living in fantasy stuck in reality

“dick! omg! what-what are you doing here?” fully turning to him now and pulling him into a hug. arms wrapped tight around his slim waist, ear pressed to his chest, barely hearing the thumping of his heart. his own rested over your shoulders and kept you safe against him.

pressing your chin into his chest you grinned wildly, almost insanely, with your eyes closed shut. opening them again you took in the delicate smile painted on those soft lips. “wally and artemis are visiting and i wanted to show them one of my usual haunts. think i lost them somewhere, probably making out in a dark corner.” he brought a hand up and with gentle fingers brushed some sweaty strands of hair behind your ear.

you gave him a squeeze, “well i’m so happy we managed to bump into each other. come on, let’s dance!” slipping from the close hold to make a bit of distance and reaching for his large hands to interlock your fingers together. you mostly jumping and flailing about with dick mostly watching you, his face hidden in the shadows that come and go.

at some point, you weren’t blacked out time just moves so much differently, you and dick sat outside the building. the muggy blüdhaven air feeling thick in your lungs but easier to breathe in than inside. you both were nursing your own cup of water with you occasionally taking a hit of a lit cigarette some stranger passed off to you.

just as you were about to take another drag it was ripped from your fingers and thrown to the floor, then stomped on. “hey!” a childish whine that your drunk cigarette was stolen from you.

dick chuckled and it caused your ears to perk up. turning your head in his direction you let yourself get lost in his side profile. his jet black hair was growing out, starting to curl behind his ears and along the back of his neck. his skin looked tanner, your eyes dropped to his throat and watched how his adam’s apple bobbed.

you bit your lip, “hey dick…” voice a bit rough from the earlier shouting. he turned to you with raised brows and a quiet hum of acknowledgment, you rested your chin in your palm as that digged into your thigh.

“god this is- i really wanna kiss you right now, but i know that’s not a smart idea.” clicking your teeth in defeat.

it was quiet, well quiet as it can get outside a nightclub. you didn’t bother looking back at dick, so you stood abruptly from your step. you wobbled a moment, wiped the bottom of your outfit off and downed the rest of your water. “i think i’m-“

“hey,” his hand wrapped around your wrist softly, not in a demand but asking. he stared up while you stared down, “what makes it a bad idea?”

a simple shrug while you rolled your lips, “i don’t know…that’s not something friends just blurt out to each other.” words more of a mumble.

a full minute before dick stood to his full height, still managing to be taller even with your heels along with being on the higher step. the hand holding your wrist unraveled and slowly began to trail up your arm, goosebumps rising in the wake. one hand resting on your neck, his pinky sitting along your shoulder with the other holding your cheek.

a hum, “yeah, i just view them separately. tone is your words and emotions is your heart, but yes. what would it be?” quickly shaking your head to your own tune.

you could feel steve’s fingers mindlessly tap along your shoulder, you wiggled your toes similarly.

“happy for sure. just smiling the whole time, yelling the lyrics into the air by yourself or with a group of people. almost like a cheesy perfect day-“

“crazy i was going opposite,” accidentally cutting him off with your hazed mind and honest mouth. you brought a hand to your mouth, “sorry-“

he giggled, “it’s okay. why the opposite?” he prompted, letting his knuckles rub against your skin.

you immediately jumped in, “that feeling of experiencing melancholy in a private setting… is a certain pain that’s kinda addictive. at least to me for some reason.”

the pillowcases rustled with motion. “are you like…making yourself in pain on purpose or something?” steve’s voice was filled with concern.

“no, no, no. melancholy to me is different from sadness or whatever. i think mine has more to do with the instrumental and production. where with a happy song is more lyrical i’d say, and maybe a bit of production.”

“okay but why’d you want to feel that? anything under the sadness umbrella isn’t typically a good feeling.”

you smiled to yourself, “sometimes you want to be sad without being depressed, i feel that’s a good balance. it’s a longing without a tightness forming inside you, you can breathe easily.”

neither of you said anything for a moment, just fidgeting and hearing bits of the outside world in the early morning. and then- “i think you smoked a bit too much tonight.”

a soft giggle in response, “actually i think i smoked the perfect amount. you’re just a man and a hater.” poking steve’s ribs teasingly.

you could heard the smile in his voice, “mmm my bad, love. i should’ve remembered you’re just better than me.” you felt him press his lips to your temple and you closed your eyes in content.

