WIANP Chapter 4
Walking Into A New Past Chapter 4
jiefjojaif
Tom says he’s feeling a bit sick so Mark takes April to dinner in Tom’s car “Please, this time don’t run away with my kid” Tom said to Mark as he gave him the keys
“Maybe I will maybe I won’t” Mark chuckled and Tom gave him a look “Okay, I won’t”
“Better” Tom smiled and patted his shoulder as Mark walked away to the car where April was waiting them.
Arriving at the restaurant April jumped off the car with Mark’s help and she turned to him “Do you still want to go? I don’t feel like it”
“You said you wanted to see your friends”
“Yeah, but don’t want to anymore” She shrugged
“Come on, It’ll be fun” Mark said as they walked into the place and Renee came running to talk to them
“Hi Mark! Hi April!” She said all cheerful and Mark could feel April hiding half of her body behind him. He took her tiny hand in his and squeezed it, April gave him a smile, but he could still see she was feeling uncomfortable
“Hum” Mark started, but he couldn’t take his eyes off April, he still couldn’t believe she was his “Hi Renee”
“Something’s wrong?” She asked
“No, we just… We just felt like saying hi, we were actually heading to the pharmacy to buy some Advil for Tom, he’s not feeling good”
April smiled and came out for Mark to see her completely; he smiled back and squeezed her hand again.
“Oh, how is he?” Renee asked
“It’s nothing, just a headache” Mark said and flashed another smile at April
“So, hum, we’re going” Mark said awkwardly and pointed to the door behind him
“Bye then” Renee seemed a bit disappointed, but let them go, though that not before she called Mark once again “This is my phone number” She said while handing him a business card, “If you feel like doing anything, just call me, okay?”
Mark wanted to shove the card down her throat, he even saw himself doing that, but then he shook his head and snapped back to reality, taking the card from her hands hesitantly “Sure thing, and here’s mine” He gave her his business card too, even if he wasn’t interested at all, he still wanted to seem polite.
“Thank you” She said and walked back, giving them what seemed to be her best ass shake as she entered the restaurant once again.
He was still holding April’s hand when they walked out “She’s such a whore!” April said while Mark threw the card away
“April!” Mark said
“Sorry” April whispered as if she had done something bad, Mark patted her blonde hair and smiled
“I am so proud of you, did you know that?” He asked and she shook her head “Well, you know now… Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know” She shrugged “I suppose we could actually go to the pharmacy”
“Hey” Mark stopped on his way towards the car and she did the same, looking up to him to see what he had to say “Do you want to see where I live?”
“You live here in the city?” She asked “I thought you were from Washington State”
“Well, I was born here, but moved there. I live in a hotel now, but I think I might be getting a place in the city soon”
“You are going to live here?” April asked, her whole face lighting up
What else could Mark do? He was definitely going to quit his job and look for a place in the city to live with near April and Tom, see them every day, then get another job and see what he can make of his life, maybe get a girlfriend or a boyfriend, who knows.
But not now, he definitely didn’t want a girlfriend right now.
“Yes, I’m going to” Mark said and April jumped to hug him and he hugged her back. She was so small, so little, so skinny, and so fragile.
He looked into her eyes and saw Tom, he wanted to give Tom the news, the news that he was going to stay for them, and Mark wanted to see his reaction, a happy one, probably. That was what he wanted.
When they walked into the hotel lobby April’s face lighted up “You live in a hotel!” She said excitedly
“Well, I’m going to look for an apartment, and while I don’t find one…”
“Let’s get a soda!” Mark tried to explain, but April cut him off with a single shout while pulling Mark’s hand towards the soda machine. Mark’s hotel was good, really good actually, though he couldn’t afford it in a thousand years, he was only there because his company had offered the week he was going to stay there, and he wasn’t oblivious to the point where he said ‘no’.
Mark bought a Coke from the machine and April started to drink it happily, he pulled her to the elevators so they could get upstairs, but then he was interrupted with someone calling his name “Mr. Hoppus, Mr. Hoppus, mail for you, sir”
Mark turned around and walked towards the reception where he was being called, a cute little chubby man with a hat covering his blonde hair was calling him; the man pushed the glasses up his nose as Mark and April walked closer “What’s up, Patrick?”
“I don’t know how to tell you this, Mr. Hoppus, but your room has been canceled”
“What?” Mark asked, head snapping up “No, I still have reservations for tomorrow!”
