After trying to get Mark a girlfriend for ages, Jackson had ended up going through his list of friends to try to find someone compatible. It wasn’t his fault that Mark was picky, or that he tended to have bad luck with relationships; Jackson was just trying to be a good friend and set him up with someone.

He sighed as he crossed off another name, shaking his head at himself. No matter who he thought of, there was always something that wasn’t quite right. Either she would end up being too loud for Mark, or too tall, or too rude – there was always something that would end up going wrong.

“Maybe… No, she’s full of herself. I can’t even deal with conceited girls.” Groaning to himself, he crossed off her name and continued on.

Jackson had almost reached the end of his list, brows knit together as he read over a name. He pursed his lips.

“Maybe Victoria… Yeah, she’d work. Mark would like her.” Nodding to himself, Jackson texted her, trying to figure things out before he talked to Mark about it. Generally, if he planned something like this and told Mark before he had already finished, Mark would refuse and tell him to stop planning. If he planned everything and then told Mark about it, the other would have no choice but to go along with it.

After he’d talked to Victoria and his own girlfriend about it, Jackson immediately went to talk it over with Mark. It turned out that the next time they met up was in school, and Jackson caught Mark as he walked into the cafeteria, Jackson grabbing his arm to turn him and grinning.

“Mark, guess what?” he asked, grinning mischievously. Mark leaned away slightly, brow raised as he looked the other man over.

“You… had too much caffeine today?” he asked in response, and Jackson rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

“I know you’re no good at dating, so I set up a double date. That’s right, I convinced Mina to give it a shot, you’re welcome,” Jackson said with a proud smile, Mark simply staring at him. He let out a disbelieving chuckle, brow still raised.

“Yeah? With who?” Mark asked, getting in line to get lunch. Jackson followed along behind him.

“Victoria.”

Mark immediately turned to face him, staring for a moment until the line moved. Then he walked backward as he spoke.

“Really? You think we’ll work well?” Jackson shrugged, then nodded in response.

“Sure. She’s pretty sweet, and pretty in general.” Winking, Jackson grabbed a tray and continued with getting food. “Oh, and the date is dinner. And it’s tonight.” Once again Mark turned to look at Jackson, though this time it was in wide-eyed disbelief.

“And you’re just telling me now?” he asked, Jackson smirking slightly.

“You have no choice but to say yes.”

Mark thought for a second before sighing in defeat, nodding as he dropped his head. Jackson only reached out to ruffle the other’s hair, fixing it when he was done. He might have lingered a bit longer as he massaged Mark’s scalp but neither said anything in particular about it, simply paying for their food and eating before returning to their school day.

By the time they got to the restaurant it was already dark, the dining room full of people. Jackson walked in first, immediately walking up to the host stand in the front and smiling at the woman there. She smiled back.

“We’re looking for two ladies that probably beat us here,” he said, looking over the tables that were there. When he saw waving from a table near the back he grinned, looking back to the host with an even bigger smile. “Nevermind, I see them. Thanks.”

As the two walked through the area Mark stayed close, looking around but still talking to Jackson.

“You’re so polite around people you don’t know,” Mark said with a soft smirk, and Jackson laughed in response, shaking his head as the two of them reached the table. It was a booth that wrapped around the table, and both Mina and Victoria scooted in to the center to make room for them. Jackson’s grin never faltered as he gave Mina a little kiss, looking across to Victoria and waving.

“Did you order drinks already?” he asked, only being answered with a headshake.

“No, we were waiting for you two,” Mina replied, hand immediately resting on Jackson’s thigh. He smiled as he glanced across the table at Mark and Victoria, who had almost immediately started talking to each other.

It didn’t take long for the server to come by, taking their drink orders without much of a fuss. Jackson found himself paying more attention to Mark and Victoria than he did to Mina, though he didn’t realize until she cleared beside him. That was when he turned to look at her, smile apparent.

“They look cute,” he said, letting out a content chuckle. Mina nodded.

