#marcus white

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Superstore 5x13 | St. Denis Medical 1x4

[coloradosnumber1dad]

I just want to tie a pretty pink bow on it

[satansapostle6]

Angel With A Broken Wing | Jonah Simms

And if I may just take your breath away / I don't mind if there's not much to say / Sometimes the silence guides a mind / To move to a place so far away / The goosebumps start to raise / The minute that my left hand meets your waist / And then I watch your face / Put my finger on your tongue 'cause you love to taste, yeah / These hearts adore, everyone the other beats hardest for / Inside this place is warm / Outside it starts to pour

Warnings: Mature language and themes. Sexual content.

Chapter One

Chapter Two: They Just Seem A Little Weird

“Stop looking at her!”

“Wha—I’m not looking at her!”

“Yes, you are, now stop it, it’s getting weird!”

Garrett McNeill was getting more tired of Jonah’s childish dilemmas by the day. The day before, Jonah had made the mistake of trying to ask out Sophie, one of the new hires at Cloud 9, which ended tragically for him. Not only had Jonah inadvertently harassed a coworker, but he had also accidentally asked a single, working mother of a five year-old if she had a ‘wild side’. Needless to say, Jonah felt humiliated and apologetic. This, of course, seemed to work out for everyone except for Garrett.

“Dude, I get that you like her, but I’m gonna be honest, man… I don’t think she likes you!” Garrett pointed out to Jonah, “And not even in the kindergarten like-like way, I mean I don’t even know if she considers values you as a human being after what you said to her yesterday!”

Jonah’s face falls with regret, “I know. What I said yesterday was… Horrible. A total lapse in judgment. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m not even thinking about trying to get her number anymore, I just… Wish there was a way I could at least apologize to her. You know?”

Garrett looks down at his lap, actually feeling sorry for Jonah, and understanding his perspective.

“I don’t know, man,” Garrett provides, “She might just not wanna talk to you anymore after that, and you can’t blame her.”

Jonah nods, listening as he understands Garrett’s point.

“Just… I don’t know. If you get the chance to apologize to her, just leave it at that, you know? No pick-up lines, no asking her out. Something tells me an apology gets cheapened for a woman if it’s followed up by male gross-ness.”

Jonah nods understandingly. “Yeah, I just… hope I didn’t offend her.”

Garrett scoffs at the idea. “Dude. It’s Sophie. I play video games with her sometimes. You could’ve called her a slur, and she’d be fine.”

Jonah makes a concerned face, “Okay, well… I don’t think I wanna do that…”

Garrett just sits there, looking in front of him at Sophie working the cash register. He feels sorry for his friend, but starts to regret his involvement as soon as he hears a light bulb go off in Jonah’s head.

“Wait. If you and Sophie are such good friends… Can you help me out? Please?” Jonah begs.

Garrett just sighs, muttering to himself as he rolls his chair back to the customer service desk. “This is what I get for getting involved…”

*****

Later that Thursday, just as I was about to leave the register and clock out, I look up as I hear Garrett’s voice over the loudspeaker, with a weird lack of enthusiasm, even for him.

“Sophie Phuong to customer service… Sophie Phuong to customer service…”

I stop in confusion, not sure why Garrett would have needed me. I just shrug it off, abandoning my workstation as I head towards customer service at the front. Sure enough, as expected, sitting at the desk with an odd look on his face is Garrett. But standing by the customer service desk is Jonah, with a sad look on his face like a kicked puppy. I took a deep breath as soon as I saw him, bracing myself for one long conversation.

“Jonah…” I begin awkwardly.

But before I can continue, he cuts me off. Shocker.

“Sophie,” Jonah greets me, smiling hopefully, “Hey…”

I cross my arms expectantly, waiting for him to embarrass himself yet again. I knew at this point that Jonah was a pretty nice guy who just happened to be very awkward, but still, I needed him to at least give me something to work with here.

“I’m, uh…” Jonah fidgeted uncomfortably, “I’m really sorry, Sophie, about—”

Garrett and I both watching curiously.

I just stared, “About…?”

