[fanfiction] the stupid things I've said before part 2

[kisforkurama]

They settle into a routine for the rest of the semester: Mark works on thefacebook until Divya decides it's time for him to do something else, and then they have sex or Mark actually does his homework or they go to a party or Divya drags Mark to eat something. They fall asleep tangled together when Mark decides to sleep, and Tyler periodically makes crass remarks about them that Cameron smacks him for. Cameron is more hands-off about the whole thing-it's not that he doesn't acknowledge it, more that he doesn't bring it up unnecessarily.

Mark passes all his finals, some less spectacularly than others, and then it's winter break. Divya constantly pesters Mark via text, because apparently he has to spend a ridiculous amount of time at parties with high-strung and boring rich folk, and Mark misses him a little like a limb. He loves his family, and he likes having time to work on thefacebook uninterrupted, but mostly he wants to be back at Harvard and near Divya. Mark would like to say that he only misses Divya because he misses the sex, but that would be a huge lie. Sure, Mark misses that because he's a college guy and sex may not always be on his mind, but it's awesome.

What he misses about being near Divya, though, is the way that Divya tangles their fingers together and smiles at Mark. How Divya always tries to give Mark the exact kind of coffee he likes. The occasional strange conversation in French. Moments when Divya kisses him just to annoy Cameron or Tyler. Neckrubs at strange times of night accompanied by requests to come to bed. Loud and obnoxious dinners with the Winklevosses. Quiet dinners with just the two of them.

He just misses the solid presence that Divya has become in his life.

It's a startling revelation that Mark ignores by focusing almost solely on thefacebook. He makes a ridiculous amount of progress over winter break, fueled by the project of trying to ignore the way he feels about Divya, and it's close to being launch-ready when he has to go back to Harvard. There's something missing, though, and Mark can't quite figure out what it is. He doesn't think too much about it, though, because he's ironing out everything about the code and ignoring everyone-even Divya.

He gets it done within a month of them getting back, or done enough to release in beta, but he waits a couple of days and does some unnecessary smoothing of the code to see if he can figure out what it is that's missing. It's Dustin that gives him the idea, though, because Mark is dead on his feet from hardly sleeping for a month and sitting in the lab when Dustin finds him.

"There's a girl," Dustin says once he's gotten Mark's attention, "in the art history class that you take. Her name is Stephanie Attis. Do you happen to know if she has a boyfriend?"

There's a silence, because Mark is staring at Dustin and trying to convey you know better than to ask me about girls with his mind. Because really, Dustin should. It's not like Mark pays any particular attention to people that he only sees for a couple hours every week and never talks to. They’re not worth the effort, and Mark barely pays attention in class anyway.

"I mean," Dustin continues, undeterred, "have you ever seen her with anyone? And if not, do you happen to know if she's looking to go out with anyone?"

Mark sighs, too tired to deal with Dustin, and pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. The tension headache is going to set in soon, and Dustin's not helping any.

"Dustin," Mark says, "People don't walk around with a sign on them that says-"

That’s it. Scrambling, Mark grabs his bag and rushes out of the lab. Dustin calls his name, but Mark doesn't stop to talk to him because he knows what's missing from thefacebook. Divya's sitting on his bed and studying when Mark bursts into their room and settles down at his computer and calls up everything. He barely notices when Divya comes over and settles his hands on Mark's shoulders, peering at what Mark's doing.

"It looks good," Divya says.
"I know," Mark says, saving, "but look: relationship status and interested in. Those are the things that drive everything people do at college. Are you having sex or aren't you? That's the driving force behind why people take certain classes, why they sit next to certain people-and that's what thefacebook is going to be about. People are going to log on because-"
Divya's fingers tighten on Mark's shoulders, "They could get laid."
"Exactly."

Divya twists to kiss Mark, fingers tangling in his hair, and Mark lets him. He pulls away sooner than he normall would, though, because there's still more to say and he can't say it if Divya's kissing him.

