Leah already knew who was on the other side of the door. She grabbed the handle and practically threw it open. "Hello, Mark."

Mark was still in the process of returning his keys to his pocket when he looked up with a start. "Oh... Hi, Leah," he greeted in surprise.

"Here for Harmony?" Leah questioned, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed and effectively blocking his view of the blonde inside.

"Uh, yeah," he replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Sorry... I didn't realize she had company tonight. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"I'm not sure if she's really up for visitors right now," Leah told him. She had already decided that she wasn't mad at him. Harmony was right when she pointed out that this wasn't his fault. But she also knew that Harmony was in a sensitive mood tonight.

"It's okay, Leah," a quiet voice came behind her.

The brunette twisted around to eye her friend, whose face was hovering just above the back of the couch. "You sure?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Harmony nodded as she rose up from the couch. Her expression was a bit grim and it gave Leah a hunch that she was up to something.

"Is he alone?" the blonde practically mouthed so Mark couldn't hear.

Leah nodded, the look on her face questioning what Harmony was about to do, but the blonde only waved a dismissive hand. "Just give us a minute," she whispered to her. "I have to take care of something."

Leah looked a bit perturbed, but she moved away from the door as her friend approached. Harmony stepped out into the hall and barely had the door closed before strong arms encircled her and held her tightly as if she would fade away if they let her go. She turned just enough to be able to wrap her arms around him in return, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Somehow his grasp grew impossibly tighter.

"I came over as soon as Sasha left," Mark murmured. "I've been worried about you all evening."

"I'm okay," she reassured him.

Mark pulled back to look at her and she tried not to pay attention to his hands lingering on her waist. "Harmony," he started, holding her gaze so intensely she could see the concern still swirling in his chocolate irises. "I don't think I've ever seen you as hurt as you've been today where you couldn't tell me what happened."

He was right, too. The only other time he had ever seen her this upset was when her ex left her, but that time she had told him what had happened almost immediately and between him and Leah, she was never alone. The few things she didn't share with him were just stupid things that didn't matter in the end like a petty argument with a friend or not feeling well because of "that" time of the month. She knew that keeping something so obviously big from him was hurting him and she felt so guilty, but how could she possibly tell him when it was all about him?

"I just want to make sure you're really okay," he went on. "I'm glad Leah is here for you at least and I hope she's taking good care of you."

"She is," she murmured.

"I just wanna be there for you, too. I want to do what I can for you, I just don't know how to help because I don't know what hurt you."

Harmony's gaze fell to the pairs of their feet as she chewed on her bottom lip, her heart heavy for so many reasons. She knew she needed to tell him something. Anything. For his sake. That was why she had come out here in the first place. To tell him something. But she had hoped she would have come up with a better plan by now than the first one she had thought of, but there was nothing else.

"I didn't want to tell you because I was embarrassed," she explained hesitantly. She let her arms slide down from around his neck and her hands came to rest gently against his chest. He did not let go. Taking in a deep breath, she silently asked herself if she really wanted to go through with this, but before she could answer herself, words were tumbling from her lips. "Do you remember that fan we met back in January? Derek?"

"Derek?" Mark echoed, frowning as he tried to match a face to the name.

"We met him at that comedy club when the Grumps guys couldn't come with us."

His uncertainty started to give way to vague distaste. "You mean that one guy that fangirled over us and then insisted that he sat with us and wouldn't stop bothering us during the show?"

Harmony winced internally at the memory. Several months ago, it had become a thing for Mark and Harmony to join some of the Game Grumps and check out shows at the local comedy clubs. One evening the two of them went out anyway even though Arin, Suzy, Danny and Brian had to bail. They ended up encountering a guy who was apparently a huge fan of both Markiplier and LetHarpiePlay. He invited himself to sit with them to chat them up. He instantly took a real liking to Harmony, subtly flirting with her at first, but as the show went on his intentions became more and more obvious and he started to lean in closer and closer to her. In turn, Mark became more and more protective of her, and had apparently had enough when the guy went to make a move on her, bringing Mark right out of his chair and flat-out demanding that the guy left them alone. Taken aback, the guy made the comment that Mark was acting more like her boyfriend than anything else, which made both YouTubers blush profusely. At that point, they both decided to leave even though the show still had about ten minutes left. But what Mark never knew was that the guy had slipped her his phone number. And she was going to try to take advantage of that right now.

"What about him?" Mark prompted her when she remained silent.

She couldn't get herself to meet his eyes.

"What happened?" he questioned, this time his voice full of dread.

She braced herself. "He gave me his number and we started talking." She was looking anywhere except at him. "We actually started seeing each other a lot... it was going really well for quite a while..." She stopped for a second and closed her eyes. She could feel herself slipping. "It was really good until... until I found out he was dating someone else and I had no idea." She thought of losing Mark to Sasha, and suddenly she dissolved into new tears. "I'm so sorry," she cried. "I just feel so stupid. I feel so stupid for thinking something could actually happen between us. I shouldn't have ever gone after him. I should have never let it go as far as it did. I thought I could be good enough, but I wasn't. I'm so embarrassed that I let myself fall so hard." She shook her head, covering her face with her hands. "This was never supposed to happen. We were just supposed to be friends, that's all. I wasn't supposed to fall for him. I didn't want to but I couldn't help it. I wasn't good enough. I feel so stupid. So, so stupid..."

The hands that had been grasping her waist pulled her forward again until his embrace was surrounding her once more, this time so tightly that she almost felt like she couldn't breathe. But she didn't care. She snaked her arms around him where they had been before as he bent over to press his face gently against her neck. Her forehead came to rest against his shoulder as sobs shook her. She wanted to take solace in the strength and safety of his arms, but all she could think about were all the words she had just spoken... all those things she just said to him, about him... and he still had no idea.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed breathlessly.

