Chapter 4

Tyler just smirked and gave a quick wink to Ethan before making his way to the bathroom to wash away the frosting on his face (what he didn't already get ;p). As he was grabbing a washcloth to wipe his face he heard Ethan ask Mark if he was okay. Tyler realized that maybe his flirty joking might have been a little too much. Hopefully, he hadn't messed up his friendship with him either. Mark responded, but it was too quiet for him to make out.

Tyler tried to clear his head of doubts before exiting the bathroom. Ethan, Kathryn, and Mark were standing at the counter where Mark and Ethan finished frosting their cookies in silence and Tyler went to finish helping Kathryn with the hot chocolates.

"Do we have any whipped cream in the fridge?" Kathryn said stirring the four cups after Tyler pulled them out of the microwave.

"I saw some in there earlier, Tyler, if you wanna grab it," Mark said turning his torso but not his head towards the taller man, obviously not wanting to look at him. Tyler took a moment to process thoughts about Mark not even looking in his direction and again tried to not think about the awful things that might be going through Mark's head.

Tyler got a can of whipped cream out of the fridge, bringing it over to the steaming cups of hot chocolate that Kathryn was done stirring. He shook it up, turning away from Mark just in case he thought that Tyler was trying to be flirty again. He then put a generous spray on top of each of the cups.

"Alrighty, hot chocolate is finished and we are ready to go!" Tyler said grabbing a cup for himself and his plate of cookies. Kathryn coming back towards the kitchen area after putting the movie in the DVD player. Tyler was the first to sit down on the couch, to the left of Kathryn's blanket that claimed her spot. She came back with her cocoa and cookies in hand, Ethan following behind and sitting to the right of her. Which left Mark to sit on the part of the couch that wasn't occupied which was next to Tyler.

Tyler tried to keep his eyes ahead and not focus on the man sitting next to him. He was pulled out of his concentration as Mark leaned forward to grab the remote and press play. Tyler noticed how stiffly he leaned back and in turn also stiffened his muscles. The movie played as the group of friends drank their hot cocoa and their frosted cookies.

"My frosted cookies turned out pretty good Mark, thanks," Tyler said to Mark, attempting to get the tension out of both of their bodies. Mark turned and gave him a sheepish smile.

"I'm glad, they turned out way better than mine," Mark whispered lifting up his plate. Tyler snorted looking at his one cookie left that had about an inch of frosting on it and the sprinkles that were practically mixed in with it. Tyler's cookies had the perfect amount of frosting and was decorated neatly with sprinkles.

After being shushed by Ethan, they continued to watch the movie, giggling at the good parts and saying the lines in it as well. About a half an hour through the movie Tyler looked to the left to see that Kathryn and Ethan were both sleeping. He smiled at them, both snoring softly. Out of nowhere, a went chill up his spine and he began to shiver.

"Are you cold, Tyler?" Mark asked quietly, leaning towards him.

"Yeah, it just happened all of the sudden. Are there any other blankets in the office? Tyler asked just as quiet as Mark.

"No, Kathryn has the only one. But I think in the supply closet, there's that two person Christmas sweater. I just got a little cold too so if you want to we could share it," Mark suggested, looking straight ahead at the t.v. screen, but his eyes were glazed over.

Tyler tried not to get too far ahead of himself in his mind when Mark said that he wanted to share the sweater with him. But his heart had started pound a little, heating up his body while the shivers still remained.

"Yeah that's cool," Tyler said, standing up and walking over to the supply across from the kitchen area. In the closet were bins of gaming equipment, another with sound equipment, and one with various props for sketches and challenges. Right at eye level in front of him was the sweater, nicely folded on the shelf. Tyler grabbed it and pulled it over his head, hoping it would stop the shivering. It did but he didn't know how long it would last if Mark was going to be in the sweater with him.

Tyler walked back over to the couch and took his seat, sneaking past Ethan and Kathryn as quietly as possible. He adjusted himself in his seat, looking over to Mark, seeing that Mark's cheeks were a little red. Tyler helped him by raising a part of the sweater for the red-haired man to fit himself inside.

Mark just chuckled as he squeezed himself close enough to Tyler to fit against him If Tyler was being honest, he had gotten warm relatively fast and with Mark on his skin, it just made it feel like he was on fire. But Mark wrapped his inside arm around Tyler's midsection and Tyler did the same to him. Once they were finally settled into the soft fabric, they both leaned back comfortably on the couch.

Mark's breath began to even out and lids started to become droopy, Tyler sneaking glances over to him.

"G'night, Ty," Mark mumbled before curling closer to his chest.

"Goodnight, Mark," Tyler replied, smiling and softly ghosting shapes into Mark's skin, which was practically lulling himself to sleep.

Tyler took some deep breaths trying to savor the moment of feeling Mark pressed against him in a somewhat romantic way. Which he'd hoped for a while now. He was trying to memorize how Mark was breathing, and the little snores that were coming out of his mouth. And how warm Mark's breath was on his chest, even through the sweater. And just how amazing it felt to have the man he liked cuddling up with him because it was how he imagined being in a relationship with him. All cuddled up all the time. Maybe Tyler would let Mark pick the movie more often.