Chapter 12: How To Deal with Ex-Boyfriend Part 1

At the end of that fateful day, Mark finally sighed with relief. He dropped off Phoebe by the hotel, and walked towards his apartment with a heavy heart. Then on the whim, he had decided to go to Vaughn's apartment instead. He let himself in with his key. He figured that he would wait for Vaughn in his place, and ask for an explanation.

Imagine his surprise, when he found Will lounging on the sofa as he entered Vaughn's apartment.

"Oh," Will said, sitting up. Will had looked a little nervous, or maybe scared. "Who...who are you?"

Mark was stunned. Oh no, he thought, they are really getting back together. "I...I am here to return Vaughn's key," he said as he placed the key on the coffee table. Then he turned, and ran out of the apartment.

"Wait...!" Will yelled. But Mark didn't hear him.

Outside the building, Mark stopped, his breathing ragged. I can't believe this, he thought. His eyes blurred from tears. There was a pain in his chest, and he felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. This is the worst day in my life, he thought.

That was when he heard the thunder, and it started to rain, cold autumn rain, a trickle at first, and then a downpour. As the rain drenched him, as the coldness seeped into his skin, Mark was laughing and crying at the same time.

"Ha..ha...cheated and rained on. Now THIS is definitely the worst day of my life!" He shouted, looking up to the sky. For a moment, he stood there in the rain, looking up, tears flowing, not knowing what to do. He definitely didn't want to go back to his apartment. He didn't want to face the happy memories of the last four months as of yet. Dazed, his feet led him to Denny's apartment. He knocked at Denny's door.

"Bambi! What happened? You are soaked!" Denny cried out when he opened the door for Mark. "Come in! You need to change into dry clothes, or you'll catch a cold". Denny pulled his friend into the apartment, and pushed the blond straight into the bathroom. Then he took out a clean pair of jogging pants, a sweatshirt and a towel. "Here. Change into these," He told Mark, before closing the bathroom door. He boiled some water in a kettle to make hot chocolate.

After some time, Mark emerged from the bathroom, wearing Denny's clothes, and drying his hair with the towel.

"Have a sit. I am making hot chocolate," Denny said.

"Hey Elliot," Mark greeted Elliot weakly, as he sat on the floor beside the bespectacled man, by the coffee table.

"What happened to you, Mark?" Elliot said, with a gentle, quiet voice. Denny placed three mugs of steaming cocoa on the coffee table, and sat, cross-legged, on the floor as well.

"I...Vaughn..." Mark covered his face with his hands, and started to sob. He sobbed quietly for awhile, with Denny and Elliot waiting patiently, silently, until Mark could gather himself.

"He...he is back," Mark shivered. The rain had chilled him.

"Who is back? Drink your cocoa, Mark. It'll warm you up," Denny said.

Mark sipped his hot chocolate, thankful for the warmth. "Will is back. He was Vaughn's boyfriend in high school. I...I think...they are getting back together". His voice was breaking.

"What makes you think they are getting back together?" Elliot asked.

"Well, Vaughn has been avoiding me this past week. And then...and then today, when I went to his place, Will was there". Mark let out a long, sad sigh.

"Ah..." Denny was speechless.

"Denny..." Mark said, as both of his hands now clenched into tight fists, his knuckles white, and tears streaming down his face once again. "Why...why does it hurt so much? It has never hurt this badly..."

"What can I say, Mark. You are in love. When you are in love, it always hurt badly when it ends". Denny sighed. "I could say that you will get over it with time, but I don't think you want to hear that right now. Heck, I hate it whenever people said that to me".

"In love..." Mark whispered. "I am in love?"

Denny nodded. "Yeah, sorry dude. Listen, why don't you stay here overnight? You probably shouldn't be alone right now".

Mark nodded numbly.

"Okay, I am going to call a cab. And then you and I are going to your apartment, and pick up the stuff you need, okay? You can stay here for a few days, if you want," Denny rose from his seat, and reached for his phone, to call a taxicab.

The taxicab arrived ten minutes later, and took Mark and Denny to Mark's apartment. Denny gave the cab driver some money, and asked him to wait for them. Together, they went inside the apartment building.

In the hallway they ran into Seth, who was just returning home from his classes at SIU.

"Hey, Mark, Denny, how are..." Seth stopped as he saw Mark's face. Mark was very pale and his eyes were red-rimmed. "What happened to you?"

"Long story, Seth...some other time, okay?" Denny answered him.

"It's Vaughn, isn't it? He has enough of you, right?" Seth ignored Denny. He grabbed Mark's arm, and pulled the other man towards him. "I told you he is an ass..." He said with an obvious satisfaction in his voice.

Mark's eyes flashed for a second before he swung his arm to punch Seth in the face. "Let me go!"

Seth released Mark's arm, and moved his head backward swiftly, in time to avoid the punch. Then he grabbed Mark by the throat, and slammed the shorter man hard into the walls. Mark thought he saw stars.

"Vaughn doesn't want you! Get it into your thick skull!" Seth squeezed Mark's throat. "Just give up that cold bastard already!" He kissed Mark roughly.

"Hey, what the hell is that for..." Denny intervened. "Enough! Let him go!" He pried Seth off Mark, and dragged his friend away.

