Mark and Matt made their way out of the bar as they talked about Mark's run in with that monkey. How Matt always ended up finding the shorter man in some weird situation was beyond him, but he got roped into helping the raven into winning a game of chess with a monkey. Yes, a monkey. He hummed softly as he turned back to Mark. "Why were you playing chess with a monkey anyways?" He asked. Mark shrugged, not knowing how to answer the brunette. He saw his car and grabbed Matt's hand, before leading him to it.
"Since I won for the good of humanity, we should go out to celebrate." He said, grinning. Matt rolled his eyes but followed him. They went to opposite sides of the car, and Matt opened the door. "Gee, is this how you treat all of your dates?" Matt asked playfully. Mark grinned at him as he climbed in. "Only the ones I especially like." Matt gave a small laugh and shook his head lightly as Mark started the car. They made their was to a burger joint, and Mark parked the car, pulling off his seat belt and opening the door, before heading over to Matt's side and opening the door before the man could touch the handle. Matt gave him a soft smile and stepped out of the car.
Mark grabbed his hand lightly, making Matt jump at the contact again, before he lead him into the burger joint. Mark took him to the table and had him sit down. "Relax while I go get the food." Matt nodded, and held his hand with his other once Mark left. The skin tingled and he shook his head, trying to ignore the mixed feelings rushing in his head.
He never felt like this with Stephanie, and he felt like a terrible boyfriend. He wasn't supposed to be feeling this way towards Mark. He didn't have a thing for him.
Okay, so maybe he did, but that didn't change the fact that he liked Stephanie. He wouldn't break up with her to try and date a guy that didn't see him that way. He broke out of his trance when he heard footsteps, and looked up, letting go of his hand. He saw Mark give him a warm smile and slide a tray in front of him. Matt gave him a smile.
"That was fast." Mark rose and eyebrow at him, a smirk playing on his lips. "Matt, you literally have the same thing everyday, it wasn't hard." Matt gave him a small chuckle, grabbing the bottle of diet coke.
"You could have at least gave me the benefit of the doubt." He sipped the diet coke, almost letting out a moan at the taste. It had been a few days since he had the soda, and his endorphins receptors were singing in joy. He noticed Mark staring at him, and blushed lightly, putting the bottle back.
"Sorry, I may be a little bit addicted to diet coke." Mark chuckled and shook his head. "Kinda figured." He said, before he started eating his burger messily. Matt ate his burger slowly, a smile playing on his lips. He felt like Mark knew everything about him, like if the shorter man could read him like the back of his hand. He got lost on his thoughts, and only snapped out of it when Mark called his name. The man had a smidgen of worry on his face along with a gigantic glob of mustard. Matt let out a small laugh and grabbed a napkin, wetting it with the tip of his tongue, before he leaned in close to wipe it off. His eyes connected with Mark's, and he stayed there for a moment as they started into each other's eyes. He blinked out of the trance and sat back, a blush covering his cheeks as he looked at Mark.
"You uh... You had mustard on your face." He said quietly. Mark gave him a wild grin. "You know, if you wanted to cop a feel, you could have just asked- ow ow okay sorry!" He said, laughing as he held the shin that Matt kicked up. Matt huffed and laughed with him, relaxing easily. Mark pulled doubt his phone to check the time, and smiled.
"We've got the whole day to ourselves, what do you wanna do?" Matt shrugged, finishing his burger. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I spend all the time I have working in YouTube analysis, I don't usually go out." Well, no. That was a partial lie. He did go out with Stephanie, but that was once in blue moon, so he didn't bother mentioning it to the shorter man. Mark made a small noise of mock disappointment, and Matt looked over at him.
"No, that just won't do. You should be treated exactly how you deserve. Tell you what, there's performance playing in the pier today. You and I are going over there, and after that I am taking you out once a week to show you the sights." Matt rose a fond eyebrow. "I've seen the sights. In case you forgot, I've lived here for a few years." Mark put a finger on his lips, grinning.
"You haven't seen the sights I'm talking about." Matt bit his finger lightly and pushed his chair away form the table.
Alright. You Make it sound like you're taking me out on a bunch of dates." Mark wiggled his eyebrows, and Matt punched him the arm. It didn't hurt, but Mark decided to make it seem like it did anyways.
