What Happened to Mark - 1. Chapter 1

Mark and I arrived at the party around ten. We walked through the sea of people trying to get through the front door. Once we were inside, the bodies multiplied. I was already starting to dread being here. I hated coming to parties like this, but Mark loved them. He loved being the social butterfly.

Mark released my hand and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m going to get something to drink, I’ll catch up with you in a few.”

“I’ll go with you. I’m thirsty myself.”

I really did not want to be left alone tonight. I knew what would happen. He would go and find something to drink and then run into someone he knew and start talking. If I hadn’t found him by the time he finished chatting with that person, he would get distracted by the next person. I would spend my entire night looking for him, while he floated around talking to anyone and everyone. When I would finally find him, he would be either drunk or high off his ass. Once we got back to our place, he would pass out as soon as he crawled in the bed. If confronted in the morning, he would apologize and swear it wouldn’t happen again. Then he’d make love to me and everything would be peachy fucking keen. It happened every motherfucking time.

“Don’t worry about it babe, I’ll grab you something.” He then melted into the crowd.

I tried to follow him, making my way towards the kitchen. However, when I got there, Mark was nowhere to be found. The house was full of smoke (both cigarettes and pot). Combine that with the sheer number of people, and I started to get a headache. I made way to the backyard, which was much less crowded. I found an empty chair out by the pool. Nobody was swimming, it was too cold for that. Since I was finally alone, I closed my eyes, trying to get rid of the pounding in my head.

About fifteen minutes after I sat down, I was pulled out of my trance. “Kevin? Is that you?”

My eyes popped open. My ex-boyfriend, Aaron, stood in front of me. I immediately got to my feet, my eyes filled with tears, and pulled him into a hug. “Oh, my God, Aaron. What are you doing here? How are you here? Am I dreaming?”

Aaron and I broke up the summer before our Senior year of high school because he was moving across the country. We said that we would call and email and keep in touch, but inevitably, we drifted apart. Neither of us was at fault. It just happened.

“Kevin, I can’t believe this! I’ve missed you so fucking much.” He went to kiss me, but I pulled back. He looked into my eyes and saw the truth. “How long have you been with him?” he asked, his voice tinged with a bit of sadness.

“Mark and I met in our Freshman English class last year at UNT. What are you doing here?”

“I just transferred to UNT. I start the spring semester next week. I just got into town and moved in with my cousin Ashley. She made me come out with her tonight. I was inside when some drunken idiot tried to make out with me. I had to get away from him, way too gropey. Where’s your boyfriend?”

“He said he was going to get us some drinks as soon as we got here. He probably got distracted and started talking to people. He’s a social butterfly, loves being the center of attention for about five minutes, then moves on to the next group.”

“Really? Okay.” I could hear the unasked questions in his voice. Aaron knew me, and he knew I hated behavior like that. “And you’ve been with this guy for a year?”

I simply nodded. I wouldn’t try to justify anything to Aaron, he always called me on my bullshit. My eyes started filling with tears and Aaron just drew me closer to him. I cried into his shoulder for a few moments and told him that this was normal. Finally, Aaron asked, “Kev, why are you with him if he does this to you?”

“I have nowhere else to go. My parents found out about me and kicked me out. I was forced to move in with Mark. I’m on loans and scholarships. I can’t work and go to school and make enough to live on my own.”

Before Aaron could say anything, a torrential downpour started. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the house. By the time we finally got back in, we were both soaking wet and freezing. “Come on, let’s go find a bathroom and dry up some.”

We went searching the house for an unoccupied bathroom that had towels. The only bathroom downstairs was a half-bath with a line about twenty people long. We headed upstairs to find a hallway with five closed doors. We started checking them and discovered that the first four were locked. I went to check the last door, not expecting anything different. I was surprised when the handle turned. Aaron was right behind me when I opened the door. In fact, he ran right into me from behind. The scene before forced me to stop dead in my tracks.

Mark was completely naked on his hands and knees. There was a guy behind him fucking him hard and fast while he was sucking the dick of another guy. The guy getting his dick sucked smiled at us. “Hey guys, either of you want a turn? His hole is tight and he sucks dick like a champ.”