"You are wrong about Vaughn!" Mark yelled at Seth, struggling against Denny. "He is not like that! He is just...we are the same, he and I". He suddenly stopped struggling, so Denny released him. Mark hugged himself, as if he was suddenly cold. "We...we are just still in love with our first love, that's all..."

"Whatever," Seth said, as he unlocked his apartment door. "I warned you that he will throw you away one day. Anyway, you know where I live. Come anytime if you need comforting..."

"Dude, that's enough!" Denny glared at Seth. "Leave him alone, okay? Come on Mark. Ignore him".

"Does Mark have blond hair and green eyes?" Will asked Vaughn as the latter was walking into the apartment. Vaughn was carrying a plastic bag with him.

Vaughn stopped. "Yeah, why?" He put the plastic bag down on the floor. He took off his shoes by the door, and loosened his tie. Then he picked up the plastic bag again, which was filled with take-out meals from the Inn, and walked towards the kitchen.

Will wrinkled his forehead. "He looked familiar. Where have I seen him before..."

"Probably high school," Vaughn shrugged. He took out the take-out meal containers from the bag, and put them on the kitchen counter. "He went to the same high school as we did. Remember that ninth grade kid, who seemed to follow us around? That's him".

"Ah, you are right. Now I remember. Oh dear, this is going to be messy..." Will sighed.

Vaughn gave Will a puzzled look. "Why did you say that? By the way, why are you asking about him?"

"Mark was here an hour ago to return your key," Will gestured at the key that Mark had left on the coffee table.

Vaughn was aghast. "What the...? But why?"

"Vaughn, what did you tell him about me? Did you tell him why I am here?" Will looked at Vaughn questioningly.

"No, I didn't tell him anything. This has nothing to do with him. I don't want him to get involved". Vaughn stared at the key on the coffee table. His mind was reeling, trying to figure out why Mark had returned the key. I thought we are doing well...

Will sighed again. He massaged his temples with his fingers. "Vaughn, you are still as idiotic as you were back in high school. How could you not tell him? What do you think will happen if he drop by your place, and find your ex-boyfriend lounging on your couch?" Will glared at Vaughn. The latter didn't say anything.

"He will think that you are having an affair. That's what!" Will said impatiently. "That's why he returned your key!"

Vaughn gasped. "But we didn't...!"

"True. However, he didn't know that. You didn't tell him anything, so he had to draw his own conclusion. And let me tell you, I will draw the same conclusion too, if I am in his place".

"But...but...fuck!" Vaughn frantically searched his suit jacket for his cellphone. He called Mark's cell. "His cell is off. Let me try his home phone". He called another number. "He is not answering his phone". Now he was panicking. "Stay here. Don't answer the door. I just want to drop by Mark's quickly. I'll be back". He rushed out of his place.

A little more than an hour later Vaughn was back, drenched, as it was still raining outside, and he had stupidly decided to run over to Mark's, instead of taking the cab, or bringing an umbrella.

"He is not home," Vaughn was breathing hard. "I asked Seth, his neighbour, and he said he hasn't seen Mark. He is not in The Aquarium either. Where could he be? What am I going to do, Will? I...I fucked up, didn't I?" Vaughn looked at Will hopelessly.

Will sighed. "First thing first: you need to get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold". He rose from the couch, heading towards the kitchen. He glanced back, when he realized that Vaughn had not moved. "Go on. Don't just stand there. Go change into dry clothes. I'll make us some tea".

After changing into dry clothes, Vaughn sat on the sofa, sipping the hot tea that Will had made. He made a face, and ran his hand through his hair. "I need something stronger," he said. He stood and went to the kitchen, pulled out a short glass from the kitchen cabinet, and poured himself some whiskey. He gulped the whiskey, and poured himself some more, before he went back to sit on the couch.

"So what are you going to do now?" Will asked.

Vaughn stared at his whiskey. "I don't know. Maybe I'll drop by the office tomorrow and ask Denny". He looked up at Will. "Do you think Mark is angry at me right now?"

"Well, yes, he is probably pretty mad right now. Try calling him again tomorrow, hopefully he will calm down by then. And when you do talk to him, you are going to explain everything. And you will apologize for being such a macho neanderthal, right?" There was a little smile on Will's face.

"Explain everything? But I don't want him to get involved".

"Too late Vaughn. Just tell him everything, that's the best way. He will find out sooner or later, you know".

Vaughn was deep in thought. "Maybe I will tell him after you move into the Butterfly Pavilion. This way he wouldn't get involved".

Will looked at Vaughn in disbelief. "Are you serious? You are going to ignore him for another week?"

"It's not that I want to ignore him. I just don't want anything to happen to him, okay? If he is angry at me, then he wouldn't be dropping by here again, would he? I don't want him to accidentally run into your ex-boyfriend," Vaughn said, frustrated. He ran his hand through his hair once again. It was not a perfect solution, but he didn't see any other option.

Will sighed, and shook his head. "Do whatever you like. I know how stubborn you are. I am going to eat dinner". He eyed the take-out meals that Vaughn had brought home. "Are you going to eat, Vaughn? You need to eat, you know".

"I am not hungry".

End of Chapter 12