"M-Mark!" You felt a strong wave of both fear and panic hit you as the pink-haired boy started to shake. You knew what was going on the moment it happened.
He was having a panic attack.
You felt stupid for not recognizing the signs earlier. You should've known the instant his legs started shaking that he was going to fall into a panic attack. Besides, you yourself experienced panic attacks when your father had first started abusing you. It wasn't until last year when your panic attacks completely stopped.
"Mark, it's okay." You pulled him off of the ground, which was a lot more difficult than you thought it would be. You cursed your lack of strength as you rested his head on your shoulder. You carefully took off his flower crown and set it down beside you. Looking around, you could see that there were people staring and pointing at you and Mark. You rolled your eyes and ignored them as you ran your fingers through his hair, not even noticing how soft it was.
"Hey, you're okay." You whispered to him, feeling like you were whispering to a young child who had started crying after having a nightmare. "You don't have to freak out."
You felt tears hit your shoulder and you carefully took off Mark's glasses and put them in your pocket.
"You don't have to cry either." You continued to whisper as you switched from running your fingers through his hair to rubbing his back. "Nobody's and nothing's going to hurt you. Not if I can help it. You're my friend and I'll defend you like a friend should."
Mark stopped shaking completely and one final tear hit your shoulder before you felt his crying come to an end. After a few moments of just laying on your shoulder, Mark slowly lifted his head up and looked into your eyes.
"You scared me you big goofball." You blinked and tears that you didn't even know had formed in your eyes spilled out of your eyes. You felt your tears streaming down your cheeks as you pulled Mark into a hug. You never realized how scary it was when someone else was having a panic attack. You had always been the one experiencing the panic attacks and you had to say that seeing someone else go through one was as scary, if not scarier, as going through one yourself.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, nor did I want to. Mark wrote once you had broken the hug with him. That hasn't happened for a long time. I guess I really wasn't ready to get off my medicine.
"Wait, you take medicine?"
He nodded. I've struggled with both panic attacks and anxiety for my entire life. I decided a few days ago that I would try and see how things went if I stopped taking my medicine. It was going well until just a few moments ago. He frowned after he finished writing.
You didn't really know what to say and you stood up before sighing. A few moments of awkward silence passed before you decided to end it before it got even more awkward than it already was. "So... Do you still want to go to Columbus? If you don't, it's completely fine and I understand if you just want to head back home."
Mark shook his head. No, I still want to go to Columbus. I promised you that I would take you there to show you the second part of the surprise that I never got to show you the night of the Halloween fair. And I'm not someone who likes breaking promises.
"Are you sure?" You asked reluctantly. "We could always just go another day."
(Y/N), I am one-hundred percent sure that I want to go to Columbus.
"But you just had a panic attack!" You protested. "Don't you think that you should go home and start taking your medicine again?"
Mark shook his head again as he put his flower crown back on. I appreciate your concern for me. Truly, I do. But I'll be fine. I can promise you that. I'll be able to control myself next time if I feel a panic attack coming on for any reason. The only reason I wasn't able to control the one I just had is because I haven't experienced one in many years because my medicine stopped them completely. But now that I know what I feel before them and what the signs are, I can make sure it doesn't happen again. Also, I'll start taking my medicine again because I know that you, Tom, and my mom will worry about me if I don't.
"Of course I'd worry about you." You whispered, though it was more to yourself than it was to Mark. "Why wouldn't I worry about you? I would be an awful friend if I didn't."
I suppose so. Mark shrugged as he stood up. Come on, let's get going to Columbus. He held out his hand towards you. You grabbed it and he helped you stand up afterwards.
"Yeah, let's go." You agreed as you walked over to the car.

*****

You felt a hand on your shoulder and you nearly jumped out of your skin when you felt this. You looked over and saw Mark looking over at you.
"You scared the shit out of me." You told him as you placed your hand on your heart.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. An apologetic look fell on the brown-eyed boy's face. You fell asleep while we were driving and we just arrived at the place where I wanted to take you. All I wanted was to wake you up. I had no intention of scaring you.
"Mark, it's okay." You laughed as you sat up in an attempt to relieve the aching that you felt throughout your entire body. "Don't feel bad. I'm fine now. I was just a little bit startled, that's all."
Are you sure? The apologetic look on his face had faded to one of reluctance.
"Yes Mark, I'm one-hundred percent sure." You looked at him directly in the eyes so that he knew that you weren't lying to him. "Now, come on, we've got somewhere to be."
The reluctant look on his face faded as fast as it came and he unbuckled his seatbelt before opening the car door on his side. You unbuckled your seatbelt as well and were about to open the car door on your side when Mark put his hand up to stop you.
"What are you-?" You cut yourself off when he closed the car door and therefore could no longer hear you. You watched as he walked to the other side of the car and approached the car door on your side. A moment later, you heard and saw him opening the door with a smile on his face. He held out his hand towards you.
"What a gentleman you are." You gave him a smile as you placed your hand in his. You stepped out of the car while still holding his hand and heard him close the car door behind you. A moment later, you heard him locking his car. When he did so, he let go of your hand and took a few steps forward. He then beckoned for you to follow before taking off running into the woods that were ahead of the two of you.
"Wait up!" You called as you took off running after him.

