The Man Who Can't Be Moved...(Mark Oneshot)

Usual disclaimer applies. I do not know any of Take That or their families and any parallels between this oneshot and real life are purely coincidental.


Thanks to Ma for proofing

The Man Who Can't Be Moved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Ds1zndYwk


“Lily you can’t go” I half shouted, half cried
“I’m sorry Mark, but I can’t stay after what you did! You cheated and you’ve got some random little slut pregnant, I can’t take this…” she yelled and left the flat, slamming the door behind her
I can’t believe I’ve fucked up so badly that she’s gone…gone from my life, leaving it shattered into a million tiny pieces. I feel utterly lost and desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures…she’s only been gone a day and it already feels like a lifetime, so I’ve come back to the place that we’d meet and where we eventually got together

*Flashback*

It was a gorgeous summers day and rehearsals for tour were going well but they were taking their toll. I had decided to try and quit smoking and it was getting more and more difficult. I had started coming to the park near the rehearsal space most lunch times, mostly to get away from all the others who were smoking and to have some down time. People would think that because I always come across as smiley and happy in public that I’m like that all the time but right now I’m a mess. I’m craving fags, drinking too much and all the others have girlfriends or wives, even Jason and I’m going home on my own every night or even worse to clubs and picking up random girls. This was the 3rd time this week I had come to the park and sat on the same bench and the 3rd time that I had noticed the girl who always sat on the bench at the other side of the park. Every time she would sit with a sandwich and her Ipod and watch the world go by, tapping her foot to whatever she was listening to. Everyday she would leave the park by the gate near where I sat and she always gave me a smile and then was on her way. Every time I saw her it made my day that little bit brighter…

The next week on the Wednesday as she was leaving the park she smiled at me as usual but this time she stopped and turned back, asking if she could sit down
“Can I sit here?” she smiled, a smile that really lit up her face, made her eyes shine
“Yeah” I sighed and watched as she placed herself next to me, a little closer than was necessary
“I’m Lily” she said and stretched out her hand
“Mark”
“I know” she giggled, oh great so she’s a fan “So we’ve been seeing a lot of each other here recently, I thought I should come over and say hi. Also I didn‘t think you looked your usual self today, if you don‘t mind me saying”
“Oh right, no I’m hungover. Too much wine last night, too much wine the last few weeks”
“Ah, I don’t really suppose that goes well with rehearsals” she smirked
“No, I guess you’re a fan then?”
“A bit, I’m not a stalker or anything if that’s what you think. I come to this park every day because my job sucks and I hate the people I work with. I’d much rather come here and see your sad face whilst I eat my sandwich” she grinned and then burst out laughing as I turned to look at her, shaking my head
“Charming!” I sniggered and rolled my eyes
“Well I best be off to my horrible colleagues, try and stay off the drink tonight eh? At least that way I might get a better conversation out of you tomorrow” she got up and started to walk away, turning back to give me a wink as she left the park…

*End of Flashback*

I threw some stuff into a bag and made my way to the park, the bench was still here. I sat down on the right hand side, I always sat on this side and had done since the day we met. Daylight was starting to fade and as the ringing of my phone brought me back to the present, I realised that in my hand was a picture of Lily which I had been starting at for hours now and also a leaflet with Lily’s picture and the words

“If you see this girl, can you tell her where I am?”

As night time came, I curled up on the bench, bottle of wine hugged close to my chest and cried for the mess I had made of my life, hurting Lily was the biggest mistake I had ever made and I knew I would live to regret it. Days passed and I felt like hell, but if Lily had seen one of my leaflets she might come looking so I didn’t want to leave and miss her. My clothes were beginning to smell a bit and my hair was unruly, not to mention the beard which was starting to appear. Thankfully not so many people were taking notice of me now and most probably thought I was some drunk down and out, which let’s face it I am.

“Why don’t you go and get yourself some food young man” I looked up to find an old lady, her hand shoving a £20 note into my face. She had a look of care on her face that would warm my heart, if my heart wasn’t in pieces. It’s not the first time someone has tried to give me money or food but clearly they don’t understand. It’s not like I’m here because I’ve nowhere to go! If I can’t go back to the flat and have Lily there then I don’t want to go back, I’m broken and she’s the only one that can fix me. There’s no point in being there on my own and there’s always a chance that she might come back here and see me waiting.