“damn straight,” mumbled out as you let your tiring body sub come to its wish for sleep.

-

“you want to be responsible for this mess?” “hey!”

the guy stepped between you and grumpy face, “yeah it’s all good. no more problems for the night, promise mr. johnson.” the man “hmmp” eyed you up and down then turned away.

the other tenets lingered for a moment longer before your new friend started to direct you to, what you assumed, was his apartment. it was pretty much a dorm room, an even tinnier studio. you just flopped onto his bed, the springs creaking from your thrown weight, and heard the rolling wheels of a chair then a sigh.

“so…what’s-what’s your name? guessing it’s not actually sam.” boy savior tried to break the thickening silence, patting noises bouncing off his four walls. “i’m steve.”

“y/n.” giving a mindless wave of your hand as you let your eyes focused on his popcorn ceiling. you just wanted a fuck now you’re just talking with some random dude. pushing onto your elbows you observe the boy, steve, across from you. a tilted of your head you noted how he was covered in freckles, a slight stubbed was darkening his upper lip and jaw, he tried to avoid looking your way with a slight red running up his neck. cute.

“do you know billy hargrove?” abruptly asking about your go to fuck buddy. you saw the way steve’s brows twitched and he made a slight face, “uh not really. just super annoying, plays loud rock music and there’s always a girl leaving his room.” his eyes drifting to his lap as he picked at his pants fabric.

you rolled your eyes, “can’t believe i’m attracted to that stupid guy.” dropping your head back down, a sharp sting in your chest at the confirmation he couldn’t give a flying shit about you. not like you, always running back to be in his arms.

steve coughed, “yeah…uh, no offense but what’d you see in him anyway? like you’re completely out of his league.”

you gave a huff, “he choose me out of a room full of extremely beautiful women. that doesn’t happen to me and…i don’t know. guess he kinda always made me feel beautiful for an hour and i became addicted to it.” saying it aloud made you feel ice cold, a chill that just sat in your heart.

“well you probably already know this, but you deserve better. like thousands times better, someone who’s always gonna put you first.” steve’s voice got soft, sardonic and sweet. it made your stomach tangle together.

you joked, “and is that someone gonna be you? since you were my savior for the night?” but you weren’t opposed to the idea, if you could still have sex tonight that’s a win for you. and if it’s with a better guy then it’s a huge fuck you to billy.

“uh-i-i mean…i wouldn’t mi-mind being that for you…” again you pushed onto your elbows, brows cocked at steve’s stuttering, it was endearing and sweet. he squeezed his eyes shut tight and it caused his face to scrunch up then his hands started moving through the air, “in general. i-i don’t want you to think i’m taking advantage or-or something gross, but i-i would be that person to put you first.”

a smile appeared on your face, “that’s very bold of you to say when we’ve only know each other for…like ten minutes.” you changed your position on his bed from laying on your back to shuffling onto your stomach with palms holding your cheeks.

steve shrugged, “what can i say, i’m a bold guy. and i don’t know, you just have a good energy or whatever about you. my friend told me sometimes you just know right away if someone’s good or bad.”

“wise friend.” “oh definitely, but only on certain things. her taste in food is another thing to worry about.”

the silence settled over again and then, “hey steve, wanna have sex?” he coughed, “what?” you shrugged, “what? i can’t be a bold girl?” he blinked rapidly, “no-no that’s…i’m just-are you sure?”

you tucked some hair behind your ear, “your a good guy steve, no one else would’ve taken a screaming girl into their home. and i’ll be honest, i kinda want to see how well you treat a gal. are you a giver or taker?” wiggling your brows suggestively.

steve scuffed, “i’ll happily give all night.” with that you pushed back onto your knees, eyes hooded while your fingers played with the hem of your skirt, “then why don’t you come show me.”

he stayed in his seat, eyes trailing over you. “are you sure?” voice breathy. you nodded your head and that was the signal that allowed for him to step closer and rest a knee into his comforter. his large palms caressed your warm cheeks, a thumb tugging at your plum colored bottom lip.

“i’ll give you everything you deserve.”

-

2007, a chinese restaurant

paul was…what’s the word? he’s fucking boring. but he was a nice guy and you needed to be with nice guys, but all those other things just combined into a bigger boring mess. you had to withhold an eye roll every ten minutes whenever he coughed, even his coughing bothers you!