Jonah just looked at me guiltily, knowing he fucked up. “…Everything?”

I raised an eyebrow at his uncertainty.

“Everything. Yeah. Every single thing I have said to you, in the past twenty-four hours, has been… awful,” he apologized wholeheartedly, “Yesterday, I was rude, and… gross, and icky, and… I wish I could take back all the things I said to you,” he sighed.

Garrett looked to me for my input, wondering how I would react to this. I gave Garrett a ‘it’s whatever’ kind of shrug, not really having too big of a reaction to any of this. At this point, all of this was pretty pointless to me, and therefore required none of my energy at this point.

“Jonah…” I begin uncomfortably, “It’s fine. Really. You didn’t offend me, it’s not a big deal at all… Let’s just move past it. Okay?”

Jonah seemed ecstatic at this, thrilled that he was no longer in the doghouse.

“Oh! Uh, wow! Yeah! Great,” he laughed, still processing the entire thing. “Thank you! I’m… glad I didn’t ruin your day…”

I just give him a polite smile. “It’s cool. We’re good.”

An intimately touched smile spreads across my face, as he seemed way too happy about this.

“Thank you, Sophie,” he told me kindly, “That’s… really sweet of you,” he said softly.

I just nod, awkwardly glancing back and forth between him and Garrett.

“So… am I dismissed?”

Jonah looks around awkwardly as Garrett just offers me an indifferent smile, empathizing with me.

“Uh, yeah,” Jonah said quickly, “Yeah of course, I don’t mean to… keep you…”

I give them both a tiny smile and wave as I disappear, heading back to the break room for my stuff.

*****

After work, I headed out to the parking lot of the store, waiting for Ryan to drop Gigi off. He got here around 5:45, which I was pissed about, having had to wait an entire forty-five minutes for him to finally show up. I immediately ran to Ryan’s car the second I saw him pull up, feeling extremely impatient. Of course, I didn’t notice Jonah and Garrett coming out of the store.

“Ryan!” I practically shouted at my baby daddy.

He looked over at me nonchalantly, showing up in his stupid beanie and hoodie, not seeming to be aware of the fact that that I had a reason to be angry at him, let alone the fact that I was angry.

“Hey, Soph!” he greets me casually.

I scowl at him, doing my best to keep my composure in front of Gigi, who runs over to me in excitement. I bend down to look at her first, dealing with her before Ryan.

“Hey, baby, do you wanna wait in the car while I talk to Daddy?”

Gigi nods, fine with that idea. “Okay.”

I watched her as she ran off to my car, making sure everything was okay. I looked back, seeing Garrett sitting in his wheelchair by the front of the store, looking at me as Jonah awkwardly stood by him. He gave me a questioning thumbs-up, trying to gauge whether or not I was okay, given my impending spat with Ryan. I just gave him a thumbs-up, seeing him nod as I went back to being pissed at Ryan the second she’s out of earshot.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” I hiss at him.

“What the fuck did I do?!” he exclaims defensively.

I scoff in disbelief. “‘What did you do’?! You forced me to wait a half a fucking hour, when you promised me you’d be here at 5, when I actually got off!”

He gave me an extremely annoying groan, not bothered by the reality of how he had inconvenienced me, again. What I didn’t notice, however, was that we were being watched by both my coworkers, and some of the customers in the parking lot.

“Dude, calm down, it’s not that big of a fucking deal!” he yelled at me.

“It’s not a ‘big deal’?!” I cried. “I’ve been waiting here for you for a half an hour!”

Garrett and Jonah wait by the front of the store, not necessarily wanting to be there.

“Alright,” Garrett sighs, watching the argument break out as he starts to wheel himself toward his car. “I’m out—”

Jonah automatically tries to stop him. “Wait, shouldn’t we just make sure she’s okay?”

Garrett sighs as he stops. “It’s okay, man, it’s just Ryan.”

Jonah looks over at him curiously. “You know her ex?”

Garrett nods. “Yeah, he’s a cool guy. He’s not a dick, this isn’t some ‘battered wife’ situation, alright? They’re just arguing. Stay out of it. You can get off your high horse, and take off your shining armor. Sophie’ll be just fine.”

