Title: In Love With the Boy Who's in Love With the Goy. (oy! The bad pun…sighs but so cute)
Pairing: Mark/Roger, mentions of Maureen/Benny (I know, I know, I'm going to Rent hell)
Rating: PG-13, mostly for bad words and because of the slash
Summary: It was a simple enough request from Roger's best friend Maureen: make Mark Cohen fall for her. But love had to complicate things. Pre-Rent, high school time. Senoir, maybe junior year. Beware the fluff.
Disclaimer: I continue to not own Mark, Rog, Maureen, or any of them. I also am not the author of Boy Vey (yes, it's an actual book), that honor belongs to Kristina Grish.
"You want me to do what?" Roger Davis looked up from his guitar into the eyes of his best friend, Maureen Johnson.
She stopped jumping around the room and fell to her knees at the foot of his bed, "Please."
Roger rubbed his temple as he felt the all too familiar tinge of a 'Maureen headache' begin, "You want me to make Mark Cohen, Jewish filmmaker loner extraordinaire, fall in love with you? And if I may ask the one question that I've been asking since we became friends: Why?"
"Because he's so geeky and virginal and sweet," Maureen answered, her bottom lip trembling like she would cry if Roger refused.
"I know I'll regret this, but…okay, I'll do it," Roger sighed.
"YES! You're an angel, a prince, a man amongst men, a god!" Maureen hugged Roger so tight, he was beginning to choke. She pulled back and looked at him, "Why haven't we ever dated?"
"Because you're so dramatic and bizarre and unfaithful." Roger answered, mimicking Maureen's pout perfectly. "Aren't you dating Benny?"
"Oh yeah," Maureen tilted her head as if she seriously needed to think about that, "but it'll be the highlight of his young life. Well, anyway, I'd better head home, step-monster is on a warpath again. Her Valium wore off this morning," she stood to go, "OH! Before I forget, you might need this." She tossed a book into Roger's lap and left.
"Boy Vey: The Shiska's Guide to Dating Jewish Men, oh for the love of god. I hate you, Maureen!" Roger yelled.
"No, you don't. It's all an act," came the giggling response from the direction of the stairs.
Roger sighed and put his beloved old guitar back in its case and laid back, giving in and reading the book.
When Roger's mom came in to tell him dinner was ready, she was surprised enough that her son was reading at all. She read the title of the book and sat down heavily, "Suddenly, I can't feel my knees."
Roger looked up and sighed, "It's research for Maureen. I'm supposed to use this to make some Jewish geek fall for her."
Mrs. Davis smirked slightly and patted his leg, "Well, dinner is ready and I highly doubt it's kosher."
Roger rolled his eyes and tossed the book onto his dresser, following his mom into the dining room.
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"Well, did you finish the book?" Maureen asked as she sidled up next to him to put her books in the adjoining locker.
"Yeah, but it isn't going to help me," Roger replied.
Maureen pouted, "Why?"
He took the book and pointed to the title, "Shiska means a non-Jewish woman!"
"Oh," Maureen bite her lip for a moment, then she smiled, "PERFECT! You learned a Jewish word. You can talk to him then."
Roger sighed and nodded.
"Great, there he is! Go get him…for me," Maureen giggled and shoved him towards the bespecteled geek.
Roger sighed and walked over to the table where Mark sat alone every day. "Hey."
Mark looked up at Roger, then wildly glanced around his general area, before replying, "Hi."
Roger shifted his backpack on his shoulder, "Can I sit here?"
Mark looked at the seat next to him as if inspecting for vicious diseases. "Um…sure," he smiled up at Roger.
Roger blinked for a moment, he'd never seen Mark smile and it was…cute. No wonder Maureen wanted to date the kid. Roger sat down and looked at Mark, who just looked back. No words were said for at least a full two minutes.
Then Mark started to snicker nervously, which soon erupted into full blown laughing.
Roger looked at the boy to see if he was fully sane, when Mark turned and addressed him. Roger's breath literally caught in his chest. Those bright blue eyes, holy fuck, how had he never noticed them before? Because you never bothered to look in his direction before, you moron! His mind reprimanded him.
"Hello?" Mark was waving his hand in front of Roger's face.
"Huh?" came the very intelligent response from Roger.
"I was just asking why you were sitting with me. I mean, I don't…no one really…I mean, you've never wanted to sit here before," Mark stammered.
"Well, no, but," Roger racked his brain for a reason, "I…I...think your camera is cool."
