You and Mark had known each other long before he became Invincible.

Before the fights, the responsibility. Before the weight of the world settled onto his shoulders and never left.

Back then, he was just Mark— the awkward, sweet nerd, always showing up at your window too late at night because he “just wanted to see you for a minute.” And when he finally got his powers, nothing really changed at first.

You adapted. You learned how to work around missed dates and bruised skin. You learned how to ignore the fear every time he flew off somewhere dangerous. Even when the gap between your worlds became impossible to ignore: him, practically indestructible, and you… painfully human, you still tried to make it work.

Because you loved him, and Mark loved you too.

—

But loving someone like Mark came with consequences.

And you learned that the hard way.

—

It was supposed to be a normal night. Or as normal as things could be with him.

A quiet date: No costumes, no missions. Just the two of you trying to pretend, for a few hours, that your lives weren’t constantly one step away from disaster.

Then she arrived. Anissa. Calm, cold, viltrumite.

You barely had time to acknowledge her presence behind you, before her hand wrapped around your throat and lifted you effortlessly off the ground.

The fear hit too fast to even scream.

You still remember the look on Mark’s face— the panic, helplessness, rage. The way he begged her to let you go. The way his voice cracked when she tightened her grip just enough to prove she could kill you whenever she wanted, with no issue.

All because she wanted him to listen.

Because loving Mark made you a weakness people could use against him.

—

Things changed after that.

You tried pretending they didn’t. But every time he held your hand, you remembered how easily it could’ve been ripped away. Every late-night call, every mission, every bruise came with the horrifying realization that one day, someone stronger than Mark would decide that hurting you was the easiest way to hurt him.

And eventually… love stopped being enough.

—

The breakup was quiet, and that was the worst part.

There was no screaming, no anger. Just exhaustion and grief and the unbearable understanding that neither of you wanted this— but maybe you needed it.

Mark looked devastated.

You looked away first.

—

After that, everything felt wrong.

Much too quiet, too empty.

You still reached for your phone whenever something happened before remembering there was no one to text anymore. Still caught yourself looking for him in crowds. Still loved him in all the ways you were trying desperately not to.

And then Amber told you.

Carefully… Like she already knew it would hurt.

—

Mark and Eve were together now.

And of course they were. Eve understood his world in ways you never could. She could fight beside him, survive beside him, follow him into dangers that would kill you instantly.

She fit into his life naturally. In a way you never stopped wishing you could.

You tell yourself you’re happy for him. You try to mean it, and in a stinging way, you do.

But some nights, when everything gets too quiet, you can’t stop thinking about how badly you wanted your love to survive the kind of world he lived in. How badly you wanted him.

—

It’s late when you hear a knock at your window again.

Soft. Familiar.

Something you haven’t heard in a what genuinely felt like forever. The kind that used to make your heart race before everything fell apart.

And somehow, despite everything… it still does.