(I'm starting to think i need to make actual titles for these chapters 😅)

3rd week

I let out a huff as I look down at the mess I had made. Of course this would happen to me. Of course. Why had I attempted to bake in the first place? Whatever was going through my mind I hoped it was gone forever. Perhaps I would have less things to clean up if it was.

"Mrs. Manfred? Do you need help?" Markus's voice called from behind me. I heard the clear tap of his shoes against the tile floor before he was bent down next to me, both of us staring at the mound of flour I had created after my attempt at baking.

"Yeah yeah, it seems I always need help with something..." I mutter almost sadly. My hands rise to wipe at the flour covering my face. In truth I was surprised I hadn't choked on it by now. The white dust had surely caked my lungs by the amount of it in the air. It almost seemed like we were in the mid-west in the middle of a dust storm.

I wonder if those even happened anymore?

"How are we going to clean this up?" I mutter, standing slowly to my feet. There was absolutely no way I could do this alone. Markus may make it a little easier, but at this point I was praying for a miracle to shower upon us fairy dust.

My feet make a print against the kitchen floor as I step away from the danger sight. The one time I had worn nothing but socks and this is how I was repaid. My luck was nonexistent recently. Silent curses leave me as I shake my head, disappointed in myself for the tragic occurrence I had caused. Hours would go into cleaning this mess up.

"Be careful!" Markus' harsh voice hit me like a brick wall only seconds before a pain shot up my foot. I hiss out, lifting it to see a small pool of red left behind. As soon as my eyebrows furrow in confusion I feel Markus' hand gently placed against the small of my back. Besides the small tint to my cheeks and the shiver down my spine, I could hear a sigh of something from Markus. "There's glass on the floor..."

"Well duh, I know that... now..." I find myself chuckling at myself. Markus didn't seem that impressed with my humor. He gave me a look before bending down slightly. I hadn't even had a moment to process what was going on before my feet were suddenly not touching the kitchen floor.

"You should have been more careful. Now we have to go pick out the glass in your foot..."

"Well I can walk to the bathroom! Put me down!" I let out a small huff as my arms come to wrap around Markus. I clasped them around the back of his neck as I look ahead of us. My father or any onlooker would assume I was observing but... well I was trying to fight the blush rising on my face.

At first it had been little things that gained my attention. Markus asking me what I needed from the store when he went. Markus pulling out my chair when I was about to eat a meal. Markus playing the piano with me when he was bored... Those things had added up, and had given me a rather twisted outlook on our relationship. The android seemed to care. Or at least to me, he seemed to want to spend time with me.

It was absurd, I was aware. To think of an android having some sort of twisted crush on a human was probably one of the craziest things I had ever allowed to wiggle into my thoughts. But everything he did for me just won me over. Call me a hopeless romantic but I had found myself hoping I wasn't wrong about it.

Then, yesterday I had caught him staring at me. It hadn't been the first time. Of course it hadn't. Markus had always seemed to observe anything and everything around him yet, this time was different. His eyes seemed glued to me. Like he was unable to look away for even a moment. It had sent shivers down my spine and my heart beating wildly.

I think that was the moment I realized Markus had become more than a simple android to me.

Now, as Markus gently sat me on the granite counter of the bathroom and stepped back to gather materials I found myself admiring him. This was just another time my eyes scanned over all the perfect qualities of the metal in front of me. He was... breathtaking. Personality? Even better.

When he stood up with the materials our eyes met. For a meet second they were connected before I pulled away, the contact scaring me more than anything. From the way Markus turned his head the opposite direction it must have scared him to.

A first aid kit was sat beside me as Markus bent down. His hands carefully pulled offthe sock I had been wearing, the material sliding over my foot easily. When it was off he threw it to the side and took ahold of my ankle. I watched in awe as he handled it with such care, lifting it up without much emotion slipping by. Androids would make such great doctors if they were ever allowed to.

"How bad is it?" I mutter softly. My voice was cautious and small, probably still worried about the moment that had passed between us only seconds before.

"It's... not that bad. It's bleeding and will need to be taken care of but none of the tendons or anything important seem to be torn. Although I hate to inform you you'll be bed ridden for a few days as it heals." Markus offers me a small glance before he averts his eyes and grabs the first aid kit. His hold on my foot tightens as he pulls out a piece of cotton compacted together. He wraps it around the obvious protruding glass piece. "Hold still. This might hurt."

"Oh fuck you're pulling it o- SHIT!" My blabbering was cut off as Markus pulls the glass out of my foot. Almost instantly my body had reacted with jerking my foot backwards, which the hand on my calf stopped from affecting anything. "SON OF BITCH!"