"That's it," Mark says quietly, the statement loud to his ears, "I'm done."
"It's ready to go live?"
"Yeah."

This time when Divya kisses him, Mark doesn't pull away. He just turns too, fingers twisting into Divya's sweater, and it feels like a reward for everything that he's accomplished and promise of the amazing thing that thefacebook is going to become. This time, Divya pulls away first. Mark notes that he's breathless too and thinks that maybe Divya understands that what they've got is amazing.

"I need the mailing list for The Porc," Mark says when he's able to form the words, "so we can get the word out."

Tyler and Cameron wander into the room then, probably called by Mark mentioning The Porc, and they lean against the doorway of the room. Mark ignores them, because while thefacebook is the product of Tyler's drunken idea, the twins haven't had that much to do with it. Divya occasionally asked what Mark’s doing and watched as the site unfolded, but Tyler and Cameron have been treating it like any of Mark's other projects. They don't really understand what he does, so they show their support by leaving him alone. Mark appreciates that, because he doesn’t really like having to explain things unnecessarily.

Cameron steps closer, looking at Mark's screen, "Did you finish?"
Divya squeezes Mark's shoulder, "It's live."
"Yeah," Mark shrugs, "but that's useless if no one is logging on."
"Of course," Divya smirks, "We were just about to send it out to The Porc's mailing list."

Tyler comes over then, and they're all crowded around the computer and looking at the front page of thefacebook. Mark has actually never felt prouder of anything.

"Good plan," Tyler says, "that'll help promote the idea that it's exclusive."
"Move," Divya says, nudging at Mark, "I'll send it."

Pausing for a moment, Mark decides that it'll probably go over better if the message comes from someone who’s actually a member and is supposed to have the mailing list in the first place. He stands up, letting Divya sit down and send out the site to every member of The Porc. Then, that's it. The only thing to do is to wait for thefacebook to spread like a disease, and that'll take a while. Maybe not more than fifteen or twenty minutes, but Mark has confidence in his creation and he knows that it doesn't need him to baby it forever. Leaning over Divya's shoulder to peer at the screen, Mark can't help it.

"It's live," he says, quietly awed, "I did it."
"If I give you guys a hundred bucks and tell you guys to go get wasted on me and not come back until the bar kicks you out," Divya says, looking at both of the twins, "will you do it?"

They look at each other, and then Cameron looks down at where Divya's laced his fingers with Mark's. He clears his throat and elbows Tyler, who is definitely biting back something-probably more sexual innuendo. Absently, Mark makes a mental note to switch Tyler's photo on thefacebook for the one where one of the crew guys sharpied a penis on Tyler's forehead when he was passed out at a party; Mark's been saving it for an occasion like this. Cameron's photo is going untouched, though, because he just holds out his hand and waits for Divya to peel two fifties off his wad of cash.

Once he's got the money, Cameron drags Tyler out of the suite. He doesn't stop Tyler from yelling use condoms! embarrassingly loud, though. Divya waits just long enough to hear the door shut behind them, and then he pulls Mark over to his bed and starts tugging at his clothes. There's the weird tangle of getting undressed and then fuck, Divya's settling on top of Mark and there's skin on skin and yes.

"You should thank me," Divya says, smirking down at Mark, "I got rid of the twins for the night."
"I've spent the last three months coding the website that's going to make us rich. It was the least you could do. Fuck me."

Mark's words are punctuated by him grabbing Divya's ass and arching up to line up their cocks. Divya groans and then he's shifting to dig through the bedside table for the lube and condoms. While he's doing that, Mark absently kisses the dip of Divya's collarbone and trails downward, sucking on Divya's nipple gently. Checking to make sure that Divya's in a relatively stable position first, Mark nips at Divya's nipple and Divya curses.

"What is it with you and trying to make me fall off the bed? Fucker. This would not take so long if you weren't such an asshole, by the way."
Mark grins into Divya's skin, "It's incentive for you to work faster."

