"Ian." Mark called to me from down the hall and I hissed, stuffing my phone back in my pocket.

     Turning in the opposite direction, I dashed away from him, and out of the school building. I had already missed the first half of class so I might as well continue. Entering into the school's football field, the air suddenly got knocked out of my lung and I gasped when I fell to the ground, a heavy weight on top of me.

"Get off me you damn brick wall. Off!" I shouted and the person did just that.

     Glancing at the person groaning beside me, my eyes couldn't help but roll as Mark's green eyes met mine. Couldn't he just leave me alone? I really wanted to be away from him.

"Sorry." He said stiffly as he sat up and I glared at him, hating his very existence at the moment.

"Fuck your sorry. Leave me alone." I scoffed, rolling away from him and lifting myself off the grass. "You should just stay away from me. I would prefer that to you beating me again."

Mark visibly stiffened and he went on his knees in front of me. Something I hadn't seen him do in a very long time. "I'm sorry! I am so so sorry. I shouldn't have hit you. It was why I kicked you out in the first place. I knew I was going to hurt you if you stayed."

I gaped at him, my mouth dropping to the floor at his apology. The cold expression I had seen with him the morning had melted off and now his eyes were glazed over as if he was seconds from crying. His fingers were digging into the grass and it made me realize just how sincere he was. And I hated it.

God, why couldn't he just let me hate him? Let me hate him and pour all my anger on him.

"If you want to hit me," Mark continued abruptly and I was forced to meet his eyes. "Go ahead. I have hurt you more times than I can count. It is wrong and I should be punished."

"You want me to hit you?" I asked just to be sure.

He nodded. "If it would take the pain away then please, hurt me. I want to get rid of this guilt. It hurts and a lot worse when I think of you."

I honestly wasn't understanding a word he was saying. He was apologizing...so what? He meant it...so what? It was better if we weren't friends. It would be safer for me and it would be better for him.

Taking a deep breath, I released it and said with a weak smile. "Mark, let's break up."

"W-what?!"

"Let's stop being friends. I can't be friends with someone I can't trust at my back. We were supposed to protect each other but most of the harms were done by you. What kind of friendship would you call that? I do love you more than a friend but I would not want to be with someone who would put me in the hospital because he didn't like something I did."

Now would you look at that? I finally confessed then broke my own heart by breaking up with the person before it even started. What was wrong with me?!

"You can't!" Mark shouted out of the blue and my heart stopped cold at the tears that welled up in his eyes. "You-You can't... You can't just leave me. We've been friends since the first grade. You saved me. Al-all those times my sister wasn't there to stop me, you were, and I have been so grateful. If you s-stop being my friend... if you leave me, I'm going to go back. I'm going to start being angry at everyone and everything and I-I'm going to be angry at myself because it's my fault you left me."

My eyes couldn't meet his anymore. It was spoiling the image I had created of him. Mark never cried. But suddenly crying for me in the open where anyone could see him. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with me? Why wasn't I telling him everything was okay? Why wasn't I getting on my knees to hold him my arms? Why was I turning away from him?

"Please, just leave me alone. You wanted me to leave, now you've got it."

"Ian, no! I don't want it anymore. Do whatever you want with me just don't leave. I didn't mean it like that. Ian please, look at me."

His shaky voice, his sobs, his teary eyes, they were all scaring me to the core of my soul, but I didn't dare turned back. Instead, I waited on that football field for him to leave, resisting the urge I had to turn back and hug him so tight.

     The sound of shoes hitting the grass as it walked farther away from me made my breath hitch and realization of what I had just done finally dawned on me. I had just ended my relationship with Mark. I was no longer Mark's bro or pal or mate. We were just acquaintances.

     And it took me back to when I had first met him. It was one of those good times in history where I was the bigger and stronger one. It wasn't that Mark was being bullied... he was, but that wasn't why I walked up to him that rainy day as we sat and waited for our parents to come and pick us up. He had been sad, almost like a dog without an owner and he just sat on his seat all alone.

It made me sad whenever I saw him like that. Call it kid instinct, but it looked like he wanted a friend so I gave him one. Myself.

     He had been so scared at first, he let me boss him around until we entered middle school. It was then he told me about his anger issues. Mark was diagnosed with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), something his mum had that landed her in jail. I had been so shocked when I was told he had been abused by her, he and his sister. Their dad had mostly been on trips so the woman had them all to herself. It had only gotten worse when Mark's dad tossed the divorce papers at her.

     My folks were the ones who called the cops on her. Ever since then, I never let Mark out of my sight even after he did so many bad shit to me. It felt like I owed it to him. And now, I felt guilty for tossing him away.

     My legs moved before I even realized it and I was chasing after Mark, knowing he probably went back into the building since he didn't have a car to run home with. Coming to a stop in the spot I had caught Rengar and Tyson two weeks before, I gasped at the scene before me.

One of those smoker kids I normally saw, had Mark in a headlock and with the way Mark was pulling at his arm, it was definitely not a friendly one.

"Well Mark, I never took you as the gay one. Your boyfriend really hates you." The tanned boy gibed.

"Shut up! You don't know what's going on and I'd rather die than tell you." Mark spat as the tanned boy's friends laughed as if it was funny.

Even I who was pissed at Mark didn't find that funny. Reaching for my phone before his friends noticed me, I found Mr. Tevin's name on my contact than spoke up, cutting the tanned boy right off, "Yo! Hey, you better give me back my friend. Mr. Tevin really hate bullies."

The boy's eyes actually widened and to my surprise, quickly released Mark. "Damn, I'm sorry. I didn't know he was one of Mr. Tevin's kids."

Mr. Tevin really did have power huh? I started to reply when Mark punched the tanned boy right before my eyes, causing him to fall to the ground and his friends quickly came to pick him up, dragging him away from Mark.

Actually, I wasn't surprised. If Mark didn't do that, then Mark wasn't Mark. Quickly apologizing to the tanned boy, I rushed over to where Mark, who hadn't stopped glaring at the boy, stood and dragging him away until we were in front of the school building.

I turned to him and my heart dropped at his red puffy eyes. Lord, he was just adorable when he wasn't trying to break my anger meter.

Mark swallowed then took a step towards me slowly as if he was scared I would run. I wouldn't even if I knew he was going to punch me. It was just how I reacted to him.

"Y-you called me your friend."

"Spur of the moment." I lied swiftly, staring up straight in his eyes and I was amused when a smirk fell on his lips.

"You lied."

"What? How did you know?"

Mark shrugged then sat by my feet on the step and since I hated the height difference, I joined him. "You blinked."

"No, I didn't."

"Like six times."

"You counted?"

He looked at me and met my eyes. Something swarmed in those warm eyes of his and I felt my stomach twist. His hand cupped my cheeks and I almost moaned at the feel of his thumb stroking my cheeks.

"How could I not notice the distraction when I was trying to stare at your hazels. I have told you they are the prettiest in the world right?"

I remembered. It was sometime when we were little but that was another story for another day. The point was, I remembered.

Shaking his hand off, I placed it on his lap and I tried to ignore how his shoulders sagged. "About what I said earlier, please forget it. I don't want to lose you as my friend either. You mean absolutely everything to me so if I lose you, I'm going to lose my mind."

Mark's mood instantly changed and he perked up, smiling. "You mean that?"

I nodded then added, "Yeah but if you do plan to take me to the hospital again, I'm going to bloody stab you so both of us would be there together."

"I don't mind." He admitted then pulled me in for a hug. "As long as you are with me too."

Ah fuck. Mark's just adorable, I can't.