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Description

The boy jumped a half a mile before spinning around quickly with wide eyes, which in turn, startled Mark.

"Woah-ho-ho there Markus! Calm down, it’s just me," Mark said with a reassuring laugh. Seeing it was indeed Mark, the teen let out a sigh of relief. Mark had noticed that the already quiet boy was distancing himself from the group as of late. He scanned the boy from head to toe, taking note the dark circles that lay under his eyes and his disheveled clothes. The boy was visibly shaking, as sweat rolled down his brow. Mark didn't mean to scare the boy that badly, he felt a twinge of guilt seeing him in that state.

"Oh. Hey," the brunette muttered, his eyes shifted off to the side as to not make eye contact with the older man. The teen’s body was still rigid from the sudden shock as he took a deep breathe to calm himself. Mark could slowly feel a wall between them start to go up. “What do you want?” the boy practically growled. Mark bit his lip. This was very unusual for the very polite; one could say even confident, young man. Markus’s actions were reminiscent of when they had first met those many months ago.

As the man exhaled through his nose; a small smile formed on his face as he spoke, “I just wanted to check in-see how you were doing. I noticed you didn’t eat your breakfast today-Is something the matter champ? You usually eat like a-”

“Everything is fine- I am fine,” Markus put emphasis on the “I” as he interrupted Mark, the boy began to fidget his feet and pick at nubs on his hoodie, his head now bowed and avoiding all eye contact.

Mark was taken aback. It was painfully obvious that something was bothering the boy, but what he didn’t understand was why. “What has gotten into you lately?” Mark said with a soft, but firm tone, he didn’t want to risk the boy retreating back to whatever wall he was now hiding behind. “You have not been acting like your usual self.”

At that moment, Markus’s fidgeting stilled. Blinking a few times, he looked up at the older man and sighed, “Nothing is wrong, I was just not hungry is all-” Markus said quietly, before he quickly added, “I’m sorry sir-“

“Oh hey hey heeeyy kid,” Mark cooed, “You’re not in trouble, the group was just worried about you. We care about you, and we…I, wanted to make sure my favorite boy was doing alright.”

There was a long pause, before Mark finally spoke again.

"Look..." the dark haired man sighed, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he scratched his beard. “I know I haven’t really been here for you; I have just been so consumed with leading, taking care of all these people, that I let a rift form between us…” Mark hummed as he tried to organize the thoughts in his brain. He was no good at this whole...parenting thing. He was sure as hell ready to be a parent when Sarah had brought this stray kid into their group those six months ago, but parenting was harder than what he had previously thought. This world, the people, the rules, all of it, had changed. Now Mark had to rewrite the book on parenting in the middle of an uprising with the living dead, while having the stress of leading a group as big as his.

“I am trying my best; this balancing act with being a parental figure and a leader, it’s no walk in the park. Hell, I am basically the “Dad” to all of these survivors, and I don’t expect to get any “Dad of the Year” awards for my work either-” Mark stopped himself when he caught Markus’s quizzical look on his freckled face, his brows scrunched up in confusion. Clearly, he didn’t understand what the dark haired man was trying to get at.

“What I am trying to say is, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. I am so sorry I let our relationship fall apart, I really dropped the ball on this one.” Mark waited for a reply, but Markus looked unfazed by his words. Mark should have known this would be a very uneventful talk. Markus from the very beginning had a better connection with his wife Sarah, than he did with anyone else in the group. If he ever had a problem, he always went straight to her. She was his emotional support….as well as Mark’s. She had been gone for little over two weeks now on a supply run, so now, he had no one to turn to and it was affecting the young teen greatly.

“It’s fine,” Markus said with little emotion as he shrugged, breaking their eye contact, “You’re leader, you are a busy guy-“

“That’s no excuse, I could have been better. I know...I am not your dad kid." He cupped his hands gently on top of the youngers shoulders as he got down to Markus’s level, which made the boy flinch and attention turn right back to Mark. The older man’s crystal blue eyes stared at the boy sympathetically, “And no one will ever replace him. I just want you to know that I am here for you, and that you can depend on me for anything, alright? I care for you as if you were my own son, and I love you.”

