As the next couple of months went by, just like you told yourself you were going to do, you kept a close eye on Mark. Based on your observations, he was completely fine. He didn’t seem to be slowly deteriorating physically or mentally since he still looked and acted the same as when you initially came up with your theory. At this point, you were starting to think that he had, in fact, been telling the truth when you voiced your concerns with him on that fateful day.
So if he’s not sick, what the hell is going on then? You asked yourself.

Even though (aside from the fact that he had gotten a bit more comfortable with acting) Mark had remained unchanged, the dynamic between Troy, Mary, and August had changed quite a bit. Despite the fact that they were dating, Troy and Mary rarely spent time with each other. Most of the time, Troy and August were hanging out and Mary was off doing her own thing. You’ve noticed that this change of dynamic between the three of them has been affecting Mary quite a lot. She was much more reserved and her temper had shortened. It seemed like even the tiniest and insignificant things set her off these days. For example, just the other day, she had snapped at August for simply looking over at Troy when she was hanging out with the raven haired boy. For some reason, her and August no longer got along, and Troy usually tried to keep them away from each other in case things really got out of hand (which, thankfully, they haven’t… not yet, at least.)

Today was one of the rare days where Troy and Mary were spending time with each other without August being around, but that was really only because the brown haired and brown eyed boy had gone out to get his guitar repaired since he woke up this morning and found that one of the strings was broken. However, while Mary seemed to genuinely enjoy the fact that she was finally getting to spend one on one time with her boyfriend, Troy seemed like he’d rather be anywhere else right now. You didn’t understand why though. After all, in the past, he’d be thrilled to spend time with her and do things with her and he’d dedicate as much time as possible to her, but now it seemed like he wanted nothing to do with her. You were really hoping that they weren’t on the verge of another breakup because Mary seemed like she had changed for the better because of Troy’s influence and while you didn’t believe it at first, she also seemed like she genuinely cared about and even loved him.

*****

Almost as soon as August had returned home from getting his guitar repaired, Mary said her goodbyes and was out of the house in record time. As she was leaving, her and August glared at each other and you braced yourself for them to start screaming at, or, even worse, start fighting each other. Thankfully though, they didn’t say or do anything to each other, and Mary was out the door after staring August down for a moment.

After Mary had left, August huffed as he sat down next to Troy.
“I hope you know that she’s the one that broke my guitar string.” He said to the older boy, referring to Mary as he held the guitar that meant so much to him.
“And how exactly do you know that?” Troy asked, making it obvious that he didn’t really believe the younger boy’s statement.
“Because I was playing guitar last night and the string didn’t break then.” August explained as he hugged his guitar so tightly that it seemed like he was fearful that someone was going to attempt to take it away from him. “And the string didn’t break when I put my guitar away for the night.” He then added, “I also only noticed that it was broken this morning, and you know that I didn’t even look at my guitar between the time I finished playing it last night and this morning.”
“Yeah, but-”
“There were a pair of wire cutters a few feet away from my guitar.” August cut Troy off before the raven haired boy could offer an argument.
Troy didn’t say anything as he sighed in defeat and looked down at the floor. After hearing that, it was clear that he no longer had an argument.
“It had to have been her.” August said as he shrugged. “I mean, who else could it have been? You and (Y/N) wouldn’t have done it. I trust you two enough to know that neither of you would do such a thing. Mary, on the other hand…”
Troy sighed again. However, it was out of frustration instead of defeat this time around.
“Why would she have done such a thing?” He asked, clearly having a hard time accepting the truth.
“Isn’t it obvious?” August replied, raising an eyebrow as if he couldn’t believe that Troy would ask such a stupid question. “She’s jealous, and that’s because you’ve been hanging out with me more often and giving me more attention than her. Also, she’s probably scared too. She genuinely cares about you, and she doesn’t want to break up with you yet again. From what I’ve heard, she’s a total wreck whenever you two aren’t together.”
“Well, if that’s the case, things really aren’t that much different.” Troy shrugged like it was no big deal. “Because she’s a total wreck at the moment, even though we’re currently together.”
“As if you have room to talk!” August scoffed as he rolled his eyes. “You’re a total wreck too. In fact, your entire relationship with Mary is built off the fact that you two suppress and hide your problems from each other and distract yourselves from the pain by acting all lovey-dovey towards each other.”
Before Troy could respond, you got up from the couch and headed out to your car after grabbing your coat and car keys. You didn’t really feel like listening in on their conversation any longer, especially since neither of them were acknowledging your existence and you didn’t feel like joining in on the conversation anyways.