I stood there trying to speak, but nothing came out.

The guy fucking Mark looked at me over his shoulder. “He’s like this at every fucking party we go to.”

“The more the merr…” Mark started saying in a heavily slurred voice as he turned his head towards us, his focus landing on the person behind me. “Hey aren’t you the guy I was making out with downstairs? Oh, hey Kev. Oops.” He then looked up at the guy in front of him. “Shhh. That’s my boyfriend. He’s not supposed to know about this.” He then swallowed the guy’s cock down his throat.

At least the guy fucking my boyfriend had the decency to stop. He didn’t look at me as he quickly pulled up his pants and left the room, followed by his friend a few moments later. Mark rolled onto his back and whined, “Why did they leave? Who’s next?”

Before I could react, Aaron pushed past me. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Mark started laughing. “OOOOhhh. The hottie from downstairs. You found me again.”

I could see everything that was happening, but my brain was having a hard time processing it. My voice sounded strained to my own ears. “Mark, what’s going on?”

“Kev? You’re still here? Are you going to fuck me now? Do you mind if he joins?”

That’s when Aaron lost it. He grabbed Mark’s hair and threw him to the ground, his body falling like a ragdoll. He was obviously more than drunk. “What the fuck are you on? How could you do this to Kevin? Answer me you piece of shit.”

“I took some happy pills, and I haven’t done anything to Kevin. I’ll fuck him in the morning and he’ll be happy again.” It was almost like he kept forgetting that I was there.

“Mark, I’m standing right the fuck here.” I crossed to him and punched him right in the nose. “How long has this been going on?”

I started thinking back on all the parties Mark made me go to. He was always insistent that he had to be there. I didn’t want to spend those nights by myself, so I would go with him hoping this time he would stay with me. It became painfully obvious to me at that moment. As soon as we would arrive, he would melt into the crowd. I would spend the next few hours looking for Mark, being told that I had just missed him. Inevitably, Mark turned up late in the game talking to a group of guys walking down a hallway or coming out of a room. I didn’t think much of it because he was always with a group. I never imagined that he would do something like this.

While I processed this, Aaron was throwing clothes at Mark, who was crawling towards the former love of his life. “Get dressed.” When Mark grabbed Aaron’s crotch, Aaron grabbed his wrist and twisted.

The scream that followed the horrible cracking sound was deafening. “You broke my wrist.” Mark cried and rolled on the ground, holding his broken wrist close to his chest.

Aaron came over to me and pulled me into a tight hug. “Are you going to be okay?”

Reality set in. “I have nowhere to go. The apartment is in his name. What am I going to do?” I cried into his chest.

He led me from the room. Mark’s screams followed, but I wasn’t paying attention to them. My world was crashing down around me. I allowed Aaron to guide me, I had no clue where we were going. I vaguely remember him sitting me in the passenger seat of a car. I don’t remember much of anything after that.

I woke up the next morning and tried to take in my surroundings. I was in an unfamiliar room, in a bed, wearing only my underwear, and being held by someone who was breathing softly on my neck. Though the room was unfamiliar, there was something about the way I was being held that felt...well, it felt like home. Then the events of the previous night came back to me. I sat up quickly, waking the person next to me.

“What’s wrong? Kevin, are you okay?” I looked at my bed partner and saw Aaron’s worried face next to me.

I started crying. Aaron put his arms around me and hugged me tight. “Shhh. It’s okay. I’m here babe. You’re going to be okay.”

Through my tears, I said, “No I’m not. I’m fucking worthless. I have nothing to offer anyone. Who’s going to want me now?”

He pushed me back at arm’s length so I he could look me in the eyes. “You have me. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. I love you. You deserve better than him. I’m never letting you go again.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. After two and half years, Aaron still loved me. Stupidly, I asked, “You still love me?”

His face showed his award-winning smile. “Yes, I never stopped.” Then a look of uncertainty came over his face. “Do you still care about me?” I was still processing everything he just told me. When I didn’t answer him, he dropped his arms to his side. “It’s okay. You can stay here, we have an extra room. I won’t try anything again.”

