Jason and You Makes Two

Big thanx go to Lisa for proofing this one for me! *hugs* Gotta run guys. The preschool bus'll be here any minute! Ahhhhhh!

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Chapter 22

“Just great!” Mark fumed to himself as he pushed open his car door and climbed back out. He didn’t have time for this right now. He needed to run by the costume shop and pick up his Halloween outfit for the party later. The place would be closed before he’d be able to leave work and he’d promised Simon weeks ago that he’d go with him. Add to that, he was due for work at Wyatt Construction in about forty-five minutes. Now this!

He knew deep down what the problem was. The stupid car had been acting up for over a month, but he hadn’t been able to scrape up the cash to get it worked on, much less found the time to do it himself. Mark snorted in disgust at that thought. Like he’d have been able to fix it anyway. A mechanic he was not.

With a sigh, he walked around the car to make sure nothing was in the way of the wheels. He knew he was being stupid, and that it was a stretch, but he couldn’t help hoping that maybe, just maybe, there was a parking barrier in the way or that somebody had played a prank and had jammed some bricks beneath his tires. As luck would have it, there wasn’t anything even remotely in the way.

Biting back a curse, he went back around and climbed back in before cranking over the engine and putting it in reverse again. Again, nothing happened. The car started and the engine revved when he gave it gas, but the car refused to move an inch. Mark slumped back into his seat with a pained groan and rubbed his hands over his face as he tried to figure out what to do. If he just left his car here, it’d be towed away after nightfall. He really didn’t have the extra cash to pay the tow bill either.

After a couple more minutes, he decided he really didn’t have a choice in the matter and got out again to head back into the building. It took a little effort, but he finally found a professor in her office and borrowed a phone book. Then he called a tow company and arranged to have the car picked up and delivered to his apartment until he could figure out what to do. That done, he ambled his way back out to the parking lot, giving Nancy a call along the way to let her know that his car had broken down and that he’d be late. She’d simply taken down the message with a few words of encouragement and promised to let Nathan know.

What he’d expected to be an enjoyable start to the weekend was turning out to be anything but. By the time the tow truck finally pulled into the lot twenty minutes later, Mark’s mood had gone from irritated to brooding. It didn’t help matters when the tow truck driver was rude and refused to take a check. Ten minutes, and a trip to the ATM for cash, later and Mark’s car was finally loaded and he was left standing on the sidewalk with his heavy backpack and no way to get to where he needed to go.

He watched his car as it was pulled out of the lot without him and grumbled to himself before scanning the area for a bus stop. He knew there had to be one close by, since a lot of the college kids used them for transportation.

It only took a few seconds before he spotted one further down, on the other side of the street. He took off in that direction, not sure which one he needed to take to get to the costume shop and feeling more stressed by the second. Just as he stepped up to the crosswalk, a car eased to a stop in front of him and blew its horn. Mark recognized it immediately, and didn’t waste a second reaching for the door, and hopping in with a big smile.

“Thanks, Nathan. You saved me this time,” he chirped as he tossed his bag in the backseat and buckled his seatbelt.

“No problem, son. You should’ve just called me in the first place,” Nathan replied with a no-nonsense tone and a harassed expression. “How many times do I have to tell you, that you’re part of the family now? This is just the kind of things family does for each other.”

It was on the tip of Mark’s tongue to say that that wasn’t necessarily the case in some families. Instead, Mark blushed and shrugged, still embarrassed whenever Nathan talked that way. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to it, no matter how good it made him feel. “I know, but I don’t want to be a bother. You’re a busy guy and it’s not like it would’ve killed me to take the bus.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow and shook his head, like he had reservations about that. Then he changed the subject rather than argue with Mark over the point. “What’s going on with your little car?”

“Transmission’s shot,” Mark murmured, sinking a little deeper into the seat, as his most recent mini-crisis came to mind. “It’s been acting up for a while now. I’m not sure what to do about it. Maybe Chandra can loan me her car for a couple of days while I have it looked at.”

“Can you afford to have it fixed? Transmissions aren’t cheap,” Nathan pointed out with a sigh as he turned off onto a side street.

