Stay Down [A Crankiplier fanfic]

three

About one week later

Mark was sitting between Kathryn and Amy. Wade and Bob on another couch, Tyler on a chair he pulled into the living room from the kitchen, and Ethan sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Mark.

"So, with two weeks before we leave, I just want to make sure we are all on the same page. Tyler is still off the leg, Ethan's been doing great with learning the choreography, sorry you had to learn all that in such a short amount of time," Mark said.

"Oh, it's no problem," Ethan shrugged.

"Right, well, I have all the tour bus stuff set up. One for the five of you, and one for Kathryn and I," Amy said. Mark looked pleased.

"Good. It seems everything is put together, and we're good to go. Just make sure that if something comes up, you let us all know immediately. Got it?" Mark said. Everyone nodded or said some form of 'yes'.

With that, they all got ready for the few videos they had to shoot that day. It was just a few simple videos, but throughout them all, Mark did his best to remain close to Ethan, meanwhile, Ethan tried to avoid Mark. He wanted to be himself in the videos, but he couldn't do that when Mark was so close. He still hadn't figured out why he would feel like that around Mark. He had tried everything to figure out why, but all of the answers he received didn't seem right. He didn't have a crush on him. Ethan was straight, and so was Mark! Right?

When everyone finally left, Ethan took a seat on the couch. Mark was walking Amy out to her car. Ethan could tell, without a doubt that Amy had a thing for Mark, and it was pretty likely that Mark had a thing for her too. The thought slightly disappointed Ethan, and it angered him that he still didn't know why. Mark returned, and plopped on the couch next to Ethan. Once again, Ethan felt his stomach fill with butterflies. He fought the urge to leave the room, and lock himself in his bedroom, but he didn't want to make it that obvious that he was avoiding Mark.

"I'm so ready for this tour!" Mark said excitedly. Ethan nodded, not looking at Mark.

"Yeah, I'm pretty ready. I actually have a question that I didn't think of until now," Ethan said, finally turning to look at Mark.

"Oh, what's up?" Mark looked at him. Ethan sighed.

"During the dance battle, which version are we doing for 'Too Sexy For My Shirt'?" Ethan asked, his face warming up.

"Oh, well, I guess it depends on the stage. Do you know both versions?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, I mean either one is fine, I know them both," Ethan said.

"Well, like I said, it depends on the stage, so would you be okay with just like being told which version before we go on stage, or would you prefer to just decide on one?" Mark shifted on the couch. The version he wanted to do was probably not what Ethan wanted to do, and he didn't want Ethan to be uncomfortable, so he left it up to him.

"I'm fine with being told before going on stage. You said yourself, I learn quickly, and I can adjust quickly too," Ethan smiled. Mark smiled back. He was happy with his decision to hire Ethan. At this point, Mark couldn't imagine how his life would be without Ethan, and he didn't want to imagine life without Ethan. Even if Ethan didn't like Mark in the same way, he didn't want to lose him.

"Okay we can just do that. Anyway, do you want to order some food, and we can put on a movie, and relax tonight," Mark suggested.

"I would love to, but I have videos to edit," Ethan said.

"You can take a break for one night," Mark said, standing up and walking to the back of the couch. Ethan sighed.

"I really should get to work-" Ethan started, but Mark interrupted.

"Come on, one day won't hurt, right?" Mark said, gently massaging Ethan's shoulders. Ethan relaxed.

"Mark, I... sure, I guess I can take one day off," Ethan said, leaning into Mark's touch. Mark smiled and pulled his hands away.

"I'll order some food. Any suggestions?" Mark said, leaning on the door frame to the kitchen. Ethan shivered.

"No, it's up to you, I'll be back," he said, quickly standing and speed walking to the bathroom, locking himself in. He splashed water in his face. What was he thinking? Mark's touch was so soothing, he couldn't help but lean into it. It was just a friendly gesture, he knows Ethan has lots of work, so he was just giving him a friendly massage. Yeah, Ethan needed a massage, and Mark understood better than anyone.

When Ethan had calmed down a bit, he returned to the living room where Mark was putting on some show on Netflix. Ethan sat next to him. They sat in silence while they watched the show.

"Mark?" Ethan said, not looking away from the TV.

"Hm?" Mark hummed looking at Ethan.

"Are you-" Ethan started, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. Mark sighed and stood up. He headed to the door. It was the food. Mark set it on the dining table.

"Come and get it!" Mark called from the kitchen. Ethan paused the show and stepped into the kitchen. The two sat down and pulled out their respective meals. There was another sudden knock on the door. Ethan stood.

"I'll get it," he said, thankful that he had a reason to leave the room. He opened the door, and there stood Amy.

"Hey, Amy, did you forget something?" Ethan said.

"Ethan, can I please come in?" she asked. Ethan stepped aside.

"Sure, Mark's in the kitchen," he said. Amy nodded, and headed to the kitchen. Ethan followed, closing and locking the door behind him.

"Mark, can we talk..? Alone," she said, glancing at Ethan. Mark slowly stood up.

"Is something wrong?" Mark said as he left the room, Amy close behind him. Ethan ate his food in lonely silence. He felt what he could only describe as jealousy. But why was he so jealous? Mark was just a friend. It's not like they were best friends or boyfriends, they just lived together because Ethan had nowhere else to go. Right?

Mark returned shortly, and sat across from Ethan.

"Sorry about that," Mark said as he took his seat. Ethan said nothing. He finished eating, and cleaned up his mess.

"I'm going to call it a night," Ethan said. Mark looked at him.

"Are you sure? I'm sorry about Amy, she-" Mark tried to explain, but Ethan cut him off.

"I'm just tired, don't worry about it," Ethan said. He smiled, but his words were harsh. Mark sighed.

"Okay. Goodnight," Mark said, looking away.