warning: some slang usage

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i can't help but to see what is happening. my head is giving me questionable signals about mark somehow being apart of this, which only accelerates me to get there quicker. i follow the sounds of the loud, incoherent chants, which just so happens to be the way that random guy had ran to.

i pace myself, not trying not to run too fast and loose my breathing, as i've done before. when coming around the corner of the school, i see a large group of people are standing in the middle of the empty parking lot. all of them gathered around something i can't see.

my heart quickens as i run over to the mob of people, the chants becoming clear.

"mark!"

"kevin!"

i stop in my tracks, just outside of the group. my head becomes suddenly dizzy and my breathing is becoming irrational.

please do not let this be what i think this is.

i maneuver my way through the people, shoving some out of the way. i get to the middle and my eyes widen when seeing mark on top of kevin, throwing punches at his face.

"mark! what are you doing?! stop!" i yell grabbing at his arm that is about to hit kevin once again.

mark tenses up at me grabbing him, shooting me daggers with his eyes when looking at me, but suddenly loosens when recognizing who it is. he looks between kevin, who is lying on the ground, face covered in red, and me, with a terrified expression.

the crowd quiets down, mark and i neither say a word, i'm stuck speechless by what i was seeing.

"j-jack, i can explain-"

"explain why you were fighting him? please inform me!" i raise my voice, feeling my emotions spill out like a waterfall.

he gets off of kevin, making kevin grunt from the sudden loss of pressure and pain coming from his face, and gets in front of me, taking my hands into his.

i snatch them out of his grip and i can see the pain in his eyes from me doing so, but i don't care.

"you don't understand, okay? kevin... he was talking about you, and i had enough," he tries explaining and i give him a questioning look.

"what do you mean talking about me?"

mark's pov

the bell rang and i picked my bag from the floor and slid it on my shoulder. i move past classmates to get in the hall, trying my best to hurry and get outside. i was already so excited about taking jack on a date tonight that i didn't even see that i had ran into someone. i stumble back a bit and look at who ran into.

and it was no other than kevin with his group of friends.

he stood tall with small smirk on his face of his. i could tell from something in his eyes that he means no good.

"well, well, well, speak of the devil, eh? see, this is mark who i was talking about." he looks back at his little group of peers and they laugh along. "i see you've been hanging around that little jack of yours, huh?" he laughs when looking at me, his irish accent sounding thicker than jack's.

i feel heat rise to my face, but i try to keep my cool as best as i can with responding somewhat-friendly, "i have, now can you let me walk?"

"i wasn't threw talking to you." he chuckles coldly, "what's the rush anyways? going out partying? spending time with a girlfriend?" he carelessly guesses, crossing his arms over his chest, probably trying to get a reaction out of me.

all i do is roll my eyes and scoff. "very, very funny. you know, not to be rude, but i don't really give a damn what you have to say. so if you excuse-" as i go to walk away, he places a hand on my chest to stop me and i look down at him with pure hatred.

"oh, i get it now. you're going to that fag, aren't you?" he looks at me while raising his eyebrows. he then laughs when i just stare him down like he is the scum of the earth, "oh my god, you are. are you a queer also? are you two fuck-"

that's when i reached up and grabbed the collar of his shirt and push him into near by lockers. his friends are quick to respond and pull me away from kevin, restraining me to touch him.

a teacher walking down the halls had seen what happened and rushed over to us. "daithi! felix! put mr. fischbach down!" she exclaims, her voice wavering. "and you two," she points at kevin and i once his friends let me go, "go take this somewhere else. fighting is prohibited on school grounds!"

kevin and i look between each other, hatred in both of our gazes, but we nod for the sake of not getting expelled or something.

the teacher walks off and i turn towards kevin. "you are going to pay for what you said," i spit, my voice low and raspy from breathing so hard.

kevin only laughs. "oh really? meet me in the parking lot and watch your ass get beaten."

everything led to another as i went to the parking lot without thinking.

without thinking about jack.

soon, classmates were seeing the commotion going on as i threw punches at kevin and i received some back. i wasn't even thinking about what i was doing, all i could see was red. i could hear the people around us and it was only adding onto my anger. why were people enjoying this? what am i doing? i somehow knocked kevin to the ground, i took this as an advantage. i got on top of him, giving him more punches until his face was nearly unreadable.

i was suddenly stopped by someone grabbing my arm.

"mark! what are you doing?! stop!"

i whipped my head towards them, my eyes full of rage. i instantly soften when recognizing that it is the last person i wanted to see right now.

i look at jack, his eyes full of worry and disgust. i then look down at kevin who is groaning in pain. what have i done?

"j-jack, i can explain-"

"explain why you were fighting him? please inform me!" the anger in his voice hurts me honestly. god, how am i suppose to explain what happened?

i get off of kevin and walk to him, making a simple gesture and taking his hands into mine, but it's soon rejected when he retreats them. i feel my heart hurt, but i try ignoring it.

"you don't understand, okay? kevin... he was talking about you, and i had enough."

"what do you mean talking about me?" he looks at me with an unreadable expression.

i glance around and see people are leaving the area, acting like nothing happened. it honestly disgusted me.

"look, jack, i'm so sorry, alright? kevin got to me and i'm sorry if i worried you. i didn't intend for this to happen." i look down at kevin, who is now getting help to his feet from, who i can guess is, daithi and felix from earlier.

jack looks at him for a moment before walking over to him.

jack's pov

i walk over to kevin as he balances himself on his feet from the help from his friends. he looks up at me and then starts to avoid contact.

"why?" i ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

he looks up again then turns around at his friends, "you guys go on ahead." he turns back to me as they nod in agreement and leave. "i'm..." he gulps before trying to continue, "i'm sorry. i am so fucking sorry. i'm sorry for everything. i... what was i thinking? what the fuck was i thinking?!" his eyes start to water, a dry sob leaves his lips as he tries to breathe.

i wanted to feel sympathy and forgive him right then and there, but i can't. he's done so much to me over the past year, how was i suppose to forgive him? he did get a pretty bad beating, and i can't say that he didn't deserve it, but no one deserves to get hurt.

"if you're really sorry... you'll leave mark and i alone. including the friends of yours." i say, trying to comprise.

i never expected an apology coming out of his mouth, let alone almost crying about what he has done. but i can't feel sorry, i shed too many tears because of him.

"okay, okay... i can do t-that. just please, don't say anything to anyone... about this agreement. i would tell you why, but you wouldn't understand."

i want to question what he said, but i decided it's best to think about it another day.

"deal. now you might want to see a doctor about... all of that."

he chuckles sadly. "thanks, i did get my ass beaten pretty badly." i see his eyes travel to mark and a small smile tugs at his lips.

i think things are finally looking up.

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do you forgive kevin?

don't hate me too badly ??? i just hope you enjoyed it!

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love you all so much, thank you for existing.

erin. xx