"I'll be there for youuu!"

––F.R.I.E.N.D.S Theme

tw–Mentions of underage drinking

M A R K

BLOODY HELL, IF YOU DON'T WAKE UP RIGHT NOW I'M GONNA BREAK YOUR DOOR DOWN," the sound of someone's voice screaming through the door finally woke me up.

"I'm coming," I yawned, attempting to get out of bed, but instead I fell off––flat on my face. It probably wasn't the best idea to open the door right away, since I crawled to the other side of the room and looked up to see Tanni standing there.

Oh no.

Scrambling to get myself sorted, I ran back into the room in hopes of finding something that would tame my appearance. Anyone who'd known me long enough knew that I'm not a pretty sight when I've just woken up.

"Mark, you doofus, we don't have time," Tanni scoffed, walking into the room and pulling on my sleeve, and then she let go again––as if she'd done something she wasn't supposed to. "Come on," she said, "seriously, I don't care if you look a mess, just follow me."

"Why are you waking me up so early, why are you even waking me up?" I mumbled tiredly, rubbing my eyes.

And yes, I did notice the little smile which was tugging at her lips when she saw my drowsy expression.

"It's not early," she laughed, "it's almost noon. And if it makes you feel better, I barely woke up an hour ago."

"Whatever you say," I yawned, not bothering much about the fact that she hadn't told me why she was doing this. And almost instinctively, I reached out for her hand and took it in mine.

Don't come at me, I was still half-asleep.

At this action, Tanni turned to look at me; her eyes widened for a split second as she stared at our hands, before she smiled softly, directing her gaze to the floor. However, I didn't miss the way she tightened her grip on my hand.

We walked in silence for a couple of minutes, except for the moments when she had to stop me from falling back asleep––I kept dozing off every few seconds––but that was probably the most peaceful I'd felt in a long time. It felt like waking up early on a weekend to go on holiday and trying not to fall asleep again in the car.

I didn't remember it. But I remembered the emotion.

"We're here!" Tanni said dramatically when we arrived at our destination.

"Mhm," I agreed, my eyes closed.

"Mark, open your eyes," she gently shook me awake, and when I didn't relent, she messed up my hair.

"Hey!" I jerked back but grinned when I saw the triumphant look on her face. "Fine, what's in your dorm room that you desperately need to show me?"

She smiled even wider.

Can humans physically melt? Because I'm pretty sure that's what I was going to do right then and there.

"You'll see!" Tanni said, then she pushed open the door.

Ok. Wow.

There was a giant birthday banner on the wall––Nico probably painted it––many balloons, cake everywhere, in places it really shouldn't have been. And so much more.

"Who's birthday is it?" I mumbled, racking my brains to remember.

"Yours," Nico reminded me.

"He forgets every year," Amira explained to Tanni and Harper.

Right. It was my birthday.

"I––wow," I whispered, unsure how to react. Usually, it was just me, Nico, and Amira eating some cake before we had lessons. So I certainly never expected this.

"Book-burner," Tanni whispered, "you can loosen your grip a little, yeah? My hand is falling asleep, loser."

"Sorry," I mumbled, loosening my grip a little, but not letting go. "I–wow."

"Let's have some cake until Markie here can utter more than two syllables," Nico teased, triggering a chorus of laughter from the others––and me––I took a quick glance beside me to check if Tanni was laughing too.

She was. I didn't think I'd ever seen her that pleased in my life.

"Thank you," I said excitedly, "seriously, this is amazing."

"Even the cake on the ceiling?" Harper grinned.

"Even the cake on the ceiling," I nodded.

"Glad you like it, idiot," Tanni said fondly, she sat down on her bed––the floor wasn't exactly a safe place, Nico and the cake were down there. She shuffled back to that she was propped up against a pile of pillows (it looked extremely comfortable), so I shuffled back there with her too.

"Well, Markaroo," Nico said, once we were all eating the cake––Tanni and I tried, and failed, not to get any on the bed sheets. "How does it feel like to be sixteen, old man?"

"Pretty good actually, little kid," I retorted, which made Tanni snort out loud. Suddenly, I felt ten times more proud of my joke.

"Don't worry, Mark," Amira laughed. "I'll join you next month in being sixteen, which apparently classifies as old."

"Wonderful, I'll have another wise soul to help me guide all of these children to greatness," I nodded solemnly.

"Hey, who are you calling a child?" Harper signed sarcastically from where she was sitting. "I hope you all remember that I'm the oldest here."

