Mark just stared at you, clearly stunned, after your confession. This went on for much longer than you would’ve liked, and you didn’t say anything else in case you made things even more awkward than they already were.

Listen, (Y/N), he finally started responding after what felt like an eternity. I like you a lot too.
You felt yourself becoming extremely excited, even though you had been fully aware of Mark’s crush on you for quite some time now. Getting the confirmation that he did indeed have feelings for you was incredible. “You-?”
Mark raised his hand up and cut you off before you could fully express your excitement. Yes, I do. But… He briefly looked down as he shook his head. There’s really no easy way to say this, but we just can’t be together.
Your excitement faded as quickly as it came.
“W-Why not?” You mumbled almost too quietly for him to hear. Almost.
I can’t tell you. Mark frowned. He seemed like he was genuinely sad to break this news to you. Not yet, at least. There’s a time for me to tell you, but that time is not now.
You could physically feel your heart breaking after he told you this. “B-But Mark…” You trailed off, trying to figure out how to properly form your thoughts into comprehensible sentences. “I… I want to be with you more than anything. I don’t… I don’t understand why I can’t be yours and you can’t be mine.”
I really can’t tell you. Mark seemed just as devastated as you were at the moment. If I could, I would.
“What’s stopping you from telling me?!” You snapped, feeling the stares of the other people in the gallery pierce right through you. It had been dead quiet before you had started yelling, and they were displeased with you ruining the peaceful and quiet atmosphere. “It’s not like someone’s holding a gun up to your head and threatening to shoot you if you tell me whatever it is that’s holding you back from allowing me to be your girlfriend!”
Mark frowned even more as he stared down at the floor, refusing to look at you. It wasn’t until a few painfully slow moments had passed before he finally responded.
Well, no, you’re not wrong… He trailed off. But-
“But what?” The stares only got worse, but you didn’t care. You were bewildered that Mark was keeping secrets from you, especially after you had been so open and honest with him on several occasions. “I’m your best motherfucking friend, Mark Fischbach! Why the fuck are you hiding shit from me? I’ve told you my deepest and darkest secrets! You know damn well that you can trust me, so why do you keep things in the dark?”
Because I just want to enjoy the time that I have left with you in peace. Mark looked like a puppy that was being scolded for naughty behavior and his hands moved slowly and hesitantly.
“What… What the hell does that mean?” You were no longer yelling. In fact, your voice had been reduced to a whisper that was filled with concern.
You know exactly what it means, (Y/N).
At that moment, the worst case scenarios came into mind. The main one, and, unfortunately, the most believable one, was that he had gotten the same thing that had been plaguing his father; cancer. While he didn’t display any symptoms on the outside, it was very possible that he was hiding it very well. Plus, he could very well be experiencing symptoms internally, and there’d be no way for you to know unless he told you.

With the horrible thought in mind, you pulled him into the tightest hug that you had ever given him. You had never really thought about losing him, but now that you had, you realized that it was your biggest fear.
“I don’t want to lose you.” Your voice cracked as you whispered and rested your head on his shoulder. “I… I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
You won’t lose me. Mark tried to reassure you after the two of you exchanged a long and heartfelt hug. I promise. I’ll be here for you, no matter what.
“Good.” You smiled slightly as you wiped your tears away. “I’ll be here for you too, though you probably already knew that.”
I did, but reassurance is always nice. Mark smiled softly.

After a couple of minutes of silence had gone by, you finally broke it by asking, “Mark, I… I know that we’re just going to remain friends, but…” You trailed off, nervous about asking him what you wanted to ask him. “Can I hold your hand? I just… I could really use that kind of company right now.”
Of course. Mark smiled softly as he took his hand into yours. You smiled back at him, realizing how the spaces between your fingers were right where his fit perfectly. You also felt a blush creeping onto your face as you and him walked around the art gallery and as you watched him gush about every single one of the paintings.

