Baby Steps (Mark McMorris FanFic)

Chapter 24

After finally locating Craig's jeep, I hopped in and began making my way back to the resort. He had left the radio blasting. I wasn't in the mood for happy pop music, so I quickly reached ahead and flipped the radio off. I love 5 Seconds of Summer, but I didn't think my head could handle it at the moment. So I drove back in silence, reflecting on the night.

I stood in front of my door with my key out, but I stopped abruptly. I had told my parents that I would be spending the night at the party. If I walked in now, they would know that something was wrong, and I was not ready to share everything that had happened. I turned and continued back down the hall to the small lounge I had discovered on my first night. I took a seat in one of the comfy chairs, and stared out the window at the yellow lights of all of the shops and buildings. At this time, everything was asleep. It was so peaceful. Normally, I would have loved that, but tonight the peace was giving me more time to dwell on my own thoughts and frustrations. I soon felt hot tears running down my face, and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I was angry with myself for falling for a guy who was way out of my league, and I was angry at Mark for leading me on. I was sad that I had come so close to being with him, only to have reality set in. I was confused about Craig, not knowing if his gestures were simply out of kindness or something more. With my head swimming and my eyes running, I fell into a restless sleep, still sitting upright in a foreign chair.

I awoke to sunlight streaming through the large glass window. I glanced down at my phone. It was 8:30am, which was late for me. I also saw that I had two missed texts and a call. I unlocked my phone to see that my dad had texted me around midnight, telling me to have fun and be safe. Another was from Mark around 1am, asking where I was. I went into voicemail and saw that I had a message from him as well. My heart skipped a beat. I quickly put the phone up to my ear to hear the message, hoping for an apology of some sorts. To my disappointment, it was just another drunken butt-dial. Disappointed, I put my phone back in my pocket and made my way down to breakfast, on the lookout for my family. I figured that I wouldn't be safe to see them until around 10am, so I grabbed a banana and went for a walk around the resort.

I strolled through the souvenir shops (without buying anything), stopped to buy a coffee, and watched some guests skate on the pond. It was 9:30, so I slowly began making my way back to the lodge. I was walking back to the parking lot when I froze. I saw a familiar silver car pulling in, and an even more familiar driver stepping out. I pretended not to notice and began fast-walking back to the lodge. No luck.

“Hey Liz! I forgot you left last night, how are you feeling?” Mark had come running up behind me, obviously looking to talk.

“Fine.” I said coldly, recognizing the disgust in my own voice. With that I turned on my heel and left Mark standing alone. It was finally his turn to be confused.