Divya rolls his eyes, tossing a condom in the general direction of the mattress. It lands just past Mark's face, and Mark doesn't bother to move it. While Divya continues to dig around for the lube, Mark amuses himself by teasing Divya's other nipple and seeing how many times he can make Divya curse before he manages to find the lube. It's not a single-digit number, possibly because the lube is shoved all the way in the back of the drawer and they really need to learn to make it more accessible, but when Divya shifts back he roots his fingers in Mark's hair and kisses him hard. Mark feels smug. He lets Divya manhandle him however he wants until he's got fingers working in and out of Mark and he's being just as much of an asshole as Mark was earlier.

They're not really particular about getting fucked or fucking, because Mark knows that there's merits to both, but Mark definitely has a preference for being fucked most of the time just because Divya's fingers are fucking ridiculous and Mark just really likes getting fingered, okay? Divya's not afraid to use that, because they're never very nice to each other during sex, and he'd finger Mark for hours if Mark let him.

Adding a third finger, Divya bites at the inside of Mark's thigh and pointedly ignores his cock. Mark would try to get Divya to do what he wants, only he's learned that it's an exercise in futility. Well, he knew that it was to begin with, but he's learned that Divya tends to be extremely focused during sex. Mark twists his fingers in the sheets instead and whines until Divya's decided he's had enough and rips the foil of the condom packet, slipping it on and lining up.

Mark chokes on the noise he wants to make when Divya presses forward. He tips his head to the side instead and lets Divya have access to the mark that's ever-present at this point. Divya stays for a moment, just to annoy Mark, and then he moves, Mark's fingers digging into his shoulders.

Wrapping a hand around Mark, Divya touches their foreheads together as he brings Mark off. Mark's world is narrowed down to the choked off noises that he's making and the way Divya's skin refuses to give under his blunt nails, bitten to the quick. Mark pulls Divya down for a kiss, arching into his hand and coming with another half-there noise.

"Divya," Mark says quietly.

It's a request, largely unspoken, but Divya's gotten fairly good at understand the things that Mark isn't saying. That's among the reasons why Mark likes Divya: he understands, and he comes too, barely avoiding an unpleasant collapse onto Mark. They stay still for a moment, and then Divya untangles himself, tying off the condom and dropping it on the bedside table. Mark curls into his side once he's done it, settling his face in Divya's collarbone and closing his eyes. Divya slings an arm over his hip.

"We should shower."
"No," Mark shifts closer, "we should take a nap and then fuck again before they come back. We're celebrating, Divya."
Divya chuckles, "You mean you want me to make up for the last couple of weeks where you blew me off to code thefacebook."

Maybe if they didn't understand each other as well as they do, Divya would hold the fact that Mark immersed himself in code instead of spending time with him. As it is, Mark knows that Divya doesn't because he understands the potential of what they've made. It something, and even if they don't know what yet, it's pretty clear that it's as amazing as Mark hoped it would be.

"Millions," Mark mumbles, trying to convey all the things he's thinking, "It was totally worth you not getting laid for a month, admit it."
"It was," Divya whispers, "It really was."

They sleep for a little while, and the twins haven't come back by the time they wake up, so Mark fucks Divya. It's a little less frantic but no gentler, and by the time they've finished, the entire bed is a mess. This time, Divya won't take no for an answer when he suggests a shower. He washes Mark's hair, fingers threading through it and massaging Mark's scalp while Mark leans against him. They don't fuck in the shower, because the singular time they tried that Mark had almost gotten a concussion and really it just isn't worth the effort.

Once they're clean and dressed, they curl up on Mark's bed. It's nowhere near large enough for the both of them, but they haven't slept in separate beds since getting together and it's cold enough that they don't wake up sticky and stuck together.

"Tu es l'amour de ma vie," Divya says, just as Mark's slipping into sleep.
"Je veux être," Mark yawns, "avec toi pour toujours."