“Yeah, tell me about it.” There was really no point in playing it down. Mark knew he was screwed. For what it would cost to replace the transmission he could put a down payment on a cheap car. As they turned off onto a main street that would take them to Wyatt Construction, Mark suddenly remembered that he was supposed to make a quick stop. “Do you mind running by the costume shop on Third Street? I hate to ask, but it’ll be closed before I can get back, and Simon’ll be disappointed if I stand him up tonight.”

With a roll of his eyes, Nathan slowed down and turned off again to change directions. “Aren’t you two a little old for Halloween?”

“Yeah, probably,” Mark replied, refusing to meet Nathan’s eyes. He’d thought the same thing, but Simon…

“I don’t mind,” Nathan announced, breaking into Mark’s thoughts. “But you need to make it quick. You’re already late for work and we still have to figure out how you’re going to make the pickups.”

Mark felt like crawling under the seat. If it weren’t for the fact that he and Simon hadn’t seen much of one another lately, he’d have never asked Nathan to go to the trouble. As it was, Mark had only managed to squeak out a day or two during each week and half of each weekend to spend time with his lover. It’d been even worse this past week because Mark hadn’t seen Simon since last Saturday. “I will, I promise,” he said as he started looking around for the next turn off. It wasn’t that far up the street.

“About the car…” Nathan said as he made the right turn without Mark’s help. “How’re you going to get around now?”

If Mark were the type to curse, he’d have done it right then. “I guess I’ll have to take the bus, and I’m hoping that maybe you’ll let me use one of the company cars to do pickups this afternoon.”

Nathan glanced over at Mark before gluing his eyes back on the road. “We’ll have to see. All the cars are out on loan right now, though. We’ll have to figure something else out.”

Before Mark could shrivel up and die from humiliation, they pulled up to the costume shop. Not sure what else to say on the subject, he just nodded, trying his best to hide his frustration, as he got out of the car. A quick trip into the shop, and Mark was back, loading his costume into the backseat with a frown. It felt like a heavy weight had settled on him, although he knew that the chances of Nathan firing him because he’d lost his only mode of transportation were slim to none. Not with the contract they had now. Still, what the heck was he going to do?

Once Mark got back into the car, they rode for a while in silence, Nathan watching the street in front of them, and Mark tearing his mind apart trying to find a solution to his problem. The only sound in the car was the blacktop beneath the tires and the thump of Nathan’s thumb tapping against the steering wheel. Just when things were bordering on awkward, Nathan glanced over. “It’s a shame you haven’t moved in with Simon already. You could’ve borrowed his car for a few days. You might have to anyway.”

Mark nearly cringed at those words. Not only had Simon not asked him to move in, Mark wasn’t comfortable with the idea. Not when he was so broke. There was no way he’d be able to pay his fair share of the bills. Simon’s house payment alone would be enough to wipe Mark out for the month. “I don’t think we’re ready to take that kind of step,” Mark replied quietly, avoiding Nathan’s questioning look as he did so. “Besides, even if I did live there, it would still be Simon’s car. I just wouldn’t feel comfortable taking advantage of our relationship that way.”

“You have any money saved up?”

“A little bit,” Mark admitted, although he was embarrassed to tell Nathan how little that really was. “The car’s pretty old, though. I’m not sure it’s worth sinking that kind of cash into.”

“Any credit?” Nathan pressed when Mark didn’t elaborate further.

Mark shrugged before realizing that Nathan probably couldn’t see him from where he sat watching the road. “I’ve never really bought anything on credit. My parents didn’t believe in buying things if you didn’t have the money saved up. I guess they rubbed off on me.”

A sigh and a nod from Nathan was Mark’s only assurance that the man had heard him. Then silence fell again. When they finally pulled up to the lot for Wyatt Construction, Mark had to bite back a sigh of relief. Seeing Nathan so quiet was creepy and Mark wasn’t sure what to make of it. He felt almost like he’d let the man down in some way. Nathan climbed out of the car, and Mark followed right behind him. Just before they went into the building, Nathan turned and patted Mark on the shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.

“I’ll ask Nancy if she can handle the runs for today. We’ll figure the rest out later. At least it’s Friday. That’ll give you the weekend to get things straightened out.”

Before Mark could even form a reply, Nathan turned and went inside, leaving Mark out on the sidewalk somewhat relieved, but no closer to an answer than he had been earlier.

