Chapter 26
"He is my family, Mark. Glen is part of me just as much as you are. Though it's in a completely platonic way. God this is just like the old days. When is this going to end Mark? You don't have to act like the superior one all the time. You don't have to always show your dominance toward him. He's your BROTHER, your flesh and blood, and you treat him like a common piece of trash!" The anger was only building higher and Grace suddenly deflated, leaning her head against the wall, closing her eyes. "I will never love him the way I love you, but for some reason you feel threatened by him. I don't understand it. You have NO reason to be jealous of ANYONE when it comes to me. I want YOU, do you understand? I want every part of you, every piece of you, and nobody else." She could feel the tears building in her eyes again and tried her best not to let them fall. She'd cried enough tonight.
It took every ounce of his self-possession he had to not demand her to prove it. Mark clenched his fists, green eyes turbulent. "I don't need to prove my dominance to anyone, not even Kane." He hissed, his figurative feathers ruffled, even though she had apparently run out of stream. "I've already proved it when I set him on fire, the first time." He crouched down in front of her again, Paul's words coming back to taunt him 'you'll only hurt her' and paled, reaching out to catch the one tear that slid down her face. "I'm not good for you, Gracie." He whispered.
Her eyes widened when she heard that, her heart shattering in her chest, slowly shaking her head back and forth. "No, don't say that. You are good for me, Mark. We're good for each other." She cupped his face in her hands, pressing his forehead to hers, trembling from head to toe. She couldn't and wouldn't lose him again. "Just leave him be. You have nothing to prove to anyone and he doesn't want to fight you. I already told him how I feel about you, I told him I love you and I want to be with you. He wished me well." She softly kissed his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck, more tears falling down her face before breaking it and hugging him tightly. "I love you, I can't lose you again..."
"You don't understand, Grace..." Mark groaned, moving his hands to push her away and only wound up pulling her even closer, burying his face in her hair and inhaled. God, she drove him to the brink of insanity one minute and then the next pulled him back. "There is too much between Kane -Glen- and I. You have only seen one side of him while you've seen many of me. His temper is as explosive as mine and neither of us will ever truly let what has happened go."
"Then maybe I should leave." She whispered heartbrokenly, staring into his green eyes. "I can't choose between the two of you and I won't, Mark. I love you both and that's the way it stays." There was no way she could choose between him and Glen. Granted, Mark had been her best friend, but she protected Glen from him when they were kids and, in a way, she felt she owed it to him. Glen was protecting her as well, he was her family, blood or not. "Every time you hurt him, you hurt me, and that's never going to change."
"No, don't go, Grace." He whispered, taking her hands in his and squeezing gently. "I want you to stay, you need to stay. If you leave you'll spend the rest of your life kicking yourself in the ass for passing up this shot." Mark swallowed hard, inwardly sighing. "I will...make things easy for you, okay?"
"I don't want you to do that, Mark." She sighed heavily and kissed his lips softly, tenderly, trying to slow her racing heart beat. "I love you, I'm not saying these things to hurt you. I just want to be honest with you in how I feel." Her voice was soft again as she ran the pad of her thumb across his lips. "And you're stuck with me, no matter if I leave the WWF or not. I lost you once, I'm not letting it happen again."
"I appreciate the honesty, hopefully you'll appreciate mine. I meant what I said. I am no good for you. Look at me, Grace. You see Mark when you look at me, but...I'm only that man when I'm with you." He admitted. "All other times I am simply 'Taker. There's a reason for that ring name, it's become who I am over the past twenty years."
"That may be, but you will always be Mark to me, no matter what you do or how you act." She stated, running her hand down his chest while he held her against him. "I don't expect you to change who you are. I'm going to love you no matter what. You may hurt me, but that won't make my love for you any less. You've been through a horrible ordeal in life, you got dealt a shitty hand of cards, and you've handled it the best way you know how. You are Mark to me, there is no Undertaker, not when you're with me. You proved that to me when you went with me for my tattoo." She took a breath, getting a lot of things off of her chest. "And for the final time, we are good for each other. So stop saying that because it's not true. I won't believe it, ever."
Even though she was in obvious denial, he loved her. Denial however because she had just tried convincing him he had been dealt a 'shitty hand of cards' when the majority of what was wrong or had went wrong in his life all stemmed from him deciding to start a fire. Yes, denial. But he wasn't going to try pulling her out of it, not when she was so eager to believe in it. And in him.
It was an accident. That's what Grace truly believed and nobody could change her mind. The fire had been an accident, something Mark was trying to do and it backfired on him.
"Now come here." She pulled him back over to the bed, refusing let him leave her tonight. "I want you to stay with me tonight." She told him, pulling the comforter back, and turned back to face him, pleading amber eyes boring into his. "Please stay with me, Mark."
