Jackson

I went home that afternoon in a complete daze. My brain couldn't process a lot of things, but it really couldn't process that I liked Mark as more than a friend and that he may or may not have liked me back. There were signs, but he was hard to read, and I didn't want to make a fool of myself by thinking he liked me in the way I liked him. 

I parked my car outside my house and turned it off. I just sat there staring into...into something. I'm not really sure what I was staring into. I didn't snap out of it until I heard my car door slam shut. It was my mom that got in my car.

"You okay? You've been sitting out here for 10 minutes." I looked at the time on my phone and saw that she was right.

"Oh. I kn-knew that. I just wanted to see if you'd notice?" I tried to lie. She just looked at me, not believing a single word.

"Did something happen today at the hospital? I hope it was good," she said, carefully like she was ready to receive bad news. I just nodded and began smile remembering what happened. I wasn't going to tell my mom or anyone about it though--not yet.

"Yeah. Mark got discharged today. That was good," I said before I was silent for too long.

"Oh, that's wonderful. You were sitting out here for so long I thought he might have died," she replied, making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion and shock. "Say, why don't you invite him over for dinner tonight? Your dad is going to grill tonight," she said out of absolutely nowhere. I just looked at her.

"Why?" I said worried I'd have to tell her and my dad the one thing I didn't want to. At least not right now.

"To celebrate another day of living of course. Besides, you seem to have grown closer to him, so I think it's about time we meet him," she said. I sighed and looked back out the windshield.

"Fine. Just don't embarrass me by showing him by baby pictures or anything," I said. She just laughed, smiled, and kissed my forehead before she exited the car. Before I went inside with her, I pulled out my phone and text Mark.

To: Marky
Hey my mom just invited you to a cook out thingy at my place tonight. it wont be like a date. Unless you want it to be ;)
Sent: 3:37 p.m.

From: Marky
Lol i dont think meeting your parents is a proper first date but sure. my mom is working late anyway
Sent: 3:38

To: Marky p.m.
hey tradition. pick you up around 4?
Sent: 3:39 p.m

From: Marky
No I'll just walk there. I'll take you up on that offer another time though.
Sent: 3:41 p.m

To: Marky
Okay see you then Marky :)

Sent: 3:42 p.m

I could somehow feel him rolling his eyes and smiling as he read my response.

Four o'clock rolled around and I ran downstairs when I heard someone knock at the door. I opened it to see a smiling Mark. "Hi," he said.

"Hey." I smiled back. "Come on in, my mom has been practically dying to meet you."

"Why? You haven't been talking about me, have you?" he said as he walked past me and inside.

"Would that be a problem?" I said as I watched him take his shoes off and place them by the others near the door.

He grinned. "Depends on what you're saying." 

"In that case, I'll never tell you." He just laughed and took him by the hand, leading him into the kitchen where my mom was.

"You're the famous Mark I've heard so much about! I'm so glad to finally meet you!" She hugged him tightly, clearly taking him aback because he looked at me while she was hugging him with a surprised expression.

"Alright mom, I think he gets it," I said, motioning for her to let go.

"I know I'm just greeting him," she said, hitting my arm lightly. "Is that okay?"

"No, not like that anyway," I said.

"You'll have to excuse my son and his wonderful attitude," she said to Mark sarcastically.

"Don't worry, I have to deal with it every day so I know," he replied, smirking. My mom laughed and motioned him to come to the patio where the food is.

"Come, come. I'm sure your dad wants to meet him too," she said all in rush. We got out to the patio where my dad was putting the rest of the burgers on a plate and placing it on the table.

"You must be Mark. Jackson talks about you all the time," he said, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Mark said shyly.

"Well, you're just in time for the food. Please come sit," he said, pointing at a chair. Mark sat down and I sat next to him while my parents sit on the other side. "So where are you from, Mark? Did you grow up here?" he asked.

"Kind of...we moved here from Taiwan when I was 7," he answered, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Oh, we came from Hong Kong We moved here when Jackson was five. Oh, how cute he was..." my mom said. I could feel the memories making their way from her brain to , so I quickly stopped her.

My parents kept asking him questions for the remainder of dinner and partially into dessert. But there were plenty of laughs going around that night, so it wasn't really all that annoying to deal with. 

