<p>_"Am I in love again?"_</p><p><br/></p><p>_Someone save me._</p><p><br/></p><p>If there was one thing Marcus should have learned by now, it's that he should learn to stop asking questions whose answers he was not emotionally prepared to hear.</p><p><br/></p><p>But still, here he was, asking:</p><p><br/></p><p>_Am I in love?_</p><p><br/></p><p>Well, let's examine the evidence.</p><p><br/></p><p>First, there was the talking, as was usually the case.</p><p><br/></p><p>A conversation that was supposed to be short, business-only, and to the point somehow stretched and became five hours long.</p><p><br/></p><p>Five.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not one.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not two.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not three.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not four.</p><p><br/></p><p>Five.</p><p><br/></p><p>Five hours.</p><p><br/></p><p>Nobody noticed.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not Marcus.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not her.</p><p><br/></p><p>Marcus still believes time was rage-baiting them.</p><p><br/></p><p>Then there was the laughter.</p><p><br/></p><p>Marcus found himself laughing far more than he expected to.</p><p><br/></p><p>And mind you, it wasn't the polite, socially acceptable kind of laughter.</p><p><br/></p><p>Nah, nah, nah, no.</p><p><br/></p><p>This was proper laughter.</p><p><br/></p><p>You know, that kind of laughter that makes someone wonder where the hours decided to run away to and why his face and stomach hurt so much.</p><p><br/></p><p>Then came the games, the poems, the singing, and the ridiculously over-the-top performances like professional actors auditioning like their lives depended on it. </p><p><br/></p><p>Best of all. There was completely unnecessary commitment to imaginary scenes. </p><p><br/></p><p>At some point, Marcus realized something absolutely terrifying.</p><p><br/></p><p>It wasn't just the activities he was enjoying.</p><p><br/></p><p>He was enjoying this person.</p><p><br/></p><p>Oh no.</p><p><br/></p><p>No, no, no.</p><p><br/></p><p>That's totally different.</p><p><br/></p><p>And naturally, Marcus did what any perfectly sensible individual would do.</p><p><br/></p><p>He began constructing a mythology around the whole thing.</p><p><br/></p><p>_Surely,_ he said, _this was merely the meeting of two exceptionally whimsical individuals._</p><p><br/></p><p>_Surely this was just friendship._</p><p><br/></p><p>_Surely a five-hour conversation did not necessarily mean anything._</p><p><br/></p><p>Surely—</p><p><br/></p><p>Wait.</p><p><br/></p><p>He realized he was thinking about her again.</p><p><br/></p><p>Oh no.</p><p><br/></p><p>Oh no, no, no, no, no.</p><p><br/></p><p>Marcus screamed.</p><p><br/></p><p>Was Marcus in love again?</p><p><br/></p><p>The question lingered.</p><p><br/></p><p>Well, perhaps, of course, the answer wasn't quite as dramatic as he feared.</p><p><br/></p><p>The thing is, maybe he wasn't in love.</p><p><br/></p><p>At least not yet.</p><p><br/></p><p>Maybe he was simply experiencing something far simpler and far less dangerous.</p><p><br/></p><p>He was smitten.</p><p><br/></p><p>He really, really liked her.</p><p><br/></p><p>He enjoyed her company. He really admired her personality, and he absolutely loved how easy it was for them to be ridiculous together.</p><p><br/></p><p>He loved the feeling of being around someone with whom he didn't have to force the fun.</p><p><br/></p><p>The fun came naturally.</p><p><br/></p><p>And somewhere along the way, this person had gotten under his skin. Like... deep under, almost wearing him like a coat.</p><p><br/></p><p>But that's the thing.</p><p><br/></p><p>That didn't necessarily mean love.</p><p><br/></p><p>Love was far more than just a handful of wonderful conversations.</p><p><br/></p><p>However wonderful those conversations might have been, there was still much to discover.</p><p><br/></p><p>So no.</p><p><br/></p><p>Marcus was not jumping to conclusions.</p><p><br/></p><p>He didn't have to declare that he was in love.</p><p><br/></p><p>There was no reason for him to panic.</p><p><br/></p><p>He did not have to run for his life. (Just yet)</p><p><br/></p><p>He simply had to admit the truth:</p><p><br/></p><p>He really, really liked her.</p><p><br/></p><p>He was absolutely smitten.</p><p><br/></p><p>Gbam! Gbammer! Gbammest!</p><p><br/></p><p>He was perhaps—maybe, just maybe—beginning to fall.</p><p><br/></p><p>And that was enough for now.</p><p><br/></p><p>Bruh.</p><p><br/></p><p>Someone save Marcus.</p>