Mark awoke with a little groan, his head resting on Jackson’s chest as the other man quietly snored beside him. Yawning, Mark glanced out the window, eyes still mostly closed as he shielded his face. He was so used to getting up on weekdays before the sun came up so that he could make it to school, but now that they were suspended he supposed there was no real problem with sleeping in. Mark didn’t even care what time it was.

He was about to lay back down, to let himself curl up to Jackson once again, when Jackson yawned and reached up, hand ruffling Mark’s hair before he shifted. Jackson to his side, Mark doing the same as Jackson’s hand slid to rest on his neck. Jackson hadn’t even opened his eyes yet, but he smiled when Mark leaned forward and closed the gap between them, their lips meeting for a moment.

“Mm, good morning,” Jackson said, finally opening his eyes a crack as Mark pulled away. Mark was silent for a moment, just watching as Jackson stretched. Then he reached over, flicking Jackson’s nose and grinning when he scrunched it. “What was that for?” he asked, and Mark shrugged.

“I don’t know,” Mark replied, Jackson quirking a brow as he sat up. He ran his hands through his hair, mussing it as Mark continued. “Jackson… did you call me ‘baby’ last night before we went to bed?” he asked, Jackson covering his face and standing as he busied himself with trying to find a pair of clean boxers of Mark’s to take for the day. He laughed.

“No,” he immediately replied, then turned back to look at Mark once he found what he was looking for. “Maybe… Why? Was it okay? Did you hate it?” he asked, Mark just laughing as he listened to Jackson stumble over his words.

This was quickly becoming one of his favorite things. He was so used to Jackson being sure of himself and confident all the time, so seeing him blushing and shy and just as unsure as Mark himself was was a pleasant change. Mark especially liked it in the morning, Jackson still mostly undressed with messy hair and stumbling feet.

Mark finally just smiled, shaking his head in response to Jackson’s question.

“No, I didn’t hate it,” he replied, Jackson biting his lip and smiling as he dropped his head and shuffled a bit in his spot. “I just wanted to make sure. I’m not used to hearing it.”

Jackson didn’t say anything in response, just chuckled to himself as he moved around the room. Mark didn’t even know what he was doing, all he knew was that he was having fun watching Jackson do it. Then all at once Jackson paused, looking to Mark with a smirk and narrowed eyes.

“Do you want to shower?” he asked, Mark sitting up and yawning before smiling back at him.

“Sure.”

Jackson had to pull Mark out of bed, both of them looking around and making sure that no one was home before they walked to the bathroom and the shower.

Mornings like this were quickly becoming more and more normal, both of them slipping out of their boxers and waiting for the water to heat up, Jackson behind Mark with his chin resting on his shoulder and arms wrapped around his waist. It didn’t take long, both of them getting into the shower. Jackson grabbed the soap first, immediately focusing on Mark instead of himself. They were silent for the moment, Mark closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of Jackson massaging the suds into his skin.

“Hey Mark,” Jackson started, Mark replying in a content hum, “do you remember when we were little and we used to take baths together?” Mark laughed as he nodded in an easy reply. Jackson couldn’t help the wide grin on his face, taking the opportunity to watch the water rolling over the other man’s muscles.

“Yeah, I remember. You always asked for lots of bubbles and we would play with them and give ourselves beards and hats.” Jackson nodded, lost in thought and pausing his movements. Eventually Mark opened his eyes, one brow quirked as he cocked his head. “You okay?” he asked, taking a small step forward and resting both of his hands on Jackson’s hips. Jackson nodded once more.

“I’m fine,” he replied, soapy hands slipping up into Mark’s hair. He pulled him close, forehead resting against Mark’s as he took in a deep breath. “Just thinking about you and me.” They were silent for a long while, the water washing over both of them as Jackson closed his eyes. Then, Jackson’s soft smile morphed into a wide grin and Mark huffed softly, shaking his head.

“You’re ing right now, aren’t you?” Mark asked, Jackson immediately chuckling and nodding as Mark pulled away and grabbed the shower head. He laughed, aiming it directly at Jackson. “This was a sentimental moment! You’re not supposed to be getting hard right now!” he exclaimed through laughter, Jackson shielding his face and trying not to slip.

The rest of the shower went by quickly, the two mostly just talking until they were done. It was relaxing having the day and house to themselves, Mark just in boxers and a tank top and Jackson taking his cue as well. They curled up on the sofa, Jackson on his back and Mark lying on his stomach with his head resting on Jackson’s chest. Letting out a relaxed sigh, Jackson massaged Mark’s scalp as Mark closed his eyes and smiled to himself. When the door opened Jackson reached up, pulling a blanket over the both of them and smiling when Mark’s parents walked in. They were met with frowns, however, and Mark and Jackson’s smiles immediately faded.

