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Sitting On The Shelf - Marcus White x Reader

Part 40 - Christmas Eve

SOTS Masterlist

"Wait, so, tell me it again." Jonah pleaded, his arms folded and pressed against the side of the customer service counter, doing his best to stare you down where you sat on the countertop next to Garrett. "Please. It's the least you could do."

"Dude, come on, don't you think you've heard it enough yet?" Garrett asked, turning to face Jonah with a frown deeply settled on his face, almost as sick of hearing the story as you were of telling it. "Cut my poor doll face some slack."

"Come on, J." You pleaded in return, turning to him with clasped hands and a pout on your lips.

"No." Jonah walked around the counter top, coming to your side and knocking into your shoulder with his own. "Your eternal apology is to tell me the story whenever I want to hear it."

Letting out a loud groan, you threw your head back exasperatedly. Of course Jonah would somehow find a way to try and forever punish you for your lack of communication one time.

"Like I said the last 12 times, i pushed you into the bathroom and I went into the other one. Marcus came in and offered to help me clean up, and one thing led to another." Jonah urged you to go on, not taking your short lived explanation as a fulfilling enough story. "He told me he was really scared when he thought Kelly 'stabbed' me, and that it made him think about all the things he didn't get to say to me. And then we kissed."

"And they all lived happily ever after." Garrett concluded, rolling his eyes at Jonah who seemed completely enamoured in the re-kindling of your love life. "Can we be done now?"

"No. I need more." Jonah teased, nudging your shoulder with his own yet again as he pushed and prodded for more details about what happened that night and how you and Marcus got together again.

"That's the whole story." You hummed, jumping off the counter and moving to stand opposite your two boys. "Besides, I called him my boyfriend in our fake murder skit. I guess neither of you noticed."

"Wait what?" Garrett tuned back into the conversation with renewed intrigue, his mouth agape. "You called him your boyfriend before you ever went to the bathroom?"

"Well, yeah. We've been dancing around it since Emma's first-"

"-and last-"

"-day here. You were literally there Jonah!"

"Oh. I didn't like that." Jonah frowned, wincing away from you as his arms folded across his chest. "I don't remember the last time you called me anything but J."

"Well, J, my point stands." Jonah's frown quirked up into a smile as you corrected yourself, his entire demeanour softening. "You've been there for practically every time we've interacted in the store over the past few weeks. Anything you missed, you missed on your own accord."

Jonah's eyes left yours, his gaze moving intently to the floor as he recounted every interaction he'd seen between the two of you over the last few weeks, and damn it you'd been right - he'd been there for a lot of what happened. He even gone as far as to - several times - tell you he was sure Marcus still liked you. How could he have forgot?

"Lets just hope he doesn't start asking about trivia night." Garrett joked, however your face paled as you realised that was one event he hadn't been there for that had happened.

"When did I even fill you in on that?" You turned to Garrett with a harsh whisper, unnerved by his knowledge and they way he'd brought up yet another story you'd have to tell Jonah 10 million times.

"I have eyes everywhere."

"Trivia night?"

"Oh no! Look at the time!" You cried, nervous laughter bubbling past you lips in a mannerism you'd sworn you'd stolen from Cheyenne after so many years spent together. "Things aren't going to stock themselves!"

Running out from behind the counter, you headed straight for the stock room in hopes you'd find something to hide behind or busy yourself with enough that Jonah would leave you alone.

"What happened at trivia night?" Jonah asked, following you out of the customer service desk as soon as he'd noticed you were trying to run away from his line of questioning. "What happened? You have to tell me! It's all I want for Christmas! Peach!"

————————————————————————

"Come on, I don't know if it's a bulb or a stripped wire." Glenn whined, passing out heat another set of Christmas lights for the group of you to untangle.

Glenn had gathered as many of you as he could find to help him in his efforts to sort through the stores collection of Christmas lights, even though it was Christmas Eve and he'd never be able to do anything worthwhile with them now. So far this morning, you'd worked through 2 sets yourself and 3 more between you and Jonah, so you'd call it a pretty successful day.

"Glenn, you've been trying for two months to solve this problem." Amy sighed, placing down the string of lights she'd been working her way through for the past 20 minutes. "I really don't think you're gonna crack it on Christmas Eve."

General hums of agreement came from the crowd that had formed to aid Glenn's effort. Mateo folded his arms across his chest, avoiding taking on another set of lights to untangle. "My grandmother would kill me for saying this, but I just don't get why people make such a big deal out of Christmas."

Loud gasps of hurt and betrayal could be heard from all around, your own particularly loud and hurt, the string of lights you'd been feeding through to Jonah coming to a halt as your glared down Mateo. "What? How can you not love Christmas?"

"Yeah, Mateo." Jonah confirmed, looking up at you with a soft smile on his lips as he reminisced on his last Christmas here in St Louis. "Christmas is the best."

"I mean real talk, Christmas is pretty disappointing and over-hyped. It's kind of like "Star Wars."" Yet another controversial opinion had just slipped past Mateo's lips and it wasn't even 8am yet - today was going to be a long day.

Even Dina seemed hurt by Mateo's generally wrong opinions, a gasp elicited from her mouth and a frown settling on her lips. "You don't like "Star Wars"?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Can we just one-at-a-time this? It's not about a day. It's about looking back on the year we shared and celebrating it." Glenn whined, a deep frown settling on his face as he looked over the group for support in his claim.

"Yeah, let's celebrate the year a tornado hit the store." Dina scoffed, also halting in her efforts to untangle the lights though you were fairy surprised she'd offered to help in the first place.

"My entire apartment got destroyed and I lived with y/n for like half the year." Smacking the back of your hand into Jonah's chest, you turned to him with a glare. "Only the destroyed apartment was bad, though."

"I got a really annoying roommate, and he won't leave." Garrett said next, contradicting Jonah's previous claim of having a good time living with you. You couldn't imagine Garrett's experience living with Jonah was as bad as he was making it seem, not when you'd had such a good time living with him earlier in the year.

"I got a divorce."

"I lost my boyfriend for half the year." Boyfriend. It had a nice ring to it when you said it about Marcus. And though you'd not really discussed whether he was officially your boyfriend or you guys were just 'together' again, it didn't really matter to you, you were just happy to have him back.

"My boyfriend wound up in a coma."

It seemed like a generally bad year for relationships in the store, now that you thought about it.

"I am looking for a place." Jonah threw his arms out, letting the string of fairy lights fall into his lap as he spoke to Garrett, his voice filled with exasperation.

Garrett scoffed, looking away from the brunette with a quite mutter. "Not looking hard enough."

"It's just a sucky year."

"The doctors aren't sure if he'll ever even..."

