Would You Run? Crankiplier high school AU

Chapter 9

A/N: if you've never heard the song e girls are ruining my life by corpse husband I am begging you to go check it out. Okie thank you that's all

Mark looked surprised for a second. Maybe even a little scared.

"Ya know," I started, desperately trying to explain myself. "Cause you always call me a fag and stuff."

"Oh," Mark said, letting out a breath of air and looking very relieved. I pretended not to notice that what I'd said before sounded like a confession. I didn't mean it as one.

"Yeah," I laughed, timidly.

There was an awakened silence for a moment or two, but it didn't last long.

"So," Mark said, racking his brain for another topic. "I was originally going to train on the field today. Wasn't expecting company."

"You can," I said with a polite smile. "I don't mind."

"You can come if you want!" He said excitedly. He wanted me there. Why the fuck did he want me there?

"Really?" I asked, not being able to contain my smile.

"Sure," he responded happily. "You play any sports?"

I chuckled a bit at his question, shaking my head with a "nope."

He smiled and walked past me up the stairs into his room. I followed, not knowing if I was supposed to or not.

I walked into the room, Chica not far behind me, and saw Mark sitting on the bed just on his phone.

"Oh sorry," he said while quickly typing something and putting his phone down. "Seán wanted to know if I was busy today."

"Oh," I said. "Well you can totally hang out with him, Mark, I promise that it's-"

I was cut off by Mark reassuring me that he isn't going to hang out with Seán. "I'm intimidating enough, you don't need to deal with him too," he said.

Him just being self aware and apologetic and so understanding was enough to make me melt.

I smiled and gave an "okay."

Mark got off the bed and walked over to his dresser, and I, not thinking at all, took the seat he was in.

I scrolled through Instagram for a few seconds before getting a good morning text from Riley.

I began to type one in response, but my attention was stolen when out of the corner of my eye I saw Mark begin to take his shirt off. He was facing towards the wall, still looking through some clothes, but the visual he had given me was more than appreciated. The muscles in his back were prominent every time he moved his arms.

I've never seen Mark without a shirt on before and from this alone, I started to get hard. I was able to control it, but fucking hell.

He had a bit of an hourglass figure, yet it was still very masculine.

In order to stop myself from staring, I tried my best to focus on texting Riley.

Me: He's shirtless

It was the only relevant thing I could think to say.

Riley: ...WHAT? ETHAN YOU CANT JUST SAY THINGS LIKE THAT AND NOT FOLLOW UP WITH A PICTURE

She was right. If I were her I'd be on the edge of my seat.

As best as I could, I tilted my back phone camera up and snapped a shot of Mark. After saving the photograph to my gallery and favoriting it, I sent it to Riley. Luckily, Mark didn't notice

Me: *image attachment*

Riley: Okay so I know we hate him but Ethan...

Me: I know :'(

Me: but I'm not so sure that I hate him anymore. I mean I guess I kinda do. But at the same time he's just so AHHHH, you know?

Riley: I do :/

I knew she'd understand what I was trying to say.

"You want to take a shower?" He asked. The idea terrified me and exhilarated me. I don't know why, I mean it's not that big of a deal, but something about the idea of being naked in Mark's house excited me even though it wasn't sexual.

"Yes please," I responded, taking a second to answer so it would seem like I hadn't already made my mind up.

Mark gave me a few options of his clothes that I could wear, but I just ended up going with whatever he wore the most: His blue sweatshirt that he wore almost everyday, on top of a random black t shirt and some matching black sweatpants.

He directed me to the bathroom and told me where the towels were. As I followed the way he directed me, I tried to take in as much of this place as I could. I found myself itching to know the name of the blond girl in the pictures on the wall and where they got the old wooden clock that they kept right outside of the attic door. I wanted to remember the shade of blue that the bathroom mat was and the exact length of the curtains. I found myself wanting to breathe this air forever.

The bathroom was pretty nice. It had very very light blue, almost white walls, and matching shower curtains.

As I undressed myself and looked in the mirror, I could picture Mark standing next to me brushing his teeth in the morning as I shaved, or simply talking and laughing with me as I got ready for bed. I could just picture him- us so vividly and I don't know why.

I turned the shower handle as hot as it could go and then down a bit. Once it was a bearable temperature, I got in.

His shampoo smelled like lavender, the ocean, and mint. As I washed my hair with it, I felt content. That's the only way I really know how to describe it. I just felt safe and good. I know something about Mark that not many others do; it's a small thing for sure, just the exact kind of shampoo that he uses, but for me, there's something special about that. It just makes me feel good to know these little things about him that I'd never even thought of before.

After my shower, I dried off and got dressed in Mark's clothes. The sweatpants fit better than the pajama pants did last night, but I still had to tie the drawstring in order to make sure it stayed.

When I came back into Mark's room, he was wearing a half black, half white hoodie that he looked amazing in.

He grabbed some black sweatpants that looked just like the ones I was wearing and walked out of the room to change before I could object and offer to leave instead.

He came back after a little while, fully dressed. I was just sitting on the bed playing with Chica.

"Deodorant and mouthwash is in the bathroom cabinet," he said.

I'm a homebody and Mark clearly isn't, so I didn't really want to go, but of course I wasn't going to complain.

"Do you think we could just stay with Chica for a little bit longer?" I asked, very hopeful that we would get to stay here and he would get the hint.

"Even better," Mark said. "Her and I already went on a walk today while you were asleep, but I definitely don't think she'd mind going on another. We can bring her."

He had a big smile on his face as he leaned down to pet her and she tried to lick his face. He kissed her on the top of her head and slipped his phone and wallet into his pocket.

"Go get ready and then we'll head out," he said excitedly.

I don't think he got the hint.

A/N: 1281 words
I'm so excited to write the next chapter ;) I'll give you a hint: Seán ends up coming.