“But, what if this is the one time she’s not fine?” Jonah questions.

Garrett just sighs, knowing he can’t win this one as he just gives in, keeping his chair parked as he watches his friend argue with her baby daddy.

“How the fuck is that my fault?!” he demanded, waving his arms lazily, “You could’ve gone home!”

I nearly scream at him, in complete awe of how both stupid and inconsiderate he can be at times.

“You’re right, asshole, I could’ve gone home,” I agreed furiously, “And maybe gone back to school and gotten my bachelor’s degree in the amount of fucking time I’ve been waiting in this fucking parking lot for you, but no, I had to wait here, because you kept saying you’d be here soon!”

“Oh my God, stop being so fucking dramatic!” Ryan Pollina yelled, “You always get pissed at me over the littlest fucking things! I’m just a little late! I’m sorry!”

“No, you’re not a little late, first of all,” I shouted, “Five minutes is a little late. Ten minutes is a little late. Fifteen minutes is acceptably late. You, sir, are almost an hour late! And you do this all the time! You tell me one time, you lie and make me wait, and then you show up an hour fucking late!”

Jonah looks at Garrett, seeming worried as Garrett still just shakes his head at the whole situation.

“This is getting a little heated…” Jonah observed.

“Not ‘heated’,” Garrett replied, “Just ghetto. Can’t you just let them work it out?”

Jonah doesn’t listen, remaining vigilant as he keeps his eye on Ryan.

“Oh, sorry, I just wanted to spend time with my fucking daughter!” Ryan spat at me.

I laugh, trying my best not to smack him upside the head. “You think I’m mad because you wanted to keep Gigi for an extra hour?! You’re her father! I don’t care if you wanna spend time with her, just don’t make me wait up if you’re not gonna show up! If you had texted me an hour ago saying you were gonna bring her at 6, or whatever, I would’ve been fine with that! But, no! You kept telling me, for that past forty minutes, that you were ‘on your way’, when I could’ve just waited for your ass at home!”

“Fuck you!” he shot back.

Jonah looks back at Garrett, growing increasingly concerned. “Should we do something?”

Garrett looks up at him incredulously. “What is there to do? They’re just bickering.”

Jonah looks back at the pair uncomfortably. “It seems like more than just arguing…”

“Oh, ‘fuck me’?!” I exclaimed at Ryan. “Are you fucking kidding me?! You come late and leave me waiting all the time, and it’s fuck me?!”

“Yeah! Fuck you!” he pointed at me angrily, “You’re always picking apart every single thing I fucking do!”

“Because you’re constantly fucking doing insane shit!” I gasp. “Like, why the fuck do you lie, and tell me you’re on the way, for an hour instead of just letting me fucking go home?!”

“I don’t understand why this is such a big problem!” he complained. “This was just one time—”

“No!” I laugh, “You’re not listening! It wasn’t one fucking time, Ryan, it’s all the time! It’s a pattern, it’s the principle of the thing, dude!” I reasoned.

“Fuck you, Sophie, I’m not listening to this shit!”

“I don’t like this…” Jonah grimaced.

“Dude, you never fucking listen to anything I say!” I reminded him.

“Because you’re always fucking bitching at me about this or that!” he argued.

I scoffed angrily. “‘Bitching’?! You think me expecting some fucking common decency from you is bitching?!”

“Yeah!” he nodded. “You’re constantly fucking bitching at me, about everything!”

Jonah stared. “I think I’m gonna say something…”

Garrett just shook his head, knowing nothing good could come of this. But before Jonah could even figure out what exactly his plan was, he was thrown off by someone else running out behind him. Jonah and I were both surprised to find Marcus running out to my defense. At first, I was somewhat touched by the gesture, until I saw him say fuck it and punch Ryan in the face.

“Oh, fuck!” Garrett slowly turns to Jonah, who’s still in shock. “You were saying?”

Jonah just shakes his head, grimacing. He wanted no part in that.

