"Babe, pass me that box to your left please." Mark's eyes shot downwards and instantly there was this look of confusion written across his face. It looked to be as if he were trying to figure out which of the several boxes on his left I meant. The last few boxes laying on the floor by his feet were the last of my belongings that needed to be put away- clothing. "I mean your immediate left. That one should have all my dresses and blouses. Y'know stuff that should be hung in the closest."

I swung open Mark's closet door, and was instantly hit with the lingering scent of that cologne I loved oh so much. Lined along the hangers were all his dress shirts and suit jackets that I had become accustom to a few months ago. Seeing them again, kind of made me realize how much I missed them. "It's a shame I'll never get to see 'Mr. Fischbach' again. It was just so naughty being with my teac..." 

My reminiscing was cut short when Mark's scruffy jawline grazed across my shoulder, and he took a hold of my hips from behind. He buried his face in between my neck and shoulder, and beginning to plant soft kisses across the arch."That's actually something I was meaning to talk to you about," he uttered between kisses into my ear as he began to sway with me back and forth. 

Curious as to what he was getting at, I pulled away from his grasp and spun around. He had this smirk on his face and a look in his eyes that made me feel as if I should understand but, I didn't. Not knowing what he may have to tell me, it caused my heart to race. Fearing it may be something bad I took a deep breath, and decided it may be best to sit down. Knowing the type of luck I've had over the last few days, it wouldn't shock me if it turned out to be bad news.

I'm sure I looked nervous because when I took a seat on the edge of the bed, Mark became rather giddy. "It's nothing bad, just something I've been thinking about, and I wanna see how you feel about it." I don't quite know what I was expecting him to say but, at least knowing it wasn't going to be something bad put me more at ease. "Okay, so tell me."

Based on the upturned corner of Mark's lips, the peppy tone in his voice and the shine in his eye, whatever he had to say was going to be good. He seemed almost like a young boy around Christmas, and that brought me joy. I couldn't help but get so caught up in his infectious giddiness. I had to belt out laughing before even knowing what it was he wanted to say. It took a few moments for both of us to calm down before he finally spoke up, satisfying my curiosity.

"Well last night while I was at work, there was a gentleman sitting at the bar discussing with his friend about the high school on Hillside, in urgent need of substitute English teacher for the second semester. Something about the current one taking a maternity leave and needing to find a replacement. Throughout the evening I continued to eavesdrop on their conversation and eventually spoke up, revealing I use to be a 12th grade English teacher up until recently. The more and more we spoke, the more interested he seemed in the conversation and before the gentleman took off he left me with his number asking me to give him a call if it was something I'd be interested in. Obviously, I am interested in getting back into teaching but, now that you live with me, it's something that effects us both. So I just wanted to see how you felt about it."

I sat in silence trying to wrap my head around what Mark was telling me. English is certainly something he has a passion for, so why he would feel the need to discuss it with me, I had no idea. However the fact that he felt it was important enough to get my opinion on, meant a lot to me. "If it's something you wanna do baby, I say the least you can do is see if you can get an interview. It'd actually work out really well for us. As of next week I'll be starting school again so I'll be gone all day, and with you bartending, you're gone all night. We don't have much time to ourselves. However if you managed to get the job, we'd have similar hours."

Having an entirely different schedule from Mark was something I knew was going to suck, because it meant there'd be days where we wouldn't see much of each other- so to hear there's a possibility to change that, I was thrilled. "Exactly. I could drop you off at school on my way to work, and pick you up on my way home. Then we'd have the evening's together, and the weekend all to ourselves. So you think I should call him? "

I couldn't hide my wide smile and, I guess there was no real reason to hide it. Both teaching and English was something Mark has a passion for, and as his lover I would be 100% behind his decision every step of the way. Just seeing how happy the possibility of teaching again made him, warmed my heart. If anything now I felt as if I were the kid at Christmas. So full of excitement, I jumped up and through my arms around his neck, giving him a few light, repetitive kisses. "Yes, yes you should," I muttered in between kisses, until I eventually pulled away.

The smile from ear to ear formed upon Mark's face was something I didn't see too often anymore, at least not like this. Usually the stress from work often weighs him down, and takes it's toll. Work is often a drag for him, so it was nice to see something good come out of it for once. "Okay," he shouted as he spun around to the dresser, his baritone voice bouncing off the bedroom walls. "Have you... seen my wallet?"

My eyes darted around the room because in truth, I had no idea at that point where it was and neither did he. Mark would often leave his wallet on top of his dresser, but I had been moving things around all morning. I remembered having seen it, but as to where it was or where I may have moved it to while I was making room for my things was something I just couldn't recall. "Uh. I-I... Um. I-it's around, we'll find it."

The glazed over look in Mark's eyes, and the reddish tint in his cheeks told me he wasn't all too thrilled. Mark's a very organized person and I knew the fact that I couldn't tell him where I moved his wallet to, kinda pissed him off. "Babe..."he began in a hushed tone as he started to run his fingers through his hair in what looked to be frustration.