“Are you two okay?” Mark’s father asked, Mark glancing to Jackson in both confusion and concern and nodding as he looked back at his father and sat up.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” he replied, Jackson sitting up as well.

“What’s up, dad?” Jackson asked, Mark’s father glancing outside and letting out a sigh.

“Have you two been out at all today? Have you gotten in your car?” he replied, both Jackson and Mark shaking their heads. “Come outside for a second.”

With that he held open the door, both Jackson and Mark following him outside. When they got to Jackson’s car they suddenly understood why Mark’s father had been asking them all of those questions.

Someone had taken a can of spray paint and tagged his car, big letters that very clearly said ‘ you, ’ along the sides. Jackson stared, a look of hopelessness flashing across his face before he walked forward and looked closer at the paint.

“It looks like someone did this not too long ago,” he mumbled, running his hand over the letters. He looked at his fingers, seeing some of the paint come off on his skin. Jackson turned back to Mark and his father, frowning as he let himself fall to sit on the ground. “Probably right after school ended. I bet you I could tell you exactly who did it, too,” he added, Mark nodding in both understanding and agreement. Jackson just sighed, closing his eyes as he dropped his head back against the car and groaned in irritation. “I just had this thing painted. This is infuriating!”

Mark just watched, looking from Jackson to his father and then back again. Eventually he stepped forward, crouching in front of Jackson and taking both of the other’s cheeks in his hands.

“Look, we’ll figure all of this out,” he said, Jackson still frowning but now looking directly at Mark.

“But my car…” he replied in a whine, Mark sighing as Jackson pouted up at him. He opened his mouth to speak, but his father cut him off instead.

“I’ll get it all cleaned off. Don’t worry about it,” he said, both Mark and Jackson looking at him. “For now, let’s put the cover on it. You can use my car when I’m home if you want to go out.” Mark offered his father a smile, Jackson nodding.

“Thanks,” he said, turning back to look at Mark and letting out a soft sigh. He reached up, patting Mark’s cheek before he stood. As they walked inside they saw Mark’s father put the vinyl cover over Jackson’s car, effectively blocking the paint from being seen for the moment. “I’m so ing mad right now, this is ridiculous,” Jackson said in an exhale, flopping back down onto the couch.

For a moment Mark walked out of the room, grabbing his phone before heading back to join Jackson on the couch. He paused in the doorway of the living room, however, when he noticed the text that he had and opened it, reading through it as Jackson turned to look at him.

“What’s up?” he asked, sitting up. “You okay?” Mark looked up, tossing his phone to Jackson, who almost caught it. It slipped from his grasp, landing with a thud on the couch before Jackson picked it up again.

“Victoria messaged me,” he replied, nodding toward the phone as Jackson looked at the screen.

Mina has been going around school telling everyone she’s gonna mess your lives up. Are you okay? Did she do anything? You need to talk to her, it’s like she’s losing it.

Jackson looked up at Mark, Mark just crossing his arms nervously over his chest as he let out a shaky breath. There was a long silence, neither of them really wanting to speak until Mark dropped his head forward, shaking it slightly.

“If we don’t talk to her, she’s not gonna stop,” Mark said softly, Jackson nodding before looking back at the text. He sent back a simple reply saying that they were fine, setting the phone down next to him on the couch before looking back up to the other and swallowing deeply.

“Do you want me to go over by myself?” Jackson asked, Mark almost immediately shaking his head. He walked over, standing in front of Jackson for only a moment before leaning down and kissing him, a soft breath releasing against Jackson’s lips as he pulled away.

“No. I don’t want you to deal with this alone,” he replied, the tip of his nose touching Jackson’s as he offered a comforting smile. “Let’s get dressed. We can walk to Mina’s.”

It was a quiet walk, both of them too nervous to really say much of anything to each other. Neither wanted to do what they were about to do, and Jackson was just quietly hoping that either Mina was home by herself or she would be willing to talk in a calm manner.

He doubted it, though.

Silently, Mark slid his arm to link with Jackson’s, fingers slipping between Jackson’s as he let out a shaky, nervous breath. Jackson looked over, not even saying anything. He just gave Mark a little smile, breathing out a sigh of relief when they finally made it to Mina’s house. They stood at the door, Jackson staring at it as he took a deep breath.

“I don’t even want to see her right now,” he muttered, Mark looking to him and frowning. He leaned over, pressing his lips to Jackson’s cheek softly before he pulled away.