Markus stared for some time at Mark, his light blue eyes moved slightly, finally looking back Mark’s own blue hues. His mouth parted as if he was contemplating on saying something. Before Mark knew it though, the young boys eyes started to well up with tears and whatever was on the boys mind disappeared in a flash as he embraced the older man in a hug.

The two stayed that way for some time. Markus openly sobbed into the older man’s chest, mumbling words that Mark could not quite catch, under his breath. Markus crying so openly was another unusual trait for the closed off teen, but Mark figured him missing Sarah finally broke the young Markus. Mark hugged the teen tightly, not willing to let him go, until the teen’s sobs had finally ceased. Mark patted the boy on the back, which was a signal to the teen to back off.

“Soooo...I have some errands to run today, like scavenging the nearby town, would you like to come?”

“You go ahead,” Markus smiled, his eyes were red and puffy and he whipped the remaining tears on his sleeve, “I will meet up with you later, I just need some time to cool off.”

"Promise?"

"Promise."

“Alright, I will see you in a few then,” Mark said with a nod as he began to walk off.

“I love you.”

Mark stopped dead in his tracks, and took a glance over his shoulder. A broad smile spread across his lips. “I love you too.”

And with that, Markus was completely alone once again. The young brunette suddenly looked significantly older for someone his age as he sat down on the nearest fallen tree and cupped his face in his hands.
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I haven't Walking Deaded storied in a loooonnnggg time But today, I felt inspired~ I am still not 100% sure how long Markus was in their group before crap with Adam went down, but for right now, it will just be 6 months Markus is my own character, and Mark is from the Walking Dead Game (My story is an AU if he were to live) If you are new to my Walking Dead arts, know that his emotional support mom figure is not the only reason why he's upset. Rough sketch is very rough sketched~

Description

The boy jumped a half a mile before spinning around quickly with wide eyes, which in turn, startled Mark.

"Woah-ho-ho there Markus! Calm down, it’s just me," Mark said with a reassuring laugh. Seeing it was indeed Mark, the teen let out a sigh of relief. Mark had noticed that the already quiet boy was distancing himself from the group as of late. He scanned the boy from head to toe, taking note the dark circles that lay under his eyes and his disheveled clothes. The boy was visibly shaking, as sweat rolled down his brow. Mark didn't mean to scare the boy that badly, he felt a twinge of guilt seeing him in that state.

"Oh. Hey," the brunette muttered, his eyes shifted off to the side as to not make eye contact with the older man. The teen’s body was still rigid from the sudden shock as he took a deep breathe to calm himself. Mark could slowly feel a wall between them start to go up. “What do you want?” the boy practically growled. Mark bit his lip. This was very unusual for the very polite; one could say even confident, young man. Markus’s actions were reminiscent of when they had first met those many months ago.

As the man exhaled through his nose; a small smile formed on his face as he spoke, “I just wanted to check in-see how you were doing. I noticed you didn’t eat your breakfast today-Is something the matter champ? You usually eat like a-”

“Everything is fine- I am fine,” Markus put emphasis on the “I” as he interrupted Mark, the boy began to fidget his feet and pick at nubs on his hoodie, his head now bowed and avoiding all eye contact.

Mark was taken aback. It was painfully obvious that something was bothering the boy, but what he didn’t understand was why. “What has gotten into you lately?” Mark said with a soft, but firm tone, he didn’t want to risk the boy retreating back to whatever wall he was now hiding behind. “You have not been acting like your usual self.”

At that moment, Markus’s fidgeting stilled. Blinking a few times, he looked up at the older man and sighed, “Nothing is wrong, I was just not hungry is all-” Markus said quietly, before he quickly added, “I’m sorry sir-“

“Oh hey hey heeeyy kid,” Mark cooed, “You’re not in trouble, the group was just worried about you. We care about you, and we…I, wanted to make sure my favorite boy was doing alright.”

