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Black Hole enjoyed hanging out with the P.A.C.T.. Sure, it was just him, Marker, Fanny, and Tree now, but it didn't change anything. It was fun to hang out with them! Fanny was loud and hateful, but the P.A.C.T. has been melting that angry shell. Tree's kind, but clearly something's been bothering him lately. None of them could pry it out, but they were worried. And then, Marker...
Now, when Marker was with all of the P.A.C.T., he was loud and cheery. When Black Hole had caught him with Tree and Fanny, he was the same as usual. But... there was something about Marker just with him. Black Hole knew it too well. Sometimes, he wanted to just hang out with Marker, listen to him and whatever he wanted to talk about. It was nice, refreshing. But when it was just the two of them? Silence. Marker would barely respond, and whenever Black Hole asked if he was okay, he'd say he was. And it left Black Hole worried.
Not just worried, no, it was way more than that. Marker's silence was deafening to Black Hole. Marker was more fidgety around Black Hole, and never seemed to look at him. Black Hole didn't just feel worry, or concern, but felt that something was deeply wrong. Now, he couldn't just ask Marker when it's the two of them, Marker would shut that down with an "eve-rything's fi-ne!"
...Was everything really fine with Marker? Or was he lying? Was he purposefully hiding it from Tree and Fanny? Or was it something about Black Hole? What if it's Black Hole's fault? What if something about Black Hole upset Marker? What if Marker felt uncomfortable? What if-
"Hey? Earth to Black Hole?"
Black Hole realized he spaced out as he turned to face Tree, "Oh, hey Tree."
"Alright," Tree smiled for a moment, before it fell again, "So what's buggin' you?"
"W- well, you wouldn't of seen it, b- but whenever it's, uh, just me and Marker, he, like, he's way q- quieter than usual, and, uh, it's, i- it's-" Black Hole stammered, trying to voice his worries into words.
"Hey, breathe, it's okay, e-"
"It's not! He- he's quiet around me, he's not a- around anyone else, w- what if I bug him? W- what if I make him u- uncomfortable? A- and what if he doesn't w- want to voice it??"
"...Would it make you feel better if I talked to him to see why he goes quiet around you?"
"Y- yeah... it would..."
If there was one, ONE person Marker would want to spend the rest of his life with, it would be Black Hole. But he couldn't find himself to voice it. In fact, he found it extremely hard to talk to Black Hole. And it was just because Marker got stupid butterflies in his stomach, and words got stuck in his throat. Surprisingly, he found talking to his older brother, Pen, about those feelings was easy. Pen was crushing on someone as well, so they shared silly romance stories of how they just wanted to talk with their crush and how stupid it always got.
Marker could never work up the courage to just chat with Black Hole, as friends. With the rest of the P.A.C.T., it was easy, but just Black Hole? It's stupid, yes, but he couldn't. Romance was a little stupid, and getting choked up around Black Hole was one of those stupid things romance did. It used to be so easy, but then romance had to get in the way. He loved Black Hole, no matter what others thought. But he couldn't say it.
He was sitting with Pen, the two chatting away about crushes, when Tree approached.
"He-y Tree!"
"Hey Marker, do you mind if I chat with you for a minute?"
"Su-re, what's up?"
Tree took a deep breath, before explaining, "I was hanging out with Black Hole when he said that, when it's just you and him, you go quiet, and he's worried he's making you uncomfortable."
Marker started to blush as he stammered, surprised but still struggling to voice his crush. Pen, seeing this, spoke for him, "Oh, he's got a crush on Black Hole!"
"PE-N!" Marker cried, cheeks a bright green, as Tree sat there watching the two brothers start to play fight.
After Tree had left the boys to play fight, he went back to Black Hole.
"Well?"
"I... don't know how comfortable Marker would be with me telling you why he's been so quiet, but I can reassure it's not due to you making him uncomfortable."
"S- so, it's not negative?"
"Yeah."