prompts: ‘’How about a kiss?’’, ‘Wait don’t pull away, not yet.’’
summary: Marcus and Y/n are in a secret relationship. Cloud 9 employees are trying to set you two up all the time, only to learn they didn’t need to. (Halloween costume contest episode)
character: Marcus White (Superstore) x Reader
warnings: fluff, smut, adventure time reference
‘‘Hey, Y/n!’‘ Chey shouted at me across the isle.
‘‘Cheyanne! You look hot!’‘ I gasped, gesturing to her hula costume.
‘‘So do you, girl, pink suits you.’‘ She complimented, referencing my sexy Princess Bubblegum outfit.
‘‘I think it’s the only one here Mateo can’t find a problem with.’‘ I roll my eyes.
‘‘I know, what’s up with that? Everyone’s being weird today.’‘ She pulls a face of annoyance.
‘‘Tell me about it, so- uh, are we still clear? No one’s suspecting anything?’‘ I hush my voice, moving in closer to her.
‘‘Y/n/n, you’re secret sex life is what gives me the will to get through these shifts, I haven’t told a soul.’‘ She giggles, flipping her hair out of her face.
I think back to how Chey found out I was dating Marcus.
‘‘I love it when you moan my name.’‘ Marcus muttered into my neck, he had me sat on a warehouse shelf, pounding away. He pressed a gentle kiss to my jaw, despite his urgency of release creeping up on him.
‘‘God, Marcus!’‘ I panted, as he skilfully hit a spot that made me shake.
‘‘Jeez, Y/n, I can’t last long.’‘ His broad hands gripped at my hips, probably leaving red fingerprints in the process.
‘‘Me neither, you’re good.’‘ I slid my hands into his hair, yanking him down to meet my lips, he growled as I did, a sound he’d never made before.
This only spurred me on.
Two of his fingers came to meet my clit, swiping in circles, as he continued to pump himself into me.
I muffled a whine with his lips, I was almost there-
‘‘What the fuck?!’‘
I screamed along with Marcus, he pulled out and we grasped at our loose clothing trying to become somewhat decent.
‘‘Chey! Oh my god I’m so so sorry you saw this!’‘ She stood there, hand over mouth.
‘‘Y/n we have been trying to get you to date Marcus for months, why didn’t you tell any of us?’‘ She revels.
‘‘Well, we don’t really know what this is yet. And we didn’t want whatever this is to turn sour if people knew. Things like this don’t really have a good track record in this store.’‘ I shrugged at her, biting my lip.
‘‘I get that, but what even is this?’‘
I looked towards Marcus, raising an eyebrow.
‘‘Well, if I’m honest here, I want you all to myself Y/n. Boyfriend-girlfriend style.’‘ He gave a nervous laugh, his eyes darting around the warehouse.
‘‘I’d like that too.’‘ A shy smile painting my features.
‘‘Ahhhh! Our OTP is happening, right before my eyes. Oh my gosh, I need to text Mateo.’‘
‘‘Oh, Chey, would you mind keeping this a secret until we decide to publicise it?’’ I give her a hopeful look.
‘‘Of course, what are best friends for?’‘
That was then.
Right now I could see Marcus containing the urge to stare at me like his life depended on it. Which turns out to be the exact reason I chose this outfit.
He looked dumb in his Rasta cap, but he was my dummy.
I shot him a wink when no one was looking and a dark blush spread across his cheeks.
A few hours into my shift and the costume contest, I’m checking in the warehouse for a specific item a customer asked for when I get grabbed by the hips.
I scream and try to wiggle out of the person’s grasp but a shush and a giggle sound from behind me.
‘‘Marcus! You- you, gah! You scared me you silly goose!’‘ I slapped him lightly in his chest. ‘’I should seriously hurt you for that one.’’
‘‘How about a kiss?’‘ He proposes, I can never refuse that face of his and his goofy smile.
‘‘Always.’‘ I whisper, leaning into him to meet his lips, he pulls me into him by my waist. I swipe his Rasta cap off his head and onto the floor.
I move to detach our lips but he groans.
‘‘Wait, don’t pull away, not yet.’‘ He murmurs against my mouth.
‘‘Okey...’‘ I let him continue kissing me with all he has until his hands move down to my ass.
‘‘Marcus this is improper, you remember what happened last time.’‘ I warn lightly, pulling away, finally.
‘‘Each one of my thoughts about you are improper, with you strutting around in that all day, I can’t compose myself.’‘ His fingers mess with the skimpy fabric of my costume.
I blush, even though that was my ultimatum.
‘‘You’re hot, babe- and my body respects that.’‘ He back me into the wall behind me.
I give into him, his hand brushed down my arm and down to rest on my hip, his other arm is pressed against the wall space above me.
He uses his new position to lean down and smash our lips together, moving with such aggression and passion.
His length, now sporting a large bulge, grinds up into my thigh.
He moves his lips to meet the shell of my ear.
‘‘Can you feel what you’re doing to me?’‘ His breath is hot against my ear, leaving me to shiver in appreciation as he mouths his lips around the lobe. Letting it go he kisses down my neck, I reach up to grab his hair yet I’m stopped.
His large palms grip both my wrists, positioning them above my head.
‘‘Never knew you had this in you.’‘ I panted out, a complete mess against him.
‘‘I can dom when I want to, just needed the right motivation.’‘
What we didn’t know was the two sneaky employees, hidden behind stock boxes, phone camera in hand.
A ding from the staff group chat stopped Marcus and I in our tracks.
‘‘One second, Marcuse babe, this could be important.’‘ I pull out my phone, tapping on the notification.
I frown as I press play on a video sent to the chat, it starts out dark with a few whispers in the background, the camera eventually pans up to show both me and my boyfriend in a compromising situation. You can hear EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE SAYING.
Marcus, who is looking down at my phone, gasps.
‘‘Oh, shit!’’
‘‘What the hell!’‘
We both shout as we look around, searching for the culprits.
Spam messages from the staff billow in.
Garrett: woah, guys...
Mateo: ASJDJSDKGJLDKSFDLKH WHAT
Dina: This is not what you get payed for! Get back to work!…but give me all the details later.
Sandra: FINALLY
Chey: hey maybe it’s not what it looks like?
Jonah: Little hard to believe that, Chey, stone cold proof if I’ve ever seen it.
‘‘What are we gonna do now?’‘ I mutter to Marcus.
His hand finds mine.
‘‘I don’t care what happens because I know I want you in my life, nothing is gonna tear us apart. Don’t worry.’‘ He presses a kiss to my temple.
‘‘Marcus, that’s the sweetest thing. I love you.’‘ I giggle, but then I realise what I said.
‘‘I LOVE YOU TOO!’‘ He yells, picking me up and hugging his arms around my waist. I wrap my legs around his middle.
Some people heard the commotion and followed the noise.
Cheering and whooping of co-workers jaunted me to remove my face form Marcus’ neck.
‘‘I can finally talk about this to someone!’‘ Cheyanne breaks the celebration.
You find out that you are pregnant... with Marcus' miracle baby.
Warnings: Pregnancy, panic attack
🔆 🔆 🔆
Carefully, I pick out one of the pregnancy tests from the shelf. Then grab another... 2 more... and another. Just to be sure.
As I go up to the pharmacy desk, I thank god that Tate isn't working here anymore; I never would've gotten away with this. He would've snitched to Jonah or something, for his own sociopathic enjoyment. Instead, the new guy thankfully rings up and bags my items casually, not really caring what he flings into the white plastic bag- then hands it to me with a soulless customer service smile. If I had to describe it, I'd say its if the man had been working here for years before finally letting the job kill him on the inside- just in time for the wind to change and stick his face like that. Honestly, I never see the guy without this smile. Not even in the breakroom. Its unnerving.
Still, I take the bag and smile back even though I know he for sure doesn't really mean it and turn around so I can walk (The long way around the store, so I don't pass the doors to the warehouse) towards the employee bathrooms... but stop short, jolting into panic mode immediately. Freeze, freeze, freeze!
There's Isaac, standing as tall as a bear in my path behind the aisles, with a scanner in his hand and a surprised look on his face. Or at least as surprised as he would ever convey.
