(Invincible) Invincible Bond: Chapter 3 - Rooftop Conversations

Chapter 3 - Rooftop Conversations

Summary: Eve and Mark have a heart-to-heart on a rooftop and reach a complicated decision.

Mark was sitting on top of the roof of his house waiting for Eve to show up. He was very worried about her. He was looking up and staring at the darkening sky; the sun was almost gone, and the little light left of it was covered by the large clump of clouds covering the sky.

He had never heard Eve so... emotional. Wait, even in his own head that sounded wrong. Mark had seen Eve display all sorts of emotions. Mostly positive ones, but this was the first time he heard so much sadness and pain in her voice.

From the first moment she spoke on the phone, he could hear the roughness of her voice; he was familiar with this roughness, it was something that came after a strong, long cry. But why would Eve be so upset?

Nonetheless, the moment he heard her voice, the note with Amber's number was completely forgotten on the floor of his bedroom and Eve was the only thing on his mind. He already had his super-suit in his hands, about to put it on and fly at top speed to her location, even if he had to fly through a couple of billboards on the way.

He was surprised by her request to come to his house but easily agreed. Once the phone call was disconnected, he immediately made his way to the roof.

He had been sitting there for the past few minutes, and with each moment his worry kept increasing, that was until he noticed a pink light growing close.

His mind blanked for a moment and his heart skipped a beat as he saw Eve flying with her pink energy trailing behind her as usual. Mark jumped to his feet just in time to catch Eve who was flying far too fast and directly at him.

It took Mark using his own powers, otherwise both of them would be on the ground by now, which he could take no problem, but he wasn't so sure about Eve, so he elected to float them both just at the edge of the roof.

Holding the newly arrived teen girl in his arms, she hid her face in his chest. Mark decided to speak first and asked gently, "Hi Eve. How are you doing?"

"Seriously Mark? Are you that dense?" Eve's muffled voice asked. Mark could hear she wasn't angry, just not in the mood for stupid questions.

Mark tried to chuckle awkwardly, "Umm... Right, stupid question." He then took a deep breath and added calmly, "How about we sit down and talk?"

Eve didn't move her head, just nodded her agreement into his shirt. Mark didn't say anything or make any movement to push her away so they could sit; actually, he was content to just float here with her in his arms for as long as needed.

Eventually, Eve pulled back and Mark felt a little disappointed by that, then he immediately reprimanded himself and reminded with a stern internal voice, 'She had a boyfriend Grayson, get a hold of yourself.'

A minute later both of them were sitting on the rooftop of his house; there were only a couple of meters between the two of them.

Mark decided to make himself comfortable by leaning back with the weight of his upper body supported by his arms, and his legs were spread out to dangle over the edge of the roof. Eve, on the other hand, was sitting with her knees up to her chin and her arms hugging her legs.

There were a couple of moments of silence before Mark decided to break them by asking, "Eve, want to tell me..."

Before he could even finish, Eve cut him off. She was still looking down as she said sadly, "Rex cheated on me."

Mark wasn't sure what he expected to hear from her, but this admission sure shocked him; he was so surprised that he just had to make sure he heard right, "Did you just say that Rex cheated on YOU?"

Still looking down, Eve nodded before adding in an even sadder voice, which sent a pang of pain in Mark's heart, "With Kate."

Mark could feel anger starting to bubble in his gut, but he kept his voice calm as he asked slowly, "How did you find out? Did Kate tell you?" Because Mark was having a hard time believing that exploding asshole would actually do the decent thing and face up to her.

Eve shook her head before saying, "I caught them in the shower together."

Mark's fury grew further, but he knew it wasn't his anger that Eve needed right now so as calmly as he could he commented, "Well I couldn't say it while you were dating the guy, but Rex is an asshole."

Mark noticed Eve's mood souring even further as she replied bitterly, "He wasn't always like that."

Mark tried to give Eve his best comforting smile as he said, "I suppose so. After all, you are far too smart to get with someone who is this much of an asshole to begin with."

Eve let out a weak chuckle and said sadly, "Not smart enough to cut my losses before reaching this point apparently."

Mark frowned and responded to her comment, "Hey, don't put yourself down like that. Anyone in your place would put in the effort you did to keep a relationship you were in for three years."

Eve looked toward the sky for the first time since she sat down and said bitterly, "It's not the only reason, there is also my parents."

Mark's anger turned into confusion. What did her parents have to do with anything? Now that Mark was thinking about that, she had never mentioned her parents before. Not that they had been talking for very long now, but still, it is something that tends to come up sooner or later.

Putting that aside for now, he asked gently, "Your parents?"

Eve paused and seemed to consider something before choosing to reply with, "Something to talk about another day."

Mark accepted that as he said softly, "Sure. If there's anything you want to talk about Eve, you know I'm here for you."

Eve looked down again and let out what was obviously a forced chuckle before saying, "Careful, don't let Amber hear you say that, or she will think you are cheating on her."

Okay, what the hell was that?! Mark couldn't understand where those words came from. He tilted his head and asked with a tone full of confusion, "What does Amber have to do with it?"