Glenn quickly moved on from the topic, reaching his hand out towards Cheyenne softly and moving his fingers in a grabbing motion. "Cheyenne, can I have the voltage tester, please?"

Amy was the next to set her lights down as she spoke, no one being able to do both tasks at the same time apparently. Feeding another untangled line of lights to Jonah, you listened mindlessly to the conversation before you. "But I do have to say I'm looking forward to next year. I really feel like it's time to just start living life. You know? Like, I don't know. I feel like I can get wilder."

"Oh, God. You're not gonna cut your hair again, are you?" Mateo cringed, thinking back to the in store haircut Amy had received from Cheyenne just before the tornado. You much preferred the short hair, finding it framed Amy's face nicely, and you'd never be opposed to helping her cut it again.

"No. I mean, maybe. I don't know. I just mean, like finally taking those motorcycle lessons, or skydiving, or like, maybe I'll get a tattoo." Amy wooed, picking up the chain of lights again and going back to untangle them.

Cheyenne let out a low chuckle. "There's just no way you're doing any of that."

Amy responded with her own chuckle, denying any doubt the rest of you seemed to have in her belief that this would be her year to be crazy. "I'm serious. I, I'm going to unleash crazy Amy. You guys can call me "Craymie.""

Letting your head fall into your hands, you ran a hand across your face. As much as you loved Amy, 'craymie' was already too much for you. "Uh, no thanks."

As Amy began to start a chant of her newfound name, no one else joined in, leaving her arms to fall back to her side in defeat. "Amy, Craymie. All right, well that was just a idea."

"Feels forced."

————————————————————————

"And then another time, I thought Jerry came out of his coma and winked at me, but turns out, it was just a muscle spasm from low folic acid."

A few of you had gathered around the stand of hot cocoa Glenn had set up in the middle of the store, the unusually quiet Christmas Eve shift giving you the opportunity to catch up with your coworkers and get a glimpse into their Christmas plans.

Dina scoffed at Sandra's recap of her most recent hospital visit, clearly finding something wrong with whatever she'd said. "Did you check the twitch for Morse Code? He could have been telling you to stop talking, or it's possible he's in so much pain, he's just begging anyone to pull the plug." After another moment deep in thought she seemed to come to a solid conclusion. "I think that's what it was."

Before you could comfort Sandra with a reminder that it was very unlikely to be that and was probably a sign he was getting better and closer to waking up, Amy came running over - Marcus and Corey in tow with a bottle of whiskey in her hands. "Yo, yo, yo. Cheer up, losers! It's Christmas!"

Everyone moved closer to her as she pulled the lid off of the thermos and opened the bottle of whiskey, pouring it into the hot chocolate Glenn had made. "What are you doing?"

"Turning this into a par-tay." Amy whooped, continuing to pour the warm, brown liquid into the cocoa until only a 1/3 remained in the bottle.

"I have ecstasy in my car." Cheyenne excitedly added, already reaching into her Jean pocket in search of her car keys.

Amy paused, shocked by the sudden offering of ecstasy but quickly regained her composure, shaking her head gently at Cheyenne. "We'll start here and then see where the day takes us. Spread the word, bitches. Craymie in the house!"

Linking your non hot cocoa holding arm through Cheyenne's you pulled her close enough that you could whisper in her ear. "We'll see where the night goes, chey." The blonde looked at you with a bright smile, knocking her forehead against yours. "And if it goes nowhere, me and you can always slip out and have some fun.

The pair of you burst into laughter, approaching Amy with your cups of hot cocoa outstretched so she could pour some of the whiskey that remained in the bottle into your already filled cups.

"Yeah, go, Craymie! Go, Craymie! Craymie is here!" Marcus chanted, Corey quickly joining in before they paused, a looked of confusion crossing their face.

"Who's Craymie?"

Marcus then paused his own chant, lowering his fist as confusion took over his features. "I don't, uh...I don't know."

"Hey, you." Slipping out of Cheyenne's hold, you made your way over to Marcus, grabbing one of his hands in you own and allowing him to pull you into his chest. "How's you're shift going?"

"Better now you're here." He hummed, a smirk curling on his lips as he leaned down and connected them with your own in a quick peck. The speed of the action hadn't been enough to stop Mateo shouting at the two of you to 'get a room,' however.

"How about some hot cocoa, hmm."

————————————————————————

You were tucked under Marcus's arm, one of his hands wrapped around your waist while the other poured beer into each one of the cups before him. Letting your head fall against his chest, you watched as Justine did the same at the other end of the table.

"So what you're going to want to do." Marcus whispered into your ear, making sure you heard him over the general chatter of everyone who had gathered around the hot cocoa stall. "Is throw the ball gently, overarm, and aim it directly for one of the cups. In the middle is better, cause if you kiss it'll fall into one of the nearby ones."

Marcus placed the little, orange ping-pong ball in the palm of your hand, cupping your hand in his and guiding it gently into the air. He pulled your hand back slightly, then as he moved it forward, commanded you to let it go - the ball flying forward and straight into justices central cup.

"There we go!" Marcus cheered, wrapping both his arms around you from behind and squeezing you against him. "Easy peasy, right?"

"Right." You whispered, looking up at Marcus, your face flushed. Standing on the tips of your toes, you pressed a kiss to his jaw, not caring that you'd missed his lips, making it his turn to turn pink in the face.

"No, you guys, I'm serious." Amy demanded, her words attracting the attention of anyone who hadn't previously been listening in to what she was saying. "I used to, like, shoplift bulk candy and, like run, and one time I stole a car."

General disbelief ran through the group, mumblings of how out of character that was for Amy travelling the group but not quiet reaching your ears. If your brain wasn't so clouded with alcohol and the feeling of Marcus's arms around you, maybe you would've remeber we when Adam had told you the story when you first moved in.

"No you guys, I did." Amy insisted, standing from her seat with a smile on her face, thinking back on her high school days with a fondness you'd not seen in her in a while. "It was 10th grade. I took my math teacher's Kia, drove it to the Burger King, got some French toast sticks, and then I just left it there like, bounced."

Mateo scoffed at her explanation, rolling his eyes as he shuffled in his camping chair. "The French toast sticks were a little too specific. But nice try."

Cheyenne was next to agree, still in disbelief that Amy would do something of the sort. "Yeah, you would never do that."

"No, I did do that. You know what? I could call Adam." Amy insisted, determined to prove that she had been the so called 'craymie' in her high school days that she was trying to be again now. "He'll tell you the whole story."

"All right. Call him." Marcus countered, his words vibrating through his chest and into your back, your fingers moving to intertwine with his as you continued to stand by the ping-pong table.

"Okay. I will. And then we'll see who's crazy."

The call was answered on the third ring, Amy barely getting passed a 'hello' before she could here shuffling on the other side of the phone - Adam shushing someone before returning to Amy's question.

