A/N: Hey guys! This is my first story (one that I've been thinking about for a while now) and I hope you like it! No smut in this, just you helping Mark get rid of tension that the latest horror series he's been filming gave him. Thank for reading!
The minute you got home you knew that Mark must have been filming a new horror series. He tried so hard to play it off, to act like those games never got to him. In most cases, they didn't. But other times, they did. This was one of those times. His mannerisms changed ever so slightly. The way he jumped when he heard you open the door. The split-second of terror in his eyes when he whipped his head around to look at you. Not to mention the fact that all the lights in the apartment were off, except for a small desk lamp.
"Hey!" Mark said, trying to mask the shakiness in his voice. The corners of your mouth tugged upwards as you thought about how he stayed up late sometimes even when he wasn't recording, just to greet you when you came home late. He made his way from the couch over to you and wrapped his arms around you.
"Hi," you sighed into his shoulder. As you ran your hands up his back, you could feel the tenseness of his muscles.
"How was class?" he asked and you smiled.
"Tiring...what were you filming?" you asked as you let go of him and walked to the fridge.
"Lots of stuff, I never wanna get that behind again." Mark said, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. He had a rough two weeks, getting sick and travelling. Mark hated when he couldn't release more than one video a day.
"You know your audience just wants you to get better, Mark. They aren't gonna get mad." you reassured him, grabbing a bottle of water.
"I know...but I still wanna do better for them, y'know?" he said, looking at you as you leaned on the counter infront of him.
"I know, I know. But please don't overwork yourself. I'm suprised you're not recording right now. Usually when you try and mass produce, you film till like 2 am." you peered at him, knowing damn well why he wasn't recording.
"Oh..well...you know how it is, some nights are better than others I guess." he laughed.
"Mark." you pressed.
"What?" he asked, fully knowing what you wanted.
"What were you filming?"
"...A new update for Dreadhalls came out." he said, shrugging it off.
"How long have you been recording in general?" you asked, starting to get concerned.
"I dunno...I started just before you left so...a few hours I guess." he said. Lie. You had left for your first class at 9 this morning and had meetings and more classes all day until now, 2:06 am. That was way more that "a few hours".
"Come here." you said, putting the water bottle down on the counter and pulling him into you. Mark wholeheartedly returned your hug, letting out a huge sigh into your hair. You rubbed his back, rocking back and forth ever so slightly.
"I'm fine, really." Mark said, his words muffled by your shoulder.
"Mark you're really tense." you said
"Nah, I'm fine. I'll be better in the morning. Promise." he said, pulling away and looking at you. You knew that he wasn't fine. You were suprised to feel a slight twinge of sadness as you looked at him. When he was sick, not only was he feeling down, you felt bad that you weren't around to help him get over his illness. Granted, Mark knew that school was important to you, this being your final year in college, but you still felt awful that it was essentially your fault you weren't spending as much time together as you used to.
"Here....c'mere." you said gently, taking his hand and leading him to the bedroom. He didn't say a word, didn't even crack a joke. Another sign he was tired. You turned to him once you were inside the room.
"Take off your shirt." you ordered and he couldn't help but smirk.
"Listen babe...I really love you but you and I are both tired as hell and-" he started and you rolled your eyes.
"I'm not having sex with you, Mark. Just take your shirt off." you said with a slight laugh. He mumbled something about you wanting to "marvel at his amazing muscles" and earned a slap on the shoulder.
"Arright, arright." he said, reaching back to pull the black fabric off from his skin. Keeping in mind his comment about his "amazing muscles" you didn't waste time marveling. You just ushered him to the mattress, pushing him down.
"On your stomach." you said and he gave you a confused look, but flipped over anyway. You straddled the small of his back and he decided to finally ask what was going on.
"Babe what are you-" he started, but you cut him off by applying pressure to his back with your thumbs and running you hands upp to his shoulders.
"Oh, fuck..." Mark said as he relaxed into the pillow he was hugging. You laughed silently to yourself as you ran your hands up and down his back, applying more pressure where you could register the most tension. Your thumbs moved in circles on his shoulders, your fingertips dug into his sides, all in an attempt to rid your boyfriend of any tension he might have. For about 45 minutes you stayed like that, humming to him, anything to make him relax. You might have gone on longer if it wasn't for the slight snores that your ears picked up. You giggled, stopping once you realized you were shaking Mark's entire body. You carefully got off of his back and took your jeans off. You climbed into bed and relaxed yourself until you felt Mark's arms snake around you cleverly. He pulled you closer to him and kissed the skin below your ear.
"I love you so much. Thank you." he mumbled and you smiled.
"I love you too, Mark. And you're welcome but please...go to sleep." you whispered, and with a nod he laughed and kissed your head one last time before settling in behind you as you both drifted off into much needed slumber.