######

I walked home with Mark after he said bye to my parents.

"They seem like they are fun to live with," he said with his hands in his pockets.

"They are when they aren't trying to embarrass me with random childhood stories," I said, earning a small laugh from him. 

"I think it's sweet. You're lucky," he said after a bit and I just glanced at him as we continued walking along. His house was about a 15-minute walk from mine, which made me feel good about walking him.

We stopped in front of the gate to a random house, which I concluded was his. "Thank your mom for inviting me again. I had a lot of fun," he said.

"I will," I said, feeling shy around him all of a sudden. Should I say it? Probably, if not in hopes of becoming something more than to clear things up so we could move along with what we had. "Listen, what I said at the hospital about liking you, what I meant was--"

I was cut off not by words, but his lips briefly kissing mine. They only stayed there for maybe a quarter of a second before he pulled away. I saw him blushing even though it was getting dark out. 

"I'll see you around," he said quickly before scurrying off to his front door. I stood there until he vanished inside, one to make sure he got in okay but mostly because I didn't think I could move my feet. 

That just happened, right? I slapped myself a little to see if I was dreaming, but there was, still in front of his house. I looked around a little, feeling utterly confused but also pretty happy. I guess we were on the same page after all.

Mark

I've never been good with words, so I always found actions to be the most effective way for me to get my point across. It was just a quick kiss, but I hoped it communicated everything it needed to. 

I stayed home from school for a couple of days to get extra recovery time by the orders of my doctor. I spent most of the morning and afternoon laying around, watching T.V., or eating. It was around 3:45 when I heard a knock on my door. I got up and saw Yugyeom and Bam Bam standing there with the smiles on their faces.

"Hey guys. What's up?" I said with a baffled expression.

"Hey Mark. We remembered you were staying home, so we wanted to see how you were doing," Bam Bam explained.

"By 'we' he means him. I wanted to go home and play video games, but he insisted we check up on you," Yugyeom added. I wasn't too sure if he was serious or just so sarcastic, but I laughed anyway.

"Thanks, I feel so loved," I said sarcastically. "You guys don't have to stand out there. Come in." They walked through the door and looked around for a little bit.

"Nice place," Yugyeom said, ending the silence.

"Thanks," I replied as I sat back on the couch. Soon after, they both came over and Yugyeom sat in a chair by the window while Bam Bam sat next to me.

"So, you're feeling better?" Yugyeom asked.

"Yeah. I'm just enjoying the excuse to be lazy," I said, smiling. They both laughed.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Bam Bam began to say as he was pulling a folder out of his bag. "I went around and collected all your homework from today during study hall," he finished, handing it to me.

"Thanks, dude. You didn't have to do that," I said as I took it from him.

"Well, I figured you'd have a lot to catch up on in class so just think of it as one less thing to worry about," he explained, smiling. I smiled back and flipped through the papers. There weren't too many, but there was enough to bore me to death. I set them on the coffee table, deciding to worry about it later. They stayed for about ten more minutes and then my mom came home from work.

"Hi boys," she said as she shut the door.

"Hi," Yugyeom said, being his usual friendly self.

"Hey mom," I said.

"Hi, Mark's mom." Bam Bam said, waving.

"Mom, this is Yugyeom and Bam Bam. They came over to give me today's homework," I said pointing to them.

"Well, wasn't that thoughtful. Thank you so much for doing that," she said now standing beside me with both her hand on my shoulder.

"It was our pleasure. Just looking out for Mark," Bam Bam said smiling. I kicked him and he just looked at me.

"Right," Yugyeom said, standing up. "And we should continue to do that by letting him rest so he'll get better faster." He motioned Bam Bam to get up. "Later, Mark," he said, waving.

"It was nice to meet you, Mark's mom," Bam Bam said, following after him. They both waved once more and shut the door behind them.

"They seem nice, honey," she said. I nodded in response. "How was your day of laziness?"

"Relaxing," I said with a content sigh. "Sometimes having heart issues has its perks." I smiled at her as she hit me on the head a little before disappearing into down the hall. As I continued watching whatever was on television, I thought about my life at that moment. It wasn't the normal I had hoped for, but it was a normal I was starting to love.