It doesn't take very long for thefacebook to spread like the wildfire Mark wanted. Within a week, people are saying "yeah, facebook me" and Mark kind of wants to grin like a lunatic every time someone does it and he overhears. The same people that Cameron and Tyler had to scare away after the whole FaceSmash debacle think Mark is like a god now, and Mark revels in it. Divya seems to recognize that thefacebook is taking over Mark's life, and he tries to stop it for a little while before he gives up because he gets it. Mark knows he gets that this is what Mark wants from life.

"You're not coming back," Divya says one day while he's watching Mark monitor the site, "are you?"
"You're not either," Mark says, eyes still focused on his screen, "Why does it matter?"
"I'm graduating," Divya shakes his head, "that's the difference, Mark. I don't have to come back."

Shifting, Mark turns to look at Divya. The dart that he's always chewing on is between his teeth, and he takes it out and sets it on his desk while he studies Divya. Mark's fingers are nervous, tapping against the tabletop, and he sighs.

"I think I'm going to California after the semester's over," Mark says, not meeting Divya's eyes, "I want to rent a house, hire a couple more programmers, see if we can't get a couple investors interested in what we've got. I was going to tell you when the plans were more final."

There's a lot that Mark isn't saying and trusting Divya to understand on his own, which he knows is a stupid plan, but Divya is going to England with the Winklevosses in a couple of weeks and they're only just starting to expand to other schools. It hadn't seemed like the right time to bring any of this up and he’s note prepared. He waits for Divya to say something, because he's not going to say anything further if he doesn't need to.

"Have you looked at houses? Sent out a call for programmers? Decided whether or not we're going to try and expand to Oxford too?"
"No, yes and I'm looking the applicants over, and yeah, I told you yesterday that you should definitely try and get Oxford in when you and the Winklevosses are out having fun in England."
"You told me that right before you went down on me," Divya snorts, "I think I can be forgiven for forgetting. Okay, we should look at houses when you're done with your code push. We'll probably need enough space for, what? You have three programmers right now, including you, how many more do you want to hire? And are you actually going to formally ask Eduardo if he wants to be CFO instead of just running to him with all your complicated business questions?"

Mark shrugs, because he's been waffling on that idea. On the one hand, Eduardo has been answering all of Mark's insane questions about how to best expand and what kinds of things they should be doing to monetize the site if they don't really want ads just yet-even when Mark is pretty sure that Eduardo should be sleeping. Or doing something that isn't answering Mark's questions. Besides, he was the one who suggested that they change it from thefacebook to just Facebook for easier branding. On the other hand, Mark's unsure if that would be like a slight to Divya. He taps his fingers against the table absently and considers. Probably not, since Divya has mostly been handling PR and outreach so far.

"I could ask," Mark says, "since technically we don't have anyone running that. You're mostly PR and outreach stuff, and it would be good to let you focus on that instead of trying to handle the money too. And I think I'm hiring three new programmers so we can have three shifts of two people monitoring and making sure nothing goes wrong. That's eight hours of work, which is reasonable. Right?"

Divya nods, having retrieved a piece of paper and a pen. He's writing down notes, because he's started writing down all of Mark's ramblings so they don't forget later, and Mark's grateful for that. Sometimes he's thinking of too many things and his ideas get lost in the huge junkyard that is his brain.

"So eleven people," Divya says finally, looking up at Mark for confirmation, "You, me, the five other programmers, Eduardo, the Winklevosses, and Chris."
"Chris?"

Vaguely, as second-hand information, Mark knows that Chris has been making sure Dustin didn't drop dead in the same way Divya's been making sure that Mark doesn't, but he isn't sure why Divya would count him among the people that are likely to go to California. He knows that at least a couple of the people on the list aren't going to be at the house all the time, so it's more like eight people total, but still. Divya gives Mark one of those looks that says I’m going to need to catch you up on things aren't I? but he sighs and sets the paper aside.

