Remember, Remember

(Sorry this took so long to reply to! ._. I had major writer's block, as I've explained, lol.)

Jessie listened to Vanessa's words quietly, feeling rather empathetic for the girl. She understood what she was going through, as she had been through basically the same thing. She couldn't blame Vanessa for wanting to know what Mark was thinking, as she had had the same dilemma with Bobby; she had known what she wanted, in a way, but she had been unsure of what he wanted.

"You'll figure it out," she assured quietly, "He'll let you know what's on his mind eventually, trust me. Guys can't hide their thoughts as well as girls can." She gave a teasing smile, despite knowing that her friend couldn't see it.

"If you think you're in love with him, then don't give up. Don't even think about giving up, alright?"

~

"What was I supposed to say, Bobby?" Mark questioned, letting out an exasperated sigh. He was far too confused for his own good and it was driving him insane, making him wish that he could just get his brain sorted with the snap of his fingers. Knowing this was impossible, though, all he could do was talk it out with Bobby and hope that it might help clear his mind a bit.

Lifting his hand, he ran it down his face with a groan. What was he supposed to do? He wanted to go back over to Vanessa and throw his emotions out into the open, but that seemed like a bad idea, especially since she had slapped him so hard. How was he going to fix this mess that he had put the two of them in?

[It's okay! Like I said, I completely understand when it comes to writer's block. ]

Vanessa smiled a little bit at Jessie's words. She had to be patient when it came to Mark telling her what he had to say, especially after the day that they all had. Since everything was so crazy, they both needed to calm down for a while and then he'll eventually talk to her. She'll be ready to listen when the time comes.

"Alright," she said softly. "I'm not giving up. I'll never give up. Thanks, Jessie."

She walked away from her balcony, but still continued to glance at it when she sat back on her bed. It was almost as if she thought Mark would climb up it to get to her room like he used to, but it had been a while since he did that. All she could do was remind herself to be patient.

"Sorry I pulled you into all this drama, especially since you and Bobby just recently sorted out your guys' own."

-

"Exactly how you feel," Bobby told him. "That you care about her. That you want to be with her. That you don't want to let her go."

Bobby didn't like to hear that Mark still felt he couldn't be with Vanessa. He heard both sides of the story and he knew that whatever his friend was saying about not deserving her, it was all untrue. She still wanted him and Mark had to realize that.

Bobby continued to speak. "She kissed you back. This isn't the first time it's happened and you can't just say you were caught up 'in the moment'. It's something more and you should've stayed with her. She wants to be with you."

(Since getting off my writer's block, I've come up with quite a few story ideas, though, so I'm actually pretty proud of myself! xD I've just gotta get those ideas written down and all.)

"Oh, don't worry," Jessie assured Vanessa with a grin, "I don't mind, really. I like being able to help you. Besides, knowing that you trust me enough to tell me all of this stuff makes me happy, since I'm not used to it."

It was true. She hadn't really had any girl friends when she first lived there. All of her friends had been guys, since her best friend had been Bobby and she always found the girls at that age to be too needy. In Jersey, she had no friends. She liked knowing that she was gradually growing in personality since being back there.

"Just remember that if you ever need anything or anybody to talk to, I'm here."

~

Bobby was making a lot of sense to Mark, he realized. But, Mark just couldn't understand how Bobby could be so certain of this. Was it really that simple? Then again, Mark didn't understand how Bobby was making it seem so simple. Running a hand through his hair, he leaned back on his couch, his eyes concentrated on the ceiling.

"I should go over there," he decided quietly, not even offering anything else of a response to Bobby's words for a few moments. Bobby was right, though; Mark didn't want to let her go. He wanted to be with Vanessa, even if there was the possibility that their friendship might end up awkward.

"You're right, Bobby. I should have stayed over there and told her how I feel."

[That's awesome! Just a few weeks ago, I also got off my writer's block and now I can't stop thinking of ideas haha. I'll be sure to check out your stories when they're posted!]

"I still don't understand how you didn't have any girl friends," Vanessa smiled even more. "You're one of the nicest people I've ever met and I'm glad I could count on you."

She was happy to know that she had finally told someone her secret that she couldn't talk about. Jessie seemed so understanding and was pretty much the one friend she could relate to the most. Feeling more relaxed, she sighed and was quiet for a few minutes.

"I have to say," she then spoke up. "It was really nice when he kissed me again."

-

"It's not too late," Bobby assured him and smiled. "You can still go over there and tell her."

To hear Mark agree with him surprised him at first, but he was glad to know that his friend wasn't going to give up. Mark really did deserve her and the thought of seeing his two friends finally happy together made him happy as well.

