With Whom We Spend Our Lives [septiplier]

NOT - weeks 10, 11, 12

It was a little strange at first.

"We'll just have to go out a few times, make it seem like we're already an item before we announce it," Mark had said. "Just to get ourselves a little further into the public eye." Jack was still a little skeptical of the whole thing, but it was too late to go back at this point. Besides, Mark seemed to really like the idea. Mark sent Jack a smile, and Jack knew he couldn't resist.

That's how Jack found himself that Sunday in a hole-in-the-wall brewery, sitting on one of the higher stools by the window. Mark had gone up to use the bathroom, and he was sitting alone. Really, he couldn't stop thinking about Mark. Would this whole dating thing wreck Mark's reputation, just like Jack had done to his own? Would Mark start to hate him after this? What if all of his friends hated him after this? Jack felt like a bundle of nerves. A high pitched voice interrupted him from this thoughts.

"H-hi! You're Jacksepticeye, right?" She said, a huge smile on her face. The woman was no older than nineteen, and wore pink game grumps tee. She was positively beaming with excitement.

"Yeah! Nice to meet you! I love your shirt," he said, sending a smile to the girl. Another thing he loved about LA was how many fans he saw everywhere. It was so heartwarming.

"Thanks!" She said. She climbed into the seat across from Jack. "You drinking alone today?" Jack chuckled. Americans were so forward.

"Nah, I'm here with..." Jack searched for a word to describe Mark. He shouldn't say boyfriend yet, the two had agreed to 'accidentally' out themselves later. Friend wouldn't work either, even though it was true. He had to keep lying. His stomach twisted at the thought. "I'm here with a special somebody." He hoped that would work.

"You're- oh! Oh, okay. Sorry to intrude," she said, getting up from the seat. "I'm Bo, by the way. Big fan. And uh, not to intrude further or anything, but... who's the special lady?" Jack took a deep breath. He was not ready for this. He hated not being honest, he hated it with all his guts, he ha-

"Hiya, Jack. Who's the girl?" Trust Mark to sweep in at the best moment. Bo swiveled at the sound, staring at Mark with her mouth wide open. Mark dried his hands on his jeans before sitting across from Jack.

"Oh. Wait, you two are- oh. Right. Mark's the special someone. Mark's the... Who's the- who am I? Oh, I'm nobody, really," she said, taking a step back. "In fact, I'm somebody who needs to be going. You, uh, have fun and stuff-" she tripped over a chair, backing up. "Right, bye." She hastily left the restaurant. Jack sighed, setting his head on the table.

"I scared her away, Mark," he said, his voice muted by the table.

"No you didn't. She was probably leaving anyways. She looked like she was in a hurry," Mark said. Jack acted as if he didn't hear him.

"I thought this was supposed to make people happy," he moped, pulling his head back up. "She seemed so nervous. Will everyone react like that?"

"Hey, she's only like that because she didn't know yet. The sooner we let the world think that we're dating, the sooner they'll be happy. That's how I'm thinking of it," Mark said. He knew Jack was starting to have his doubts, but Mark had seen this sort of thing before. People fake dated all the time, it wasn't like it made them any worse off. It'd be fine, he was sure of it. In fact, he was a little excited to see how it would go.

"Okay, I mean, if ye' insist," Jack said, taking a long sip of the beer he'd ordered. It tasted like shit.

Twitter was saying things about them being together. Not bad things- mostly "I saw mark and jack in a little bar today? wow, I want a friendship like theirs," and things like that. That made Jack smile. At least people weren't freaking out like he thought they'd be. There were a few "SEPTIPLIER!" tweets out there, too. Of course, there was a lot of nonsense about "Mark's an idiot to be hanging around someone like Jack. Jack's a total dick," but Jack was used to that stuff. It didn't upset him anymore. Mark, who was also used to that stuff, was a little irritated.