Realism Mode *Enabled* {Markiplier x Reader}

Chapter Twenty-Two

Your phone rang from another room, so you dropped the oatmeal bowl in your hands onto the island in the kitchen and ran for it. You suspected it was your parents, and when you finally picked it up, you found you were right.

You hit answer and brought it up to your ear. "Hello."

"(Y/N), have you finished your video game yet?" Your mother's voice came from the device.

"I just finished, actually. I brought it to a company and they're making it known. The profit should be as expected: high."

"Wonderful news. Is there anything else new in your life?" Your parents always tried to stay up to date with your life, whether it be to make sure you were going down the desired path or you weren't struggling on your own was unclear.

"(B/F) got a job, so she should be able to pay rent now."

"I still don't understand why you two are friends," Mom grumbled.

"I've been trying to figure that out too," a faint smile appeared on your face. But you thought you had an answer now. Maybe it was something like that opposites attract thing, and you were drawn to people who were laid-back becauseーthis was the part you weren't completely sure aboutーyou knew you couldn't be that way so you wanted to get as close to living that life as you could.

"What are you moving onto now that your game is complete?" Your dad's voice asked. You assumed the phone was on speaker so they both could talk.

"I'm not quite sure, but I'm considering becoming a full-time lawyer." You'd been thinking about it, and you knew your parents would approve of that so that's why you said it.

"Yes, that would perfectly suit my brilliant daughter," Mom praised.

"You can reach the full potential of your talent this way, so you must go for it," Dad added.

"Yeah..." You weren't so sure about that. What about Cosette, James? What about Mark?!

"Honey, is everything ok?" Your mom asked, a small ounce of worry in her tone. She wasn't much of a worrier unless it came to business deals that were worth millions.

"Yeah, I'm fine," that was a lie. You were starting to feel uncomfortable. With your realization at Mark's house that living life was much easier when you weren't too uptight, it felt like you were going against everything your parents taught you. Scratch that, you were, just like Shayne.

"(Y/N)?" Dad called.

"It's nothing, sorry," you brushed it off and focused on finishing up this conversation.

"Life is tough (Y/N), and only the toughーlike youーcan get what they want through work," your mom reminded you. A feeling of uneasiness enveloped you and you said a quick goodbye before ending the call. You knew for sure they'd pick up on your off behavior, but you couldn't stand talking to them right now.

Right now you needed to find a balance between doing something with your life and relaxing, and you knew it wasn't a clear cut line. Trial and error sounded like a good place to start.

"Hey (Y/N)!" (B/F) shouted from somewhere else in the house.

"What?" You yelled back.

"The video with you in it just came out!" Furrowing your eyebrows, you ventured back into the kitchen to see her sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal stewing in milk and her phone leaned up against the bowl.

"What are you talking about?"

"The video with you and Mark playing your game, it came out so the public can see it," she grinned over at you, then pressed something on her device. "I'm gonna watch it, do you want to join me?"