Jason and You Makes Two

A/N: Wish me a happy vacation folks. It starts in a coupla days. Yay!

Big Thanx to Lisa for proofing and to Madrachadevvi for her plot suggestions. I really appreciate it! *hugs* Don't know what I'd do w/out you guys. Probably screw up a lot more often. mouahahahahahaha!

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Chapter 14

Simon watched as Mark shook his sweet ass on the dance floor with Tim. This was the first time in over a year that Simon had been able to drag Tim out of the house to have a little fun. After breaking up with his abusive ex, Tim had been too dead set against dating again to even consider going to a club.

The two of them contrasted nicely and looked really good grinding together. Judging by the looks the other guys in the bar were giving them, Simon wasn't the only one who thought so. Mark's long, red hair seemed even brighter next to Tim's shiny black, and Tim's stocky body seemed all the shorter when being rubbed up against Mark's lean, sexy, 5' 10" frame.

What really set them off, though, was the difference in their complexions. Whereas Mark was lightly tanned, he still looked pale against Tim's dark, Mexican-American skin. It also seemed like the more Mark drank and loosened up, the more in synch the two became. Both men knew how to move, and watching them together was like poetry in motion.

They were both having a ball, too. That alone was enough to justify the lengths to which Simon had gone to get both Mark and Tim to come out to the bar with him. Since that day at Macdoogle's, when Mark had figured out how Simon felt about him, things between them had been a little strained.

When Simon had left that night, Mark had seemed okay but, after that, he started avoiding Simon like the plague. The sexy redhead always seemed to have somewhere he needed to be or something he needed to do that didn't involve Simon.

After five days, Simon had finally given in to his need to see Mark and had invited himself to Mark's apartment. Chandra had been more than happy to invite him in and he'd gladly accepted. With Chandra and her boyfriend Kevin there, Mark really hadn't had anywhere to run and Simon had shamelessly used that to his advantage.

It had been very awkward at first, but Mark had finally worked himself up to meeting Simon's questioning gaze with a shy one of his own. It wasn't that much longer before Simon's teasing had him talking more freely again.

Kevin, picking up on the weirdness between them, had ribbed them both mercilessly and Chandra had been quick to join in. Before Simon knew it, they were all settled at the kitchen table eating pizza, laughing, and playing Monopoly while Kevin and Chandra rattled on excitedly about their new plans to move in together.

Mark had seemed really happy about the idea and the trio of friends had already made plans for Mark to help Chandra and Kevin move Kevin's things into their apartment the following Sunday afternoon while they were all off work. Simon had offered to help and they'd been thrilled to have another set of hands.

After the move, things had pretty much gone back to normal between Mark and Simon with a few annoying exceptions. Mark was happy for the most part, because Chandra and Kevin were happy, but once he and Simon found themselves alone it didn't take long for Mark to start brooding. Instead of talking it out with Simon like he used to, the guy tried his best to hide it and denied that anything was bothering him at all.

Still, Simon could tell that something was up and knew, deep down in his gut, that Mark was stressing over Jason since there was only a week and a half left before the big reunion. It pissed him off to know that, even after Mark had stood up to the man and left him, Mark still let the selfish bastard control such a large part of his thoughts and his heart. Mark wouldn't talk about it with Simon now, though, so Simon really couldn't say exactly what was going through Mark's head.

Then again, Simon knew Mark well enough now that he didn't need to be told word for word what was going on. It was obvious by the way that Mark seemed to withdraw from him a little bit every time they saw one another and by the way his friend kept getting lost in his own thoughts, that he was mentally trying to put an emotional distance between them so that when Jason came back into the picture it would be easier for everyone.

It seemed like everything wrong in their lives boiled down to one person. Jason. Mark deserved someone better than Jason. Someone who could treat him like the wonderful man he was and who loved him enough to trust him with their heart. In Simon's mind that could only be him. Over the past week, he'd come to the same conclusion time and time again. Jason had to go.

Letting out a deep, calming breath, Simon's eyes strayed around the bar top table where he sat. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on Tim and Mark's drinks so that nobody messed with them while they were on the dance floor. They'd been taking turns all night and, despite the constant clearing by the waiters, there were already several empty glasses built up again.

Surprisingly, most of them were Mark's. Even though he'd been known to have a beer or two at Simon's house, Simon had never seen Mark drink so much. He'd drank it quickly too, which was never a good thing. It surprised Simon that Mark wasn't stumbling around on the dance floor by now.