My kiss must have surprised him since he didn’t respond to my lips against his for about ten seconds. “I never stopped loving you either. But, I’m not going to live in your extra room.” His face fell. I grabbed his chin and pulled it up. “If I’m going to live here, I’m moving into this room with you or nothing. I’m not letting you go again.”

We started kissing, which led to both of us laying back on the bed. Soon, we were shedding our underwear and some stroking began. Just as things were about to go further, there was a loud knock at the bedroom door. “Y’all better be decent, I’m opening the door in five seconds.” Ashley then started counting down. I was frantically looking for our underwear while Aaron just groaned. He slid under the covers and held them up for me. Just as I was sliding under, the door flew open and Ashley ran into the room. She jumped on the bed and threw her arms around me. “Kevin, I can’t believe you’re here. How have you been? I’ve missed you. I know Aaron’s missed you too.” She then noticed my discomfort and looked around the room. Her eyes landed on our discarded underwear. She let me go and laughed. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

Aaron growled. “I love you cuz, but get the fuck out of our room.”

I looked at Aaron with a huge grin on my face. Ashley looked at us both. “Our room? Really now?” She turned to me. “Welcome home, roomie.” She then got up and started to leave. When she got to the door, she turned back to us. “Right after y’all left the party, some naked guy came downstairs with his wrist broken. He passed out right in the middle of the living room. Someone must’ve called 9-1-1 or something because the part pretty much broke up after that. So, y’all didn’t miss much.”

“You really did break his wrist? I wasn’t sure if I dreamed that or it really happened.”

When Ashley heard that she came back in the room and started at Aaron hard with her hands on her hips. “What did you do?”

Aaron sighed. “That asshat was Kevin’s boyfriend. We walked in on him and two other guys. He was so high, he didn’t even realize Kevin was in the room. When he grabbed my crotch and I sorta lost it.”

Ashley tried unsuccessfully not to laugh. She shook her head and turned around and left, closing the door behind her.

I smiled at Aaron while I straddled his hips. “Now, where were we?”

We left the room an hour later, both completely satisfied. We went to Mark’s apartment to get my things. We hoped that he was still in the hospital. Thankfully, our wish was granted. Part of me wanted to be spiteful and take everything, then trash what was left. In the end, I took only my things and left a note for Mark.

Mark,

I must have been the dumbest and blindest person on the planet. Looking back, I can clearly see it all. You never cared about me. I’m not sure why you kept me around, but thanks for helping me realize what true love is. Do not try to call me or text me or contact me in any way. I’m going to move on with my life and be happy. Last night I learned that when your world shatters and the pieces start falling, nobody can determine how they will land. However, depending on the people around you when it happens and how they feel about you, you can determine how everything will be rebuilt from the fallout. If you don’t change your ways, who is going to help you rebuild when your world shatters?

Bye,

Kevin

********

Two years later:

I was eating breakfast with Aaron, like we do every morning. I was looking at the school’s online newspaper, reading the daily headlines. I went to take a drink of my milk. Before the glass made it to my mouth, I dropped it, spilling milk all over the table.

“What happened? Kevin, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Aaron grabbed a kitchen towel and started drying up the milk. I was still staring at the screen of my tablet with my mouth hanging open. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or not. Aaron looked over my shoulder and started reading:

Homeless Man Found Dead Near Campus

On Friday night, former UNT student, Mark Warner, was found dead in the alleyway behind Chipotle near campus.Officers have ruled his death as an overdose. His family only said that there will be no service held. Warner attended UNT two years ago, but dropped out before the spring semester of his sophomore year.

That was it. Four sentences. Mark died homeless and alone. I couldn’t believe it.

Aaron knows how my brain works. “Stop thinking it right now. You couldn’t have saved him. What were you supposed to do? Stay with him and be miserable? You chose happiness. He made his own choices. There was nothing you could’ve done. Are you happy with me?”

I nodded.

“Then that’s all that matters. Don’t beat yourself up over this. I can understand if you’re sad, I know you had feelings for him. Just remember what you wrote in your note. He didn’t change his ways, he chose to stay the same. This is where his choices led him.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right. Thank you for being wonderful and thank you for loving me.”

And he was right. The events of that night led me to the love of my life. What happened to Mark in the end was the product of his choices. He chose not to change, I chose happiness and love.