💖 Don't forget to vote/comment! 💖

***Mark's POV***

Mak's depression had hit an all time low. He smiled on cue, without emotion. Dinners were filled with silence. The only noise would come from the fork, in his hand, quietly being placed on his plate.

Many nights, he didn't show for dinner at all. Breakfast and lunch were much the same. He didn't want to be around anyone. He was slowly disintegrating.

Gone were the days of fun filled basketball games. Jeering one another was off the table. We walked on egg shells for Mak's fragile benefit.

Work was an automatic cog, but he no longer enjoyed his day. He no longer bantered, or filled our 8 to 5's with his angelic personality. He simply existed in everyday life.

He walked halls with heavy footfalls and an even heavier heart. A quarry of boulders sat upon his small frame, pinning him to his pier of agony. He was not himself. Neither were we.

The denial by the adoption agency had taken it's toll. Words so harsh, had destroyed our optimistic friend. They had guided a tornado over his world. In its wake, it left a broken man.

We worried deeply at the state that Mak had found himself. His self esteem was taking a major hit. His words became dark. We conversed in secret, throwing words around like doctors, rehabilitation and medication.

We didn't need to focus on the medicine, as Mak had taken his own steps to break himself from the clutches of oppression. He got back on his anti-depressants. Unfortunately, they seemed to make no difference at all.

There were times Mak would lock himself in the bathroom, the closet or even the room. His cries were heartbreaking, audible. They ripped through each one of us like a serrated knife.

In and out of the room like a revolving door, every one of us attempted to cheer him up. We tried to get him to join us for anything that could tear his mind away from what was pulling him down.

After each continuous failure, we would regroup and try again. We were running out of methods, short on ideas. At least, we had time. That was our solace.

Grey tried different avenues, other agencies. Seems like everyone believed that Mak was a ticking time bomb, one that would negatively impact the life of a child if placed.

Grey offered surrogacy. Where we believed that was a full proof plan, proved to be anything but. The surrogacy clinics voiced the same concerns.

No matter how much we argued, sent doctor's reports and even psychiatric analysis, they held their ground.

Mak would be plagued by the decisions of his parents. His status as a survivor of abuse only caused more issues. His seizures during the time of Carl were plaguing him with unwarranted consequences. We were hitting brick walls.

They were wrong. Grey knew it. We knew it.

Mak was being punished for things he couldn't change. He was bearing the burden of responsibility for issues that had happened to him. Not because of him.

He had not willingly engaged in any of the things that were standing as barriers in between his aspirations and his now reduced capacity.

But, Mak couldn't unhear the words that had shattered his spirit. His physical body showed signs of the wear and tear of stress.

His weight fluctuated. He was tired more often. His anxiety had become a thorn in his side. He began plucking strands of his own hair one at a time. He controlled the controllable because he felt so out of control.

His every last fantasy had been derailed by his past. His worst fears had come to life before his very eyes.

Grey tried to reason with Mak, telling him that while children were ideal, he could be happy as just a couple.

I think that was the largest mistake of all.

A new round of self deprivation ensued. Suddenly, Mak felt like he was taking away dreams and blocking Grey from a fulfilled life.

The whole thing became so ludicrous. Every thought in our friend's head was so blinded by the forest. He couldn't even see the trees.

Mario attempted to cheer up his little brother. The destruction was especially hard for him to process. Agony leeched into our spirits as we watched an innocent man become a shell of a human being.

Daddy Parker was finally brought in for one last try. If the army can't handle it, you bring in the Calvary. We did. Nothing changed. If anything it got worse.

As per quota, Mak found yet another way to blame himself. He spouted more and more words of agony, at all everyone was losing with nothing left to gain.

Mak would burst into screaming fits. Yelling and crying, he would denounce his worth before a sea of unjudging faces. None of us believed he was anything short of perfection. Even now, he was only reacting to what others had so unjustifiably implanted into his mind.

We were battling inner demons with worldly tools. We were losing.

The dam finally broke. The waters rushing over the slivers of tumbling rock threatened to drown us all. No one saw it coming. It shocked us with the weight of a wrecking ball launching against a rubber ball.

Dear Grey,

"I love you with all my heart. That's why this is so hard for me. I can't be here. I can't be the reason you never watch your son play little league. The reason your daughter will never pirouette around the house on her tip toes. I can't disappoint Amelia and Martin. Shattering all your dreams is nothing I can take responsibility for. I will forever treasure the moments you gave me. I'm sorry you threw away so many days, nights, years on someone so unworthy. I wish I could give you everything. But, as I am nothing, I have nothing valuable to barter. It is with a seriously heavy heart and a broken spirit that I leave you with such parting words. It's all I know to do. I have contacted a lawyer. You're free. You're free to find someone deserving, someone who can give you all the desires of your heart. You deserve that. My precious Daddy. I only wish I wasn't such a devastating liability. Maybe then, our lives may have become the picture we had once painted on sandy beaches in Greece. I will miss you. With my every breath, until the end of time, I will never stop loving you. Thank you for the memories. I will always hold them close to my heart. Please move on. Please find happiness. I'm sorry I couldn't do that for you. I'm just...sorry."