"Ow, okay, I'm kidding." He said, grinning. Matt sighed, content as they walked back to the car, before he felt the familiar guilt gnawing at his chest. He shouldn't feel this way. Mark was only saying that to joke around, and he was taking it seriously, when he was in a relationship. He rubbed at his face, and blinked out of his thoughts when he noticed that Mark had opened the door for him. He gave Mark a shy smile and got in the car.
When they arrived at the pier, Mahad slid his hand into Matt's. He knew that the taller man had an aversion to big crowds, they made him nervous and anxious when he was alone, so Mark took all go the chances he could get of having the taller man cling to him. He hummed along to the performance, when he noticed a shivering. He looked up at Matt, who had his head down. Mark instantly felt panic start to bubble in his chest, and he brought a hand to Matt's face. "Hey, you okay?" He asked. Matt looked down at him, and Mark let out a sigh of relief at the sheepish smile. "Y- yeah, I didn't mean to make you worry." Matt continued to shiver, and Mark felt a lightbulb go off in his head.
He was cold. Was it really cold? He couldn't tell. Mark grabbed Matt's hand and he led him over to a ship where clothes were benign sold. "Let me buy you a sweatshirt." He said, pulling the door open. Matt let go of his hand and gave a small sigh of relief, waking around the store, unaware of Mark silently crying behind him. Mark followed him over to the back where the sweatshirts were being sold, and grabbed one in his size. The sweatshirt had 'I love Santa Monica pier' sprawled across it, and had half of a heart on it so the persons significant other could fill out the rest of it. Mark glanced at Matt, who'd only found a red one, or at east that's what it looked like,in his size, and Mark grinned. He grabbed another sweatshirt in what he thought was red and held it up. "Look, we're matching." Matt looked at him, before sighing.
Mark, I know you're color blind, but that's not red." Mark titled his head to the side in a puppy-esque fashion, and Matt giggled. "Never mind. Let's buy it." Mark grinned and grabbed the sweatshirt, before he took Matt's hand again and made their way to the the cashier. Before Mark could bring out his wallet, Matt slipped the cashier a twenty and said to keep the change, before grabbing the bag and jogging out. Mark watched him speechless, before smiling and running after him.
"The date isn't supposed to pay, Matt." Matt turned to him, a smile playing on the edges of his lips. "True, but that would only apply if this were an actual date." Mark smirked at him, before grabbing his sweatshirt. He took out the tag and slipped it over his head, messing up his hair even more then what it already was. Matt pulled on his sweatshirt gentler then Mark, and gave him a smile when it fit. Mark pulled doubt his phone and looped his arm around Matt's waist. "Selfie." He said, grinning as he pulled up the camera. After the picture was taken, he sent it to Matt, and made it his lock screen.
He wished that beautiful smile could be his.
Matt nibbled on his lip when they arrived at his place. He'd see Stepahnie and she'd ask him how his day was. That wasn't bad, she always did that and he liked her for that. It was just...
She wasn't Mark.
Mark walked him to his door, and he scratched the back of his head, before smiling. "Thanks for today." He said softly. Mark smiled at him, and Matt felt the guilt rise in his gut again. "You're a great friend." Mark looked down for a minute, before their eyes locked again. They didn't break eye contact, and Mark took a deep breath. "Matt, there's something I've wanted to say for a while now." Matt felt a sliver of hope shine in his chest, and he leaned in a bit. "Yeah?" He asked softly, not letting the hope shown in his voice. Mark rose a hand to his face, and took a deep breath, before they jumped when the door opened. Stephanie poked her head out and smiled at them.
"Matt, you're home! Hey, Mark." She said brightly. Matt felt his heart shatter and turned around slightly, giving Stephanie a watery smile. "Hey. Could you give me a minute, Mark wasn't done talking." He said quietly. Stephanie nodded and kissed his cheek. "Love you." She said, smiling, before she went back inside. Matt turned back, feeling a throbbing pain as he looked at Mark, who just started at the ground. He swallowed roughly. "Mark?"
Mark looked up at him, before wrapping his arms around Matt's waist and hugging him. Matt felt tears prickle at the corners of his eyes and he wrapped his arms around the heaven's neck, burying his face in the soft fabric of his blue sweatshirt. He felt his heart hammering in his chest, and contained a sob from escaping his throat. When they pulled away, they looked in each other's eyes, pain radiating from then, before Matt broke eye contact and turned around. "I'll see you later." Matt said softly, turning the knob. Mark swallowed hard, and looked down again. "Yeah."