*****

As you ran through the woods, you realized that they were the same woods where Julian had almost killed Mark. Upon realizing this, you felt a sense of both fear and dread surge throughout your entire body. While your mind knew that there wasn't any way that Julian would attack you and Mark again because he was in the hospital on life support, adrenaline surged throughout your entire body and the fight-or-flight response had no need to kick in because your body had decided that flight was the best option in this situation. Rather than working as one, your mind and body worked separately because one rationalized that what your body feared wasn't going to happen while your body didn't come to the same conclusion as your mind had.
While Mark was running, he looked back probably to make sure that you were managing to keep up with him. He must've saw the look of fear that was more than likely on your face. He then stopped running and you had force yourself to stop.
(Y/N), what's wrong? You look like you're scared out of your mind.
"I... I kinda am." You gasped for air due to the fact that you felt like you were running out of air from how fast you were running. "My body seems to think that Julian's going to suddenly attack again even though my mind is aware of that fact that that's not possible since he's in the hospital and on life support."
Mark placed his hand on your shoulders and looked directly into your eyes for a few moments before writing on his dry erase board. It's going to be okay. We're almost to the place that I want to take you.
You found it funny that just a couple of hours prior, you had been the one telling you that everything was going to be okay. Now, he was the one telling you that everything was going to be okay. You found in kinda funny how things had switched in the matter of only a couple of hours.
"I... I know Mark. I'm sorry. I honestly don't know why I'm freaking out." You had finally managed to catch your breath. "If you don't mind, can we walk? I'm not exactly one who likes running."
Yeah, it's perfectly fine if we walk. The only reason I wanted to run was because I wanted to get to the place faster.
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." You began walking and Mark followed suit just a moment later, falling into pace with you almost instantly.

*****

"Mark..." You found yourself unable to find the right words as you arrived at the place that he had wanted to take you the night of the Halloween fair. "This place is amazing." You felt a smile form on your face.
Beyond the woods, there was a hill that had a willow tree at the very top of it. The hill was also in the perfect place for stargazing, something that you had always loved throughout your entire life.
I knew you would like it. Mark looked over at you and smiled when he saw that you were smiling. I'm so glad that I finally got to take you.
"How did you find this place?" You asked him as you began walking up the hill.
Amy and I found it while we were walking in the woods one day. You should've see the look on her face when she first saw it. She looked like she had discovered something that no one else on this planet has discovered. After she found this place, she begged to go here almost every single day. She always liked coming here at night and looking up at the stars.
"I can see why." You murmured as you sat up against the bark of the willow tree and looked up at the sky. You then raised your voice and looked up at Mark, who was still standing up, "It's such a shame that we can't come here more often. Why can't Columbus be closer to Cincinnati?"
Mark simply shrugged as he laid down on the grass.
"Don't be a stranger." You crawled over to where he was before laying next to him. "I don't bite." You paused for a moment. "Well, most of the time at least."
Mark smiled a bit as he laughed silently. He then looked up at the sky and his mouth dropped open when he did so.
"What? What's wro-?" You cut yourself off when you looked up at the sky and saw a shooting star. "No way! I've never seen one in real life until now!"
Make a wish.
"No, you make a wish. You saw it first."
It wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me if I didn't let you make the wish.
"I insist. You make a wish. Like I said, you saw it first."
That doesn't mean anything. I want you to have the wish.
"No, you should have the wish." You insisted.
No way, you deserve the wish.
You sighed and paused for a few moments. "Tell you what, how about we make a wish together?"
Mark smiled. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.
"Okay, close your eyes and make your wish." You said to him before you closed your eyes and instinctively drew in a breath.
I wish Mark would meet someone that would make him truly happy.