“Shit!” I exclaimed.

I heard Garrett yell. “Damn!”

“Oh, my God…” Jonah murmured, running over in shock.

Jonah just stood there, in complete shock as Garrett rolled up next to him, watching the aftermath. Ryan struggled to stand up, his nose bloody and possibly broken, but before he could catch his breath, Marcus started absolutely whaling on him as I just watched, unable to do anything about any of it. Ryan tried hitting him back, but it wasn’t looking good. Garrett quickly rolled back, wanting to get as far away from the situation as possible.

“Guys!” Jonah yelled, not really sure how to break up the fight, being far too polite about it, “Guys…!”

“Marcus!” I yelled, panicking as more and more bystanders gathered around, “Marcus! Stop it! Fuck!”

I watched, mortified, as Marcus eventually got off of Ryan, a stupid grin on his face as he walked up to me, while someone checked on Ryan. Marcus walked over to me, seemingly weirdly proud of himself for what he’d done.

“Oh, shit,” Jonah breathed, traumatized as he and Garrett stood around.

“Marcus!” I exclaimed, a distressed expression on my face.

“It’s okay,” he promised me, hands running up my arms, “I got you, babe.”

Before I could stop him, Marcus leaned in to kiss me, seeming overjoyed as he wrapped his arms around me. In my perplexed state, I accepted the kiss for about a single second before I pulled away, not knowing how to deal with this.

“Oh, shit,” Jonah stared at us, before I groaned with embarrassment.

I gave Marcus a dissatisfied look. He just stood there, expectantly, raising his eyebrows excitedly as he waited for another kiss.

-

Chapter Three

[tiptoethewordsgo]

jonah, dina, garret, glenn and marcus are all autistic now sorry i don’t make the rules

[georgialeeches]

Superstore Marcus White smut head-canons:

(Green Highlighted = Actual canon statement) (NSFW)

>When you started messing around he was shy, humble, above all honest- he starts every time by saying “I’m not really sure what I’m doing down there”

>But after awhile when he’s comfortable around you that ‘alpha male’ / ‘fuck boy’ superiority will come out during sex

>Like being competitive makes him NEED to make you finish before you get him to.. and smack talking when he’s winning that game

>Mocking you for being a ‘princess’ if you’re whining, calling you a ‘bitch’ when you’re unyielding. Teasing how you can’t stop how close he’s getting you if you tried

>He went to prison for public urination, says he doesn’t wash his hands after peeing and pees in jars

He DEFINITELY has a piss kink. He wants to urinate on you and he wants you to leave it, staying like that as long as possible

>Chanting is gonna happen when he’s a minute away from cumming and you have to make him cum if you want to make him silent

>Praise is in his after care. compliments, telling you what he liked, most of all letting you know he’s thankful and grateful for the attentiveness he really only gets from you

[lovelandlynn]

i want this man nobody understands.

[lightsabergirl]

guys I think I found the most babygirl to ever babygirl

has anyone else watched superstore and ended up in love with this idiot because she's such a dweeb and I adore him

(also don't say anything about the fact that I have like no type okay? I already know that, I just can't resist the goofiness)

[ironmanfridgemagnet]

Superstore Boys saying ‘I love you’ for the first time:

Marcus!!

- literally shaking in his cloud 9 branded work boots

- spends weeks, months even, practicing saying it in the mirror until he builds up the courage to do it to your face.

- not scared of saying it because of himself. He knows it to be true that he loves you more then anything else in this world. He's more scared that he'll say it and you'll give his this blank stare while you whisper an apology that you don't love him too. (It wouldn't be the first time that's happened).

- doesn't plan an extravagant moment or anything to say it to you, but he does want it to be intimate; just the two of you.

- when the words come out his hands are shaking and he can't meet your eyes, until you lean in close, nudge your nose against his cheek and whisper to him 'I love you too' with a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth.

- once he says it for the first time, he's never not saying it to you.

- "I love you, babe." "Hey, babe, I love you." "Because I love you will you grab some cheese-it's in the store for me?" "I love you, but I love Kraft Mac and cheese more babe, get used to it."

