A few days passed, and it was soon departure day.  Kokorana told Rae that she promised to be back by Saturday. “He just had a surgery on his shoulder so he won’t be able to fly out till Thursday but there wasn’t a ticket back till Saturday.”

 Mark had already told Rae that he was going with Kokorana and she was relieved that she wouldn’t be going by herself to pick up someone only Kokorana knew. She also agreed that it was best not to tell Kokorana that he was going to till they were at the airport, just to avoid any dispute. He had already planned to be on the same flight, but he got lucky enough to sit in the same row as her.

“I’ll drive you to the airport.” Mark offered, crossing his arms. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“That's sweet! It would be nice to be able to say bye to someone before I leave.”

So far, she was still clueless. The drive was a quiet one, when they reached the airport he tailed her all the way to the boarding and revealed his ticket. She wasn’t the happiest but he could see she was slightly relieved that she wasn’t doing this alone even if she didn’t admit to it. He saw a playful smile cross her lips, and knew they would be fine. The plane ride was pretty quiet, and Mark actually slept through most of it. When landing time came, though, he noticed that Kokorana was fidgeting and sweating a bit. He nudge her on her side and she turn to face him.

“Wondering what’s wrong aren’t you.”

He smiled and nodded. He took her hand in his to help soothe her. “I’m just really nervous. I haven’t seen him in years and I don’t know if he's the same person I knew. I know I said I kept in contact with him but it’s been a while since in been in person, you know? I hope he doesn’t hate me or anything.”

Mark laughed, “You said yourself you guys were close, and after that story you told me about him coming to your house at night time to apologize and how then he moved in with you. I don’t think you have any reason to worry. Smile. You don’t want him seeing you sweating, do you?” She smiled and let out a long sigh, releasing her tension. They started unloading off the plane and headed out to get their bags when a high-pitched laugh broke over the entire airport. Kokorana turned just in time to hear a young man yelling, “Ribbon look over here at the one and only Wild and y Jackson!"

        Kokorana dropped her bag and ran at him. She stumbled into his arms, hugging him tightly. He picked her up and spun her around. Tears started forming in her eyes. “It’s been too long.” she whispered. Jackson grins and puts Kokorana down. “I’m sorry” Jackson muttered. Suddenly, Jacksons body seemed to tense up. Kokorana was confused, but only for a moment as she turned to see Mark standing behind her with her bag in hand. Jackson lightly pushed her to the side a bit and gave Mark a quick up-and-down glance. Without moving his eyes from Mark, he grumbled, "Who's THIS?"

Meanwhile, Mark had been watching the happy reunion with a bit of bitterness in his heart. It didn’t help that the stranger seemed to greet him with similar feelings. “Hi, I’m Mark, a friend of Kokorana.” He bowed a little and then stuck his hand out. They shook hands, not losing eye contact. Jackson had a grin on his face, but didn’t say a word to Mark. Instead he turned to Kokorana.

"How about we get something to eat before we head back to my place?" “What you got in mind, Mandu?” Koko asked.

“I thought we could go to that little Pho place by the old apartment. The one you always wanted to go to.” Jackson grin.

“Lead the way!”

Jackson walked them both out of the airport to a black car park outside. He open the trunk but it was packed. Full of stuff he had never moved into his place.

“I guess all the stuff is going to need to go in the backseat." He laughed nervously. "I sort of forgot the clean out the trunk." He shut the trunk and awkwardly opened one of the back doors.

Mark sat in the backseat, cornered in by suitcases. Although he was sure this wasn’t on purpose, it seemed like pretty convenient for Jackson. He was quiet as Jackson ranted on about one thing after another. It was almost what Mark would say was too much information, but he was fairly certain he was all but forgotten in the backseat covered in bags.

“I’m glad to hear your doing well.” Kokorana smiled wide.

They arrived at the small pho restaurant and as they sat down and started to look over the menu, Jackson abruptly turned his attention to Mark.

“Are you always this quiet?” He asked.

Koko spoke before Mark had the chance, “Actually yes, he's a person who observes rather than actually talk. Though when he does start talking you can’t get him to stop.” Koko giggled slightly.

“Hey I can speak for myself.” He said as he poked Kokorana on the side. “But she's right, I don’t talk a lot.”

“And you deal with her? She never stops talking, I have to tell her to shut up just so I can get a word in.” Jackson said, trying to keep from laughing.

As dinner progressed Mark found himself becoming more comfortable and was even laughing and talking to Jackson as though they were good friends. This didn’t surprise Kokorana. Jackson always had this effect on people. He might look intimidating but he made friends pretty easily. When dinner was finished, they headed to Jacksons place. Kokorana was surprised to find his place cleaned up and in good condition. Jackson never kept his place clean and she realized he must have done this just because she was coming.