Love,

Mak

The cry that came from the room, on a Sunday morning in Manhattan, was by far the worst cry for any of us to ever hear. No one knew what caused the distressed cry, at first.

Running into the room, we were met with a scene painted from a Nicholas Spark's novel.

Grey held two rings in his hand. That hand clutched his heart. A stack of papers were gripped in the other fist.

Grey lost it. His heart was broken. His world had been burned into an inferno.

Grey clutched at the letter with tear filled eyes. His lips trembled. His shoulders sagged with the weight of undeniable loss.

If you could look hard enough, hear clear enough, I have no doubt that anyone would be able to see the tears shredding his vital organ into small pieces. The loss was tangible, even though we had yet to know the reality we faced.

After prying open his hand and passing the letter to Seb, Mario and Kip, we understood. Each of us felt the shock take its path through our forms.

Grey was devastated. We all were. Nothing prepared us for the sudden loss of our human staple. Mak had been our bonding agent for so long. Without him, it would feel less easy to breathe. Life would hold a deteriorated meaning. Things couldn't be better without our friend.

Mak left. His rings were wrapped up in the letter that stole Grey's happiness and announced his husband's departure.

Bags were missing. Empty hangers stood as place holders where Mak's clothes once had a home. His toothbrush, medications and personal effects left blank spaces on the bathroom counter and the bedroom dresser.

How no one heard him leave is beyond me. It's really quite the Houdini act. A ninja at his best. No security footage in the building had picked up a single disturbance. He vanished, with no trace.

His phone had the location turned off. Not that it mattered. We found it broken into a mangled rectangle of glass shards. He didn't take his car. He didn't even take his computer.

He must not want to be found.

My first instinct was to call Martin. So, that's what I did.

"Daddy Parker." Even my own voice came out strangled.

"What's up Mark? Seb okay?" Daddy Parker immediately knew something was wrong. He really had no idea.

"We need you. It's bad. So, unbelievable." The confession sat on my lips, unwilling to breathe life into the real events taking place.

"What's wrong? I'm on my way. Mark?" Martin's words were demanding. Pleading.

"Mak left. His rings are here. He took everything. He's gone." My own carefully place masked slipped and fell. It shattered into so many tiny pieces.

The cry that slipped from my own lips hurt my ears.

"What the fuck do you mean? Mark?" I could hear tires squealing. I knew the conversation would finish in person.

The slamming open of the front door proved my conclusions correct.

"Where's Grey?" Martin followed all our fingers as we pointed to the room. We hurried behind our massive leader in an effort to get back to our tormented friend.

Martin's arms wrapped so tightly around Grey that Grey had no hope of falling further apart. Martin rocked their bodies and ran his fingers through Grey's hair. He made promises that we all wanted to believe.

"Call them!" Martin's words were a demand. He needed not to give further instruction. We were all fully aware of who we were expected to contact.

Every airport, every taxi company, train station and all means of transportation were alerted. Martin expected us to block off every route of escape. We were more than willing to comply.

Mak's a runner. He admitted to that at the wedding.

The wedding. Who knew? Who could have guessed? The most intimate and magical occasion we had ever witnessed would be negated by judgmental eyes and accusing words.

I sent Lani a text and she guaranteed me to be here to aid the search party. Alex and Gavin were already in the room, having arrived within minutes of Seb informing them.

Amelia showed up after Martin, hearing the tone in his voice she booked it to our sides.

Amelia shocked us all when Martin made his demand. Her fingers flew across the screen of her phone and she had hit numbers we never imagined were within our arsenal.

Martin pulled no stops. He had every high end intelligence agency at our home within an hour.

The house became a crime scene where no physical crime had been committed.

An emotional crime had taken place. Yet, with favors owed and hearts on the line, we were given celebrity attention. For which, I was thankful.

"We gotta find him babe. We have to." Sebastian's broken plea did not fall on deaf ears.

We would find Mak. We would pull all his broken pieces together. We would rebuild what was torn down so harshly by unforgiving forces that had no right to cast such harsh opinions.

We would find a way to get our best friend back. Then we would hold him together until he could manage by himself.

If we thought the year involving Carl was bad, nothing compared to the wrath of a father who just lost his son.

When I once thought that Martin and Grey would storm the gates of heaven and hell for that boy. I had seriously underestimated the value of my statement.

Heaven, Hell and New York better be ready. The Parker's are on a rampage and they have an army of warriors at their side.