Clearly, though, he saw the tests. And I'm screwed. He is absolutely the well, second last person I wanted to catch me doing this; Buying these.
A nervous smile flickers onto my face and I walk the short ways over to him, hugging the bag to my front. He's still just staring; Mouth half open and eyes a little less dead, then usual. "Oh, hey Isaac! How's is going? You got sent to pharmacy today? That s-sucks... " Honestly I didn't think he was allowed to be assigned pharmacy...
Completely by-passing the option to forget what he just saw and exchange polite chit-chat with me, he instead closes his mouth and his eyes, shakes his head and then opens his eyes again. Then inhales. "Are those what I think those are?"
"Wh-what?"
"Pregnancy tes-"
Shit- Giving him a desperate expression, revealing my true feelings today - being complete and utter panic, - I cut him off. "SHHH! Isaac! No- uh. Yes. Um... Would you believe these aren't for me?"
"Mmm... " His face twists slightly into one of thought, tightening his lips together and sizing me up. "No, I don't think so."
"Well!- " I'm totally ready to make up an excuse... but peter out as soon I try. I could do it. I could string together some kind of half-believable bullshit like 'They're for Amy', but he would still go and tell Marcus and he would find me and... I would still have to have the conversation earlier then I want to. So instead I drop the façade, and my shoulders, and show just how tired I am. "I want to find out myself before breaking the news to Marcus. Okay? He might be unhappy about the idea and then we do the test and it turns out I'm not pregnant and then I just stressed us both out, for no reason! And, on the other hand, what if he wants it and it turns out I'm wrong about this? Please, Isaac, just don't tell him yet. Please, please." I feel like no matter how many pleases I use they may still not change anything. But I'm desperate.
He stands still for a few minutes... so long in fact I think he may be in shock himself, or having some kind of drug induced anxiety attack, and am about to wave my hand up in his face or say his name again, when he finally breathes a little more obviously and I relax back down to earth. "... Well, lets go find out then, right?"
"What- You- you want to come?" Something in me relaxes at the thought- I don't really want to do this alone. I want someone there, like in the movies, to hold the box and just read me the instructions. But I imagined it would be someone I'm actually close friends with, who can hold my hand and wouldn't care that it recently touched a pee-stick. I did not expect that person to be Isaac - Isaac, who likes to watch homeless people kill each other with shopping trollies and sticks and trash can shields like in a horrible, pitiful, modern-day coliseum, - in a million years.
But he nods.
"Yeah, sure." He puts his scanner on the shelf, and we set off the way I was going. He seems to silently understand why we have to go the long way around- to avoid passing the doors to the warehouse. Or he just doesn't care. Either way, I'm thankful he doesn't try to re-rout my course. Or even mention it. "Good excuse to slack off work... besides I should probably get out of this section, anyway. Hey, it is Marcus- right?"
I sigh- I suppose the companionable silence was too much to ask for. "Yes Isaac. If its a thing, in the first place."
"Yeah, right."
___TIME SKIP___
"You're having a miracle baby, you know? He's not supposed to be able to do that- isn't that kinda... good?"
I only whimper in response from |my new home| the cubicle I've been taking the tests in, holding my head. How am I going to do this? I have college, I have this job, I have my studio apartment to continue paying rent for! Marcus and I don't even... there isn't even... we haven't labelled it yet, and... Oh god, I'm shaking.
Isaac heaves a sigh outside, his chair creaking as he shifts. "Well, that's... three positives, so far." Isaac's memorable, slow drawl seeps through the cracks in my cubicle and takes away my thoughts for a moment. And my breath.
3 positives.
3 positives.
Not one, not two... three.
... Then he goes on, a whiny tone in his voice. "Do we really need to do another one?"
I breathe in deep. I don't know what else to do. The next logical step would be telling Marcus or Jonah, but I'm ready for neither of those. So procrastination through pregnancy test, it has to be. "Uh, yes. We do. Um... can you, please?- "
"Ughhh. Yeah, yeah. I'll get you more water. Stay here." Then Isaac, who has surprisingly been very helpful, even getting me tape so I can stick the finished tests up to the door in front of me so that I can compare them easier, disappears out of the women's bathroom, leaving me with my thoughts.
I peak back up at the tests, feeling panic fill up my chest cavity like its anxiety gas and my rib cage is the gas chamber- and my heart's the poor organ at deaths row. I'm... pregnant.
Oh my god. I'm pregnant. There is a human being growing inside me, right now. A human being who will require time that I definitely don't have, money that its parents certainly could not scavenge if we scavenged for used soda cans like Myrtle and sold them in our spare time, effort that I'm terrified might not even be in me at this point... A baby that needs some semblance of a comfortable, stable home, which I do not have for it.
I'm just burrowing my face into my arms and knees atop the toilet seat when the bathroom door opens again. Looking up, I immediately ask for Isaac- because that was really freaken quick, for him.
And get a familiar, confused sounding voice call back "... No, its Amy... Sorry, I just need to pee. Are you going to be long?".
"Oh!" Oops. Immediately, head going empty with panic, I unlock the door and and jump out to let her in. "No! I just finished. Um- go ahead. I'll just wash- wash my hands."
Now seeing each other, I see Amy's forehead crease and her eyebrows furrow in confusion and concern at my pink cheeked/pale faced appearance and the panicky way I'm talking. She reaches out toward me. "... Y/N, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" I laugh, the most nervous sounding laugh ever. "Don't worry."
Amy's nose screws up. "... why were you waiting for Isaac?"
"We-we're just having an affair."
... what??
Her eyebrows furrow even deeper. "Okay... I'm just gonna go... pee... now... " She says slowly, gradually disappearing into the cubicle; Not quite sure what to say back to that.
I sigh in relief when her eyes aren't on me anymore and the door locks, thinking flushing some water onto my face might calm me down, when a loud GASP comes from Amy and I i m m e d i a t e l y remember the tests stuck to the wall. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!
Amy comes right out of there, looking at me with completely new eyes now- understanding truly why I'm pale, I'm sure, and definitely why I was acting the way I was. "Y/N! You're... pregnant??!"
I open my mouth to respond. Maybe say 'yes' seeing as that's the truth and the only proper answer, but I choke on my words and instead say, "Isaacs getting more water so I can take another test."
"I think 3 is a pretty conclusive number!"
"I-" She is not wrong, but I don't want to do anything else but take another easy test, and get defensive instead. "I bought four, I'm doing four!"
"Wh- Is Isaac the father!?"
"God, no." Isaac and I both spit back in offense.
I whip my head around when i realise he wasn't supposed to be there yet at all, and- there he is in the doorway.
... Jonah right behind him looking sicker then me. My jaw drops. "You brought Jonah??!"
"Uh, no, I was just waiting outside for, um," He gestures to Amy and my stomach drops. So he heard the whole thing. Could this get any worse??! Well I mean of course it could, Marcus could be here. Stupid question. Don't ask questions like that; It always summons the worst, in movies. "You're pregnant!? Who- you know what, unimportant right now. Do you wanna sit down??"
I shake my head, taking a deep breath and holding my hand out to Isaac. "No, I'm fine. I have a test to do. Water, Isaac?"
"Here." He hands me the bottle, and I go to disappear back into the cubicle before jumping back away again, remembering that Amy still needs to go and gesturing for her to go, ridiculously enough. She shakes her head and gestures back, like I'm crazy, to take it instead.
I do so and lock myself in, starting to chug the whole bottle.
A blessed silent moment passes... before Jonah speaks. "Is the 4th test really necessary?- "
"For the love of god- Let me take the fourth goddamn test for fucks sake!"
___TIME SKIP___
"... so what is it?" Amy asks 10 minutes later, breaking the deafening silence, as I sit back down on the toilet seat and hold my face in my hands again.
"... Positive... "
Isaac sighs. "Who would have guessed, really?"
No one tells him to shut up. He's right. But also no one agrees, because I'm a fucking 23 year old pregnant girl and I will kill them.
"So... what now?" Amy asks, speaking to the room, but expecting me to answer.