"Who was that?" Amy asked, words quieter then they had been in a minute, her gaze intent upon her phone screen.

"Uh, that's, uh, that's Bridgett. Emma's friend Crystal's Mom." Though you weren't mad at Adam for moving on, you found it insufferable that this was how he was letting Amy find out. He could've at least sent a text out of politeness so that this wouldn't happen.

"Wait, Crystal's over? I thought Emma was away."

"No, I'm at her place. Um, what did you want?"

Amy was stunned into silence, her mouth hung agape as she bore her eyes into the phone screen. "Nothing." She rushed out, moving to hang up the call despite the fact she'd not got what she'd asked for. "Merry Christmas."

"Ha ha. Chickened out. Couldn't even ask about the car." Marcus laughed, completely having missed what just happened despite the fact that everyone else was staring at her in stunned silence. He raised his arm, having gently pulled the ping pong ball from your hands, and thrown it directly into one of Justine's back row cups. "Boom!"

You congratulated him on his win with a pat to his chest, slipping out from his hold and making your way over to Amy with open arms that she easily fell into.

————————————————————————

You, Amy and Cheyenne had crammed yourselves around one of the computers in electronics, all staring intently at the computer screen with Bridgette's Facebook page loaded on it.

Dina appeared beside you, a notepad in one hand and her drink in the other. "Well, I've come up with my New Year's resolutions. More birds, more sex, more judo." All Dina appropriate resolutions, you thought. You hadn't even started to think about what yours were going to be - but if you had to guess a large amount of them would include spending more time with Marcus. "And I'm gonna try to pepper, "Yas, queen," into conversation more I think it's time."

"We're checking out that skank that Amy's ex-husband is sleeping with." Cheyenne explained the situation to Dina, her eyes unmoving from the screen as she did.

Dina moved to stand beside you, wrapping her arm around your shoulder so that she could squeeze in close and get the best possible view of the screen.

"No, uh-uh. We don't know that they're sleeping together. There's a lot of reasons he could be at that skank's house." Amy stopped scrolling when she landed on a particular picture of the girl Adam was seeing, the three of you bitterly ogling the photo. "Oh, there she is. Always, like, lurking around, waiting for a dad to come on the market."

"Yeah, she's so...basic." You'd wanted to say hot, unable to tear your eyes away from the stunning bikini photo, but for Amy, you'd lie. Hearing you thought she was good looking wasn't exactly what she needed to hear right now.

"Adam got with that? Guy's fighting above his weight class." Dina scoffed, taking another sip of you drink, nodding sincerely. "Good for him."

"I mean, it's just It's messed up." You scoffed, taking hold of the mouse and scrolling through more of the photos. Amy offered you a fill up from the bottle of alcohol she was still caring around and you took it gratefully.

"It is so messed up." Cheyenne agreed, the two of you having linked arms as the alcohol began to set in, standing becoming harder and harder.

"You know what? I'm just gonna say it. Men are from Mars. I just came up with that." The four of your cheered over Dina's new saying, finding truth in it especially when Adam was acting so skanky. You knew your dislike for him was rooted in solid foundations.

"Do you know what I feel like I should do?" Amy slurred, swaying gently from side to side as she continued to take sips of her spiked hot cocoa. "I feel like it's a good idea to, like, go down there. Go to her place."

"To Bridgett's house?" Cheyenne rasped, entire body leaning forward as she tried to listen in to the conversation.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I was thinking."

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no. You should not go over there." Dina commanded with a fast shake of her head. However, a mischievous smile was quick to curl on her face. "We should all go over there."

You tilted your head in confusion, your brain completely fogged up from the mix of alcohol and rapid back and forth conversation. "To Bridgett's house?"

"Just always assume we're talking about Bridgett's house." Dina waved her hands at you and Cheyenne, the two of you nodding at her when you finally understood what was going on.

"Yes, let's do it." Amy gasped, a wide smile on her face.

"Okay. Oh, but how are we gonna get there? Because I try not to drive if I've had more than six."

"Yeah, I don't have a car." You added - you'd drank the least out of all four of you, but you still in no state to drive, however, in the moment that thought didn't cross your mind, the only one being that lack of car to get you there

"Oh, yeah, I should not be getting behind the wheel of a car right now."

The four of you were quick to get into your outdoor coats, hats, gloves and scarfs, riding the mobility scooters out of the store on the beginning on what would surely be a long journey to Bridgett's house.

"And we're sure this is faster than walking?" Asked as you finally pulled out into the main road, immediately blocking a car from going past as the four of you went roughly 2 miles and hour.

As you turned a corner, following Amy and Dina who seemed to know where they were going, your phone buzzed. Pulling it out, you opened the notification, finding a message from Jonah.

The Three Musketeers

J <3 | would you say your life was significantly improved by fajita Thursdays?

y/n | yeah, always. I miss it. move back in pls

Gare-bear <3 | 1 you're a liar and 2 you can have him I want him out

J <3 | oh that is so rich that you would say that

You were glad that you were missing whatever fight those two were having, muting your phone and tucking it back inside the safety of your coat pocket as you carried on with your journey to Bridgette'a house.

————————————————————————

It was a surprisingly quick journey to Bridgett's house - even given the fact you were travelling there on the cloud 9 mobility scooters - but the cold, night air that was beginning to seep through your clothes was making it feel long.

"This is it. The vulture's nest." The three of you parked up behind Amy's first scooter, each dismounting their respective scooter and standing at the end of the path to Bridgett's house.

"Whoa." Cheyenne and you were dazed by the lights and ornaments that she had on display in her front yard. "Look at all this stuff."

Dina scoffed, hands on her hips as she stared at the yard display in disgust. "Four owls? News flash, owls are notoriously solitary."

"Four-owl bitch."

"All right. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna go knock on the door." Amy psyched herself up, walking right up to Bridgett's door and raising her hand to knock.

"Great, and then what?"

"And then Adam opens the door, and then I get to see the look on his face!"

"I bet it's gonna be all like, "Whoa, you're a crazy stalker. I'm scared.""

Amy froze in her spot, a terrible, sinking feeling settling in the pit of her stomach as what the four of you were doing really realised itself in her brain. "Oh, my God. This is a mistake."

Dina laughed at the realisation, nodding as though she'd known from the very beginning this would happen. "Uh, a mistake that we're gonna laugh about one day."

"But not today." You gasped, your grip on Cheyenne tightening at the horrific thought of that very door opening and Adam coming out from the other side.

"Oh, no, no, no. Today's gonna be a mess." Dina confirmed.

"We got to go. We got to go. Go, go, go, go, go!" The four of you ran back to your scooters, attempting to make an escape before you'd achieved your plan of confronting them now that you realised how dumb it was. "Get out of here. Oh, my God. My battery's dead."