---

Mark stumbled into his apartment with his things, feeling like the weight of the world was still on his shoulders. Poor Nancy had ended up doing his running for the day, and he’d tried his best to take care of as much of her work as he could. He’d managed well enough, but he still felt bad about it all. Not that Nancy had minded. She’d been pretty chipper about it, reassuring Mark that these things happened and that she didn’t mind the temporary change of pace.

Unfortunately, none of that changed the fact that he’d had to ride the bus home and still had no idea what to do. He had to find a car before work started back up on Monday and he wasn’t sure what he could get for the pathetic amount of cash he had put back. Add to that, Nathan had sent him home two hours early since Mark had done all that he could do. Well, that and Nathan said he needed to go get the ball rolling on his car situation. The problem was, he’d called around to several mechanic shops throughout the afternoon, and it was definitely going to cost him way more to fix the car than it was worth.

In a daze, he dropped his backpack beside the door and draped his costume over the back of the couch, before heading for the kitchen. He’d missed lunch and was half-starved now. No sooner had he stepped into the kitchen, he came to a screeching halt and froze in the doorway. Chandra and Kevin were there, Chandra laid out on the table like a all-you-can-eat-het-buffet, and Kevin plowing into her like his life depended on it. How had he not heard that?! Some startled sound must have escaped him, because Chandra and Kevin immediately froze too and two sets of wide, startled eyes shot in his direction before Mark could make a quiet escape.

Chandra turned as white as a sheet, and then blood red - something that Mark was pretty sure he was doing at that moment - and then her arms came up to cover as much of her chest as humanly possible. Kevin kind of hovered over her, trying to hide her from Mark’s view while struggling to pull his pants back up over his naked hind end, cursing the entire time.

Mark immediately backed out of the kitchen and made a run for his bedroom. The first thought that hit him was that he ate off that table. The second thought was that he should have knocked before coming into the apartment. Then he snorted at the thought. Who the heck knocked before coming into his own home? Sure, Chandra had lived here first, but Mark paid his fair share and… Crap! How was he supposed to go back out there and look the two of them in the face after this? It was bad enough having to listen to them through the thin walls at night.

As soon as he’d made it to his room, Mark shut the door behind him and fell over on his mattress on the floor. He’d never been so embarrassed in his life. Well, except for the night he’d jerked off listening to the two of them go at it. This was a million times worse. For the second time that day, Mark was tempted to let out a curse. Several minutes later, when a tentative knock sounded at his door, Mark ignored it, hoping that they’d go away. That wasn’t going to happen, though.

The knock came again, this time accompanied by a strained, “Mark? I know you’re in there. We need to talk about this, okay?”

Great. Just great.

The last thing he wanted to talk about was what he’d seen in the kitchen. He could’ve gone his entire life without seeing that and been happy. If he could’ve, Mark would’ve gone to the laundry room and bleached his brain. Another ‘Mark!’ this one more anxious than the last, sounded outside his door, and Mark finally gave in to the need and grumbled, “Damnit!” as he rolled off the mattress and went to jerk the door open.

As soon as his eyes met Chandra’s, Mark’s face blazed red and he looked away. Chandra stood there for a few seconds, her cheeks still bright pink, before stammering, “Mark…I just don’t know what to…You weren’t supposed to be home this soon…”

Okay, Mark could give her that much. Still… “We had a deal Chandra, remember? No walking around half-dressed and no walking through closed doors without knocking. I think this fits somewhere under both categories, because there should’ve been a closed door!”

“I know, Mark, and we’re both sorry. This was just…Maybe if you’d called to give us a heads-up.” The color in Chandra’s cheeks darkened even more as she crossed her arms bashfully across her chest.

“I shouldn’t have to call,” Mark said with a sigh. This was getting more awkward by the second, and he didn’t see it getting better in the immediate future. Mark hadn’t been exactly comfortable since Kevin had moved in anyway. It wasn’t like the two hadn’t bent over backwards to make him feel welcome or…Maybe Mark felt the way he did was because they’d had to do that. He felt like he was in the way when they were all there, or like he was ruining the atmosphere.

