Author's note: The dark bold below means Mark's texts, the light blue means Tiana's. I'm glad you guys liked the first chapter. Please comment any constructive criticism you find necessary. Thanks.

Chapter 2:

Tap, tap, tap.

Tiana tapped her eraser on the dining room table as she read the problem in front of her for the seventh time. Find the standard deviation… Her eyes trailed off to her cell phone sitting next to her papers. She touched the screen to see what time it was. It glowed awake to reveal that it was 10:45pm. She had been doing statistics homework since she had gotten home from work at 7, after tying her hair in a messy bun and slipping on an old pink tank top, grey bottoms, and a white hoodie. She dropped her pencil on the table and rubbed her eyes in frustration; she absolutely hated statistics. She always did relatively well in any other math class, but this particular class was driving her insane. She never seemed to grasp the concept, and when she thought she had, it had escaped her memory the very next time the occasion called for it.

She rested her head in her hands and looked from the question to her phone again. She thought of taking a break and talking with Mark again. She had texted him earlier that day, asking him how his haircut he had gotten yesterday was doing. She smiled to herself, laughing at how dorky that sounded; she wasn't much of a flirter, so when she actually did, it always sounded forced and idiotic to her. He hadn't answered all day, but she figured he was just busy recording or something like that. She reached for the phone, but decided against it. She had to get her homework done tonight. It was due in the morning, and she was just a few problems shy. She read the question yet again, tapping her pencil on the table. She read the question once, and then glanced at her phone. She read the question another time, then glanced at her phone again, this time her eyes lingering on the device for a few seconds. She repeated this a few times, fighting with herself to stay on track and be productive. Unexpectedly, the phone played its alert ringtone, causing Tiana to jump a little in her seat.

She grabbed her phone and turned it on, seeing she had gotten a new text from the person she had wanted to talk to. She smiled to herself again as she read the words on the screen.

It's doing good. Still floofy xP How are you?

Good, a little frustrated about homework right now, but I think I'm about done.

Tiana started to clean up her books, but decided to just leave them where they were. She would most likely come back to them the next day anyway. But for now, all she wanted to do was take a nice hot shower and go to bed. She stood up and stretched her tight muscles, and her phone chimed again.

Sounds like you need a break. How about taking me up on my offer from yesterday?

She really did want to have some fun, but not tonight. She could barely see anything besides math problems.

Sure, but tomorrow. I'm exhausted right now, and I have the day off tomorrow.

As soon as she sent the message, almost instantaneously, Mark responded, startling Tiana.

Ok, sounds good. I'll see you then. Is 6 ok?

Yes, that sounds fine. You can pick me up at work. See you then. Good night.

Good night, Tiana.

The sunshine poured through Tiana's window the next morning, waking her. As much as she hated waking up from a great sleep, she loved to see the sun in the morning. Especially during the fall when the sun did not stay out as long. Most people did not understand this about Tiana; it was too cheerful and bright first thing in the morning. But the way Tiana saw it, the best part about having a day off was not having to set an alarm the night before. The sun was a natural alarm clock that Tiana welcomed. It started her day off just right; a cloudy, dark day would have made her sleepier and kept her in the bed all day, and Tiana was a person who liked to have a productive day.

After getting out of bed, Tiana went to the bathroom and washed her face. She looked in the mirror and remembered the conversation with Mark last night. She smiled at her wild-haired reflection and shook her head in disbelief. She still couldn't believe that she had met Markiplier, the Markiplier, just two days ago. She began to wonder just where it was that he wanted to take her, getting excited about the whole thing. After she woke up a little more, she opened the windows, noticing that it was the perfect weather for natural air conditioning, and made some breakfast: a big bowl of cereal. She sat at her computer and ate, listened to music, and checked some school information. Nothing new. She closed the browser and just listened to the music, enjoying the whiff of fresh air blowing in the house; it smelled like burning leaves, like fall.

When she finished breakfast, she decided to go for a walk, then come back and get ready for tonight. It was only 11:00am. That would be enough time.

When she came back home, she studied chemistry and finished the last few questions from her statistics homework; basically just putting any answer down, she was tired of having to think about the problem at this point. She took a quick shower and straightened her hair, emphasizing the pink. When she walked to her closet, she realized that she had no idea what to wear tonight. She didn't want to look too formal or too dowdy. It didn't help that she had absolutely no idea where she and Mark were going. She had texted Mark about the situation, but he never responded. After a while, Tiana decided to wear a lightweight burgundy sweater, dark-wash skinny jeans, and a pair of black flats. She didn't need to look any taller than anyone. Her height was always something that other people noticed and felt the need to draw attention to. Of course, it was mostly shorter people who did this, but she felt out of place at times. It was hard to find someone as tall as her, let alone someone taller, and being almost six feet tall was annoying, especially at work. She was always the one to clean the top shelves, put up signs, and have to hunch over to cut little children's hair.

Tiana even found herself putting on some makeup− which she never wore, not even at work. She chose a soft pink eyeshadow with a wine-colored liner, mascara, and a subtle lip balm that made her lips shiny.

Tiana left to go to the salon, and waited in her car for Mark. It had gotten a little chilly since sunset, and she stayed in the heated vehicle. She began to get nervous, her stomach swirling like it did a couple days ago when she had cut Mark's hair. She didn't know what she was more nervous about: going out with him, or just seeing him again. She began to run her hands together− out of coldness or nervousness she didn't know which. She glanced at the clock, 6:00. She looked around the area to see a car pull up next to her. Mark emerged from the car and Tiana followed.

"Hey," Mark smiled. Even in the moonlight his smile was contagious.

"Hi," Tiana replied through chattering teeth as she walked up to him. The night air caught her attention immediately, and she wrapped her arms around herself in a failing attempt for warmth. Her stomach tightened up and shook, again she wondered which sensation was causing this reaction. Her curiosity about where they were going got the best of her. "So where are we going?"

"A restaurant down the street. I saw it the other day when I came up here," he gestured to the salon behind them. "I'm actually really glad that there's one here, it's my favorite. There are games and great food there."

"That sounds great," Tiana nodded.

Mark gestured to his car. "Shall we?" Tiana curled her lips into a kind smile as Mark opened the passenger door to let her in. She took a deep breath as she stepped in the vehicle.