Mark pulled away from her as both of his hands slid upward to cup her teary face in them, guiding her to meet his eyes. His expression was full of anguish as he looked at her, and as a lone tear slid down his cheek she realized he was crying, too. Her heart broke even more.

"I'm so sorry that you had to deal with all of that," Mark murmured to her, his voice heavy with so much emotion. "It hurts me to know that you're going through this, but..." he gave her a small, fleeting smile, "thank you for telling me. Thank you." He brushed away some of her falling tears with his thumbs. "I don't want you to ever think you're not good enough, Harmony. You are always good enough. You are more than good enough. You are amazing. You are truly one of the most amazing people I know. If that guy can't see that, then he is not good enough for you. You are smart, creative, successful, and beautiful. If he can't see that then it is his loss, not yours. Never yours. I'm so sorry that he hurt you like this. You don't deserve to feel like this. Ever."

The irony brought even more tears down her face and such a fierce pang deep in her heart.

What a beautiful tragedy this was.

He gazed at her for just a little bit longer before he sniffled and pulled one of his hands away to wipe at his eyes and she had to look away from him to try and make a pitiful attempt to gather herself.

"Why didn't you tell me about this guy, Harmony?"

The question made her head snap right back to lock eyes with him. He looked a bit hurt now, his eyes glassy and the corners of his mouth pulled down in a slight frown. His hands had gone back down to softly grasp her waist. She took a few moments to try and sort out her muddled thoughts and remember who he was talking about. He waited. He was patient.

"I had no idea you were seeing someone," he added.

"Why didn't you tell me about Sasha?" The words flew out of her mouth before she should stop them, and once they were said they couldn't be taken back. Harmony's heart raced.

Mark finally tore his gaze away from her, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair as he took a step backward, heaving a long sigh. Harmony hung on every moment of silence that filled the hall.

"I really didn't handle that one very well, did I?" he finally spoke. "I'm sorry. I kind of left everyone in the dark on that one."

"Why?" she dared to whisper as she crossed her arms as if she were cold.

He shrugged and shook his head again. "Everything was so chaotic and she just popped up in the middle of that chaos... I guess I was just trying to see where things went before I started talking about her, but I didn't really mean to put it off for so long." He came back to her to envelop her in another hug. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Harmony closed her eyes as he held her. "I'm sorry, too."

They stood like that for a long time until they heard Harmony's front door open, but neither of them looked up. A third pair of arms came around them as Leah wordlessly hugged them both.

"It's getting pretty late," the brunette eventually announced as the three of them pulled away from each other, although she noticed he wasn't quite as eager to let go of her friend. She turned to Harmony, who was wiping at her eyes. "Come on," she told her, "with the day you've had, you should try and get some sleep."

Harmony nodded reluctantly. She didn't want Mark to leave, but she knew Leah was right and she was sure he needed to get home anyway. She turned to head inside when Mark caught her arm and she glanced back at him as he gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything," he said. "I'm here for you no matter what."

"But Sasha-" she objected.

"I know," he cut her off gently. "I know I'll be a little busier now spending time with her and all, but my best friend is still just as important to me as she was before. Nothing will change that."

"Okay." She gave him her best attempt at a smile before he turned to head down the hall and she went back inside, closing the door softly behind her and leaning heavily against it, lost in her thoughts.

"You okay, hun?" Leah asked as she came up next to her.

"I don't know," the blonde answered honestly as she locked the door and dragged herself away from it.

"What happened? What did you tell him?"

"I told him what happened today."

Leah froze. "Wait... what? You told him what happened? What does that mean?"

"He wanted to know what happened today that made me so upset, so I told him."

Leah let her jaw hang open. "You told him you're in love with him?"

"No," Harmony grumbled as she grabbed her phone from where she had been sitting on the couch. "I told him everything I'm feeling... but I made him think it was about another guy."

"You told him you were in love with some random dude?" Leah's eyes were as wide as saucers. She looked like she had just heard the latest gossip about her arch rival or something.

"I never used the word 'love,'" she corrected her, pausing to give her a significant look. "I said... I said I had been seeing a guy who basically dumped me. It was the best I could come up with."

"So you lied to him."

"I had to tell him something!" Harmony exclaimed. "That's the curse of my friendship with him, I guess. We literally tell each other everything. I never thought that would come bite me in the butt when I fall in love with him and then realize I can't ever tell him that... and of course he's going to think something is seriously wrong when for the first time ever I can't tell him what happened."

"Hey, it's okay, girl," Leah replied in defense, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "I totally understand. I'm just... surprised is all. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Just... sounds like something I would do." She gave her a smirk to try and lighten up the mood a little. "Am I rubbing off on you now?"

Once again, Harmony found herself grinning through the tears that still lingered in her eyes. "Guess so." But after a moment she frowned. "I just feel so bad. I feel awful and guilty and it hurts..."

Leah appeared beside her again to offer her another hug. "It's okay," she said again. "You need sleep, girl. You'll feel better in the morning. Come on. I'll clean up out here." She turned the blonde around until she was facing the hallway to her bedroom. "Go."

"Do you need any blankets or anything?" Harmony asked.

"I'll get everything myself. Go!"

Harmony smiled softly as she headed off to bed. Her heart and body still ached and her eyes were so tired from crying, but she was grateful she was cared for.

A/N: Holy crap, I'm back from convention to more follows, faves and reviews! Thank you all so much for the love! You guys are seriously awesome. Please let me know what you think of this book so far! You all are fabulous.