredulously. He scowled again and snatched his beanie back.
"Oh fuck off." He grumbled, turning his face away from you and not bothering to hide his smile this time.
"You totally are, and you're smiling too. Have I done it? Have I finally made Marshall smile? I thought you didn't do that." You teased.
"Bull. You've seen me smile before." He said, looking back at you.
"Yeah, but you always try to hide it. Like now." You pointed out. It was the first time you had called him out on it. "Why do you do that?"
"Ain't got shit to smile about." He answered. He was quiet for a long moment before adding a quiet, "Usually anyways."
"You should smile more often." You said as you found yourself laying down next to him.
"Yeah?" He asked quietly, continuing to stare up at the cieling before turning to look at you a little. You felt your face heat up slightly as you became acutely aware of how close the two of you were laying down.
"Yeah.." You said to him. "It makes me want to smile too."
Marshall slowly looked back up towards the cieling. "You're weird as hell, y'/n."
"I know." You answered.
He was silent for a few long moments and you were sure he had fallen asleep. "I don't really fuck with normal, though. I like your.. weird." He added slowly, unsure of how to put it without sounding sounding like a complete marshmallow.
You smiled softly at his words. "I like your weird too."
"Watch yourself though, I'm not weird." He smirked.
"You are by far the weirdest person I've ever met." You told him truthfully. He couldn't hold back the quiet chuckle that escaped his lips.
"Shit, y/n. You take me out of a bad mood faster than anyone I've ever met.." he mumbled sleepily, his voice trailing off at the end of the sentence. You knew that he had dozed off, and you stared at him incredulously. You were amazed at what had come out of his mouth. You would have never in a hundred years have known that that was the way he felt had he not just told you.
You leaned in forward and planted a small kiss on his cheek, your face heating up steadily as you watched a faint grin grow on his face as he slept. With that, you slowly slipped off of the couch and draped a blanket over him. You switched off the light in the living room and sat down in the kitchen, starting on your homework.
Though you worked on math equations, your mind remained stuck on Marshall's words.
Y/N: The first new updated chapter in a while haha! The next chapter will be posted a couple days from now since it's quite lengthy. Thank you for reading and all the wonderful comments! Don't forget to vote!