Chapter 7: How to Spend Saturday Night
Vaughn was walking towards Mark's apartment door when Seth walked out of his own apartment. Seth was taking out the trash.
"Vaughn," Seth said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Evening, Seth. I am going to Mark's".
"Ah..." Seth looked stunned for a second. "I see," he frowned, and walked away, carrying a large garbage bag with him.
Vaughn knocked at Mark's door. He heard a muffled "Coming" from the other side.
"Hey," Mark greeted Vaughn as he opened the door. "Please come in". Mark held the door opened to let Vaughn in.
"I brought some wine. I hope you like red," Vaughn showed Mark a bottle of red wine.
Mark took the bottle that Vaughn offered him. "Thanks. If you don't mind having it with pizza".
Vaughn shrugged. "I don't mind". His eyes roamed around Mark's apartment. It was a bachelor apartment just like his, clean and neat. There was a bed, a low coffee table, a tall bookcase full of what looked like college textbooks, novels, and framed pictures, a TV set on a small stand, and a small kitchen table with four chairs. Vaughn approached the bookcase, and gazed at the framed pictures. There was a picture of a couple holding a blond kid between them. The woman in the picture was kissing the kid, while the kid struggled and pouted. The man, who resembled older Mark, was looking at the camera, smiling brightly. There was another picture of Mark on what looked like his high school graduation day, accompanied by a slender, older woman. The older woman looked a little frail as she leaned on Mark, smiling proudly at the camera, while Mark, also smiling, had his arm around her stooped shoulder.
"Are these pictures of your family?" Vaughn asked. "Where do they live?"
"Yeah, my parents," Mark approached the bookcase, and pointed at one of the pictures. "That's my aunt", he pointed at the other picture. Then he explained to Vaughn that all of them had passed away.
Vaughn didn't respond, but for a moment, there was a tenderness in his eyes as he looked back at the pictures.
Mark rummaged in his kitchen drawer, for a wine bottle opener. He opened the bottle that Vaughn brought, and set it on the kitchen table. He reached out for a couple of wine glasses from the kitchen cabinet, and set them on the table as well. "Have a seat. I am going to take the pizza out of the oven," he told Vaughn, as he put on his oven mitts.
Vaughn poured the wine into the glasses, and sat at the table, watching Mark slicing up the pizza. Mark placed the pizza on the table and two dinner plates. Vaughn eyed the pizza, other than mushrooms, there wasn't anything else that resembled non-meat stuff. Good, he nodded to himself. He grabbed a slice, and put it on his plate.
"I can never understand how a grown man, like you, can be so stubborn about not eating veggies. They are good for you, you know," Mark said. He leaned back at his chair, sipping his wine. Vaughn thought he caught a mischievous glint in Mark's eyes.
"Not that I don't like eating vegetables. I just prefer meat, potatoes and dairy, that's all. How do you think I get to be so tall, shortie?" Vaughn looked at Mark pointedly.
Mark's eyes narrowed. "Who are you calling shortie? I am...average height".
Vaughn shrugged. "There are only the two of us here, and you are shorter than me", he said as he took a bite of his pizza.
"What do you think of the pizza?" Mark asked. He rested his face on his hand, elbow resting on the table.
"Good," Vaughn responded. For a second he was wondering why Mark was watching him closely, but he finally shrugged, and took another bite of his dinner.
There was a slight smile at Mark's face, as he sipped his wine. Then he placed his wine glass at the table, and took a slice of pizza...
After dinner, they sat down side by side on the floor, behind the low coffee table, with their backs leaning against the bed, watching the DVD that Vaughn had brought.
"What a long week," Mark said, letting out a long, tired sigh. He drained his wine glass, and placed it on the coffee table.
"Yeah. I am glad it was over," Vaughn agreed. It had been a long and exhausting week. He poured the last of the wine into Mark's glass.
"I still couldn't believe that Lord Charles didn't say anything about me hitting his hand. I thought that he would certainly complain to the Chief..." Mark's voice was trailing.
"Well, I happened to be on a good term with the manager of the Butterfly Pavilion. I did him a favour a couple of years back. So I asked him to take extra special care of Lord Charles that night. And trust me, if the butterflies of the Butterfly Pavilion took extra special care of you, you probably wouldn't be able to think straight after that. Suffice to say, that Charles probably didn't remember you slapped his hand..." Vaughn shrugged.
Then Vaughn realized that Mark hadn't responded. He turned his head.
"Mark...?" He whispered as he inched closer. He soon realized that Mark had fallen asleep.
How could you fall asleep when I am talking to you? Vaughn thought as he glared at Mark. Tsk, you are so not cute, he sulked silently. He turned the TV off.
"Come on. Don't fall asleep on the floor," Vaughn grunted, as he lifted Mark off the floor. Mark mumbled something.