“Mark!” someone shouted. I looked up to see Howard striding towards me and knew I was in for an earful
“Where the hell have you been, we’ve all been trying to call you for days, I went to your flat and there was nobody there, I even tried to call Lily and it rung out, it’s like you pair had fallen off the face of the earth!! What the hell is going on? You’ve had us worried sick you little shit!”
I looked up at him, wishing he would go away and then sighed, as I leant back against the bench rubbing my temples. There was a full percussion section playing inside my head and Howard shouting was the last thing I needed
“Well?!?” I heard him shout
“Howard I’m not in the mood, can you just bugger off please?”
“I won’t bloody bugger off until you tell me what’s going on? Why haven’t you been at home and where’s Lily? No offence mate but you look like shit!”
“I’ve been here and I don’t have a fucking clue where Lily is which is why I’m here”
“What do you mean you don’t have a clue?”
“Exactly what I said, I don’t know…” as I said the words my voice started to break and the tears came from my eyes in a steady stream
“I fucked up…I don’t know…she’s gone…” I tried to speak in between sobs as Howard put his arm round my shoulder and let me be for a few minutes
“What did you do this time?” he sighed
“It doesn’t matter” it mattered so much but I was embarrassed to tell him “I was a shit and she’d had enough but she might come back here How, this is our place and I had some leaflets made up and I can’t leave until she shows up, I know she’ll come…she’ll come eventually” I kept babbling on, slurring a bit from all the wine I’d been drinking
“Mate, you’re drunk, obviously tired and emotional and I’m guessing you’ve been here all this time”
I nodded my head
“Ok and she hasn’t come yet, why don’t you go home and have a rest and a shower, cos you stink”
“I cant go How, I’m waiting here! It doesn’t matter how long it takes but I’m sitting here until she comes. In time she’ll forgive me and realise that love will get us through”
“Marky this is the most stupid thing you’ve ever done and I’m gonna keep coming back here until I can persuade you to go home, you can’t stay here forever”
“Wanna bet on that?” I snapped. Howard placed a hand on my shoulder and turned to walk away. I saw a girl across the other side of the park and thought it was Lily, I jumped up and tried to straighten myself out a bit, then realising it wasn’t her I slumped back down again, taking another mouthful from the bottle of wine that I had started earlier this morning.

Almost another week had passed and Howard had kept to his word and came down here every day, trying to get me to go home, bringing coffee and food and sometimes cigarettes. I had started smoking again as soon as she left and it felt good, comforting.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding? You do realise that we were worried and you just disappeared, how could you have been so fucking selfish?” Gary snapped as he stood in front of me
“I’m sorry Gaz but I’m a mess, I’m in bits and all I can think about is if she changes her mind then this is the first place she’ll go”
“You’re a daft sod, you do know that don’t you? Here, I brought you some coffee and fags” he threw the packet on my lap and handed me the cup
“Thanks”
“Don’t thank me, I only brought it cos Howard told me to. Did you seriously think you could do this and nobody would notice that a famous pop star is dossing down in the park every night, looking like a tramp…you’re doing a better job of looking tramp like than Howard, mate”
I let out a small chuckle, the first time I had in weeks. Gary had a way of bringing out the best in me for some reason
“So what? A few people recognise me”
“Mark, it’s all over the papers…I think Penthouse to Park bench was one of the headlines. We’re worried about you mate, as are the fans and the press are having a field day”
“That’s not a bad thing Gaz, Lily might see the paper and change her mind, now that I know that the press are onto it I’m staying here. If this spreads about enough she’s bound to see it somewhere or hear someone talking about it and she’ll know why I’m sat here, she’ll know why I’ve been out here in all weathers for weeks rather than at home. I can’t be there without her”
“And being here is a better option?”
“If it brings her back then yeah, I know you don’t understand and that’s fine but I’m not moving. People might pass by and think I’m homeless or whatever but I did bring a couple of changes of clothes, I don’t look that tatty. My clothes aren’t ripped, the only thing that’s ripped is my heart and Lily is the only one that can fix it” I sighed, forcing the tears that threatened to spill to stay inside
“I hope to God you sort yourself out soon mate, we’re back in the studio in 5 weeks, what if she still isn’t back? To hell with us all because you’ve broken up with your girlfriend?”
“Gaz, if she’s not back by then I dunno what I’ll do”
We sat in silence for a few minutes, drawing some stares from people who were passing by, it’s not often you see 2 of Britain’s biggest boy band sitting on a park bench, one of them looking like a tramp. A guy came up and started taking pics, he was clearly a pap
“Piss off!!” Gary shouted, almost knocking the guys camera out his hand as he pushed past him to leave.
“Take your picture and leave mate, you’re gonna get one to print anyway” I sighed and watched as he took his picture and then left, a smile on his face like he’d just won the lottery…