"Chris and I started talking about when you and Dustin both decided that sleep is an optional activity. He said he wants to take on the most human resource aspect of what I've been doing, and also I'm recruiting him to help me with babysitting you and your dumb programmers over the summer."
"We don't need babysitting," Mark says, but it doesn't sound as convincing as he would like, "We can take care of ourselves."
"You fell asleep on your keyboard last night," Divya says pointedly, "and when I woke you up, there were fifteen pages of h on your computer instead of an essay and you asked me if it was Friday. It was Tuesday yesterday."

There's really not very much Mark can say to that, because it's true. He's been working on an essay for one of his classes and he'd fallen asleep, exhausted, because he'd only been sleeping in snatches for the past week. Then he'd woken up and couldn't remember what day it was or what essay he'd been working on. Divya had looked at him for a moment and then wrestled him into bed and threatened bodily harm if Mark didn't sleep for at least eight hours. He slept for twelve, and Divya had sorted through all his syllabuses to write down a schedule of everything Mark was supposed to turn in and when he was supposed to do it by the time Mark had woken up. It's currently tacked up next to the computer, and Mark sighs. He probably wouldn't get anything important done if it weren't for Divya.

"Point," Mark says, turning back to his screen and ignoring Divya again, "I'll ask Eduardo when I see him tomorrow, okay? I'm going over to Kirkland so I can talk to Dustin, and Eduardo will probably be there."

Eduardo is there, of course, because Eduardo is always in Dustin's suite. Mark talks to Dustin first, because it's more important, but it only takes about twenty minutes to decide on how they're going to handle the hiring of new programmers and then Mark is settling on the couch next to Eduardo. He's working on economics or something else that Mark doesn't understand and doesn't want to understand, and Mark waits until Eduardo looks up to say anything.

"Hey, Mark," Eduardo grins, "what's up? Do you have more strange business-related questions for me?"
"No," Mark shakes his head, "but I did tell Divya that I'd ask you if you wanted to be our official CFO. So, do you?"
"Mark," Eduardo pauses, just staring and flabbergasted for a moment, "Mark, I."
"Oh my god," Dustin yells from where he's sitting at his computer, "Just say yes, Wardo! We all know you don't even want that internship in New York anyway and Facebook is, like, five-hundred percent cooler."

Flipping Dustin the bird and saying something in Portuguese that just makes Dustin laugh, Eduardo turns his attention back to Mark. He's still not saying anything, and Mark absently wonders what this conversation would have been like if he had gone to Eduardo for the money instead of Divya. It's a pointless exercise, though, because he didn't. It's not like Mark even knows Eduardo that well anyway, which is why it takes him by surprise when Eduardo shifts and pulls Mark forward into a hug. Mark hugs back awkwardly, because he's really not used to people hugging him that aren't his mom or his aunts and occasionally Divya, and then Eduardo releases him.

"Yes," Eduardo says, breathless, "Yes, I will be your CFO. You don't what this means to me, Mark."
"I think you'd be surprised," Mark shrugs.

He doesn't know exactly what it means to Eduardo, but Mark knows the bright-eyed and slightly awed look on Eduardo's face. He knows what Eduardo says that night at the party (it's kind of cool to be part of something like that) and he's been present for one or two of the aborted, intensely furious conversations with Eduardo's father purely by accident. This means something important for Eduardo, and Mark gets that. He kicks Dustin off his own computer to make the changes with the masthead while he remembers, and Eduardo hugs him again when he sees it.

"Thank you," Eduardo says.
"No problem," Mark smiles, "We're glad to have you."

And, just like that, Mark has a team of people behind him. Technically he's always had a team, but everyone sort of did whatever they needed to before this point. Now, Mark has people who have specific jobs and a workload that's spread evenly enough that no one is killing themselves to do everything that needs to be done anymore. Nothing goes wrong when Divya is in England trying to reach out to Oxford and possibly Cambridge, because Chris is stateside and he fixes whatever problems crop up. Eduardo starts talking about maybe adding some user-tailored ads to the site, which Mark is annoyed with until Divya sits him down and makes him listen to what Eduardo's saying instead of just saying no.

