Good Dog

Guardian Angel

"I don't even know what to do..." Mark admitted with a sigh as he walked with Amy back to the car, an unconscious Chica in her arms since he couldn't carry her.

"What do you mean?" Amy prompted curiously as she gently laid Chica in the car.

"She has cancer too...the vet says that she has a couple months at the most." Mark explained as he climbed into the car, petting Chica absent mindlessly as Amy got in as well.

"Oh." Amy replied, unsure of what to say.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you or anything with my problems." Mark added hastily.

"It's okay." Amy assured him as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"Hey, um, would you mind coming over and staying the night at my place? I can't take care of Chica like this." Mark asked, gesturing to his injured shoulder.

"Don't you have any friends or family  that can help?" Amy frowned.

"They all live in Cincinnati." Mark stated sadly, his eyes betraying his loneliness.

"I'll stay over." Amy nodded, noticing his expression brighten.

"Thanks." Mark grinned.

"No problem, just don't get any ideas." Amy giggled, earning a chuckle from Mark as they drove to his home.

As soon as they arrived, Amy was able to wake up Chica and make sure she got into the house okay while Mark walked in behind them.

"Home sweet home. Sorry it's not too clean, I don't usually get visitors anymore." Mark apologized as he scooped up some pizza boxes off of the floor and dumped them in the trash before scooting the dirty clothes out of sight.

"It's fine, you have a nice house." Amy remarked.

"Thanks." Mark muttered sheepishly.

Chica blearily nudged Mark's leg as if to remind him that she was still there, her eyes barely open.

"Go lay down pup, you've had a long night." Mark told her softly, gesturing to her bed.

She padded over to it and curled up inside, instantly falling asleep once more.

"So, what sounds good for dinner?" Mark prompted.

"I'm good with whatever." Amy shrugged.

"Pizza it is then." Mark decided as he retrieved his phone.

Twenty minutes later, they were curled up on the couch watching a movie while eating, Chica laying at their feet.

Amy explored his house after dinner, pausing when she saw shards of shattered glass in one of the rooms that had black padding on the walls.

"Hey Mark, did you break something?" Amy called out as she examined the shards more closely.

They were stained with blood.

"Oh...that. Well, I kinda had a rough day awhile ago and I punched a camera in the lens and broke it." Mark explained, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring any bad memories up." Amy apologized.

"You don't have to apologize, I'm better now...or at least, I'm trying to be better now." Mark muttered bitterly.

"So you said you're a let's player, right?" Amy prompted, abruptly changing the subject.

"Yeah, it means that I record video games on YouTube." Mark explained, his mood shifting back to its original brightness.

"I haven't actually recorded anything for today yet, you wanna be part of my vlog telling millions of people that I'm not dead?" Mark invited with a smirk.

"I dunno..." Amy replied.

"C'mon, you've been my guardian angel and I want everyone to know how amazing you are." Mark begged.

"I-okay." Amy stuttered, hesitantly following him into the padded room with Chica trailing in behind them.

She watched as he meticulously checked each element of his recording set up, leaving no room for error.

"Ready?" Mark asked Amy as his finger hovered over the record button on his camera.

"Ready as I'll ever be I guess." Amy laughed nervously.

Once Mark hit the button, his attitude changed completely as he talked about recent events and introduced Amy to them.

Mark held her hand out of view of the camera, occasionally squeezing it for her reassurance.

"...so yeah, that's why I'm not making videos for a bit. Hopefully I'll get to a place in life where I'll feel ready to jump back into the fray, but right now I got a lot on my plate." Mark told his fans.

"But that's all the time I got for this video since I gotta clean the house up for my company and take care of Chica. And as always I will see you," Mark paused as he pointed at the camera, Amy joining him after a moment's hesitation.

"...in the next video. Buh-Bye!" Mark waved, Amy waving as well until he ended the recording.

"You did great." Mark promised Amy with a smile.

"Thanks." Amy replied, sounding confident for the first time since he met her.

Mark set up a bed for himself on the couch in the living room and prepared his room for Amy before he disappeared into his recording room to edit the video.

Once he finished, he emerged from his room and crept down the dark hallway into the living room.

"Goodnight Amy." Mark whispered on the other side of the closed door before lying down on the couch with Chica lying beside him, his hand hanging over the side to pet her until he fell asleep.