The bloody price of glass was throws into the trash before I could get a good glance at it, another piece of cotton pressed against the wound almost instantaneously. Markus was silent and unmoving until I had calmed down. At which time he looked up and smiled warmly.

"You did great Mrs. Manfred."

"For the love of- just call me (Y/N) for crying out loud. You just pulled a piece of fucking glass out of my foot I think you deserve the right!"

"Well then... you did great (Y/N)." Markus smiles once more, eyes lingering on me for a moment before dropping back down to the first aid kit. "Unfortunately this isn't over. I have to clean the wound and then wrap it up, so be prepared for more pain alright?"

"Oh thanks for the warning, that helps a lot." I mutter with a huff, looking down at my foot. Markus had let go of my calf and started to rummage through the first aid kit. When he pulled out a brown bottle I feel myself stiffen.

"Your welcome." Markus answers me, and I have a feeling the hidden tone I picked up on was sarcasm. Sarcasm... could androids even do that? Then again, Markus didn't seem to be just an Android. There was something else there I wasn't sure of yet.

There was no warning from Markus before Hydrogen peroxide was suddenly pressed against the wound. I let out a few more choice curse words before hitting my head against the wall behind me harshly. The action was followed by a wince, but i didn't mind it much. I had always hated hydrogen peroxide...

"Shit (Y/N)! Don't do that!" I hear a huff sound from Markus as he pulls the cotton ball of hydrogen peroxide from the cut on my foot. My eyes were closed at this point, but I could imagine the look of annoyance he was giving me. When I opened my eyes to admire it, however, I was met with the worried eyes of my father's android. "You're going to hurt yourself..."

Another moment came and passed between us as Markus pulls his eyes away. Like each time before the air was filled with a tension I wasn't used to and didn't enjoy at all. As the gauze was wrapped around my foot my mind was left to wonder. Markus showed such compassion...

"Markus?" I suddenly mutter, eyes transfixed on his hands working to fix up the foot I had injured.

"Yes (Y/N)?"

"Have you ever... have you ever thought about the deviants? About their emotions?" Markus looks up to me after my words, his hands weirdly frozen around my foot. The eyes he looked up at me with were almost enough to answer my question, but I wanted his confirmation. So, I waited. Soon enough, I was rewarded.

"Well, I guess it would be weird for me not to wouldn't it? As an android myself." Markus doesn't look away from me as he finishes up what he was doing. My foot was dropped from his hold slowly as he stands. I had to crane my neck up to look at him.

"Have you ever felt emotions?" I mutter softly, almost afraid to speak to loudly. For some reason I felt like the world was listening in on this private conversation. A conversation that should be kept between the two of us.

Markus was silent for a long time, his hands eventually coming to rest on either side of me. I didn't mind the Android's sudden closeness. I could smell the almost chemical smell coming off of him, mixed with the cologne my father had told him to start using. It had always been my favorite cologne on father...

All I could see was Markus' blue eyes. They were dominant and right in front of my own. My back was forced back slightly at the sheer closeness of the android. It was rather weird, for me to be so close to Markus. Yet I didn't find myself wanting to move anytime soon.

"I would be lying if I said I hadn't, (Y/N)." The android only inches away from me spoke. I could feel the inhuman absence of breath against my skin, but I still couldn't find myself willing to pull away. Instead, I moved closer.

My hand came up to rest against Markus' stubble. My thumb was rubbing against the rough skin there and I found myself falling in love with the feeling. It was hypnotizing, almost. With everything I knew it was wrong. This was an Android right in front of me, but something told me Markus was more than that.

I wasn't sure who leaned in first. Perhaps it had been Markus? Perhaps it had been me? Perhaps, even, both of us had? Nevertheless the space between us had begun to disappear.

After what seemed like an eternity I could feel Markus' lips against my own. The kiss shared between us was much different than any other I had ever experienced. I had expected his lips to be hard, like metal. I had expected him to be awkward and weirded out by the connection. Instead, I was shocked when his hands wrapped around my waist.

Markus' lips were as soft as any man's I had ever kissed. His eyes even closed along with my own once our lips had connected. He knew what to do, and he was acting on it.

When we pulled away, I was left breathing heavily. My mind was dizzy and dazed. I was sure I couldn't think straight for a good hour after the high I had just witnessed.

My eyes snap open just as Markus presses our foreheads together. His hand was at the back of my head, fingers running through my hair as a chuckle left him.

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure I've felt emotion before."

~

I would like to say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read this. Although this may seem pathetic, this is probably the fastest growing story I have ever published on this site. Thank you so much for that, and I hope you continue to read this...