"Tell her what she needs to hear."

(Yeah, I saw your story that was on the Mibba's Featured Story of the Week! It was great, congrats! :D)

Jessie laughed quietly and shrugged. "Most girls that I knew were kind of needy, always being spoiled and everything," she explained, "It's nice to know that people aren't like that anymore."

Shaking her head to Vanessa's words about Mark kissing her, Jessie couldn't help but to smile in amusement. "Is that so?" Her tone was slightly teasing, a grin spreading across her face. "I just hope that things work out for you two soon. I want you both to be happy."

She knew that they deserved it. Everybody deserved happiness, of course, but Vanessa and Mark deserved it a lot more than most people.

~

Mark nodded slowly, looking to his door for a moment before he moved to stand up. "I'll talk to you later, Bobby," he decided, knowing that he had to take the chance to fix things now, before he lost his guts.

"I'm going to go fix everything as much as I can." The quicker that he could try to mend things, the more chance he had to fix everything completely at some point. He was determined to make sure that Vanessa understood his feelings for her now.

Making sure that he at least got his emotions out in the open to her was his goal at the moment.

[Thank you! ]

"Well, it's a good thing we're not like that," Vanessa giggled. "That's the last thing I think the girls would be."

It was nice to be laughing with Jessie finally after all they went through. Things were starting to calm down and she wasn't as worried or confused as she was earlier that day. Even though things weren't completely sorted out, they were okay for now. She was fine with that.

"Things will get better," she said. "I'm just going to be patient and he'll talk to me when he's ready. I kinda feel bad because before he kissed me, I slapped him pretty hard."

She said this with a little humorous tone, of course. She didn't want Jessie to worry again.

-

"Go get her, buddy," Bobby grinned. With that, he said bye to Mark and hung up. He was still grinning to himself, knowing that things were going to be okay after all. He was sure that things were going to be alright and everyone was finally going to be happy.

He went back into the living room and saw that Jessie was still talking on the phone. She was laughing and smiling, so it looked like things were fine for now. Bobby then sat down on the couch with her and hugged her from behind, giving her a kiss on the shoulder.

(No problem! :D)

Jessie couldn't help but to laugh at Vanessa mentioning she had slapped Mark. "I shouldn't have laughed at that," she said with a grin, knowing that Vanessa had likely slapped the boy pretty hard and it wasn't exactly the nice thing to do to laugh at Mark when he was their friend.

"At least you might get the chance to make that up to him eventually." She smiled slightly at noticing Bobby, relaxing against him as she enjoyed the attention she was receiving from him. It was nice, just knowing that he was there with her.

~

Mark stuffed his phone into his pocket before he made his way out of the house, walking towards Vanessa's. He paused at her door once he was there, though, deciding against knocking, and instead made his way over to the balcony.

What better way to show up than to sneak in the way that he used to?

With that in mind, while also hoping that she wouldn't push him off the balcony if she was still angry with him, he began climbing up it.

Once she heard Jessie laugh, Vanessa unexpectedly laughed, too. "It didn't seem funny at the time, but hopefully he'll be able to laugh at it, too." It was true, when she slapped him she was really angry, but now it kind of seemed funny in a way and she did feel bad for doing it

Suddenly, she heard a noise and stopped for a moment to see if she would hear it again. When she heard nothing, she simply shrugged and tried to play it off as the wind or something. She went back to talking to Jessie.

"Yeah, I'll be sure to make it up to him," she said. "I've put that boy through a lot today."

-

Bobby just listened to Jessie's conversation, wondering what the two girls could be laughing at. While this was happening, he knew that Vanessa would eventually have to hang up. It was only a matter of time until Mark showed up at her house again.

He was still grinning widely at the thought, especially since Jessie and Vanessa had no idea what was going to happen soon.

Jessie smiled slightly to Vanessa's words, nodding slowly in understanding, despite that her friend couldn't see it. "Well, at least you can put everything behind you now and look forward," she pointed out, knowing that, after the stressful day, almost everything negative was gone and things could begin to settle down soon.

"Just keep what I said in mind and don't give up. Especially since you feel so deeply for him. I'm sure that, once he understands that, you two can push past all the drama that happened today."

~

It didn't take too long for Mark to reach the top of the balcony, climbing over the railing of it. He had done this so many times that it was almost like second nature, even if he hadn't done it in a long time.

Once he was on the balcony, he looked into Vanessa's room, seeing her on the bed and made his way to go inside, though he stopped right at the entrance, lightly tapping on the wall as he entered the room, looking at her.