As Vaughn laid Mark on the bed, he couldn't help but stared at Mark's throat. Mark's skin was a little flushed. Must be from the wine, Vaughn concluded. Then as if it had a mind on its own, his hand reached out to caress Mark's cheek with the back of his knuckles. Gently he planted a kiss on Mark's cheek. From there, he planted another kiss of Mark's lips. They tasted like wine.
"Hmm...?" Mark said sleepily.
I just want a little taste, Vaughn thought, as he held Mark's face in his hand, and kissed him again, a little forcefully this time. The next thing Vaughn knew, he was on top of Mark, his mouth was roaming Mark's throat and ears, kissing and sucking, while his hand was wandering under Mark's shirt. Mark sighed, as put his arms around Vaughn's neck...
With great effort Vaughn stopped himself, and pried Mark's arms off. He forced himself to stand. "That's enough for today. You are not thinking straight," Vaughn said firmly, more to himself than to Mark. He pulled the blanket over Mark, who muttered what sounded like a protest, and snuggled to a pillow under the blanket.
I changed my mind, Vaughn thought, he is very cute. "Good night, Mark," he whispered as he lowered his head, and kissed Mark on the cheek once again. He closed his eyes as he let his lips rested on Mark's cheek for a second longer, breathing in his scent. Then he re-opened his eyes, and straightened himself up. He left a note on the table before letting himself out, making sure that the door was locked behind him...
When Mark opened his eyes, it was already mid-morning. I had this wonderful dream, he thought as he stretched lazily. I was kissing Vaughn. The memory of the dream made him feel warm and content, until he realized that he must have fallen asleep in the middle of the movie. He sighed. Good job, he told himself silently. You got him all to yourself last night, and you fell asleep. What a fun guy you are, he thought darkly. He rose from the bed and was about to head to the bathroom, when he noticed a written note left on the coffee table.
"Bambi,
You fell asleep while I am talking to you. For that, you owe me another dinner next Saturday night. My place. Bring food and the DVD.
See you Monday"
A little smile formed on Mark's face as he headed to the bathroom for a shower.
He was drying his hair with a towel after his shower, when Mark heard someone knocking at the door. When he opened the door, he found his neighbour Seth standing on the other side.
"Seth..."
"Can I come in?" Seth was already walking into Mark's apartment.
"Yeah sure," Mark closed the door.
Seth sat on the floor by the low coffee table.
"What's up?" Mark sat beside Seth. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"No". Seth glared at Mark. "There is a hickey on your neck".
Mark's face was burning as he covered the hickey with his hand. He had noticed the hickey of course when he was going through his morning routine, and he had wondered if his dream wasn't all just a dream. "Oh yeah, uh...that's...well..."
"Did Vaughn give that to you?" Seth clutched at Mark's shirt, and pulled the other man towards him.
"I...I don't remember. Must have..."
"What kind of person are you who couldn't remember if someone kissed you?" Seth was shocked. His eyes widen. "Fine. Then you can forget about this too!" Suddenly he pushed Mark down onto the floor.
"What the hell?"
Seth tried to catch Mark's arms to pin him down. But he was thrown back as Mark punched him in the face.
Mark pushed himself up to his feet. "What the hell do you think you are doing?" His fists were clenched. His eyes flashed.
"You hit me!" Seth rubbed the spot on his face where Mark had punched him. He sounded as if he couldn't believe that Mark actually hit him.
"Well, what did you expect? You attacked me!" Mark barked back.
Seth glowered for a second, and then his face fell. "Sorry...sorry...I don't know what came over me". He covered his face. "It's just...it's just that I have liked you for a while, ever since I saw you on campus...and then I see you and Vaughn..." He stared at the floor.
"Ah..." Mark was stunned. He sat back down on the floor. "I...I am sorry Seth. But I don't think I feel the same".
Seth raised his head. "I know. You like Vaughn, don't you?"
Mark felt his face burning once more as he nodded slowly. "I...I think I have liked him since I was fourteen..."
"Really? All these years?" Seth looked at Mark in disbelief. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Huh. Just my luck. To like someone like you". He looked away for a moment, without saying anything. "Fine, I won't get in your way. But did you know that Vaughn's relationships don't usually last very long? It's true. Julia told me". Seth watched Mark's face closely. He saw the expression that he had wanted to see: the horrified look on Mark's face. "So you see, he doesn't deserve someone like you, and one day, he will throw you away, just like he threw away all those men before you".
Seth noted with satisfaction, the pain on Mark's face. There can be no love without pain, Seth thought, delicious, exquisite pain. One day you'll see, Mark, that there can be no pleasure without pain...I'll show you. Wait, what is that, Seth wondered, as he watched Mark's face. He thought he saw a look of defiance. He is fighting me, Seth concluded. Good, it is more fun this way.
Seth moved slowly to close the distance between him and Mark. "One day, when Vaughn had enough of you, promise me that you will try to love me instead. If you do, I promise I'll love you more than Vaughn can ever love you...In the meanwhile, I will be your friend". Seth smiled as he rose to his feet, and walked out of Mark's apartment.
End of Chapter 7
