It's Too Late (Septiplier)

24.

~Jack~

I was being dragged downstairs by Mark, with a wide smile that enveloped his face. I was incredibly nervous, and I don't know why. Well, that's a lie, I have an idea of why I'm so unbelievably nervous. It's because I can imagine all the ways that this can possibly go wrong, and I'm terrified.

I was dragged into the dining room and Mark caught his dad's attention.

"Hello Ma- Oh, who's this?" His dad asked once he laid eyes on my existence.

"Dad, this is my friend Jack! He has been and will be continuing to stay with us for a little while." Mark explained.

"Well hello there Jack," He stood up and walked towards me, stopping in front of me. He put out his hand in front of me. He was a lot taller than I am, making his hand that was out in front of me almost as high as my face.

I looked at the hand that was near me and a familiar feeling of fear washed over me. The voice of reason in my head completely drowned, smothered by the most powerful emotion I know, fear.

I knew he was going to slap me. Why else would his hand be so high? I've seen this happen before. I've experienced it first hand. Literally.

I was only staring at the callused hand that was near my body, waiting for it to grow closer and hit me, leaving a stinging feeling burning across my face. However, after a while of the hand staying in the same position, I hear mumbles, no words can be made out. It was just noise, and then the hand feel to the man's side.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I was startled. I started shaking in fear. I don't know what's going on. I feel like I'm suffocating. I can't talk. I feel cold and wet drops rolling down my face. My vision is blurry. I can't focus on anything but the fear.

But after who knows how long, I started feeling the breath return to me. Then after that, everything started to fall into place. My vision returned and the shaking slowed to a stop. Then the noises that surrounded me formed into words. I could focus on what's in front of me.

I was on the hardwood floor in the dining room, crumpled up with Mark sitting on the ground with me. He was close to me and seemed extremely worried. When he saw that the shaking stopped he sighed and gave me a hug. I was a bit surprised but hugged back anyways.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked as he pulled away from the hug. I nodded. Mark pushed himself up and held out his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up.

Once I stood up I realized that Mark's father was still here, and had been standing over us. But that's not all, Mark's mother and brother were also standing behind him, which they had not been from what I remember.

I felt so embarrassed. Why did they all have to witness that? I'm not unfamiliar to what had happened to me just then, it was a panic attack, a pretty large one at that. I hung my head, not wanting to look at their reactions to my unpredictable metal state.

It was silent for a few moments until Mrs. Fischbach spoke up,

"Dinner is ready and dished up so why don't we put this behind us and sit down?" It wasn't really a question, it was something everyone in this room couldn't wait to do, especially myself.

They all sat down in their respective chairs, with me sitting in the last seat that was beside Mark. My head still hung low, as I sat down. However, when Mrs. Fischbach brought out the food, I decided to pick my head up and be polite.

Mrs. Fischbach, along with Mark's brother, placed our meals down in front of us. I thanked her quietly when she laid a plate down in front of me. It was an enormous meal. It consisted of a large piece of steak, a pile of garlic mashed potatoes, and a large corn on the cob that had been seasoned with salt and pepper. There was also a gravy bowl that was sitting on the table. I felt like I was going to barf by just looking at the proportion sizes.