After a few moments passed, you opened your eyes and let out a breath that you didn't even know you were holding in. You looked over at Mark, whose eyes were open and seemed to be closely studying each and every one of the many, many stars that were in the sky.
"Did you make your wish?"
He nodded while blinking.
"I did too. What did you wish for?"
Nice try. You can't tell people what you wish for. Otherwise, it won't come true.
You chuckled. "You're right. I only asked you to see if you remembered that important rule."
How could I forget? Mark smiled.
"I don't know. You just seem like a very forgetful person." You teased.
Me? Forgetful? Never. A playful smile formed on Mark's face. Do you remember what I said to you after you told me what your name was on the day we met?
You forced your mind to go back to the day that you had first met him. All you could remember was picking up his books and placing his flower crown on his head. You also remembered him telling you he was mute and thinking it was weird, even though you told him that it wasn't.
"No, I don't remember." You said honestly.
I said that you had a pretty name. Mark continued to smile. I wasn't lying when I said this. I'm not a person who lies. I lied once and I felt like complete and utter shit afterwards. So you can trust me when I say that I will never, ever lie to you.
You smiled. "Have I ever told you that you're the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for?"
He smiled back. Yes, I do believe that you've told me that before. But I don't want you to stop telling me that.
"Don't worry, I didn't plan on it anyways." You poked his nose. As you did so, a sudden cold breeze blew through the air, causing you to shiver a bit.
Are you cold?
"Only a little bit."
He then stood up. Wait here. I'll be right back.
Before you could question him as to where he was going, he ran back off into the woods.
Trust me when I say that I will never, ever lie to you.
The words that Mark had said to you not even that long ago echoed in your head. But why would they? You trusted him when he said that he would be back.

*****

You quickly sat up when what appeared to be a hoodie was dropped on your head.
"What the hell?" You asked as you pulled the hoodie off of your face and sat it down on your lap. You looked up and saw Mark was staring down at you.
You said that you were cold.
"Yeah, but you didn't have to go back all the way to your car." You looked down at the hoodie he had thrown over you head. It was black with blue strings. It had blue on the inside of it as well.
I wanted to. I can't just let you be cold. I'd hug you to keep you warm if there wasn't any other option.
You simply smiled as you put on the hoodie. When you did so, you immediately noticed that it smelled like him. It also had a faint scent of Axe body spray on it, something that you didn't expect a guy like Mark to use. You didn't mind at all though, mostly because his hoodie still smelled amazing nonetheless.
Do you feel warm now? Mark sat down next to you, making sure to leave space between your leg and his.
You nodded as you pulled the hood over your head and looked up at the stars. You looked down a moment later when you felt Mark pulling the strings of the hoodie.
"What on earth are you doing?" You asked him while laughing a bit.
He pulled the strings for another moment before he stopped and picked up his dry erase board. They were uneven. I hate it when strings on a hoodie are uneven.
"I'll keep that in mind." You gave him a small smile before looking back up at the stars. You found yourself looking back at Mark again when you heard what sounded like a pencil being dragged along paper.
"What are you doing now?" You laughed a bit again, feeling a little bit of deja vu when you did so since you basically asked him that not even a minute ago. You answered your own question when you saw a sketchbook sitting on Mark's lap. A straight line had be drawn on the page that he was currently on.
"I didn't know that you drew."
Mark set his sketchbook on the left side of him and placed his dry erase board on his lap. Yeah, I've been drawing ever since I was little. I've never actually drawn anything in front of anyone before because I know that people will ask me if they can see my drawings. And, well, I've never been comfortable with letting anyone see my drawings.
"So, does the fact that you brought your sketchbook back here with you when you went to go get your hoodie mean that you're now comfortable with letting people see your drawings now?" You asked him, feeling confused as to what he was trying to say.
Sort of. I'm only comfortable with showing you. He placed his dry erase board down on his left side before picking up his sketchbook and placing it on your lap. Once he did so, he moved his dry erase board so that it was brushing up against his leg. I really hope that you think that they're okay.
"I'm sure they look just fine, Mark." You reassured him as you closed the sketchbook and reopened it to the very first page. You did this so that you didn't have the chance of seeing the other drawings by flipping back to the very first page.
When you opened the sketchbook back up, you were absolutely blown away by what you saw.
On the first page of Mark's sketchbook, there was a drawing of a sunflower. The sunflower took up almost the entire page and the yellow color that it had really made it stand out. It looked so realistic that it looked like it wasn't even a drawing at all. Instead, it looked as if it were a photograph of a real sunflower. The only thing that gave indication that it was a drawing rather than a photograph was Mark's signature written in beautiful cursive at the bottom right of the page.
"Mark..." You trailed off, unable to find the words to form a complete sentence.
Oh, you think they're bad like I do? He closed the sketchbook as soon as he finished writing on his dry erase board. See, this is exactly why I've never shown people my drawings. They're really bad.
"No Mark, that's not true at all." You looked over at him and gave him a reassuring look. "In fact, that's the opposite of true. Your drawings... They're absolutely beautiful. You have a real talent."
Wait, what? A stunned expression fell on the pink-haired boy's face as he looked over at you, his brown eyes looking directly into your (E/C) eyes. You think they're good?
"No, I don't think they're good." You paused for a moment before you spoke again. "I think that they're amazing."
After you said this, a hint of a blush appeared on his face. Thank you so much. You don't even know how much it means to me to hear you say that.
"I mean every word." You smiled as you flipped over to the page that only had the straight line drawn on it. "Now, before I look at what else you've drawn, I want to work on what you've already got started." You placed the sketchbook down on his lap. "I'm excited to see what this line turns into."
You can't look until I'm finished.
"I won't." You promised him as you turned so that your back was facing him.