“You’re right, Mark,” Chandra admitted without hesitation, her own frustration over the situation furrowing her brow. “You shouldn’t have to call first, and it won’t happen again. We just thought that since you’d be at…It doesn’t matter what we thought. You live here too, and it’s not fair of us to expect you to…”

“I don’t think this is going to work for me,” Mark finally blurted out with a sigh and an apologetic half-smile. “You’re my best friend and always will be, but…” Mark paused, looking for just the right words. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Chandra’s feelings, or make her feel like he didn’t appreciate all the help she’d given him. “This was always meant to be a temporary thing. And it’s not fair to the two of you to have to tiptoe around and hold back in your own apartment.”

Chandra’s eyes widened at those words and Mark thought for a moment that she might argue. Instead, she kind of wilted and let out a slow breath. “Maybe you’re right. Not that I want you to move or anything like that, but if you’re not comfortable here then…We never meant to make you feel that way.”

“I know you didn’t,” Mark said as he reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder. “I think it’s just natural in this kind of situation. You two just moved in together and you both need your privacy. Besides, I’ve been thinking about this for a while and just wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Not that I can move out tomorrow or anything anyway. I have to save up some money, and then there’s the car problem to deal with.”

By the funny look Chandra gave him, Mark knew that she hadn’t noticed the tow truck dropping off his vehicle earlier. “Did something happen to your car?” she asked, as if to confirm his suspicions.

“Yeah, it died today,” Mark grumbled, his shoulders slumping even more as his mind started racing again. “I need to find something else and that’ll take every dime that I’ve managed to save up to now.”

“That sucks,” Chandra grumbled before cocking her head to the side and tapping her foot against the tile for a few seconds. “How much do you have now?”

“Only about fifteen-hundred,” Mark admitted grudgingly.

Chandra grimaced at that, before staring at Mark for a few more seconds. Then she nodded her head, like she’d made up her mind about something. “Hold on, okay?” she chirped before taking off down the hallway and calling out for Kevin. Curious, Mark followed.

As soon as they stepped into the living room, Kevin flinched and looked up at Mark with a sheepish expression. When he opened his mouth to speak, Mark quickly held up both hands to ward him off. “Please don’t bring that up,” he pleaded.

Kevin turned a little red at the ears and laughed at him. “What’s wrong, Mark? Too much for you?”

“Oh, stop,” Chandra growled, swatting Kevin’s shoulder. “I need to ask you something.”

“What’s up?” Kevin asked.

“Do you know if your brother’s traded his car in yet?”

Kevin thought about it for a second and shrugged. “I’m not sure what the dude decided to do with it. He was talking about hanging onto it last I heard, because the dealership was trying to rip him off on the trade-in. Why?”

Chandra slumped a little and flopped down on the couch beside Kevin. “Oh.”

Mark followed her example and did the same thing, only in the chair nearby. “I need a car,” Mark explained sadly. “Mine died today and I’m strapped for cash.”

As soon as the words were out, Kevin was off the couch. “Give me a sec, okay?” he mumbled as he went into the kitchen, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket along the way.

“I’m not holding my breath,” Mark said with a sigh, as he looked over to where Chandra was now lying on the couch.

“Don’t blame you. Sounds like Jerry’s wanting to make some green off his old ride. I was just hoping that if he’d decided to do a trade-in, you might be able to buy it for close to what the dealer was going to give him.”

“And how much was that?” Mark asked, although he knew he was wasting his time. What he really needed to be doing right now was checking the newspaper for sales ads or cruising the buy-here-pay-here lots.

“Last I heard, they only offered him two thousand, greedy bastards. It’s pretty low mileage too. Well, for an older car anyway.”

Mark turned around in his chair so that his legs were hanging over one arm, and let his head fall back on the other. “Sounds like it’s out of my price range either way,” he observed as he stared up at the ceiling fan, watching it wobble slightly, as it turned overhead. He really needed to fix that soon. Lord knew if he left it up to Kevin, it’d end up worse than it is now.

“Jerry’s a pretty good guy,” Chandra said, pulling Mark out of his thoughts. “I was hoping that he might…”

“He said that he still has the car if you want to come look at it,” Kevin announced as he ambled his way back into the room, and flopped down beside Chandra.

“How much?” Mark asked automatically.