"Harper, you're turning fifteen in January," Tanni replied, "you're literally the youngest here."

Harper shrugged. "At least I'll live longer," she rolled her eyes.

"Very funny," Tanni grumbled, hiding the smile on her face from her friend. She looked up at me with a beam on her face, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Aww look at you both! Growing up so fast," Nico cried happily. Dramatic little shit.

"Shut up, Picasso, I could say the same about you," I replied, leaning forward to mess up his hair, which was now a shade of bright pink (maybe due to a certain someone sitting next to him), just to annoy him.

"Sure you could," he chuckled, swatting my hand away..

"Yep," I gave him an exaggerated blink––aka my best attempt at winking.

"You look like an idiot, Mark," Tanni mumbled, "you can't even wink properly."

"An idiot doesn't save you from a fire and treat your burns," I pointed out, "a true idiot uses a lighter as a reading light because they aren't bothered to find a torch."

"Yeah, but an idiot also sets books on fire because he has terrible aim when he's throwing," she replied.

"Yeah, but only an idiot would set my arm on fir––" I began before Harper cut us both off.

"We get it, you're both idiots. Not that we didn't know it before," she rolled her eyes.

"Love you too, Harpie," Tanni said sarcastically.

"Ready for your gifts?" Amira smiled, taking out a package of her bag and handing it to me.

"Gifts?" Presents weren't a new concept to me, but the idea of it was still flattering. I slowly unwrapped the gift she'd handed me––which happened to be gorgeous vinyls of my own music.

"Amira––I know your name means 'princess', but you're a queen," I said, with a deadpan expression on my face. I was about to cry of joy. "Seriously, I'm not kidding."

"I'm glad you like them," she laughed.

"Wait, Amira means Princess?" Nico said, his eyes widening.

"You've known me for three years and you haven't figured out what my name means yet?" she said.

"If I'd known, Princess would have been your new nickname," he said, "my life is a lie."

"Well now you know, so you can add to your list of names for me!" she said.

"Yep!" he replied, "oh, Mark. Here's my present." He threw it across the room at me. I caught it successfully and unwrapped his gift, revealing a picture album of all of the paintings we'd worked on together, as well as recreations of the covers of my favourite Shakespeare plays.

He jumped up to strangle me a hug before I could say anything. "Happy 16th, mate," Nico grinned, "three years since we all met, huh?"

"The nostalgia is gonna make me cry, Nico, shut it," Harper signed. After a small chat about the first year at the school, I opened Harper and Tanni's gifts. Harper got me new headphones and a bunch of sweets.

"I know you like music and poetry––even if you can't draw very well," Tanni fidgeted nervously when she gave me her present. "And you wear a lot of rings...So yeah."

Curiously, I unwrapped her gift.

A part of me came back to life at that moment. It really did.

There were Polaroid pictures of me working in the library, picking out CDs and books at the bookstore we were at before (I had no idea she'd been taking those pictures), and so much more. And on the back of each picture, there was a little Shakespeare quote to match it, along with a song to go with the moment. She'd also added a poetry book (in case I got stuck for lyric ideas). And last but definitely not least...

A ring. With tiny words inscribed on it.

"When you're stuck in the past, you don't realise how sweet the present is."

I looked up in shock.

"This is your brother's ring," I stated, remembering a conversation that we'd had a couple of days ago about the ring she wore all the time. The ring that was sitting in my palm right then.

"He told me not to take it off until he came back to me," she whispered, "and I think I finally found him in the world around me, it's hard to explain. But you helped me find him, so I want you to have it."

You helped me find him.

I didn't know how, but I helped her, somehow. And she was happy.

That was worth more than anything. Because a gift from Tanni wasn't only a gift.

It was a token of trust.

And if she trusted me, what more could I ask for in life?

"Thank you," I said hoarsely, after several long seconds, "I––I don't even know what to say, I––"

Before I could even continue my sentence, there was a loud crash in the corner of the room. All heads swivelled around to stare at Harper, who was currently sitting on the floor, beneath the bookshelf, and surrounded by books.

"What?" she said, faking innocence, "it's not my fault Tanni's bookshelves are unstable."

"Damn it, Harper!" Nico groaned, "you just ruined the once-in-a-lifetime chance for us to see Mark completely speechless and flustered. I've been waiting for this day for ages."

"Aww, what a shame," I teased him.

"On the other hand," Nico continued, "while you were malfunctioning, I was thinking about the really annoying squirrel."