Garrett!!

- doesn't think it's as much of a big deal as the others, but still finds himself nervous to say it to your face.

- plans a nice dinner for the two of you with all your favourite foods and your favourite movie and dessert for afterward

- when it comes to the actual moment that's when the nerves finally hit

- though Garrett spends most of his time flirting with you and acting all confident around you he just crumples. For the first time in a long time he's actually nervous to what May happen.

- you're cleaning up the dishes claiming you had to after he'd put all the hard work into making the food and Garrett comes up behind you, pulling you into a kiss. And then another and then another before murmuring it against your lips.

- you press one more chaste kiss to his lips and lean back with a wide, glistening smile. 'I love you too.'

- the amount of relief Garrett felt when you said it back!!!! He'd never admit how nervous he was that day, not even to you. He couldn't let you know the power you had over him.

Jonah!!

- Freaks tf out

- he's spent more time then the two of you had been together planning on how he would tell you he loves you.

- he plans the most elaborate day out for the two of you, a trip to the park, a picnic, row boat ride into the lake, a long stroll through a flower garden and then dinner at your favourite restaurant

- however, all of that goes to shit when he calls you up to ask you to bring him home his jacket that he'd left at the store and he ends the call with 'see you when you get back. I love you.'

- a brief moment of silence takes over the two of you as Jonah hastily mutters out 'I didn't mean to say that' before hanging up on you

- you tucked the phone into your pocket with a wide smile on your face, picking up his jacket that you'd already had among your things before heading back to Jonah's place as quickly as you could.

- the second you open the door Jonah's apologising, saying that 'I didn't mean to say it in a good way, of course I meant it! How couldn't I? I love you more then anything! This just isn't how things were supposed to go and-'

- before he can get out another word, your grabbing his by the collar of his shirt and pulling him against you, kissing his passionately before pulling back with a bright grin. 'I love you too, J.'

[tubulootz]

marcus superstore im your biggest apologist 🙏🙏

[darknessontheedgeoftowndyke]

Breaking Bad themed baby shower

[brilliancetheory]

Superstore (2015-2021)

Jon Barinholtz as Marcus White

-"My parents didn't talk to me until I was five to see if I'd learn sign language- I didn't- last year I had intense stomach cramps that wound up being a spider's nest inside my body, worked out great though, got to keep the spiders, and all my teeth are fake."

[sunshinekarenstarr]

I know I know how disgusting this white man is BUT I CAN FIX HIM!! I CAN!

[coloradosnumber1dad]

having to remind myself every day that he’s not real and I can never have him inside me <<<<

[satansapostle6]

Angel With A Broken Wing | Jonah Simms

And if I may just take your breath away / I don't mind if there's not much to say / Sometimes the silence guides a mind / To move to a place so far away / The goosebumps start to raise / The minute that my left hand meets your waist / And then I watch your face / Put my finger on your tongue 'cause you love to taste, yeah / These hearts adore, everyone the other beats hardest for / Inside this place is warm / Outside it starts to pour

Warnings: Mature language and themes. Sexual content.

Chapter Four

Chapter Five: No Role Models

It was Thursday, and Marcus was over again. I tried to cut myself off, but it just wasn’t working. The man knew how to fuck.

“Fuck,” I gasped.

Marcus groaned. “Shit…!”

My legs were up on his shoulders, or really, his chest, because of the height difference, and I could feel everything. There was no way I was turning this man down anytime soon.

“Fuck, oh, fuck…!” Marcus hissed.

Until, of course…

“Fuck, you feel so good, Erica…”

I swear in that moment, you could’ve heard a pin drop. Both of us went dead silent. We didn’t necessarily separate, but it all stopped. I stopped what I was doing, and he stopped thrusting altogether.

“Excuse me…?” I questioned.

I was stunned. Flabbergasted. I had no idea what to say. I had no idea how to react. What was I supposed to say?! Marcus had just called me his ex-girlfriend’s name in the middle of sex, something I barely knew was even possible, and I was still reeling from his last stroke. He looked at me in horror, immediately trying to explain himself.

