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Arin and Dan had been done recording for a few hours and were watching TV in the living room when they heard the door to the Grump Space open. Mark came into the room slowly and both men could instantly tell that something was really wrong. His eyes were on the floor and he appeared to be trembling a little. He made his way over to the couch where they were sitting and sank down, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He stared blankly ahead, until Arin finally asked, “Hey man, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
Mark looked up at Arin, eyes full of emotion. “Have you ever finished a game and had it turn out totally different than you expected?”
Arin glanced over at Dan, who raised an eyebrow and said “Yeah, that happens a lot. Did something happen with that new one?”
Sighing heavily, Mark nodded. “It started off a little goofy, but then it got weird, and then it got really dark. The graphics were kind of shit so I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, and you’re in prison so all you really see is a tiny room, and the only way you find out what’s going on plot-wise is through letters…” His rambling trailed off and he shook his head a little before starting up again. “It was kind of campy but eventually I started to appreciate the people writing to me, the letters started to feel familiar and the people sent me some gifts and it felt like I was reading letters from real friends... And then all of a sudden everything went to hell and in real life it started to feel like something really bad was going to happen to my friends, but I had to keep playing for the video and then it got really, REALLY twisted.and there was a plague? And people started dying? And my friends started saying that they were doing things for me and the things were hurting them for my sake and I didn’t ask them to do those things at all? And it just… all the blood… the last letter… the cake... I mean… It ended up about suicide. I was so attached, it felt like I was actually friends with them all and just- I haven’t- I can’t-”
Arin and Dan looked on helplessly as Mark broke down, shaking and choking out sobs. Dan moved down the couch and gently touched Mark’s shoulder. “Hey. Hey. It’s alright. It was only a game. It’s not real.”
“Yeah, but what if it was? What if it was you guys? I couldn’t handle the idea of people I’d never actually met having this kind of stuff going on, how could I help you?” Mark pressed his hands to his face and tried to stop his tears, but Arin patted his back reassuringly.
“We wouldn’t make you deal with that, Mark. But we’re okay, and we’re here, and you’re going to be okay. It was just a game. We’re all okay.” Arin looked to Dan for help, and Dan put his arms around Mark and pulled him close. He murmured calmly but unintelligibly as Arin went into the other room, where Suzy was doing some paperwork. She looked up as she heard him come in.
“Suzy? I think we have a problem. Something in Mark’s last game hit him really hard and he’s really upset. Dan’s trying to calm him down but I don’t know if we know how to help him with this.”
Suzy pushed her chair back and stood up. “Go back in there, get him a blanket, and try to distract him with something else. I’ll be there in a minute.” She kissed him on the cheek and went to the kitchen, where Arin could hear her opening the cabinets. He smiled to himself, appreciating how she always seemed to end up taking care of them. Going back to the living room, he grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and shook it out. He sat on Mark’s other side and wrapped the blanket around Mark and Dan, who seemed to have gotten him calmed down from the worst of it. Mark still seemed shaken and upset, so Arin grabbed the remote and put a generic cartoon up on the screen, like he did sometimes when Dan was freaking out. He wondered if all freak outs could be solved the same way and sat down on Mark’s other side.
Dan stretched the arm that was around Mark’s shoulders so that he could pat Arin’s arm as he threw him a significant look. Arin threw an arm around Mark’s shoulders, too, so that he was sandwiched between the two Grumps. Mark’s breathing eased a bit and they all watched the TV in silence for a few minutes. Arin could feel Mark relax into the couch a little and scooted a little closer to the younger man so that their sides were pressed together more firmly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dan do the same, and he realized that this was turning into a regular cuddle pile. A moment later, Suzy came into the room with a mug of steaming hot tea, which she handed to Mark as she sat on the arm of the couch. He accepted it with a quiet “thank you”.
Suzy reached across Arin to run her hand through Mark’s hair. “You know we love you, right? If we were unhappy, we’d talk about it so that we could all work through it together. You wouldn’t have to take on anything alone, and you don’t have to worry about us, we’re all here for each other.”
Mark cracked a wan smile. “I love you guys too. Thanks for this, really.” Dan and Arin hugged him and pressed kisses to his cheeks. Suzy moved to lay across all three of her boys and squeezed Mark’s hand.
“It’s what we’re here for, sweetie.” Suzy said. “Whatever you need.”