He glanced back up to where Mark and Tim were dancing and saw a tall brunette trying to make a move on Tim. The guy looked pretty harmless and Simon kind of hoped that Tim would give the guy half a chance. Since his last relationship, the poor man had become a hermit. He worked as a teacher at one of the middle schools downtown and would do nothing but sit at home and grade papers if Simon let him to have his way.

Tim had needed a night out just as much as Mark had. Simon had felt guilty for neglecting his buddy over the past few weeks. That's why, when Mark had gotten more twitchy and moody each day and Simon couldn't convince him to go out, he'd brought up Tim and had recruited Mark into helping him help his friend. It'd worked like a charm and Tim and Mark had hit it off immediately.

Now the two were standing several feet away, giggling together, while tall dark and handsome smiled down at Tim like a love-struck puppy. As much as Simon wanted to go over and ask the guy a million questions and make sure he wasn't a freak, he held back. Mark grinned over at Tim and gave him an exaggerated wink and a shove in the man's direction. It surprised Simon a little, being slightly out of character for Mark, but he couldn't stop a chuckle of his own when a dark red glow spread across Tim's cheeks as he finally gave in and took the other guy's hand.

When the other two started dancing, Mark smacked Tim on the bottom before slowly making his way back over to where Simon was sitting. Just as slowly, he eased up onto one of the raised bar stools around the table and reached across for his mug as he gave Simon a loose and easy grin.

"Hey there. Having fun yet?" Mark chirped as he took a swallow of warm beer. Immediately the hot redhead made a face and motioned toward a passing waiter.

"Sure am," Simon replied truthfully before shifting his attention to the blonde who'd answered Mark's summons. The guy looked Mark over and gave him a seductive grin before laying a hand on Mark's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"Hey sexy. What can I get for you tonight?"

Mark shrugged the hand from his shoulder with a roll of his eyes. "Nothing you've got, that's for sure. Give me a double shot of Absolut and another beer."

The waiter took Mark's rejection in stride, immediately straightening and putting on a more businesslike demeanor. "Good choice. We have raspberry, citron, mandarin, and regular."

"Regular's fine," Mark replied with a dismissive wave before turning back to Simon with a grin. "Can you believe that guy?"

"Yeah, I can actually," Simon mumbled under his breath. Then he reached across the table and tangled their fingers together. "Are you okay, Mark? You seem like you've had a little too much to drink."

Mark jerked his hand away like he'd been burned and narrowed his eyes. "Who died and made you my mother? In case you've forgotten, I'm a big boy. Besides, I'm barely buzzing and you're driving us home anyway."

"If you say so…" Although Simon wasn't buying it, he also wasn't about to push the issue since Mark clearly didn't like being told he was half-lit already. "I just didn't want you to have a hangover in the morning. Don't you have to work at McDoogle's tomorrow night?"

A disgusted little snort escaped Mark as he plopped an elbow up on the table to rest his face in his hand. "Those bastards. I'm this close," he grumbled, holding his finger and thumb a few centimeters apart as he squinted his eyes to focus on them, "to telling that bunch to shove it up their asses. The main manager cut my hours AGAIN and I haven't done a thing to deserve it this time. I might just take Nathan up on his offer to increase my hours. I'd be an idiot NOT to after the offer he made this afternoon."

"What kind of offer?" Simon asked, a little shocked that he had yet to hear anything about it from Nathan, but even more shocked that Mark had said 'asses'.

Mark just didn't curse. Ever. He said it didn't prove anything and that his mom had taught him better than that. Simon had always seen it as a sign that Mark was in control at all times. That was apparently no longer the case.

"I let him see some of my sketches a couple of weeks back and he showed them to Daniel, his in-house architect. Daniel seemed to like them, so Nathan's trying to get me to sign an agreement with the company."

"What kind of agreement?" Simon knew he was starting to sound like a broken record, but Daniel was just as hard to impress as Nathan. As far as he knew, Nathan had never offered a lower level employee any type of contract before, especially in the architectural department.

"Daniel plans to retire in eight or nine years. Nathan likes me, so he said that, if I'd sign a contract to work for his company for a set number of years after I graduate, the company would pay for my schooling and increase my hours so that I'd only need the one job. The first year I'd be doing what I'm doing now and after that he wants me to start working alongside Daniel and learning the trade while I'm still working on my degree. It'll mostly be gofer-like jobs for a while."

Simon's jaw nearly hit the table at Mark's words. For Nathan to offer such a deal was unheard of. The man had never given Simon an ounce of slack since he'd married Simon's mom, and he wasn't the type to do things without thinking them through down to the last detail. It was part of the reason he was so successful.