“Foreman called and said” Patrick looked into a piece of paper and frowned “To get your ass off the bed and drive home”
“Tell Foreman I quit! I quit this fucking job, I don’t need the money, I don’t need the hotel, I’m fucking happy in this city!”
“I can’t tell him that, Mr. Hoppus”
“Sorry” Mark said “And call me Mark or I will kill you too” He said pointing at Patrick “Can’t I at least get my stuff?”
Patrick didn’t say anything, just pointed to the other side of the lobby where there was a suitcase and a backpack by the couch “They asked me to look after them”
“Great!” Mark said dramatically throwing his hands on the air and walking towards his stuff, putting the backpack on his back and carrying the suitcase with one hand “Hey Patrick, when are you being transferred?”
“This week”
“Where?”
“New Jersey”
“Good luck”
“Good luck to you too Mr. Hopp… Mark”
“Better” Mark said with a smile “Bye”
Mark and April walked out of the hotel and Mark put his stuff on the trunk of Tom’s car “Where are we going?” April asked a bit confused
“Home” Mark whispered “I was kicked out of the hotel” He said closing the trunk
“Why?” She asked innocently
“Because I quit my job”
“Oh” April says as she got into the backseat and they drove back to her place. Tom opened the door with a slightly confused face
“What are you two doing here so early?” he frowned and let them in, April walked in first and Mark took a while to carry his bags into the house, Tom was still frowning at that
“Yeah, my hotel kicked me out and I was hoping I could stay here…” Mark mumbled while Tom closed the door “And since you closed the door I’ll just assume that you accepted me into your home. Oh, Thomas!” He stretched his arms and gave Tom a hug, though Tom didn’t hug him back, just stared ahead in astonishment.
“First, don’t call me Thomas. Second, I closed the door because it’s fucking dark outside” Tom pointed to the door behind him
“Look, I know you don’t want me here, but I quit my job too, I have to save money until I find an apartment and I’ll look up for one first thing in the morning”
Tom sighed, giving in “Okay” He said and Mark smiled “You can actually stay here for the time you need, come here, I’ll show you the room”
“Oh my God! Thank you, Tom!” Mark exclaimed as he hugged Tom’s middle and Tom pushed him away just a few seconds later “Hurry, I still want to show you something”
“What is it?” Mark asked as he got the suitcase back in his hands
“You’ll see” Tom said as he walked to the stairs. Mark’s room was the guest room, the only other room on the second floor besides April’s. Tom stood by the doorway as Mark walked in and dropped his things “Ready?” He asked once Mark had taken a look around the room
Mark nodded and followed him to the first floor of the house, getting into a room that was Tom’s
“This is my room” Tom said as he opened the door and turned on the lights “This is my window” He said pointing to the window “And that’s my desk” Tom now pointed to a desk and Mark chuckled “And you know that all, right?”
“I know all that” Mark said “I’ve been here, remember?”
“Yes. And these are some pictures of you and me, pictures I never showed April, pictures of our past…” Tom pointed to the double bed in the middle of the room, all messed and full of pictures, boxes and books over it, Tom was making research
“Oh” Mark laughed “You were looking at them while we were away, don’t tell me that headache was real, Tom!”
“Will you let me finish?” Tom asked and Mark raised an eyebrow at him, telling Tom to go on “I wanted to look at them… with you” He said shyly “I was separating them”
“You want to see them now?” Mark asked and Tom nodded “Okay” He climbed on the bed and looked at Tom from it, giving him a smile “Won’t you sit down?”
Tom walked towards the bed and sat down besides Mark; taking the first picture he put his hand on, a Polaroid one “Look at this one” Tom said and shifted closer to Mark so they could see the picture together “It was taken on my birthday morning the year before April was born”
Mark looked at the picture where he and Tom were sitting on the couch of the living room of that same house, the same couch that was still there. Tom was looking at Mark, who was sticking his tongue out in a failed attempt of making a sexy face, though it ended up being a funny and awkward one and that was the reason why Tom was smiling at him. Tom had a baby belly already and Mark’s hair was all messy, they probably had just woken up and Tom’s mom had probably been the one to take the picture.
Mark smiled at it “I remember this one. Your mom told us to say cheese and I started making sexy faces though I look silly here”
“Look at this other one” Tom said taking a random picture from the pile all spread out in the bed
Tom was probably the one who took it, Mark remembered he was naked when it was taken. Tom was naked too, but only the upper half of Mark’s body was visible, he has a shirt on his hands and is about to put it on, though his eyes are looking straight into the camera, all blue and sparkling.