You and Cheyenne concurred, all three of you heading towards Dina's scooter in an effort to still escape while you could. You could come back for the other scooters later. As Amy tried to climb in the basket, you and Cheyenne balanced on the back, Dina smacked her away. "The max capacity for the basket is a buck-fifty."

"What, are you kidding me?" Amy shrieked, desperate to just get in the basket and get going before anyone noticed you were there. "I don't weigh 150 pounds."

"If you say so, but I'm weighing you when we get back." Dina allowed Amy into the basket, pressing down on the go pedal and moving about a foot away from where she'd parked when the door to Bridgett's house opened.

"Amy? Is that you?"

"Adam? Dubanowski? You guys, you remember Adam." Everyone eyed up the brunette, making noises for way too joyful agreement in an effort to hide the malicious intent you'd arrived with.

As Adam and Bridgette invited everyone in to get warm and talk while the scooters recharged, you opted to sit on her porch step with your coffee, forgetting that coming to confer on Adam actually pertained confronting Adam. You'd much rather sit out on the cold porch, attempting to sober up with your coffee then be in the same room as him.

Fortunately, it wasn't long before everyone came back out of the house. Placing down your half drank cup if coffee onto Bridgett's decking, you joined them as they walked back to the scooters, linking arms with Cheyenne as you went.

Just as you were about to get into your scooter, Amy ran back towards the lawn ornaments, grabbing a snowman and turning to face the three of you with a wicked grin. "I told you. I'm Craymie. Year of Craymie! Quick, take something! Hurry, come on! Go, go! Go, go, go, go!"

As you each grabbed and ornament to put in your basket, Bridgett and Adam came to the door, watching as you made your slow get away with her lawn ornaments in som act of twisted revenge. Finally you pulled out of view, will fill charged scooters, new Christmas decorations and a cry from Dina of 'yas queen!'

Maybe today had been alright.

————————————————————————

"I told you guys. I am a psycho." Amy had a wide smile on her face, her coworkers believing her high school wildness giving her the satisfaction she'd wanted.

"Oh, yeah, you got to let Craymie out more often. But call her something else, 'cause that name sucks." Cheyenne stroked the head of the owl ornament she's stolen, your identical one sat next to Marcus on the floor while you were sat in his lap.

"What's wrong with Craymie?"

Amy's question went unanswered as Glenn appeared with a plug and an extension lead in hand. "Well, I think I finally figured out these Christmas lights. See if you can still call this "fine.""

"Wow. Christmas lights. I've never experienced the miracle of little light bulbs on a string before." Mateo sassed fed up of Glenn trying to convince him Christmas was cool when that's all he'd been doing since this morning.

As Glenn turned on the light display he'd spent all month working on in for the first time, it elicited gasps fro everyone gathered around the Christmas display. The fairy lights covered the whole store head to toe and gave off a warm glow that had your absolutely captivated. Marcus wasn't looking at the lights, however, his head titled up to look at you through hooded eyes.

"Where's Jonah? He would love this."

With a gasp, you stumbled from Marcus's lap, his hand coming to rest against the small of your back as you attempted to stand straight. "That reminds me." Pushing away from the group, you did your best to run for the stores entrance, your bag loosely in your grip as you picked it up from where it had been on the floor. "I'll be right back."

You stumbled into several end caps as you tried to weave your way throughout the store in search of a certain brown-haired boy before it was too late. As you neared the front of the store, you called out in way too over the top whispers, through the alcohol in your system had you thinking you were yelling with all your might. "Jonah!"

Jonah and Kelly froze in the store entrance, both wrapped up to protect them from the winter weather and far too close together for friends to be. Even though you had enough alcohol in your system that you couldn't see entirely straight, you could see that.

Running up to the brunette as the pair turned to face you, you threw your arms around his shoulders, pressing a wet, sloppy kiss to his cheek. As you pulled away your cheeks filled with warmth, a wide smile forming on your face. "I nearly forgot."

Reaching for your bag, you opened it up, pulling out a neatly wrapped silver box and pressing it a little too hard against Jonah's chest. A laugh slipped past his lips at your over the top gestures, him quickly realising that you'd probably consumed more alcohol tonight then you should've. While you had gotten him a physical gift, you weren't going to let him miss out of what he'd claimed he'd wanted earlier that day.

"At trivia night, he waited for me to drop Sandra at the bus stop, and then was going to walk me home. But I got in his car and we went to trivia night. Together." You whispered, pressing another chaste kiss to his cheek then leaning up to his ear. "Merry Christmas."

Jonah pressed a quick kiss your cheek in return this time, the smile unwavering from his face. "I actually ordered your gift to be shipped to your place, it should be there when you get back."

"You got me something?" You awed, pulling him into a hug, your arms hanging loosely around his waist. "That's sweet."

"And so are you, peach."

"And Kelly." As quickly and intently as your attention had been on him, it had now turned to Kelly, your eyes unwavering from the shorter blonde as the smile on your face only widened. "Kelly." You cooed once more, grabbing the girl by her shoulders and pulling her into a tight hug, pressing a long, hard kiss to her cheek just like you had Jonah's. "You're so nice. And pretty. And cool."

You hiccuped in between your words, your posture was becoming less and less straight and if it weren't for the fact you had such a firm grip on the blondes shoulders, you'd have definitely fallen over by now. "If I wasn't dating Marcus, I'd totally hit you up, doll face."

Jonah nearly choked at your use of the words 'doll face,' years in Garretts presence clearly having rubbed off on you.

"I'm going to leave you lovebirds to it." You whispered, pulling them both into one last, group hug. "Have a very, Merry Christmas!"

As you walked away from the two, you blew them a kiss, waving goodbye for a final time before running back in the direction of the lights and the people you loved so much. When you finally made it back to the winter garden display that everyone had gathered around, Marcus's eyes were quick to meet yours, you quickly staggering over to him and plopping yourself down on his lap with a hard drop.

"Where'd you go there, angel?" Marcus whispered in your ear, the glow of the Christmas lights illuminating his face in the darkness of the store. "I missed you."

"I needed to give Jonah his Christmas present." You murmured back, wiggling the metal flask from between his fingers and taking another swig from it. "Speaking of Christmas presents, yours is back at my place."

"Is it now?" Marcus asked, a teasing lilt to his words, a quick kiss being pressed to your forehead as you let it fall back and rest against his shoulder. "Does that mean I get to come over tomorrow?"

"I was thinking you could come over tonight, when everyone heads out of here."

"Back to your place?" He asked, one hand coming up to play with your hair, twirling them it around his fingers then letting it go, and repeating the action once more.