Upon getting into your car, you pulled out your phone and texted Mark, deciding that you wanted to see what he was currently up to and asking if he wanted to hang out. You were hoping that he wasn’t busy and that he wanted to spend time with you because you really didn’t want to be stuck in Troy’s house while he and August hung out together and acknowledged nothing or no one outside of the other person.
Hey, what are you up to? I’m bored as hell, and I was really hoping that we could hang out.

Thankfully, Mark got back to you almost immediately.
I’m not really doing anything. Just drawing like always. And yeah, we can definitely hang out.
You let out a sigh of relief as you read his message.
Awesome. Let’s go hang out at the park. I feel like we haven’t been there in a really long time.
Okay, yeah, we can definitely do that. I’ll see you soon.
See you soon.

*****

Once you had arrived at the park, it didn’t take long for you to spot the jet black haired boy that you called your best friend. Being nearly six foot, wearing a brightly colored flower crown, and clothes that were just as brightly colored made him pretty easy to spot. Well, to you, at least. Maybe you were able to pinpoint him so quickly among a sea of strangers solely because you had known him for over a year and had studied every inch of his beautiful self on numerous occasions. Plus, the fact that his style of clothing and accessories had remained unchanged was also yet another reason why you were usually able to spot him pretty quickly.

“Mark!” You called out to your best friend, waving and smiling as you did so. Your smile only grew when his brown eyes met your (E/C) ones. He smiled back at you as he made his way over to you, waving back at you as he did so.
(Y/N)! He cried excitedly, pulling you into a tight hug as he did so. I missed you!
“It’s only been a couple of days since we last saw each other though.” You laughed a bit, though you were flattered that he had missed hanging out with you after only just a couple of days.
I know, but I like being around you. Mark smiled softly as he broke off the hug. You’re my best friend.
Months ago, hearing those words would’ve made you eccastic. But now, especially since the two of you had confessed your feelings for each other, hearing those words physically hurt you. He knew damn well that you wanted to be more than his best friend, and you knew damn well that even he himself wanted to be more than your best friend.
In response, you just gave him a forced smile as you began walking towards the fountain, looking around the park that contained all kinds of memories, both good and bad, for you as you did so. You then sat down by the fountain, continuing to force a smile as Mark sat down beside you.
Stop forcing a smile for me, (Y/N). Mark said as he frowned. You should know by now that I really don’t like it when you do that.
“Well, what the hell else am I supposed to do, Mark?” You asked as you sighed and rolled your eyes.
You’re supposed to tell me when you’re upset and what’s wrong so that we can talk about it and try and make you feel better.
“You should know by now why I’m so upset.” You were basically glaring at him at this point since it was pretty much impossible to be around him these days because you just wanted to hold him and kiss him and go out on dates and do all the things that couples did with him. You didn’t want to be his friend anymore. You wanted to be his girlfriend. You also didn’t want to resist the urge to hold his hand or to kiss him or to ask him out on a date whenever said urge came up anymore.
I do, but there’s nothing that I can do about any of that. Mark frowned even more.
“Yes, there is.” You insisted, though you didn’t think that he would actually do it. “You can at least tell me what’s getting in the way of us being together.”
No, I can’t. Mark shook his head. I’ve already told you that.
“Can you at least give me a hint?”
If I give you a hint, will you stop asking me about it until I’m actually ready to tell you? Mark asked, clearly annoyed.
You simply nodded, not really in the mood to fight with him.
I’m moving. The words hit you like a punch in the stomach. You almost asked him to repeat himself to make sure that you heard him correctly. While this was nowhere near as bad as what you had first thought was going on, hearing this still hurt you quite a lot.
“Why?” You asked, your voice barely above a whisper. “Is your mom making you do this? You don’t have to listen to her, you know. You’ll basically be an adult by the time that we graduate. Therefore, you can do whatever you please.
No, my mom’s not making me do anything. Mark shook his head. I’ve learned my lesson about listening to her. Until she changes her ways and goes back to her old self, which, at this point, probably isn’t going to happen, I’m not doing anything that she says anymore. After all, the only person that she cares about is herself.
“So, why are you moving away then?” You asked sadly. You really didn’t want him to go. You honestly couldn’t imagine living your life without him being in your life. He had changed your life in so many wonderful and amazing ways, and you wanted to continue making memories with him for the rest of your life.
I’m not telling you just yet. Mark shook his head again. I’ll tell you when our time together is short, I promise.
“I don’t want our time to ever be short though!” You protested. “In fact, I don’t ever want our time to end! Yes, forever is a long time, but I wouldn’t mind spending it by your side!”
I know, and I feel the same way, but I have to do this. Mark insisted. I have dreams, and I want to chase them.
You simply nodded in response. While you wanted Mark more than anything, you also wanted him to be happy, and it was clear to you that he would be much happier moving away and following his dreams than he would be sticking around here in Cincinnati. However, none of this changed the fact that you would miss him when he left and while he was gone.