“It looks beautiful” Mark whispered “You took this one”
“Oh I remember” Tom chuckled and Mark tapped him on the arm “Whaaat?”
“Don’t think of that!”
“It’ll be hard with this one…” Tom said and showed Mark a picture that was probably Travis who took it, in it Tom and Mark are making out on the same bed that they’re sitting on, clothes still on this time
“Shut up” Mark laughed and took the picture off Tom’s hands as he laughed with him
They keep looking at their pictures and Tom also showed Mark some others of him and April together “Do you want to put these pictures of us in the living room?” Tom asked “I’ve been so angry at you that I took all of our pictures out of the frames. I didn’t want April to grow up seeing your face so I took them all out” Tom sighed “I want to put them back up”
The feeling of Tom hating him hit Mark like a wreckless train, smashing into a warehouse brick wall.
“Tom, I…” Mark started, but Tom interrupted him
“Okay, let’s do it” Tom jumped off the bed and took one of the boxes with him; Tom stopped by the doorway to look at Mark who was still in the bed “You don’t want to come? I’ll put some dirty pictures of us so April will be proud of her gay dads or maybe some ridiculous ones of you…” Tom started to walk towards the living room
“Hum, Tom?” Mark called him, remaining unmoving in the bed
Tom came back running to the doorway, looking at Mark “What?”
“Thank you” Mark whispered
Tom smiled and looked at his feet “You’re welcome!” He said with smile
Mark got up and took a few boxes with him, following Tom to the living room where he was already taking out some frames off the wall “Will you help me or just stand there with that idiot face of yours?”
Mark helped and when they were done, Mark had a beer on his hand while he looked at the walls; Tom sat on the couch and watched him “This one” Mark pointed at one frame on the wall and Tom looked up to see which one
It was late, dark and Mark was smoking, he was taking a drag and looking at his hands, smiling and Tom was looking at the camera, they were both sitting over a car, bodies touching and close.
“Travis also took that one”
“I miss Travis” Mark blurred out
“He’s in New York, he should be back by the end of this week” Tom said and Mark sat down beside him on the couch, raising the beer to cheer
“Good” Mark said and took a sip
“He’s going to freak out when he finds out you’re back” Tom laughed “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure” Mark laughed back with him “What is it?”
“Are you going to go out with Renee?” Tom asked, face serious and not looking at Mark
“What?” Mark almost choked on his beer “How…”
“Oh come on! She was totally hitting on you today!” Tom laughed
“Yeah she was, but she’s just a whore” Mark frowned at himself, he looked at Tom and then laughed “It was fun actually, earlier at the restaurant when I walked in, feeling excited for the booty call and then…”
Mark was interrupted by Tom’s laughter
“What?” He asked
“You just said booty call and I remembered of that fight we had…” Tom pointed to a random place on the ground “There”
“Oh yeah” Mark said, laughing too “But like I was saying, I didn’t feel like talking to her anymore. April asked me to go somewhere else, and I did, I just simply walked away. I realized I could be happy just with April” Mark took another sip of his beer and looked at Tom, who was also looking back at him “I could be happy just with her”
His eyes stared into Tom’s, somehow begging for that noisy and musical silence, eyes that begged for the thrill and for the cold at the same time.
His heart wanting to feel what everyone felt, but at the same time also wanted to have what wasn't felt yet
“Did you guys have fun?” Tom asked
“Yes, we did” Mark said “Not so much because I got kicked out of the hotel, but other than that the sandwiches we ate were delicious”
“Did you like the pictures?” Tom asked, now looking to Mark’s face, hoping he would look back
Mark smiled “Yes, I did. They’re great” He looked at Tom, who was still waiting to make eye contact, and when they did, Tom bit his bottom lip; Mark felt a double thud at his chest and without even blinking they were leaning in, their lips touching for the first time in eight years. It was impossible to know who had made the move, maybe they both did it.
Mark’s hand flew to Tom’s neck and Tom shifted closer. Tom let his lips part and Mark took control, the kiss went from soft and kind to hungry and needy, like there wasn’t much time for them. And even in control, Mark was the one who broke apart, his hand dropping from Tom’s neck
“What happened?” Tom asked in a confused tone, concerned about Mark, did he do anything wrong?