*****

After quite some time had passed, Mark tapped you on the shoulder. You were on the verge of falling asleep when he did so so your head jolted upwards upon feeling his touch.
"I'm guessing you're done?" You turned back around so that you were facing him once more.
He nodded and turned his sketchbook around so that you could see the drawing.
You once again found yourself at a loss for words as you took the sketchbook from Mark's hands. He had drawn exactly what the sky looked like tonight so well that it looked like he took a photograph of it rather than drew it. He had also drawn a hill with a huge willow tree on it and underneath said willow tree, there appeared to be a boy and a girl sitting together and looking up at the stars in the night sky. As you studied the boy and the girl closer, you realized that they weren't just any boy and girl.
They were you and Mark.
"Why are you so amazing at drawing?" You asked breathlessly as you studied how Mark had made sure even the littlest of details were perfect. "I've honestly never seen or met anyone whose gotten even close to having the amount of talent that you have."
Stop it, you're making me blush. Mark smiled and hid his face with his dry erase board as the blush on his face became more obvious than it had earlier when you first made him blush.
"Well, I can't help it that you're so talented."
You assumed that Mark had given up on hiding his blush because he stopped hiding his face with his dry erase board and allowed you to see his face, which was on the verge of being as red as a tomato. I was thinking... Since you like it so much... Do you maybe wanna... Well, you know, keep the drawing?
"Really? You'd let me keep it?" You looked down at the drawing and gently ran your hand over it, feeling the colored pencils that he had used to make the drawing even more beautiful than it already was.
I will as long as you promise me that you'll take very good care of it.
"Yes, of course I will." You promised, making sure to look him directly in his brown eyes to emphasize your promise. "I will give it the proper treatment and care that it deserves."
Mark smiled for what felt like the millionth time since you arrived at the hill. Okay, it's all yours then.
"Thank you." You carefully handed his sketchbook back to him, handling it as if it would shatter into a million pieces if you dropped it. "Here, keep it in your sketchbook for now so that the wind doesn't blow it away. Then, you can give it to me when we get back home."
Okay. Mark continued to smile as he closed his sketchbook and set it down next to him before laying down on the grass. Once he did so, he placed his dry erase board on top of his sketchbook and took off his glasses before putting them into his shirt pocket.
"You know, I think that this is the first time that I've seen you without glasses." You laid down on the grass as well, making sure to leave a little bit of distance between you and Mark. After all, friends didn't really cuddle up next to each other. That was more of a thing that couples did. Well, that's what you thought at least. "And, I have to say, you look really nice without your glasses."
You need to stop making me blush. He covered his blush with his hands as he stared at you for a moment before erasing what he had written on his dry erase board and putting it back where it was.
"To be fair, I'm not trying to make you blush." You closed your eyes as you felt a smile forming on your face. "You're blushing on your own terms."

*****

You opened your eyes and suddenly felt aching pain all over your body. Once you did, you realized that you had fallen asleep. You looked up at the sky to see if you could roughly figure out how much time had passed, deciding that the aching all over your body was enough to prevent you from pulling your phone out of your pocket to check the time.
"Shit!" You said when you saw that the sun was beginning to rise in the sky. You looked over and saw that Mark had fallen asleep like you had. "Mark! Wake up! We need to get back to Cincinnati!"
The pink-haired boy only breathed out in response. A moment later, he began stretching and rubbed sleep out of his eyes as he sat up. He squinted his eyes as he looked at the sky. After doing so, a look that seemed to say, "Oh shit." fell on his face.
"Mark Edward Fischbach!" Both you and Mark jumped when you heard the angry voice of Mark's mother not too far from where the two of you were. "Get over here right now!"