Chapter Two

Sohinki was waiting for Mari in her driveway while she ran in to get her things. He was stressed out to say the least—so he actually enjoyed being alone for the moment. He loved his friends, but he was not used to dealing with the problems they had. It wasn't that he didn't care; he just had no experience dealing with any issues like theirs. He hadn't even had a relationship serious enough to have issues—they usually started peacefully and ended uneventfully. While he was contemplating whether or not that made him a loser, he got a call from Wes.

"Hello?" He said eagerly, anxious to here what was going on.

"Hey Sohinki, it's Wes."

"What's going on?" Sohinki asked quickly, painfully curious about Lasercorn. He wanted to just hear that everything was fine so that he could go back to his happily boring life.

"Well…" Wes sighed, exasperation clear in his voice, "Lasercorn said that there's nothing bad going on, but he can't tell us about it yet." Sohinki blinked, processing thought. That had not been what he wanted to hear and it immediately pissed him off.

"That's bullsh*t." Sohinki mumbled. "Why can't he tell his closest friends? What the f*ck kind of situation was he in?" There was a long silence before he heard Wes sigh and he felt guilty for getting irritated. "Sorry Wes, I… I didn't mean that, I'm just a little stressed." He paused again because he knew that Wes was probably in the same boat as him. He tried to lighten things up, for Wes' sake. "But I guess there's no real reason to worry now."

"Yeah… yeah, exactly." Wes replied, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than Sohinki. "He'll probably tell us by tomorrow or something." Neither of them believed it though, and their worrying didn't let up in the slightest.

"Yeah…" Sohinki agreed unenthusiastically, noticing that Mari was heading towards the car. "Hey Wes, by the way we ditched the restaurant, but you could come to my place, me and Mari were just gonna order a pizza." Mari got in the car and saw that he was on the phone. She excitedly mouthed, "Wes?" He nodded and held up his pointer finger, telling her to wait.

"Thanks Sohinki, but I'm really tired so I think I'm just gonna head home. I'll see you guys tomorrow though."

"Okay Wes, thanks. Bye." He hung up the phone and put it in his pocket as Mari threw her duffel bag into the backseat. She plopped down in her seat and buckled in, hugging her pillow to her chest.

"So, what'd Wes say?" She asked anxiously. Sohinki started the car and pulled out onto the road, sighing.

"Apparently, Lasercorn said that everything is alright…" He trailed off and Mari looked at him, wanting him to go on. "But he can't tell us what's going on yet." Mari paused, a look of confusion crossing her face as she digested what he was saying. However, she quickly snapped out of that confusion.

"What? That's f**king bullsh*t!" She exclaimed, sitting up and pushing her pillow away. Sohinki couldn't keep a straight face because of how similar their reactions were, but Mari was not pleased when she noticed. "It's f**king ridiculous that he can't tell his friends, and it's not funny Sohinki, like f*cking seriously—"

"Mari, calm down." He said, touching her leg, "I'm only laughing because I just said the same thing to Wes. Pretty much word for word." He patted her leg and put his hand back on the wheel.

"Oh…" Mari said. She sat back in her seat sighing, bringing a hand up to rub her forehead. "Sorry, I'm just really worried I guess…" She trailed off looking away. There was a long silence while she stared out the window away from him. Eventually Sohinki smiled a little sadly at her, reaching over to gently rub her shoulder.

"Hey, it's a really hard time right now… You have every right to feel what you feel. You're actually impressing me a ton with how you're handling all this." He turned back to the road so he didn't notice when she looked at him and smiled, her eyes just a little red.

"What can I say?" She murmured, and he could tell from the tone of her voice that she was smiling, "I'm just a people pleaser." They both laughed a little and she hugged her pillow to her chest again. "No but really, thanks Sohinki—for everything." He nodded and shrugged and she gave him a playful little shove on the shoulder.

"Hey, hey!" He laughed, "Driving here!" He shook his head, smiling and for a second everything felt like it was back to normal again.

A few minutes later they pulled up to Sohinki's house—it was a nice place, not too big or small, but in a nice enough neighborhood. Mari had been there millions of times before, enough that it almost felt like a second home, but nonetheless it was still a little weird to be thinking that she'd be staying here. But she kind of loved the idea—she'd get to spend days with her best friend, away from all the problems in her life. It was everything she needed.

