He wanted her trust, but somehow he doubted it would be as easy as convincing her he'd changed. Even if she believed every word he spoke, her trust in him would never return the way it had been there way back when. They spent the day touring the place, they stopped for sushi at some point, and headed to Jennet's hotel room. They played some Monopoly, which was always fun- Mark won, of course, as always.

Jennet wasn't impressed, Devin found him amusing it seemed, which was always Mark's goal in life anyway. At the end of the night, Mark went back to his hotel. He half expected his darker self to be standing somewhere just inside the shadows where only he would see, but there was no sign of Darkiplier for the whole night so Mark went to sleep.

He was excited for the convention, it was not long now. The rest of the week to go, and it was already going fast. He and Devin got along, played videogames together- he wasn't a sore loser, Mark discovered, and was also not very good at games. Not quite as bad as Mark though, he was on his own level of bad-at-games, which was what made it so much fun for him to do what he did.

Jennet hung around, occasionally joining them, they played prop hunt together with Minx, Bob and Wade too. He had Jennet and Wade on his team, Bob, Devin, and Minx were on a team of their own. "Are you kidding me?! Mark, what the actually fuck?" Jennet reached across the couch to smack Mark on the shoulder for his failed attempt at hiding. "Nono, just-"

"Oh my god." Wade said after he had died, Minx cheering her victory. "Jus- shut up, Wade, no I got this, just watch. Don't believe me, just... watch." He mock sang the song quote, and Jennet let out an exasperated sigh. "Really, I got it okay?" Jennet run by him as a cup, and hid just around the corner. He was disguised as a water fountain, glitched into the corner. "Um, Mark."

"What?"

"You're um glitched-"

"Oh yeah I know, thanks for letting them know that."

"Yes but, uh, um. You're sticking into the uh rooms over here."

"Found ya!" Devin shouted from the chair, raising a fist in the air and launching a grenade at the fountain. "Are you ser- seriously?! Jennet!" He grumbled, sitting back with his arms crossed. She reached over, grinning, and gave him an awkward side-hug, "You love me, you know it~" She sang, making his ears turn red with embarrassment, which he quickly disguised with his entire face going red from laughter when Jennet accidentally turned into a table and screeched, Minx appearing in the room and started laughing heavily as well.

"Just, put me out of this misery...!" She spat, laying her face in her hands, elbows on her knees. Gunfire sounded in the game as Minx shot her, but the flinching shelf that was Jennet refused to die, blood spattered on the floor and walls around it. "You're fucking invincible!" Minx swore, frustration leaking into her voice as her character dropped dead from shooting too many of the 'wrong' props.

"Oh god don't stick me like this." She whined, and Mark finally was able to catch his breath. A grenade launched, and the game finally ended, and Mark started laughing again. "Bob, you've been quiet this whole time, I forgot you still had a grenade."

Wade let out an angry shout, "Bob! Why! Props almost won-!" Mark slid his glasses back up his nose, laughing and muttering, "Shut up, Wade" before regaining his composure. His face was still red, and it took him a second of breathing before he spoke again to stop his friends' bickering. "You guys wanna go again?" Jennet sighed, nodding all the same, and he received noises of confirmation from the rest of his friends. Jennet pulled her head from her hands and got back to her laptop, clicking into the next game along with the rest of them.

That was the like the first thread to pull them back together, Mark soon realized, as she began to relax more around him. Devin continued to come around- but he supposed it was for a new reason all together, simply because they were starting to form a legit friendship. He'd wondered at some point if Devin was a fan of him, of what he did, or something of the sort, but blew off the idea almost immediately. It'd be pretty obvious if he was a fan by this point.

He and Jennet were on talking points by the end of the week, they went to lunch a few times without Devin around, and made jokes like they used to- he was relieved he could finally make her laugh again without a second meaning or second feeling behind those usually bright eyes of hers. Whenever they parted ways, whether it was just walking the streets or going for coffee or after gaming at the end of the night, he game her a hug when they went their separate ways.

And then, the convention came up. He saw her less and less, both rushing around the panel room they were given to get things done. This convention was so different- the location had been secret, only those who normally looked around for conventions would find it, unless his fans were just that determined to find him, looking for all conventions running at the same days.