It's actually not a terrible idea, if they can get people to actually take them seriously instead of thinking they're a bunch of idiots with computers. Eduardo says he'll try some things and see if he can't get some people interested, and then Divya wants Mark's opinion on potential houses so Mark goes over to him instead. He mentions maybe hiring four programmers instead of three, because he's been busy doing . . . Important CEO things like picking out a house in California and convincing his mother to let him move out there in the first place. Divya looks at him, considering, and then calls Eduardo over to see if they can even pay that person.

Apparently they can't, which is annoying but not anything Mark can't work with. He hires the three best programmers from the bunch that applied, which he determines by making them hack and drink at the same time. Divya disapproves, but Mark rolls his eyes and explains that he wants people that are just as good impaired as they are unimpaired. If he can crash Harvard's servers drunk off his ass, he expects his programmers to be able to at least hack while drunk. It doesn't make sense to Divya, but Divya lets Mark hold his hacker competition anyway which is all that really matters.

Well. That and the fact that somewhere between making sure Facebook doesn't crash and sorting out their impending move to California, Mark actually attempts to go to class and get passing grades. He doesn't want to flunk college; he wants to drop-out, and the distinction means he mostly has to go to class and turn in his assignments and try not to act like the whole thing is a huge waste of time-even if it is. Divya sometimes tries to convince Mark that he should continue on with college, but then Mark always turns to Eduardo and asks him about their next year. The projections don't do well when the CEO is wasting his time at college, and finally Divya gives up and says that Mark can do whatever he wants so long as it's not going to land him in jail.

Divya’s very specific about the "don’t do things that are going to land you in jail, " probably because dealing with Mark’s taught him that programmers tend to have somewhat ambiguous morals and they’re not going to be fully staffed for two or three years at least so they actually can’t afford to bail anyone out of jail.

Chris, Eduardo, and at least one of the programmers are finishing off their degrees before coming to work for Facebook full-time, which Mark doesn't really mind. He figures that they can hire some people from Stanford if it becomes a problem, which he has Eduardo factor into their budget even though Eduardo moans about how that is definitely going to cause problems later. Mark shrugs and says it'll work itself out somehow, even if Eduardo doesn't believe him. Divya back Mark up, partially because he knows that Mark is usually right about these things and partially because Divya is an awesome boyfriend. Even when he's an asshole that instills a curfew barring the inevitable crazy site problem, which he then proceeds to actually enforce. Who even goes to bed before 2am? Programmers don’t, but apparently regular people do.

Honestly, Divya is probably the only reason none of them drop dead by the end of the semester. The Winklevoss twins are better at taking care of themselves, because they're largely uninvolved with anything Facebook except for the occasional opinion of what seems like the best plan of action and lending a little bit of money when they eventually just gave up on renting and bought a house that they could turn into a temporary office-if nothing else. It's in Mark and Divya's name, because Divya is choosing to view the house as an investment for the future, given that he and Mark are unlikely to move out of it for a while.

Because Eduardo and Divya together are a force that can't be stopped, they somehow manage to get in touch with Peter Thiel. Divya and Eduardo both drag Mark out to a store that sells stupidly expensive suits and make him get something custom-tailored and obnoxiously stiff. Mark is pretty useless in the face of Divya's promise of sex and Eduardo's sad eyes, though, so he lets the tailor take his measurements and then he's got a suit that's probably going to get a lot of use before he grows out of it, because he's refused to get another one until he absolutely has to. Both Divya and Eduardo give each other a look that Mark can tell means nothing good, but he's not. He's not going to get another uncomfortable suit unless he absolutely has to because suits are awful and Mark would rather not wear them if he doesn't have to. He's not like the Winklevosses or Divya or Eduardo, who have all grown up in suits and are as comfortable in them as they are in their own skins.

