Stay Toasty My Friends (A Darkiplier Fic)

Pink Nightmares Pt.2

"....And then I woke up. And you guys were here, and yeah..."

The group of friends were now sitting in Mark's living room, the remains of lunch scattered on the coffee table. Mark sighed heavily as his body trembled lightly, tears threatening to fall as he stared into his cup, the tea now cold. Yami was sitting next to him, and so he wrapped his arms around his friend, pulling him close for a tender hug.

"Mawk... We will find them. We can go early tomorrow morning. We will get them back, and we'll get that bastard."

"Aaron, all of you.. I'm grateful that you want to help, but he will kill you all... He even threatened to rape you Aaron! I couldn't live with myself if he laid on a hand on any of you..."

"Listen, Mark. You're in no condition to fight this asshole on your own. We may not be able to do much to it, but it's obvious that it's gotten to you. You're exhausted, depressed, and half-insane at this point. I don't give a shit if you don't want us there, but there is no way in hell that you're going alone."

Ken piped in, the others nodding in agreement. Mark smiled softly as a few tears fell. He had allowed himself to sink into Yami's arms at this point, his head pressed against his chest. 

"You're all morons... But thank you..."

"We're not losing you buddy... Not now, not ever."

Putting his mug on the table, Mark listened to Yami's heartbeat for a moment, allowing the Brit to entwine his fingers with his own. With his legs framing Mark's body and his chin resting upon his head, Yami felt a sense of security wash over them. Mark could have laid like this forever, just listening to his heartbeat, because while listening to his, Mark swore he could hear his own again.

"So.. 'Where it all began'? Would it be the burned building where you defeated him, or where you first encountered the demon? I mean, the whole revenge thing actually started at the building, but you didn't meet the demon there, he only held us there."

Bob pondered, and Mark would have sat up to stare at him, but Yami kept him down. Mark pouted lightly, but Yami couldn't see his face, so he just continued to cuddle Mark.

"Mark, where did you first encounter the demon?"

"Hmm... That's a bit hard to say... It was in my old apartment where he first took control of me, but the first encounter... I think that was.... Oh God... It was the day before I moved out of my family home... I had a nightmare about being possessed, but I didn't think anything of it... You don't think that he would have..?"

"We don't know Mark, we would have to fly to Cincinnati to find out. Should we try the building first?"

"No... And my old apartment would have been too compromising... Can some one pull up flights to Cincinnati? I need to get home. Now."

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The earliest flight was the next morning at 3 am. Both Ken and Jordan had no problem putting their channels on hold,  though Ken had a difficult time lying to his girlfriend about his whereabouts. Other than that, everything was settled, except for Mark's poor mind. The others had taken up the couch for the night, but Yami insisted joining Mark in his bedroom.

"You don't have to babysit me Aaron..."

"I worry about you, you know that Mawk. And I want to make sure you get some sleep, and I want to be there for you if you have a nightmare..."

"Aaron, look at me. Is there something you're not telling me?"

The Brit looked away, his cheeks rosy with embarrassment. Mark didn't relent; he grabbed Yami by the shoulders, trying to pull him to his side, but because he was caught off guard, they both tumbled on the bed, their limbs entwined. Yami tried to get up, but this time Mark kept him in the bed, both of their cheeks now red hot. Yami sighed, staring deeply into Mark's eyes as he finally confessed.