“They do, but… I’m here, too. You don’t have to spend the whole night looking at Mark,” she teased idly, patting his thigh playfully. His smile immediately fell and he raised a brow, leaning on his hand as he faced Mina more. She cocked her head. “What?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? I was looking at them, not just at Mark,” he replied in something near a whisper, Mina blinking a few times before laughing awkwardly. She glanced at the other two to make sure they weren’t paying attention before leaning in closer to Jackson, brows furrowed.

“I was just joking, chill out,” she said, a bit of laughter in her tone despite the fact that it was strained. Jackson didn’t let his expression change and eventually she sighed, rolling her eyes. “I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute,” she said, forcing Jackson to stand up. He did, and Victoria glanced over, looking at the two of them.

“Oh. I’ll come with you,” she said with a smile, Mark scooting out of the way so that she could pass as well. He sat down after that, moving to the center of the booth as Jackson joined him there. “You should order an appetizer while we’re gone.” Mark nodded in response then looked to Jackson, who leaned back in his seat.

“What do you two want?” he asked, and Mina looked up in thought.

“Just get calamari or something, everyone likes that.” She turned to walk away before Jackson spoke, cutting her off.

“Mark doesn’t,” he piped in, Mina turning around with raised brows. Mark nodded, smiling softly.

“Oh. Well… How about some kind of chips and dip then?” she suggested after a bit of hesitation, watching as Jackson looked to Mark for some kind of approval. Her expression flattened.

“That sounds good,” Mark said, still glancing over the menu. Jackson grinned as he looked at him, expression slowly softening.

“Then we’ll get that,” he said softly, speaking more to Mark than he was to Mina and Victoria. They both stared at him for a moment before Mina sighed loudly and turned around, walking toward the restroom and mumbling something about Jackson being embarrassing. As they left Jackson leaned over to look at Mark’s menu, lips pursed as he rested his head on his friend’s shoulder.

“What’re you getting?” he mumbled, and Mark looked over at him with a smile, shaking his head before turning back to the menu.

“I don’t know yet. What about you?” he replied, and Jackson shrugged.

“I don’t know yet.”

As the waiter brought their drinks Jackson ordered the appetizer, the man slipping away like nothing and leaving the two by themselves once again. Jackson didn’t pick his chin up from Mark’s shoulder until the girls came back, and when they did he finally sat up, turning to look at Mina.

“Have fun in the bathroom?” he asked, smiling. Mina narrowed her eyes at Jackson, not responding with anything other than that. For a moment he waited, eyes trained on Mina and looking for a response. When none came he shrugged and turned back to Mark, casually joking about girls taking too long in the bathroom.

From there it devolved into jokes one after the other, Jackson trying to get all of them laughing and mostly succeeding. He even managed to get Mark talking and he watched as Victoria listened, chuckling to himself. It was cute seeing Mark actually succeed at going on a date, but eventually he leaned his head on his hand, simply watching Mark talk.

Once Mark got going he didn’t stop, and Jackson couldn’t keep the smile off of his face as he watched. He also couldn’t help that he zoned out as he watched him talk, gaze trained on Mark’s lips and absently playing with his own. Victoria didn’t seem to notice but Mina certainly did and she crossed her arms over her chest, brow quirked. It wasn’t until she noticed Jackson pat Mark’s thigh to get his attention that she groaned, rolling her eyes as she stood suddenly. The three that were still sitting all looked at her.

“I can’t deal with this right now,” she said, and Jackson frowned, turning his entire body to face Mina.

“What? What’s up?” he asked, scooting to get closer to the edge of the booth seat. Mina just held up her hand.

“No. I swear, every time I go out with you two I get treated like I’m not even here. It’s like you two are the ones that are dating, and I’m the weird third wheel. I’m going home,” she said, louder than any of them wanted. Jackson reached out, taking hold of her hand to keep her close. She turned.

“We’re not, though. We’re just best friends, you know that,” Jackson defended, a bit of irritation in his voice. Mina just laughed.

“Okay. I’ll believe that when you stop staring at your best friend’s lips all night,” she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder. Jackson’s expression dropped and he stared at her, trying to ignore the red hue that had come over his face. She turned to Victoria. “This is how they always act. I’m just warning you,” she added as an afterthought, purse thrown over her shoulder as she marched out of the building. Jackson was left staring at the spot she had just been standing in, and both Victoria and Mark were staring at him. Jackson swallowed deeply, still not looking at the others as he tossed some cash onto the table.

