#willowen

[wirebum]

had to stop after 1 ep of the take that documentary cause i couldn’t stop crying over them

[wirebum]

don’t know about you guys but this is really fucking gay x

bonus mark being a weirdo

[haventwesaiditall]

i just hope mark is OK

[pinkprincessforever]

tw for extreme daddy issues but i'm so low at the minute idk where else to talk about it😭 he said he would respect my boundaries and wishes but i could still contact him whenever i want and when i actually do as a total last resort bc of money or lack thereof i get nothing. two emails & an unblocking and message sent on instagram later and he still doesn't believe i exist. im depressed bro!

[pinkprincessforever]

it's pride month so here's a willowen edit

the more i edited the gayer it got

not complaining tho

[pinkprincessforever]

another incredible story cover that my brother made for me that i cannot not share😭🤌🏻🩷

i mean ur kidding me right. ur actually kidding

IYOT is still ongoing, thank you so much to everyone whose been supporting it thus far🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻♥️♥️♥️ i can't wait to share more

[pinkprincessforever]

In Your Own Time

part six!! would like to thank tomodachi life for being wonderful inspiration🥲😭🩷 all other parts r scattered further down on my page if you'd like to catch up. hope you enjoyyy🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

Eight hours later, February 14th - Valentine's Day 1992 - 8:14am, Manchester Travel Inn, Manchester

Robbie slips out of bed first. He leaves Mark to sleep a little while longer, going to put the hotel room kettle on.

It's sunny out, unusually so for the season. He opens the blinds ajar as to not wake Mark.

And he thinks about how he hadn't wanted the night to end. It was only when no one could hold themselves upright anymore that they all retired to the hotel, he and Mark crammed into the single bed Janet had booked under the presumption her son would be alone.

Mark had fallen asleep promptly after a jumbled goodnight. Robbie, on the other hand, couldn't seem to come down from the night's high.

The venue, the music, the alcohol.

The kiss. The feeling of Mark's hand in his. The call from his father.

Peter Conway hadn't kept him long. He had said all the right things. Asking him how he is, telling him how different his voice sounds, wishing him a happy birthday.

Robbie had been too drunk to respond undisputedly. He doesn't know if anything more than gibberish came out.

And now he regrets it.

It's been a decade since Peter walked away.

Why had he been so happy to hear his voice?

Mark stirs as the kettle boils.

His hand goes to feel for Robbie, and his eyes snap open when there's nothing there.

"Rob...?"

"Good morning," Robbie turns around with a smile.

He goes back over to the bed and hands him a warm mug.

"How are you feeling?"

"Kind of... on top of the world."

Grins expand.

"... But I've definitely got a headache as well."

"... Well, yeah,"

Mark sips politely from his drink, fingernails tapping against the ceramic as he thinks.

"The boys were talking about going for brunch. There's a place down the road, meant to be really good."

"I mean, I'm down. But... they don't even know yet."

"Know what?"

"That we snogged outside The Haçienda."

Mark can't think of a response in words.

He just starts giggling.

And Robbie joins in.

"We didn't mean to-"

"Yes we did."

"Okay, yes we did."

"... But it's... not that big a deal, is it?"

"No. Not to me."

"It's not to me either."

"... I'm glad."

"Me too."

"Let's just hope it's not to them, then."

"Who cares if it is?"

Robbie leans in from across the bed and kisses him.

"You snore really loud, by the way."

That results in a whack from a pillow.

"I do not!"

But they never stop smiling.

Mark stays put as Robbie goes to shower. He listens as the water starts running from the bathroom next door, Robbie humming to himself and knocking things over.

He smirks.

There's no curiosity anymore. No unfamiliarity.

Only safety.

Four hours later, 12:30pm, Manchester Piccadilly Railway Station, Manchester

It weighs heavily on Robbie now that the others have left.

The fact that Mark has to leave too.

And their procrastination is palpable.

Head down, Robbie takes Mark's hand. Their fingers lace together.

"I wish I could go with you," He hears him murmur.

He looks up in an instant, chest aching.

"You're welcome at mine any time. Any time you want."

Wherever he goes, Mark desires to follow. He can see that truth.

And it's not a one-sided feeling.

"I want my family to finally meet you," He says. "They've heard about you, but now you're my...-"

"Boyfriend?"

"-Yeah. That's... what you are."

"My mum and my nan really like you."

