We all need help | s a w

sixteen

Mark paced the apartment waiting for her return. He was almost tearing his hair out in fear of something bad happened to her. His hand was on the phone to call the police when she walked in the door as if nothing had happened. She gave him a tight-lipped smile as the door clicked shut behind her. She attempted to walk past him and into her bedroom but he stepped in front of her. "What's wrong, Mark?" She asked, looking up into his eyes. He sucked in a breath and shook his head.

"What's wrong?" He asked and she blinked at him, waiting for a response. "I thought you were dead, or someone kidnapped you. I came home and you, who is supposed to be taking it easy, are up and gone. Your car wasn't here, and you aren't even supposed to be driving." He stated and she shrugged.

"I got bored." She lied, convincingly.

"Bored? Thats all you have to say? Where were you? You smell like... death." He said and made a face at her.

"Then let me take a shower, Mark." She said, clearly done with the conversation. He lied to her about where he was and why he was leaving all the time, and she couldn't even do it once? She thought he was being ridiculous.

"I'm not done." He said, and moved so she couldn't get around him.

"I am!" She stated, and tried to push him out of the way. He didn't budge. "How is it that you can disappear for hours, and drive around and not tell me what the hell you're doing? Why, when I leave for one evening you can't stand the thought of not knowing where I am? I am always honest with you about what I'm doing and where I'm going, but you never give back. For all I know, you have another girlfriend, or maybe you never got a divorce! Why am I the only person that has to give in this relationship!" Tears spilled down her cheeks as all of her frustration came out. She wiped them away angrily as her gaze fell to the ground. "I want this to work, Mark. It just doesn't seem like you do. We've been together for months, and you're already lying and sneaking around. I can only do so much." She finished. Her cheeks were flushed, and by the end of her rant her anger escaped her. Defeat took over and she didn't want to fight anymore.

Sure, she knew that she was exaggerating slightly. Mark wasn't always gone, and most of the time he had good reason. It just seemed like it was getting more frequent, and when he couldn't come up with a good excuse, her jealousy nagged. She really cared about Mark, and she didn't want to leave him, but he was being unreasonable with her. He was just concerned about her safety, and it came off as more controlling than he intended. He wasn't good when it came to expressing how he felt, he knew that for sure, but he didn't want her to feel the way she did then.

"I love you." He stated. She looked up at him and cocked her head to the side. She didn't say anything back. "I love you, and I care about you. I don't really care where you were, I just cared that you were safe. I didn't know if you were hurt, or dead. With everything going on, I panicked. I overreacted. I'm sorry, and I love you." He finished. She looked around the room, anywhere but at him. He said 'I love you'. Something she didn't know if she was ready for. She hadn't said I love you in a romantic way in over a decade. "I would never even think about being with somebody else, because there's nobody better than you." He finished, and reached out to grab her hand. He let him lace his fingers with hers.

"You love me?" She asked, skeptically. "Why me?" She laughed quietly.

"Because you're the strongest person I know. I needed help when I started talking to you. I needed it bad.  We all need help, but the difference is, you gave it to me. You are the person I was waiting for." He said, as romantically as he could. She finally looked up at him and saw sincerity in his gaze. It was something you couldn't fake. His eyes held a truth that she didn't want to believe, but she had no choice. In the sea of blue she lost herself. She lost every ounce of anger she had in the past moments. She was focused on him now, and there was no room for anything else. The truth was, she knew she loved him too. She loved everything about him, and she hated it. The vulnerability made her sick to her stomach. Despite that, the man before her was the one who fed her, and cared for her when she wasn't strong enough to do it. He supported her when her brother died, when she wasn't working, when she got shot. If that wasn't loyalty she had no idea what was. That meant more than loyalty to her.