Life Support (Septiplier)

Cleaning Up

-Jack's Point of View-

I wake up from the first sleep I had gotten in while and stretch. My nightmares had gotten somewhat more bearable for tonight and I realized that I slept a full 8 hours. Sleep like this was rare for me lately, but it seems that just having a friend in the house with me had somewhat helped. I took in a deep breath, reaching my arms up towards the ceiling and sitting up slowly. The faint smell of eggs and bacon wafts up the stairs and I smile to myself. The smile was unfamiliar to me and my face felt strange with the newly discovered joy. My head throbbed and burned with the little light that made it in through the sheets over the windows and I drag myself out of bed and into my closet. I threw on a sweatshirt and sweatpants and lethargically made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen, stumbling a bit as I made my way to the table.

The kitchen was lit with the natural sunlight coming from the newly uncovered windows. Mark must've moved the sheets from the windows. My head throbbed with anger at the new light and I squinted my eyes. Turning away from the light and sitting down at the kitchen table, I was gifted with a plate of food and a cup of coffee.

"You didn't have to do this," I said, surprised that Mark had gone to such lengths to cheer me up. I realized again that he had pre-recorded, packed up, came all the way here, just to clean up my mess.

He had already changed the place so much. The house was clean and brightly lit and smelled like food as opposed to alcohol. I was lost in thought when I suddenly realized that Mark was talking to me.

"I'm sorry, what?," I asked, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"You're low on food and I don't really know where any stores or anything are around here. I was wondering if you would come grocery shopping with me," Mark repeated. I flinched at the thought of having to go out. I didn't really have the energy to do anything. But Mark had gone through so much trouble, I figured I owed it to him to try.

"Okay," I mumble. We eat in silence before Mark speaks up.

"I don't mean to bring this up, but there's really no good time. Your fans are really worried about you," he said. Anxiety and depression took over my insides and I felt my mental raincloud start to bog me down.

"I know I just....I can't deal with that," I said. My lack of energy was even more apparent now. I felt the last bits of energy dancing dangerously on the verge of being used up.

"Do you mind if maybe I record from your station today and let the fans know that I'm here? Just so they know you're alive?," he asked. I perked up at the idea. Mark knew how to handle YouTube crowds, he knew how to reassure them. That would take care of my fans so that I didn't have to stay worried about them.

"Okay. Thank you," I say sincerely. It helped me a great deal that I didn't have millions of people worried about my well being. Mark would tell them that I needed time to get better so that I didn't have to live up to their expectations right now. I didn't have to stress about YouTube as much anymore, and that's the thing that I needed the most.

"You're welcome. When should we go to the grocery store?," he asked. I thought about it, and there was really no time when the store wasn't packed, so I figured I should probably get it over with soon.

"Whenever you're ready," I answer.

"No offense, but you should probably shower first," Mark said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah....probably," I say. I couldn't remember the last time I'd showered and I got really embarrassed. I was sure Mark didn't really find my lack of hygiene desirable, but he had still hugged me, so I assumed it wasn't too terribly bad. Still, I dragged myself up the stairs and over to the shower. I strip my clothes off me and set them lazily on the floor as I step into the shower.

I turned on the warm water and stepped in once it had warmed up. I felt the water soak my hair and body. Green dye tinted the water as it dripped down me. I washed my hair and tenses up as some of the shampoo got into the cuts on my arms. My eyes tear up as I examine the damage that I had done to myself. I know it was weak of me to do such a thing when so many people care about me but the vertical slits on my wrists had provided me a temporary release from this cursed world. It hurt, but it helped ease the pain. Isn't that what we all look for in life? Something to temporarily ease the pain?

When I was finished washing, I stepped out into the cold air of the bathroom and grabbed a towel, drying myself off and walking to my smashed mirror. I needed to shave, but my mirror was in pieces. The steam from the room escaped through the window as I went to my bed and grabbed my laptop. I pulled up the front-facing camera and shaved using that. It wasn't the best quality, but it was better than the smashed mirror. The shave was much needed and I only cut my face once with the razor. Once I was done shaving, I brushed my teeth and put on deodorant before stepping to my closet. I found a comfortable, loose, long sleeved t-shirt and some jeans. I threw some boxers on and began to get dressed when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

I quickly threw on my pants, but I had no time to put on my shirt as Mark stepped through the door.

"Hey, I was wondering if I needed to wear big sunglasses and a hat or something or if there weren't that many fans here?," he asked and then he looked at me. His face turned slightly red and I tried to hold my shirt in a way that didn't reveal the cuts on my wrist, but he seemed to be examining me for such marks. He stared at my arms from across the room, looking for the slightest flick of red from my wrist. My face turned red as I turned from him and threw my shirt on as quickly as I could, arms first.

"No, there aren't that many fans, I don't normally mask myself when I go out, and I only occasionally run into a fan. Ready to go?," I asked, turning back around.

"Yeah, let me just put my shoes on," he said, turning and walking down the stares. My heart hadn't beat that quickly in a very long time. The good thing is, he didn't get a glimpse of what he was looking for.

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Second update for the day! I feel better now that I'm trying to finish all this up. Anyways, thanks for reading. I'll see you in the next chapter! Much love <3
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