Sean was in the bathroom washing his face and cleaning his wound, when he heard the front door open and slam shut.

"Hey Sean!" Mark's deep voice resonated throughout the small apartment, filling every nook and cranny with beautiful sound.

The Irish man looked up from his task, his hands drenched in blood oozing from the four small holes in his thigh. He wanted to run to his boyfriend and squeeze him forever, but he steeled his nerves. Though he hated to admit it, something had changed after this last Antisepticeye encounter. He was stronger and braver, and looking in the mirror, he could tell that his eyes and posture showed it. Sean shuddered when he remembered Anti's venomous words.

If only your precious Mark was here to protect you.

Anti's comment resonated in his head, bouncing around in his mind.  He had always assumed he needed Mark there to feel secure. Now, he wasn't so sure. Could  he manage on his own? Sometimes he felt like he could barely breathe without his lover holding his hand. It's not a bad thing, being vulnerable, Sean reminded himself.  It shows you still have a heart.

"I'm in here!" he shouted.

Outside the bathroom, Mark set down his bag on the kitchen counter and took off his red coat. That coat had been a gift from his mother when she heard about his career in Law Enforcement. True, the job hadn't been exactly what he had wanted when he thought "career", but he had to put food on the table somehow. He would have given anything to be a barista like his boyfriend, but he had to admit Law Enforcement officers made a lot more money. Whatever floats your boat, I guess, he thought wearily. His work was tough and time consuming. Sometimes he'd shamble into bed extremely late at night and back out again in the wee hours of the morning.

He smiled when he remembered that just yesterday, when he tried to sneak out to drive to work, Sean had put grabbed his hand. Sean had small, delicate fingers, so it always surprised Mark when he made contact. The touch sent a jolt through him, so quick and hot that he almost recoiled.

The Irishman looked up at him with piercing, beautiful  blue eyes. They were perhaps the most remarkable thing about him, despite his green hair. Sometimes Mark would, quite literally, get lost in them. He looked for so many different meanings, so many different answers to unspoken questions that it was easy to lose his way. He had to mentally force  himself to remain grounded in reality.

Their eyes met, and Sean mouthed one word.

 
Stay.

Mark didn't even have to hesitate, because the Irishman pulled him back into bed with astonishing strength and rolled on top of him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he protested as his boyfriend had stared lovingly into his eyes.

"Why do you work so much?" Sean asked, searching for any sign of hesitancy in Mark's dark eyes and playing with his lovely red hair.

"I don't-" he started to disagree, but the Mcloughlin boy kissed him before he could fully retaliate. The kiss was, suffice to say, a welcome distraction.

The kiss turned into a passionate peppering of kisses in other various locations, each tiny touch turning Mark on more and more until....well, you know the rest.  God, Sean really knows his way around a man, he reminisced with a twinkle in his eye. Though, you wouldn't know it by looking at him.

"Mark?" he heard his boyfriend shout, pulling him out of his memories.

"What?"   he snapped unintentionally. He hadn't meant to be so rude, but it had been a long day and he was anxious to eat dinner.

When Sean didn't respond, he walked to the bathroom and put his forehead against the wooden door. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "Sorry, I....I'm just tired. I didn't mean to lash out."
The Irishman stood and put his own forehead on the door. He tried to steady his nerves and remind himself that Anti couldn't attack when Mark was near, but he had no idea what lengths Anti would go to to sabotage his life. For all he knew, the shitty little parasite was tricking him into getting cocky.

Speaking of the Fischbach man, Sean tried not to feel hurt. He knew Mark worked hard to help support them, and he deeply appreciated all the effort. At first, he knew the redhead had been a little worried that their income difference would put a rift in their partnership, but Sean had never felt any discomfort. So, instead of snapping back, he put on a mask. He opened the door and tried to smile, feeling a little ashamed at his fib, but it was a white lie. It couldn't hurt anyone. "It's okay."

Mark was a fairly short guy, but definitely intimidating. Well, that was only if you didn't know him. For Sean, Mark was a source of comfort, pleasure, and friendship. He had learned a lot from the redhead, from life lessons to criticisms, and he wouldn't change a single thing.  

A single thing except Anti, whispered a nagging voice in the back of his head. 

 Though the voice seemed harmless, it hit him like a hurricane. He wouldn't change anything except  Anti. If he didn't have to deal with the stupid disease half the time and lie day and night to his true love, then their relationship would be sickeningly perfect.

Mark himself grimaced inwardly at his boyfriends response. Okay?  How could heating up at his boyfriend be okay?  Inside, he knew Sean had been through some pretty deep shit, like depression, anxiety, and abuse level shit. The green haired boy had refused to tell him who had been hurting him, but Mark had stayed vigilant. If he ever got his hands on the motherfucker who left scars on the back of his sweet, precious, lover, the bastard wouldn't live long enough to tell the tale. And still, Sean put up with a lot of late night stakeouts waiting for Mark to return and being woken up early to kiss him goodbye. Sean was so kind, so forgiving.  He didn't deserve someone so shitty as Mark.  He had asked if the Irishman really wanted him to stir him every morning, especially so early, but Sean always replied with the same phrase.

"I always want to kiss you like today's our last day on Earth."

He guessed Sean had wanted the saying to seem romantic, and it sort of was, but it always gave him a bad feeling. Like every morning, something else was whispering dark thoughts in the back of Sean's mind. He worried immensely about his boyfriend. He rushed home from work just to see if the green haired boy was still alive. Sometimes he feared Sean would return to his old ways, like cutting his wrist and sitting alone in his room for days at a time.

Mark reached out and pulled his boyfriend into a hug. He rested his chin on Sean's head, even though they were the same height. It made Sean feel safe, and it made Mark feel protective. Their relationship in a nutshell. "You know I worry about you." he whispered in the Irish boy's ear.

The Irishman's eyes widened when his boyfriend enveloped him in an embrace and used him for a chin rest. Despite his bloody fingers, he hugged Mark back. "Yeah," Sean grinned. "I know."

The Fischbach man sighed as they continued to hold one another. Life wasn't supposed to be some complicated. Was it? It was all to astounding to comprehend. "Ah, fuck the world," he said flippantly, "All I need is you."

Sean frowned into Mark's chest. "You don't mean that."

How the fuck would you know?

The voice. The goddamn  voice again. Mark felt himself grow light headed as the voice wormed its way into the front of his consciousness. Not now, he grimaced. The voice was back, and it had come at the worst possible time. Usually it appeared when he was alone, so it could tantalize him in the bedroom. Mark hated the voice, the purely evil manifestation of demons themselves.

The voice was back, and he had kept it at bay for so long.

That voice was now.

The voice was here.

The voice was back.

And stronger  than ever.

Oh, I can break that winning streak, the Darkiplier teased.  Miss me?