"Wow," Dustin says when Mark finishes complaining during a coding tear, "It's like you have two very attractive and forceful boyfriends, I don't understand why you're complaining."
"Because all my friends are assholes," Mark groans, "Seriously, you're all conspiring against me. I'm the CEO! You're all replaceable."
"I hate to tell you this," Dustin says solemnly, "but everyone pretty much agrees that the hierarchy goes Divya, then you, then Eduardo, then the Winklevosses. And I'm pretty sure the only reason Eduardo isn't above you is because you're scarier than he is."

Mark opens his mouth to say something and then closes it again and keeps coding furiously. Dustin, because he's at least a little bit loyal, shuts his mouth and stops talking. He knows better than to try and talk to Mark when Mark's sulking (even if he's not admitting that he's sulking, which he totally is), and that's one of the reasons that even though Dustin is listed as "expendable programmer" in the masthead, Mark knows he actually isn't expendable. His team isn't replaceable either, if only because his team mostly consists of his friends and Mark would really hate having to find new friends on top of having to hire new people. He's not sure if any of the people he hired would be as understanding of his quirks either, which is something he definitely doesn't want to have to deal with.

For all that he's currently revolutionizing social media, Mark is a creature of habit. He's doesn't have that many friends because it's hard for him to make new ones when he doesn't really know what to expect from new people. They can surprise him with a higher frequency than the people he's studied and gotten to know, which is why Mark tends to be friends with stubborn assholes who don't know when to give up. They become Mark's friends by attaching themselves to him and never leaving, which gives Mark enough time to get to know them and their quirks. It also comes in handy when he needs a bunch of headstrong people to help him run a company even when people are telling them that they can't do it.

"I hate you all," Mark says, and doesn't mean.
"No you don't," Dustin snorts, "You love us all and you just don't want to admit it."

The fact that Mark doesn't respond to Dustin's correction is an answer in and of itself. The truth is that Mark feels a little like he's built a family with Facebook. He's never going to say it to any of them, because he doesn't actually know how to express his affections like normal people, but at some point Facebook stopped being about him and started being about the people that Mark surrounds himself with. He thinks it's pretty cool that something so full of love and meant to bring people together grew out of him being stupid, angry, drunk, and blogging-which is unbearably sappy, especially for him-and he's glad that the world seems to like what they've done too.

For the most part, Mark just lets the remaining month of the semester pass without focusing much on anything but Divya and Facebook. He half-asses his finals, which is enough effort that he'll pass the classes but not enough effort that he'll pass with flying colors, and Divya rolls his eyes. Mark doesn't care, though, because there were more important things to do than give any of his finals real effort. They're making the trip to California in stages so the site doesn't have to come down entirely, and Mark is in the first batch of people that are heading to the West Coast while Dustin is in the second. For the most part, Mark's spent the last week frantically packing and making sure that everything is going smoothly and that nothing is going to die a horrible death when they break down part of the equipment that's keeping Facebook running and move it across the country.

It's possible that Mark's being overly paranoid, but Facebook is definitely Mark's equivalent of a child and besides the point of Facebook is that it never crashes. There are so many things that can go wrong with the move, but Mark's hoping that they'll be okay. They have to be okay.

"Hey," Divya says, fingers framing Mark's face, "Mark, look at me. Repeat: nothing disastrous is going to happen when we fly out to California. We will get there, set Facebook back up, and then Dustin's half of the team will come tomorrow and everything will be okay. We're moving Facebook during off-peak hours, and nothing will go wrong."

Closing his eyes and breathing, Mark tries to believe in Divya's words. He almost forgets that he's supposed to repeat them, and then Divya poke his cheek.

"Nothing disastrous is going to happen when we fly out," Mark repeats, "We will get to California, set Facebook up, and then Dustin's half of the team will come tomorrow and everything will be okay. We're moving Facebook during off-peak hours, and nothing will go wrong."