"Oh here we go again," Amira, she turned to look at Tanni and Harper. "Nico, was attacked by a squirrel last year, and he hasn't shut up about getting his revenge ever since."

"I could've died, Amira."

Tanni and I both snickered simultaneously, looked at each other, and burst into laughter at once. Nico looked positively appalled.

"Laughing at my pain," he scoffed, "what great friends you are."

That made everyone laugh even more.

And that's when it hit me. Not like the squirrel hit Nico, the other kind.

It hit me that we really were just kids. I think we forgot that sometimes. We were just children searching for our identities, telling dramatic stories, doodling in notebooks, writing about anything and everything. First loves and heartbreaks. Having karaoke competitions and crying in school bathrooms. But it was okay. We would be ok. After all...we were just kids.

♡♡♡

"WHERE THE HECK IS MY HAIR GEL, MARK?" Nico yelled as he ran around our room, frantically getting ready for the ball which started in exactly ten minutes. Neither of us had begun getting ready yet. We had been sitting on my bed watching a movie until Nico suddenly sat up and yelled 'BALL'.

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW, PICASSO?" I screamed back, running a comb through my hair, which fortunately looked decent enough for now. "Hair gel won't do anything for your hair, anyway. It's way too unruly, and you look fine without it."

"Geez, fine," he sighed, plopping himself down on my bed, "how are you feeling?"

I groaned, running a shaky hand through my hair––which resulted in me ruining it. "Absolutely terrified, mate. And I don't even like her that way. Why am I so scared? How am I supposed to do this?" I whispered.

"Just don't think about it," he smiled––like he knew something I didn't. "Honestly, just act how you would if you were working on the project with her, or like when you're just goofing off with me and Amira. Just be nice, and be yourself."

"I can't do all of those at once," I whimpered, fear lacing my voice.

"It'll be fine, don't worry," he grinned. But his hair was green, which said otherwise––the poor guy was sick with fear and the fact that his hair was bright green only made it worse.

Hesitantly, I peered at myself in the mirror to check what my scar said. And when I saw what it read, it only made matters worse.

Excited and/or terrified. That's what it said. Even my ability couldn't make up its bloody mind.

A knock at the door startled us both. Slowly, I opened it, praying that it wasn't Tanni. I wasn't ready to see her yet. Thankfully, it was Ami.

"You two numbskulls ready yet?" Amira asked, "Harper and Tanni wanted us to meet them in a couple of minutes and I thought I should remind you since you're both terrible with timing."

"Yeah, we're coming down in a bit," I mumbled, "just give us a minute."

Neither Amira nor Nico was going with anyone. That explained Ami's chill at the moment, Nico was always emotional––so I didn't expect otherwise from him.

Let's not talk about why I was nervous. "Let's go down, Nico," I said in a soft voice, "c'mon."

"Look, if you manage to calm down a little now, you have teasing rights against me for all of tomorrow," I told him. Nico's eyes lit up.

"Okay!" he suddenly looked excited, rather than scared. That is...until he saw Amira. "I just forgot I needed to water my sketchbook," he said gravely, turning around and walking back into the dorm.

"No you don't, you did that yesterday," I said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him away from the door, before I stopped in my tracks, realising what he'd just said. "What?"

"What?" he blinked innocently.

"Nico I'll er––water your sketchbook for you tomorrow, we just need to see Tanni and Harper now," Amira said, her eyebrows raised but her face slightly tinted pink. She looked almost as embarrassed as Nico if I were being honest.

"Okay, bye," I said, and walked away from the two of them.

"Mark, wait!" Nico called out. I ignored him. If they wanted to get there on time they could hurry the hell up.

I jogged up ahead to where Harper was standing alone, outside the hall. She was wearing an ice-blue dress, and her hair was curled and let down. I'd never seen her in anything but jeans and a T-shirt, if I was being honest, until then.

"Hey," she smiled, leaning back against the wall, "how are you?"

I shrugged. "Good," I smiled. "Three whole years huh? Three years since it ended––it's still sinking in." Harper laughed.

"I know right?" she signed, as Nico and Amira caught up to us––they were debating about something about Greek mythology again. Honestly, from the number of times I heard them talk about the Ancient Greeks, I could probably name every single god, goddess, and hero without fail.

"I'm telling you, they would be just fine without Zeus," Amira said, "he literally ruins everything."

"Yes, but Hermes was useless, he was a messenger. It's not like people can't send messages themselves," Nico retorted.