“If we don’t do this, it’s not gonna stop,” Mark replied, Jackson nodding in understanding. With that Mark reached out, deciding to let go of Jackson’s hand just so Mina wouldn’t immediately scream as he knocked on the door.

The only thing that Jackson had noticed was the lack of cars in the driveway, and that at least calmed his nerves a bit. The door opened and Mina, who originally must have been planning on smiling, immediately scowled instead. She tried to slam the door in their faces but Jackson caught it, holding it open as Mina yelled at them from behind the door.

“I don’t want you two in here,” she started, voice raised and shrill as she fought with the door. “Get out of my house!”

“Mina, you are nowhere near as strong as I am. Just let us in. We need to talk,” Jackson replied, shoulder against the door. Mina struggled for a few more minutes, finally letting go of the door and watching as the two of them walked in. Closing the door, Mark looked from Jackson to Mina, eyes narrowing.

“You need to talk to us. Promise us that you’ll actually have a conversation,” Mark requested, Mina answering with no words and a glare as she walked off and into the living room. Mark sighed, looking to Jackson as Jackson rolled his eyes and followed Mina. Even though Jackson continued pacing, Mark sat down on the couch with Mina, eyes trained on her.

“… Did you ing tag my car?” Jackson asked, Mina smirking and shaking her head.

“No,” she replied, words short and clearly hiding something. Jackson stared at her for a long time, waiting for her to say anything else, but when she didn’t elaborate he dropped his head and sighed. There was a long silence, the lack of words making it seem like the moment was going on forever, before Mark turned a bit.

“Mina, why are you doing this to us?” he asked, Mina turning to look at him with wide, falsely innocent eyes.

“Why am I doing what to you?” she asked, Jackson immediately rolling his eyes.

“Mina, cut the . You’ve been being a complete to us since we started dating. You’ve got your friends going against us, you’ve got the school against us, you’re against us…” He paused, looking at Mina with furrowed brows. It was clear that Jackson was trying not to scream or lose his temper, but Mina wasn’t helping. “We both have gotten really hurt. Just please, let this go.”

Mina laughed to herself, shaking her head and looking down.

“I have never laid one finger on you. Blaming me for all of this is just you trying to get back at me for breaking up with you.”

“Are you serious?!” Jackson screamed, finally losing his temper as Mina jumped. “You broke up with me and didn’t even ing tell me. I had to hear about it from a friend. And then you went after us and tried to turn the whole school against us. I’m not blaming you to get back at you. Are you insane?” he asked, Mina’s lips parting to respond, but Jackson cutting her off. “I thought you were amazing. I didn’t think you’d go to this level to with my life.” Mark watched as Jackson reached up, massaging his temples with one hand as he looked away. Mina stayed silent for a second, Mark backing off and letting the two of them talk this out.

This was no longer between Mark and Jackson and Mina.

This was just about Jackson and Mina.

“I… I wasn’t… I wanted to break you two up,” she said, words quiet and eyes watering as she smiled softly. “… You thought I was amazing?” she asked, Jackson looking at her and nodding.

“Clearly I was wrong because you went and did all this ,” he said, Mina standing and shaking her head.

“No, I just didn’t want you to be with him!” she exclaimed, pointing at Mark as Mark leaned away from her. “You said you liked me. You said you wanted to be with me. But you left, and now you’re with him and I… I just…”

“You just what?” Jackson asked, words biting as she took a step forward.

“I love you! I loved you, and I thought you loved me back!” she screamed, tears threatening to drip down her cheeks as Jackson took a step forward.

“I love him,” he said, looking at Mark with furrowed brows but smiling for a moment before he  turned back to Mina and frowned instead. “I want to be with him. I’ve been with him for as long as I can remember, and I’m not going to lose him. I want to be with him for the rest of my ing life. I want to live in a house, get a dog, share a bathroom, make him dinner… Do all that dumb that couples do. I want to do that with him, not you. Nothing you do is going to change that, Mina. Jesus Christ, get it through your head!”

Mina was silent for a moment, just staring at Jackson as he finished his rant and clearly having planned on saying something but instead standing frozen in her spot. Mark looked at Jackson with wide eyes, cheeks a bit red.

Jackson had said that he wanted to stay with him.

Jackson had just said that he wanted to live with him, to spend his life with him.

Mark honestly didn’t care about anything else.

Mina looked between Mark and Jackson, her lip twitching slightly before she bit down on it and covered her face with her hands. When she started crying both Mark and Jackson turned their attention back to her, watching as she fell back to the couch and sobbed. Exchanging glances with Mark, Jackson took a few hesitant steps forward, crouching on the floor in front of Mina and resting his hand on her shoulder.