"Back to my place, and in the morning I can open your gift and you can open my gift, and then to my moms for breakfast and more gifts and eventually Christmas dinner which'll probably be more Chinese food." You mused, sitting up enough in Marcus's lap that you could look in his eyes. Both your arms came up to wrap around his neck, hands meeting at its nape and running through the hair there. As you seemed to think on your next words, you started giggling, a blush rising to your cheeks. "And then afterwards, Amy does this thing - every year - where she goes back and forth between two Christmas movies and she always ends up picking the polar express. It's the best thing ever."

Marcus looked down at you with the softest smile, his eyes filled with adoration that shone under the gentle glow of the Christmas lights that Glenn had coated the store in. Of course when you'd said mom, you'd meant Amy, the way it had so naturally rolled of your tongue warmed his heart - and he was sure it'd have warmed Amy's too if she'd heard.

"Your sure I'm welcome?" He asked, nudging his nose against yours, pressing a chaste kiss to your lips that had you chasing after his when he pulled away in search of another. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

Another kiss was pressed to your lips before you responded, dazed and dreamily staring up at the brunette. "Of course you're welcome to come baby, you don't have to if you don't want to."

Marcus was thankful that everyone else was too wrapped up in their own conversations to notice the way his cheeks flushed a deep red when you'd called him baby. The slightly drunken drawl to your words had only made the butterflies it gave him worse, the fact it was the first time you'd called him any kind of pet name would've been enough to have his cheeks burning alone.

"Of course i want to come, Angel. It's a good thing I have your gift in the trunk of my car then, huh."

"You got me a gift?" You gasped, turning so that you were straddling one of his legs instead, his hands coming to hold your hips so that you were kept steady. "You didn't have to, that's so sweet."

"Of course I had to." Marcus replied knocking his forehead against yours gently. "You got me one last year, and now this year, and I-"

Though Marcus did love you he didn't want to say it again now. He didn't want now - while you were half drunk and looking at him like that - to be the first time he said it again since the two of you got back together. Not when he was still a little bit scared of you not saying it back.

"I care about you. Why wouldn't I get you a gift?"

"What did I do to deserve you?" You hummed, allowing your head to fall into the crook of his neck, Marcus's hands that had been on your hips moved to wrap around your waist, holding you against him in a hug. Nuzzling yourself into the warmth of Marcus, you words came out muffled and quieter then intended. "Merry Christmas to me, huh."

"Merry Christmas to you indeed, angel."

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☆: .｡. Tag List .｡.:☆ @write-from-the-heart @despicablylara @whatafreakingloser @flowercrowns-goodvibes @millieb-3199 @lolawassad @catarina-trouxa @falsegodofmischief @thepurplebutterflythings @littleboysmile @sibsteria @quinn-7007 @aashy723 @maeisonline @lizziel1410 @tamberjo @texaschainslvt @mariizai

Want to be added to the taglist? send an ask to let me know <3

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I LOVE THEM SO MUCH YOUR HONOUR

I hope you guys enjoyed this weeks part because it had all my fave things!!!! Mom!Amy, Fluffy!Marcus and Adam hate 🔪🔪🔪🔪

New update next week or potentially the first sub part Sunday in forever!!! (Depending on the word count god knows I'll end up writing 10,000,000 words about Christmas Day) we'll see what happens then....

As always!!! Have a lovely week <333

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tamberjo · 1 year

Text

Sitting On The Shelf - Marcus White x Reader

Part 39 - Health Fund

SOTS Masterlist

In the 15 minutes you'd so far been in the break room waiting for your shift to start, Mateo had been whining and groaning non stop, his hand pressed tightly against his ear.

Garrett scoffed, letting go of the page he'd been reading over his breakfast. "Mateo, we get it."

Mateo turned to Garrett with a scowl settled on his face, deepened by his supposed friends lack of sympathy. "Okay, I can't help it. I have an ear infection."

The mention of an ear infection seemed to be the thing that captured Glenn's attention, swapping the sip he'd taken from his thermos as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "You know, whenever I get one of those, I put a little garlic oil in my ear. It takes away the sting, and you get to smell like the Pope."

Amy perked up from where she'd been filling on some paperwork next to you, eyes still on the paper as she spoke. "I'm telling you, a little VapoRub on a Q-tip and..."

Letting out a low laugh, you looked over your shoulder at her, back pressed agains the table top as you held your coffee in your lap. "Again with the VapoRub."

"It's a miracle drug!"

Your legs were outstretched and perched against the ledge of Marcus's seat. Though you made no move to move them into his lap, one of his hands helped to hold them in place, his thumb running over the frayed edges of your jeans. No one beside the two of you seemed to notice the closeness of your actions - something undone for months - and if they did they didn't comment on it. Not that you minded, you were quite happy to live in the peace of just you and Marcus for now.

"Oh, why don't you go to a doctor?" Kelly asked, a genuine suggestion coming from the blonde as though it wouldn't have been the first, most sensible port of call.

Mateo rolled his eyes, sulking as he sassed back at Kelly. "Our deductible is $4,000, so no."

"We don't have the best health insurance." Jonah explained, a tight lipped smile on his face as the reality of working at a cloud 9 settled on Kelly's face.

Mateo's frowned deepened, him wincing as yet another throb of pain struck him in the side of his head. "I get ear infections all the time, okay? It will go away."

Isaac, who Marcus had introduced you too when you sat at the table this morning, was new to the store - though it'd been explained to you he came in as one of the seasonal hires last Christmas - not that you'd have known, taking the day off to avoid Adam at all costs. "You got to rub breast milk on it. Breast milk helps anything. The problem is just finding breast milk."

Amy once again looked up from her paperwork in exasperation. "Why would you go looking for breast milk when we have VapoRub right here in the store?"

"Yeah, or root beer. A root beer fixes everything." The second time Marcus had come to your apartment, he tried to convince you to soak every surface in root beer to clean it if the old tenants. While you hadn't done so, it had worked to get some pretty bad stains out of the bathroom. "Gallstones, pinkeye, it'll clean your toilet. It's kind of the perfect food."

"I can back the clean your toilet claim; it looked like new didn't it Ames?" Amy silently nodded in response to your question, having been extremely surprised to see the difference in the state of your bathroom between the first and second time she'd come over.

Jonah brushed off you and Marcus's attempt as getting Mateo to use root beer, turning to him with a serious look. "You need antibiotics, not useless home remedies."

Garrett rolled his eyes at Jonah. "Says the guy who drinks apple cider vinegar every morning."

"That's so true!" You jeered, pulling the mug you held closer to your face as your tried to climb into its warmth. "I have a three gallon jug of it in my cupboard still. That stuff is nasty too J."

"No, no. That's good." Of course Jonah's me this had to be the right one. "That has, um, it's, I'm gonna look up the article."

