In Between The Red and Green

--3--

   With a loud thump, Mark's suitcase slid off of his hotel bed, signalling the completion of his task. Everything was packed and prepped for his flight back to L.A.. He let out a heavy sigh and allowed himself to fall onto the bed. It had been a long and busy day.

   Something had been festering in his mind during the whole time that he had been packing. He felt awful for abandoning his friends earlier, yet he couldn't stand the awkward aura when he was with them. Was he the only one that felt that way?

   The reason behind his uneasy feeling was still a mystery to him, even though he had felt that way for over a year. Was it because of what he's been through? Was it because he was always so far away from his friends? Or had they simply all changed over the months?

   To relieve some stress and get his mind off of the issue, Mark chose to resort to the internet. He grabbed his laptop, booted it up, and went to Youtube. His feed was filled with videos of Sean, both old and new. For a reason he couldn't quite pin, he always found joy while watching that bubbly Irish man. He was always so cheerful, a feat not easy for most. His obsession with the videos had grown to the point where it was almost unhealthy; he found it difficult to even sleep some nights without first watching a few videos.

   While watching one of Sean's Let's Plays, he found himself laughing at the lame jokes and forgetting his shame from earlier in the day. Perhaps this was the true reason behind his awkwardness while around his friends. The thought of anyone discovering his obsession was extremely embarrassing. He planned to take all steps to prevent such a thing from happening.

   During his viewing session, he browsed through all the suggested videos late into the night, eventually stumbling across a video from their last panel. Wade, Bob, and Sean all sat alongside him up on the stage as they ran through skits, games, and a Q&A. A smile stretched across Mark's face as he relived the fond memory.

   On the screen he watched as Sean got on one knee and pretended to propose. The crowd roared with screams and laughter. Past-Mark declined, and the crew went back to answering questions. Since then, Sean always joked about how he had declined his proposal, but re-watching the video mad him notice something. There was a slight look of pain in Sean's eyes. Either he was a great actor, or he actually took the rejection to heart. Mark's heart felt heavy as he played the proposal over and over . Would things feel normal if he had given a different response?

  "Maybe I should try to fix this, I should hang out with my friends more often," he muttered to himself before closing his laptop. With a plan in mind, he pulled out his phone and quickly sent out a message to a few of his friends in hopes of getting together for a short video right before leaving to L.A..

  The only ones to show up were Sean and Felix, who agreed to participate and meet up at his hotel room. Hes reasoning for the video - aside from needing an excuse to hang out - was to apologize to fans for the lack of videos at the time. Even though he really just wanted to be on better terms with his friends, he also needed someone to punish him for failing to upload for the day.

   "So what are we doing?" Felix questioned, plopping down onto the small sofa. Sean quietly took a seat on the edge of Mark's bed.

   "Well you guys both get to slap me. This is going to be like a punishment video," Mark explained. He pulled out his phone to record the video, handing it to Sean to film the first part.

  When Felix stood up to be the first to slap Mark, he began to grow anxious. He would feel horrible if he actually hurt his friend. Meanwhile, the other two teased him and urged him to simply get it over with.