“Hey… Hold on, don’t cry,” he pleaded softly, Mina shaking her head.

“N-no… No, I’m so sorry,” she replied through heavy sobs, still shaking her head. “I was just… I was so mad. I’m still mad… I just wanted you two to break up so we could be together again, and when that wasn’t working I just wanted to hurt you…” Her admittance was quiet, and she glanced at Jackson’s hand on her shoulder. “And you two are here and you got suspended because of me and… And I actually walked around telling people I was going to hurt you, oh my god… I’m so sorry…” She kept apologizing, Mark eventually reaching out to place a hesitant hand on her knee. Mina just shook her head. “No, I don’t deserve to be forgiven for this,” she said in a tiny voice, looking up at Jackson, eyes now red from crying. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated, Jackson just shaking his head.

“Shh,” he urged quietly, pulling Mina into a hug as she sobbed on his shoulder and held him close. Jackson just looked at Mark, Mark only able to smile as he watched Jackson do his best to comfort Mina’s tears.

He was lucky.

He was more than lucky.

Mark was staring at someone who he loved, and he didn’t care what anyone threw at them, because he knew Jackson wasn’t going to leave, not now or ever.

When Mina finally sat up she rubbed her eyes, attempting to wipe away tears and mostly failing before Jackson reached up with both hands and held her cheeks.

“Nothing that has happened has changed the fact that I cared about you,” he said, gaze locked with Mina’s. “I’m worried about you. I’m mad at you. I don’t like you very much right now. But I cared about you, and I don’t want to see you hurt. Just please, let us be. We have enough of a hard time being together without you trying to destroy us at every turn,” Jackson added, an almost pleading tone in his words as he reached over to take Mark’s hand. Mark nodded, giving Jackson’s hand a squeeze as Mina looked at their fingers twined together and sighed.

“I know,” she said, still near tears but slowly calming. Jackson watched her for a moment, making sure that she wasn’t going to start sobbing again before he dropped his other hand from her cheek and held it out, one pinky extended. She turned to look at it, brow raised as she cocked her head. “What’s this?”

“Promise me. Promise me that you’ll back off. Promise me that you’ll leave us be,” he pleaded softly, Mina looking back down at his hand before she hesitantly reached up and linked her pinky with Jackson’s.

“I promise,” she said softly, Jackson smiling up at her a bit before he stood. Mark looked up at him, standing as well.

“Are you going to be okay if we leave?” Jackson asked, Mina looking up and nodding weakly. “Are you sure?” he added, Mina smiling only slightly as she nodded again.

“I’m sure,” she replied, Jackson taking Mark’s hand as they turned to leave. They had only taken a few steps before Mina stood. “Mark?” she said, Mark turning around immediately and looking to her expectantly. Mina looked at them, eyes still sad but a gentle smile still on her face. “He’s really great. I’m sorry I tried to… Do this to you. I hope you get to do ‘all those dumb things that couples do’, like Jackson said.” Mark just smiled in response, nodding.

“I hope so, too,” he replied easily, Jackson only looking at Mark as he spoke. Mina nodded as she watched the two of them walk out, Jackson closing the door and keeping Mark’s hand in his as they took their time getting home. Jackson kept his head down, smiling to himself as Mark watched him silently. When he finally spoke Jackson immediately looked up at him. “You meant all that? For real?” he asked, Jackson raising a brow as he smiled.

“What? Meant what?” he asked in response, Mark unable to hide the smile on his lips as he looked forward.

“That you want to spend the rest of your life with me,” he said softly. Jackson gave Mark’s hand a squeeze.

“You said it first, baby,” he replied with a wink, Mark’s eyes widening as he looked to Jackson with slightly reddened cheeks. “I mean, you were half asleep and probably don’t remember it, but you said it first.” Mark kept his eyes on Jackson, watching as the other man smiled. He watched his expressions change, watched as he looked to Mark himself, watched his eyes light up, and he couldn’t help it. Mark stopped walking, smile bright as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Jackson’s happily. For a second Jackson was surprised but eventually he laughed in relief, sounds escaping into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Mark’s waist, even lifting him a bit. He pulled away, holding up one hand and extending a pinky. Mark looked at it.

"What's this?" he asked, Jackson grinning.

"Do you promise? To stay with me?" Jackson asked, Mark looking at him as he bit his lip. It took a moment but eventually he nodded, unable to hide the bright smile as he linked his pinky with Jackson's and letting their lips connect once more.

They didn’t care who saw.

They didn’t care what anyone thought about it.

All they cared about was that they wanted to go through everything together, even the hard times.

They’d been through so many things together already, and they were determined to keep going.

Times change, but as long as the two of them were together, they could get through it.