As Jonah attempted to find the supposed article that would be in support of his claim, Amy stood from her seat, quickly opening her locker as pulling out a half-empty tub of her beloved VapoRub. "Okay, you can use some of mine."

Mateo shrunk into himself as Amy approached, the tub open and the rub already on her hands. "It's a bug repellant, it heals cuts. My grandma's using it to shrink her moles."

Dina turned away from the list of names she'd been writing on the whiteboard, hands on her hips as she was abhorred by Amy's statement. "Well your grandma's a moron."

Amy turned to Dina, her hand letting go of the reluctant Mateo. "Well the moles are shrinking, Dina, so who's the moron?"

"You don't mess with moles. You see a doctor." Dina argued, concerned by Amy's frivolous use of VapoRub for what could be a serious issue. "I recently had one removed."

A smile curled on Glenn's face at Dina's comment, thinking he finally had some ammunition to use against her in their hourly arguments. "Sounds like someone's had some work done. That's very Beverly Hills of you."

"No, Glenn, it was a melanoma, and we caught it early so guess who has two thumbs and is cancer free. Everybody but Dale." Glenn's faced dropped and paled at the explanation.

"Enzymes." Jonah cheered, looking up from his phone with newfound knowledge about why he did what he did every morning. "Apple cider vinegar has good enzymes."

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"Are you out of your mind? I can't give you meds without a prescription. I could lose my license, go to jail."

When Mateo had approached you about coming to ask Tate for some antibiotics with him, you knew that as much as you wanted to, you couldn't say no. Not only had Mateo done it for you in the past, but, you wouldn't curse anyone to interacting with Tate alone.

"Okay, sorry. Calm down." You were already inching away from the pharmacy at Tate's outburst, and the way he was now gesturing for the two of you to follow him, was making you want to run away.

"Uh, yeah, buddy. I can hook you up. So, you looking to get wasted or just a nice clean high?" Tate leant against the countertop, talking in a low whisper out of view of the camera.

Mateo seemed surprised by Tate's eagerness to help him, shuffling between his feet as he waited for what he needed. "Umm, just antibiotics."

Tate pulled out a large container filled with an array of pills, as he rummaged through the stock, he pulled out a handful, isolating the two oval shaped, yellow ones. "A.B.'s. Old school, I feel you. The thing about pills is they're so tiny, they're hard to keep track of. Sometimes I miscount."

"Oh, here we go. Expired amoxicillin." He placed the two pills into Mateo's free hand with a smile, chewing on the pill he'd just put in his own mouth.

"Thank you." Mateo pulled out his wallet, opening it and pulling out a $20 bill. "How much do I owe you?"

"A date with this hot mama." Tate pointed at you with a set of finger guns, dramatically winking at you as a smirk curled onto his lips. "Let me take you out tonight baby, I'll show you a good time. Promise."

"Ew." You hadn't meant to say the word out loud, but even if you hadn't, the complete look of disgust on your face would've conveyed the message enough. "I have a boyfriend."

"They always do." Tate replied, shaking his head. You weren't sure what you and Marcus were now, that night in the bathroom had been spent doing everything but discussing your relationship status, but it didn't hurt to call him that.

Tate turned back to Mateo, gesturing to his wallet and frantically asking him to put it away. "What? Are you crazy? You don't just hand me the money. Behind the Just for Men. Medium Dark Brown."

You and Mateo wasted no time in leaving pharmacy, and Tate behind, stuffing the money behind the Just for Men then running off to the opposite side of the store in hopes of avoiding Tate forevermore.

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Jonah had gathered as many people as he could around the tv display in electronics to discuss his idea that he'd claimed would fix the issue of making up a new charity for every staff sickness. You quickly taken a seat on the couch, pressed into Marcus's side with his arm across your shoulders, Kelly was in-front of you, her legs curled up in the space between you.

"So instead of relying on the jar method, we would each contribute 20 bucks a month, and then the fund grows, and then we pay it out..."

Marcus chirped up from beside you, you could feel his words as they vibrated through his chest, seeping into you through where your sides connected. "Slow your roll. This sounds like a pyramid scheme."

"Guys, this is not pyramid scheme, okay?" Jonah immediately got on the defensive, pressing his side into the tablet cabinet as he kept a safe distance from the crowd he'd gathered. "A pyramid scheme needs to recruit. This that's this is...technically, this is recruiting, but..."

Jonah turned to Amy for reassurance, her murmuring something in response that hadn't seemed to help him feel better.

Isaac scoffed, his arms folding across his chest. "Well I smell socialism, and we all know where that leads."

"Ah, high literacy rates, low infant mortality, increased quality of life, fjords." When Garrett phrased it like that, it clearly sounded so much worse.

Isaac scoffed at Garrett as if he'd missed the most important, obvious part of what would happen. "Uh, no, the government watching us on the toilet."

Amy finally spoke up from her place at the front next to Jonah, seemingly fed up of the shit show that had already been created by just the mention of some kind of communal, team built health fund. "Hey, guys, look. I know that this idea seems really not well thought out and that it's totally naive." Amy's never finished her sentence, taking a step back with a proud smile. "That's all I wanted to say."

Kelly quickly stood from her seat, pulling out a crisp twenty dollar bill and handing it to Jonah with a soft smile. "I actually think it sounds like a really good idea."

A smile finally formed on Jonah's own face. "All right. Thank you."

Marcus stood from the couch, your back hitting the cushion now his arm had gone, and approached Jonah while pulling out and opening his wallet. "You know what, I'm in too. If it is a pyramid scheme, at least I will be on the top, ahead of all these suckers."

Quickly joining the brunette at his side, you pulled out $20 yourself, handing it to Jonah with a sweet smile. "It doesn't hurt, right?"

"That is sound logic." Now that three of you had offered to put money in to the health fund, it seemed as though everyone wanted to put money in the health fund; person after person coming to Jonah with $20 in hand. "You know what, keep them coming. Spread the word. The more the merrier."

As each member of the gathered crowd joined to queue to pay into the health fund, Amy looked around astonished. "Wait, so nobody thinks that this is problematic?"

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Your hands gently held Mateo's head in place as Marcus cracked open the can of root beer. Somehow he'd convinced Mateo to try his 'fool proof' root beer method.

Mateo winced, trying to get away from the cool liquid as Marcus allowed a small amount to go into his ear. It was a good thing you'd been holding his head in place, otherwise the murky, brown liquid would've spilled all down his shirt. "Oh. Ah, ah. Oh. I can feel it fizzing."

A smirk formed on Marcus's face, dimpling his cheeks, as he took Mateo's reaction as a sign it was going good. "Oh, yeah. That means it's working." Taking a swig from the can, he let out a groan. "Oh, that's good root beer."

