He sat up in bed in a cold sweat, bringing his palm to his forehead. His vision was wobbly and blurred, and it took him a moment to recover and realize where he was. It was when he had recovered that he heard a voice calling, calling to him specifically. Mark leaned towards the nightstand, still very unsteady, and picked his glasses off it's surface. He stared at his lap for a moment when he had perched them on his nose to let the ringing in his ears subside.

Though the voice calling him was neither comforting nor welcome, Mark looked up from his lap to see the door cracked open and a concerned face watching him. "Mark?" Darkiplier, it must have been a dream he assumed. He brought a hand absently to his throat, a dull ache following the contact. Had it really been a dream? Somehow he didn't think it was, not really.

He watched the red eyed man from the bed, slowly shifting to the side to stand. Dark's concerned frown only deepened as he stood, hand still on his neck. The other approached Mark almost carefully and stopped beside him, Mark just stare forward avoiding eye contact with his reflection. It came as a surprise to him when Dark grabbed his wrist and yanked it away from his throat, letting out almost a hiss when he saw that underneath Mark's skin had turned a brownish purple and had been bruised.

"Who did this to you?" He demanded, hand still firmly grasping Mark's wrist, but he didn't try to pull away. He just snorted at the irony and turned his head, taking half a step away from the darker man. "Mark, talk to me." He said it like an order, and dropped his wrist to force him to meet Dark's eyes by turning his jaw.

"As if you wouldn't know." Mark practically spat, he wasn't in the mood for the mind games and the deception that often came with things like this back when the darker him was stuck in his mind where he couldn't hurt anyone. Anyone but Mark, that was.

"I didn't Mark, I swear. I wouldn't-" Darkiplier tried to assure him, stepping closer and letting go of his jaw to bring his palm up to the side of Mark's face- But he immediately stepped back and pushed Dark's arm away, turning his back.

"You're being a child, grow up. Whatever's going through your head right now is your doing, not mine. I can't do that anymore." He stepped back, gesturing with his hands in frustration, his other was so stubborn. Not much had changed since he'd been pushed out, it seemed. Just that he'd lost the ability to manipulate Mark's mind- and he'd gotten new powers as well, he wondered if his more innocent other had stumbled onto abilities of his own or if it was just him.

"Then how do you show up like a ghost in reflections, and disappear like you do? How do you find me?" Mark looked over his shoulder with a glare, he had to be lying. He'd dreamt it- he'd felt his other's hands on his neck. He was honestly just tired of all the bullshit, what happened earlier that day- or was it yesterday- had probably been an attempt to deceive him as well. Then, if that was the case, why was he only making that connection no that he'd been physically hurt?

"It's... it's complicated, Mark." Dark raked his fingers through his hair, sitting on the edge of the hotel bed as he considered a way to explain it. "It's like, I'm not really here, not at all, I can't speak with you or anything. It's like... a vision? I don't know, I just, randomly black out and find myself looking at you. And... it's like a feeling. If I can find where ever I saw you because of that feeling, I can just... figure out from that point where you're going."

"But only I can see you?" Mark asked both hesitantly and curiously, watching the floor intently. "Yes, as far as I've seen. It used to be pretty unnerving for me too- the first time was when Wade and Bob found me. I nearly passed out..."

"And you ran?" He asked, now looking up at Dark with an indecisive expression. He couldn't quite tell what Mark thought of all this, but he supposed he should explain himself. It wasn't like it made a difference, whatever it took, Dark would get what he wanted out of this whether even he understood it or not. It was the same determination that he'd had when Mark and him were one, the desire to control Mark's mind and body and gaining control over him more frequently to the point of nearly becoming the dominant in their shared body.

Until he messed with Mark's life in some ways that were so in the wrong in Mark's sense of right that Mark decided to do anything to rid himself of Dark. Then here they were, separated but not, with a practically psychic link between them where Dark could track him down in moments of insecurity or hurt. That same desire pushed him now to follow Mark when this link appeared, these visions and pulls from invisible source. Was it the same thing that had compelled Dark to kiss Mark earlier, he had no clue himself. He just decided to do it, it was hardly a thought but nearly reflex, and he had no thoughts on it really.

"Yes, Mark I ran. I threw up on the side of the road-" He gestured in a huff, "-and I ran. Then found that the moment I stepped out of the direct sunlight, I disappeared in everyone's vision, erased from time and thought for everyone; except you of course." Dark explained further, almost exasperated, though he really just wanted to leave at this point.

Mark slowly moved to sit beside Dark on the bed, and he dared not even blink as he watched Mark sit. Dark almost itched to feel contact again, like when he'd grabbed his wrist, he had to dig his fingers into the blankets to calm his mind and shift away from such thoughts. Mark was staring straight forward, and Dark watched him, waiting for some- any- response from the man.

"You're kind of a coward you know." Mark said, his voice cracking slightly, as he stared forward. Dark turned his head, and nodded slightly. "Yeah, I know." He replied in a tired tone. Dark closed his eyes and inhaled, leaning his head back as he waited for Mark to say something else, expecting some harsh criticism. He was surprised to feel Mark's weight lift from the bed and the shift of clothing from him standing.

Dark was almost disappointed that Mark was choosing to leave, rather than to criticize him, yell at him, take out frustration, dig holes in his mind with his voice, tell him off for everything he'd done. It told him that in Mark's mind, even by this point now, Dark was not worth the breath or thought. Not even worth staying in the same room with for a few minutes, and Dark almost felt hurt that he and Mark had only argued since being reunited.

And then, Mark did the unexpected. Something Dark didn't think he'd consider for a moment, it both surprised Dark and made him second guess and question himself.

Hey guys, it's me again! Yeah, I know, "oh no not the author!" but whatever. Sorry for the really late update but whatever. Here's Chapter 5, sorry it's kinda slow, Chapter 6 should be up soon anyway. Somewhere around half way through this I was actually reading a book that made me change the way I thought about things. Since the focus right now was two male characters, I figured saying "He" all the time would get confusing, so instead I tried to use their names more to dissolve any confusion concerning that. It'll likely continue like that from here on out. Also, I'm debating doing multiple endings... but then, I also have a plot to connect my different ending ideas so. Stay tuned for that... in the near or distant future, idk. A lot of this stuff right now is filler and hasn't been planned out until now as I'm writing it out, haha.

Thank you all for reading, and as always, I will see you... in the next chapter. Buh-Bye! -Adamented/Ada