Disclaimer: yea, yea, yea. i don't own Mark, Roger, or anything associated with Rent and the wonderful Jonathan Larson. now, stop reminding me.

Author's Note: This was actually written as a birthday present for rexmanningdays. Her birthday passed, but i posted it at the right time on LiveJournal. It's just a bit of Mark/Roger highschool fluff in her honor

"Roger?"

"Yes, Mark?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"If I say no, will your head explode?"

"I…what?"

Roger laughed. The two were lying down on Roger's floor, watching Roger's ceiling fan move slowly. Funny how they had ditched a large group of guys, a rousing round of violent video games, and massive amounts of junk food for this.

"Well, you already asked me a question, Mark."

"Oh."

"Mark, I'm just kidding around."

"Oh, yea."

"Ask."

"Oh?"

"Yes! What is your question!"

"Ummm…maybe I shouldn't. It's sort of weird."

Roger grumbled. "Will you just ask? I already know you're weird."

"Umm, okay. Roger?"

This time Roger's "Yes, Mark?" was slightly annoyed.

"Are you gay?"

"Am I what!"

"I…I'm sorry. It wouldn't matter to me, you know? You'll still be my best friend. It's just, you have an awful lot of girls all over you, and you just never seem to be interested." Mark paused, but when Roger said nothing he nervously babbled on. "I promise is won't change anything if you are. And I won't tell anyone. You know you can trust me."

"Is your camera on?"

"No, it's on your bed."

"I know, but sometimes you leave it on."

"It's not, I promise."

Roger paused apprehensively. "Are you sure it's not going to change anything between us?"

"Yea, of course."

"Well, that probably made it obvious, but…I…yea, I – I'm gay."

"Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks, Mark."

"No problem."

They laid in awkward silence for a few minutes, both not knowing what to say.

"Roger?"

"Yes, Mark?"

"Are you going to tell your parents?"

"I don't know. I don't think I can. They think its some sort of disease or something."

"That really sucks. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're so cool with it. That's all that really matters to me."

"Well, of course. It doesn't change who you are. You're still the same Roger."

"I'm glad you feel that way."

Once again, silence ensued. Until…

"Roger?"

"Yes, Mark?"

"How did you know?"

"That I like boys?"

"Yea."

"I just…knew. I had girls. Like you said, they kind of tend to be all over me. And kissing them just never did anything for me. And kissing boys, well, did."

"You've kissed boys before?"

"Well, yea. I had a boyfriend sophomore year. His name was Matt. He was kind of a dick, though. He used to make fun of you a lot, but I think he was just jealous I spent so much time with you."

"We were already friends?"

"It was the beginning of our friendship. When we had to do that history project together."

"I remember. You talked about your girlfriend a lot then. I almost forgot about that."

"Yea, that was Mathew."

Once more, an awkward silence settled.

"Roger?"

This time Roger sat up and faced Mark, cocking his eyebrows. "Yes, Mark?"

Mark stayed lying down. He couldn't get up – wouldn't get up. "I think…" He swallowed hard. "I think I have a crush on you."

"You…you what?"

"I…I'm sorry. I can't believe I just said that." A blush crept up Mark's neck and onto his cheeks. He tugged at the neck of his shirt, wishing he could disappear inside of it.

"Mark, sit up and look at me when you say something like that." But Mark didn't respond. Mark didn't move. Mark just laid there, his hands over his eyes, wishing he were invisible. "Come on Mark, I thought we got past this. You know you don't have to get embarrassed with me. Not ever."

Mark sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just sit up."

So Mark sat up. But he and Roger sat there staring at each other in silence. This went on for a while, until Roger leaned forward tentatively and placed his lips on Mark's. Mark jumped back in surprise. Roger couldn't read his face; he couldn't tell what Mark was thinking.

"I – I'm sorry. I thought… I mean, you said that you like me."

"I – I do. I, um, I was just… surprised is all. You, um, you can… you can kiss me. If you want, I mean."

"You are so adorable when you're unsure of yourself, you know that?"

Mark's face turned bright red, and he bit the inside of his lip to keep the enormous smile from crossing his face. Roger leaned forward again, in the same way as before, but this time Mark stayed put. Roger gently pushed his tongue past Mark's lips, slowly, making sure it was okay. Mark obliged, and the kiss deepened. The boys pulled away, flushed and breathless.

Roger put on a cheeky grin. "That was your first kiss, wasn't it?"

Mark tugged at his shirt collar again, nervously. "I… yea." Mark bit his lip. "You… you can tell?"

"Well," Roger looked at Mark hopefully, "You could use some practice."

"Oh!" And Roger laughed as Mark's voice cracked. "Practice sounds good."

"Yea?" This was shy. Mark noticed Roger was blushing; Roger had never looked so meek. As the space between them closed once more, Mark's response of "Yea." was a little more confident, a little more sure.

This time when they pulled away, they stayed close and Roger spread little kisses all over Mark's face. They fell back onto the floor, but now Mark was curled into Roger, Roger's arm around Mark's waist, Mark's face buried in Roger's chest. There was silence again, but this time it was comfortable, not awkward.

This time when Mark asked "Roger?", Roger could feel the vibrations on his chest and it sent shivers down his spine.

He sighed pleasantly into his, "Yes, Mark?"

"Does this make you my boyfriend?"

"Do you want me to be your boyfriend?"

"Yea."

"Good." He pulled Mark's face up by the chin with his free hand and kissed him on the lips, quick but passionate.

"Mark?"

"Yes, Roger?"

"You can ask me a question any time you want. I think I like your questions."

Mark just blushed and smiled, perfectly content with that moment in time.