Both you and Mateo giggled at Marcus's action, your hands still cupping his head in place though you were 90% sure he didn't need to anymore. Marcus placed down the van behind him, pulling out a packet of tissues and passing them one by one to you. "We're going to give it another minute and then your going to need to press the tissue to your ear and swing you head over to get it out, okay?"

Though they weren't the clearest instructions in the world, Mateo seemed to understand, taking the tissue from your hand and holding it against his ear in preparation.

"You signed Jonah's card yet, y/n?" Marcus asked, holding out the piece of paper towards you with one hand and with a pen in his other. "It's to thank him for the health fund. Genius idea from my favourite little guy."

You didn't question the weird nickname, instead just taking the card from him and signing a simple message for your ever-inventing friend.

thanks for the health fund. can't wait for you to solve the pay gap. love you j <3

As Mateo tipped his head in the opposite direction to empty the root beer out of it, Amy approached the three of you, a very concerned look on her face. Though, before she could ask what on earth was going on, Marcus held the card out in her direction. "Hey. Have you signed Jonah's card yet?"

Amy attention was quickly taken away from you and Mateo and was focused on the piece of paper being held on her direction. "What card?"

"A "Thank you" card for coming up with the idea for the health fund. God, he's an adorable little hero. I signed mine from The Rock. I like to keep it light."

If you hadn't been wrapped up in Marcus's charm and effortless charisma, you have noticed the way Amy stormed away from you, or the way Mateo was already whining about his ear again. The only thing to break you from your daydream had been Marcus picking up the can of root beer, taking another swig before pushing Mateo's head back to how it had originally been. "Time for round two."

You'd hands quickly came to hold his head in place once more, this time your eyes meeting Marcus's as he poured the liquid into Mateo's ear. The heat in your cheeks from the simple gesture was burning hot.

"Guys! It's on my shirt!"

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"Guys, just, just..." No one could hear Jonah over the shouts and cries of everyone gathered in the break room, knowledge about the collapse of the health fund quickly circling the store after Sandra had gone around telling people she'd been kicked out in a violent rage.

Amy was quick to silence the commotion, wanting to get a grip on the break room while she still could. "Okay! Listen up. I know there are a lot of rumour's flying around about the health fund, but we are not kicking people out." Sighs of relief echoed around the room at the confirmation things were changing, however confusion quickly settled over the room again as Amy flipped the whiteboard around. "So we have Group A, and also for those with slightly more health requirements we have Group B."

"Each group is exactly the same, and also different." Jonah was quick to explain, riding on the quiet that had settled over the break room while he had the chance.

Amy hesitantly continued the plan she'd devised with Jonah, and all it had you thinking was why hadn't you been included? "Those in Group A will continue to pay $20 a month, and those in Group B, based on projected expenses... will pay $200 a month."

The break room was in uproar once more, everyone yelling at Amy and Jonah and even though seconds ago you'd been upset at the fact you'd been left out, now you'd never felt better about it.

Marcus, of everyone in the room, seemed to be one of the most upset. Reaching out for his hand, you intertwined your fingers under the table, running your thumb across the side of his hand in an attempt to calm him down. "We're both group A, that must be good."

Marcus didn't seem to take heed to your word, instead throwing your connected hands in the air in frustration. "I knew it. You two are trying to rip us off." He seethed, pointing accusingly between Amy, Jonah and the whiteboard. "You're sitting up there in your ivory towers eating your exotic fruits with two scoops of ice cream. You're bathing in gold."

"Nobody is doing any of those things." Amy assured, though the words had barely left her mouth before Jonah was pointing an accusing finger back at Marcus. Or rather your guys connected hands.

"I'm sorry, when did that happen?" To anyone else, it'd sound like he was judging the two of you, to you, it was clear he was upset you hadn't told him. "Are you two together again?"

Before you could address the question, Sandra angrily snapped. "You're just trying to distract us while you betray us!"

Garrett was quick to jump back on the bandwagon of the health fund hate, angrily addressing his roommate. "Yeah, hold up. How come I'm in Group B? Y'all Group-B'ed me?"

Jonah frowned, upset not only by the lack of acknowledgement from you and Marcus as to whether you were back together or not, but also from Garretts pointed glare. He thought you two trusted him. "Yes. But not because of the wheelchair. Because you eat too many Cheez-Its for one human stomach."

"Oh no, he's so right, Gare." Swivelling in your seat to face him, a smile curved up on your lips. "Remember last week? You ate some much candy corn that you thought it had re-joined together inside you and that you were going to die."

While you and Jonah both had a point, Garrett still seemed upset with the suggestion he'd been grouped in with people like Sandra and Isaac who were practically knocking on deaths door. "Oh, come on."

Isaac was the next to complain about the health fund and it's groups, shouting out with a whine. "This sucks. You have me in Group B with Sandra, and she has gout."

"Jesus Christ, Sandra, how many things do you have wrong with you?" You gasped. In all the years you'd known Sandra she'd never once spoke up about any of the things you'd heard she had wrong with her since this morning. It was boarding on unbelievable - bur she'd sent you the photos. You didn't think the images you'd seen would ever leave your mind.

"Well, what about Marcus? He shouldn't be in Group A." Sandra sassed back, standing from her seat as she pointed an accusing finger back at you. Your hand gripped Marcus's tighter, you eyes running over him in search of what could possibly be wrong that Sandra was accusing him of needing to switch groups. "His leg is messed up."

Marcus's leg couldn't have been messed up - there was no way that the three months you'd had off and three months you'd been back he'd messed it up enough to be in group B. Marcus let go of your hand, slowly bending over to reach for the leg of his coveralls and pull them up. "I've got a handle on it. Okay."

A gasp slipped out before you could stop if, your eyes unable to look away from the would that ran from Marcus ankle to his knee. "That looks infected!"

"Not a chance." Marcus reassured, letting his pant leg fall back down and his hands come to hold yours, running his thumb across your knuckles. "Every night I soak it in my apartment complex's hot tub, and chlorine will kill anything."

"That's so not right."

Jonah thankfully took the conversation away from Marcus's infected leg, redirecting the discussion the the health fund and everything they were planning to change about it. "Okay, guys, I know it's not perfect..."

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It had been 3 hours. 3 whole hours spent arguing back and forth between Amy, Jonah and the crowd gathered in the break room. Sandra had cried twice, Marcus and Jonah had almost got into a fight and you and Kelly had opted to leave to get away from the noise and grab snacks 6 times so far.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up. So if I'm Platinum Select, does that mean that I get the stuff in the Gryffindor tier?" Garrett asked between a mouthful of Cheez-Its, Jonah's reasoning for him being in group B being exhibited live in action. It was partly your fault, since you'd grabbed him a second bag on your fifth trip out of the break room with Kelly.