“so i was telling sandra about how i was thinking we were in the market for a place, together, and maybe to even start a family. but that was just an after thought, i’m not sure what your stance on that is still. but i was thinking somewhere in the more suburban areas, you could-“

“i’m sorry,” mind running off its tracks the longer he talked. “i-i uh, there was something i actually wanted to tell you tonight. my therapist thought it would be a good idea.” pulling a folded piece of paper from your clutch, running your palms over the wrinkled lines.

you cleared your throat, “paul-“ “y/n.” your nostrils flared at the simple interruption. “paul, my therapist suggested that i come clean about something i’ve been withholding and i agree, wanting to move forward honestly.”

you heard him give a small scuff, “well i don’t think you need to pay a therapist for that.” “paul, please just-“ he held his hands up, “right. sorry, lips sealed.”

a deep breath, “my therapist says i have sexual anxiety, meaning whenever i’m feeling a certain way i always go back to this one person over and over again, no matter if the outcome is the same.” you rubbed your rouge lips together, “i’ve been cheating on you with someone else from the beginning of our relationship.”

he was quiet, the restaurant was buzzing with idle chatter around you, your blood was rushing in your ears. “and also, we should breakup.” icing on the fucking cake.

paul puckered his lips while nodding his head, a slight humorless huff, “a big it’s not you it’s me. because yeah, this is all you, y/n. you could’ve just said something from the beginning, but nope! you had to cheat on me this entire fucking time!” he was practically screaming and all eyes were on the two of you.

“paul, i-i’m really sor-“ “you’re a fucking whore. a goddamn sex fiend whore!” and with that dramatic display he stormed out of the restaurant leaving you shaking in place. somehow, someway your brain kicked into gear and rushed you outside of the restaurant into the lukewarm night. with shaky fingers you managed to pull up his number and send a simple, ‘hey’. slamming your eyes shut, you tilted your head to the sky and tried to stop any tears from falling. and then your phone pinged.

‘come over’

-

2007, a video store

“have a good day sir.” three second beat, “jackass,” mumbled under steve’s breath. no one was ever satisfied with simple customer service these days, they basically want your hand up their ass and puppet them around so they don’t have to think for them to be satisfied. or in robin’s cause, you need to smile more and satisfy every male customer that enters the store.

“you wanna get drunk after work?” robin asked once she walked up to the counter and dropped off a box of return dvds. steve smiled at her idea, “what happened today that you want to forget so badly?” chatting while getting to work on the computer.

robin sighed dramatically, her default mode, “i tripped in front of a really cute girl and that resulted in some dvds crashing to the ground. and i still have to go pick them up, i just walked away! then i could hear soft giggling, they sounded so pretty, but god it’s cause i looked like a doofus!” her hands smacked her temples.

steve just shook his head and ignore the doorbell until he heard someone yelling, “you fucking asshole!” that caught his attention. his head whipped in time to get smacked back into its original position, pretty sure he felt his brain rattle for a second. “you cheated on me with my cousin! what the hell is your problem?”

he had to blink a few times before he was sure his vision was clear. standing on the other side of the counter stood a fuming blonde, her nails almost leaving scratch marks on the wood top. “hey…ste-“ “it’s sarah.”

“sarah, right. sorry. uh it’s just that we’ve only been having casual…sex.” dropping his voice when he remembered this was his place of work. he turned to robin, “give me five?” she just nodded with wide eyes.

“let’s talk outside.” persuading sarah into leaving those nosy old people behind compared to the busy working crowd. she leaned against the brick wall while steve watched her with his hands sitting on his hips, “okay like i was saying, we were only having casual sex. you explicitly stated that and i was taking your word for it. so after two months if you wanted something more you should’ve said something.”

sarah huffed, “me? you also could’ve said something! didn’t you want more after a month?” steve licked his lips, “no, not really. i-i couldn’t find a spark with you that was worth searching for.”

“so you fucked my cousin. was that your dramatic way of saying this was over?” “…kinda?”

next thing steve knew, a fist punched him in the nose.

-

2007, a sex addict meeting (that’s a real thing?)

