A/N: I own neither Mark, nor Maureen, as much fun as it is to play with their emotions.
Maureen sucked what little was left of her Sprite through the straw stuck in the plastic lid on the paper cup. Mark was polishing off his fries while they sat in the parking lot of the Carl's Jr., watching the sunset. Even with the fast food, and smog it was romantic, and Maureen almost reconsidered what she was going to do. Stop it Mo. This is silly. just say it!
"Mark?" God, was that her voice? It sounded so meek, and timid. So not Maureen.
"Yeah baby?" Mark sounded concerned, which only made Maureen feel worse. Say it. it won't get any easier in the next few minutes.
"I think maybe...we should see other people." There. It was out. For better or for worse, it was out there, and she couldn't take it back. But Mark wasn't saying anything. He was just sitting there. Maureen felt horrible, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Finally the silence got to her, and she blurted out, "Marky, say something."
"Why?" Well. There it was. The question of the century. Why? Why was Maureen born like this. Why hadn't she known before. Why did she have to drag poor Mark along with her. Now it was Maureen's turn not to say anything. "there's someone else, isn't there." It wasn't a question, but Maureen nodded anyway. "Jesus. I should have realized this conversation was coming. It's not like you haven't been cheating on me for the past six months."
"Look, Mark, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you, but-"
"How long?" Mark was still staring straight ahead. Maureen hesitated. "Mo, how long?" He turned and looked her in the eye, and she felt like she couldn't lie anymore.
"Three and a half months."
"Jesus," Mark half laughed, half shouted it out as he slammed his hand against the car steering wheel. He had borrowed the car from Benny for the evening. Maureen knew he had wanted it to be special, but Maureen had managed to fuck that up too, by saying that she didn't want to go anywhere fancy, she just wanted to go get a bite to eat at some fast food place. "Jesus fucking Christ, I can't believe you Maureen! Almost four fucking months?"
"Sorry," Maureen whispered.
"Damn it. Lets go home," Mark said. "I assume you didn't think of a place to stay before you did this?"
"I thought of a place to stay." Maureen picked up her cup and tried to drink out of it, forgetting it was empty.
"Oh," Mark said, surprised. "With the other guy?"
How to answer that? "Kinda."
"Kinda? Fuck Maureen, yes or no, it's not a hard question!"
"Mark. Sweetie, it's not a guy. Her name is Joanne." Maybe she had said it fast enough that it wouldn't upset him.
"Joanne? A girl? You're..." Mark stared at his girlfriend in disbelief.
"A lesbian. Yes."
mark started laughing. "Oh my god! This is amazing. Not only are we breaking up, not only have you been cheating on me, but you're dating a woman!" Suddenly mark finished was finished laughing. "Okay then, I'm gonna take you to her house, and go give Benny back the car." Mark started the car, and Maureen gave him directions. they drove in silence that was broken only by the windshield wipers, fighting against the rain that had just started.
They pulled up in front of the apartment building, and Maureen got out. "look marky, I'm sorry." Mark nodded, and turned his face away. Maureen watched him pull away just as it started to get dark. "Happy Anniversary Marky," she whispered, and went inside, where a lawyer in dock martens was waiting to make her a cup of coffee, and hold her while she cried.