Bittersweet Serenade (A Markiplier Love Story)

Chapter 15: Learning to Walk Again

(A/N: I'm sorry I've been gone for so long but life got in the way. For those who may remember, Mark and Karine were about to meet up with Cyndago. In light of recent events, I could not bring myself to keep this chapter on the path it was on. I have changed it to Ross and Holly. My heart goes out to Daniel's friends and family and I wish them all the best.  R.I.P. Daniel Kyre. May you find peace.)

 It was almost impossible to get Mark out of bed this morning. If it weren't for the fact that I was excited to see Ross and Holly I might have been right along with him. That dream seemed to have taken a lot out of both of us. I knew we needed to discuss it but I didn't want it to ruin the morning. 

     "Kari..." Mark whined, giving me an extremely grumpy look as he finally sat up. "Why are you so damn awake?"

     I stroked his hair as I walked past to the dresser. He'd given me the bottom half of the drawers to my keep things in. "I haven't seen Ross and Holly since I got out of the hospital. I'm just in a good mood." 

     "I know, I know." Mark chuckled as he came up behind me, reaching past to grab something from the top drawer. He lingered for a moment, pressing his chest to my back as he kissed my cheek. 

     "Really? That's awesome!" I tried to keep my composure until Mark finally let up. I had a hard enough time resisting him, so when he got up close like this I nearly melted each time. His nails dug against my hip as he pulled away causing a small groan to escape my lips. "Mark..."

     "Hmm?" He dropped the boxers he was holding and wrapped his arms around me, his hands wandering my body. I couldn't help but let the sensations overtake me. He held so much power over me and I don't think he'd even begun to realize it. Inhaling sharply, I flipped around, my lips finding his. I pushed him towards the bed, my fingertips making their way down his chest, his finding the hem of my shirt.  He groaned as my fingers hooked around the waist of his boxers and kissed me harder, his hands pulling my hips closer.

     Giggling, I yanked myself from his grasp and casually stepped to the closet. He growled at first, then seemed to let it go and came up behind me to whisper in my ear. 

     "Sooner or later this will be mine." He squeezed my butt while he grabbed a white v-neck and a pair of black jeans. I heard him giggle as he skipped off into another room to change. Shaking my head, I settled on a black tank that read "Kari Chaos - Queen of Rage" across the front and a pair of purple skinnies. After I was dressed, I headed towards the bathroom and threw on some makeup. Luckily my face was completely healed now so I didn't have to plaster on concealer or foundation anymore. My hair didn't really want to cooperate so I just pulled it back with a headband. With one last look in the mirror I headed out into the living room where Mark lay face first on the couch. 

     "You okay?" I ran my fingers through his hair. He looked up for a moment before smacking his face back down into the leather. 

     "I forgot how much I hated getting up this early." He gave me a half-awake smirk as he stood up and grabbed his keys off the table. I snagged them from him and tossed them back down, pulling my keys out of my purse.

     "Then let me drive. Sapphire needs to hit the road once in a while, you know." Sapphire was my '67 Dodge Dart. I had Arin move her to Mark's while I was in the hospital so she wasn't sitting up at the office.

     Mark thought for a second and then kissed my cheek. "Then let's go, missy." 

***

     Since it was Tuesday Denny's wasn't too terribly busy. As we walked in I was immediately attack-hugged by Holly. Ross came up behind her, prying her off of me. He hugged me as well, both of them smiling. "It's good to see you when you're not in a hospital bed."

     "Thanks, Ross." I smiled back as we were led to our table. "So I should be coming back to the office next week."

     Ross gave me a look. "You know Arin said there's no rush." 

     "And you know that A) I'm stubborn and B) I heal fast." I crossed my arms as I looked at the menu. I really wasn't hungry after the dream last night but I knew everyone would worry if I didn't eat so I settled on some waffles.  "Besides, the sooner I get back to work, the better. I'm going crazy being cooped up all the time."

     "Aww, am I not fun enough?" Mark ruffled my hair. 

     "That's not the problem." I stuck my tongue out at him. "I just miss the Grump room."

     After we got our food, the table was fairly quiet until Holly looked up from her pancakes. "So are you two still 'not dating?''

     I quickly looked to Mark. He smirked before running his hand through my hair. "I don't think we've really talked about it at all recently."

     "Let me heal first, guys!" I looked down, my cheeks probably bright red. Everyone laughed and went back to their meal.

*** 

    Monday morning came sooner than I thought. My dreams had gone to normal for the time being, probably due to the fact that Mark had slept next to me every night since Jake's little "visit." I was still a bit shaken from that meeting. Was it real? Was Austin really taken over by Jake? I was conflicted at this point, to say the least. Mark had told me not to worry about it, that we would take care of everything. I just wasn't sure how to end this anymore. At least my wounds had completely healed.

     By the time I had gotten up, Mark was already in the kitchen making breakfast. I leaned against the counter, "good morning." 

     "Morning." He turned, handing me a plate of blueberry pancakes. "Syrup's on the table. I'll be there in a second." 

     As I sat down I noticed a card laying on the table with my name scrawled across. Flipping it over, I couldn't help but smile.

     I derped at coming up with something sweet so I made pancakes instead. Please go out with me?

     "I tried, I swear." Mark sat down, taking my hand in his. "I understand if you're not ready..."

     I shook my head, causing his face to turn somber. Grinning, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Of course I will, you goofball." 

     "Thank god. I think my heart skipped a beat somewhere in there." He sighed softly, taking a bite of pancake. "How about tonight? We can celebrate your first day back at work." 

     "That sounds perfect." 

     "Great." He scarfed down the rest of his food and stood up. "I've got a busy day ahead and need to get going but I'll be back home around 7 to pick you up. Sound good?" 

    "Of course." I smiled as he gave me a quick kiss and headed out.

(A/N: Again, I am SO sorry this took so long to post. My life is finally coming back together, I promise!)