“before i started this program i thought ‘love’ was a feeling. but that’s bullshit, it’s not a feeling it’s a decision, like everything else. and i see now that when i was in my addiction i made the decision over and over again to choose sex over my self-worth. and it doesn’t mean that i don’t like sex now it doesn’t mean i’m not a sexual person. gail. i don’t need to go trolling online looking for women to go down on. i don’t need to fuck eight guys on one night. i don’t deny what i’ve done. i embrace my past. yes, i did once call one of my neighbors in the middle of the day when he was at work and said, ‘grab some condoms and meet me at the delicious soft pretzel place.’ who cares? i did let someone put a protein bar up my ass once. big deal. i did hack into my supermarkets instagram account and posted a picture of my asshole and said, ‘there was a sale on asshole.’ and then said, ‘come and lick my asshole if you’re bald.’”

you had to leave that meeting before you started laughing at something you weren’t supposed to, plus you couldn’t stop checking if he texted you every five seconds. this was something your therapist suggested you attend, but after tonight you probably won’t be attending another meeting.

a cool breeze tickled your cheek just as you heard someone speak. “holy shit, no way.” you looked over your shoulder to see a guy standing on the building steps with his eyes focused on you, planning to ignore him was changed once you realized your recognized that face.

a soft laugh, “what the hell? steve?” moving closer as he descended the final two steps, automatically pulling each other into a hug. you leaned back with your arms still holding his waist, “wow it’s been so long, like ten-“

“seventeen years.” he quickly corrected you. that made your eyes widen and step back, “wow. and you still look the same, just more matured.” letting your eyes wonder over a forgotten piece of your past.

“you look even more beautiful,” he spoke the sentiment so easily. “so what’ve you been up to?” slipping past his comment quickly onto neutral ground. you lightly scoffed your boot against the concrete, “uh yeah, i-i work with kids, shockingly. kindergarten, little fuckers piss me off, but it keeps me from wanting kids everyday and i appreciate that.”

that got steve to laugh loudly and you followed after a beat when you realized how insane that sounded outside your brain. “i just-i already see them as my own kids and some are more like younger siblings in a way. but yeah…not planning to add to the population anytime soon.” rambling like you were trying to save face.

“no yeah, totally understandable. i have friends with younger siblings and they are such little shits, but i really do love them.” steve stuck his hands into his jacket pockets, “actually i meant to ask you, what’s a girl like you doing in that shit hole?” nodding his head at the building behind you both.

“and i have that same question for you. whatcha doing here girlfriend? you a supposed sex addict?” taking a quick glance at your phone, no message. you turned back to steve who was watching you with raised brows.

“what?” “got a booty call to take care of?” you scoffed, “no. just waiting for something important.”

steve hummed, “well um, if you’re free…would you like to get dinner? catch up a bit more?” he bounced slight on his feet. you debated blowing him-off-but you really didn’t have anything waiting for you, especially not him. “got a place in mind?”

-

one hour later, a small diner

“no way! she really whacked you hard.” leaning over the table slightly to see how steve’s nose still held some black and purple bruises. “bet she had a good reason for it though, am i right?” pointing a salty fry at him with squinting eyes.

he sighed, “yeah.” a hand rubbed the back of his neck, “i sorta slept with her cousin…” “boy or girl?” feeling a plot twist coming.

“…boy.” “oh how scandalous!” smiling widely around your straw. he rolled his eyes, but kept his head ducked low, long strands of his hair shadowing his eyes.

“hey steve?” he hummed around a bite of his burger. you taped your nails on the table, “you remember billy hargrove?” that caused steve to choke on his food, the loud coughing drawing eyes to your booth. you smiled just a bit at the amusement.

“hargrove? what-what about him?” managing to swallow some root beer and wipe away his tears. you replied more to the table then steve as you mumbled, “i’ve been sleeping with him on and off for the past fifteen years.” quickly sucking on your straw, chugging down your milkshake.

a beat then, “wow that’s…i’ll be honest that’s sad.” brows furrowed as your jaw dropped, a little milkshake sliding onto your chin, “and you constantly cheating isn’t?” trying to defend your actions.

steve held a finger up, “first of all, i’m cheating with new and interesting people. you cheat on your partners with the same asshole that you keep crawling back to. now that’s a toxic cycle.” and he…wasn’t wrong.

“fuck,” groaning to yourself. “i really need to get over this awful attachment i have to him. it’s genuinely ruining my chances of having a happy relationship, that fucking parasite!” slightly yelling the last bit.

“yes the parasite and the…other parasite. cause let’s be honest it’s an equal parasitic relationship if you think about it, his side is just more deeply concealed.” steve wiped a finger clean of ketchup with his mouth, your eyes followed the movement. you felt that knot in your stomach.