"No, no, if you want things in the Gryffindor tier, you need to upgrade either to the Platinum Ultra or the Platinum Blue." Jonah explained, pointing between the different payment plan options that had been created so far on the new and reinvented health fund.

Sandra raised her hand, not waiting for Jonah or Amy to acknowledge her before she asked her question. "I have a question. Who gave you the right to play God?"

Jonah let out a loud sigh, head thrown back in frustration as he once again addressed one of Sandra's ailments that the health fund would never be able to cover. "All I said was the fund can't pay for a live-in nurse. That doesn't mean I want to let Jerry die."

Sandra scoffed, folding her arms across her chest as she looked at Jonah in utter disdain. "Right, you're just not willing to lift a finger to help him. Understood loud and clear. Thanks Jonah."

"Okay, look, I get it up to Diamond Plus, but when you get down to Wall of Fire, it's like, "What?"" Kelly seemed completely frazzled by the scheme and it had you readying to leave for yet another snack trip. The constant talking and rustling was beginning to get to be too much for you.

Isaac took the moment of silence to once again give his unsolicited opinion of how the health fund should be run. "Guys, we're making it too difficult. We just got to simplify. Cover everything, exclude no one, and make it affordable."

Everyone seemed to agree with Isaac, though few of them seemed to understand just how impossible of an idea that would be based on everyone who was currently in the break room contributing to the fund.

Marcus took a stand in the front of the room, silencing the people agreeing with Isaac and taking charge of the conversation with a simple command. "Okay, okay, okay." If you weren't already head over heels for him, the way he'd commandeered the room into solve would've had you falling for him. It didn't help either that he looked so good from this angle. "It seems to be the problem is that some of us are going to use the fund more than others, but no one wants to put in more money than they're going to take out."

Amy smiled gently at Marcus, hands running through her hair instead of pulling at it as someone said something that made sense for the first time in at least the past 2 hours. To be entirely honest, no one had said anything productive since the first 10 minutes. "Yes, exactly. Thank you."

"So my suggestion would be, what if we restrict the fund to those of us who are able to complete a series of "Ninja Warrior" type physical challenges?" You should've known Marcus's explanation would've ultimately gone on a tangent, but even then, it was still the best does anyone had come up with to date. "Okay, how about if you can jump on a table then you're in."

"No, we're not doing that."

Amy had barely been able to get the words out before Isaac was standing from his seat, offering to be the first to complete the challenge with a shrug. "Works for me."

Marcus scoffed, folding his arms across his chest as he stared Isaac down. "There's no way you can jump on a table."

Isaac scoffed right back at him, turning to face the nearest table with a sense of confidence you were sure would be epically crushed. "I can absolutely jump on a table."

"No one needs to jump on a table."

Garrett turned to face Isaac with a wicked grin curling on his lips. "I think this guy needs to jump on a table."

Justine suddenly piped up as Isaac readied himself to make his jump, arms swinging back and forth in what you assumed was an effort to gain momentum. "Yeah, I think if you can do it, I will totally sleep with Marcus."

"Justine!" You gasped, moving to stand next to Marcus and holding onto his hand with a sense of desperation he hadn't seen before. It was cute how you were so worried at Justin's harmless comment, the idea of him being with someone else clearly having an effect on you. Marcus would happily get used to your protectiveness of him. Marcus pressed a kiss to your temple in a small act of assurance, wrapping his arm around your waist as all attention turned to face Isaac, the moment between you going unnoticed except by the keen eye of your brown haired best friend.

Amy once again warned against the action, pleading with Isaac to stop before he either embarrassed himself, got hurt or both. "No, it doesn't mean anything, Isaac."

Isaac made his 'big leap' stepping onto the table with great caution and receiving cheers from everyone in the break room except from Marcus who seemed disappointed in his lacklustre attempt to 'jump' on the table. However, his victory was short lived, as the table collapsed under his weight, sending Isaac straight into the glass front of the vending machine and break ring it open. Why was there never a normal day in this store?

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Thanks to Isaac's injury, you'd managed to slip out of the break room and your shift early, hand in hand with Marcus. Usually you wouldn't take the risk, but spending so long in the confined space of the break room had you way to overwhelmed to go back to the shop floor - you were sure Amy and Jonah would be fine to cover the fall out all on their own.

The two of you ran straight in the direction of Marcus's car, tucked away at the far corner of the parking lot, in hopes no one would see you trying to escape so soon. As you reached his still-door less vehicle you leaned against the cold metal, Marcus caging you in with his own body, his hands wrapped around your waist. To any passer-by you looked like two people sickly-sweet in love, like everything was perfect and normal.

"You want a ride back to your place?" Marcus hesitantly asked, one hand coming up to cup your face, him smiling gently down at you.

"If you don't mind." You responded, hands coming up to wrap around his neck, playing with the tuffs of soft hair that rested at the nape of his neck. "Was thinking you could maybe, I don't know, come over? I can order Chinese food, we can put on a movie?"

"Like old times?" Marcus hadn't even given you a second to worry that he might reject your offer, replying instantly and with a bright, dimple causing smile.

"Yeah, like old times." You replied softly, allowing Marcus to pull you closer to him with the hand that held your cheek and press an excited kiss to your soft lips.

"I'd want nothing more." Marcus urged you to get inside his car, excited to be back in your home space for the first time in months. He hadn't even stepped through the doorframe yet and he could already feel the warmth and comfort your apartment - and you - brought him. He couldn't wait to be on your couch, cuddled up, while the two of you talked over whatever movie was playing and neither could you.

As you pulled out of the store parking lot, already searching for the Chinese places phone number in order to place your order, your phone buzzed, Jonah and Garretts names popping up at the top of your screen.

The Three Musketeers

J-Dawg ;3 | You weren't that sneaky. I need filling in on what happened!!! Can't believe you wouldn't tell me :((

Gare-Bare <3 | yeah doll face, what gives? :((

Y/n :p | I'll tell you everything tomorrow guys, I promise. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner :((

J-Dawg ;3 | don't worry about it peach, I'm half joking. Have fun ;))

A smile curled onto your lips at your two friends antics as you clicked off of the group chat, muting your phone and pressing call on the Chinese places number.

"Ooo, can you order some of that fried rice I like?" Marcus asked, pressing a kiss to your hand he'd been holding over the centre console as you told him you'd already added it to your list, his smile evident as it pressed into the back of your hand. God, you were looking forward to going back to your apartment for the first time in a while.

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Want to be added to the taglist? send an ask to let me know <3

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Hey guys!! Sorry about the lack of an upload last week, I didn't have the motivation to finish it but I have now and how cute!!!!

I also released a cute little superstore boys blurb yesterday so feel free to go and check that out!! More of those to come for sure they're super fun.

Love you guys and and always, have a lovely week!! <33

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