PULL (BXB)

Shame

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***Sebastian's POV***

Mark's body language shows exhaustion. A million wild emotions run through his crystal blue eyes. Pain and shame seem most dominant to me. It's tugs at my soul to see him so lost.

As he leans against the balcony, I just want to hold him. Not now. He wants to talk. I want to listen. I could tell over the past few days that he had been struggling with something. I'm ready to know what it is so that I can ease his burden.

"I lied to you." Mark breathes deeply. I don't flinch. I had lied to him as well, by omission.

It's something we just will have to work through.

Grey holds Mak in his lap and smiles softly, encouragingly at the love of my life.

A small nod of Mark's head signals he's ready to begin.

"My family isn't exactly how I portrayed them. The characters are all the same. Mother, Father, Sister that was true. She is in college." Mark wrings his hands before pushing them behind his back. His fingers begin gripping the metal railing with more strength than necessary. His knuckles protest as they turn an angry shade of red.

"The truth is, we're not close. At all. I don't even see them. We don't talk." Mark looks like that one admission is more than he wanted to share.

I continue focusing all my attention on him. If this is hard for him, which obviously it is, I don't want to exacerbate the pain. He's mine to protect.

"We were. Up until college, we were super close. All those stories I told, they were from the time before my life spiraled." Mark doesn't look up for quite a few minutes. When he does, sad tears fill his orbs.

"What happened?" Mak gives a soft plea. Mark looks to each of us. I smile comfortingly towards him, knowing that he is struggling.

"Home from College, I had met someone. I thought that it might work out into something I could build into a dream. It was new, exciting. I was so ready to let them meet my parents. It never crossed my mind that I wasn't allowed to bring them home. So, I did." Mark looks directly at me with a sad plea.

I really have a feeling I'm about to get angry. I can feel the familiar emotion bubbling.

"She was amazing. Smart. Gorgeous and absolutely perfect. Her smile could bring a thousand angels calling. Her name was Mellison. I called her Mel for short." I'm really confused at this point. I thought for sure this would be his coming out story.

Until I remember that I am the key plot in that one.

"Mellison had rich chocolate skin. Her eyes were so yellow they practically shown gold. She had silky black hair that cascaded over her shoulders. The strands landed just above her jeans. Her cheek bones were so high that her bottom lashes would brush against them as she smiled. She was a beauty of a woman if I ever saw one."

Mark's voice is captivated. If I didn't know he was mine already, I would be a bit jealous.

"I had never known prejudice. I had African American friends and any other nationality that you could think of. They were always in and out of my family home in high school. Color never seemed like like an issue. Until I fell for someone of a darker skin tone."

Mark looks at me apologetically. He is carrying a burden that is not even his. You aren't what your parents are. You can't control how they react.

"Walking in, I was blissfully unaware of the conversation silently taking place. My Dad gritted a smile through his teeth. My mother hesitantly reached out a hand. I only saw the signs in hind sight. In the moment, I was so cocooned in my elation, I didn't notice the behaviors.