“i really want to fuck you right now,” blurting the thought out. steve was taking a sip of soda at the exact moment and it ended up spraying the table, and a bit of your top. “sorry-sorry,” he coughed while grabbing a billion napkins to do damage control. you didn’t bother with your shirt, just covering it with your jacket for now.

“sorry didn’t mean to spring that on you, but i felt the need to say it. cause like, i like this sharing we’re doing, but i don’t want to mess it up and just constantly think about you sexually. on accident of course.”

“right,” steve covered his face with his hands for a moment, “um…how about this? we come up with a safe word whenever the other is doing something sexy.” running a hand through his dark strands.

you smirk, “are you saying the feeling is mutual?” steve smiled shyly and looked out the window for a moment, “of course it’s mutual. you got sexier and everything, everything about you is dangerous for me.”

you didn’t exknowledge his sentence, moving forward. “what if we use…avocado?” “too sexual.”

your brows jumped, “how is avocado too sexual?” “if you saw the way i cut one open then you would agree.” “are you just using your fucking bare hands? what are you a caveman?”

steve waved you off, “what about red light? very obvious to stop.” “nah, doesn’t sound fun. that’s the point of safe words, to kinda sound fun.”

he sighed, “okay what’s the worse thing you can think off? like something you know can cause someone great pain.” “dick in a mousetrap.”

steve recoiled, “jesus! where the hell did that come from?” he visibly shivered at the words. “such a sadist you are.”

you grinned brightly, “but it makes you scared, so we’ll shorten it to mousetrap.” you took a quick glance at your phone and realized how lates it’s gotten, “shit. sorry, but i gotta head home, need to make sure i have everything ready for work tomorrow.”

“oh yeah,” steve looked at his watch, “didn’t realize the time flew by.” he insisted that he pay the check and the both of you headed back onto the quiet night streets. you stood in front of each other, a distant street lamp casting its yellow glow.

you pulled a pen out of your purse, “give me your hand.” steve hesitated then stretched it out, “this…is my number. so we don’t have to do smoke signals or keep going to sex addict meetings to find each other.”

steve smiled while flexing his fingers, “smart. well this was definitely a pleasant turn of events, made my night.”

“me too,” twisting your body slightly. you didn’t want to leave but you had to. “well…talk to you later, boy savior.” and you headed off into the night, only looking over your shoulder twice to see him still watching you walk away.

to be continued

-

“look at you hottie! got a nice glow about you more these days.” william commented after you hugged him in greeting then sat across from him for your lunch hang.

digging your teeth in your bottom lip you had to withhold all the…intimate details from the night before. even if you do like having someone that also thinks your boyfriend is extremely sexy, but boundaries. “random mark related question, but do-do you think he’s gotten bulky lately? i swear he’s twice the size then he was about three months ago. not that i’m complaining though.” subconsciously thumbing over a blooming bruise on your thigh.

william shrugged, “he’s a straight guy with a girlfriend. probably just decided to really hit the gym one day, not that he was scrawny before, but you know.” and that ended mark related conversation for now. both of you just dived into work gossip or something either of you heard in the halls, trying to set up future plans with eve and amber also involved.

while you were laughing at a joke william made, you felt a sudden shaking. both of you went silent to tell if there was gonna be an after shock, but it was worse when someone was violently thrown into a building just across the street from the cafe. you and william ducked to the ground, legs turning to jelly at the sight of something so horrific just an arms length from you.

“we gotta go!” someone yelled in your ear followed with a yanking on your arms. your knees scraped the gravel as you tried to steady your self, barely taking a step before you were shoved to the floor causing an agonizing pain shooting through your muscles. “william!” calling for your friend who wasn’t in your sights.

what was in your sights was a mangled human, blood and spit dropping from their lips to the ground. a deep panting causing their chest to puff, huffs of thick air almost cartoonish from their nostrils. they reared their head then started rushing like a bull, it was like a horror scene where you want to run but just can’t take your eyes off the assailant. you thought this was the end, you just closed your eyes, waiting for any impact.

but it never came. your heart started pounding faster, eyes slowly fluttering open to see that monster straining against the resistance of invincible. you couldn’t see the hero’s full face due to the bright yellow mask disguising him, but you could see how his teeth were gritting together so hard they could crack. it was a tug of strength, invincible’s feet were planted firmly on the ground as he pushed most of his upper body forward.