*****

You couldn’t help but feel extremely sad when your time at the art gallery with Mark came to an end, especially when he let go of your hand and when the two of you got into his car and began driving back to your place.
“I had a really fun time.” You smiled softly as you looked down at the hand he had been holding for quite a while. It had been tingling ever since Mark had let go of it, obviously missing the contact as much as you were right now. “We should do things like this more often.”
I had a really fun time too. Mark smiled softly as well. But I always have fun with you. I like spending time with you, (Y/N).
“I like spending time with you too.” Your smile widened as you looked over at him. However, your smile faded almost as quickly as it came since you started thinking about the whole “I just want to enjoy the time that I have left with you in peace” thing. “Hey, so, sorry to bring this back up, but… how much more time do you have left with me?”
I have until late May, early June at the latest. He replied. His smile had faded away as well. So, about eight months give or take.
“Eight months?” You asked sadly. “That… That’s not even a year.”
I know. Mark frowned. But that’s just how things are working out to be.
“I don’t want them to work out that way.” You sighed. “I want things to work out so that we can have more than a friendship and so we can be together, regardless if it’s in a friendship way or in a relationship way.”
I know you do, and, trust me, I want them to work out that way too. Mark continued to frown. But… He trailed off. Let’s just not talk about it anymore, okay?
“Okay.” You mumbled as you looked down at your lap.

*****

“What’s wrong?” Troy asked you a couple of moments after you had walked into the door. He was sitting on the couch with August and they were both smoking joints. “You seem a little down in the dumps, especially since you just went on a date with your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” You replied sadly as you sat down next to him. “He had the chance to become my boyfriend, but no. He rejected me.”
“He did not,” Troy said in absolute disbelief.
“He did.” You gave him a sad smile.
“Well, why the hell would he do that?”
You told Troy what had happened from Mark telling you that he wanted to enjoy the time that he had left with you to how he had told you that he only had eight months left with you during the ride back home.

“Okay, what the serious fuck is going on?” Troy asked after you had finished telling him everything. “That shit’s kinda fishy if you ask me.”
“Well, I have a theory.”
“Which is?”
“Since his dad has cancer and that makes him a lot more likely to have it, I think he ended up getting it.” It was extremely hard to get those words out. “I mean, he’s not really showing signs of having it or anything, but I can’t help but think the absolute worst case scenario.”
“I mean, when people say stuff like they only have a certain amount of time left, it usually means that they’ve been diagnosed with a terminal disease such as cancer and they’ve been given that certain amount of time by doctors.” Troy frowned as he took a hit from his joint. Smoke came out of his mouth as he added, “I really wish that I could tell you otherwise, but Mark’s really implying that that’s what’s going on.”
You sighed heavily and you felt your entire body begin to shake.
“Want one?” Troy asked gently as he held out a joint and a lighter towards you.
You didn’t say a word as you took both of the items from him and began lighting the joint. You sighed heavily again as you took the first hit. It had been quite a while since you had last smoked, so the relaxing sensation hit you almost immediately. Needless to say, there would be plenty more where that came from.

*****

The next day, after school had ended, you eagerly headed to rehearsal. You were eager for it to take your mind off of things for a while. Plus, you were really enjoying portraying the role that you had been assigned, and you were so excited about the performances that would be taking place in the spring.
“Oh, hey (Y/N)!” Mary greeted you cheerfully as you were hanging out backstage waiting for the preparations to finish being made. Oddly enough, both Troy and August were nearby and were watching her set up her work station. You were pretty amazed that she was able to make it here before you, especially since you were both released from school at the same time. “How are you?”
“I’m alright.” You shrugged. “How are you doing?”
“Pretty well.” She shrugged as well and finished setting her station up. “I’ve had a lot of fun working on your costume. I can’t wait for you to see the final product.”
“I can’t wait to see it too.” You smiled softly. You were hoping that she would finish it sooner rather than later since you thought that getting into costume would help you get into character more. “I’m sure it’ll look beautiful.”
“I hope so.” Mary smiled slightly, seeming like she was trying to reassure herself.

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Theresa asked as she came backstage. “We’ve got to get this rehearsal going!”
You heard Troy gasp almost as soon as he saw Theresa. She seemed to hear him do this and turned her head in his direction. She let out a gasp the moment she laid eyes on him.
“M-Mom?” Troy asked quietly in disbelief. He blinked a few times, but that was probably because he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t just seeing things as he stood up. “Is… is that you?”
“Yes.” Theresa nodded, sounding just as shocked. “Troy… is that you?”
Troy simply nodded in response.
Then, the next thing you knew, the mother and son were sharing the first embrace that they've shared in years. You couldn’t help but watch Troy’s facial expressions as this all played out. At first, he was shocked at the sudden embrace. Then, he seemed quite angry, probably because of everything that had happened in the past. He even almost pushed her off of him. However, he ultimately embraced her back and his expression changed from being angry to being content. He even went as far as resting his head on his mom’s shoulder. Before he did so, you picked up on something that you’ve never seen Troy do before, even after being friends with him for so long. You picked up on the fact that he was crying. Granted, you only saw it for a split second since he had put his head on Theresa’s shoulder the moment tears glistened in his eyes, but you saw it nonetheless. Now, the reason behind the tears was up for serious debate. Was it because he was actually happy to see his mother despite his past? Was it because he was genuinely upset about seeing her? Either way, it was still extremely strange to see Troy crying, as it was something that you didn’t think that you would ever see.