There was a long pause, before Mark finally spoke again.

"Look..." the dark haired man sighed, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he scratched his beard. “I know I haven’t really been here for you; I have just been so consumed with leading, taking care of all these people, that I let a rift form between us…” Mark hummed as he tried to organize the thoughts in his brain. He was no good at this whole...parenting thing. He was sure as hell ready to be a parent when Sarah had brought this stray kid into their group those six months ago, but parenting was harder than what he had previously thought. This world, the people, the rules, all of it, had changed. Now Mark had to rewrite the book on parenting in the middle of an uprising with the living dead, while having the stress of leading a group as big as his.

“I am trying my best; this balancing act with being a parental figure and a leader, it’s no walk in the park. Hell, I am basically the “Dad” to all of these survivors, and I don’t expect to get any “Dad of the Year” awards for my work either-” Mark stopped himself when he caught Markus’s quizzical look on his freckled face, his brows scrunched up in confusion. Clearly, he didn’t understand what the dark haired man was trying to get at.

“What I am trying to say is, from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. I am so sorry I let our relationship fall apart, I really dropped the ball on this one.” Mark waited for a reply, but Markus looked unfazed by his words. Mark should have known this would be a very uneventful talk. Markus from the very beginning had a better connection with his wife Sarah, than he did with anyone else in the group. If he ever had a problem, he always went straight to her. She was his emotional support….as well as Mark’s. She had been gone for little over two weeks now on a supply run, so now, he had no one to turn to and it was affecting the young teen greatly.

“It’s fine,” Markus said with little emotion as he shrugged, breaking their eye contact, “You’re leader, you are a busy guy-“

“That’s no excuse, I could have been better. I know...I am not your dad kid." He cupped his hands gently on top of the youngers shoulders as he got down to Markus’s level, which made the boy flinch and attention turn right back to Mark. The older man’s crystal blue eyes stared at the boy sympathetically, “And no one will ever replace him. I just want you to know that I am here for you, and that you can depend on me for anything, alright? I care for you as if you were my own son, and I love you.”

Markus stared for some time at Mark, his light blue eyes moved slightly, finally looking back Mark’s own blue hues. His mouth parted as if he was contemplating on saying something. Before Mark knew it though, the young boys eyes started to well up with tears and whatever was on the boys mind disappeared in a flash as he embraced the older man in a hug.

The two stayed that way for some time. Markus openly sobbed into the older man’s chest, mumbling words that Mark could not quite catch, under his breath. Markus crying so openly was another unusual trait for the closed off teen, but Mark figured him missing Sarah finally broke the young Markus. Mark hugged the teen tightly, not willing to let him go, until the teen’s sobs had finally ceased. Mark patted the boy on the back, which was a signal to the teen to back off.

“Soooo...I have some errands to run today, like scavenging the nearby town, would you like to come?”

“You go ahead,” Markus smiled, his eyes were red and puffy and he whipped the remaining tears on his sleeve, “I will meet up with you later, I just need some time to cool off.”

"Promise?"

"Promise."

“Alright, I will see you in a few then,” Mark said with a nod as he began to walk off.

“I love you.”

Mark stopped dead in his tracks, and took a glance over his shoulder. A broad smile spread across his lips. “I love you too.”

And with that, Markus was completely alone once again. The young brunette suddenly looked significantly older for someone his age as he sat down on the nearest fallen tree and cupped his face in his hands.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I haven't Walking Deaded storied in a loooonnnggg time But today, I felt inspired~ I am still not 100% sure how long Markus was in their group before crap with Adam went down, but for right now, it will just be 6 months Markus is my own character, and Mark is from the Walking Dead Game (My story is an AU if he were to live) If you are new to my Walking Dead arts, know that his emotional support mom figure is not the only reason why he's upset. Rough sketch is very rough sketched~