for the prompts: “Am I your lockscreen?” “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
(so mobile tumblr’s bitchiness forced me to retype out this entire fucking thing on desktop. you guys better like this.)
“Oh, jeez. I’m so sorry, Seán.”
“It’s fine. Hey, you may never know,” he added, shrugging, “it may be important.”
Still, it was rude. This was their day out together, and on the anniversary of the day they met - their “Friendship Day”, so to speak. Though, being in a restaurant like this, it felt sort of date-like. And having his phone out when there was so much for them to talk about and catch up on, and plenty of time to do so while they waited for their food to arrive, was rude.
Mark pulled his vibrating phone out of his pocket, up onto the table and- shit. Oops.
He forgot about that. The fact that he’d changed his lockscreen to one of those “secret” pictures he and Seán took on their first proper hangout together. The goofy pretending-to-kiss-Seán-while-he-contentedly-grins picture.Honestly, Mark wasn’t sure ifSeán kept the copy Mark sent him. But Mark kept it, and all the other fake-romance ones, too. And in the coming days before this special day, he set that old picture of him fake-kissingSeán’s soft and squishy and fuzzy and adorable cheek as his lockscreen. He wanted to kiss it for real.Seán was fucking beautiful inside and out. But how did he tell him that?
He shoved the fantasy out of his mind, checking the Concerned Mom text and sending a response back, then set it to silent. But as he went to put it back in his pocket,Seán stopped him.
“Wait- can I see that real quick?”
“That picture on your phone.”
No. No no no, you may not see that picture on my phone. “Uh, why?”
Seán seemed bewildered at Mark’s defensiveness. Fuck. “I… just thought I saw you and me on it, and I…”
Now Mark’s face was a furnace.
“…Something wrong, buddy?”
Oh, nothing, only that you’re really putting me on the spot and you weren’t supposed to see that and I’m an idiot for ever putting it on my phone in the first place, just ignore it, just ignore me, pretend this never happened, please. “Uh… No.” Against his better judgment, he handedSeán the phone, fingers brushing and sending a rush of tortuous euphoria through his veins. “Here you go.”
Seán pressed the power button and that goddamn precious smile came back. “Aww. You still have this picture? I was kind of worried you might not.”
“I don’t know what happened to my copy. I think I must’ve lost it between getting new phones.”
“I can send it to you again if you’d like.”
“Thanks, buddy!” Buddy. He liked that, but… “Do you have the other ones, too?”
Seán gave a short laugh. “You sure say ‘uh’ a lot.”
“Sorry, you just put me on the spot a little. Uh, yeah, I do have them.”
Seán frowned. “They’re just pictures?”
“Well, it’s just…!” His hands flailed for the right words. “Weird when you know what’s in them!” He caught sight of their food coming towards them. Thank God. Please make this end.Seán handed back his phone, and was it just Mark, or did he let their hands touch again this time?
The interaction played over and over through his head during the silent ride back toSeán’s house.Seán wanted those pictures, right? Why? Did he feel the same way, and was just as scared and awkward about expressing it as Mark was? Or did he detect Mark’s crush and felt uncomfortable with that knowledge, having only asked for them out of total innocence?
He jolted out of his headspace. Oh, they were almost there. “Yeah?”
“You’re gonna stick around for a bit, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. Just want to hang out in person while I’ve got the chance. You know, since we live so far away and all…”
What happened back there wasn’t too awkward for you? But Mark kept quiet and accepted the fact thatSeán still wanted him in his house. Maybe he didn’t fuck up too badly.
It was indescribable, the scent ofSeán’s home. It may have been a far cry from the log cabin in the woods he once called home, but the smell whisked Mark away to exactly that era. His home smelled like a more innocent time, when the two were merely building a friendship off social media banter and playing games together, when they hugged and tickled and took childish selfies with each other, when they dyed their hair pink and green, when they just… had so much love to give. Before it started to ache.
In short,Seán’s home smelled likeSeán.
“Welcome to my humble abode!” he shouted into the echoing living room chamber with open arms. “Okay, maybe not that humble…” He gestured to the extravagant chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, then turned to Mark, beaming and shouting again, “But welcome to my abode anyway!”
“Thanks.” Unsure of where to go, Mark stood awkwardly in place.
“So…” The lightened mood dissipated. “Do you want to… talk about what happened back there?”
Mark shrugged, moving his gaze to a random spot on the floor. “Not much to talk about.”
“Mark.”Seán took a step towards him. Close, but not in his face. Firm, but non-threatening. “If there’s anything you want to tell me - anything at all - now is the time to do it. While…” His voice cracked. “While we’re still together.”
He knew, didn’t he? He could tell, couldn’t he?
Still fixated on the floor, he forced out the obvious faster than his brain could stop him.
Then, Mark felt those soft, gentle fingers brushing against his own again. His pulse pounded in his temples. And he metSeán’s eyes.
They told him it was okay.
“You know…”Seán fully took both of Mark’s hands into his own. “I had a feeling that’s what’s been going on…”
He kissed Mark’s cheek. Shock waves surged through his chest.
“…and it took me a long time to realize that I hoped I was right.”