“I… I need to go to bed” Mark sputtered and Tom just watched him go away
jiefjojaif
Tom says he’s feeling a bit sick so Mark takes April to dinner in Tom’s car “Please, this time don’t run away with my kid” Tom said to Mark as he gave him the keys
“Maybe I will maybe I won’t” Mark chuckled and Tom gave him a look “Okay, I won’t”
“Better” Tom smiled and patted his shoulder as Mark walked away to the car where April was waiting them.
Arriving at the restaurant April jumped off the car with Mark’s help and she turned to him “Do you still want to go? I don’t feel like it”
“You said you wanted to see your friends”
“Yeah, but don’t want to anymore” She shrugged
“Come on, It’ll be fun” Mark said as they walked into the place and Renee came running to talk to them
“Hi Mark! Hi April!” She said all cheerful and Mark could feel April hiding half of her body behind him. He took her tiny hand in his and squeezed it, April gave him a smile, but he could still see she was feeling uncomfortable
“Hum” Mark started, but he couldn’t take his eyes off April, he still couldn’t believe she was his “Hi Renee”
“Something’s wrong?” She asked
“No, we just… We just felt like saying hi, we were actually heading to the pharmacy to buy some Advil for Tom, he’s not feeling good”
April smiled and came out for Mark to see her completely; he smiled back and squeezed her hand again.
“Oh, how is he?” Renee asked
“It’s nothing, just a headache” Mark said and flashed another smile at April
“So, hum, we’re going” Mark said awkwardly and pointed to the door behind him
“Bye then” Renee seemed a bit disappointed, but let them go, though that not before she called Mark once again “This is my phone number” She said while handing him a business card, “If you feel like doing anything, just call me, okay?”
Mark wanted to shove the card down her throat, he even saw himself doing that, but then he shook his head and snapped back to reality, taking the card from her hands hesitantly “Sure thing, and here’s mine” He gave her his business card too, even if he wasn’t interested at all, he still wanted to seem polite.
“Thank you” She said and walked back, giving them what seemed to be her best ass shake as she entered the restaurant once again.
He was still holding April’s hand when they walked out “She’s such a whore!” April said while Mark threw the card away
“April!” Mark said
“Sorry” April whispered as if she had done something bad, Mark patted her blonde hair and smiled
“I am so proud of you, did you know that?” He asked and she shook her head “Well, you know now… Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know” She shrugged “I suppose we could actually go to the pharmacy”
“Hey” Mark stopped on his way towards the car and she did the same, looking up to him to see what he had to say “Do you want to see where I live?”
“You live here in the city?” She asked “I thought you were from Washington State”
“Well, I was born here, but moved there. I live in a hotel now, but I think I might be getting a place in the city soon”
“You are going to live here?” April asked, her whole face lighting up
What else could Mark do? He was definitely going to quit his job and look for a place in the city to live with near April and Tom, see them every day, then get another job and see what he can make of his life, maybe get a girlfriend or a boyfriend, who knows.
But not now, he definitely didn’t want a girlfriend right now.
“Yes, I’m going to” Mark said and April jumped to hug him and he hugged her back. She was so small, so little, so skinny, and so fragile.
He looked into her eyes and saw Tom, he wanted to give Tom the news, the news that he was going to stay for them, and Mark wanted to see his reaction, a happy one, probably. That was what he wanted.
When they walked into the hotel lobby April’s face lighted up “You live in a hotel!” She said excitedly
“Well, I’m going to look for an apartment, and while I don’t find one…”
“Let’s get a soda!” Mark tried to explain, but April cut him off with a single shout while pulling Mark’s hand towards the soda machine. Mark’s hotel was good, really good actually, though he couldn’t afford it in a thousand years, he was only there because his company had offered the week he was going to stay there, and he wasn’t oblivious to the point where he said ‘no’.
Mark bought a Coke from the machine and April started to drink it happily, he pulled her to the elevators so they could get upstairs, but then he was interrupted with someone calling his name “Mr. Hoppus, Mr. Hoppus, mail for you, sir”
Mark turned around and walked towards the reception where he was being called, a cute little chubby man with a hat covering his blonde hair was calling him; the man pushed the glasses up his nose as Mark and April walked closer “What’s up, Patrick?”
“I don’t know how to tell you this, Mr. Hoppus, but your room has been canceled”
“What?” Mark asked, head snapping up “No, I still have reservations for tomorrow!”