“Sophie—!”

I got up off the bed, standing in front of him both angry and butt-naked, which was a horribly humiliating commination.

“Oh, now you remember?!” I demanded, throwing the shirt he’d taken off on my bed at him.

He just stood there and took it, letting the shirt hit the ground as he desperately tried to find a way to make it up to me. But I wasn’t having it. This was my last straw; I wasn’t that spineless. I ignored him with determination as I put my clothes back on.

“Sophie, I’m so sorry…” Marcus apologized profusely, “I’m so sorry, Soph… It was just a mistake, I’m sorry…”

“Yeah, and so was this!” I yelled, furious with him as I threw a random jacket on.

“No, Sophie, please,” he pleaded, following me as I stormed out of the dark bedroom. “Sophie… I didn’t mean to say her name… I was thinking of you, I swear, I don’t know how it happened, it was just an accident…!”

“Bullshit!” I yelled as I stormed out into the hall.

“Sophie, please…!” Marcus begged me, “You’re the only one I care about I promise… Sophie!”

“No, Marcus,” I shook my head firmly as I reached for my car keys, “I’m done!”

“No!” he shouted fearfully, still trailing after me like a lost puppy. “No, please!”

“Nope. I’m done. Fuck you, Marcus,” I spat as I headed for the door.

“Sophie, no please, I care about you so much… Sophie… I love you!” Marcus exclaimed desperately.

I stopped in my tracks at that, slowly turning as I tried to process what he’d said to me. I looked at him expecting a look of indifference, or at least some uncertainty, but I saw none of that. He looked at me through glassy, emotional eyes, desperate for me to believe him.

“You…” I paused, unable to understand him. “You mean that?”

��Of course I do!” he cried. “Sophie… Ever since the moment I saw you, I knew… I had to have you. I’ve always thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world… I love you!” he pleaded.

I stared at him in disbelief, unsure of how to even respond.

“Sophie…” he gasped, “Sophia… I love you. I’m in love with you… Please!” he stood before me vulnerably.

I shook my head, tears in my eyes as I rushed for the door. “I can’t do this anymore.”

“Sophie, please,” Marcus’s voice broke.

“Nope! I’m leaving!” I announced, running out the door.

He stood there in disbelief. “But… This is your place!”

“Get out!” I yelled as I slammed the door behind me.

I got in the car and slammed the door. It took me at least five full minutes to stop crying before I could wipe my tears away, and just drive. Maybe twenty minutes or so after the whole ordeal, I knocked on a door, praying I’d get an answer. After a couple of minutes, the door opened.

“Sophie?” Garrett said kind of groggily. “What’s going on?”

I found myself a little tongue-tied, unable to even answer his question at this point. Garrett studied me worriedly.

“Hey… Is everything okay?” he asked me.

He didn’t say much; this was a normal question, and perfectly warranted after all, considering my showing up at his door after midnight. But the simple question was enough to push me over the edge as I started to cry, like a little kid. Garrett seemed almost shocked by the sudden outburst, quickly moving his chair for me to come in.

“Hey, hey, come inside…” he said sympathetically.

I nodded wordlessly through my tears as I walked into the apartment, trying to make less of a fool of myself as he gently reached to rest a hand on my back.

“Sophie, what happened?” Garrett asked me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded as I sniffled. He let me over to the couch, sitting near me as I took a seat.

“What’s up? What happened?” he asked.

I sighed as I wiped my tears away. “Just some stuff with Marcus…”

Garrett took this information in, nodding understandingly as I tried to compose myself.

“I’m sorry,” I looked around guiltily, “It’s late, and I showed up unannounced…”

“It’s okay, man,” he reassured me, “I mean, I didn't even hop off the game ‘til, like, half an hour ago. And you know you can come by any time, I don’t really mind…”

I nodded slowly, accepting his kindness. “Thank you…”

“Yeah, no worries…” Garrett said awkwardly, trying his best to be comforting, even though that was neither of our strong suits. “You want, like, a drink, or something to eat…?” he tried to be helpful.

