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It was the middle of the night and Eve couldn’t sleep at all. It was the night Mark returned home, she knew he was safe in his home, Cecil would make sure that him and his Mom were taken care of, but still she lay awake. Eve got out of her bed and flew to her roof to sit and look over the woods. The trees stretched out as far as you could see, it was a stunning view but nothing could distract Eve from the knot forming in her stomach as she remembered how the city looked after Omniman did what he did.
The bodies, everywhere. Blood and guts and limbs coating the pavement as children and adults wept in the streets. The subway was even more of a massacre, the gory mess of remnants from the innocent people. She imagined them just sitting or standing, perhaps on their way home from work or school, maybe they were thinking about what they’ll have for dinner or how their family were doing. So innocent, so fucking innocent.
She didn’t want to think of that anymore.
She wondered if Mark was asleep or if he was restless too, I mean if Eve was sick to her stomach how could Mark possibly be okay.
”I should go over there” She figured. Then she thought Amber would be there and then thought she better not. “But what if she isn’t and he’s all alone.” No one deserved to be alone after that. “Fuck it.” Eve took off in the direction of Mark’s house not allowing herself to think anymore. None of her thoughts were worth having right now.
It took a while but eventually she was coming up to Mark’s window. Eve looked through to see him sitting on his bed with his back facing her and his head in his hands. He didn’t have a shirt on, Eve swallowed hard. Maybe this was too invasive. She shoved down the thought. “Mark is my friend and I want to be there for him.” She could afford to swallow her feelings for a while, besides he had a girlfriend. Eve tapped on the window softly causing Mark to turn around and see the red head smiling wearily at him. He stood up and opened the window. “What are you doing here?” His eyes were pretty red, he’d been crying. “I thought you might be having trouble sleeping, is it okay if I come in?” Mark nodded stepping away so she could climb through.
They both sat on the side of Mark’s bed sitting in silence before Eve turned to face the boy. “Do you want to talk about it?” Mark shook his head, it wasn’t like him to be so quiet. “You know you can talk to me Mark, you’ve been through more in the past week than any normal person will ever have to go through in their whole life.” Mark sighed. “How can someone pretend to love someone for 17 years.” He looked down at his feet, breathing shakily. “Everything about my life was a lie. He never loved me, or my Mom.” A tear rolled down Mark’s face. Eve bit her lip. “He doesn’t know what love is, that’s what makes you better than he’ll ever be, you’re capable of love.” Eve placed her hand on Mark’s shoulder and one on his hand, rubbing slow circles on it. “I’m his son.” His voice cracked as he said it, letting out a broken sob. He turned towards Eve wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling his face into the nook of her shoulder as he wept. “Only by blood Mark, your heart is 100% human.” Eve broke then, tears slipping out. ”I’m so sorry Mark, you don’t deserve this.”
The two hugged each other close, weeping as they let their emotions go. Eve tried her best to not cry for a different reason, the boy she loved in her arms, his skin touching hers with platonic affection. She was supposed to be there as a friend, nothing more. He was Amber’s. And that was that.