He was glad to get a break of having so many people crowded into the room, this room was smaller than the ones he was usually in. He rushed around attaching wires, setting up his laptop, helping Jennet and other helpers decide where the posters were to go- posters of fanart naturally. This would be the first panel he would play a game live for them all to see, and also his first mock-music-video. He'd been into music lately- singing, mostly, but also working on piano.

He'd be giving them all the chance to see his first attempt as music, of course posting the video to youtube the next day. He helped direct the camera people where to set up their camera's, and put on his own camera which was strapped on his chest. This was the first con panel he'd done without Bob and Wade, and he was nervous, his nerves were seeping through into his voice and actions.

"Just- wait, okay? I know one that should go there, I know that one looks good there, but- I know, yeah, right over here though okay? Thanks." He shoved his fingers through his recently cut hair, letting out a tight, exasperated sigh. He felt pressure and warmth on his shoulder blade and looked over at where Jennet stood slightly behind him to his left. "You okay? You look like you could use a break." She said, holding out a mug of strawberries.

He took the mug- one that had fanart of him on it, a chibi with the Markiplier M on it's shirt, holding a giant strawberry. He lifted the cup slightly, and raised his eyebrow at Jennet in questioning. "I was craving strawberries- I thought it would be punny." She winked, and he was reminded of Wade's usual poor quality jokes, grumbling and rubbing his hand across his face. "Hey, your water will taste like strawberries now, be grateful!" She grinned mischievously.

He smiled softly at her, and she gave him a side hug, moving her hand from his shoulder to put her arm around his waist. "Thank you, Jen." The nickname was new, it was a name he'd used for her when they were dating- he wasn't sure why he brought it up now, but she smiled at the name so he supposed she'd dismissed it. He took a strawberry from the cup and nibbled on it, it was mildly sweet, not too cold, and had a spark of sour aftertaste.

He offered her the cup and she took one too, sitting on one of the chairs in the lane closest to them, and he sat beside her. He glanced around the room, letting out a content sigh before nibbling more on his strawberry. "Mark?" Her voice was small, full of nerves, and he almost felt like his soul was melting under her soft tone. "Hmm?" He hummed, not looking over at her, and swallowing the bit of strawberry he was chewing.

"Do you think... It was me?" She whispered, her voice sounding like it was about to crack. When he glanced over she was looking down at her hands on her lap, and he couldn't see her expression. She looked weak, scared even, and he wondered what she meant, so he asked. "I mean, all those things you- I mean, I thought... but then, I've never really... I was always out of touch with reality. Did I imagine it?"

"I would never hurt you." He immediately responded- he meant it, the honesty in his voice practically dripped from the statement. He wouldn't hurt her- he never could, but then it was never him that caused all that pain for her. He saw her shoulders shake slightly, and was startled, reaching his palm under her chin to make her face him gently. She was silently sobbing, tears running down her face. "Jen?"

"I love you."

"I- you... what?" He said in surprise, shocked by her sudden words, her voice shaking. "Mark, I'm so sorry- It never was you, all along I was... it was an illusion, I was delusional. I'm so sorry Mark, I..." He hushed her, placing his palms on either side of her face and brushing his thumbs across her cheek bones. He pressed his forehead to hers gently, "It's okay, Jen..." He stayed like that for a while, she quietly sobbed while gripping his arms, his thumbs brushing away fresh tears.

The people around them left them well enough alone, eventually she calmed and stood, leaving. For the next few days until the panel, they didn't talk much. The convention was starting, people were flooding the room, and he tapped fingers against the mug in his hand that smelt of strawberries. He glanced at the mug one last time before removing his hand, and picking up the microphone, and holding it to his lips. "Hello! Welcome, everyone to the Markiplier without-his-friends panel, at..."

Sorry this chapter was a bit boring guys, I wanted some cute and funny stuff and also... Fillers? Can you just FEEEL the emotions in this story? I know it's poorly written, haha, but I'm not good at portraying my own feeling let alone others. Please try to appreciate the story for what it is regardless. Yey though, Jen and Markimoo are friendly! 3 It's taken long enough. But I'm having fun with this so yeah. I'll probably change the preview by the way to something more friendly and put warnings at the beginning of chapters for anything of any sort of inappropriate content. I know this is already rate M but there is mostly story in this, and less mature content, so I'll still warn, I also will try not to put story in the more mature chapters.

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