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Mark winced at his own steps as he stomped up to the Hall of Elements, unable to hold back the anger seething beneath his skin. What was Tide even thinking? He was the one who started this, and then he decided to blame Mark? Tide must have had a screw loose or something,and Mark was going to tighten it up for him.
Blowing past any prying eyes or ears, Mark went straight for Tide’s room and slammed his fist against it a few times with a ferocity that he almost regretted. There was a moment of silence where all Mark would hear was his own heaving breaths before the door swung open.
“Wha-“ Tide started, blinking with wide eyes when he saw who was standing in front of him, “Oh- Mark.”
The way Tide said his name made butterflies dart around Mark’s stomach and his head feel light. He shook off the feeling as best he could before saying, “We need to talk.”
Tide gulped and let out a shaking breath, “We do.” He stepped aside to make room for Mark to come through the door.
The villain stormed in, trying to hold onto the anger bubbling in his chest instead of letting it give way to the warmth that came with being close to Tide. “What that fuck is wrong with you?”
Tide had the audacity to scoff, “Me? You’re the one bringing the kids into this!”
“The kids- Tide, I-“ Mark sighed, trying to keep his voice low, but Tide always brought something unstable forward in Mark, “You’re the one who brought yourself into the conversation. I was never going to say your name or even allude to it being about you. You did that!”
“I- you know the kids! They would’ve been nosy- they would have figured it out on their own!” Tide took a step toward Mark who took an instinctive step back. The hero looked hurt at the action.
“That still gives you no right to blame me, though!” Mark was yelling now, all regard for the rest of the house gone, “I’m tired of you doing this, you always do. Even in the past! You’d always find a way to make everything my fault.”
Awkward silence fell over the two of them, their heavy breaths the only thing to cut it. Mark hated this. He hated being in the same room as Tide again. When they spent any amount of time alone, Mark couldn’t help but remember times when the two of them would just be together for the hell of it. They’d lie together in each other’s warmth without a care in the world. Just them together.
But that wasn’t how it truly was. That was just the narrative Mark had created to make himself feel better. In reality, a lot of their old… “friendship” was made up of constant fighting, unknown boundaries, anxiety, and sometimes worse. They never worked, and they never would. Mark had come to accept that. But he couldn’t help himself when he took a step closer to Tide, his eyes flicked down to the hero’s lips, and his hand reached slightly forward.
Tide’s eyes darted down to Mark’s hand. The hero turned his body away, wrapped his arms around himself, and looked down, “Please- Mark, I can’t do this again…”
Mark’s outstretched hand turned into a fist, “Of course you can’t. You could never do it in the first place.”
“It’s not-“ Tide looked like he was going to cry as he finally turned his face back to Mark, “It’s not like that. You know it’s not.”
“Do I?” Mark asked, his face softening and his voice shaking, “How would I know, Tide? You never talked to me about anything . Communication wasn’t your strong suit.”
A sigh left Tide as he turned his body toward Mark and let his arms fall, “I know… I’m sorry, Mark. I never meant to hurt you the way I did.”
“I know you didn’t, you always have the best intentions,” Mark sighed, his anger bubbling up once more as he was reminded of the fact that Tide didn’t actually deserve this. Tide had never meant to hurt Mark, he was just doing what he thought was best for the both of them.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Tide tilted his head in the way he always used to, making Mark’s head spin. It made Mark want to scream.
Mark huffed, not having any actual words to offer the situation. His eyes flicked down to Tide’s lips again. There was some small part that wanted to believe that if he kissed Tide everything would be fine. That they wouldn’t have any more issues and everything would be better between them. Another, much bigger part, wanted to kiss the damn fool just to shut Mark’s mind off.
So, he did just that. Mark took one step forward, giving Tide time to back up, but when he didn’t, Mark closed the distance. He took Tide’s face in his hands and connected their lips. Mark held tight to Tide’s face and kissed him like his life depended on it because in that moment, it truly felt that way.
Slowly, carefully Tide brought a hand up to gently rest in the crook of Mark’s neck. A thumb rubbed at Mark’s skin like porcelain which just made more anger claw at his chest and he kissed harder. This was the man who had rejected him all those years ago. Led him on into believing that they could have something when Tide knew he was never going to be able to stay with a villain. Every bone in Mark’s body knew this was a bad idea. A horrible idea even. He knew that all this would do is make him fall for Tide all over again and have to once again deal with the pain that came along with it.
Mark thought about pushing Tide against the wall. He thought about properly making out with the hero, maybe even going further, all to avoid what would come after. If not immediately, it wouldn’t be long before Tide remembered that the two of them didn’t work. It wouldn’t be long before he told Mark that they shouldn’t see each other for a while and another period of isolation would begin.
Before Mark could get deeper into his mind, Tide’s door swung open to show William, holding his phone up, “Tide can you-“
The way that Tide pushed Mark off of him so quickly jabbed at the villain’s heart, but he ignored it in favor of focusing on the moment. Tide then turned to William, “Will- get- KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING.”
Chasing after William, Tide chastised the boy a bit more with words that Mark didn’t process. It wasn’t long before Tide was coming back into the room rubbing at his temples.
The door slammed shut as Tide turned back around to face Mark, “I’ll deal with him later. I’m so sorry- those boys know nothing about the word privacy.”
Mark finally looked up at Tide and gawked at the sight in front of him. Tide’s lips were shining with spit, his face was flushed, his bun loose, and his clothes slightly disheveled. On a bad day, Tide was beautiful. In this moment, the only word invading Mark’s mind was gorgeous . Shit, he shouldn’t have kissed Tide. Worst idea he’d ever had.
“Mark?” Tide called, interrupting Mark’s thoughts.
“Sorry- I zoned out a bit,” He shook his head trying to physically clear his thoughts as he stepped carefully toward Tide, “Was that- uh- I didn’t ask before I did that. Was it okay?”
Another moment of silence passed between them as they studied each other’s faces before Tide answered, “I think? I- I’m not upset. I don’t know right now, Mark. I need some time to think.”
Mark nodded, trying to keep his breath even, “Yeah, okay. Just- call me? Don’t leave me out to dry, I might actually die if you do.”
Tide chuckled, “Of course.”
“Cool- I’ll just, uh- I’ll leave then?” This was exactly what he was hoping to avoid. The confrontation of emotions, the awkward aftershock, the kids finding out. Mark hated all the complicated shit.
“Mhm,” Tide hummed, “Just try to avoid the boys on your way out if you can. You know how they are.”
“Will do,” Mark offered the softest smile he could muster before heading out of the base. Tears stung his eyes, but he tried his very best to keep them at bay before he got outside. The last thing he wanted was for one of the boys to see him crying, bring it to Tide, and have to deal with Tide’s pity. Pity was Mark’s worst nightmare.
So, he swallowed his tears and headed out to his car and began the drive home. He pressed play on his “Tide Lambert” playlist and was met with the usual monotony of breakup songs and songs about longing. The first was “Bad Idea” by Girl In Red. He laughed at the irony through the tears that had begun to spill over despite his efforts. Mark would figure out what to tell Ashe when he got home, but for now, he let the tears flow and a realization set in.
He was still in love with Tide Lambert.