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Chapter 21: A Date, as F*ck Buddies of Course

As Mark looked at Mason, the intensity of his gaze made Mason shiver. What was he thinking? Mason wondered. But, really, would he ever truly find out?

Mason began to shift from foot to foot when the sound of the TV rang loudly between them. How long were they going to stand there, he wondered. His unease seemed to finally alert Mark of how long they'd been standing there. So, Mason got the wonderful privilege of seeing Mark go red. Mark rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat as he looked down at the floor. He was embarrassed.

Mason closed some of the distance between them, feeling more confident at the vulnerability Mark showed. Mark chanced a quick glance up to see what Mason was doing. Realizing that the other boy was not only smiling smugly but had moved several steps closer, Mark cleared his throat.

"Um, so, I, uh . . ." Mark was trying to find the right words, but when he brought his head up and saw Mason looking at him, he got a bit flustered. "Sorry, uh-"

"You came a lot earlier than I expected." Mason told him, deciding to take the conversation into his own hands. "I think if I tell my mom that you're going to be upstairs with me, we will have a couple of hours to ourselves. But, we'll have to be quiet."

Mark seemed confused as to what Mason was talking about. He squinted at Mason, trying to figure it out. Then his eyes went wide.

"Oh, wait no, that wasn't what I was trying to say!" Mark rushed out, a bit of panic in his voice.

"Then what were you trying to say?" Mason asked, now confused himself. "I thought we already talked about this?"

Mark shook his head, sighing softly to himself.

"But we didn't." Mason sent Mark a deadpan expression as if to say 'so I was talking to myself' and Mark began to elaborate. "I was thinking about it earlier today and I realized that I hadn't actually asked you about what you were comfortable with."

Mason's brows furrowed. He was sure he agreed with Mark's conclusion, but he quickly realized that this was a conversation they probably didn't want to have in the foyer.

"Why don't we go upstairs to talk?" Mason said softly, turning around before Mark could agree or not. "Mom, Mark and I will be in my room!"

Mason barely heard Mrs. Moore yell "okay" in response because he and Mark were already near the top of the steps. As Mason walked towards his room, Mark's warm body radiating heat behind him, he nearly laughed. When he imagined walking Mark up to his room that day, he'd expected for them to be making out passionately, barely able to keep their hands off one another. Instead, he was tense, a bit worried about what Mark was going to say.

Mason sat down on his bed, but Mark remained standing, his back against the door.

"Dinner." Mark stated, looking down at Mason with sudden conviction in his eyes.

"Dinner?" Mason repeated, an eyebrow quirked.

Mark seemed to falter a bit for some reason and chuckled unsurely.

"Uh, or lunch if you'd like. But, I would like us to get something to eat."

Mason rubbed at his temples, finding that he was still out of the loop on this one. When did fucking turn into wine and dining? He thought that he and Mark would get in his room, have a good time, then say goodbye. He had not anticipated getting a nice meal or a decent conversation out of this. Did he and Mark have different ideas of how friends with benefits acted?

"But, I thought we were just going to have sex?"

Mark swallowed, his eyes going cloudy for a second. Mason's body went tense at the sudden sexual attraction Mark showed him. It made his body go instantly hot and he clenched tightly onto the covers under him.

Then, Mark's face cleared and he sighed.

"That's the thing, I never actually asked you what you thought about being fuck buddies." Mark explained, seeming a bit ashamed of his earlier actions. "I don't know what your relationship with sex is and I don't want to push you past what you're comfortable with."

Mason crossed his arms over his chest, his head lowered. He was sinking into himself, the feeling of rejection settling onto his shoulders.

"So, what does that mean for us?" Mason asked hesitantly.

"I don't know." Mark told Mason honestly, sighing softly. "Maybe we just shouldn't sleep together. I don't want to take sex from you if you only have sex with guys you have relationships with."

"It wouldn't be 'taking' if I gave it to you." Mason argued, upset that Mark was making it seem like he hadn't consented. "And I'm not the prude you make me out to be."

Mark let out a humourless laugh and Mason's frown deepened.

"Oh really? So you've had a fuck buddy before?" Mark asked. He knew his assumption was correct when Mason stayed silent. "And you suddenly want to have casual sex with me?"

"Yes! I thought I made that clear when I accepted your first offer." Mason told him angrily. He stood up from the bed and stormed over to where Mark stood. Mason was now within arm's length; he could push the over boy if he got angry enough. "Just because I don't have as much sex as you doesn't mean I don't have my fair share of flings. I could have slept with a lot more people if I wanted to."