“Foreman called and said” Patrick looked into a piece of paper and frowned “To get your ass off the bed and drive home”
“Tell Foreman I quit! I quit this fucking job, I don’t need the money, I don’t need the hotel, I’m fucking happy in this city!”
“I can’t tell him that, Mr. Hoppus”
“Sorry” Mark said “And call me Mark or I will kill you too” He said pointing at Patrick “Can’t I at least get my stuff?”
Patrick didn’t say anything, just pointed to the other side of the lobby where there was a suitcase and a backpack by the couch “They asked me to look after them”
“Great!” Mark said dramatically throwing his hands on the air and walking towards his stuff, putting the backpack on his back and carrying the suitcase with one hand “Hey Patrick, when are you being transferred?”
“This week”
“Where?”
“New Jersey”
“Good luck”
“Good luck to you too Mr. Hopp… Mark”
“Better” Mark said with a smile “Bye”
Mark and April walked out of the hotel and Mark put his stuff on the trunk of Tom’s car “Where are we going?” April asked a bit confused
“Home” Mark whispered “I was kicked out of the hotel” He said closing the trunk
“Why?” She asked innocently
“Because I quit my job”
“Oh” April says as she got into the backseat and they drove back to her place. Tom opened the door with a slightly confused face
“What are you two doing here so early?” he frowned and let them in, April walked in first and Mark took a while to carry his bags into the house, Tom was still frowning at that
“Yeah, my hotel kicked me out and I was hoping I could stay here…” Mark mumbled while Tom closed the door “And since you closed the door I’ll just assume that you accepted me into your home. Oh, Thomas!” He stretched his arms and gave Tom a hug, though Tom didn’t hug him back, just stared ahead in astonishment.
“First, don’t call me Thomas. Second, I closed the door because it’s fucking dark outside” Tom pointed to the door behind him
“Look, I know you don’t want me here, but I quit my job too, I have to save money until I find an apartment and I’ll look up for one first thing in the morning”
Tom sighed, giving in “Okay” He said and Mark smiled “You can actually stay here for the time you need, come here, I’ll show you the room”
“Oh my God! Thank you, Tom!” Mark exclaimed as he hugged Tom’s middle and Tom pushed him away just a few seconds later “Hurry, I still want to show you something”
“What is it?” Mark asked as he got the suitcase back in his hands
“You’ll see” Tom said as he walked to the stairs. Mark’s room was the guest room, the only other room on the second floor besides April’s. Tom stood by the doorway as Mark walked in and dropped his things “Ready?” He asked once Mark had taken a look around the room
Mark nodded and followed him to the first floor of the house, getting into a room that was Tom’s
“This is my room” Tom said as he opened the door and turned on the lights “This is my window” He said pointing to the window “And that’s my desk” Tom now pointed to a desk and Mark chuckled “And you know that all, right?”
“I know all that” Mark said “I’ve been here, remember?”
“Yes. And these are some pictures of you and me, pictures I never showed April, pictures of our past…” Tom pointed to the double bed in the middle of the room, all messed and full of pictures, boxes and books over it, Tom was making research
“Oh” Mark laughed “You were looking at them while we were away, don’t tell me that headache was real, Tom!”
“Will you let me finish?” Tom asked and Mark raised an eyebrow at him, telling Tom to go on “I wanted to look at them… with you” He said shyly “I was separating them”
“You want to see them now?” Mark asked and Tom nodded “Okay” He climbed on the bed and looked at Tom from it, giving him a smile “Won’t you sit down?”
Tom walked towards the bed and sat down besides Mark; taking the first picture he put his hand on, a Polaroid one “Look at this one” Tom said and shifted closer to Mark so they could see the picture together “It was taken on my birthday morning the year before April was born”
Mark looked at the picture where he and Tom were sitting on the couch of the living room of that same house, the same couch that was still there. Tom was looking at Mark, who was sticking his tongue out in a failed attempt of making a sexy face, though it ended up being a funny and awkward one and that was the reason why Tom was smiling at him. Tom had a baby belly already and Mark’s hair was all messy, they probably had just woken up and Tom’s mom had probably been the one to take the picture.
Mark smiled at it “I remember this one. Your mom told us to say cheese and I started making sexy faces though I look silly here”
“Look at this other one” Tom said taking a random picture from the pile all spread out in the bed
Tom was probably the one who took it, Mark remembered he was naked when it was taken. Tom was naked too, but only the upper half of Mark’s body was visible, he has a shirt on his hands and is about to put it on, though his eyes are looking straight into the camera, all blue and sparkling.