You sighed softly as you looked down and proceeded to break the extremely long and drawn out silence that had fallen between you and Mark.
“Do… Do you think that you’ll ever come back?” You asked the black haired boy quietly as you continued looking down at the ground.
Honestly, I don’t know. Mark shrugged as he stared off into the distance with a blank expression on his face. Now, can we please stop talking about this? I’ve already said much more than I would’ve liked.
“Oh, yeah, um, sure.” You quickly stated. As you said earlier, you weren’t really in the mood to fight with him. You just wanted to spend time with him happily and peacefully.
Thank you for understanding. Mark looked over at you and gave you a small smile, a smile that you loved so much.
“No problem.” You smiled and looked back at him, looking into his absolutely gorgeous brown eyes as you did so. You both looked into each other’s eyes for a few moments before Mark slowly looked away from your (E/C) eyes.
You know what, (Y/N)? He asked, looking at you from the corner of his eyes. I can’t bear this. I honestly can’t. The thought of you with someone else… it’s horrible and it doesn’t feel right. I know this is selfish, but I don’t want you to be with someone else. I don’t want someone else holding your hand and or to kiss you or to ask and take you out on dates. I… I want to be the one to do that. He nervously looked down at his feet, though you didn’t understand why given the fact that he was fully aware that you were in love with him. So, I guess what I’m saying is… He trailed off. Until the day that I move away, I’m yours and you’re mine.
Your eyes widened upon hearing this. Just like when he had told you that he was moving, you nearly asked him to repeat himself.
“Wait, are you serious?” You asked quietly, making sure that he wasn’t pulling some twisted prank on you, even though you knew that he would never do such a thing.
Mark smiled brightly as he nodded. I’ve changed my mind. I’d like to be with you, (Y/N), even if it’s only for a little while.
You could feel and hear your heart pounding in your chest after he said this. Then, the next thing you knew, you were pulling him into the tightest hug you’ve probably ever given him in the entire history of knowing him. Your heart only pounded even more when Mark returned the hug and it was pretty much the only thing you could hear when the eyes of the boy that you loved so much met your own yet again. As you stared directly into them, you thought about how much you wanted to kiss him. But you also thought about all the times where the two of you had attempted to kiss each other only to be interrupted by someone or something. All of these instances caused you to take a brief glance at your surroundings to make sure that there wasn’t anyone or anything around that could potentially ruin the moment yet again.

After determining that the coast was clear, you looked back at Mark, who had stayed still and, as per usual, not said a word throughout the whole ordeal, and gave him a soft smile. Then, the next thing you knew, you closed your eyes, leaned in towards him, and finally closed the gap between the two of you.