Repeating it does make him feel better, and Mark pulls Divya close for a moment before pulling away and overseeing the last of the packing before they head to the airport and then, finally, start on their way to California. Cameron and Tyler somehow managed to wrangle their father's private jet for the trips to California, which Mark is infinitely grateful for, and they're coming with the second wave of people. The first wave is just Mark, Divya, Eduardo, and a couple of the programmers. They leave at midnight, and then the second wave leaves at four am-which is a lot tougher on the non-programmers than the programmers, who are used to staying awake late into the night.

One they're in California, Mark and Eduardo are supposed to have a meeting with Peter Thiel, which is both the most exciting and the most terrifying thing. Mark's going to put on his suit and pretend to be an actual adult instead of a nineteen year old kid who was angry at Erica Albright for being a bitch and accidentally revolutionized social media in the process of getting over her. He's going to have to convince Peter Thiel that he's worth the investment and that Facebook isn't going to stop growing anytime soon.

They're already creeping toward a million members, and that's something Mark never even dreamed of. He thinks that maybe he can start dreaming a little bigger now that they're on their way to California and way farther along than Mark ever dared to dream. He sits on the couch, covering his face with his hands. Divya comes up behind him, resting his hands on Mark's shoulders, and Mark relaxes into the touch.

"Are you all done packing?"
"Yeah," Mark says, "Now all that's left is to actually get to California. Would now be a bad time to admit that I have no idea what I'm doing?"
"None of us do," Divya squeezes Mark's shoulders, "We're young, stupid, and changing the world. I'm going to go find Eduardo, you go find your programmers, and then we'll get going. Je t'aime plus que vous connaissez, Mark."
"Je t'aime aussi," Mark mumbles, standing up, "Hey, Divya?"
"What?"
"One day," Mark smiles, "People in Bosnia are going to have Facebook. They might not have paved roads, but they'll have Facebook because everyone will."

Divya rolls his eyes like Mark's talking crazy again, but Mark doesn't let it deter him. He knows that one day everyone in the world is going to have Facebook, and Erica Albright won't even matter. She'll be a long-forgotten memory, a funny story he tells to the press, and that'll be it. He'll wake up every morning next to Divya knowing that he controls the world and that's what he's worked for. Facebook will be something that people won't be able to live without, a main form of communication, and Mark can't wait.

He finds the two programmers that are coming with them, Billy and Alex, and tells them to start hauling their stuff down to the car because they're all heading out soon and he doesn't want to wait around for them longer than he has to. He grabs the backpack that currently contains a good portion of his possessions and shrugs it on before slinging the duffle bag that contains all of his clothes over his shoulder. That's pretty much the extent of the stuff that they hadn't shipped off to the California house yesterday, because it's just the essential stuff. He's got his laptop, clothes, and his computer plus the sever they broke down for transport that will be loaded into the car after everyone's dumped their stuff in.

The car loading goes fairly quickly, probably helped by Mark's visible impatience, and then Cameron's driving the five of them to the airport, helping them stack their luggage for transport to the plane. When their stuff is on a conveyor belt and heading toward their plane, something in Mark relaxes a little. Cameron says that he'll see them all in a couple hours before he drives away and all that's left is to get on a plane.

There's a short wait while their plane is being fueled and their luggage is being loaded, but then they're boarding the plane and it's taking off. Nothing particularly exciting happens during the flight, because they all end up falling asleep, but Mark wakes up just before they touch down in San Jose. The city is scattering of bright lights spread across the ground below him, and Mark stares out the window while they spiral down. Actually seeing California, even from so high up, isn't as terrifying as Mark thought it might be. Divya hooks his chin over Mark's shoulder, and Mark finds Divya's hand so he can tangle their fingers together.

Divya yawns, "Are you ready to take over the world?"
"Yeah," Mark says, "I am."

< masterpost >

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