"Both of you shut up," I told them. "By the way I disagree with both of you, Athena was the worst out of all of them. And wasn't she married to Poseidon?"

Their mouths fell open in shock.

Yes. I did say that because I knew it would annoy them.

"How dare you?" Nico put a hand over his heart. "Don't do Athena like that."

"Oh, there she is," Amira said, suddenly.

"Who? Athena?" Harper asked in confusion.

"Hm? No, it's Tanni," Amira laughed, waving.

I turned my head so fast that I hurt my neck. "Argh," I groaned, rubbing it where it hurt while I glared at Nico while he laughed his head off at me. But when I finally got a glimpse of Tanni, I dropped the book I was carrying for Amira (she'd handed it to me while we were walking and I hadn't questioned it). Because oh my goodness.

Wow.

Just wow.

Aphrodite could never.

I didn't know what else to think. And when she approached us, she gave me such an excited and happy smile that I couldn't help but melt at the sight of her.

"You look um––nice," I cleared my throat awkwardly, "and your hair is really pretty when it's up. Not that it isn't usually but––I should probably stop talking, you know what I mean."

"I know, Mark," she laughed, managing to trip over as she walked over to me. "Damn it, I can't walk straight in these shoes."

"You're wearing trainers," I pointed out, catching her before she managed to fall. "Everyone else here is wearing heels and you don't see them tripping over. You're going to hurt yourself, Tanni."

"Yeah," Nico said, "I look great in these heels."

"Everyone except you and Nico," I corrected myself.

"Oh my gosh, Mark," Tanni gushed, "I love your shoes."

"Yeah!" Nico added, "they have amazing high heels."

"Shut up, I meant everyone except us three," I rolled my eyes.

"Ah, what I would give to see Giles in high heels, tripping over his own feet," Tanni sighed dreamily, pressing her wrist against her forehead and leaning against the wall for extra dramatics.

"Giles, that guy who was bothering you last month? He hasn't come near you again, has he?" I asked, furrowing my brow.

"Who's Giles?" Harper asked, murder flashing through her eyes. Tanni swore under her breath, giving me a warning look that said 'shut up next time'. I shrugged sheepishly.

"I'll tell you later," she said.

"Can we go in already?" Nico wailed, supposedly having lost all of his stressful attitude from two minutes ago. His hair was now the same shade as Amira's dress.

"Fine, fine," Harper pushed open the door.

"LET THE FIRST END-OF-WAR BALL...BEGIN!" said Nico dramatically as he bounced happily inside.

I held out my arm to Tanni. "Hold it, you don't wanna trip," I told her. She smiled warily but took my arm all the same.

And we went in.

"Mark, what's that?" Nico froze in front of me, staring at the drink in my hand.

"J–juice," I said, my voice wobbling, "ha! That's a funny word. Juice."

"Shit," I heard another voice, "he's a spike victim."

"This is not the time for jokes, Harper."

"Nico," I slurred again, "what's shit?"

"Is it the time to joke now?"

"Shut up," Nico looked up at me, he was wobbling. "Shit is what you're gonna feel like next morning because you ran off before I could warn you about the drinks," he explained.

I stared at him blankly, not hearing a single word he said.

"What's going on?" a girl, a very pretty girl, ran up to us, "Vidius is screaming at Giles right now, apparently he spiked the drinks. Why is Mark smiling like that?––oh." The girl's eyes widened.

"Arsonist!" I cried excitedly, suddenly realising who the girl was, "you have gorg—gorges—" I stumbled over my words, swaying so much that Nico had to hold me up, "george eyes," I finished, nodding at her with a pleased look on my face.

"Thanks?"

"We should get him to the dorms," Amira said worriedly, "or the nurse. He needs to sleep."

"No!" I yelled, "SLEEP IS FOR LOSERS. SLEEP IS FOR THOSE WHO FEAR LIFE. I'M NOT SCARED!"

"That's right, Mark," Nico said, supportively, "you're never scared." I turned to my friend, my serious expression breaking into a wide grin.

"Nicooooo," I flung my arms around him, almost toppling us both over, "you're my—my vafrite—favouritest guy in the wholeeeeeeee worllllllddddd."

I then started singing a song about friendship. God knows how horrible that was.

"AMIRA!" I screamed, "DO—DONUT TELL ARSONIST, BUT I––I READ HER BOOK."

"Did you?" Amira asked, amusement slipping into her tone, "what did you think of it?"