Sohinki parked the car and reached into the backseat, grabbing Mari's things.

"Hey, no I can get it!" She protested, whacking him gently on the arm. "I'm a strong, independent woman." She insisted, pushing up her sleeve and motioning to her bicep. Sohinki laughed and rolled his eyes.

"While I don't doubt that in the slightest," He said cautiously while she raised an eyebrow at him, "I simply want to carry these things in—it has nothing to do with you." He then reached back and grabbed her bags, getting out of the car before she could protest further.

"Well, fine." She sighed, trying to pout still but unable to keep from smiling, "Thanks."

"Mmhm." He answered, as she took her pillow and motioned for her to go inside. He showed her where the living room and bathrooms and everything was, even though he knew she knew—he just felt like he should as her host. While she went to the bathroom, he ran to his room to tidy it up. He mentally cursed himself for not being neater. It wasn't that he was messy, he just wasn't expecting anyone and he especially wanted everything to be perfect for her—what with all that was happening. He cleaned up and headed back to the living room, where she was sitting on the couch on her phone. He plopped down next to her.

"Hey, thanks for lending me your couch," she said, pulling her knees to her chest, "it's really cozy." He looked at her for a second, then realized what she meant.

"Oh, no Mari, you can stay in my room. Here come on I'll show you where it is." He said, getting up from the couch.

"Wait, no I can't. It's enough that I'm staying here, I can't take your room too." She protested, standing up too. He raised his eyebrows.

"Mari, honestly, I want you to. You need to get some sleep and just rest for a few days. Come on, please?" She shook her head, and crossed her arms stubbornly. He shook his head and laughed, "Well, how about this: I'm not sleeping in my room, so if you sleep out here, I'll sleep on the floor."

"Sohinki." She said, frustrated, dropping her arms to her side. "That's so unfair." He shrugged, and crossed his arms, mimicking what she had done. She noticed and glared at him. He smiled brightly at her, knowing he'd won the argument.

"Come on, I'll show you where it is." He said, walking towards it, knowing she'd given in. She sighed but followed him. His room was plainer than she expected—she thought there would be action figures and Legos and that sort of stuff everywhere. She knew he was an adult and everything but she still expected him to at least have like posters up. But no, the walls were a plain blue and he just had simple furniture except for his computer with like five giant monitors—but that was the life of a Youtuber. She'd never been in there, this entire time she'd known him, it'd never really occurred to her because she just didn't have a reason to be. But it was nice and at least his bed looked really comfortable.

"It's really nice," She said, looking around still. He half smiled at her and nodded towards the door.

"Come on, lets go order some food, I'm starving."

Mari sat on the couch while Sohinki got pizza, lazily going through the various channels.

"Is cheese okay?" He called out from the kitchen, poking his head out from the doorway.

"Yeah!" She answered excitedly, her stomach growling. They hadn't eaten since eleven and it was now almost eight. She felt like she could eat twenty pizzas, but knowing Sohinki she knew he'd probably get five pizzas just for the two of them. She heard him get off the phone and he walked into the living room.

"Sohinkiiiiii" she called out, groaning a little, slumping down into the couch.

"What?" He asked, smiling at her pouting and walked over to sit down next to her.

"There's nothing good on TV," she complained, giving him the remote. He rolled his eyes and sat back, flipping through the channels. She leaned against his shoulder, scrolling on Instagram on her phone. He nudged her and she looked up at the TV.

"Look what's on." He said, smiling. "The Conjuring" had just started, and knowing that Mari hated scary movies, Sohinki was just teasing her with it. He, Wes, and Lasercorn had planned to take Mari to go see it, but she ended up just being too scared, so they'd gone to see something else. He expected Mari to yell at him to change it, but she just laughed.

"Let's watch it." She said, grabbing one of the blankets off the back of the couch and throwing it around her shoulders. She shut off her phone and put it down, looking at the TV.

"No, I was just kidding," Sohinki said, not wanting her to be scared, "it's pretty scary and you'd hate it…" She bumped her shoulder into his and rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine Sohinki, honestly it's just a movie. " She looked at him and playfully winked, "I bet I'll be way less scared than you."

