Mark awoke early the next morning, eyes opening against his will and refusing to close no matter how many times he smooshed his cheek against Jackson’s chest and silently begged for more sleep. Eventually, he decided to just get up and make breakfast for the both of them. Slipping from the bed quietly and without waking Jackson, Mark took light steps to the kitchen. Padding across the floor, Mark made his way to the cupboards and opened them up, wincing at the inevitable creek the hinges on one door made. It dawned on him then as he was looking through the cupboards that he actually had no idea what Jackson liked for breakfast. So, he decided to start with something foolproof. Coffee.

After brewing a fresh pot of dark roast (his personal favorite), Mark settled on the generic pancakes and eggs for breakfast, hoping Jackson wasn’t the rare breed of human whom hated pancakes. It wasn’t until three batches of unusable pancake batter and a scorched pancake stuck to his nearly combusting pan that Mark realized it may not have been his brightest idea to try and test out his cooking skills. So, he settled on just coffee and some snuggles for Jackson, hoping that would suffice.

Mark had been focusing so hard on making sure he didn’t spill the coffee on the way back to his bedroom that he didn’t even notice Jackson rounding the corner from the hallway into the kitchen. Jackson seemed not to notice him either as they slammed head on into each other. Coffee went flying and Mark landed hard on his , letting out an involuntary yelp. Eyes wide with shock, Jackson immediately dropped to his knees. “Mark, oh my God! Are you okay?! I am so sorry!” For a moment, Mark just stared blankly up at Jackson before bursting out in a fit of laughter. “Mark? What the , Mark, what’s going on?” After another few held in giggles, Mark sat up and picked the discarded coffee cup up from the floor. “Jacks, I’m fine, I promise. It’s okay,” Jackson sighed in relief before getting a good armful of Mark and getting up off the floor, taking the other with him. Mark struggled against Jackson a bit before relaxing and simply allowing the other to hoist him over his shoulder.

“ Jackson, I swear I’m fi-”

“Your is all red! And you’re covered in coffee!”

“My is fine, and hey why are you looking at my !?”

“Oh trust me baby, I’ve looked at much, much more than just your ..”

A slap rang through the house seconds before a loud yelp and a giggle from a cheeky Mark.

After a shower and some fresh clothes, the boys decided to just go out for a late breakfast instead of trusting Mark alone in the kitchen again. Once in the car they started off towards a waffle house in downtown which Jackson spent a good thirty minutes raving about. Even though Mark had been fine with the choice the second he saw the sparkle in the other boy’s eyes that appeared any time he talked about anything he had a mild passion about.

“I can’t wait for you to try these waffles, babe. You’re going to love it I swear.”

Jackson took his eyes of