My Middle School Crush (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 21

Chapter 21: A Date, as F*ck Buddies of Course

As Mark looked at Mason, the intensity of his gaze made Mason shiver. What was he thinking? Mason wondered. But, really, would he ever truly find out?

Mason began to shift from foot to foot when the sound of the TV rang loudly between them. How long were they going to stand there, he wondered. His unease seemed to finally alert Mark of how long they'd been standing there. So, Mason got the wonderful privilege of seeing Mark go red. Mark rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat as he looked down at the floor. He was embarrassed.

Mason closed some of the distance between them, feeling more confident at the vulnerability Mark showed. Mark chanced a quick glance up to see what Mason was doing. Realizing that the other boy was not only smiling smugly but had moved several steps closer, Mark cleared his throat.

"Um, so, I, uh . . ." Mark was trying to find the right words, but when he brought his head up and saw Mason looking at him, he got a bit flustered. "Sorry, uh-"

"You came a lot earlier than I expected." Mason told him, deciding to take the conversation into his own hands. "I think if I tell my mom that you're going to be upstairs with me, we will have a couple of hours to ourselves. But, we'll have to be quiet."

Mark seemed confused as to what Mason was talking about. He squinted at Mason, trying to figure it out. Then his eyes went wide.

"Oh, wait no, that wasn't what I was trying to say!" Mark rushed out, a bit of panic in his voice.

"Then what were you trying to say?" Mason asked, now confused himself. "I thought we already talked about this?"

Mark shook his head, sighing softly to himself.

"But we didn't." Mason sent Mark a deadpan expression as if to say 'so I was talking to myself' and Mark began to elaborate. "I was thinking about it earlier today and I realized that I hadn't actually asked you about what you were comfortable with."

Mason's brows furrowed. He was sure he agreed with Mark's conclusion, but he quickly realized that this was a conversation they probably didn't want to have in the foyer.

"Why don't we go upstairs to talk?" Mason said softly, turning around before Mark could agree or not. "Mom, Mark and I will be in my room!"

Mason barely heard Mrs. Moore yell "okay" in response because he and Mark were already near the top of the steps. As Mason walked towards his room, Mark's warm body radiating heat behind him, he nearly laughed. When he imagined walking Mark up to his room that day, he'd expected for them to be making out passionately, barely able to keep their hands off one another. Instead, he was tense, a bit worried about what Mark was going to say.

Mason sat down on his bed, but Mark remained standing, his back against the door.

"Dinner." Mark stated, looking down at Mason with sudden conviction in his eyes.

"Dinner?" Mason repeated, an eyebrow quirked.

Mark seemed to falter a bit for some reason and chuckled unsurely.

"Uh, or lunch if you'd like. But, I would like us to get something to eat."

Mason rubbed at his temples, finding that he was still out of the loop on this one. When did fucking turn into wine and dining? He thought that he and Mark would get in his room, have a good time, then say goodbye. He had not anticipated getting a nice meal or a decent conversation out of this. Did he and Mark have different ideas of how friends with benefits acted?