"Well, I'd like less people to be here, honestly." I pipe up, removing my hands from my mouth to speak clearer.
"Done. Isaac, Jonah, get out."
"What? I was here before you... lady." Isaac exclaims, offended, but a moment later I hear the door close, anyway. I assume it had something to do with Amy's signature resting bitch face- cranked up to eleven. "We'll just wait out here, then! Yell if you need us."
"Yep... " Amy responds to him, sounding exhausted and I can totally imagine her rolling her eyes right now. She takes a deep breath, and sighs it out. I hear her rest carefully down into the chair Isaac vacated. For a moment she thankfully says nothing, and I do wonder whether I should... but I don't know what to so say. So I just stay hidden in the cubicle, silent until Amy takes another deep breath and asks the question. "Who is it?"
I take a deep breath, knowing that once I say it I cant take it back, while on the other hand... its done, anyway. He's already the father and I cant change that (Would I if I could, though?) but telling Amy may either make or break my confidence in having him as the dad of my kid. Not that I have a choice... I just know that Amy's going to be worried about it and I don't know if I can handle the criticism right this moment.
Finally I spit it out though. Marcus.
...
"Oh- wow."
Uncomfortable, I shift on the closed toilet seat. "Yeah."
Her voice gets higher, clearly fake and trying to sound like this is better then she really feels it is. My heart plummets into my stomach like a terrible roller coaster. "Well, that's... " She pauses, searching for a safe word to use, assumedly. "Great!"
"... 'great?" For some reason that word, and Amy's tone... hits something wrong, in me. Panic flickers deep in my chest and my stare on the wall gets colder, harder. "... you think this is 'great'? Really? You? No, you don't. Do you hear yourself? 'Great'. Puh! This is Marcus. 'Been to jail' Marcus. 'Ex Con' Marcus. 'Creator and CEO of BOOB CHEESE', Marcus. Marcus who shits in the shower and thinks breastfeeding is akin to whipping your dick out in public, Marcus who has a tattoo of his mother on his back for Valentines day- "
Okay so maybe I'm just picking on him because I'm inadequate, because I don't have the time for a baby, because if I'm trusted with this perfect thing then I will ruin it... I'll pick work, instead of love, and they'll grow up with less of it then they should have and I'll be to blame...
But I don't want to address that yet. I cant.
"Y/N."
"Neither of us even have the money for this." I'm panicking again. "He lives with his mother! And- what if he gets mad... " I suddenly get worried, my eyes go round and I cover my mouth. "I really like him Amy. I cant have him mad at me. Not for this. Not him. Please don't let him hate m- "
"Y/N! Calm the fuck down, okay, right now. Don't speak. Just... take some deep breathes okay? First of all, Marcus is not going to be 'mad' at you. He's sure as hell is not going to hate you. You're spiralling, just take some long breaths." Amy makes it sound like a ridiculous idea with her tone, that he might be mad or he might hate me. I do as she says as she talks; take deeeeeep breaths. Slowly, I start to clam down. "He might be shocked, yeah, but he's- he's not like that. He's an idiot, not a total asshole. Take it from me, I know what I'm talking about here. I promise you. Whether he'll be good at being a parent, is... debatable." Everything she says makes sense. And she would know- you've met Adam. "But he'll be there, at the very least.
And... and you'll be a great mum, anyway."
I feel my heartbeat start to slow down again as I breath. I close my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest and rest back against the wall, carefully.
I really hope she's right on that second part.
"... thank you."
___OUTSIDE THE BATHROOM___
Jonah rubs his neck in nervousness at his sister in the bathroom dealing with something like this, pacing around the small hallway area before turning to Isaac. He raises his dark eyebrows. "So, do you know... wh-who?? I mean... the guy, that- I mean, does he work here, or... ???"
"Its Marcus." Isaac pulls out a bag of trail mix from his vest pocket and starts picking through, standing by the bathroom calmly. The brother to whom he just broke such detrimental news - that his sister, has Marcus White of BOOB CHEESEs baby inside her, - widens his eyes until they're more like dinner plates. "Yeah, they've been talking for a while, man. You didn't know?"
"I- I just thought she wasn't interested in... guys... " All her time must be busy with balancing both school and work, plus her friends... how can she possible have had time to... But on the other hand, he realises that its a bit naïve to think that his younger sister still isn't interested in 'boys'. Part of it might have been wishful thinking.
Isaac barks out a laugh. Its a stale, dry sound that makes Jonah really uncomfortable. "She also went out with Tate. Had a bit of a thing for Sayid for a while, too... "
"What!?- "
"Jonah!" At Amy's exit from the bathroom, he calms down immediately and straightens up. She raises her brows at him. She nods into the bathroom. "She wants you."
Yep- it takes him about 2 seconds to fly into the bathroom... to find his sister still hidden in the cubicle. He sighs, pressing his hand against the door. "Y/N? Amy said you wanted me. Do you want me to get you something to eat? Its just, I'm the only one who knows your snack preferences... and maybe we shouldn't eat in here, cuz its kinda gross... but if you want to, that's cool too!"
She doesn't respond for a minute, silent apart from the careful peeling of tape from the cubicle door.
Then the peeling sounds stop. A moment later her voice, sounding small and tentative as if just saying this would open Pandora's box, slips out. "... how're mum and dad gonna react?"
Its a rhetorical question. They both know it'll be bad - and they'll like Marcus even less, - , but its said so he knows what she's worried about. He sighs and leans back on the door. "Well very, very badly. But that doesn't matter right now. I'll take care of them."
"How valiant." Her voice is still small, quiet. But she sounds less scared; She always believes her big brother. Even when she knows logically that he cant protect her from them. Not their parents.
"Well, I try."
"... hm."
___TIME SKIP, BACK OUTSIDE OF THE BATHROOM___
"She is not leaving that bathroom," Isaac shakes his head. Its been an hour, and they've all been in there with her a couple times but she has not left the cubicle. Not even peaked her head out. She hasn't even e a t e n anything while she's been in there. Its starting to worry them. "Maybe we should go get Marcus."
Immediately Jonah looks up from his phone - having been reading up on pregnancy. What is going to start happening to his sister, now?? - and shakes his head, firmly. "No, she'll tell him when she feels comfortable with it. We aren't doing that."
"Yeah, it isn't up to us." Amy agrees, while still looking like on a deep, unsympathetic level that is tired of standing here... she definitely wants to drag Marcus here. But she also knows that Jonah is, unfortunately, a n n o y i n g l y, right.
Isaac heaves a deep, frustrated huff and gets comfortable on the floor.
___TIME SKIP: 3 HOURS LATER___
Finally, Jonah breathes in a deep, exhausted breath and puts his phone away. That's enough of that. He's sufficiently disgusted. He looks down the hallway, out to the store. Then to Amy playing solitaire on her phone and Isaac drawing slowly on the ground. "... Well, I mean, it's Marcus's baby too, right? He should know... right?"
"Mhm,"
"Yep, that's right."
"And... besides, Y/N might need him, right? Maybe he could get her out."
"You make some good points."
"I just wish they weren't points we already mentioned." Amy looks up from her phone and turns it off, flashing an sarcastic, displeased kind of smile. "Earlier."
"Yeah well... " He rolls his shoulders, looking away from Amy's piercing gaze- god, her face is like a loaded gun with no safety. And he's totally into it. He coughs, then whispers. "So, who wants to go get him??"
"Not it."
"I would, but ah... nah. I'm down for the count, down here."
"So... me."
Amy nods, making a 'shoo'-ing gesture with her hand. "Yep, you, Jiminy Cricket. You made us stay here for hours- you go get Marcus."
Looking to Isaac for help, Jonah is just met with the deadest eye's he has ever come upon, so he eventually sighs deeply, wiping sweaty hands on his jeans. "Fff-fine. Wait here."
___IN THE WAREHOUSE___
"Uh, hello? Hi- have you seen Marcus anywhere? Wh- No? Well if you see him can you tell him I'm looking for him? Its about Y/N."
The warehouse worker with the nametag reading 'Nigel' that Jonah's never spoken to before in his life and who prior to his words, had the new deadest eyes that Jonah has ever seen, suddenly beams- a twinkle of evil mischief in his eyes. "Oooooh, cats outta the bag, huh?"