Mark's eyes, those brilliant blue eyes, lit up and he spent the rest of the lunch period teaching Roger how to manage the old video camera. Roger was actually having fun, Mark was a great teacher and every time he had to lean over Roger to fix the camera angle, Roger noticed how Mark smelled like clean, like soap. Sometimes, Mark would say something funny, genuinely funny and Roger would laugh, which caused Mark to laugh. Roger liked the sound of Mark laughing, not the nervous giggling from earlier, but real laughter.
This went on for days that become weeks, then months, until the end of the school year rolled around and Maureen remembered to ask Roger about his progress.
"So how are doing with the geek? You hang out with him every day at lunch. Isn't he in love with me yet?" Maureen asked one day, painting her nails as Roger practiced his new song.
Roger had forgotten why he started talking to Mark in the first place; he'd been so swept up in having fun with Mark. Finding out about his camera and why he shoots documentaries; discovering that whenever Mark was nervous, he played with hands. Roger even went over to Mark's house for Passover, although he told Maureen he was visiting his grandma. Mark told Roger that if was uncomfortable to rub the back of his neck and Mark would see the signal and come save him. Luckily, Roger had read that book Maureen gave him and was loved by Mark's large and overly affectionate family. Roger liked that Mark listened to him, without throwing in his own thoughts unless Roger asked for them, unlike Maureen, who never seemed to think anyone else was worthy of attention except herself.
"Oh! Why shouldn't he be infatuated with me? I'll stop by this week and finish your job for you," Maureen said offhand as she blew on her nails.
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Finally came they day when Maureen sat down next to Roger and started her acting routine, "Oh, Rog. I couldn't find you. Now here you are, making friends with the cutest guy in my Chemistry class."
"Cutest? Me?" Mark spluttered.
Maureen feigned embarrassment, "Did I say that out loud?"
Roger rolled his eyes at Maureen's flirting ways. How can she just turn around and make him like her when she doesn't even know it. She'll date him and fuck him and then drop him. If it lasts long enough maybe he'll find out she's cheating on him. "Oh shut up, Maureen."
Maureen stopped playing with Mark's glasses and they both stared at Roger after his outburst.
Maureen gave Roger a 'shut-up-or-die' look, but Roger chose to ignore it. "It's not really your business anymore, Roger!"
"Yes, it is. He's…he's my friend!" Roger said.
Mark's eyes went to Roger and just seemed to shine, "I've never had a…"
Maureen cut him off, "It's my doing that you even started talking to the geek. I told you to. You were supposed to make him like me!"
"Well, I didn't. I won't let you hurt him!"
"What do you care if I hurt him? Do you like him?"
"Yes! He's my friend and a good guy, hell, he's way too good for you! Do you even know anything about him?"
"Give me one good reason why I can't have him?"
Mark looked between the two of them and then met Roger's eyes as he rubbed the back of his neck. Roger recognized the signal Mark had devised for Roger's own benefit.
Roger smiled, "You want a good reason, Maureen? Here's a really good reason," then he leaned down and grabbed Mark's face, kissing him as hard as he could muster. He felt Mark tense in shock, then herelaxed and started kissing back. Roger's head nearly exploded as he felt Mark's tongue entering his mouth, gently playing with his own.
When the boys pulled away from each other, neither spoke for a long time, as they looked into each other's eyes.
"Wow," was all Roger said.
Mark blushed.
Maureen smacked Roger upside the head, "You jerk! You didn't tell me he was gay!"
Roger turned and glared at Maureen, "Well, until he put his tongue in my mouth, I didn't know."
Maureen huffed and puffed for another few seconds, then she left with a dramatic, "I'm never speaking to you again, Roger Adam Davis!"
"Thank you, merciful Zeus," Roger muttered to Mark, who laughed with him.
"So," Mark began, "does this mean? I mean…if you were just trying to prove a point to her, you should tell me…"
Roger cut Mark off with a passionate kiss, pulling the other boy closer. He smiled when they broke apart, "I wasn't proving a point."
Mark bit his lip, "She said she made you come talk to me."
Roger took in a deep breath, "That was at the beginning of the year. I was supposed to make you fall for her."
"You never even mentioned her," Mark was confused.
Roger laughed, "That's because I forgot my mission when we started hanging out. I started to…fall for you."
"Why me?" Mark asked, looking at Roger like he expected him to run at any second.
"Because you're smart," Roger kissed Mark's cheek, "and kind," kissed his other cheek, "and fun to be around," another kiss "and not to mention, really sexy," Roger brushed Mark's lips with his own.
Mark blushed.
"And I almost forgot how cute you are when you blush," Roger cupped his hand around Mark's warm cheek and they kissed again.