"Hi," he breathed out quietly, hoping that coming there hadn't been a mistake - and, more so, hoping that he wouldn't lose the courage he had gained.

"You know I won't give up, I-" Vanessa stopped when she heard a light tap and turned to see that Mark was standing right there at the entrance of her balcony. Her eyes went wide and she couldn't believe that he was right there in front of her. Was he really there or was this her imagination? She was so caught off guard that she forgot that she was on the phone with Jessie.

She brought the phone to her ear again. "I'm going to have to call you back, Jess."

Before she could let Jessie respond, she hung up and put her phone down. Then she got up and walked over to where he was.

"Hi," she quietly said back. "What…what are you doing here?"

-

Bobby just chuckled to himself as he continued to hear what Jessie was saying. If only she knew what he knew and they would both be amused by what was going to happen in the very near future. For now, he was just going to keep quiet until Mark finally made his move.

Oh, he understands, Bobby thought. Just you wait.

Jessie blinked when she heard the call end before pulling her phone away from her ear, looking at it. Shrugging, she figured Vanessa had likely gotten another call or something. Setting her phone aside, she tilted her head to look back at Bobby, grinning up at him. "What are you laughing at?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

Bobby could be really silly, just like she could be. It was why she had been best friends with him in the first place, so she figured he likely had some kind of silly thought in his mind, but she didn't press on the matter.

Instead, she just relaxed against him, enjoying his presence. She wanted nothing more than to enjoy her night with him, considering how hectic the day had been - especially given everything that had been happening recently.

~

Mark rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out what exactly to say. Why was he here, again? Well, he knew why he was here, but he couldn't seem to get his thoughts in order long enough to explain it.

"I talked to Bobby," he finally said, looking at her, "He told me that I should tell you how I feel. And, honestly, I shouldn't have had to wait for somebody to tell me that I should do that, because I should have known that all along."

He wasn't sure why he was so nervous, but he couldn't help it. Admitting true feelings for somebody was harder than he thought. "I just... I care about you a lot, Vanessa. And, I know I've screwed up so much, but I don't want to lose you."

Bobby just laughed again and held her closely. "Oh, nothing. Just that I know something you don't know and I'm not sure if I should tell you or let you suffer."

He wasn't going to add that last part at first, but he was in a good mood and the thought was hilarious to him, he couldn't pass that opportunity up. Besides, it would much more fun for the both of them since they were finally alone and she was done talking to Vanessa.

"I think I'll let you suffer," he smirked and kissed her cheek.

-

Vanessa listened to what Mark was telling her and she could've sworn her heart skipped a beat. This was all really happening right now and she couldn't help but smile at him and his nervousness.

She took a step forward to be closer to him and lightly put her hand on his cheek. "You never lost me, Mark. You never will."

Her voice was soft, and she held his hand with her free hand to help get him relax a little bit. He shouldn't have to feel so nervous when he was with his best friend. Most likely, he wasn't sure how she was going to react, but the contact she was giving him was her way of assuring him that everything was alright.

"In a way, I've also screwed up," she said. "But I care about you a lot, too. And…I'm not afraid anymore."

Jessie pouted to his words before shifting to where she was facing him. "Oh, that's no fair," she muttered in a childish tone, looking up at him, "You know you can't hide anything from me." And, for the most part, it was true. Lately, she had managed to get him to tell her anything and she liked that; she liked knowing that he would tell her things that others may or may not know.

"But, if you let me suffer in keeping a secret, I can just tease you, then leave you hanging." She smirked slightly at her own words, knowing that it would likely be amusing. Of course, she didn't actually plan on doing such a thing, since any time she teased him, he would tease her just as bad and she'd rather not deal with being tortured like that.

~

Mark lifted his hand to place over hers, grinning at her words. Hearing that she wasn't afraid made him realize that Bobby really was right. His friend was a lot smarter than he gave him credit for. "I'm not afraid anymore, either," he decided with a nod. Why should he be afraid when she wasn't? If she was willing to push past the fear that the two shared, then he should be willing to do the same.

His other hand squeezing hers, he moved to tug her closer, wanting to have her close to himself. It had been a long time since they had been this close together, even without the intimacy, and he liked it. He had never realized how much he had missed it until then. "I want to fix everything between us and to move forward as us." He hoped she understood what he meant, since it was hard for him to put into words.

Bobby stuck out his tongue at her. "Oh, I'm gonna tell you eventually. Just not now so you can suffer a little bit, especially since you're a curious person. It's fun anyway."

He knew she wanted to know badly and he actually wanted to tell her as well, but seeing her threaten to tease him sounded more interesting because he preferred to joke around with her at the moment.