Jonah blinks. "What?"
"You found out about Marcus and your sister, and now you're gonna beat him up? I was waiting for this moment." Nigel clarifies, actively looking around the room for Marcus now as Jonah rushes to explain that no, that is not what he's here for. Please don't say that so loudly- "HEY RICO! You seen Marcus around?? Y/N's brother's here to deliver an ass beating." Half a second passes while Jonah's ears ring from Nigel's screeching before something new apparently occurs to the warehouse worker as his eyes widen and he turns again to who must be Rico. "And you owe me 20 bucks!! Told ya he'd come!"
How often is Y/N in this place? Just seems weird, these guy's saying her name so casually... Jonah's forehead crinkles in thought as Rico rolls his eyes and groans, walking off to assumedly find Marcus. I'm learning a lot about my sister, today... Not sure how I feel about it...
Jesus Christ, has she eaten the cheese, too??!
Jonah doesn't get a moment to panic about that particular bit of nightmare material before he realises Nigel is still standing, awkwardly now, arms straight at his sides and eyebrows raised expectantly, right by him. Watching him, instead of returning to his job. Jonah raises his own eyebrows back; Shrugging. Like, what?? What do you want?
Nigel just just shrugs and shakes his head back passive aggressively, crossing his arms. Like, he doesn't know. Fine, we'll just stand in silence, then...
"Jonah! What's up, buddy? Visiting me in the warehouse- this is so nice! Want me to take my break now, cuz we totally can. Just let me wrap one last thing up and then we'll be back in my car, together. Listening to tunes; Ya know. Guy buddy stuff." T h a n k f u l l y, Marcus seems to rush from wherever he was in the depths of shelf-land when Rico apparently found him and cuts off the awkward stand off between the two men, dropping a hand on Jonah's shoulder and beaming. "What up, man?"
Quick to turn away from Nigel and get to what his mission really is at the moment, Jonah graciously ignores the touchy greeting... despite the awkwardness on his end and the fact that Nigel is still there, watching. "Actually, I wanted to talk about, uh, Y/N."
Marcus' eyes immediately widen and his eyebrows raise, taking his hand off Jonah in favour of ringing his hands and stepping back nervously himself. "Oh, man... you found out, didn't you? Did she tell you? Cuz like, I know the bro code says its not cool to bone your friend's sister but- "
"Ah, ah, ah!" No, no, no, Jonah does not want to hear those words. No. "No, um. That's fine, whatever. Y/N's sexuality is her own. But- "
"Its a ruse, Marcus. He's here to kick your ass." Nigel insists, still very much there despite everything about this situation having nothing to do with him and instead just freaks Marcus out more as the warehouse head's eyes go even wider and he takes another step back- raising his hands in surrender.
"No, no! Nigel!- That's... no. I'm not here to kick anyone's ass! The asses here are all perfectly safe, I promise. Okay?" When Nigel's expression doesn't change a lick, Jonah gives up and just gestures off in a random direction. "Nigel, could you give us a minute, here?"
"What, so you can jump my boy here alone?"
"Alone?? Who's alone?" Jonah is getting increasingly irritated. "We're literally surrounded by other warehouse workers!! Ones who are actually doing their jobs, by the way. Maybe you should- "
Marcus finally intercepts and pats Nigel's shoulder, getting his attention from looking confrontationally at Jonah and smiles relatively softly at him. "Its okay, Nigel. If Jonah wants to kick me in my junk once- he's kinda entitled to it. Bro code and everything. Why don't you get back to work? I got this. Thanks, though." Nigel leaves, with that, but certainly not without giving Jonah one last greasy look over his shoulder and an 'Okay, Marcus. But call me, if... you know... '. Along with an extra evil squinty look at Jonah. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks bud. I know I can count on you." When Nigel is finally out of the picture, Jonah feels fatigued and just wants to get back to Y/N. At least its just him and Marcus now, though, so they should be doing that very soon. "So! What'd you want? If you really do wanna hurt me, then, can we go outside? By my car ideally, so I can drive the emergency room right after? Or you, cuz I mean... you're small, man. And I'll have to defend myself. Even if its fair. Its instinct, you know? You get it."
"I'm not gonna hurt you?? Why does everyone think- " What is wrong with people here? Do I give off a confrontational aura right now, or something??? "Ugh, whatever. Y/N needs you- she's been in the bathroom for 4 hours. We did try to get her out ourselves, but our attempts have been... l-lacklustre." Lacklustre? Okay, even he is surprised to hear that one come out of him.
"She needs... me? Like, she said that?" All of a sudden Marcus' expression changes. Worry wells in his eyes and his forehead creases, and he glances at the door out to the floor before returning to Jonah, looking restless now as his body fights with him to go, immediately. "Oh, what's wrong with her? Is she sick??"
"Uhh... in a manner of speaking... Look, I just think she needs to see you right now."
That makes the taller man move towards the door, clipboard dropped on a box on his way. "Of course; Right away man. Come on, lets go see her. So you really don't know what's wrong?? Should we pick up some root beer on the way?" Jonah follows behind, hand on his chin as he answers Marcus' questions. Wow... He did not expect such a response from him... He... kinda respects it, in a way. Its a pleasant surprise, at least.
___BACK TO YOU AND YOUR POV. God I hate third person. Its so hard, I want to cry___
"Y/N? You in here??" As soon as that voice registers in my mind, my heart beat skips in the worst way and I almost start to full on panic all over again, but thankfully instead just freeze and only widen my eyes. What the hell? The door to the employee bathroom closes as Marcus shuts himself in and you watch his boots appear under the door to your stall. "What's going on? Jonah couldn't tell me what's wrong with you," Jonah. I glare at the stall door. I'm going to kill him. "But I brought you some root beer for you- a total cure all. I promise. And some (Enter your favourite snack) cuz I know you like them. Here," He stretches up and holds the items over the stall door, and, feeling genuinely touched that Marcus was sweet enough to bring these, I get up off the toilet seat and accept them from him.
"Thank you, that's really nice. I'm... not sure, that the root beer will fix this, though." I speak carefully, sitting down and holding the items in my lap close to my stomach.
"Course it will! I poured some in Mateo's ear once when he had an infection... I think it worked?"
Probably not. "This is a lot bigger then an ear infection... Kinda permanent, too?"
"Oh god, is it cancer?" He pauses for a moment but before I can put that particular worry at rest... or remind him that cancer is not always permanent... he makes it worse, and I fight not to facepalm. "The plague??! Its still a thing, you know. Jesus, its not that is it? Please tell me its not that! That would be the worst!" I mean... yeah, it would.
"Oh- no no! No, nothing like that!! I'm just pregnant!"
... wait.
Immediately I want to take back my words and say them differently- because is that really the way I just broke it to him?? Oh my god. My hand slaps over my mouth- then pulls back an inch to speak again, but is definitely on guard to slap again and prohibit anymore stupid to come out. "I mean! ... N-no big deal?" My voice gets tiny. "At least its not the plague, right?" I'm just making this worse, so I cover my mouth again.
Marcus does not respond, and I can imagine his face crystal clear, without having to look. He would have his mouth hanging open like a cartoon character, his shoulders have dropped, eyes are blank, and he's pale as hell. Oh god... oh god oh go oh god... I cover my whole face now and just try to breath evenly, and not talk anymore. I was right! He's not going to even like me anymore, this is going to ruin how he looks at me- I cant have Marcus look at me coldly. I really cant.
Finally, a few minutes later the door to the bathroom creaks open again and I know it's not Marcus escaping because I can still see his boots under the door and they haven't shifted in a while. Amy's voice rings out, too loudly in the stock silent bathroom. "... everything okay in here? We haven't heard anything in a while- Marcus?"
He doesn't respond.
I hear Amy walk in now, her heels click-click-clicking on the tiled floor. "Marcus? Marcus, are you okay?" She snaps her fingers, assumedly near his unresponsive face. I slip my fingers down to just cover my mouth, straining my ears to hear any movement from him. "Wake up!" Another snap. "Marcus wake up."