“g-go! now!” he yelled out. he groaned due to the sudden distraction, grunting when the criminal tried pushing him off and he just pushed back. his jaw was flexed and you couldn’t help tilting your head to the side, a bit of curiosity seeping in.

“mark?” speaking your boyfriend’s name.

he looked down at you for a moment, “run!” then grabbed the monster’s head and rammed his knee into its face. he threw a fast punch into the chest causing him to create a bit of distance for the two of you. he gripped your upper arms, made sure your legs were okay, and gave a quick peck to your forehead. then he returned to the action.

watching a moment longer, fighting the conflict in your chest, turning on your heel you made your way towards the police barricade. looking over your shoulder you tried to catch sight of mark again, but two hands held your shoulders and turned you away from the destruction. “oh thank god,” william sighed as he pulled you in tight for a hug, your own arms taking a moment before wrapping around his waist and gripping his red shirt in your grasp.

“do you know about mark?” whispering into his ear. william jerked his head back, a furrow on his brow. “what about mark? did something happen?”

“mark and invincible in one sentence, what do you see?” trying for a different route. you took note of how his eyes kept darting, going from you to the conflict, and it was like you almost can see wheels turning in his brain.

“no, no there’s no way.” he stook his head, “you’re just stressed and there’s adrenaline running around. let’s get you home and we’ll call mark to check on him.” steering both of you further away, you sneaked a peek over your shoulder, barely a standing figure there invincible was. watching you walk away.

-

you just laid in your bed, eyes burning a hole in your ceiling while you rubbed your fingers over your elbows. small things were starting to piece together in your mind, new cuts and bruises popping up every other day, those dumb excuses of ‘oh forgot to grab my umbrella be right back’ when it was a sunny day. god the new build, how he’d somehow manages to find amazing authentic food in your boring town.

you were just blinded by mark. sure you never thought he was cheating or something like that, but sometimes yeah, you never really thought about his behavior. mark’s always been awkward.

a knock at your door filled the silent room. you didn’t bother responding since the door slowly creaked open, looking over just as mark meekly poked his head through the crack. those sad puppy eyes observing you, “can i come in?” his voice soft, patient.

“yeah,” a tiny crack on the a. mark moved slowly, trying not to startle a baby deer. he sat beside your hip, the bed dipping slightly from his added weight. a large hand hovering in the air before retreating back to his side, not sure what those turn of events caused.

“how’d you get home?” his first question. a deep sigh through your nose, “william drove me. funny how he parked further away cause there weren’t any spots.” barely a huff at the stupidity.

“do-do you want to talk about…invincible?” his second question. you stayed silent longer this time, out of anger or frustration or any other emotion you could be feeling at this moment. a laughed bubbled from your chest when you suddenly remembered yesterday’s conversation.

“what?” mark leaned in closer, inspecting you. tears gathered at your lash line, “we were freaking talking about if we had powers last night. that honestly could have been the best time to casually bring it up.” giving a half assed swat to his bicep.

the tension seemed to dissolve a bit since mark laid down behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and tugging you back to fit snug against his toned chest. you easily intertwined your hands together over your stomach.

mark pressed a kiss to the base of your neck before setting his chin on your shoulder, “you know how it’s pretty common superhero’s don’t flaunt their identity, even to close family.” you hummed, already understanding why he wasn’t screaming this news from the rooftops.

“it would’ve been nice to at least know. it would be the same amount of anxiety without or with your powers, i get anxious when you disappear or-or just make terrible excuses.” barely sending a glance behind you, “you may be superhuman, but you still have a heart and brain, and those two organs are vital to your breathing. so if you just died one day out there i wouldn’t know or hear the real reason.”

your throat was getting choked up, it just hit you. he could die, every time he goes out there in that costume, he might not come home one day. “i can’t lose you this early, mark.” closing your eyes, wet tears kissing your cheeks in silent empathy.

“hey, hey.” there was a bit of shuffling then a hand to your face. “sweetheart, look at me please.” a scrunch of your features before fluttering your reddening eyes open to see mark peering at you. you brought your own hand to his left cheek, thumb rubbing under his eye and along his nose.

“i’ll always make it out a fight alive. will i look pretty? probably the complete opposite, but as long as i feel my heart beating and feel my chest moving, i’ll come crawling back to you.”