A New Beginning

"A New Beginning," was written to introduce Steven into the series. It features Mark after losing his friends for the last time and describes how he met Steven.
= Story =
==Chapter 1==
Cold. That's the only word Mark could use to describe as he rested his hand firmly on the handle to his bedroom door. It was nearly midnight, but he could not sleep. The unbearable feeling of loneliness and solitude that he donned was nothing more than Hell itself. Pressing his ear softly against the door, still as can be, he listened to hear if any of his family was awake. Pure silence. Still cautious, he slowly turned the handle and peered out. The only noise that could be heard was the quiet creak of the door's hinges as it let in a small amount of light from the nightlights in the hallway. No one was awake. He carefully inched the door closed and began to make his way downstairs. This was a huge risk. Mark hasn't snuck out in quite awhile, but his agonizing thoughts had pressured him to do so. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw them. The people whom of which he was very aware wanted nothing to do with him anymore. It was a major case of Déjà vu; Mark could never learn from his mistakes. He so desperately attempted to, but alas, each and every time he tried, he always ended up acting like a complete and utter jackass, resulting in the unimaginable. He was friendless now, and rightfully so, he thought. Nothing could ever straighten him out, no matter how desperate he was to keep something. Everything he loved, cherished, desired...? It all seemed to fade away with the abrupt passing of time. It made him depressed, to say the least, and isolating himself from the world, giving himself some time to think seemed to be the only thing that could make him change his attitude even slightly. Mark felt around on the door handle gingerly, turning the lock from its closed position to open. As he opened the door ever so slightly, he felt the cold January night air prick his face. It wouldn't be a very comfortable walk, but it would indeed be a very well needed one. Mark stepped outside, shutting the door gently.
Without hesitation, Mark made his way down the all familiar street lit sidewalk. He wondered if his father would find out he had left. Mark shrugged it off as he turned a corner. His mind was absolutely set on going to the park. He remembered the last time he had been this upset, and going to the park to sit on a bench, alone with his own thoughts really helped with his overthinking nature. He knew it would be a little while walking wise before he reached the park, so he just stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets, hoping no cop would be out to bust him for breaking his curfew. He had no worries though. But he still had that factored into his mind. His dad would absolutely beat his ass if he got fined for breaking his curfew. The freezing wind blew Mark's long reddish brown hair around. Every now and then he'd gently brush it out of his range of sight. Mark just tilted his head tiredly and enjoyed the coolness press against his face as he continued to make his way to the park.
The park seemed to be vacant, as expected. Mark wandered over to an empty bench and sat down. The bench was cold as hell, so it sent a sharp shiver down his spine. He hugged himself for warmth, and closed his eyes.
'Please don't mess up again... You've already lost enough... You should start to listen to him. Maybe he could help... Nah... why would he care...?' Mark seemed to be so consumed in his thoughts that he didn't even hear as he began to whimper softly, which graduated slowly into a faint cry just as tears began to stream down his face. Why couldn't he not mess up for once? Why couldn't his dad be aware of what was going on with him instead of being even harsher? He brought his hoodie sleeves up to his face as he covered them in tears. He felt so lost... so broken... he didn't know where he would turn. His life was going downhill at the absolutely most dramatic pace it ever had before, and he knew that sometime soon he'd eventually ruin it to the point of having nothing at all. But it already felt that way. He couldn't even think positively at this point. He just wanted to end it all. But what about his mom...? His brother...? He couldn't just do that to them. Of course, he was selfish, but he had enough respect for them to continue on his miserable journey known as life. The temperature appeared to drop a little as Mark sniffled a bit woefully. He wished he could open up to them about what was going on, but he knew he couldn't. With just the very thought of them, he felt as they were right there with him; As if the only two people in the entire world that cared about him were sitting right next to him, just waiting for him to vent his sorrows. Mark uncovered his face, his vision blurred a bit by his tears. 'I can feel something. Somebody is right next to me...' Mark felt his heart jump inside his chest at the thought. He quickly turned his head to the side, which confirmed his inference. Mark tried his best not to scream as he nearly fell off of the bench and onto the cold, wet ground. He positioned himself back up, and simply looked at the individual who had interrupted his weeping session. He met eyes with a green eyed, honey blonde colored haired boy around his age with visible freckles on both sides of his cheeks. He was wearing simply a light green jacket, which was very vibrant reflecting in the moonlight. He had his palms on his face, looking a bit distressed as well, but he continued to eye Mark. They both stared at each other in complete silence for seconds until the blonde boy broke it.
"Are... you ok...?" He asked softly, the sudden sound awakening Mark's ears.
Mark simply nodded in reply before whispering back, "Uh— Yeah. I'm good. Thanks." He felt another warm tear stream down his face.
The boy picked his head up to turn and view Mark more precisely. "...Are you sure...?" His reply, again, was as soft as could be, his gentle voice seeming foreign to Mark's ears, which were of course used to hearing yelling and complaining. 
"Yeah..." Mark answered, not wanting to open up to him.
The boy just scooted a bit closer to Mark, again, attempting to get something out of him. Mark had no reply other than hugging his own knees and sobbing into them once more. The boy simply put his arm around Mark, as if they were close to one another, and tried again. "Please tell me..."
Mark just continued to sob his sorrows away and the boy proceeded to hug him. A hug. Mark picked his head up, alert of the embrace. Normally in this type of situation he'd immediately make his way out of there, but this time, he didn't care. Mark continued his bawling as he returned the hug to the stranger. He had to admit, it did feel quite awkward, but at the same time, it didn't feel wrong either. 
The boy met eyes with him once more. "You can tell me. I won't tell anyone. I promise."
