Sober (A Septiplier Story)

Chapter 5: A Peek in the Past

(Jack's POV)

"What is this about Nina?" I crossed my arms, angry that she pulled me away from Mark and our movie.

Nina sat in her chair and gestured to a man I had not noticed before, "Jack, this is Detective Harrison."

"What is this? I didn't do anything."

"Jack, this is not about you. I am investigating the disappearance of Lydia Monroe. We discovered her cell phone and the last person she called was you, 17 times."

"I haven't seen or talked to Lydia in over a year. Yes she called me but I blocked it. She only calls me when she needs money."

"We suspect she may be in danger, so do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Like I said, I haven't seen or spoke to her in over a year. When were together she usually hung out at our apartment or a warehouse in Burbank where her dealer lived."

"Do you have the address of this warehouse?" he took out a pad of paper and a pen. I scribbled down the address and he stuffed it back in his jacket pocket.

"Thank you for your cooperation Jack. We will be in touch." He handed me his card and left out the side door. I got up to leave.

"Sit down Jack." Nina scolded. I sat down and she stared me down.

"What?"

"Jack, you know Mark is not allowed to date in the first year."

"What's your point?"

"My point is be careful. I'm happy you are making him feel welcome, but you need to think about what happened with Trevor and watch yourself."

"How dare you! What happened with Trevor was not my fault and the fact that you would suggest I was leading Mark away from his recovery is fucked up." I got up and stormed out of the office. I had to get out of the house. I didn't want to think about Trevor or Lydia.

(Mark's POV)

After dinner, it was time for therapy. Jack was nowhere to be found so I sat with Matt again.

"Marky Mark! How are you getting along man?"

"Fine I suppose. Getting sick of the wallpaper. How is the outside world?"

He laughed, "It's shit, but I don't blame you with this wallpaper, it's too green."

"Speaking of green, have you seen Jack?"

"Not since this morning. He should be here or else Nina will tear him a new one."

We continued to chat about menial things when Jack came in. He sat in a huff across from me, obviously upset. Nina started the group and several people shared, but I tuned them out keeping my eyes on Jack. He stared at his boots, not moving. Suddenly, I realized everyone was staring at me.

"I'm sorry what?"

"I asked how your first week was."

I stood, wiping my palms on my thighs, "It was boring, but I did meet some new friends and have been reading a lot." I sat down.

"I understand your boredom, but with progress and good behavior comes reward."

I nodded along, keeping my eyes on Jack's green mop. Finally, group was concluded and I went to talk to Jack. When I reached him, he stood and sprinted out of the room.

The next morning, I was in the kitchen making myself an omelet. I tried finding out more about Jack from Matt, but he didn't know much about Jack.

"That smells good." I barely heard the voice behind me but recognized it as Jack's.

"You want me to make you one?" I offered, ignoring the fact that he ditched me.

"That would be great, thank you." I put the omelet on a plate and gave it to Jack. He smiled at me and I went back to the stove to make my own.

"I'm sorry for leaving yesterday. Some shit went down I don't want to talk about but, again, I'm sorry." He was now standing next to me.

I turned to him and gave him a weak smile, "Thank you Jack. I'm sorry something bad happened, is it okay?"

"No, but it will be." I finished up my breakfast and joined Jack to eat it. He took his last bite when I sat down and stood to rinse his plate.

"Thank you for breakfast Mark, that was so delicious. I have to run to work but I will see you later."

"Bye." I finished my meal in silence.

I was putting away the cleaning supplies when I discovered a bag in the corner. I looked around to make sure no one was around and picked it up. Inside the bag was a wallet with no ID and a cell phone. The cell phone had a full battery. Before I could talk myself out of it, I dialed my best friends number. He picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Felix! It's Mark!" I felt so relieved to hear his voice.

"Mark! Where the hell have you been man? I haven't seen you in two weeks."

"It's not important. I am okay though, if anyone asks, just tell them I'm fine. Listen, I need to know what happened the night we went to the club downtown."

"We took a cab to get some burgers and then Bob suggested a strip club. You weren't too happy about it but went anyway. You ended up doing shots while we got lap dances. Then you left and I assumed someone called you a cab."

"Ew, a strip club. Anyway, I have to go but thank you Felix, I will hopefully be in touch again very soon."

"Okay, are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine. Gotta go!" I hung up quickly and deleted the call, and put the bag back where I found it. Thanks to Felix, I now have the next hour or so after the club accounted for, but how did I get to the hospital.

A/N In the next chapter, we will fast forward to 2 months later and get Mark a job, as well as a pleasant surprise...

Thank you for reading and I will see you in the next chapter!