Hopeless Without You

CHPT - 1

He leapt from truck to truck, the ground below him coming up fast as he miscalculated his next jump. Just as he slammed to the ground he appeared on yet another semi not unlike the ones he'd been catapulting himself to and fro the time before. He starts again like the last time never happened, his hands sweaty and his mouth filled to the brim with colorful words ready to be unleashed with a stream of loud barks at his continuous failures. Eventually though, he settles on one of the only remaining semis and turns back to take in the wreckage he'd finally escaped. The enormous GOAL sign loomed over him then, and he looked up at it with pride, a small portion of his stress melting away at it's regal liberation.

With a tight smile he heaved a sigh of surprise as another level loaded, seeing red death rays on posts as another difficult obstacle. He panicked and jumped right towards them when the semi he was on top of approached it, dying as soon as he broke through.

He decided it would be an opportune time to stop for now, so he exited to one of the main pages and turned to his camera with a goofy smile, commenting on the game and that he may continue. With a wiggle of his eyebrows he signed off on his video as he normally does and clicked the 'stop recording' button on fraps. Leaning forward he stopped the camera from recording as well, and sat back in his chair as a wave of exhaustion (mixed with relief and hunger) washed over him.

"Fuck, I need to take a break. These games are killing my voice - and my patience." He grumbled under his breath before roughly coughing. He grabbed his nearly empty glass of water and dragged himself out of his recording room and down the long hallway to the kitchen.

Chica was on her dog bed, her tired eyes watching him as he crossed in front of her with a slow weariness from recording videos all night. Her tail thumped lovingly against the hardwood floor beyond her bed and Mark smiled down at her before turning to the fridge and filling his cup with more water. He ran a hand through his strikingly red (though quite messy) hair as he took many gulps, slowly re-hydrating himself.

The microwave clock read 2:34 AM.

"I wonder if Jack is up..." he thought aloud - he did that a lot whether he was in front of a camera or not - as he set his cup down and pulled out his phone, typing in his password as the bright screen illuminating his features and also blinding him for a few moments.

"Shit! I thought I'd turned this lower..." he grumbled almost inaudibly as he dimmed it before pulling up his last messages with Jack. His heartbeat picked up on instinct - he loved talking with Jack - he loved the idea of Jack. Over the last couple of years they'd became fairly close friends, despite the distance. After a while they got used to texting each other every few times a week, sometimes getting each other distracted from whatever they were supposed to be doing because they'd gotten so deeply into conversation. Jack would go on and on about a game he'd recently played, trying to urge Mark to play it as well which he in turn, too, offered a few games. Sometimes their conversation would get rather deep and stretch into the depths of the night until one or the other unwillingly falls asleep. Mark felt like he really knew Jack, even though he hadn't been able to hang out with him as much as he'd like.

Hey what are you up to? Still sleeping like a drunk? xD How was that party fig - Markimoo

Shit I meant *thing -Markimoo

He rolled his eyes at his autocorrect after sending his correction, and set his phone face up on the kitchen counter. He hoped Jack would answer soon - he was starting to miss the guy. He'd been missing him already, but he was aching for him since the last time they'd met face to face. His heart was frozen and lonely, needing the sound of his voice and his light, unknowing touch to melt the feelings away so it could continue beating properly; with purpose.

He reached his right hand around and up the back of his shirt to reach a scratch, his muscles bending and expanding triumphantly under his fingertips as he fulfilled his mission. His work out session on the rock climbing courses were really paying off, and he was thrilled with his results. He closed his eyes and suddenly imagined Jack's hands gripping his back, his fingers digging into him as he held on...

Mark wasn't sure what to think of these thoughts or images, knowing full and well it was wrong to be thinking as such, but he secretly enjoyed it. What if 'septiplier' was meant to be? What if it wasn't? Of course it wasn't...Jack was quite pointedly straight, lived in another country halfway across the world, and Mark was also quite obviously straight... or at least he assumed so. Honestly Mark wasn't sure if he was per say (although he'd gone out of his way to make it plain that he was in all of his videos concerning the subject) so technically his closet was still firmly shut; whether he was in it or not was his major concern. Surely Jack was as straight as a toothpick - the guy had been dating girls since he was in high school and hadn't stopped yet. Mark secretly envied the girls. Jack would always be far too good for them, although he applauded their ability to be romantically noticed by the spry Irishman - something Mark was running from in plain sight. Jack always managed to find a nice girl to walk hand in hand with whether they lived in the same country or not.

This realization made him grin, knowing that even though they lived in separate countries they were able to keep up a very nice, though simply 'friend' relationship. Mark wasn't complaining, he just wanted more - he knew they could be so much more and it was killing him from the inside out.

Just then his phone lit up, Jack's shining face giving a thumbs up causing his eyes to light up even more.

I'm actually about to head out with some friends - Jack

His heart skipped a beat and his hands became slightly sweaty.

Oh that's cool ~ hope you have fun! And dontchooo forget about meee hhaa - Markimoo

He leans back against the counter and waits, ever hopeful.

You're so silly markipoop - Jack

Mark rolled his eyes with an exasperated groan before locking his phone and pushing it across the counter top, nearly sending it to the floor.

That jack-ass. I think I like him. I'm gonna keep him.