Lily’s POV

It had taken all my strength for me to walk out of the flat that night but he cheated and I couldn’t even look at him let alone stay there and act like we were ok. My best friend had taken me in that night and listened to me sob for the whole night about how I thought he was the one and the things we had planned to do, conversations and special nights that we’d had came to mind and only made me hurt more. I thought he had meant everything he said, clearly it was all a front…

*Flashback*

“I love you Lily and we’re gonna be together forever, we’ll get a nice big house and have lots of kids running around and a puppy, cos puppies are cute just like me” he grinned
“And like you puppies grow up and then they’re not so cute” I grinned, sticking my tongue out
“But I’m Mark Owen, I’m the cute one!!” he pouted
“I see through the image and see the real you though”
He rolled me over and straddled me, pinning me to the bed, his eyes staring straight into mine and making my heart rate increase ten fold
“What do you think though about the house and the kids and the cute puppy?”
“Yeah maybe some day, I love you but we haven’t been together that long, things change don’t they”
“Things do change, move in with me Lily” he asked, leaning down and planting a kiss on my lips as I pulled him in closer
“Yes”
“Yes?” he asked, a huge grin on his face
“What, you hadn’t expected me to agree?”
“Not so quickly, I had a whole speech prepared about how great it would be and how it would mean that we’d be able to wake up with each other every morning…” I placed a finger over his lips
“Shh, I said yes! You can stop talking now and put your mouth to better use…”

*End Of Flashback*

Weeks had passed and I had found myself a flat and was starting to get some form of normality back, although every day he was still in the back of my mind. I often thought of how good I thought Mark and I were together, reminisced about nights we shared and how the touch of his skin on mine made me feel. I knew that I had to move on and forget about him, he had broken my heart and I was still letting him get to me. I hoped he was ok and that he hadn’t gone back to drinking too much.

After a few too many drinks I got up to get ready for work and walked into the office. As I walked through to my desk I felt like people were looking at me, whispers were circulating the office…did I have something on my face, skirt tucked into my knickers? I hurriedly went to the ladies and checked my appearance and I looked fine, a little tired and drawn but life wasn’t exactly peachy lately!
“Morning Lily” Mary smiled at me, a sad smile which didn’t quite meet her eyes
“Is it just my imagination or was everyone staring at me out there?” I frowned
“Ah, I guess you haven’t seen the papers then?”
“The papers? Well, no…why?”
She slipped her bag off her shoulder and pulled out a copy of The Sun and opened it to the centre pages

My eyes scanned the page and struggled to focus as I quickly scanned over the words and pictures in front of me. Every snap tugs at my heart strings but I try to push it to the back of my mind, try to forget how it felt when he cheated on me, forget all the times I cried myself to sleep and wanted to go back but couldn’t, still no matter how hard I try to put it in a box, I still love him and I think I always will. Seeing him a complete mess makes a tear escape from my eye which I hastily wipe away.
“You ok?” Mary asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. Out of everyone in the office she knew how hard I had taken the break up, for the first week afterwards I would work late every night, anything that meant I didn’t have to go back to an empty flat.
Still in a daze, I took my place at my desk and got on with my work.
“Lily? Lily? Earth to Lily!!”
I sat up like a bolt and realised that tears were streaming down my cheeks
“Come on, I think it’s best if you go home, eh?” Mary said, placing an arm around me and leading me outside. The street seemed unusually quiet as I started to walk back to my flat, the wind was blowing gently and the leaves on the trees were making a rustling noise. A solitary piece of paper blew in my direction and got caught between my feet, causing me to stop and my body freezing when I saw what was on there…

“If you see this girl can you tell her where I am…”

