School dances weren’t really Mark’s thing, but because student-athlete Jackson Wang had asked him to be his date to Prom on May 1st of his senior year, he decided otherwise.  Currently, Mark stood in a circle with Jackson and his loud friends; talking about college in the fall.  To be honest, Mark wasn’t paying much attention to the actual conversation, he was more occupied with the fact that his date’s white sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his hands were resting on his hips.

It would be a lie if anyone in their high school said anything about Jackson Wang not having a nice . And with his dress shirt tucked in to his black pants and his silver belt making a debut, he was just asking for people to stare (which was exactly what Mark was doing).

Jackson laughed along with the group of boys, but cocked his head to the side when he noticed Mark not participating.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

Babe?

Mark shook his head, “Nothing, the lights are just kind of hurting my eyes.”  It was a valid response, considering the flashing green and orange lights made almost everyone feel sick if they didn’t come with something in their system.

Jackson knitted his eyebrows together in response, “Want me to step out with you for a minute?”

Mark brushed him off, shaking his head again, “No, I’m fine.”

Jackson took both hands from his hips and reached for Mark’s hands, linking them both together and pulling him closer.  “Let me know, okay?”

. Not only was he hot, he was smooth as hell.

Jackson’s breath tickled Mark’s neck and he tried his best to hide the smile that was stretching across his face by biting his lip.  Jackson pecked Mark’s cheek lightly and the boys behind them hooted and whistled.

“Get a room, Wang!”

Mark blushed furiously, stealing one of his hands from Jackson to cover his face.  Jackson squeezed tighter with his remaining hand, rubbing the back of Mark’s hand with his thumb.  

“What? I can kiss him, he’s my date.” Jackson laughed resting his head on Mark’s shoulder for a second to prove his statement.

Just then, the loud music stopped, and luckily for Mark, the lights dimmed; becoming a red color.  Everyone in the gym knew what was going to happen and there was no way for either of the boys to prepare themselves.  

The dj announced the title of the slow song and couples from all corners of the gym got together in the orthodox position of boys resting their hands on the girls’ waists and the girls draping their arms over the boys’ shoulders.

Mark looked to Jackson, who still held his hand firmly, “Do you...want to dance?”

“You stole my thunder, Tuan.  I’d love to.”

Mark closed his eyes, his heart pounding, having never danced with anyone in his life besides freshmen homecoming.  Jackson guided his hands to his waist, and rested his arms on Mark’s shoulders, pulling them closer than ever before.  

“I at dancing.”

Jackson rolled his eyes, “Shut up, you took dancing as an elective this year.”

“It was acrobatics!” Mark protested, laughing, “I’ve never done..this kind of dancing.”

“Whatever, bro.  I-”

Mark was taken aback, “You did not.”

“What?”  Jackson’s mouth fell open, afraid he had done something wrong.

“Jackson!”  Mark laughed in fake dismay.

“What!?” he demanded.

“You called me bro.”

Jackson let out a laugh, “I did, didn’t I.  Oh my god, I’m sorry-”

Mark only looked at him a small smirk playing on his lips, “I thought we were more than that, Jackson!”

After their laughter had died down, Jackson bit his lip, adjusting his arms on Mark’s shoulders, and looking directly into the other boy’s eyes.

“You know, we’re graduating soon, Mark.”

Mark’s stomach dropped, “Yeah.”

Jackson paused, avoiding eye contact for a few seconds before regaining courage, “And, I really like you.  I really, really like you.  You know that too?”

Mark felt his hands on Jackson’s waist shaking, “Y-you do?”

“I do.”

Mark thought he was going to drop some heavy news on him about moving for college, or having a terminal illness or-

“And I want you to still be part of my life, so,”

They both took shaky even breaths.

“So?”  

“So, I was wondering if you wanted to be mine.”

Mark could have died of happiness in that moment.  He was so shocked and secretly hoping that after having gone on several dates, and now the dance, he would ask him.  He nodded vigorously, his head spinning and hands shaking; he was speechless.  All he could do was pull one of his hands up and cup the nape of Jackson’s neck and pull him in for a kiss.  Jackson’s eyes fluttered closed, leaning closer into Mark’s body and pressing his hands to his chest.

Maybe the foreseeable future wouldn’t be as bad as either of them had initially  thought.  

People cheered and congratulated them after breaking away and Mark felt his cheeks heat up even more, the tips of Jackson’s ears were tinged red.

“God, that was amazing.” Jackson commented, running a hand through his hair.  Mark bit his lip again, searching for Jackson’s hand to lace his fingers with, and he wished that this night could last forever.