|| 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 || 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌/𝑮𝒖𝒏 || 𝗘𝗡𝗚 ||

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 13

It had been a few long - endless - minutes in which Mark's mind was plagued with a mass of dark, conflicting feelings that he couldn't quite calm. The scene that had unfolded before his eyes moments earlier kept replaying in his mind and fueling a deep aversion to the young actor for whom he had felt a hint of affection and guilt imagining he had could hurt the feelings of such an innocent boy. 

What a joke.

This kid seemed so sincere and harmless in his innocent child's air. But in reality everything was only a completely assembled facade, and reinforced by the incomparable - and deceitful - talent of the actor. This candid face hid in fact for all this time an immoral being animated by an unsuspected malevolence.

And Mark had been the victim. The puppet. Worse, he had let himself be fooled, to the detriment of the warnings of his partner in whom he should have trusted.

Now there was only remorse, shame ... and guilt.

Because of his naivety, Gun had been hurt. As much physically as in his heart.

By his own fault.

A new charge to add to the list of mistakes he had made.

And Mark's memories sped on to remind him stingily that Gun had indeed warned him beforehand. He couldn't pretend to ignore his former lover's suspicions. He could only blame himself for his naivety.

The black guy felt so stupid. So fooled. And now that he realized it, he couldn't shake his feelings of overwhelm. But more than anything, he blamed himself even more for hurting Gun.

Still, his eldest hadn't said a word since they'd abandoned the sneaky kid in the hallways. Not the slightest remonstrance. No words. Not a single "I told you so". Nothing. Gun maintained an unsettling silence that fueled Mark's unease.

The boys would calmly walk along the white pebble path in the villa garden towards a bungalow which served as an infirmary in a corner of the grounds. The elder seemed lost in thought. Or his stubborn silence simply allowed him to keep his distance, and keep a step back from the situation.

The redhead's face was starting to swell where Gun had been punched. This image made waves of hatred rise in the mind of Mark who refrains from turning around to go and strike the swelling that had injured his partner. He regretted not having done more. But at this point, his priority had been to get his older away from the threat posed by the vicious kid. It was the right thing to do. But that certainly wasn't what he wanted to do. For every blow received, the kid deserved ten.

Trying to calm the irritation that was invading his head and preventing him from keeping a cool head, the black haired actor sighed to release the tension and glanced at the figure of his comrade whom he was helping to move around. His arm was supporting Gun's body by supporting him with one arm around his waist, while the other held one of his elbows. Gun's body rested a little more heavily on him. And inside, Mark felt relieved. Because Gun was relying on him.

After weeks of pushing him away, the younger felt happy about it. But he knew that the problems weren't resolved. On the contrary.