"Go ahead, leave me hanging," he then started tickling her. "I dare you to try to do it right now."

-

Vanessa's heart was beating faster when he pulled her closer and she looked up so her eyes could meet his. This was something she missed and it felt so nice to feel him close to her. She liked the warmth that he provided and she smiled at the words that came out his mouth.

He wasn't afraid anymore. They weren't afraid anymore and though it took them a while to realize this and get past their issues, she was glad that it was even happening at all. They had no more doubts. "I'm more than happy for us to move forward."

She wrapped her arms around his neck again and leaned in closer. "I want you more than anything."

Jessie threw her head back in a fit of giggles as she tried to pry his hands away. "B-Bobby!" she whined, though it didn't sound much like a whine at all due to her laughs and gasps for air every now and then. She nearly fell back on the couch, trying to get away from the tickle torture, but did her best to maintain her balance as well as she could.

"Not f-fair!" Her giggles weren't calming down and she knew that the more she laughed, the more likely she was to end up with those pains in the sides from the constant laughs.

~

Mark grinned at her words, unable to help it or control it. His hand dropped down to her waist as he pulled her even closer. "And I want you," he mused quietly, pressing his forehead to hers as his grin grew. Everything was a lot better now, in his opinion, and he actually felt happy.

Leaning closer, he pressed his lips to hers, enjoying the feeling. He had missed the feeling and he was glad that things were a lot better now.

Bobby was tickling her stomach and continued to do so as her giggles went on. "You asked for it!"

When he thought she had enough, he stopped and wrapped his arms around her again. At that moment, he was really happy with everything that was happening. They were back to being silly again and they were finally alone together and enjoying each other's company. He loved it all.

He leaned his head on her shoulder. "I think that's enough torture. For now."

-

Vanessa smiled against his lips, finally able to fully enjoy the sensation of him kissing her. Each time his lips touched hers, she was happy. And now that all of their drama had diminished and they realized how much they care for each other, things were so much better.

She didn't ever want to let go.

[Can we celebrate the fact that Mark and Vanessa finally got together. ]

Jessie took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down after her laughing fit. Grinning, she relaxed in his hold, closing her eyes for a few moments. "I'll eventually make you regret that," she mused in a sing-song voice once she had managed to regain control of her breathing.

She was glad to finally be able to relax. Though she had enjoyed spending time with their friends, she enjoyed just spending time with Bobby all the more. Looking at him, she grinned to herself. "And I'm definitely still going to tease you, then leave you hanging. I just haven't decided when I'll do that yet."

~

Mark's lips continued to move against Vanessa's and he relished in the feeling. It was beyond addicting and he wished he had acted on his feelings long before this. If he had let his feelings out when they had first accepted their feelings, he wouldn't have ever had to let her go before. And now that he had her in his arms, he wasn't going to give her up again.

(Oh, gosh, yes! )

Bobby just shrugged at her words and laughed again. "Worth it." He knew Jessie wasn't going to let him get off that easy, but he expected her to do that and he didn't mind. That's what he enjoyed about her anyway.

"Okay, now that we're finally relaxing," he said. "Do you want me to tell you what I was laughing about earlier?"

-

Vanessa smiled widely at him after she reluctantly pulled away. She tried to say something, but she was still out of breath from the kiss and she was too happy for words, so all she could do was look into his eyes as she pressed her forehead against his again.

"I'm sorry for slapping you," she finally spoke, saying the first thing that came to her mind. "Did it hurt?"

Jessie arched an eyebrow to his words before nodding, soon adjusting herself to where she was comfortably leaning against him. "I'd love to know what got you laughing earlier," she admitted with a grin, "It's got to be something interesting to get you to laugh so randomly." And it had to be something amusing, she decided, wishing she knew what it was already. Being in the dark on funny things wasn't very fun at all.

~

Mark chuckled quietly to her words, shrugging a bit as he enjoyed just having her in his arms again. "It did hurt," he admitted, though he now found the entire thing rather amusing. "But you don't have to apologize. I did kind of deserve it, after all." In his opinion, he did - not only for running off but also for not starting a relationship with her when he should have.

"Well," Bobby smirked. "You know how Vanessa suddenly hung up on you? Let's just say I'm the reason for that."

He leaned back on the couch, also getting into a more comfortable position. "I was talking to Mark on the phone and got him to go her place and finally admit his feelings."

He wondered how Mark and Vanessa were doing at the moment. Hopefully, everything worked out for them.

-

"Even if you think you deserve it, I'm still sorry," Vanessa leaned in and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Her hand cupped his cheek again and she still held onto him. "There, feeling better?"