“He’s asking thirty-five-hundred for it,” Kevin shot back.

“Ouch. That’s way out of my league,” Mark groaned as he ran a frustrated hand over his face.

“I told him you were in a hard spot but that I’d vouch for you,” Kevin assured him with a lopsided grin. The guy was kind of cute when he did that.

“What’d he say about that?” was Mark’s next question. He couldn’t help but get his hopes up. Maybe he was getting spoiled lately, since everything else had just landed in his lap so easily.

Kevin shrugged before slipping an arm around Chandra’s shoulders. “He said if you could come up with half the cash up front, he’d let you pay the other half in monthly payments. He’ll just have to put a lien on the title when you transfer it over.”

That grabbed Mark’s attention, and he immediately sat back up and pinned Kevin with an excited look. “No kidding?”

“No kidding,” Kevin replied with a slow grin.

“And the engine’s in good shape?” Mark didn’t really care about the rest. All he needed to know was that it wouldn’t break down on him a few weeks down the road.

“Jerry runs a garage, Mark,” Kevin pointed out with a roll of his eyes, like Mark should’ve known that already. Now that he thought about it, Mark remembered vaguely hearing something like that before. “He treats his cars better than most people treat their kids.”

Mark was nearly bouncing at this point, but the second his mind buckled down to do the math, his smile fell. He didn’t have enough for half up front, and he definitely wouldn’t have enough for tax, licensing, and transfer fees. If it wasn’t one thing standing in his way, it was another. Still, he wasn’t likely to get a better offer than this one. He’d scrape the cash up if it killed him.

The first thought that came to mind was borrowing it from Simon, but he quickly nipped that one in the bud. Next he considered asking Nathan for a little advance on his salary, but tossed that thought aside too. The man had already done too much for Mark. Asking for more would just be…Either way, it wasn’t happening. He didn’t really have anything to sell besides his broken down car.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go talk to him about it,” Mark finally conceded. If nothing else, maybe the guy would cut him a good deal on fixing his Chevette. “I can tell you now, though, I don’t have enough to pay him what he’s asking up front.”

Chandra made an abrupt ‘ppftt’ sound before rolling her eyes and glaring at Mark. “Please, like it’ll amount to that much. I can spot you the extra you’ll need for now, and you can pay me back. If I don’t have enough put back, then I’m sure Kevin’ll be happy to chip in.”

“You know it, man,” Kevin said without hesitation. “Want to head over now?”

Mark felt a little choked up by their generosity, and was afraid his voice might crack if he tried to speak. After blinking away the burning at the back of his eyes and glancing at the clock, he cleared his throat and managed to croak, “Yeah, but I’m not sure there’s any point. There’s no way I could take money from you guys, especially after the way you’ve helped me out. You’ve already done more than enough. Maybe if I talk to Jerry, he’ll be willing to take a little less up front, though.”

“Never hurts to ask,” Chandra said with a frown as she studied Mark closely. “You really need to learn to rely on people a little more, Mark.”

‘And doesn’t that just sound familiar?’ Mark thought to himself, as he climbed out of the chair and stretched. Every muscle in his body felt tight, like he might snap if he moved too quickly. “Maybe you’re right,” Mark replied, more to get Chandra off his back before a real lecture started, than anything. Then he turned to Kevin. “Ready to go?”

---


Three hours later, Mark was riding down the street on his way to the Halloween party, an unusually quiet Simon beside him, and a new set of keys stashed away in his pocket. He wasn’t sure whether to be happy about his newly acquired 2000 Pontiac Sunfire, or pissed at Chandra and Kevin for sticking their noses into his business. He’d already made it clear that he wasn’t willing to take their charity. At least, he was pretty sure that’s what was going on.

All he knew for sure was that Jerry hadn’t been real thrilled with the idea of taking less cash up front. Then, all of a sudden, Kevin needed to talk to his brother in private, and when the guy came back, he had a big grin on his face and had completely changed his attitude. Add to that, Kevin had refused to give him a straight answer after they left, and Mark was pretty sure that money had changed hands, or would one day soon.

Either way, it was done and they were supposed to meet at the courthouse in the morning to transfer the title. Mark had started to back out on the deal because he knew that Chandra and/or Kevin had had something to do with it all. When they’d gotten back to the apartment, Chandra had acted all shocked and innocent, though, and Kevin had retreated to his bedroom.