Grace was asking for him to take her, begging. Groaning, but with a smile on his face, Mark crawled onto the bed with her, the bed dipping underneath his weight. He hovered over her for a moment, watching as she leaned back, leaning in. His lips brushed hers for a brief second before rolling onto the other side, smirking at her. "I feel I should warn you, I sleep in the nude."
"That doesn't surprise me considering the time I barged into your room when we had a day off from school and you were naked." She giggled when his eyebrow raised, the look on his face had been absolutely priceless. "You nearly shoved me down the stairs and your face was beat red." Grace was now laughing, pulling him back when he began to get up, and kissed him softly. "I don't care if you sleep in a paper sack, I just want to feel you against me." She heard him groan and giggled, her eyes sparkling as she reached over and shut the lamp off.
He made quick work of his clothing, leaving it in a pile beside him on the floor. "You are a wench." He growled, reaching out to pull Grace into him, tucking the sheet between their bodies, just in case. "That was one memory I DIDN'T need to remember." Mark inwardly groaned, remembering that day all too well. He then had to explain to Glen just WHAT he had been doing naked to begin when his nosy little brother overheard Grace teasing him about it.
"Yeah, but you love me anyway." She replied smugly, giggling when he growled in her ear, and sighed in contentment, snuggling back against him. Grace smiled as he kissed her shoulder, his arm wrapped around her neck, their fingers entwined together. It was moments like these Grace cherished most and made her love for Mark that much more intense. "Do you remember that time we kissed each other?" She asked softly after a few minutes of silence, closing her eyes as the memory swept her away. They had seen Mark's parents do it and both were curious. Mark had asked her if she wanted to try it. Grace was nine and Mark was ten at the time.
"Yeah, because immediately afterwards you told me my breath smelled like crap." Mark snorted, rolling his eyes at the memory. "And yours smelled like fish sticks by the way...though your tongue..." He purred, kissing the side of her temple, laughing in her ear softly. "Tasted like that bubble gum you were always chewing."
"Strawberry." She murmured softly, turning on her back to stare up into his green eyes, kissing his lips softly before turning back on her side, feeling his arm tighten a little around her waist. She loved that, it made her feel secure, like she was the only woman in his life. "I missed you so much." She whispered, feeling his mouth and nose nuzzle her neck, his hand running up and down her side gently before his arm wrapped around waist again.
"I missed you." He murmured. Though he had lived so long without even her memory, there had been something missing from his life and now he knew it had been Grace. Mark was mindful to steer clear of her tattoo however in his kisses. "Have you been applying A&D?" He asked, wondering if she would have remembered it tonight considering she had seemed in a distraught state earlier.
"It's been two weeks, do you really think-" She sighed and smiled when he stood up, going through her bag, and pulled the A&D ointment out, shaking her head. "I guess I still need it huh?" Grace said, causing a grunt to sound from Mark, and smacked him playfully as he rejoined her in the bed. Moving to lay on her stomach, Grace looked up at him and felt her nightgown strap being pulled down. "Hold on." She whispered, sitting back up and removed it, wearing a strapless matching bra and panties beneath. She couldn't wear regular bras until it was fully healed and laid back down, moving her hair to the left, closing her eyes.
Yes, she was definitely out to either drive him insane or seduce him, both were working. He leaned over to flick on the lamp again, carefully straddling her back, his weight on his knees and stared down at her creamy skin. "Wench..." Mark murmured, beginning to gently rub the cream over the almost healed tattoo.
"You love me." She stated with a smile and sighed, her tattoo instantly feeling relief. It felt tight, but she thought the A&D ointment hadn't been necessary. Then again, this had been done on a part of her body that was tender, Grace should've known better. "Thank you Mark." She murmured when he was finished, staying where she was, and smiled as she felt him kiss her other tattoo that was on her left shoulder before running his fingertips over it. Her eyes closed, relishing in his touch, melting against the bedding, the smile never leaving her face.
"You're very welcome." Mark said softly, leaving the light on so he could really study her tattoos, smirking at the emerald green eyes on her new dragon. Of course the amber eyes on the other represented her. He was definitely apart of her, in more ways then one, and she was the same to him. He stroked the side of his neck thoughtfully, moving off of her and waited patiently for her to snuggle back against him. "I love you."
No matter how many times he said that, Grace's heart fluttered every time and she couldn't stop smiling. "I love you too, Mark." She sighed as he shut the light off again, kissing his lips softly. "Get some sleep." She murmured and closed her eyes, completely exhausted from the emotional night. Though her and Mark had made peace, perhaps there was hope for them after all. Within minutes, with Mark's warmth engulfing her, Grace was asleep; her hair splayed all around her, her lips slightly parted, chest rising and falling slowly and her breathing was even.
Mark lay awake long after Grace had fallen asleep, just enjoying the feeling of holding her. He memorized her contours with his hand, burning her shape to memory, how her skin felt. Everything. He was perfectly content, at peace, just holding her. This was a perfect moment in time and he wasn't going to let go until either sleep claimed him or dawn woke her.