If Nathan had offered to put his ass on the line like he obviously had, and Daniel had backed him up on the idea, Mark must have done something pretty fucking impressive. After all, the company already had a long line of architects in training begging to apprentice themselves under Daniel.

At a loss for words, Simon just shook his head and asked, "Are you going to take him up on the offer? It sounds too good to pass up. Hell, you should go sign it in the morning if you can, before Nathan changes his mind. That doesn't sound like something Nathan would normally do."

Mark studied Simon intently for a few seconds before wrinkling his brow. "I didn't realize you knew Nathan that well. You've never acted like you were close when I talked about work."

Simon blushed and hung his head before taking a deep breath. He really hoped that Mark wouldn't get pissed off at what he was going to say. "The thing is… Nathan is my dad. He married my mother and adopted me when I was still a toddler and …"

"What?" Mark exclaimed, just as the waiter returned with his double shot and beer. The guy put them on the table, hastily asked Simon if he needed anything, grabbed the ten bucks Mark had dropped on the table, and then retreated. He'd obviously picked up on the fact that he'd just stumbled into an A and B conversation and he was going to quickly C his way out of it. "Why didn't you tell me before?" Mark hissed. He was so upset that he hadn't even spared the waiter a glance when he'd dug into his wallet to pay. Mark NEVER did that and was never rude to people who worked with the public.

"I just wanted to surprise you on a worksite. I figured I could give you a shock and we'd have a few laughs afterward, but it never seemed to happen," Simon explained, giving Mark his best pitiful, pleading look. He wasn't above playing dirty if he needed to. Mark rolled his eyes again, this time at Simon, and then threw back the double shot in one big gulp. A half-second later, he coughed and made a face before grabbing his beer to wash the shots down.

"But your last name isn't Wyatt," Mark insisted with a confused frown once he could breathe.

Simon reached across to grab his hand again. "Mom wanted me to keep her family name because Nathan already has two sons and a daughter and I was the last boy born into her father's branch of the family. All of her sisters and her brother had girls. Seriously, though, I meant to tell you sooner, but I was either gone by the time you got there or you were sent to one of the other locations. I waited too long and then the whole thing just seemed stupid on my part and the timing never seemed right to tell you." Suddenly Simon forced himself to stop and gather his thoughts since he was basically rambling. Then he sighed and admitted, "I was also afraid you'd get pissed."

Mark gave him a suspicious, narrow-eyed glare for a few seconds before asking, "Did you set me up? Is that why I got the job so easily? And the deal Nathan's trying to make with me? Is that because you…"

"Whoa!" Simon said, holding up his hands between them to ward off the attack. "First off, I had no idea you were going to apply for the job. You got that on your own. Second, Nathan never said a word to me about the deal he offered you. I'm as shocked as you probably were this afternoon. Hell, as far as I know, Nathan isn't even aware that we know one another. It's not like I keep him up to date on who I'm seeing or hanging out with. He's finally accepted that I'm into men, but he's not all that comfortable with the idea."

"Why do you think that?" Mark slurred, his entire demeanor shifting from attack mode to comfort mode in a split second. Yeah, the guy was getting close to hammered.

"I don't think," Simon shot back with a sad smile. "I KNOW. He's never asked to meet a boyfriend and he gets this uncomfortable look on his face if he hears me telling mom about going to bars or dating someone."

"He's never seemed weirded out by my gay ass," Mark said, his brows drawn together in confusion as his words slurred together. "Then again, I'm not his kid. Maybe he's only put out because the one making God cry is part of his family."

Before Simon had time to digest that, Tim was back with a panicked look on his face. The small man blew out a nervous breath and gave Simon a pleading look. "Can we go now? I know you planned to stay longer, but I have to sit in on tomorrow's Saturday School session and I'll need to be rested or I'll fall asleep at the desk and the delinquents will bury me in spit balls."

Mark frowned at that before scanning the crowd. Simon followed his example and found the tall brunette leaning against the bar on the other side of the room with a disappointed expression as he blatantly watched Tim squirm.

"You sure it doesn't have more to do with that hunk of a man trying to get into your pants?" Mark asked with a knowing smirk and Tim blushed to the roots of his black hair, no small feat for a man with his complexion.

"He didn't try to get into my pants," Tim huffed with a roll of his dark eyes. "He wanted my number. I'm just not ready for that yet."

Simon reached over and patted Tim on the back as he stood up. "Don't worry about it. I think we've all had enough dancing for one night anyway." Then he glanced over at Mark. "Ready to go?"

