Chapter 2
Once Mark finally got up off the ground after laughing for a couple of minutes, brushing himself off and giving Tyler a smirk. Mark lead them through the aisles, finding the cut-out sugar cookies and frosting easily with no problems in sight. But now Mark was the one that was steering the cart and occasionally almost ran into the large displays.
Every time he barely maneuvered around it, he would throw a sheepish smile to Tyler, who would just shake his head, a light smile ghosting on his face.
"Oooooh, we should get this!" Mark shouted, grabbing the biggest box of microwave popcorn on the shelf. Way too much for them to have in the house. Tyler didn't say a word and just kept following the red-haired man. Shaking his head along the way, trying to keep his cool so the other patrons of the store wouldn't stare at the pair.
Mark slowly started making his way back to the front of the store after grabbing a few other snacks that he knew they didn't need. Though he was enjoying himself and most definitely NOT reveling in the soft chuckles that were coming from the man behind him. He finally reached the register and began putting all of his items on the belt.
"I'm surprised you didn't end up buying the whole store while we were here," Tyler quipped to Mark's back, watching him as he set down way more than the list required.
"Oh, my god! Tyler! You're right, I forgot everything else," Mark wailed, running past a few steps towards the grocery aisles, before turning around just in time to see Tyler's astonished eyes. Mark walked back to him, laughing at his own joke (classic Mark) and seeing Tyler relax into a laugh as well. By the time Mark finished fooling around, the cashier and bagger already had all their things rung up and in bags waiting for one of them to focus on paying.
"Oops. Sorry, here," Mark blurted, grabbing his wallet out of his back pocket and pulling out a credit card, handing it to the waiting cashier. The cashier only looked slightly annoyed before swiping it and handing it back to him.
"Have a nice day!" the guy said already turning his attention to the next people in line. Mark grabbed one of the bags, Tyler reaching for the other from behind him. Tyler's chest grazing Mark's shoulder, which made Tyler shiver even though he felt the warmth coming through his t-shirt.
Mark thanked the girl who was holding out the bags before making his way towards the exit. Tyler trailed behind Mark, as Mark swung his bag forward and back, moving towards the blue car.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to a 60-degree winter," Mark said, fanning himself with his cardigan.
"Winter? It was just Thanksgiving like a couple of days ago. It's not even close to being winter," Tyler reasoned, grabbing his keys and unlocking the doors so both of them could toss the bags into the backseat before getting in.
"You know what I mean, Tyler. Thanksgiving is over and that means that it's practically the Christmas season," Mark said settling down in the passenger seat.
"Whatever you say, Mark, whatever you say," Tyler said giving in to him and rolling his eyes while starting the car. Mark just grinned at him as he turned around to back out of the parking stall. Putting the car into drive, they make their way back to the office.
"I think I'm going to miss the Ohio winters. Hopefully, we can make it back sometime for some winter activities before the snow melts," Tyler says, looking over to Mark quick before focusing back on the road.
"The heat of LA is nice for not freezing your ass off, but it never really feels like winter ever, which is why I start Christmas stuff so early. Or else I would forget about it because there's no snow here," Mark said futzing with the radio.
"So, what movie are you going to force us to watch?" Tyler said trying to ignore his slight sadness when Mark didn't say anything about going back to Ohio for any part of winter. As Mark heard the question, his eyes lit up and smiled while Tyler was turning into the office parking lot.
"Since you guys didn't want to watch any Hallmark movies, so we are watching our favorite Christmas movie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas," he replied as Tyler parked the car.
"Oh thank god you picked that one, that's the only one I feel like watching since it's December 1st," Tyler said turning the car off. Opening his door and stepping out, not missing Mark's face as he did so. Tyler opened the back door, grabbing the grocery bag, hearing Mark behind him making his way out of the car.
"It's the Christmas season, remember Tyler?" Mark objected, raising his eyebrows towards his friend and crossing his arms over his chest, trying to look tough.
"Yes, Mark it's the Christmas season, I do remember," Tyler droned, rolling his eyes at the other man for probably the thousandth time that day. Mark ignored him by humming and grabbing the other bag from the back and turning to walk into the office space.