"... Do they?"

"Yuh-huh."

"They've met me once."

"Clearly that's all they needed."

Mark giggles, but he looks away.

"I was worried, you know, ..."

"Hm?"

"... That we'd both forget it ever happened by morning. Or--- we'd remember, but realise we're actually just best mates and why the fuck did we-"

Suddenly Mark has a hand lifting his chin, angling his head around.

"I meant every word I said."

His eyes well.

"I love you, Mark."

He doesn't try to stop tears from trickling.

"I love you, Robbie."

2:08pm, Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Janet is waiting just beyond the yellow line when Robbie's train arrives. Robbie sees her out of the window and they exchange warm smiles and waves.

He missed her.

It's good to be back.

But, even before exiting the train, he feels an elephant enter and crowd the room.

One that won't stay contained.

The doors open and he gets off. The smile on his mother's face widens.

"Hello, you!" She opens up her arms.

Nowadays towering above her in height, he bends slightly to accept the hug.

"Hi, Mum."

She leaves a kiss atop his head and then lets him go, looking at him with her smile still intact.

But something in her eyes is different.

Janet has communicative eyes. They've shaped who Robbie is, maturing with the knowledge that one look could mean everything and another nothing at all.

This time, it's not nothing.

She looks like she's been crying.

"... Mum?"

"... There's something I've got to tell you."

"Is it to do with Dad ringing me last night?" He jumps the gun.

"... Yes, sort of."

"'Kay. To be fair, it was out of nowhere, and after midnight, and I was completely hammered."

Janet nods. Her smile is gone.

Because it's no smiling matter.

"It's your nan. She's not well."

Everything around him slows down. He's no longer in a bustling station, rather an endless void where nothing makes sense and words fail you.

"... What do you mean?"

"She's... The doctor's diagnosed her with Alzheimer's."

The void gives way. Robbie finds himself dropping to his knees.

He remembers Betty's apparent disconnection as he spoke to her yesterday morning, but had brushed it off as tiredness, humanness, Nan-ness.

No.

No.

Janet grows frantic, going down to his level and putting her hands on his shoulders, trying to look at him again.

"I'm sorry, darling, I'm sorry."

Robbie can't look up. He's frozen.

His best friend. His greatest supporter.

The first person to have ever told him "You're enough".

It's not that he doubts she will be bigger than the disease. He knows she'll grab it where it hurts.

But it changes everything. With permanence.

And no one can control that.

"I didn't know how I was going to tell you," His mother's voice continues to come through, watery and fretful. "It was your birthday yesterday, for goodness sake."

She hugs him again. Wraps her arms around him tight.

That's when he starts to cry.

Harder than he has in months, years even. Perhaps his entire life.

He buries his head into his mother's shoulder like he's moving in.

He'd had something to tell her too.

But now nothing else seems to matter.

Three months later, June 5th, 10:30am

"'It Only Takes A Minute' is a sugary treat. Layers of warm harmonies are complemented by reedy horns and an easy-going dance beat." Robbie reads in a satirical tone, attempting successfully to make Mark laugh on the other line.

"I don't know what half of that means," He laughs with him.

"And I just know Gaz is livid that a song he didn't write is our first top ten hit." Mark points out.

"God, yeah, typical."

They enter comfortable silence a moment.

"How's... how's Betty?" Mark asks sensitively.

But Robbie's body still overreacts.

Maybe it always will.

Although he knows that progression has been minimal thus far, he must coexist with that it won't last.

He's been spending all his days in a state of confliction.

"She's alright," He replies. "We've just been trying to live normally."

"That's all you can do."

Almost four months on, and the butterflies within Robbie haven't settled down.

He'd hoped to quickly become used to missing Mark when they're not together.

But it never happened.

In moments like this, he just wants him by his side.

"I, think it could be really lovely if you came over again soon."

"Of course. I'd love that."

"And I've got to get over to Oldham at some point."

"I'd love that also. But, trust - you're not missing much."

"Other than you."

"Oh, don't. I miss you so much."

"We'll see eachother soon though, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Can't wait, babe."

"I'll be waiting for my piggyback ride."

Robbie doesn't look forward to many things anymore. Not since Betty's diagnosis.

Mark keeps him steady. Sane.

Open to the idea that it will be OK.

[pinkprincessforever]

well that all happened extremely quickly😭😭😭

WILLOWEN IS REAL