"Oh, is that right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. He was always up for a challenge and she knew it. "Alright then, let's watch." She smiled at him and he shook his head, unable to keep a smile off of his face. She always knew exactly how to get to him and he hated it. Or at least he liked to make it seem that way. She quickly grabbed the remote out of his hand. "Hey!" he said, reaching back for it.

"Just turning up the volume," she giggled, holding it away from him. He was still struggling to get it back, leaning towards her while she held out an arm to keep him away. Knowing he'd get the remote, she quickly tossed it over her shoulder and started tickling his stomach.

"Quit it!" He yelled, trying to get away, unable to stop laughing. She laughed and continued to tickle him, making him fall onto his back.

"Never!" She shouted, practically on top of him, tickling him. She could see him trying not to laugh but she knew she was in trouble though when she saw a mischievous look in his eye. He suddenly started tickling her back and the arm holding her up gave out. She fell heavily onto him, both of them laughing and a little out of breath. She stayed there for a moment, before giving him a hug—well the best she could manage while they were both awkwardly on the couch.

"Thanks Sohinki, for everything." She said, closing her eyes and squeezing him around the waist with her arms. Not knowing what to do or say, Sohinki awkwardly patted her hair, playing with it a little bit. She smiled and looked up at him and he smiled back, and they sat there for a moment, comfortably. Mari forgot for a little while what was happening in her life and was able to just enjoy the company of her close friend. They were always so silly together, and she loved it, but it was nice just to relax too. On the other hand, Sohinki felt somewhat…weird. He loved that he could be there for Mari when she needed it, and he was comfortable enough to fall asleep—but he just wasn't used to things like this with her. They were like cuddling. Needless to say, he didn't usually cuddle with her or any of his other friends. He tried not to think about it though, and turned his head towards the TV, just trying to enjoy the moment. The movie had started while they'd had their tickle fight. They stayed like that for about 10 minutes, Mari already started to jump a little, and burying her face in his chest. They laughed when she got scared, and Sohinki threw a blanket over the two of them. They only got up when the pizza guy rang the doorbell.

Two full pizzas and one horror movie later, they were both falling asleep. It was around midnight, and although that wasn't too late for them usually, it'd been a long day. Sohinki nudged Mari, who was sleepily cuddled into a blanket at the other end of the couch.

"Hey, Mari. C'mon, let's get ya to bed." He stood up, stretching.

"Hmmm no, it'll be cold there." She complained, trying to snuggle further into the couch.

"Mari, it'll be more comfy." He said, not wanting her to have a bad nights sleep on the couch. She needed her rest what with all that was going on. He went over to her and rubbed her shoulder gently. "Come on," he said sweetly. Finally she gave in and started to get up, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. Sohinki put his arm around her to keep her warm and walked her to his bedroom. He got the bed ready for her and she watched him sleepily. Finally he told her to get in and she climbed in, only complaining a little about the cold. He tucked her in, and told her goodnight and before he thought about it, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. Immediately he wondered why he did that—it was just weird, people didn't do that. But he figured Mari would be too tired to care though, so he just said goodnight again awkwardly. He left, leaving the door open so that she could see into the living room where he was in case she got nightmares from the movie. Fatigue suddenly hit him hard and he trudged out to the living room, toppling onto the couch and pretty much instantly falling asleep.

Mari had initially been dead tired, but when she got into Sohinki's bed, her tiredness completely disappeared. First of all, that freaking scary movie was now making her paranoid and jumpy of every sound. And his furnace was f*cking loud—she almost screamed the first time it turned on. But besides that, he really uncomfortably said goodnight to her by kissing her forehead. The last time someone did that was her mom when she was probably like eleven. Not that she didn't find it sweet… She found it overwhelmingly sweet actually. She wasn't used to him being so caring and kind, but it did make her extremely happy. The thing that was keeping her up the most though was the whole Peter problem. She couldn't help but think that she was an awful person for avoiding him and running away. But she couldn't face him—it made her feel sick to even think about it.