Finally Mark had given up. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t pay them all back eventually. It still stung his pride. He was a grown man, and was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Simon’s reaction had also stung a bit. Oh, he’d acted happy for Mark, but Mark could see it in his eyes that he was annoyed about something. His lover had also made the comment that Mark could’ve borrowed his car until he figured something out. Apparently, Simon thought the 122,000 miles already on the Pontiac was too much, and that Mark should’ve looked around for something newer. Mark snorted at that thought. Yeah, right. It wasn’t like he could afford anything newer.

Almost reluctantly, he turned his attention back to Simon. His lover’s silky, sandy-brown hair was half hidden by the cowboy hat he was wearing, and his pretty blue eyes were shadowed by the brim. Mark didn’t need to see them to know that the man was still thinking, though. The small tic that had developed in Simon’s jaw told Mark all he needed to know. Not that they’d argued or anything. Mark could have handled that better. This passive-aggressive crap was starting to wear thin, because the last thing Mark wanted was for one of their rare nights out together to be ruined, especially when Mark didn’t even know what the problem was.

“Is Tim going to be there?” Mark asked, more to break the awkward atmosphere than anything.

Simon made some noncommittal sound and kept his eyes on the road. Mark barely bit back a groan of frustration as he melted back into his seat, blowing a puff of breath up when the feather in his headband fell forward to tickle his nose. Whose idea was it to dress as cowboys and Indians again? And why had he ended up stuck with the buckskins and a bow and arrow?

Mark watched silently as the scenery passed by, wondering again what his lover’s problem was. That was one nice thing about Jason; Mark never had to guess. His ex-lover would just shout it to the rooftops if he was pissed off about anything. Mark had never pegged Simon as a brooder. It was a little unnerving. When he couldn’t stand the strained silence between them a second longer, Mark turned back to Simon again.

“Do we need to pick up anything to take to the party?”

“Not really,” Simon murmured back, his voice barely audible above the quiet sound of a Three Days Grace song playing on the stereo.

This time Mark really did groan out loud before pulling off the irritating headband and tossing it on the dash of Simon’s truck. “I swear, Simon. If you don’t tell me what your problem is, I’ll just go back home and we can forget the party. I have enough crap to do anyway without wasting a night not talking to you.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Simon replied calmly, as if Mark hadn’t just ripped him a new one.

Mark let out a snort of disgust before pinning Simon with a glare. “You know what? Just forget it. Take me home. I don’t have time for mind games.”

Within seconds, Simon pulled off into an empty spot lining the street and turned to look Mark in the eyes. “I’ve been waiting all week to see you. I don’t want to fight.”

“And what?” Mark shot back with a growl. “You think that sitting there brooding and not speaking to me is better? If you have a problem, then just spit it out and get it over with. I’m already stressed to the ‘t’ here, even before you showed up. I refuse to sit here and play guessing games all night when I don’t have the first clue what your problem is.”

Simon snatched the cowboy hat off his head and tossed it in the seat before letting his head fall back against the headrest with an exaggerated sigh. “What do you want me to say, Mark?”

“How about you tell me what has your jock in a twist.”

Simon rolled his head to the side to look over at Mark, the expression on his face a bland, ‘I can’t believe you went there’ kind of thing. “I don’t want to talk about this right now. The last thing I want to do is piss you off, or make you feel like you have to answer to me.”

With a less than amused smirk, Mark met Simon’s exasperated gaze head-on. “Well, you’re doing a pretty crappy job of it if you ask me. I can tell something’s bugging you, something I did, and not knowing what I did to get the silent treatment is definitely pissing me off.”

“I just…” Simon paused, looking out at the traffic passing by on the street, like one of the cars might give him the answer. “I’m not sure how to say it without making you feel like I’m trying to stick my nose in your business. I know you can take care of yourself, and I know you’re a grown man. It’s just that…”

“Just that what?” Mark pushed, more confused now that Simon was trying to talk to him, than he had been before.