“I didn’t plan on another person coming, so I guess Koko can take my bed, and Mark can sleep in the spare and I’ll sleep on the couch.” Koko was going to argue, but then Mark spoke, “That won’t be an issue. I was going to get us a hotel for the night anyways.” Both Jackson and Kokorana looked surprised at Mark. Something about it made Jackson uneasy, but he didn’t know why.

“You don’t have to do that, I think we should just stay here.” Kokorana didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings and she knew she wasn’t going to win if she pushed Mark too much.

“Fine I guess we can talk about it, but we need to talk alone.” Mark said, shifting his view to Jackson. Jackson didn’t want to leave the two alone but he didn’t want to upset Kokorana.

“Sure you guys can talk in the spare bedroom, it the first door on your right."

Mark shot a glance at Kokorana and another to Jackson before pulling Kokorana with him to the spare room. She locked the door behind her as they went in the room. “What’s wrong?”

Mark leaned against a small vanity in the room, sighing. He looked up at the small mirror and noticed how scary his expression had gotten. He calmed himself down a bit before dragging his feet to Kokorana and wrapping hands around her wrists. She looked concerning into his eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong, I just think a hotel would be a better idea..." Truthfully, for some reason Mark couldn’t get the vision of Jackson waking up from the couch and climbing into bed with Kokorana out of his head. At least if they were in hotel rooms, he could either have them all room together to keep an eye on them or make them sleep separately from Kokorana. He didn’t know what to say to convince her, but he certainly wasn’t going to tell her these silly insecurities.

        Unable to convince Kokorana to stay at a hotel, Mark eventually gave in and they decided to sleep at Jackson place. After helping get Koko settled in bed Mark, headed to the living room knowing he wasn’t going to be able to sleep anyways and he thought he would take this time to get to know Jackson a little better. It seemed as though Jackson was waiting for him when he arrived.

“Koko's in bed, do you mind if I stay out here for a while? If you’re not tired.” Jackson nodded and gestured for him to sit on the other side of the couch and turned the T.V on.

Jackson rose from his seat and sighed. “I’m grabbing a water from the kitchen would you like anything? All I really have is tea or water.”

“Water is fine.” Mark mumbled.

Jackson came back with two water bottles and handed one to Mark. Mark tossed the bottle back and forth between his hands, trying to think of something to talk about.

“Hey Jackson, can you tell me what Koko was like when she lived here? When I first met her she was super quiet and stayed mostly to herself.” Jackson let a sigh escape his mouth. “Kokorana was always like that, she really quiet till you get to know her then she won’t shut up. I remember when I first met her she barely said a word to me, even years later she still didn’t talk much. I think the beginning of middle school is when I got her to finally come out of her shell to me. We got super close and I was at her house almost every day. She was like a little sister to me.”

Mark nodded and wonder if that was all Jackson saw her as, or if now he had feelings for her too.

Jackson continue to ramble on, "I remember a day in high school when I noticed I wasn’t hanging with Kokorana as much as I used to and I was scared she didn’t want to be my friend anymore. That night I ran to her house and begged her to save our friendship, but she just shook her head and said that we were always friends. I wanted to be around her more often more than ever, so I moved in with her. She didn’t argue. Truthfully, I think she liked the company.  Kokorana didn’t really have anyone else. Her family doesn’t keep in touch and I left her on her own to focus on my career. She never stopped keeping in touch, though. She has always been there for me even when I wasn’t.”

Mark nodded his head and started to remember back to the day he met Kokorana. He had headed over to Rae's to hang out since he had nothing better to do and it had been a few weeks since he last saw her. When he arrived to her house he saw a new car that he had never seen before. He walk into the house yelling, “Honey I’m home.” He walked into the living room, but instead of seeing Rae, there was some other girl. She was tiny with long reddish-brown hair though when she stood he realized how tall she actually was. He had thought she be shorter.

“If you’re looking for Rae she had to run to the company to having a meeting with a group. My name is Koko, I’m her new roommate. You must be the guy she says stops by at random.”

He nodded his head sort of awkwardly. “If you don’t mind I’m just going to stay here and wait for her.” Kokorana nodded and went to her room.

Mark realized he must have been lost pretty deep in this memory, he was suddenly being shaken. “Hey Mark you okay?” ask Jackson, concerned.

“Yes I’m fine I just zoned out for minute.”

Jackson made a weird face, but shook his head. Mark decided he should try and get some sleep so he excused himself and headed to the guest room. He kept the door slightly ajar so he could listen for Kokorana in the morning.

Jackson laid on the couch and his mind started to wonder. Who was this Mark guy and what did Koko see in him? He started to think he might be falling for Kokorana, but he didn’t want to admit to his own feelings and fell asleep with Koko being his last thought.