“It looks beautiful” Mark whispered “You took this one”
“Oh I remember” Tom chuckled and Mark tapped him on the arm “Whaaat?”
“Don’t think of that!”
“It’ll be hard with this one…” Tom said and showed Mark a picture that was probably Travis who took it, in it Tom and Mark are making out on the same bed that they’re sitting on, clothes still on this time
“Shut up” Mark laughed and took the picture off Tom’s hands as he laughed with him
They keep looking at their pictures and Tom also showed Mark some others of him and April together “Do you want to put these pictures of us in the living room?” Tom asked “I’ve been so angry at you that I took all of our pictures out of the frames. I didn’t want April to grow up seeing your face so I took them all out” Tom sighed “I want to put them back up”
The feeling of Tom hating him hit Mark like a wreckless train, smashing into a warehouse brick wall.
“Tom, I…” Mark started, but Tom interrupted him
“Okay, let’s do it” Tom jumped off the bed and took one of the boxes with him; Tom stopped by the doorway to look at Mark who was still in the bed “You don’t want to come? I’ll put some dirty pictures of us so April will be proud of her gay dads or maybe some ridiculous ones of you…” Tom started to walk towards the living room
“Hum, Tom?” Mark called him, remaining unmoving in the bed
Tom came back running to the doorway, looking at Mark “What?”
“Thank you” Mark whispered
Tom smiled and looked at his feet “You’re welcome!” He said with smile
Mark got up and took a few boxes with him, following Tom to the living room where he was already taking out some frames off the wall “Will you help me or just stand there with that idiot face of yours?”
Mark helped and when they were done, Mark had a beer on his hand while he looked at the walls; Tom sat on the couch and watched him “This one” Mark pointed at one frame on the wall and Tom looked up to see which one
It was late, dark and Mark was smoking, he was taking a drag and looking at his hands, smiling and Tom was looking at the camera, they were both sitting over a car, bodies touching and close.
“Travis also took that one”
“I miss Travis” Mark blurred out
“He’s in New York, he should be back by the end of this week” Tom said and Mark sat down beside him on the couch, raising the beer to cheer
“Good” Mark said and took a sip
“He’s going to freak out when he finds out you’re back” Tom laughed “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure” Mark laughed back with him “What is it?”
“Are you going to go out with Renee?” Tom asked, face serious and not looking at Mark
“What?” Mark almost choked on his beer “How…”
“Oh come on! She was totally hitting on you today!” Tom laughed
“Yeah she was, but she’s just a whore” Mark frowned at himself, he looked at Tom and then laughed “It was fun actually, earlier at the restaurant when I walked in, feeling excited for the booty call and then…”
Mark was interrupted by Tom’s laughter
“What?” He asked
“You just said booty call and I remembered of that fight we had…” Tom pointed to a random place on the ground “There”
“Oh yeah” Mark said, laughing too “But like I was saying, I didn’t feel like talking to her anymore. April asked me to go somewhere else, and I did, I just simply walked away. I realized I could be happy just with April” Mark took another sip of his beer and looked at Tom, who was also looking back at him “I could be happy just with her”
His eyes stared into Tom’s, somehow begging for that noisy and musical silence, eyes that begged for the thrill and for the cold at the same time.
His heart wanting to feel what everyone felt, but at the same time also wanted to have what wasn't felt yet
“Did you guys have fun?” Tom asked
“Yes, we did” Mark said “Not so much because I got kicked out of the hotel, but other than that the sandwiches we ate were delicious”
“Did you like the pictures?” Tom asked, now looking to Mark’s face, hoping he would look back
Mark smiled “Yes, I did. They’re great” He looked at Tom, who was still waiting to make eye contact, and when they did, Tom bit his bottom lip; Mark felt a double thud at his chest and without even blinking they were leaning in, their lips touching for the first time in eight years. It was impossible to know who had made the move, maybe they both did it.
Mark’s hand flew to Tom’s neck and Tom shifted closer. Tom let his lips part and Mark took control, the kiss went from soft and kind to hungry and needy, like there wasn’t much time for them. And even in control, Mark was the one who broke apart, his hand dropping from Tom’s neck
“What happened?” Tom asked in a confused tone, concerned about Mark, did he do anything wrong?
“I… I need to go to bed” Mark sputtered and Tom just watched him go away