Simon sat there, floundering, the silence seeming to grow heavier with each passing breath. He bit at his bottom lip for a second before turning to eye Mark cautiously. “We’re together, right? I mean, like - committed, I love you and you love me, and we both want to spend the rest of our lives together if that’s at all possible - together?”

“Yeah,” Mark stammered, feeling more off center by the second. “We’ve talked about this before, Simon. I don’t understand why you’re worried about it now.” And Mark really didn’t. Besides not getting the chance to hang out with Simon this week, the only other thing that had happened was his car breaking down. That wasn’t really Simon’s problem and had nothing to do with them as a couple, so Mark didn’t understand what had Simon in such a lather.

“I’m not sure how to explain this, Mark, but that’s just not the vibe I’m getting from you. Sure, when we’re together things are usually great, but that’s really not all that often when you think about it. I’ve had sex friends who I spent more time with.”

“I don’t know what you expect me to do about that,” Mark shot back defensively. “Between work and school, I barely have time to sleep. It takes a lot of hard work on my part to set aside that extra time to…”

“That’s part of the problem, I think,” Simon murmured quietly as his eyes drifted out to the street again. “It’s like you take everything on to yourself. You won’t let anyone help out or…”

“I’m a grown man, Simon,” Mark pointed out in what he hoped was a patient tone. In reality, he was starting to get very ticked off. “I don’t need someone to hold my hand and take care of me.” He was doing the best he could. Apparently that wasn’t enough for Simon. Mark’s frown deepened at that thought, just as Simon glanced back in his direction.

“But what if I need to hold your hand and take care of you?” Simon asked as he reached up to cup Mark’s cheek in his palm. “Not that I want to run your life or treat you like a child, but…Doesn’t being your lover mean that I’m allowed to help you? Hold you when you need it? Or just be there to give you a massage when you’re stressed or tired? Can’t you let me in just a little?”

Mark just sat there. He didn’t have a response to that. How could he? He’d thought that things were just fine between them. Sure, they hadn’t been spending as much time together as he would have liked, but Mark had no idea how to fix that since he couldn’t afford to cut back on his school or work time. “I just don’t know what you want from me,” Mark finally replied honestly, and Simon immediately dropped his hand from Mark’s cheeks and settled back into his seat.

“I want you to come to me when you need me, instead of hiding behind the macho, posturing bullshit. We all know that you’re a grown man. You don’t have to prove that, especially to me of all people. I’ve seen the evidence.” Mark couldn’t help but chuckle at the way Simon leered down at his crotch, as he said those words. Then everything went serious again when Simon’s smile fell and he pinned Mark with his pleading gaze again. “I want to feel like I’m important in your life, not just some expendable guy you have sex with a couple of times a week.”

Mark’s eyebrow shot up at that, as his irritation surfaced again. “Now I know you’re messing with me. There’s no way you could honestly believe that, not after everything we’ve…”

“How do you think I felt when I found out from my dad, of all people, that your car was broken down?” Simon demanded, the first hint of anger beginning to show in his voice.

“The only reason you heard it from him, was because he’s my boss, Simon. I had to call and let them know I’d be late.”

“And that makes it better why?” Simon asked pleadingly as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I should have been the first person you called. I’m your lover, for Christ’s sake. It’s my right to know when you need help. I should’ve been the one you called for a ride.”

“Nathan did that on his own!” Mark grumbled, holding his hands up to stop Simon’s rant, before the guy could really get going. “I was more than happy with the idea of taking the bus.”

“That’s just it!” Simon shouted, his hand tightening around the steering wheel of the truck. “You shouldn’t have to take the bus. And Nancy shouldn’t have had to take over your route. I could have just as easily come to pick you up and drop you off at my house. Then you could’ve borrowed my car for the day. Problem solved. It was that simple. But did you do that? No! You left me in the dark like you always do. By the time I found out about it, you’d already left for home, and my dad was twisted in knots trying to figure out a way to help you out without being too obvious, because he knew that you’d be too stubborn and proud to accept it. Do you know how frustrating that is to everybody around you? Then, I come over to see what I can do for you after I get off work, and you’ve already gone out and bought the first car you stumbled across to replace your old one, and still not a single call to me. Not even to say, ‘Hey honey, my car’s shot. I’m going to buy a new one. Talk to you later.’ Nothing.”

