Archive of Our Own ^beta

Mark frowned. Why was so loud!? The annoying kid in the back of class wouldn't shut the fuck up. The teacher was droning on about something Mark just couldn't understand. The jocks were all trying to wrestle each other or something. The girl chattered on about celebrities and what not. Band was just outside the class room, practicing for the game later that week. The drums boomed outside, but it felt like they were right inside Mark's head. He gritted his teeth. He had thirty minutes. That's all he had to endure. 'Wait, he thought. Then he remembered. He had play practice. He let out a small groan under his breath. Of all thing, why had he decided to be a drama kid.
'No, he reasoned, I can totally make it through. Just gotta breathe. As long as we don't do any loud warm ups I'll be fine.' He hoped he was right. His head hurt so bad. He was on the verge of tears. It usually wasn't this bad. He focused on his physics paper, but it made it so much worse. He didn't understand any of it. His friend was gone so he couldn't even try to take his mind off it by talking to someone.
Mark looked up at the clock. Just fifteen more minutes of torture to go. He wondered if throwing yourself off a building was any less painful. It probably was better than this. He tried to shake those thoughts from his head. He would get like this sometimes. He really needed to stop doing that. Mark looked around the classroom, hoping to distract himself, but it made him more pissed. No one was working, they were all messing around on their phones.
Mark pulled his own phone from his pocket. 'Maybe music could help, Mark thought. He didn't listen to music to often, but his friend Jack did. Jack had kidnapped Mark's phone for a day and downloaded a bunch of songs onto it. Mark hadn't listened to all of them, but from what he had heard, Jack had good taste. Thinking of Jack put a small smile on Mark's face. Jack would be at rehearsals, and neither of them had a big part in the play. Maybe they could just hang out for a little while.
Mark put in one earbud and tapped on the album from a musical 'Rent'. A soft song began playing and he felt his mind relax ever so slightly.
"Okay class why don't we go over number eight together!" The teacher asked. Mark flinched. Right when things were tolerable. Mark paused his music and took out the earbud. The rest of the class was even worse than the first part. People randomly screamed out answers, half of them wrong. Mark tried to understand what was going on, but he was lost. He refused to ask for help. That would just prolong the whole experience.
Finally the bell rang. Mark jumped up from his seat and grabbed his bag. He just wanted to be done. The hallways were worse than the classroom. Everyone chattering away, as loud as possible.
"Just gotta make it to the drama room." He whispered to himself. He pushed his way through the crowd, past annoying freshman, stuck up seniors, and tired teachers. He made it the drama room, sitting in the back, away from everyone. He sighed in relief. Things would calm down now. He had one part, five lines, and then he was done. He could go home and sleep. Forever hopefully.
"Ok guys! Circle up! We're gonna play woosh bong!" Felix said cheerfully. Mark took in a sharp breath. You had to be kidding him. That game was extremely loud. Twenty-something kids shouting and screaming all at the same time. Mark felt his headache increase ten folds and the mere thought.
'Just grit your teeth and bear it, Mark thought. He got up from his seat and begrudgingly made his way over to the circle. He stood waiting for the game to start when someone bumped into him. He frowned and looked over to see Jack. Jack was smiling brightly till he noticed Mark expression.
"Sorry. Having a bad day?" Jack said. He gave Mark a sympathetic smile. Mark gave him a fake smile.
"Yeah. It's nothing." He croaked out. He voice sounded really tiny. He looked away from Jack. He just had to make it through this one practice. He couldn't let people see him cry. He didn't know why, but he couldn't. He didn't cry. He was the smiley idiot, who made bad jokes. He didn't cry.
The game started. Everything was going fine. Till someone shouted 'mexican hat dance'. The whole cast began shouting and singing at the top of their lungs. They clapped and sang some stereotypical Mexican song.
Mark tried to sing along, but he couldn't. Mark was frozen in place. He felt his head spinning. He felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes. Everything was so LOUD! He brain was on fire. He couldn't think. He didn't feel like he was breathing. Was he breathing? Was he dying!?
"Mark?" He heard someone say his name. That was his name, right? "Hey are you okay?" The voice said again. He looked over to see Jack's blue eyes. He seemed concerned. Mark shook his head. He tried to say no, but he couldn't seem to actually say it. Jack seemed to get the message. He wrapped his arm around Mark's neck, leading him out of the drama room.
When they entered the hall Jack wrapped his arms around Mark.
"Shh. It's okay. Let it out. I'm here for you." Jack said gently.
Mark couldn't hold it back any longer. He sobbed into Jack's shoulder. He couldn't do anything else. His breathing was uneven. He couldn't even think. He brain felt numb.
"You're okay. I'm here for you okay? You good. Just let it out." Jack reassured him.
After what felt like hours, Mark's sobs lessened. He pulled away from Jack, wipping his eyes with the sleeves of his jacket. His hands were shaking and had pins and needles in them. He felt like an idiot. He didn't even know why he had started crying.
"S-so-orry" he stuttered out. Mark's voice was raw from crying so much. He cringed at how pathetic he sounded. Jack must think he was a dumbass.
Jack put his hand on Mark's cheek, forcing his brown eyes to meet his blue eyes. "You don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. You're okay." He said. He smiled softly. Mark felt more tears began to form. Jack pulled him into another hug. He let Mark sob into his shoulder again. Jack ran his hand through Mark's red hair. Mark found it so comforting. He took a deep breathe, trying to calm back down. They separated again.
"Th-than-k yo-u" Mark managed to get out. He was still shaking pretty bad. He didn't think he could go back to rehearsals. He looked at the floor.
"Hey no problem. Are feeling a little better?" Jack asked. Mark nodded.
"Do you wanna ditch rehearsals and just go relax for a little while?" Jack smiled. Mark looked up. He gave a small smile and nodded. Jack smiled even brighter. He grabbed Mark's hand and dragged him along.
"Don't worry about our bags and stuff. I'll have Felix grab 'em." Jack said. He lead Mark back to the parking lot, where Jack's car was. Jack unlocked it and jumped in. Mark hopped in as well. He would care about skipping rehearsals, but he honestly couldn't care less. He needed to relax. He couldn't care right now.
"Okay! On wards towards home!" Jack said, starting the car. Mark smiled at his antics. It was really cute honestly.
They got to Jack's house in a couple on minutes. Luckily he don't live that far from the school. Jack turn off the car and got out. Mark followed. Jack lead him up to his bedroom.
"Okay! I've got the best cure for a bad day!" Jack said, smiling. "Lilo and stitch plus cuddles!" He smiled. He turned on his xbox, scrolling through his apps to find Netflix. Mark blushed, sitting on Jack's bed. Were they really honing to cuddle? Jack jumped onto the bed, lying down. He patted his chest.
"Well come on Fischbach!" He said. Mark blushed again, but he complied. He layed his head on Jack's chest, wrapping his arms around his waist. Jack placed a hand on Mark's back, gently drawing circles. Mark smiled. It was so nice.
"Right! On with the movie." Jack said, much quieter than Mark thought was possible for Jack. Mark nestled up against Jack and took a deep breath. Ten minutes into the movie, Mark and Jack both fell asleep, wrapped in one another arms.