I shook my head. “I’m okay…”

“What happened with Marcus?” Garrett asked. “I mean… You don’t have to say if you don’t want to… He didn’t, like… do something, did he…?” he asked, making sure I was okay.

I shook my head. “No… Nothing like that. He just…”

Garrett just looked at me, waiting.

“I’m done with him,” I sniffled. “That’s all.���

Garrett nodded slowly, starting to understand the nature of my situation.

“Yeah,” he said finally, “That’s probably for the better… Ryan has Gigi, right?”

I nodded. He took a moment, trying to make the best of the situation.

“Why don’t we crack open a few beers? I’ll break out the whiskey, and we’ll just listen to every song we can with the general tone of ‘bitches ain’t shit’?” he offered.

I chuckled in spite of everything. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

Garrett nodded as he wheeled toward the fridge, allowing me to take a seat at the table. I sat down, smiling as Garrett handed me a beer.

*****

At some point, it was already almost 2 a.m., and Garrett and I were fairly buzzed, sitting at the table together as we almost nonsensically sang along to random songs we were playing on the speakers. Garrett and I sounded surprisingly tipsy as we sang Kendrick and Lil Wayne lyrics.

“…He tell her all his secrets, he tell her all his fears. And then she tell me, and I be all ears… And then I go and tell my people, and they already know him…!”

We both downed more whiskey and swigged our beers, fairly drunk now. The singing continued, much to the dismay of Garrett’s surrounding neighbors.

“We’re waiting outside… Watch him pull up! Walk up to the door, and right before he knock, she open the door naked… She left it unlocked! They started french kissing, so he didn’t see moi! And then she let him in, they stopped on the couch! Music up loud, with his head in the cloud! Turn that shit down, and I scare the piss out of him! …Put a gun to his frown, turn around, I ain’t here to fuck around, I ain’t hear to fuck around, caught you with your pants down! You know what it is, put your fucking hands up!

“Liz, that’s enough, you can put your hands down! …And then he looked dead at her and he shook his head at her! She a good actress, and you a dead actor! You’ll be dead after we get what we’re after! If Liz call you daddy, she about to be a bastard! I got way too many bitches that do anything for me!”

I couldn’t explain it, but screaming at the top of our lungs about how love isn’t real was healing.

“But think for me, send her to you like she ain’t for me, I hope you alone like bankruptcy, she pour you a drink, that drink on me, she pour something in it, now faint for me! …Pussy got you outta character, you fall for these hoes off your ladder, take everything that you have til you don’t have an opinion, we have your attention, now you’re looking down a barrel though!”

*****

The next morning, I woke up on Garrett’s couch, and we drove into work together, fairly exhausted. I yawned as I got out of Garrett’s car, waiting for him as he got out, certainly not in the mood to talk to our coworkers alone. We both went into work together, praying today was going to be a low effort day.

*****

That afternoon, Jonah found himself just happening to be wandering up to the front of the store, near customer service, where Garrett worked.

“Hey…!”

Garrett looked up at Jonah. “Hey.”

“So…” Jonah began, already trying to find an angle.

For what, Garrett had no idea. He didn’t know what Jonah could’ve possibly wanted, but he knew he was not at the right energy level to deal with it.

“This morning…” Jonah remarked, trying and failing to be nonchalant. “It was kinda cloudy…”

Garrett stared at him, not understanding. “Dude, you obviously want something, so just ask.”

This came out a little more snappy than Garrett had intended, which he kind of felt bad for, given the flustered expression on Jonah’s face, but at the very least, it was still effective.

“Uh—Okay. Uh…” Jonah fidgeted awkwardly as he tried to segue into his inquiry. “I couldn’t help but notice, you… Came into work… With Sophie,” he stated, forcing a smile so aggressively that it was becoming more of a grimace.

Garrett stared him down. “Yeah.”

Jonah continued awkwardly. “So… Is that, like, some new carpooling situation, or…?”

Garrett frowned. “No.”

Jonah nodded, struggling to find a way to extract more information from his coworker. “So… Did you just happen to go and pick her up today, or…?”