"IT REMINDED ME OF HER!" I giggled like a child, spinning around in circles, "AND IT WAS HAPPY AND SAD, ALL AT ONCE! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? HAPPY AND SAD!"

"Wow, that's er—really cool," she replied, shooting Tanni a quick glance. She, like Nico, was wobbling. And Harper was even fuzzy.

Juice. "Pfffttt," I spluttered with laughter, remembering the word.

"We really ought to take him somewhere else now," Harper frowned. I took a step towards Tanni and held a finger up to silence everyone.

"ARSONIST!" I beamed with giddiness, "I have something for you."

Tanni raised an eyebrow, I took that as a sign to go on. "Ahem," I cleared my throat for dramatic effect and imitated giving her a knighthood. "I hereby declare you, THE BESTEST MEMORY."

Despite her trying to hold back a laugh, Tanni's face softened at my words.

"And you're the bestest memory for me too, you dork," she smiled, "now let's head up to the library, it's quieter there."

"Okay," I agreed, nodding solemnly.

"How the hell did he agree with you?" Nico said indignantly.

"Because I'm her partner!" I giggled, "her abilities project partner! Maybe you will agree with Harper one day, or Amira!"

Harper snorted aloud at that. Nico turned to look at her, mouthing the word traitor.

"Amira, why is Nico calling Harper a truffle?" I asked, peering closer to lip-read.

"He's talking to the snack table behind her," Amira explained, "now go up to the library with Tanni and have the librarian give you a non-alcoholic drink."

"Fine."

Once we were in the library, Tanni sat down and leaned against a bookshelf. The gown she was wearing made her look like a princess in one of those old-fashioned palace libraries.

Woahhhh.

"Here," she handed me a cup of water, "drink it all, yeah? We want to avoid a hangover. The librarian will be coming to check on you in a second."

Why are you glaring at the mirror?" she paused, noticing my staring match with the mirror opposite me.

"The person in the glass thinks he's better than me," I pouted.

"He does not."

"Yeah, he does," I muttered angrily, "he thinks he's better looking. Oh, I know, he's just trying to make me jealous. WELL, TAKE THIS MIRROR DUDE, I'M BETTER LOOKING THAN YOU. AND I'M SOOOOO PRETTY THAT IT HURTS, SO I'LL NEVER LOOK AT MYSELF AGAIN."

"Just drink the water," Tanni grinned.

"Tha—thank you," I stammered, looking at the ceiling, pursuing my intention of never looking at myself again, "you're a gooooood friend. But you don't have to worry 'bout me! I'm fine! I'm Mr. Perfectly Fiiiineeee. Yes, that's my new name."

Tanni laughed and shook her head, causing a stray curl to fall out of place. "Well, Mr. Perfectly Fine, that's what friends are for, right? So don't tell me I don't need to worry, because that isn't ever going to happen, Mark" she said softly.

She said my name with such a fondness that I'd never heard before, it made me want to jump up and down with excitement, scream, and cry all at once. It sounded so sweet and loving, coming from her.

"Say it again," I said breathlessly.

"What?" she looked up in confusion.

"What?" I repeated.

Even when drunk, I was slick. Well done meeeee.

Tanni laughed; and once again, she took my breath away. "And to think all of this started with you burning my book," she said.

"You're like a book," I said, without thinking, "the best book in the wholeeee world. Like the one I always think about. Some—sometimes, I think that I could be bleeding to death and I'd still be wanering––wander––wondering if you'd had a good day." I stumbled over my words as I spoke, but I meant them all the same. I then looked at her, my expression grave. "Don't tell Arsonist I said that, though—she'll think I'm sappy."

"I won't tell her a thing," she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Good."

"Don't set me on fire like you did to the book, though," she added.

"That's rick, coming from you," I stuck my tongue out childishly.

And all of a sudden, we were back to our old ways. Bickering and arguing without a care in the world.

But this time, we were at ease. And a familiar warmth overcame me, a warmth I'd been fortunate enough to feel before––but around her, it was amplified, real and recognisable. It was a warmth that I knew would never leave me as long as she was around.

It was trust, and I felt it. I felt it so much.

I could only hope that she could feel it too. 

a/n– yay, another long chapter! enjoy the happy ones while they last !!  the question for this chapter is: if you could pick three songs to add to the playlist for this book, what would they be? please vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter !!  anyway, have a great day/night and for those of you celebrating the tortured poets department release, have fun (or cry because that was one hell of a depressing album and definitely one of my favourites) :)