-Breathin by Ariana Grande-

Reminiscing, Denise Walsh smiled as she put her wedding dress into her closet.

Married and moved into a new house? Oh, how time passed when you were in love, she thought.

They had just got back from Antigua and Barbuda and were settling into their new home. They didn't have much, considering they could only travel with so many things.

So, they had furniture on the way and the clothes they had to put away.

The two-story home had four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a garage, and a nice sized basement.

There was a room for them, three extra for anyone who stayed over and their future child. They had a nice sized yard too that would be easy to keep up.

They'd been sleeping in their bedroom in a tent and sleeping bags until their beds were delivered.

Somehow, they didn't have much and, at the time, had everything. They were happy and at peace, whether sleeping in a tent, car, or bed.

All that mattered was that they were together.

As Denise hung up a shirt, her phone vibrated in her back pocket.

She answered, already knowing it was Ana, "hello?"

"Um, hi, is this Mrs. Denise Walsh?"

Putting a hand on her hip, Denise blushed, "yes, this is she," the newlywed played along.

"Yes, this is she," Ana imitated her, playfully.

"I can't with you," Denise shook her head.

"I'm so happy for you!" Ana gushed. "How have you been? How are you guys settling into the new house?"

"Don't have any furniture, yet we feel settled if that makes sense. We've been sleeping in a tent and everything. It's been fun, though."

"In other words, it's been steamy."

"Very," Denise felt her skin warmed as she thought about the desire that brought the two into passionate lovemaking around the clock.

There were definitely in the honeymoon phase and couldn't keep their hands off each other.

Not that they were complaining anyway.

"Details, please," Ana was intrigued and missed their girl talk.

Not only had Denise been busy with getting married, but Ana was busy with work, school, and being a mother.

They hadn't really sat down and talked to each other.

Denise was hoping Ana could fly to Boulder soon, so they could actually see each other face to face, and she could meet Liliana.

"Well," started a grinning Denise.

"Hey, babe!" Mark yelled from downstairs.

"Hold on," she told Ana. "Yeah?!"

"I got everything set up. Are you ready?"

Denise frowned in confusion for a moment, only to realize they were supposed to be filming their YouTube return video today.

"Yeah, I'm coming!" she yelled back.

"Hey, Ana, I'm gonna have to call you back. We're filming today. I'm so sorry."

"No, it's fine. Please make the video! We, the people, need fresh content!"

"I know, I know," Denise left out of the room. "I'm gonna call you back, okay?"

"Alright, girl, I love you. Tell Mark I said hi."

"I love you too, and I will. Bye," Denise hangs up the phone as she descended the stairs.

Mark was sitting in front of the camera in the living room, sipping on a beer as he waited. The natural light they came through the window made it the best place to film.

Once they fixed up the basement, that would be their place to film videos.

They actually missed making videos and thought it was a good time to come back since they were married and settled.

"Ana says hi," Denise stands behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek repeatedly.

Mark patted her arm, turning his head to give her a kiss. "How is she?"

Denise sits beside him, taking his beer to drink some. "I didn't get to ask her. She sounded well, though."

"That's good. You ready?" Mark asked, casually running his finger through his hair.

A simple movement that caused Denise to pounce on him like a cougar. Not that he was complaining anyway.

"Mhm," she swallowed as she put the bottle on the floor near her feet. Just as Mark was about to push record, the doorbell ring.

"It's open!" the two yelled, knowing that most likely it was one of the kids or their parents.

In came Ryleigh, not surprisingly.

She came over the most, considering she was basically glued to Denise's hip. Not in a bad way. She just liked being around her.

If it wasn't for Samantha understanding the life of newlyweds, Ryleigh would practically live there.

"Hey, you, what's up, you?" Denise asked as the twelve-year-old came over to the two.

"My dad needs Uncle Mark's help moving some furniture. He needs his van too." She notices the camera, leaning an arm on Denise's shoulder. "Are you guys making a video?"

"Yeah, so you can tell him I'll be over to help in a bit?" Mark asked.

"Okay," she started to leave. "Rex is with grandma, by the way."

"Alright, are we still have a date for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it," Ryliegh grinned before leaving out of the house.

Denise loved that little girl so much.

As for Rex, he'd practically become the family dog, hopping from house to house.

"Alright, we're filming," Mark settled next to Denise.

"Hey guys," Denise takes the lead with a massive smile on her face. "We're alive. Despite the rumors, we are not dead."

"Not even on the inside," Mark added with a chuckle.

"For once, not on the inside," Denise beamed. "You guys obviously want to know what we've been up to, so we're just going to get right into it."

She looks at Mark, and together they say, "we're married!"

Denise even waved her ring finger in the camera. With a laugh, she pulls back as Mark put an arm around her waist.

It felt good to be affectionate in front of the camera.

"So, some of you, if not the majority, are probably confused because we never established that we were even dating," said Mark.

"For good reason," Denise explained though she didn't have to. "Considering my track record, I didn't want my first real relationship to be in the toxic public eye, and Mark felt the same way. We got together not too long after his birthday, and we got married, not even a month ago."

"Yeah," Mark nodded. "So much as happened. We reunited with my family in Colorado, which is where we are now. We got a house here, so we won't even be on the road for a while, but that doesn't mean we are gonna stop making videos."