Mark was a bit taken back by this, but was immediately aware of what he meant when he began to feel a sharp pain around his lower right eye area. He softly touched his skin and felt a bruise. How had he not realized this sooner? This only fueled Mark's saddening mood. Mark was fed up. He needed to tell someone that cared. He needed a shelter. He needed it now. So without hesitation, he told the boy everything. He told him about growing up with Benjamin, Jonathon and Kenny. He told him about feeling no mercy when he seemingly attempted to push his little brother in the street and his friends left him. He told him about Ash, Luke, the people who hate him, everything. He even told him about his dad, and how poorly he was treated by him for seemingly no reason whatsoever. He opened up about how his dad tells him he's hated, worthless, pathetic, and any other foul name he's ever been called by him. Mark was clearly at his breaking point. He could almost feel himself shatter as he spoke each and every word to the boy. He didn't even care if the boy was listening or not, he just wanted to say it all. However, he listened, and when Mark had finally ended his tirade, the boy's arm again went around Mark as he softly muttered, "I feel your pain..."
Mark looked him in the eyes with the last bit of hope he had rushing through him. "Y-you do...?" Mark asked weakly. The boy nodded, and proceeded to tell his own story, about how his father had left when he was very young, his mother, who to him, was the worst person on earth considering how much immoral stuff she was getting away with, being a major alcoholic and all. He had to move around often due to her getting herself fired, as well as the many issues they dealt with concerning money. 
Hearing this boy's story just made Mark's heart beat rapidly with concern. "And I thought my life was hard...? I guess I fucking deserve it though, you don't seem to at all..." he looked the boy in the eyes again.
"It's fine, I'm kind of used to it," the boy replied, "Though I'm really glad I could tell someone about it." A simple smile plastered the both of the boy's faces as they exchanged 'thank you's' with a handshake. "Oh. My name's Steven." he told Mark.
"Mine's Markus... but you can call me Mark."
The two continued to look at each other for seemingly minutes, but was probably just a few seconds. "I-I've gotta get going." Steven finally said, "My mom will probably be off of work soon and ..." he trailed off a bit. "...yeah."
Mark nodded and got off the bench along with him. "Me too. If my dad finds I've been away, then I can kiss my ass goodbye."
Steven smiled at him. "Can we meet each other back here tomorrow...? I really enjoyed talking to you, Mark."
Mark was a bit surprised by this statement, but gratefully agreed. He wasn't planning on attending the park late at night tomorrow, but if it meant he could have someone that understood him, that cared about him, that listened to him by his side, he was all for it. "I wouldn't want to miss it."
==Chapter 2==
Mark had woken up just barely the following morning. He of course, was very sleepy due to his late night activities. However, he felt a bit more confidence than usual on this particular morning, knowing he would get to talk to that Steven guy later that night. He spent his first class barely paying attention, as usual, but overall, it wasn't as bad as it could've been. He hadn't even been taunted once so far today. As it came time to switch classes, Mark did so quite contently. This was the first time in a long while he felt the least bit secure at school. He smiled to himself as he skipped to the classroom he had just recently became accustomed to. Being January and all, the students had changed classes not too long ago. Despite being near his former second class, Mark still occasionally had to glance at his schedule. Whenever he did so, he would receive a shove or a rude remark from people who considered him in their way. However, due to finally memorizing the location, Mark didn't have to deal with that today. As he came closer to the door, his skip turned into a sprint as he dashed in, quite happy he was not disturbed. Mark took a seat in his usual spot, which was situated over in the back of the class. He tapped his fingers on the desk happily, waiting for whatever would happen next. He nearly jumped out of his seat when he noticed someone was sitting next to him. Usually, no one would sit by Mark in that particular class. However, this didn't seem to be the case today. As he turned to see who it was, he expected them to end his tauntless morning with a rude remark, but he was quite mistaken. It was Steven! Mark couldn't help but smile when he noticed him.
"Hi!" Mark greeted as he frantically waved at the boy. He made sure it was obvious that he was happy to see him.
Steven turned to greet him. "Hi, Mark. I can't believe neither of us realized we'd go to the same school." He smiled back at Mark as he let out a little chuckle.
Mark didn't know what to say, but he giggled in return. This day was just getting better and better. He had just met Steven yesterday, but he knew that he wanted to be nice to him. Finding someone that wasn't against him for once gave him a great deal of hope. The class grew silent as the teacher entered the room, but Mark continued to look at Steven. Were they friends? It began to bother him a bit, so he decided to just ask.
"Hey!" Mark whispered, "Steven!"
Steven turned back to him.
"Are we friends?"
Steven pondered for a moment. Whenever he moved to a new place, he tried his best not to get too friendly. He didn't want to disappoint himself whenever he had to leave again. He left no real impact on anyone else he'd met during the years, but Mark seemed different. He could tell that just by talking to him yesterday, he possibly even saved Mark's life. Considering all the terrible things he mentioned, it didn't seem like Mark had much of a reason to live. Only two people you could turn to out of the many people there are in the world? That had to hurt. Of course though, it was more than Steven had. His avoidance of making friends had left him as well, with no one to turn to. However, Steven felt it was far more easy for him to find someone to turn to than Mark. Yesterday, Mark had explained how everyone's perspective of him was the same everywhere. Nobody even bothered to listen. While Steven had no reputation, Mark certainly had one; And it wasn't a good one. Mark couldn't for the life of him blame someone else without people calling him a liar. It was one of the many burdens that Mark ached to bear. Steven knew Mark needed someone he could rely on, someone who could reassure him. He was reluctant, knowing very well that he could be ordered to leave on short notice whenever, but spoke up. "Yeah, you seem nice."
Mark's only response was a huge grin as he finally turned to face the front of the room. Steven knew he did the right thing.
Category:Stories