She just about drove herself crazy thinking about Peter and worrying about Lasercorn, so Mari finally sat up and got out of bed. She glanced at the clock, it read "3:24 AM" and she sighed. Sohinki would definitely be asleep, but she just didn't want to be alone. She walked out to the couch and saw Sohinki asleep, sprawled out across it. She sat down next to his head, not wanting to wake him up, just wanting to have someone with her. Unfortunately she didn't succeed.

"Mari…?" Sohinki murmured, slowly lifting his head up and looking around.

"Yeah it's me, sorry," she replied, feeling guilty. He looked up at her and looked around, like he was trying to remember what was going on. It took a second but then the past day came back to his mind and he sat up quickly.

"Is everything alright? Are you okay?" He asked quickly. He instinctively sat up and got closer to her, like he was literally looking to see if she was alright.

"Yeah, I'm fine Sohinki, really." She said, trying to laugh it off, but it came out bitter. She mentally cursed herself—what the f*ck was she even doing, waking up her friend who gave up his freaking bed for her. She felt selfish and gross and almost sick.

"Mari, what's going on?" Sohinki said, concern filling his voice. He gently and tentatively put his arm around her shoulders, hugging her to him a little. "You can talk to me about anything." He said softly, rubbing her shoulder. She looked up at him and he looked so genuinely concerned that she turned her face into his neck, embarrassed. Finally she sighed and sat up.

"Can I ask you something?" She said softly, not looking up to meet his eyes.

"Sure," he answered, confused but trying to cover his concern. He wasn't doing a very good job.

"Am I a bad person?" She asked slowly, as if she was trying to word it correctly. "Or like a bad friend? Basically am I just not good?" Sohinki blinked, confused, he didn't expect her to ask him something like that. He thought she was scared from the movie or just sad, but not this kind of sad. But also what kind of question was that? Was Mari a bad person? F*ck no! She was probably the best person he knew, the best person he'd ever met…

"Mari, I don't know where you'd get an idea like that, but God no you're not a bad person." He saw her about to protest and he cut her off. "Mari, you're everything people strive to be—you're kind, you're caring, you're smart, you're sexy, you're everything a person should be. It's almost unfair how good of a person you are." He took a moment to think and shook his head, "And that's not even it Mari, you do good things, you f*cking care about everything you do, you're passionate, you wanna help others, like god*ammit you're the perfect person and you don't even know it!" They sat there silently for a moment, taking in everything he had just said. He wondered if he'd said too much, or the wrong things, but he'd meant every bit of it. They were completely still except when he noticed that she was shivering and he reached over and grabbed a blanket, placing it on her shoulders. He then took her and hand and gently rubbed the back of it absent-mindedly. Mari's eyes filled with tears and she just shook her head and looked down.

"What'd I do to deserve you?" She asked, her voice shaking, unable to make eye contact with him. He looked at her and put a hand up to her cheek, gently wiping tears away. He cradled her face in his palm and she finally looked up at him and smiled, her eyes still red and sad. He smiled back a little and they sat there for a moment before he pulled her to him, hugging her tightly.

"You're gonna get through this, okay? And I'm gonna be here with you through the entire thing." She nodded into his shoulder and he smiled. "And I promise, no more scary movies for a while." She laughed then, and pulled away. She gave him a little playful shove on the shoulder.

"Pshh, I was barely even scared," she laughed, flipping her hair over her shoulder. He laughed too, so relieved that she seemed like she was starting to feel better. She looked at him and quickly on impulse, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He blinked, somewhat shocked, but immediately glowing internally. "Thanks Sohinki, I… I don't think I can ever make all of this up to you." She said, looking down, rubbing the back of her head. If the lighting were better he could've sworn she was blushing, but he was glad it was dark because he knew he was too.

"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" He answered, trying to laugh off the warm feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't working. He felt all tingly, but tried to ignore it as best he could. "Do you wanna sleep out here too?" He asked, trying to keep everything good and happy. She nodded and just as he was about to get up to sleep on the floor, she cuddled into him so that they were lying down with his arm around her. He felt somewhat weird about it—but he figured that she just needed someone, anyone right now and he was willing to be that person she needed. Plus, it was so comfortable that he fell asleep before he could think of any reasons not to.