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“I was your only friend.” Eduardo muttered under his breath.
The door closed behind him, but not before Mark could leave the deposition room as well. He raked his hand through his meticulously styled hair, effectively messing it up.
“Hm?”
“I was your only friend, Mark.” he repeated, louder now, but still facing away from him.
Mark kept a prudential distance as he walked behind Eduardo. A fleeting thought passed his head. Something about Harvard and Kirkland and walking, hands brushing together even when there was plenty of room around them.
He ignored Eduardo. He’d already heard those same words in the deposition, mere minutes ago, and he wasn’t going to waste any more of his time thinking about them.
“Do you hear me?”
Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore h-
Eduardo stopped walking to turn around and face Mark, who tripped over his own feet.
“Mark, for fucks sake, I know you’re listening to me. Do you think this makes me happy? Do you think I want to be here?”
He wasn’t yelling, but there was something even worse than anger in his voice.
“Then why are you here? You shouldn’t do things that make you unhappy.”
Mark tried to resume walking but was stopped by Eduardo’s hand on his shoulder, gripping it with way more force than required.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“Can I go? I have work to do.”
Eduardo snickered.
“Please?” Mark offered, but Eduardo still didn’t budge.
He pushed Mark back slightly, which made him trip again.
“I was your only friend and still, you couldn’t even pull the trigger by yourself.”
“What are y-”
“Shut up.” Eduardo cut him off.
“You had to get those fucking lawyers to pull the trigger for you. You had to get Sean Parker. That’s what hurt the most.”
Mark stared at him, wide-eyed. Hurt? He knew Eduardo was hurt, of course, who wouldn’t be? But hearing him say it was completely different.
“Since day one, I was the only person who stood beside you. I didn’t know shit about computers or code or anything you ever talked about, and still, there I was.”
“And I’ll be forever grateful for that, Wardo, but can I go now?” Mark asked, even though Eduardo wasn’t grabbing him anymore.
“Don’t call me that. You don’t fucking get to call me that.”
His words were venomous. Mark nodded, even though he knew he would slip up again a thousand times. A million, even.
“I wouldn’t be half as messed up if it'd been you who had told me I wasn’t part of Facebook anymore. If you hadn’t been discussing all that behind my back with him.”
“Him?”
“Sean Parker. Sean fucking Parker, Mark. Ever since that first meeting, he’s had you wrapped around his finger.”
Mark could sense the pure hatred in Eduardo’s voice.
“I know you’re not stupid, Mark. But sometimes I wish you were. Then, I would understand you believing his bullshit. Why do you do this to yourself?”
“Wardo, you need to calm down. I’ll see you on Mon-”
“I told you to not call me that!” Eduardo snapped.
“Just, for fucks sake War- Eduardo. Sean isn’t who you should be mad at.”
“Sean Parker is exactly who I should be mad at. And so should you. I know you called the cops on that party.”
“Why do you always say his full name?”
“Does it change anything?”
“Well, he calls you Eduardo.”
“Why should I give a shit what he calls me? Why is he even talking about me at all?” Eduardo exclaimed, exasperated.
“I do discuss these meetings with him sometimes.”
Eduardo didn’t say anything. He just turned around and started heading for the elevator.
“Uh, goodbye?” Mark said, but his voice just bounced around the hallway.
He thought it would be better to just take the stairs, not wanting to risk running into Eduardo again. He wondered what would happen if he took the elevator with him. He’d probably get punched. Sometimes he wished Eduardo would just get physical. It would be so much easier to just take a punch or two than to hear him talk.
He must’ve been walking faster than he thought because he was already at the stairs and Eduardo was just now stepping into the elevator. Great, now it looked like he was following him.
“Are you gonna get on?” Eduardo asked, not even looking at Mark.
“Sorry, what? Uh, sure.”
He didn’t have time to come up with anything to say, and so he shuffled uncomfortably until he was as far from Eduardo as their confines allowed him to be. Eduardo pressed the ground floor button and leaned against the wall. Mark wanted to look at him more than anything in the world right then, but he focused on repeatedly clicking his pen instead.
The ride down the building felt insanely long, and when the door finally opened, neither of them hesitated to step outside. Mark still waited until the other man was already out. No more invasion of personal spaces for them.
“For the record, I have never told Sean anything bad about you. I would never, Wardo.” Mark said, so quickly no one could possibly understand him.
Except Eduardo, of course. He didn’t reply, but he understood every single word. He opened the door, and just when Mark thought the worst was over, he froze in place.
Was he going to punch him? Mark shivered. He should’ve brought a hoodie with him.
Eduardo didn’t punch him. He just turned around one last time.
“Go fuck yourself, Mark.”
“That’s so mature of you.”
“Better yet, ask Sean to do it for you. You have my blessings.”
He let go of the door.
Mark wished he would’ve just taken the stairs.