fluffy - axel x mark

35- who knows?

Mark ran as fast as he could to his friend Nathan's house. But the nearer he got, the more he felt like it couldn't be Nathan.

Nathan wouldn't have audibly gasped. He probably would walk up to them and say a sarcastic comment.

It wasn't just a random member of the public. They would probably either shout some homophobic comment or give you a dirty look, or ignore you.

Only a member of the team would be shocked and then hide to avoid awkwardness.

Mark tried not to think about it. Eventually he reached Nathan's house and knocked on the door.

"Hello?"Nathan said, looking tired and in his pyjamas. "Oh, Mark, it's you. You can come in if you want?"

Mark instantly knew that it couldn't be Nathan. He might've been a runner, but he wasn't that fast. Plus, he was just woke up from a nap tired. Not i just ran the whole way home tired.

They went up to Nathan's room and Mark explained the whole thing.

"Shit,"was all Nathan could reply.

"I knew it wasn't you the second I thought about it. But I had to ask. To make sure,"Mark said.

"I wish it was me,"he said, trying to brighten the mood.

Mark sighed. "I hope whoever it is isn't too vocal about it. I personally wouldn't mind if it got out, but I know Axel would."

"Yeah."

"I wonder if he'd leave the team."

"I really don't know,"said Nathan. "All we can really do is wait. Was it awkward?"

"Not until we heard someone. He kinda freaked out. I did too,"Mark sighed. "That probably didn't help the situation."

To keep his mind off it as much as possible, both boys changed the subject, and tried not to talk about Axel, soccer, or the team.

Mark desperately hoped that whoever it was stayed quiet about it, and didn't blab to the whole team.

He could barely sleep that night due to the anxiety of it all.

Over on the other side of town, Axel was having a similar night.

***********

The next morning was the game against Wild High. On the team bus, the rest of the team were well rested, but Mark and Axel were unusually tired.

"What's wrong guys?"Sylvia asked.

"I drank to many energy drinks last night and I couldn't sleep,"Mark lied.

"I was just so excited for this game so I couldn't sleep,"Axel said monotonously.

"You told me that you were going to sleep,"Nathan said worriedly.

"I know. It's easier said than done,"Mark said.

"Are you scared about the Inazuma drop, Mark? Because it's gonna be fine. Axel seems to be stressed about the same thing. I'll go talk to him now,"said Sylvia.

Mark and Nathan looked at each other. She didn't know how wrong she was. Or maybe she did. It could've been anyone.

They both looked back at her talking to Axel. He looked absolutely exhausted, and wasn't even trying to hide it.

"This is shit,"Mark whispered.

"I know,"said Nathan. "There's absolutely nothing we can do, though."

"Can we stop? I need to go to the bathroom!"Jack said to the driver.

He rolled his eyes. "You're probably just nervous again."

"Um no. You can send Nathan and Sylvia out to make sure I don't run away,"he said.

Nathan and Sylvia looked at each other. "Us?"

Jack nodded.

"I can go with you,"said Steve.

"No!"Jack shouted. "It has to be Nathan and Sylvia."

Nathan and Sylvia looked even more confused.

"Ok. If you insist,"Sylvia shrugged.

Nathan said nothing and climbed out of the bus with both of them.