“I’m sorry.” Theresa apologized after she was finally able to let go of Troy. “I’m sorry for becoming so obsessed with my work. I always hoped that you wouldn’t inherit that trait, but you did. You worked so hard in everything that you did to impress me, but I never noticed.” She sighed. “I’m sorry for constantly ignoring you. You deserved just as much love as your brothers got, but your father and I were too caught up in our own selfish desires to realize that.” She sighed again. “Most of all, I’m sorry for agreeing with your uncle when he said that you weren’t good enough for the family. That was the worst thing that I’ve ever done, and I was so wrong.” She wiped away tears that had escaped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “I don’t expect you to sympathize with me when I say this, but I’ve been paying for my mistakes ever since you ran away. Your father and I’s relationship fell apart and turned to dust, your brothers moved all over the country and haven’t really talked to me since they’ve been too busy tending to their own lives, and the passion that I’ve once had for my job has died. I haven’t really been living these past few years; I’ve merely just been existing.”

Dead silence filled the room after Theresa finished speaking. Pretty much everyone had stopped what they were doing so that they could look over and see what was going on. Neither Theresa or Troy seemed to notice this, however. They seemed like all of their attention was directed at the other person at the moment.
“I…” Troy let out a heavy sigh. “I forgive you.”
“Really?” Theresa asked quietly. In fact, it was so quiet that you barely heard her.
“Yes,” Troy replied just as quietly.
A moment later, they embraced each other again. You couldn’t help but smile as you watched them. Even though he never directly said it, you had picked up on the fact that Troy secretly desired to have a stable relationship with at least one person in his family, and that was probably why he had decided to forgive his mom for everything that’s happened.
Regardless of any of that, you were happy for Troy. He really needed this. After all of those years of family turmoil, it was amazing that he was patching things up with a family member of his.

After a few moments, Theresa focused her attention back to the sole reason that you and your castmates were here to begin with; rehearsal.
“Alright, everyone! Let’s get back on track!” She called out like she hadn’t just experienced a reunion with her long-lost son. “We’re having a bit of a late start today, so we’ll be staying a bit longer than usual to make up for it.”
A couple of groans erupted from the crowd, making it clear who was here because she actually had a passion for theater and who was here because they needed something to do after school.

*****

Once rehearsal had ended, you and Mark were walking out to the parking lot after conversing with Theresa, Troy, Mary, and August and finding out that Theresa and Troy planned on going out to eat and catching up with each other while August and Mary planned on going back to Troy’s house and hanging out there until he got back. As you were doing so, you couldn’t help but study every single little detail about him. After all, you were pretty convinced that your theory about him having cancer was true. Despite that, he looked just fine… on the outside, at least. However, there was no way to know what was going on on the inside, no matter how much you tried.
Why are you staring at me like that? Mark gave you a confused look as the two of you continued walking.
“You know why.” You simply said, having no shame in admitting your feelings towards him anymore. He knew about them, after all.
Right… He trailed off, catching on to what you were saying.
You sighed. “Listen, I know you said that you weren’t going to tell me the reason why we can’t be together, but I just have to make sure that my theory is wrong because I don’t want it to be true.” You took a deep breath. “Please tell me that the reason why we can’t be together is because you found out that you have terminal cancer and you’ve been given a limited amount of time to live so you’re refusing to be with me so that I won’t be devastated when you pass on, even though I’d be devastated regardless of my relationship status with you.”
Wow, that’s… oddly specific. Mark was obviously taken aback by your statement. But since you want me to tell you, I’ll tell you. The reason that we can’t be together isn’t because I found out that I have terminal cancer and I’ve been given a limited amount of time to live so I’m refusing to be with you so that you won’t be devastated when I pass on.
You didn’t say anything in response. Instead, you just stared at him, trying to figure out whether he was lying.

Well, see you around, (Y/N). Mark said as he approached his car. He didn’t seem like he was nervous about you figuring out that he was lying. Well, if he was lying, that is.
“See you around, Mark.” You replied as you walked up to your car, not cluing him in on the fact that you were still a bit doubtful. Was he actually telling the truth or had he just said what he had said because you told him to?
Needless to say, you would be definitely be keeping a close eye on him from now on.