All of a sudden I hear shifting and his boots shift slightly and I squeeze my eyes slowly shut- now he speaks. Now's the part where he speaks. Now's the worst part! He either leaves, or stays. "Uhh... I'm awake, okay?"
...
Amy and I are both startled by the seriousness in Marcus' voice- Amy evidently in the way she responds, backing out of the room. "... Okay! Um, well talk. To Y/N. I'm... just gonna... wait outside... "
Marcus just grunts in response, turning back to my stall door. Then he wraps his knuckles against the surface and I flinch- unsure whether to unlock it and be a grown up or stay hidden away like I really, really want to. Its not like I'm afraid he'll hurt me or anything, not at all! Its just... I don't like to disappoint people and I'm terrified at seeing his face. "Y/N? Can you come out, now?"
"Ummm... no... " I wince, keeping my eyes closed to the world. As if that'll hide me from it.
"No???" He asks, bewildered.
"No... "
Marcus' voice isn't at all as cold-serious as it was when he spoke to Amy, but still. There is still definitely an unfamiliar focused quality about it, and its making me nervous. "What? Come on. What do you think's gonna happen? I'll yell at you? Come on, that's not gonna happen; Come out. "
"I'd really rather stay in here... " I fire back.
"Don't be scared of me." He really does sound trustworthy... but that fear, man; She's one unrelenting bitch.
My voice goes high pitched when I answer, too vehement to be the truth. "I-I'm not! Silly! Why would I be scared of you??" My eyes open up again and I just wince. Such a liar.
"Aghh... " I just listen to him shifting around out there looking for something for a bit, or thinking of what to say next, while I myself sit and think comfortable that there is nothing that will make this worse, seeing as I'm safe and sound in this toilet stall... before his boots disappear from my vision under the door and I hear him disappear out of the bathroom then return again almost immediately, going into the stall beside me and putting something down on the toilet seat in there.
Oh my god- he wouldn't dare! He would not-
Then all of a sudden he's climbing over the wall and I have to jump off the toilet seat and press closely to the stall door, root beer and snack still hugged in my arms like teddy bears. Marcus eases himself over the wall and onto the toilet seat before my eyes, then jumps off it to the tiles again in front of me, while I gape wide at him. "I- what- Marcus!"
"Well you weren't coming out! It was my only option!" He exclaims, and now that I see him I do relax a bit. There's no coldness in his face now, and there is certainly no unfamiliar, unfriendly seriousness, either, seeing as the man just climbed into a toilet stall to get to me. Very Marcus-y. I slowly let out a relieved breath, which is still also a 'calm down' breath as the pressure is certainly still on. I can see him, but he can also see me.
Eager to avoid the issue at hand, I snap. "You might've kicked me!"
"No, I wouldn't have." He makes a defensive 'pshhh' sound immaturely, waving me off with a hand before resting them both on his hips and looking right at me. I give him my own dubious look right back- What makes him so sure??? He rolls his eyes. "Whatever, anyway." Suddenly, a beautiful big smile spreads across his face; the kind that still makes me a little bit weak and almost forces me to smile back. Even now, in this situation. "This is great."
And then I'm speechless, mouth closed and eyebrows furrowed together. ... Great? What? Quickly he moves to clarify, before grinning that goofy grin of his. "The pregnancy! Man, I've seen enough girlfriends get pregnant over the years... its nice to see one having my baby." A moment passes and my system is just registering this reaction - not even relieved, yet. Just in shock and a little less anxiety, - before he drops his smile, raises an eyebrow, and adds: "It is mine, right?"
Still shocked, I answer as if the question was more on the lines of 'That was my cupcake that I just ate, right?'. Meaning, probably too casually. "Oh- oh, yeah! Abs- absolutely." He doesn't seem to mind.
He beams again. "Great! We'll be awesome parents- that is assuming you wanna keep the baby, right?"
"Uh... " All I want to say is yes, right now. Even as the complications of raising a baby right now linger in the forefront of my mind. But at the same time I'm looking at Marcus and I just want to. I want to have the baby, and I want to do it with him... in the moment, he's the absolute perfect person to do it with. I choke out, "Yeah."
He fist pumps the air at that response, and finally the relief starts to settle in my stomach and my heart... a smile grows on my own face. My eyes even get a little watery with the powerful relief. "YES! That's right, I'm gonna be a Dad. Whoo! We gotta tell everyone. But how, do you think? Should we get a cake or something that says it in icing?? Or should we just go out there and announce it over the speakers? Or should we just not tell anyone? Cuz on the one hand, I wanna tell everyone- but on the other... I don't really want Carol to know you're pregnant. That could be bad."
"Um... " I don't even know what to say. I just want to hug him, so I do. I step forward and wrap my arms around his middle, burying my face in his coveralls and the body I've become so familiar with over the past months that smells so uniquely - and not always so pleasantly, but definitely comforting, - like Marcus and squeeze tight, closing my eyes. He smells like that 'new furniture' smell that's really just 'warehouse', and an unfamiliar home, and a little bit of B.O.
Thank god.
Amy was right. Of course she was. Even when I was stressing, I knew the image I had of Marcus getting mad about this didn't feel quite right, but... you have to prepare yourself for the worst, you know? I'm just so glad he's the way he is though, as he wraps his arms around my shoulders in return and bends his neck to press his cheek to my head. "I'm really happy about this. And I know we haven't figure anything out. With us, with money, with anything actually, but... we will, okay? I'll do my best, I promise."
"... Thank fuck." I chuckle, although its muffled and get a similar sound from him in return. "I'm really happy, too." He rubs my back in that rough, comforting way that guys do and I might as well melt; He's too wonderful. I bite my bottom lip, thinking my next move through before taking a deep breath and deciding to take the plunge and ask. "... hey... um... b-boyfriend?"
Marcus immediately pulls me back and holds me at arms length, a crazy-big grin splitting his face. "Oh, yes! This day just keeps getting better and better; Come on, we definitely have to tell everyone this, lets go." Excitedly, he slips past me and unlocks the stall door finally, but pauses and turns back to me before its pushed open at all. I tilt my head in curiosity- what's up? "Unless... congrats sex?"
...
Oh my god- a snort, transforming into a laugh slips out of me before I can stop it. I pull him closer by the front of his coveralls, grinning at both the idea and how silly he is and gently tug him down closer to my level. I close my lips and knit my eyebrows together understandingly. "... How about you come over after work? First we should probably deal with the others? You know, the ones hanging outside right now?"
"Oh, yeah, probably. Oh man- I'll be basically related to Jonah now!" Oh- well- not exactly but... okay fine. If it makes the guy happy. "Ha ha, look forward to seeing this face every Christmas, bro." Oh boy.
I just grin at that - Goodluck Jonah, - before leaning up the rest of the way and pressing a careful kiss to Marcus' lips which he immediately returns with enthusiasm, hands abandoning the stall lock and collecting my waist instead.
This is going to be okay.
It will work out. I hope.
BONUS:
Later in the breakroom while Marcus is busy with talking to some of the other Cloud 9 employees about the news, Jonah takes the seat next to me and I raise my eyebrows at him- he's obviously dying to say something. I know my brother at least that much. He sighs.
"So... you... haven't eaten the cheese, right? I mean, I have but I'm hoping you haven't been put through such, uh, cruel and unusual torture... "
"Oh, no. Absolutely not. I managed to convince him it was cannibalism for women." I grin, returning immediately to my Cloud 9 Caesar salad as Jonah sighs long and hard in relief, relaxing back into his chair.
Jonah wakes up with a headache like he’s got a hangover. He groans, putting his arm over his eyes as the dim light of his bedroom tries to burn out his retinas. Even with all of his thickest curtains closed and fastened together, the sunlight is still too harsh. Must be the way it’s reflecting off the snow.
He falls out of bed more so than gets out of bed, and lays on the floor for a moment. He reaches up to his nightstand and manages to pull down his phone, which bonks him on the temple on it’s way down. That gets him to wake up, with a shout and a dash of fight-or-flight response.