"I'm gonna say this once. I don't mind if you want all your shit to have it's own place, after all this is your home now too However please don't be moving my shit around to make way for yours. Especially if you can't keep track of what you did with it." I really didn't think moving some of his things would be a big deal but, at the same time I understood where he was coming from. He wanted his wallet, I had moved it and had no idea where I put it in that moment.

What really got to me was the tone of voice he used. I felt as if he was talking down to me, and he seemed quite upset over something so small. However unfortunately as much as he may have drilled into my head that I live here now too- ultimately this was his home and I needed to be respectful of that. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have touched something that didn't belong to me." --"You know that's not what I meant. I just... Ugh. Forget I said anything. We can look for it after." With that, Mark stormed out of the room, without saying anything more. That was when the sense of isolation kicked in. 'Living together clearly won't be easy...'

***

"Here," I proclaimed leaning against the arch way of his office space. Mark peeked up from his copy of The Martian, with a less than enthused expression. Although despite that look, his eyes felt to me like they were filled with nothing but regret. "Do me a favor. Don't talk to me like that again," I requested tossing him his newly found wallet. Feeling the cold tension in the room, I certainly didn't want to stand there another moment. I could so often get a reading on Mark when something was on his mind or when something was bothering him but, this time was different.

He seemed closed off, almost resentful. Having come in here to do what I wanted to do which was give him his wallet, I thought I'd give him his space. I hung my head and sighed feeling guilty for being the one to cause his frustration, turning around to leave him alone only to be stopped by a loud thud and a deep exhale. "Babe," he whispered under his breath. I perked my head up, and turned around to face him. Looking at him, he was now giving me his full attention and the book was now placed on the book shelf. The look in his eyes told me he felt just as shitty as I did. Seeing that it was a shared emotion made me want to hear him out instead of giving him the space I thought he needed. "Come here."

A small comforting smile lined his face, and he crossed his legs and began to pat the knee, suggesting for me to take a seat. "Where did you find it?" Seeing that he was no longer mad, or at least not nearly as much as he was, I swallowed my pride and took him up on his offer of taking a seat on his knee. "While I was putting some of my ornaments on the dresser I must have thrown it onto the bed. I found it wrapped up in the bedsheets," I said regretfully taking a sitting position on top of his knee, and leaned my head back onto his shoulder.

A part of this still didn't feel right. Sure he seemed less annoyed, but I still couldn't shake the feeling of needing to give him space. "I'm sorry I spoke to you like that. I could try and justify it by saying I was just annoyed because you know I like things a certain way. It's a habit of mine to do certain things and have things a certain way. Always having my wallet on the dresser being one of them. When things change on me like that, I get frustrated."

Although I still felt bad, we were at least making headway. I had never seen Mark snap like that over something so small, and now I was getting to understand why he did. He was breaking down a wall I didn't even know was there and that, was something I could at least be happy about. "This is all new for me too beautiful. Living together may not be easy at times but I know some how we'll make it work," he added tilting his head towards me, pushing my hair off to the side and behind my ear.

Staring up into his eyes was calming, and after hearing his explanation for the way he acted I now had a better understanding. He said he was sorry, and knowing he felt remorse was good enough for me, which meant I could move past what happened. "Why did you need your wallet so badly anyway?" Mark pulled his arm from out behind me, and picked up his wallet from down beside his other leg, before opening it to show me why.

He pulled a small napkin out of the zipper portion, and showed me what looked to be a name and number scribbled across it. "The guy from the bar," he muttered. "After hearing what you thought about me teaching again I knew I needed to give him a call." Finally it had made even more sense. A new job was on the line, and Mark couldn't very well call the man if he didn't have his number. I finally had an even better understanding as to why Mark freaked over something so insignificant. I knew I couldn't very well hold it against him.

At this point I thought the best thing to do would be kiss and make up, so I grazed my hand along his cheek, bringing his focus back to me. There was a moment where we stared longingly into each other's eyes before I placed a small kiss upon his bottom lip and rose to my feet. "So why don't you call him now and, I'll go get a start on dinner."

With that, Mark gave me a bit of a smile and a reassuring nod as he reached into his pants pocket retrieving his cell phone. Now that the issue at hand had been resolved, I walked out of his office, with a feeling of light heartedness. I couldn't shake what he said, 'living together won't be easy, but we'll make it work.' Something about that just made me want to smile. It was just proof alone that he clearly felt we had a love that could overcome anything, as did I.

***

Not long after getting started on dinner, I could hear Mark's footsteps strolling down the hallway, and entering in the kitchen. The heat radiating from the stove top was hot, but it didn't bother me. I felt a nice dinner together after what happened would be the perfect way to end the evening. As such, instead of paying any attention to Mark, my soul focus was seasoning the steaks I had sizzling in the pan. That is until Mark once again, came up and wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"You remind me of a stepford wife," he teased, scrapping his stubbled jawline across my shoulder blade and peered over my shoulder giggling at his own stupidity. Finally, it felt like we were back to normal and hearing him call me any type of wife at all set my heart ablaze. Of course I knew he was kidding, and as such I shared in the laughter with him. "So, did you call the man?"-- "Yup. I've got an interview tomorrow at afternoon."