The picture was me, although it didn’t seem like it. I was happy and smiling, it had been taken on a gorgeous day when Mark and I been sat in the back garden of Gary’s house, the sun was starting to set and it had been a good night, filled with laughter and fun which was of course provided by the lads. It was only now that I was letting myself think about it, that I realised how much I missed them all. Without so much as a thought my body turned and headed in the direction of the park. I knew that’s where he’d be. He couldn’t go on like this, he had a life and the press were already having a field day as it was. On turning the corner into the park, my eyes went straight to him, curled up on a bench, a bottle of something clutched to his chest. His white fingers wrapped so tightly round the bottle like it was his security blanket, how had it come to this? That damn hat that I had tried to make him get rid of for so long was perched upon his head, tipped slightly over his face and his black boots were covered in mud, he’d always been kind of scruffy chic in appearance and now all I could see was a scruffy shell of a man. I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for him or mad at the fact he was trying to make me feel sorry for him so that he would win me back. The trance like state I was in was broken by the sound of his voice
“Lily?” he uttered, almost in disbelief and the shakiness in his voice was evident as he sat up. His pale fingers ran through his greasy hair and then left his head to smooth down his jacket. His face was gaunt and looked like it had aged about 100 years in a few weeks. Dark circles framed his eyes as he stared back at me, in wonder and amazement
“You came. I knew you would come” he kept saying, a smile spread across his face as he continued to study my features
“Mark, you need to go home! Look at the state of you? You don’t need to be here and the press are having a field day” I sighed, taking a spot on the bench next to him
“I don’t have a home, not a proper one. If you’re not there with me then I don’t want to be there either. Doesn’t the fact that I’ve been here for so long tell you that?”
“Don’t try and guilt trip me Mark, you’re here because you choose to be! You think this has been easy on me, because let me tell you it hasn’t!!” I yelled, wiping away a tear that was beginning to fall
“I know, I’m so sorry Lily! I was such an arsehole and I can’t believe what I did to you, I don’t even know why I did it. I guess she was just there and…”
“Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better then”
I slid further down the bench as he reached his hand out to touch me
“Don’t touch me Mark. This isn’t some fairytale where I come back here because I’ve seen the leaflet and I take you back in an instant”
“I’m begging you Lily, I can’t live like this. I love you and I need you back”
“You should have thought about that before you jumped into bed with some random slapper then, shouldn’t you”
“Lily please” he whispered, his hand stroking the side of my cheek before he leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips, pulling away and cradling my face in his hands, our foreheads touching
“I know you still love me Lily, I can tell and if you give me a chance, just one chance…”
“I can’t Mark, I really want to but you blew it, I can’t risk going through that again. You left me totally broken, I’ve cried myself to sleep and tried to get over you and I’m not there yet and if I let you in and it happened again, I don’t think I could cope”
“I swear it wouldn’t happen, I’m not stupid. I realised what I’d lost, I’d lost someone that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, someone that loves me for who I am and not because of what I have, someone who is perfect in every way. I lost the only important thing in my life and I need you back babe, I can’t go on without you”
“I’m sorry Mark but I can’t do it. Please go home and sort yourself out, it breaks my heart to see you like this”
“If you’re not coming with me then I’m not moving, one day you’ll come back to me, I know you will”
“So what? Until then this bench is your home? You need to grow up and sort yourself out Mark! Sitting here is not going to make me change my mind any quicker”
I turned and saw the sad look on his face and wanted to leap into his arms, but I knew I wasn’t ready to go back to him.
“Please go home, maybe some day I’ll be able to come back to you and give it another go but don’t wait here on that day coming. Go home and get on with your life, ok?”
I wiped a tear away and turned round, walking to the gate of the park, hearing the soft sniffles and sobs coming from the broken man I had just left behind.

Later on that night Mary came round offering some wine and a shoulder to cry on
“So how did he look?” she asked
“Like hell, I don’t understand why he’s doing it when he could be at home, he’ll make himself ill”
“Why do you care?”
“I still love him Mary, but I can’t go back to him. Not yet anyway”
“Why not, he’s miserable; you’re not happy and don’t say that you are cos I know you’re not” she said raising her hands before I could argue
“He did something that I didn’t imagine he would ever do, not in a million years”
“Why? Because he’s Mark Owen? At the end of the day he’s a man and at times they all think with their brains that are south of the border but if he’s prepared to sit there for you in all weathers then surely it shows he’s sorry?”
“It shows he’s a daft bugger and needs his head checking! What the hell is he thinking Mary?”

She left a few hours later and I got straight on the phone to Howard
“Howard, it’s Lily?”
“Lily, are you ok hun? We’ve all been worried about you”
“I’m fine, listen can you go and check on Mark and make sure he’s ok, he looks like hell and I’m worried he’ll make himself ill”
“so you’ve seen him then?”
“Yeah I went to the park earlier, he says he still won’t move”
“So you’re not going back then?”
“I don’t think I can” I sniffed
“Look don’t worry, I’ve been checking on him pretty much every day anyway, taking him a hot drink and some fags…I know I shouldn’t take him fags before you say it but give the man something” I could almost picture him rolling his eyes at me down the phone
“Why did he do it Howard, everything was perfect and then he screwed it all up” I sighed
“I don’t know, why do any of us do stupid things and make mistakes? It’s not always as easy as right and wrong when it comes down to it”
“Of course it is, him shagging that slapper was wrong. End of! Bye Howard” I slammed down the phone and slid down the wall, tears freely flowing down my face.