Garrett frowned. “No. She spent the night at my place.”

This made Jonah’s ears start to ring. “Oh…!”

Garrett just sat at his desk, not sure how to respond.

Jonah laughed nervously, an almost passive aggressive desperation to his tone. “Okay, so…” he kept laughing.

Garrett felt as if he was watching a Batman villain’s origin story with the plethora of strange facial expressions Jonah was making.

“So… Let me get this straight…” Jonah said, “Sophie, the girl you know I like…”

“The grown woman I’m friends with, and have been friends with, long before we even met, that you said you didn’t have a crush on, yes,” Garrett corrected him impatiently.

“Right… So…” Jonah stammered nervously. “She… spent the night at your place…?”

“That’s what I said, yeah,” Garrett confirmed.

“She… Walked in in just a hoodie this morning,” Jonah murmured, recalling seeing the two of them enter the store together, “With nothing under it…”

“Okay, stop,” Garrett smiled humorlessly.

“‘Stop’ what?” Jonah asked genuinely.

“Making this into something it’s not,” Garrett stated, “Sophie is my friend. We have been friends, since she started working here. I’m allowed to hang out with her, without it having to be something else!” he said in disbelief.

“Right,” Jonah nodded quickly, “No, you’re right, I just—”

“No! Nothing! That’s it,” Garrett cut him off.

Jonah nodded apologetically, realizing he’d made a mistake in being so confrontational for no reason.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he apologized, making Garrett feel guilty.

He sighed, nodding as he accepted the apology. “It’s, fine, man, I just…”

He didn’t know what to say, feeling caught in the middle of everything.

“Look. I have no problem with it if you have a crush on Sophie, or whatever, but…”

“I don’t have a crush on Sophie,” Jonah blurted out defensively, “Why would I have a crush on Sophie?”

All he needed to realize how ludicrous he was being was the frown on Garrett’s face in that moment.

“Right. Yeah. Sorry,” he apologized quickly.

“I don’t care if you have a crush on her, but I also can’t go spilling every detail of her life to you just because you wanna know if you should ask her out to sushi, or Italian,” Garrett reminded him.

Jonah nodded. “Right, yeah, I shouldn’t have expected you to…”

He was very quickly distracted.

“Wait, since we’re on the topic,” Jonah began, “Do you think she would prefer Italian? I mean, she seems more like an Italian kinda girl, but I remember she said once she didn’t like pizza, so—”

Garrett’s expression immediately reflected his thoughts.

“Nope. Sorry,” Jonah agreed, surrendering, “That’s… Never mind. Sorry,” he said again, realizing how inappropriate and badly timed the question was.

“Look…” Garrett began, wanting to help. “Give Sophie a break before you try and woo her, alright? The woman’s having a tough time. She’s…”

He chose his words carefully as Jonah hung onto his every word, desperate for information about Sophie.

“She’s got a lot on her plate, with the kid, and Ryan, and Marcus… She’s going through a lot. Just… Let her breathe, okay?”

Jonah nodded. “Got it. Yeah. ‘Let her breathe’…”

“I don’t know if she has the energy to even think about relationships right now, but I know she’s in a bad place, coming out of something…” Garrett trailed off. “Just… If you wanna be there for her, be her friend first. Let her decide on her own time if she would date you.”

Jonah nodded slowly, seeing the merit in Garrett’s advice.

“That makes sense… Yeah. I’m sure she’s got a lot going on…” he thought. “I’ll slow down…”

“Good. Because you need to. A lot,” Garrett nodded, “Not just with this, but in general. It’s 9 a.m. Take it down a notch.”

Jonah chuckled as they both gradually returned to normal. With Jonah too distracted by his dilemma, and Garrett too distracted with his exhaustion after his night of drinking, neither of them noticed the rapidly spreading grin on their coworker Cheyenne’s face as she rushed back to the beauty counter, unnoticed.

-

Chapter Six

[mcdennis]

it's tragic how little jonah x marcus shippers there are in superstore ..... i need them to fuck nasty

[mentally-at-home]