“I… I’m sorry, I need to go,” he mumbled, standing and walking out, presumably to follow Mina.

He didn’t, though.

Jackson simply walked to his car, driving toward his house in silence. He didn’t honestly know how to react to what Mina had said. His own girlfriend had complained he was ignoring her in favor of paying attention to his best friend? That was normal, right? He’d seen tons of people keep close with their best friends, acting like a couple at times, getting enamored with them…

Jackson flopped onto his bed, eyes trained on the ceiling but not focusing on anything in particular. Maybe he should text Mark and apologize.

“No. Mina. I should text Mina and apologize,” he mumbled to himself, covering his face with his hands and groaning into them.

There were so many things wrong with this situation.

Jackson was about to get up, to take a shower and relieve some stress, when his phone buzzed loudly beside him. He blindly grabbed it, unlocking the screen to see the text.

You okay? Want me to come over?

It was from Mark, and Jackson couldn’t help the smile that took over his features before he cursed and forced himself to stand. Pacing around, he sighed to himself and responded.

Sure.

That was as much of a response as he offered. Luckily, the restaurant was close to his house, so it didn’t take Mark long to get there. The moment Jackson heard the knock at the door he opened it, greeting Mark with a smile and gesturing toward his room. They both walked in, Mark closing the door as Jackson once again tossed himself onto his bed. Mark sat down on the edge, frowning a bit.

“What happened in there?” he asked, and Jackson just rolled his eyes, shrugging. There was a silence before Mark spoke again. “Have you talked to her? You think you’re going to be okay?” he added, and Jackson sat up, hunching forward slightly as he let out a deep breath.

“I somehow doubt it,” he mumbled, looking to Mark with a soft but concerned frown. Mark nodded.

An awkward silence took over the room, Mark turning to look at his shoes and Jackson letting his eyes trail over Mark’s profile. He silently cursed and looked down once again, pushing his hair out of his face.

“… How’d the rest of the dinner go?” Jackson finally asked, not looking at Mark. Mark smiled to himself.

“She rescheduled. With just me this time,” he replied with a little laugh, Jackson trying to join in though his laughter was slightly strained. Mark turned to look at the other man, reaching over and resting a hand on his shoulder. “Mina was just being dumb. She knows we’re not together or anything. I mean, we were both there with girls, not each other.” Jackson nodded as Mark leaned back. “Girls are crazy, okay? Cheer up, I’m sure Mina will come to her senses.”

Glancing at the clock, Mark let out a sharp exhalation and stood, flipping his cap around as he took a step toward the door. Jackson looked up.

“I need to get home. Can you drive me?” he asked, Jackson nodding in response. He grabbed his keys in silence, walked Mark out in silence, drove him back to his house in silence – he even walked him to the door in silence, Mark not sure what to do to break the quiet tension that had been built up between them. When they reached the door Jackson paused, Mark turning to face him with a questioning look.

“What?” he asked. Jackson bit his lip, opening his mouth to say something. Instead he ended up doing the thing that had gotten him in trouble earlier – he let his gaze focus on Mark’s lips and he let a few sounds out in a stutter as he tried to figure out what to say. He didn’t even realize that his hand had slid up to rest on Mark’s neck and he’d pulled him closer until he stopped and took a moment to consider the situation. It was an awkward cover but Jackson managed to make it look like he was pulling Mark in for a friendly yet thankful hug, patting the other man on the back a couple times as he tried to focus on anything but the thoughts going through his head.

“Thanks… For checking up on me and stuff,” he mumbled, Mark pushing Jackson away a bit so he could look at him. Mark’s brow was raised but he smiled nonetheless, nodding.

“No problem. That’s what best friends do, right?” he asked, and Jackson stared at him for a moment before nodding, the grin that was usually present on his features finally returning.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s what best friends do. I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” he finally said, offering Mark a wave as he walked off to his car.

Jackson waited until Mark was inside to slip into his car, but when he did he let out a calming sigh.

“I can do this. Mina was just overreacting. I’ll talk to her tomorrow so she can cool down.” As he drove off he the radio, humming along to the first song he heard.