He sighs, rubbing his eyes. He doesn’t even feel very rested! Granted, he did stay up most of the night listening to a new podcast he discovered... fascinating stuff, wonderful deep-dives into mythologies and legends from all over the world. Something a little lighter to relax to than his usual political commentary go-tos.
He stands up, and scrolls through his playlist until he finds a good morning podcast. He heads into the bathroom, ready to grapple with his hair to get it nice and presentable-
He looks into the mirror and freezes up. His hair is perfect. Exactly how he always strives to get it to look, and always falls just one stray strand short of. But now? Not a flyaway in sight.
“I could have sworn I took a shower,” he mumbles to himself. Maybe he just forgot to use shampoo? No, he would never. Maybe too much conditioner, then. But he’s always so careful not to overuse...
“I guess it saves time,” he says aloud. “No looking a gift horse in the mouth.” He picks up his toothbrush and gets to scrubbing, but pauses when he feels something stringy in his mouth.
He spits out the toothpaste foam, expecting a hair.
Instead, it’s a scraping of plastic from his toothbrush, and several bristles.
He stares for a moment, and then opens his mouth. Does he have something completely alarming stuck in his teeth? Did he somehow eat something metal?
... No, not as far as he can see. Nothing is out of the ordinary. Absolutely nothing. Completely fine.
On an unrelated note, the two little cuts in his lower lip that are perfectly aligned with his canines are starting to sting from the mint, so he hurries up and finishes brushing his teeth.
The sun blinds him as he drives to work, and he has to manage mostly by listening to the traffic around him (which is absurdly loud today, he can hear it with his windows rolled up).
And the sunlight is harsh on his skin, too. Does he need to invest in better sunscreen? Maybe he should revisit that article he read about SPF effectiveness and how to choose the best one...
He gets into the parking lot and parks his car. He opens the door, and promptly slams it shut again with a yelp. His hands didn’t just feel burnt, it did burn!
Definitely needs to up his SPF! And research sudden sunlight sensitivity... his hand is bright pink.
He sits in the car for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. And then there’s a knock on his window. He startles, but relaxes when he sees it’s just Glenn. He rolls his window down just a bit. “Um, hi. Good-good morning, I mean.”
“Heyyyy, Jonah,” Glenn says with a smile. “So, um, I noticed you’re stuck in your car?”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, no, I just um. Well you see I-I, um-”
“Need a hand?” Glenn’s smile is a bit strained, for some reason. “Because of the sun?”
“... Well I mean if-if you’re offering then it would be... rude to say no...”
Glenn opens up an umbrella, making Jonah shout in surprise. “Where did that-”
“Come on in under the shade!”
Jonah hesitates a moment, put off by Glenn’s... odd, energy. But he can’t stay in his car forever, so he gets out and walks in with Glenn under the safety of the umbrella.
“Thanks,” he says when they get inside. “I just um, I need to update my sunscreen, you know? And I just didn’t want to risk... my skin...”
“No, no, I completely get it,” Glenn assures. “The warm, life-giving rays of the sun can be very harsh sometimes!”
“... Y-yeah. Yeah.”
“Hey, um, Jerusha and I got you a gift, actually. She was so upset by the whole attack thing yesterday-”
“Oh, you guys didn't have to get me something-”
“Well, we wanted to, so um, here!”
Glenn hands Jonah a very, very wide-brimmed hat. There’s a little bat needle-pointed onto the sides.
“Oh! Wow! Um, it’s... so big!”
“Maybe it’ll help until you update your sunscreen?” Glenn sounds hopeful. Too hopeful for Jonah to turn down. And... it would be functional, at least...
“Yes! Yes, I think this’ll be great for that, um, thank you! Thank you both, send Jerusha my-my thanks. For this. I can um, see she put some effort into customizing it! Just-just out of curiosity... why a bat?”
“Oh, well um, because of your situation.”
“... Situation, I don’t-”
“You know. The reason you burned?”
“... I still don’t understand-”
“HEYYYY, GUYS!” Amy butts in quite enthusiastically. “How’s it going this morning?”
“Oh, good!” Glenn says with a smile and a nod. “I was just giving Jonah this hat Jerusha made for him, because of his whole condition about being a vam-”
“OH HEY, Glenn, I actually really need your help with something!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Come over here, with me, to... softlines!”
“Oh, okay. I’ll talk with you later, Jonah!”
“Okay! Buh-”
Amy drags Glenn away, leaving Jonah with his hand up in an unfinished wave.
“... Bye. I-I was saying... bye.”
Jonah looks at the hat, and heads off to the breakroom.
“Well I, I did just get new ultra-soft shoes, very comfortable but I’m not sure about the long-term arch support... but um, what do I have?”
“Um... standards, for your fashion. Sometimes you have them, sometimes you don’t... usually only when you’re chasing, after... someone to flirt with.”
“Oh. ... You-you thought I was trying to flirt with that woman, last night?”
Cheyenne shrugs. “You did literally chase her into the parking lot.”
“I-I guess I did. But I wasn’t attracted to her I mean, I wasn’t attracted to any customers yesterday, even though there were a few good looking ones, that made me laugh... but-but I’m not- I mean, I wasn’t flirting with anyone-”
Jonah babbles on for a good five minutes before Glenn finally comes in and starts the meeting.
Jonah sighs and rubs his eyes as he mops up a puddle of... it’s either slushie vomit or watered-down blood (though he’s leaning towards slushie vomit, something in him just says it definitely isn’t blood).
He leans against the mop and closes his eyes for a moment. So tired... he felt okay this morning, but as the day creeps on he feels less and less awake...
“Excuse me?”
Jonah startles, yelping and dropping the mop. The customer jumps back as the mop drops.
“I am so sorry!” Jonah exclaims. “I um, I-I think I feel asleep, um, how can I-”
Jonah pauses, at a loss for words.
The customer, a man around Jonah’s age, looks concerned. “You alright, man?”
“Huh?” Jonah’s face feels hot (the first bit of warmth he’s felt in two days). “Oh, um, I-I just, that was very unprofessional of me.”
The customer shrugs. “It’s a Cloud 9, professional isn’t really expected.”
Jonah chuckles. He clears his throat. “So, um, how can-can I help you?”
“I was looking for the recycled paper towels?”
“Oh, yeah, um... let me help you find those. They’re only half recycled, though.”
“I know. But you do what you can on a budget, right?”
“Right, yeah,” Jonah laughs. He can’t stop looking at the guy’s face... why does he feel all jittery?
“Um, here we are. The closest Cloud 9 gets to activism.” Jonah sticks his hands in his pockets and rocks on his heels. His mouth feels dry. Why is his mouth so dry? He licks his lips quickly while the customer isn’t looking.
“Better than I’ve been doing lately. Haven’t done a protest in months.”
“What kind of protests do you go to?” Why did he say that? He’s going to embarrass himself, oh no-
“Mostly wage labor ones, workers rights kind of things. Trying to get a union going at my job.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, well, I know unions don’t have a great reputation in a lot of places but-”
“No! I mean uh, I love unions! I-I’ve been wanting one here since I started working! Just uh, don’t tell my boss that, hah.”
The customer smiles at Jonah, and Jonah wonders if the floor actually fell out from under him or if that’s all in his head.
“Well, thanks for helping me find this. Maybe we can talk about helping each other’s unions efforts if I see you again.”
“Yeah!” Jonah flashes a bright smile. “Sure! Sounds-sounds great! Um was really nice to meet you!”
The customer smiles again and walks away, and Jonah needs to lean against the isle.
He lets out a heavy breath, wondering what the hell is going on and what he is feeling. He looks down the isle to see if anyone is watching him.
Mateo, Cheyenne, Marcus, and Dina are all staring.
Jonah quickly walks away, shame burning his cheeks. So they noticed something, too.
“-looked like he was about to eat him alive-”
He’s too busy being completely embarrassed by hearing them whisper that to wonder how he just heard it from three isles away.
Jonah wakes up with a start as a cart rolls right over his leg. He shouts in pain and surprise, and then sighs at himself.
He peels the glue trap off of his face with a grimace. Cleaning the rat traps is a terrible time for his sudden and new case of what seems to be narcolepsy to strike. He sits up and rolls up his pant leg, expecting something nasty to greet him based on the crack he heard.
