(Four years later)

~Sean

I had the same dream again like I usually do every single day. The one where I see the unfamiliar man with short raven black hair and chocolate brown eyes yelling at me, cursing me, pushing me away from him, even though the only thing I want to do is hold him close, although I wasn't sure why. Suddenly he did something very different. Instead of shoving me away as I approached him, he sat down on the floor in front of me, pulled a book out from the shelf behind him and began reading to me. I smiled, enjoying his melodic voice as he read a book I recognized as the Hobbit to me. About halfway through it, he abruptly closed the book and began to walk away. "Don't go, please." I begged him. He glanced back at me one last time, then kept walking towards the door.

"Wait!" I shouted as I reached out towards him. Standing in the doorway was a different man. His hair was long, he wore jeans, a t-shirt and he also had a goatee. His eyes were wide with shock as he stared at me, mouth slightly agape.

~Mark

"Are you sure you don't wanna come?" I asked Bob again as I dropped him off at the dorm. "Yeah. I-I can't see him like that again." Bob sighed. I nodded in understanding, then drove off to the hospital for the first time in four years, only making myself do it because no matter how much I denied it, I loved Sean. I walked into Sean's hospital room and placed a clear glass vase filled with a bouquet of dandelions  down before I sat down in a chair in front of him. "It's....It's been a while." I bit my lip before I continued. "Four years. Hard to believe that four years ago you had come to America for the very first time." I breathed in amazement. "I brought you a book. I don't know if you've read it, but I really like it. It's called the Hobbit." I cleared my throat before I began reading. "Once upon a time there was a hole in the ground, but not just any old hole filled with nasty ends of worms, but a hobbit hole..." I read aloud to Jack until I had to go back to class, which felt like minutes ago when in reality it had been a few hours. "Bye I guess." I waved goodbye to Sean's still sleeping form as I walked towards the door. I could've swore I saw him twitch, but I wasn't entirely sure. I shook my head as I stepped to the doorway. "Wait!" Sean cried desperately from behind me, his robin egg blue eyes wide and alert. He had bolted up to a sitting position. Suddenly I heard a feminine cough emanate from on front of me. Standing in the doorway a few inches from my face was Signe. She pushed past me and ran over to Sean, flinging her arms around him tightly. Feeling awkward and defeated, I turned back around and walked out the door. "Wait!" Sean called out again. I froze in the hallway, then returned to his room. He motioned for me to come closer. Hesitantly, I did as he wanted. He scrutinized my eyes carefully, then took his hands and spiked up my hair. He then suddenly gasped in surprise, recognition flickering in his eyes. "Man with chocolate brown eyes and raven black hair." He murmured. He instantly shied away from me as if I was poisonous. "You yelled at me in my dreams, screamed that you hated me in that glowing white library." He pointed a shaky finger at me. "But..." He let the finger drop. "That room...the one with her." Her then pointed at Signe. "You-you came-" he broke off, clutching his head in his hands, rocking back and forth. "Sean?" I bent down a little so I could see his eyes. He began mumbling names that started with M under his breath. He stopped at the name Mark. "Mark..." He repeated. "Mark!" He cried. "Need to tell Mark I'm sorry." "Why?" I asked. "I'm sorry for running away. Where's Mark?!?" He scanned the room carefully. "I'm Mark." I told him softly, tears gathering in my eyes. "You-you changed....." He observed. "Babe, don't you remember me?" Signe pleaded. Jack turned to face her, anger burning in his eyes. "Oh I remember alright. You claimed to be my girlfriend and pushed Mark away from me!" He shouted angrily. "And you thought that my pneumonia was a "slight cold". Well look how that turned out." He added. "Wait-you don't have a girlfriend?" I asked. He shook his head no. "Never have, not even a date." He confessed. "You wanted to know why I left Ireland....it's because I got into a fight with my family and said things that I shouldn't of, so I got kicked out." I stared at Sean, stunned. "If you had just told me the truth..." I said softly. "You would've judged me, I know." Sean spat out bitterly. "No," I walked up even closer to Sean so I was inches from his face.  "I would've done this." I gave him a long kiss on the lips that lasted for about ten seconds before breaking away. Sean immediately began blushing profusely. "Sorry-um-I don't know if-" I stuttered awkwardly. Sean silenced me with a kiss of his own. "Of course." He grinned. "So I'm guessing you don't hate me anymore?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "What do you think?" I asked as I gave him another shorter kiss. "I dunno, I'm still not entirely convinced." Sean teased. "Oh, I'm sure you will be very soon." I remarked as I lifted Sean off of the bed bridal style, then set him down in his feet. He took a few wobbly steps before nearly falling face first onto the tile. "How long have I been asleep?" Jack asked. "Four years." I explained. He remained silent as he absorbed what I just told him. "Okay." He nodded slowly. "Here." I handed him his phone. He stared at the reflection on the screen, awestruck that so much change could've happened. He now had a light brown stubble and his brown hair was longer and more unruly. "Hmm," I pretended to think. "Something's missing. Ah!" I grabbed his knit cap off of his table and pulled it over his eyes. "Hey!" He lightly swatted my arm as he adjusted the bill so he could see again. "Ready to go?" I offered him a hand. Gratefully he took it and together we walked hand in hand to the car, leaving Signe alone in the empty room.

