Love At First Text. Phan/Septiplier AU

Chapter 40

It should be illegal to be up at 6am on a Saturday.

*Ethan and Mark's chat*

Ethan: hey man

Ethan: How are you doing

Ethan: Is it alright if I come over?

Mark: Not really

Mark: I've got a lot of recording to do

Ethan: It will only be for a minute

Ethan: I need to talk to you

Mark: Why can't you just talk to me on here?

Ethan: I don't know

Mark: Come over then whatever

As Ethan walked into Mark's house, he couldn't help the tiny gasp that escaped his mouth. Mark was sitting in the living room with a blanket but he was a mess. Dirty dishes were covering the living room table and Mark looked like he hadn't slept in a few days. His face was white and he had thick bags under his eyes. He didn't even seem to be watching the TV, more just staring through it. "This does look like recording." Ethan mumbled, skipping passed the useless greeting. He had come to check if Mark was okay so saying stupid 'hello's wasn't at all important.

"Oh... thought I'd take a break." Mark replied. His voice was deep and a little shaky. Ethan didn't bother to mention that it looked like Mark hadn't moved in a few days.

"Right... so how are you?" Ethan took a seat on the other sofa, hands in his lap.

"A bit tired but okay."

"You sure about that? You look like a mess to me... no offence."

"None taken. I just haven't been sleeping well for the last few days, that's all."

"Oh, really? And that has nothing to do with you breaking up with Jack?"

"Don't make me talk about it." Mark brought a hand through his hair that also looked like it hadn't been attended to in a while. It was messy and probably hadn't been washed any time recently.

"You need to talk about it. Felix said that Jack's in a similar state to you. You need to make it up with Jack, even if you don't start going out again or whatever. Both of you are unhappy and need to sort it out."

"Felix is so much better than me though. He's there with him and he's funnier and better looking and cooler and just better in general..."

"He is not. You're amazing, Mark and Jack loves you. He doesn't love Felix. He loves you. You can just tell by the way you talk to each other. It's both sweet and disgusting at the same time."

"I don't want to talk to him."

"You need to, give me a moment...." Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He typed something reasonably quickly before pressing something as he put the phone on loud speaker. Ringing could be heard and Mark tensed up from the other side of the room.

"Hello, Mark." The person's accent was Swedish. Felix.

"I don't want to talk to you!" Mark almost yelled. Ethan stood up and moved closer to the other man so he could be heard better.

"Hi," Said a small Irish voice. It was hardly comparable with Jack's usual volume. "I think Felix and Ethan are right that we need to talk. Just... Just hear me out, okay?"

"You have five minutes..."

"Okay. Felix and I don't like each other like that. Sure, he's a little hands-on but that's just the way he is with everybody. I love you, Mark. Not him. You're wonderful and you make me laugh and you're sweet and I could keep adding to this list for hours but I only have five minutes so I shouldn't. Ever since we started talking, I knew I liked you. Call it love at first sight or- or love at first text, whatever. I smiled whenever you sent a message and my heart would beat that little bit faster. I was never a cheesy person- if anything I hated cheesy couples- but you've made me one. You make me weak because you're just so special. I don't want anybody else, I want you. You're a bit of an idiot and can sometimes be crazy but I love that. That's what I fell in love with about you. To me you aren't just Markiplier, you're an incredible man with a huge heart who loves music and video games and making people happy. Please understand that I love you and please don't leave me."

Mark let out a small sigh but even he couldn't deny that he had been smiling throughout Jack's little speech. Ethan had seen the way that Jack's words gave Mark's face just a little more life. Felix, on the other side of the phone and the other side of the world, had seen the tears streaming down Jack's face because of how passionate he was about the words he was speaking. Jack was genuinely in love with Mark. Mark was genuinely in love with Jack too but his insecurities were constantly haunting him.

"Okay. I understand."