... Nothing. He frowns, and touches his leg. It doesn’t even sting.
“How did-”
“Jonah?”
Jonah looks up at Amy’s voice. She’s standing over him with a clipboard. “Oh, um... hi.”
“Hey. ... Why are you on the floor?”
“I was uh, cleaning the rat traps. And I... maybe fell asleep.”
“In the middle of the day?”
“... Yes...”
“Okay then. ... So um, I just... wanted to check in, for a minute. How’s it been going with customers?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just mean, have there been any... notable interactions, maybe, to throw an idea out there,” Amy says in her ‘I’m-hiding-the-real-reason-for-asking-this’ voice.
Jonah’s cheeks burn, and he’s sure he’s blushing. “They told you about that?”
“I... might’ve heard some gossip.”
“It-it was nothing, Amy. Really.”
“Are you sure? They said you keep looking at his neck-”
"Well I mean, he had a nice neck I-I guess but I was more looking at his face-”
“And that you licked your lips at him?”
“That-! My mouth was dry, and-and you know I hate chapped lips!”
“... And the hovering over him?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say hovering, more like just watching and... admiring... but that-that’s normal! I’ve been doing that since high school! A good ally normalizes these things, and-and when straight men, yeah, can admire other men in a-a completely! Normal way! Then it um, it helps... break down! The stereotypes!”
Amy looks... perplexed. She shakes her head. “Wait, what are we-”
“I mean, everyone does it, too! Like-like you! I’m sure you’ve looked at-at other woman, and admired their appearance, without feeling feelings for them, right?”
“Well, I guess, but- wait, Jonah, did you-”
“I mean we all wonder in college, right? But I don’t like, I mean there’s nothing wrong with liking both I just- I don’t, I wondered but I never-”
“Okay, um, this isn’t what I came over here to talk to you about-”
“Maybe there was a moment or two where I thought it might’ve been a thing but I-I never acted and if I did like both I would have acted on that, I think-”
“Okay! Um, you’re working through something right now, that is, not what I thought you were working through, so um, I’ll just check up on you later...”
Amy backs away as Jonah keeps recounting half-baked thoughts and unfinished sentences about his time in college and his roommates one friend who maybe had the best hair Jonah’s ever seen but their friendly hair-war was not flirting he swears...
Jonah doesn’t chew the carrot, just rolls it in his teeth as he stares at the wall, lost in thought.
“... Not hungry for you lunch?” Sandra asks tentatively.
Jonah shakes his head, only half-hearing her.
“... Are you hungry for something else? Like... a customer?”
Jonah stops, and pulls the carrot out of his mouth. “You heard about that too?”
Sandra’s eyes widen, and she shakes her head.
“You did! Did- does everyone know about that?”
“Well, it-it’s been sort of, floating around-”
Jonah groans, putting his head in his hands.
“... So um... are you?”
“What? No! No, I am not hungry for him, that’s objectifying. Not that I- I mean, I’m a straight man, I can’t, objectify another man, because that implies attraction. ... Unless I’m playing into toxic masculinity stereotypes by believing that...”
“I don’t think you have to worry about falling into masculinity stereotypes,” Carol pipes up from another table.
Jonah looks at her, annoyed. Her eyes widen and she looks away.
Jonah puts his head back into his hands. “This is a nightmare...”
Jonah sighs, slumping over onto the customer service counter. Garrett just looks at him, waiting for whatever Jonah has in store.
“... It normal for straight guys to admire other straight guys appearances, right?”
Garrett blinks. “Wow, just some casual conversation, huh?”
“Just- I mean, I know people are talking about-”
“You eyeing up that dude earlier like he was a steak?”
“... Yeah. That.”
“Dude, I don’t think this is the issue you should be focused on right now.”
“I know, I know! I’m in my thirties, I should have this figured out and be focusing on more important things-”
“Not what I meant, actually, I meant the superpowers-”
“-but I don’t know, I’ve never really had anyone point it out before! And-and now I can’t stop thinking like, am I? Attracted?”
“You know there’s nothing wrong if you are, right?”
“Yes, I do, I’ve been to a bunch of rallies and stuff.”
“Did you oogle dudes at those rallies?”
“NO! ... I mean I guess I observed and-and appreciated-”
“Yeah, you might just be on the gay spectrum, dude. I don’t know what else to tell you. Except that, uh, you just accidentally slapped my shoulder and you’re as cold as a bag of ice, so maybe that should be your crisis of the day.”
Jonah is staring off into space, rubbing his arm. It doesn’t seem like he heard Garrett at all. Garrett just sighs, and rolls away.
Jonah stays there, contemplating, for quite a while.
Jonah jerks awake. Again. God, why can’t he stay awake? ... Probably because he stayed up all night.
“No, Cheyenne.”
Jonah looks around. He peeks into the next isle, and then the next.
... Where the hell are Cheyenne and Amy? He can hear them so clearly...
“He’s like, totally oblivious to it!”
“He’ll realize it eventually, okay? It’s not some truth bomb we can just drop on him.”
“My friends drop truth bombs on me all the time, and it just brings us closer. Best bitches don’t lie to their best bitches.”
“... Right. But, it’s kind of something for him to take the time to process.”
“What if he doesn’t? He’s just gonna like, wander around forever making excuses and being all nervous and confused.”
“Well... then we’ll give him a push. But for now let’s just... give him some space. Let him come to terms with it on his own.”
Jonah is startled out of his accidental eavesdropping by hearing himself sniffle. He quickly wipes his eyes, sticks his hands in his pockets, and hurries away. He still doesn’t know how he heard them, maybe some kind of really weird echo or sound tunnel. So he goes to the other side of the store entirely and finds the chattiest customer he can.
He can feel Dina and Mateo staring at him as he restocks softlines. They whisper to each other, and he sighs and hangs his head. “You know, it makes it worse when you talk behind my back.”
Mateo yelps a little. He clears his throat and quickly composes himself. “Sorry. Uh, we were just talking about-”
“Yeah, no, I know. I’m... aware, okay? And I just would like to stop hearing about it for now, please.”
Mateo looks taken aback by the tiredness in Jonah’s voice, the... weary tone. Dina, however...
“Yeah, well, not exactly something to brush under the rug.”
“Why do you even care? It’s a me problem, okay?”
“Really? You think this doesn’t impact everyone?”
“How! Would it even do that?!”
“Well, let’s see! It made Mateo afraid, it made Amy all somber and worried about you, it made Glenn cry even more than usual-”
“It did?”
“He started a trust fund for your soul.”
“... Oh.”
Dina stops, her frown slowly becoming more confused. “You... didn’t realize that would happen?”
“... I don’t know, I guess I thought... thought he’d be more open-minded.”
“Glenn?”
Jonah takes a deep breath. Ugh, why’d it make his chest hurt? Why do his lungs feel like they don’t want the air?
The next thing he knows he’s done with softlines (it felt like he got done in the blink of an eye) and walking away. He swallows down the lump in his throat, and the urge to comfort eat. God, he’s craving a snack now. Well, he has all day, but he’s been... a little distracted.
“Excuse me? Hello? Hey!”
Jonah looks up at the customer, still feeling drained and empty.
“Finally, god. How useless do they let you people be around here? I’m looking for the shock collars, my dog keeps licking me when I tell him not to.”
“... That’s a really, really shitty thing to do to your dog.” Jonah doesn’t really mean to say it, but he’s just sort of on autopilot now.
For some reason, the customer doesn’t reply. Just stiffens.
“Follow me. I’ll sort you right out.” Jonah thinks he smiles at them. But he can’t be sure, because at that moment he blacks out.
Jonah shrugs his coat on, not looking anyone else in the eye as they all file out to clock out.
He waits until the very end, and clocks out last. Maybe he can avoid them all by waiting long enough?
Ugh, he can’t. He feels restless. Looking like another sleepless night already. Two in a row, great. Maybe that’s why he had that blackout. He still isn’t sure where the customer went, nor how he ended up in the No-Go zone of the Gardening Section...
Whatever. They were a jerk, anyway. Maybe he talked some sense into them? He did that during a blackout yesterday. Maybe it’s stress, then?