“Ummm……..Okay?” Mark replied, still a little in shock from Simon’s tirade, and totally unsure what the heck he’d done wrong when it came down to it. It wasn’t like he needed Simon’s permission to buy a car. “Are you finished now? Got that all out of your system?”

“No, I’m not!” Simon growled, and you could’ve knocked Mark over with a feather. What else could there be? Simon didn’t hesitate to lay out another long list of Mark’s ‘sins’. “And what about the homework thing? You stay tucked away at your apartment, struggling to get it all done and saying you don’t have time to spend with me when you could have just as easily brought it along with you, and let me help out. But do you? No. You don’t want my help.”

“It’s not about wanting your help, or not wanting it,” Mark exclaimed in his own defense. “It’s my homework. I have to be the one to do it. What’re you going to do? Sit there and watch me? It’s not like you can write my papers for me or do my math assignments.”

“No, but it would sure as hell make it a lot quicker and easier for you if you could ask somebody who’s already been there and done that instead of having to look everything up on your own and figure it all out without help. Hell, for that matter, I could help you do the research for your papers online while you work on other things. Just imagine how much time that would save you.”

“But that doesn’t change that fact that it’s my work and my responsibility,” Mark argued, begging with his eyes for Simon to understand. “Do you honestly think any of the other students have someone offering to do their work for them? It wouldn’t be fair, and I wouldn’t learn as much in the long run by having everything handed to me on a silver platter.”

Simon groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face, before fixing his disbelieving eyes on Mark again. “In all honesty, they do. They get together and do their homework in groups. I used to do it all the time in college. It’s the same with big papers and tests. But, all that aside, even if you never asked me a single question, wouldn’t it be nice to just be in the same house? In the same room? To know that if one of us just glances up, he’ll be able to see the other?” In all honesty, Mark couldn’t argue with that. He’d thought the same thing himself, but had never brought it up. After all, it would have been a pain in the ass for Simon to have to stare at him while Mark ignored him and did homework. Apparently, Mark’s thoughts didn’t bleed through into his expression, because Simon gave him a look that said ‘I can’t believe you don’t feel the same way’, and then blushed as he admitted, “I’m lonely, Mark. I got so used to having you around, and now it’s just me, alone, in that big damn house. Do you know how many times I started out to my car to drop in at your apartment, and then turned back because I was afraid I’d be putting you out?”

The hurt expression on Simon’s face melted Mark on the spot and, if they hadn’t been in such a public place, Mark would’ve crawled right onto his big, strong construction worker’s lap and kissed him. Instead, he settled for reaching up to trace his fingertips across Simon’s stubbled cheek with a gentle smile. “You know you’re always welcome.”

“Sometimes, I’m not so sure,” Simon replied simply, the confusion in his pretty blue eyes echoing the sentiment.

Mark sighed, and leaned forward to brush their lips together. “Let’s just skip the party and go home. I think we need some one-on-one time tonight.”

That brought a smile to Simon’s face, one that lit up his eyes and made them sparkle. “I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard all week. Maybe we could watch a scary movie marathon and make some popcorn, cuddle up on the couch, and try not to scream like girls every time Freddy Krueger pops up on the screen.”

Mark giggled at the image that idea invoked, and shook his head as he stole another quick kiss. “The screaming part sounds okay, but I had other things in mind.”

“We can do that,” Simon replied with a wiggle of his eyebrows and a heart melting grin. Mark’s cock sprang to life at the sight of it.

“Maybe we could put that lasso in the backseat to good use too,” Mark suggested as he licked his lips and let his eyes wander to the front of Simon’s tight jeans. Yep. His man was already hard for him. Simon groaned and reached down to reposition himself before quickly checking the traffic and pulling back out into the street. “I don’t suppose that outfit came with a sheriff’s badge and handcuffs?” Mark asked when Simon didn’t reply.

“Don’t…” Simon groaned as he rubbed his free hand over his crotch. “Just…Please. Not another word until we get home.” Mark giggled again, and eased back into his seat with a huge grin. Sometimes Simon was just too easy. As to the earlier stuff Simon had mentioned, that was definitely something Mark was determined to work on. It seemed like Mark had a lot of making up to do, and he planned to start with a long weekend of nothing but Simon.

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