Eve seemed to force another smile on her face, still looking down as she answered, "I heard you got her number. When are you going on your first date?"

And still Mark was completely clueless as to where the hell that was coming from and where this conversation was going now. Wait... Was Eve jealous?!

Nonetheless, he chose to answer honestly, "I did get her number, but I didn't call her."

Eve's eyes widened and for the first time she actually raised them to look at him, but this time he was the one evading her gaze as he explained, "With all the double life stuff, it would be impossible to have a decent relationship where I have to lie to her every day."

The light in Eve's eyes that appeared just a moment ago seemed to get dimmer again as she let out a soft, "Oh. I guess you have a point."

Mark wasn't sure what made him rush ahead and add, "And then there was you."

The light returned to Eve's eyes, and she asked in a much chipper tone, "Oh?"

Mark gathered all the courage he could and admitted as calmly as he could, "I don't think it's a secret I have a crush on you, Eve."

Mark thought he could see a small blush dusting Eve's cheeks before her smile turned into a chuckle. Mark smiled nervously at her and asked, "Uh, what's so funny?"

Eve shook her head before saying amusedly, "When I caught them, Kate said that Rex told her I was seeing you and we were allowed to sleep with other people now. When I confronted Rex about it, he was so sure it was true."

Before Mark realized what he was doing, he mumbled to himself, "I wish."

When what he said caught up with him, Mark could feel his face heating up. He glanced at Eve, hoping she might have missed his mumble due to the winds. What he saw was Eve staring at him with a blank face and a raised eyebrow.

Mark could feel his face was about to combust and he hurried to explain, "Wait! I didn't mean it like that!"

Eve's expression didn't change, and her voice was flat as she asked, "Oh, so you don't wish we slept together?"

Mark wanted to cry; he wasn't sure what the hell he was supposed to answer and during the confusion all he managed to stutter, "No... Yes... Well... I..."

In the end, Mark just chose to give up on that and buried his face in his hands as he leaned forward, hoping the roof would break and drop Mark into his room, so all of that could be a dream.

He wasn't sure how long he sat like that until he heard a giggle from beside him; a moment later a soft hand grabbed his own and pulled it away from his face.

Mark used his uncovered eye to glance toward the origin of the hand holding his own, to find the smirking face of Eve. The super-heroine kept holding his hand as she said teasingly, "As someone who claims to be invincible, you're sure easy to tease."

Mark, hoping to recover some of his dignity, uncovered his face and tried to return her attitude, "Well I've taken punches before, but I've never had a girl asking me to sleep with her."

Eve let go of his hand and crossed her arms with a small huff, "Aren't we full of ourselves? I don't remember offering anything like that."

Mark raised an amused eyebrow at her obviously faked annoyance; just to rub her face in it some more he asked with curiosity, "So what were you saying, Ms. Atom?"

Eve's entire body stiffened, and her arms found their way around her knees again as her chin rested on top of them. She looked down again before saying, "I'm not sure of anything anymore Mark. I mean, I was sure I would work things out with Rex and now look where we are. My parents are going to give me headaches for weeks over this."

Her parents again, Mark noticed. What was their part in all of this and why would they give her trouble for something that wasn't even her fault to begin with? Mark comforted himself by focusing on her choice of words, confirming for now that her parents are not the physical abuse type like he was worried about before.

Then again, it wasn't here nor there. Eve needed something else right now. Taking his chance, Mark squirmed his way closer to her and put his arm around her shoulder. He did it slowly to allow her the chance to move away or verbally stop him.

When neither of those happened, he smiled at her and said softly, "What do you feel, Eve?"

Eve seemed to consider the question for a long time before finally answering, "I feel hurt, I feel angry... But most of all I feel alone."

Mark's arm tightened around her shoulders as he said from the bottom of his heart, "You are not alone. No matter what, you will always have me."

Eve turned to look him in the eye; for a short moment he stared into the depths of her green eyes until something seemed to shift in them, and she said with a small smile, "Thanks Mark, it means a lot."

Mark just smiled at her with his biggest smile.

There was a short silence before Eve spoke again, though Mark had a hard time placing her tone, "I guess it's only fair I admit I got a crush on you too since the second invasion."

Mark felt both elated and apprehensive; doing his best to keep his smile in place he said gently, "I can feel a 'but' coming."

Eve nodded before saying in a sad tone, "Mark, the thing with Rex is kind of fresh; it will take me some time to let go of..."

Before she even finished her explanation, Mark cut her off with a soft smile and warm voice, "I will wait Eve. We will take it as slow as you want; all I care about is you."

Eve's body finally relaxed under his hold and Eve let out the biggest smile he had seen on her face. Before Mark could understand what was happening, Eve was leaning forward and he felt pressure on top of his lips.

It took a moment for him to realize the soft texture on his own lips was Eve's and that meant she was kissing him. Mark forced his brain to go into hyperdrive and kiss the girl back.

Mark couldn't find the will to close his eyes, not when the sight in front of him was the reddish sky peeking through the clouds with the wind carrying the red hair of the girl kissing him in waves as well. Mark wasn't sure if he had ever felt so peaceful before.

That was when someone cleared their throat.