He keeps his head down as he thinks about it (trying to avoid some other, more introspective thoughts) and walks out.
He lifts his head as he exits the breakroom to find everyone standing in a group, smiling softly.
“Um... what’s going on?” He claps his hands behind his back. Please don’t let this be more teas-
“We know we’ve made you uncomfortable today,” Mateo pipes up. “And after talking to Garrett about your guys’s conversation, we realized we had the totally wrong idea about everything.”
Glenn steps forward and hugs Jonah. “I accept you no matter what,” he says firmly. “I would never start a fund to save your soul for being gay, that was a complete misunderstanding! You like whoever you like, Jonah!”
“And I didn’t mean to badger you,” Dina admits with her shoulder a little sunk. “I didn’t quite understand what you were going through in your head, and I made some assumptions. Wrong ones.”
“We all care about you, Jonah,” Amy says, prying Glenn off of the poor man. “Okay? We just want you to know that. Today we were being really, really shitty. But it won’t happen again.”
For the second time today, Jonah isn’t aware he’s crying until he hears himself sniffle.
“I just- I feel really, really stupid,” he admits, wiping his eyes with his palms. He laughs, not quite bitterly, but not happy. “I mean, I’m in my thirties. I-I had... so many obvious moments where I should have realized! How... oblivious, am I?”
There’s a bit of an awkward air to the group after that comment. But Amy hugs Jonah, and he feels a little... spark, in his chest. It’s nice.
His chest has felt pretty heavy and empty all day.
“Everyone comes to terms with stuff at their own pace,” Amy says. “I lived in an unhappy marriage for years because I couldn’t accept the obvious. What matters is that you got to this point of realization, okay?”
Jonah hugs back. He thinks he feels Amy shiver, but he brushes past it. They pull apart, and Jonah sniffs and wipes his eyes again.
“And I um. I-I don’t think I’m... fully, gay,” he says slowly. He hesitates, mouth open, the words stuck. “I think... I think I’m Bi.”
There’s a moment of silence. He smiles a little, and stands a bit straighter. That feels... really right. “I think I’m Bi,” he repeats.
Sandra claps for a second, but no-one joins in. She lowers her hands slowly.
“Wow! Hah! That feels- wow! God, that feels good! Um,, what-what now, though?”
Garrett shrugs. “Flirt with some dudes? Some people in-between dudes and chicks? I don’t know, man, it’s your life.”
“Your long, long life,” Dina mutters to herself.
“Right! Oh, yeah, uh... that guy! From earlier! I-I think I want to see him again. Okay, uh, I’m going to go home, and-and maybe research some local protests he might be at-”
Everyone groans a little.
“Protester Jonah is the preachiest Jonah,” Garrett says, shaking his head.
“Can he still be preachy? Wouldn’t that hurt?” Cheyenne whispers to Glenn.
Glenn shrugs. “I’ll ask Pastor Craig,” he whispers back.
Jonah doesn’t even notice. “Okay! I’m going to head home! I kinda feel like, I don’t know, like this is a whole new chapter in my life! Um, how do we- I mean how do- do we do a group hug, or-or maybe a high-five-”
“Or we just head home.”
“Yeah, no, Garrett’s right, head home. Let’s all head home!”
They all head out to their cars. Jonah gets into his, plops down into the drivers seat, and grins.
What a freeing realization! He doesn’t know how he missed it, it was all so obvious!
Well, as far as he knows, there’s no other huge life-revelations waiting for him. He’s figured it all out, finally.
He starts driving home, humming along with the radio as the car next to him keeps pace, despite being in the faster lane. He never understands why people do that when the roads are empty. He chuckles to himself. Maybe he’ll realize that Life Mystery tomorrow.
What he doesn’t realize, neither when he gets home nor when he wakes the next morning, is that he never turned his own radio on.
hello again, i’m back 🥳 could i request a sorta-part-two to phenomenon, perhaps at reader and marcus’ wedding, and reader is pregnant and beautiful 🥺 but then maybe she goes into labor at the wedding or the after party, and she delivers her baby then? ahh idk just some ideas!! feel free to change anything, i have full trust in you 🥲❤️ thanks so much !!!!
YESSS sorry I have been MIA lately, had to sort some things out but I'm back and ready to go <3333
Marcus White
Life Is A Many Splendored Thing
Prompts: ''A little bit of me, a little bit of you.'', ''I feel so fat.''
Summary: Y/n goes into labour at her wedding reception.
Character: Marcus White x Reader
Warnings: pregnancy, pain, mention of dilation, implied childbirth, fluff
When Marcus asked me to marry him, I'd have thought that day would come after the baby. But here I am, clad in white lace, looking like a dump truck.
I know in my heart it doesn't matter to him what I looked like, he just wanted marriage so badly. I know I shouldn't feel deflated like this, on the happiest day of my life but I can't help but stare at myself in the bathroom mirror.
As we were short on money trying to save up for our little arrival, we had decided to decorate the store and have our reception their. After all, there wouldn't be too much drinking this time.
The ceremony was beautiful, our vows, albeit a little silly were the highlights. He makes me laugh and cry and swoon at the same time. How could one man be crafted so perfectly?
I stare at my ring, which puts a smile back on my face.
The door bursts open as my maid of honour comes bustling through.
''Okay, we gotta hike up that dress so you can get back out there, we are running a tight schedule here, Y/n/n.'' Dina, my love, my life.
''Okay.'' I muster a half-hearted reply.
''What's up? I don't think I've ever seen you this boring.'' She quirks her eyebrow.
''I just- I feel so fat.'' She takes a moment to answer.
''Duh, you're pregnant.''
''I'm just not feeling the romance when I know I could pop out Marcus' boulder baby at any minute.'' I fluff my hair and pinch my cheeks, an attempt to make myself look less tired.
''Look, all I can say is that you have the life any woman would want. A perfect marriage, perfect baby, to a- well, a questionable guy. But you both love each other, there's no infidelity, lying, hurting. You two were meant to be, as much as I hate getting mushy...I-I'm proud of you both. You are beautifully pregnant, you're glowing, maternity really suits you. I know Marcus feels the same.'' Dina's words bring tears to my eyes, surrounded by Chey's beautiful eyeshadow,
''Wow, Dina...maybe you should have written my vows.'' I push out a laugh, letting go of my insecurity. She tries to hide her watery ducts but I saw them, I give her a full smile.
A shooting pain flutters around my uterus, like a nailbed playing tennis with my stomach. I let out a yelp, clutching onto the bathroom sink.
''D-Dina, we may have a problem.'' I feel my water break.
''Oh, shit! You hang tight for a second.'' She sprints out the room and onto the store floor.
''Dina!''
A minute later she arrives with Marcus and Amy.
''Oh my god! Are they coming?'' Marcus smiles wide, his toothy grin soothing me slightly.
''Seems like it.'' I grunt.
''Awe, now we get to share out anniversary with their birthday.'' He kneels down to kiss my forehead, taking a bobble out of my perfectly styled hair to tie it out of my face.
''Damn, I wanted you-'' I take a deep pained breath, ''wanted you all to myself.'' Our childbirth instructor had told us to converse to distract the pain.
''This baby is is going to come really quickly, sweetie, you're already dilated around 8cm.'' Amy sucks in through her teeth at the thought of my baby being born on the floor of Cloud 9.
''Just an-another thing Chey and I will have in common.'' I laugh but let out a cry as more blows are sent to my body.
{time skip}
I held them in my arms, wrapped in a blanket from the bed time baby isle.
''They are perfect, you know.'' Marcus' sweet voice sounds from next to me, as we sat in the most comfortable chairs waiting for an ambulance to arrive, of course we would have to take our baby to the hospital for checks.
''That's because they take after you, I can see it already.'' I wipe the stray hair from my sweaty face.
''Wanna know what I see? A little bit of me, a little bit of you, perfect balance.'' He tilts my chin up, my gaze catching his.
''You're perfect.'' I whisper leaning up for a chaste kiss.
a/n if there are any spelling mistakes I apologise, I wrote this at 3:36 am and didn't proof read :/ xoxo