~Sean

       "What am I gonna tell Bob? Hey, remember me I was in a coma for four years but now I'm awake again and I'm dating your roommate?!?" I asked sarcastically. "Well, I wouldn't say it like that." Mark nudged me forward towards the dorm door. I cleared my throat before rapping my knuckles on the door. "Mark you don't have to-" Bob began as he opened the door. He froze, his eyes wise with shock. "-knock." He finished. "Uh, hey Bob." I awkwardly waved. Bob stood there speechless for a few moments before he engulfed me in a huge hug. "It's good to have you back." Bob told me. "It's good to be back." I sighed contently. "Hey what-" a man with shaggy black hair and gleaned like Mark stuck his out out of the doorway of the dorm to the left. "Hey Link." Bob greeted him. A few seconds later another guy with spiky blond hair appeared by Link. "Hey, it's that guy who was in a coma for four years! Good to have ya back." The stranger clapped a hand on my back, causing me to stumble forward slightly. "I'm Rhett by the way, we create songs based on video games." Rhett explained. "You're like the boy who lived around here!" Link exclaimed. Before I could reply, the headmaster approached me, his lips set in a grim expression. "Mr. McLoughlin?" He motioned for me to follow him. Reluctantly I waved goodbye to my friends and followed Mr. Gray to his office. "Do you have any idea of how many rules you've broken?!?" He snapped impatiently once the door was closed. I remain silent, my head hung in shame. "Not only did you not pay your fees but when I asked about it, you lied directly to my face." "It was my fault. I lied for him." I heard Mark declare behind me. "So did I." Bob added. I turned around and was surprised to see Mark, Bob, Rhett and Link standing in the back of the room. "Ah, Mr. Fischbach. You admit that you and your friend lied to me to protect Mr. McLoughlin here?" Mr. Gray gestured over at me. Mark and Bob nodded without hesitating. "Fine. Mr. Fischbach, you are expelled-" "You can't do that!"  Someone argued from outside the room. Everyone's gaze immediately turned towards the stranger. It was a tall guy with balding dark brown hair and matching dark brown eyes. "And why not Wade?" Mr. Gray queried. "Because..." He struggled to find an excuse. "You'll have to expel me too!" "Okay then. All of you are expelled. Dismissed." Mr. Gray waved us away like we were pesky flies. "But-" "Leave. I won't ask again nicely." Mr. Gray demanded. "You know what then," I backed out of the room, both of my middle fingers raised. "Best mistake of my life!" I declared, then ran down the halls, randomly bursting into classrooms which disrupted lessons. The rest of the group shrugged, then fool owed suite, whooping and hollering, causing a huge riot with the students. "If we're going out, we're going out with style." Mark decided. "I think I got something." Wade grinned mischievously, darting into a nearby dorm, then coming back out with several cans of air horns and multi colored silly string. I grabbed an air horn and a can of green silly string, then sprayed it at the headmaster, who was gradually catching up to us and screaming his head off. "You're gonna need a lawyer when I'm through with you!" He screamed at us as we ran to the doors. "The only thing I need us my double finger defense." All of us stuck both if our middle fingers up, then darted outside laughing, none of us believing what we just did. "When did you get silly string and air horns?" I wondered aloud. "In case pranking needed to be done." Wade smirked mischievously. We sat on the ground in a circle in the parking lot. "What now?" Mark voiced what everyone was probably thinking. "Well, I wanted to make a YouTube channel for a while." Rhett shrugged as he glanced over at Link. "What the hell is YouTube?" I asked. "I'll explain later." Mark patted my shoulder comfortingly. "Why don't we all start YouTube channels?" Bob suggested. "Why the hell not." I shrugged. "I always thought Jacksepticeye would be a good username." "I mused. "My mom used to call me Jack and I got an infected eye when I was younger." I elaborated. "You should do Markiplier." I advised Mark. "Multiplier plus Mark." "Odd. I like it." He grinned. "I'm probably just gonna do Muyskerm. It sounds weird." Bob snorted. "KingMinion777 sounds cool to me." Wade thought aloud. "Nah. LordMinion777 sounds better." Rhett added. "What about living arrangements?" Link frowned in thought. "Sean and I can share an apartment." Mark informed the group. He smiled at me and squeezed my hand reassuringly, reminding me that everything would be okay.