"Yeah, money or not," Denise made it clear, "YouTube is something we actually like to do. We love having met and greets and hanging out with you guys. We wouldn't just leave you hanging. We just wanted to come out with our relationship set in stone. Marriage is as real as it gets so."

"Yeah, so, instead of just updating you guys in one whole video because that can take hours, we're going to make several videos. How we got together, what the relationship was like. You'll get to meet our family, we'll do a house tour, talk about the wedding -"

"Pretty much everything," Denise summed it up. "We want to transparent and honest and talk about our journey. We've shared our past with you guys, so we want to share this part new part of our life with you guys too."

They ended the video, thanking their subscribers for support, and was done.

"I can start editing the video while you go help Val," said Denise, already taking the camera off the tripod.

"Okay, I'll be back," Mark gave her a kiss, which turned into a two, which turned into a lip lock.

Knowing exactly where this was going, Denise pulled away, "hurry back."

"I'll be back before you know it," Mark gave her another a peck.

With a dopey smile on her face, she watched him head out.

Getting their laptop and hotspot from when they traveled, she went into the kitchen and set it all on the counter.

As she got herself a cup of cranberry juice, a song popped into her head.

Alicia Keys' If I Aint Got You - in other words, a bop.

"Some people want it all," she started to sing lowly. Until it kicked in that she was alone.

Denise started ripping and running, making the song her own, effortlessly. Her soul and emotion were like no other as she sang the adlibs at the end of the song.

"Nothing in this whole wide world don't mean a thing. If I ain't got you with me, baby."

Such a good song, she thought to herself as she took a sip of her cranberry juice.

Suddenly feeling a presence, she turned and locked eyes with Mark.

For the first time, he was staring at her like he didn't even know her.

"Heyy, you," she said, her voice pitch high.

She was praying he didn't hear her little concert. "I thought you were heading to Val's."

"I forgot the keys," Mark jiggled them, in his hand, before pointing at her. "I knew it. I knew you were holding out on me."

"Shit," she could already see the wheels turning in his head.

"Whatever you're thinking, the answers is no," she refused.

"Nope, I heard it. You've been holding out too long. There's no turning back now."

He turns and walks out.

"What does that even mean?" Denise follows him outside.

"You'll see," he had this smirk on his face that sent a chill down Denise's spine.

"Mark, what are you going to do?" she stood in front of him, blocking his way to the car.

"You'll see," he held her by the arms. "Do you trust me?"

"A little too much," Denise widened her eyes at him.

"Good," he smiled and kissed her before picking her up and moving her out of the way like she was one of those orange construction cones.

"After helping out with Val, I'm going to pick up a few things."

"Wha - why - Mark!" Denise said, exasperated - but it was too late. He was already pulling out of the driveway.

__________

Denise was so nervous that it took her over an hour to edit the short video they filmed. Every minute that passed, she got more and more anxious about where Mark was, what he was doing, and what he was supposedly getting.

When Mark had a plan - a vision - there was no talking him out of it. Especially if his heart was in it.

As much as Denise tried to think of ways to worm out of whatever he was doing, she knew how convincing he could be - even more so when he was right.

She practically ran out of the house when she heard the van pull into the driveway.

Denise goes outside as Mark and Val got out of the car and headed to the trunk.

"Hey, Denise," Val greeted her.

"Hey," she skeptically went to the trunk to see what Mark had brought back.

He opened the doors to reveal a bunch of studio equipment.

He had a soundboard, cable cords, microphone, speakers, monitors, even his guitars.

"You can't be serious," Denise watched the two men start taking stuff out.

"You're gonna be a superstar, D," smirked Val.

"Not funny," she scowled as he swiped past to go inside the house.

"I'm literally getting flashbacks of the Selena movie," she rubbed her face.

"That was a good movie," Mark said, wrapping up some cords.

"Can you just listen to me?" she stopped him. "I can sing, so what? Doesn't mean I want to make it a career, so you can take all of this back."

"Are we really going to do this?" Mark challenged her. "Are you really going to try to convince me that you're not passionate about this? Me?"

Denise glued her lips shut, sighing.

"Fine then, tell me if your father had encouraged you to pursue music, that you wouldn't have done it."

"Fine, you're right," she gave a fake smile. "But you know what, you play with your new toys. While you're at it, find a singer 'cause it won't be me."

Mark watched her go with a smile of admiration and satisfaction.

"We'll see," he muttered as he continued unloading the van. "We'll see."

__________

Hooking everything up was not easy, especially because Mark had no clue what he was doing. He walked right into the music shop, got somebody to tell him what he would need to record a song, and was out of there.

Luckily, he had YouTube to help. Just as he did when renovating his van.

The rest of the day, he was glued to his laptop, setting everything up.

Denise quietly seethed the whole time, in disbelief that he wasn't going to take her seriously.

YouTube was all she was doing. That's what she said, and that's what she meant.

While he worked like a man in his mancave, she spent the day replying to their uploaded video comments. Mostly everyone was shocked by the news but happy for them nonetheless.

And there were so many questions that they would gladly answer when they started filming.

Tending to her wife duties, Denise made sure that Mark ate something, but still, he didn' leave that living room.

He kept working.

By the time eleven came around, she realized Mark wasn't going to sleep until he was finished.

So, she left him be, bundling up in their tent and falling asleep.