Mark hesitated as he looked down into the mug of beer in front of him longingly. Suddenly he grinned, shrugged, and lifted the mug to his lips before draining it in one long drink. Simon just shook his head as Mark plopped the mug back down on the table and stood up. His eyes went wide and he immediately grabbed the edge of the table.

"I think I got up too quick," he said with a giggle as he shook his head and looked around the room.

"I've got you," Simon murmured as he stepped around the table to wrap an arm around his drunken friend's waist. He'd been afraid this might happen when Mark had ordered that last round of shots. It was never a good idea to drink the hard stuff.

After a moment's resistance, Mark sighed and melted into Simon's side as Simon and Tim dropped some more money on the table for the waiter's tip and then ushered Mark out to the car. Barely a word was said on the quick drive to Tim's house. The little guy seemed to be deep in thought and Simon wondered if it had anything to do with the good looking guy he'd danced with at the bar. Rather than interfere, Simon left him to it with a wave goodbye and a promise to call when Tim slipped out of the backseat of Simon's car and headed for his apartment.

No sooner had the door shut, Mark giggled and rolled his head against the seat until he was facing Simon. "Poor guy's got it bad, huh? One dance and he's already head over heels."

With a chuckle, Simon shook his head and pulled out of the driveway on the way to his house. "I think he's just not ready to jump back into the deep end yet. We should just give him time."

Mark snorted at that as he looked back at the road in front of them. "If you say so. I still think he's hot for that guy. You should've seen the way Tim looked at him when the dude pulled him in for that slow dance."

Rather than argue, Simon let it go. He'd never been the type to buy into the 'love at first sight' mumbo-jumbo until he'd been slammed in the head by a cute, underappreciated redhead. Now he was a believer. He still didn't think that was Tim's problem, but he made a mental note to call his buddy the next evening to check on him.

For the next several minutes the only sound in the car was the noise of the air conditioner running and the soft hum of the radio in the background. Finally, they pulled into Simon's driveway and he clicked the garage door opener to pull the car into its bay. Then he shut it off and looked over at Mark.

"Ready?"

"Depends on what you're asking," Mark replied with a teasing smile as he turned to face Simon and leaned in closer. Then Mark's eyes trailed down to Simon's mouth and Mark's pink tongue shot out to wet his own lips.

Simon didn't know what to make of Mark's sudden mood but the temptation to lean forward and steal a kiss was almost more than he could stand. "I was asking if you were ready to go inside and sober up a little," Simon replied as he removed the temptation and leaned away from Mark. "You can't drive home in this shape and I can't drop you off because you'll need your car for work tomorrow."

Mark's now-wet, bottom lip jutted out in a little pout at Simon's reply as he shrugged and reached for the door handle. "Whatever," he mumbled before getting out of the car. Before he could even shut the door behind him, Mark staggered and fell back into the car. A giggle echoed through the garage and, with a grin, Simon climbed out and walked around to make sure Mark didn't demolish himself or the side of Simon's fairly new Lexus.

"You're a silly drunk," Simon pointed out as he slipped an arm around Mark's slim waist again and led him into the house.

"You're a sexy son-of-a-bitch," Mark shot back. Simon pointedly ignored that comment in favor of getting Mark to the couch as soon as possible. Being so close to the sexy redhead was wreaking havoc on Simon's self control. It didn't help matters at all when Mark returned the gesture, wrapping one arm around Simon's back as he once again melted into Simon's embrace.

All too soon, and not nearly soon enough, they were in the living room and Simon watched in disbelief as Mark pouted at being released from his embrace and stumbled over to the couch before plopping down. Although Simon wasn't thrilled with the idea of Mark getting wasted like he had, he had to admit to himself that he thought this new side of Mark was adorable.

"You're no fun," Mark complained with a frown and a cute curl of his pert nose. Then he shrugged when Simon refused to take the bait and patted the couch beside him. "Come sit with me at least."

For half a second, Simon thought about doing as Mark had asked, but decided that he'd never be able to keep himself in check if he did. After all, Mark clearly didn't know what he was doing. The guy was definitely flirting and if they ended up in bed together, Simon was afraid that Mark would never speak to him again. Instead of risking that, he walked past the couch and ignored the hurt look Mark gave him as he sat down in the chair nearby and kicked off his shoes.

"You want to spend the night in the guest room?" Simon offered as he picked at a piece of imaginary lint on his jeans. Man was he in trouble. When Mark didn't reply, Simon finally looked up to find the pout back in full force and ignored it as he added, "That way you can sleep it off and just go home to get changed tomorrow before work."