After a few hours of crying and deciding enough was enough I got up and grabbed my bag before leaving the flat and heading for the park, not exactly safe for a female on her own at 3am but I had to go now. I hurried to the park as fast as my legs would take me, my heart thumping in my chest, hoping that Mark would still be there, hoping that he still wanted to give me the chance. I passed a tramp sat outside the park, clutching his bottle of vodka and felt ill at the thought of Mark sitting out here like this every night for weeks. I picked up my pace until I was stood in front of him, he was curled up on the bench and sleeping like a baby. I sat down on the ground, crossed legs and facing towards him, reaching out to stroke his face and I sat there all night until the sunlight started to emerge from behind the clouds. I heard a mumble and raised my head to see Mark rubbing at his eyes, as if it was a dream until he realised I was really there
“Lily! Oh God Lily! What…how…I can’t believe you came back, after yesterday I didn’t think…”
“You not thinking was how we got into this mess in the first place”
“I know and I promise it’ll be different from now on, you are coming home aren’t you?”
I looked at his face, his puppy dog eyes full of hope and desperation and pleading with me to say yes
“You know what? I think I am. I love you Mark and I don’t want to be without you but this is your last chance, one more foot wrong and I’m out the door”
He jumped up and picked me up spinning me around, hugging me like he would never let me go again. People had realised what was going on and had started to gather round and were clapping and whistling, clearly we were big news!!
“Put me down Mark, god you stink, when did you last have a shower” I grimaced before laughing out loud, the laughter stopping as he brought his lips to mine, a sweet tender kiss that was full of love and longing. He pulled away from me and got down in front of me
“Lily, I love you. I was stupid and I’ve regretted the mistake I made every day since you left me. I can’t do all this crazy shit that’s called my life without you and I would be the happiest man to walk the earth if you would agree to be my wife?” he pulled out a box from his pocket and held the ring in his hand, ready to place it on my finger
“Mark…I…” I was speechless and suddenly realised that there was lots of pairs of eyes on us from the crowd that had now gathered
“Please say yes Lily, I know we’re good together and I could make you happy”
“Yes” I grinned before bursting out laughing
“Yes?”
“Yes!! I will marry you Mark Owen!” I squealed with delight as he picked me up and spun me around to the applause and cheers from the crowd, a camera flash went off and this time Mark turned round and posed with me so the pap could get his shot
“Mark!! Don’t do that you look like hell!!”
“I don’t care, I’m so happy!! Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” he joked
“No I’m worried incase they see a tramp like boy band member and think it’s Howard” I poked my tongue out and once again turned to kiss Mark as the crowd seemed to leave and for that moment in time it was just the two of us, back where we belonged.

Well you know i love this

Mark

Thanks for proofing it hun and leaving FB too

It might be really wrong but i love the idea of Mark being a bit trampy

Mary wrote:

It might be really wrong but i love the idea of Mark being a bit trampy

omg so wrong!

I'm really getting worried about you!!

I swear i've been brainwashed or something

BODYSNATCH!!!

BODYSNATCH!!!

karenc wrote:

BODYSNATCH!!!

BODYSNATCH!!!

I agree with you Karen!

That was so good, he sure was determined.At one pint thought she wouldn't taking him back and he'd living in that park for a very long time.

I'm glad it all worked out in the end!

Thanks Janie!!

This is the first fic of yours that I read and have to say I liked it a lot, so I'll probably be coming back to your thread in the future

loved it Karen

i have a feeling my blue paint is gonna start peeling on this tour

SeDeTT wrote:

This is the first fic of yours that I read and have to say I liked it a lot, so I'll probably be coming back to your thread in the future

Aww thank you hun!! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Mark fics aren't really my thing as you will have noticed I'm glad you enjoyed it though and you're welcome back any time

Elaine, thanks for your FB too hun! If you're anything like Mary, you'll be rainbow coloured by the end of tour

Karen

I loved it and the song was playing in my head the whole time; i love that song


And wee Marky how could you ever say no to him

Well Done

Thanks for the FB Siobhan

Another great one! (of course i started with the Markies story.. lol)

Thanks for reading and leaving FB on everything Greta. It's nice to see someone enjoying it even though the ones you're reading were posted ages ago

Well I have like 2 years of fic to catch up on here! I've gotta start with the old ones!

If you're intending to catch up with all the fics on the forum, you'll need about two years

Karen I've just read this, and it's absolutely fab! A great take on the Script's song, and very very cute, tho I did want to tell Mark off at the beginning! well done!

Aw thanks Amez! I just noticed you had left FB on this

Glad you enjoyed it!