Helin rolls her dark eyes, heavily exasperated. Sheâs genuinely not surprised about his childish teasing though sheâs also not pleased with it either. Leave it to Marcus to take a serious, heartfelt moment and turn it into something else. More lighthearted, letâs say. â You donât have to worry about me, Marcus, â Helin begins with a drawl, â When I donât have someone to fall asleep with, I fall asleep with a good book. I can live without you in my bed. â An old glint of playfulness shines through dark hues. Maybe she should lay off a litle bit. The man looks like heâs in need of a win ; with those lost eyes when he lapses into a stiff silence.
Helin blinks. Once. Twice. Thrice ⊠Helin wasnât expecting for Marcus to give her all of the details about his personal life that has been flipped upside down. When he begins to explain that Sage Garcia is his child, and Camila, whoâd she call a friend, have an offspring together ⊠Truthfully, it made her thoughts freeze for a little while she does her best to process with a neutral stare.
â Thatâs a rather unfortunate and surprising way to find out you have a child, â she says lamely. Itâs none of Helinâs business why Camila decided to keep Sageâs fatherâs identity a mystery. In fact, in a weird way, Helin feels like she shouldnât be listening to this at all, nor weighing in. But Marcus has always been a lot more ⊠talkative than Helin. There were a few times where she had to kick him out of bed to sleep on the couch because he wouldnât shut up, and Helin has never exactly been a fan of pillow talk.Â
Marcus, very clearly, needed someone in this moment. Whether it be talking things out or simply listening, well, here she was going to be, and sheâs always been a little better with the latter. â Where are you going from this moment forward? â Helin asks while lifting the wine glass to her lips. Thank God she poured another glass before this conversation started. She can barley keep up with her own familia issues, talking to someone else about their drama and predicaments feels like a whole different ball game. One she didnât know how to play. â I mean, what are you going to do? â She adds for more clarity.Â
âWell, thatâs good, I guess.â If heâs being truthful, Marcus appreciates the move that Helin made to end things. Normally, it wouldâve been a hit to his ego. But for once, he was appreciative of someone holding him to a higher standard and helping him better himself... even if it wasnât his idea to begin with. Taking a sip of his drink, he takes a second to process the growth heâs beginning to realize heâs going to have to go through.Â
Then he realizes just how much he had probably overshared.Â
This whole thing was so incredibly beyond his depth and without Jo or Jamie around to process with, Marcus was floundering. Sure, he liked to talk a lot. But when it came to processing his life being completely altered, he reserved that for the two of them usually. Now, he didnât have either one to talk to and maybe this wasnât really fair to unload on Helin like this. With a chuckle he nods a bit at her statement, at the truth to it. Marcus considered for a moment if she was just being polite by asking what he would do next or if she actually cared. But, Helin had never felt the need to mask her lack of interest before in whatever Marcus was talking about, he doubted she would start now.Â
âI donât have a fucking clue, to be honest.â His genuine answer surprises even him at first, but as he thinks about it, he knows itâs true. Marcus doesnât know where to go from here, how to begin trying to navigate this situation, what conversations to even have with Cam. But there is one thing heâs certain of in all this. âI just know I want to be apart of Sageâs life... somehow.â With another shrug, he slowly brings his gaze over to find Helin. Heâs not sure if this kind of vulnerability is going to be too much for their newly celibate friendship.Â