Mark sucked his bottom lip back in and stared at Simon for several long seconds with an unreadable expression on his face. Then he let out an exasperated sigh as he let his head fall back against the couch behind him. "I hate this. Why didn't I meet you five years ago?"

The longing in Mark's smooth voice and the frustration on his face threw Simon's already spinning thoughts into a whirlwind. "I guess because it wasn't time for us to meet yet."

It was a lame reply, but Simon didn't know what else to say. Mark had been acting weird for days but nothing like this. Never like this. There were just too many ways that Simon could take Mark's comment and he refused to let himself go there for now. Mark's next words, however, shot all of his good intentions straight to Hell.

"I'm getting so tired of waiting. I want you so bad and I know you want me too," he said softly as he stared at the ceiling overhead. "I mean, who knows what's gonna happen with Jason and you're right here. It's just so… Man, I think I'm drunk," he groaned as he forced his eyes shut tightly and rubbed at them with the backs of his hands.

"I think so too," Simon said with a regretful sigh as he tried to ignore the way his heart was pounding its way through his ribcage. "Maybe we should get you to bed before we both say something we can't take back."

Suddenly, Mark sat up and began to study Simon carefully as he shook his head. "You're too good to me," he murmured softly with a silly grin. All Simon could think was that it was about time someone WAS too good to Mark and he wanted to be in a position that would allow him to spoil the man for the rest of their lives.

No sooner were his words out, Mark slipped off the couch and onto his knees on the floor and began slowly crawling in Simon's direction. Simon forced down a groan as he watched Mark's sleek body move toward him, a thousand dirty thoughts running through his mind as to how he could use Mark's position to his advantage. All of them requiring Mark to be naked.

"Mark, what do you think you're doing?" he asked as the hard cock in his jeans jerked at the images running through his head.

"I'm not doing anything," Mark assured him as he reached the chair Simon was sitting on and ran a tempting hand up Simon's leg to his inner thigh. "Would you tuck me in?" Mark asked, his voice gone husky and a seductive light in his eyes. The sound of it sent a shiver down Simon's spine.

Quickly, he jumped up from his seat to avoid the hand slowly working its way closer to his aching crotch. He knew that if Mark touched him there it would all be over. As soon as Simon moved, Mark lost his balance and nearly fell over on his face. Simon suddenly felt like a complete idiot and quickly bent down to scoop him up in a princess hold.

"It would be my pleasure," he whispered against Mark's ear as he carried him toward the stairs. Mark snuggled his face into the crook of Simon's neck and took a deep breath. Then his head lolled back and he looked up at Simon with a goofy smile.

"You smell so good. You always do."

Rather than answer, Simon smiled back and gave in to the urge to drop a small kiss on Mark's cheek as he pushed open the guest room door with his foot. Mark's arms tightened around his neck as a quiet groan echoed through his lean chest.

Simon stopped. "You're not going to be sick are you?" he asked quickly. Mark or not, he didn't relish the idea of cleaning up vomit from the thick carpeting in his guest room.

Mark shook his head no and murmured, "Can I please sleep with you? I'm so tired of sleeping alone. I want to be surrounded by your smell on the blankets and pillows."

Even though he knew it was a terrible idea, Simon immediately gave in and replied, "Whatever you want," as he crossed the hall to his own room. He only prayed that Mark didn't really expect him to sleep in the bed with him. That was just too much to ask from any living, breathing man.

Once he was beside the bed, he stood Mark up on his feet and jerked back the comforter before urging him to sit. Then he kneeled down in front of him and removed Mark's socks and shoes as he admired the man's feet. He'd never thought of feet as something attractive, but Mark's were pink and smooth and nicely shaped, just like the rest of him was sure to be.

Somehow, he managed to fight off the urge to suck Mark's toes, and soon the gorgeous redhead was laid back on the bed, all but his handsome face safely hidden from Simon's view by the comforter that Simon had tucked under Mark's chin.

With a final kiss to Mark's cheek and a whispered, "Good night," Simon turned to leave the room. Without a doubt, the rest of the night would be pure torture and he knew that he needed to get away from Mark before he caved to the hunger still glowing in Mark's eyes. Maybe that made him a fool, but at least he'd be able to look at himself in the mirror in the morning. For now, he had a date with his hand.

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If you'd like to be added to the update list just let me know at jlori10@yahoo.com and I'll hook you up.

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Jeez... When will these two give it up and put out? *grins* I can tell you this much. It won't be much longer.

Oh! And don't forget to review. Want to hear from you guys. Yes, yes. Most definitely do. Well, I'm outta here and see you next time. Later taters.