"Then why didn't you?" Mark asked in turn. Mark was staying firm, holding tightly onto his aim. He was trying to show Mason that he shouldn't be getting involved in a relationship like this. Mark seemed to really think that if he shot down Mason's confidence in the arena of sex enough that Mason would relent.

But Mark had no idea that one of the main reasons why Mason didn't have a double-digit body count was because he still liked Mark. The reminder made Mason look away from Mark's face that was suddenly far too close.

"I wanted it to be good." Mason said softly, bending the truth just slightly. "I didn't want it to be with a person so busy chasing their own pleasure that they forgot about my own. I tried that before and I don't want it to happen again."

Mark's stance softened and he slowly reached a hand out to cup Mason's cheek.

"Were you hurt?"

Mason's eyes went wide and he sharply shook his head, noticing that Mark's hand followed the movement the entire time.

"No, no! That's not what I meant. It just wasn't very good, that's all."

Mark stared into Mason's eyes for a moment longer, seemingly trying to check if Mason was telling the truth. He seemed to find what he was looking for and finally dropped his hand.

"I still don't know if we should just jump right in with sex. Maybe we could just warm up to it, you know?" Mark suggested softly, sending Mason a concerned expression.

That was the moment where Mason finally saw that Mark was just trying to protect him. Yes, he's had a crush on Mark forever, but they were friends before they became possible lovers. At the end of the day, Mark doesn't want to see Mason hurt.

Not even by him.

Mason smiled warmly and nodded, taking the initiative to pull Mark into a hug.

"Thank you, I'd like that."

Mark was tense for only a second, then he was holding Mason tightly against him with a strong squeeze. The two of them stayed in the hug for longer than they should have, but social norms weren't important while they were in each other's arms.

Mason then sighed happily before pulling back. Because his eyes shot to a different part of his room out of nerves, he didn't notice the grimace of displeasure on Mark's face because of the lack of contact.

"So, what are we going to do first?" Mason questioned, a bit of excitement leaking into his words. "Makeout? Maybe heavy petting?"

"Dinner." Mark stated with a grin. "And a movie maybe if we have time."

Mason laughed softly at the suggestion. As he continued to laugh, he noticed that Mark wasn't joining him. He started to sober up as he realized that Mark was not joking.

"You're being serious."

"Quite."

"But, that's a date."

"It doesn't have to be so official, but yeah, a date." Mark agreed, seeming to have no issue with that fact. Mark saw that Mason wasn't very happy about this and went on to explain. "It might be good to get used to not just being friends all the time. I want this to be as comfortable for you as possible. And, if that takes weeks or months then that's fine with me."

Mason pouted.

"I don't think I could wait that long."

Mark smiled as if he found that statement funny but didn't reply.

Mason crossed his arms with a huff, realizing that he wasn't going to win. Mark was not going to join him in his bed willingly unless he was certain that Mason would be comfortable with it. This should have made Mason immensely happy, but he was too stuck on the fact that he would not get any Mark Tyler dick for a while.

Then, he made the split-second decision to try and enjoy this period. With dates and sex, Mark was going to be everything a boyfriend was without the actual feelings. Mason should take this as an opportunity to date, Mark. Even if it was destined to end, he could enjoy the romantic time while it lasted.

With that in mind, Mason gave Mark a slow nod.

"Alright, you can court me." Mason placed his hands on his hips, sending Mark an evil grin. "But I'm not going to make it easy."

Mason turned and began to walk out of his room, leaving Mark to try to catch up. As Mark scrambled after him, Mason continued to speak.

"I want the whole nine yards and then some. Flowers, chocolates, private tables, sunset picnics." Mason abruptly stopped on the stairs and Mark had to tense every muscle in his body to not fall onto him. Mason turned around and sent Mark a serious look. "If I'm not convinced that you would die for me after every single date then you did not do your job correctly."

Mark wasn't completely sure whether Mason was joking or not, but he was happy that Mason agreed to his new request. He had been wracked with guilt since he first hung up all of those hours ago. The idea of accidentally taking the innocence of one of his best friends was a real fear in his mind. Whether it had any weight, Mark wanted to avoid that.

However, Mason was too alluring and too set on sleeping with Mark. It was easier for Mark to hide his attraction when he told himself that Mason wasn't interested. But, when Mason's lithe toned body was pressed against Mark's, it was damn near impossible to hold back from throwing the older boy onto a bed and ravishing him.

So, Mark had to compromise and find a way to keep Mason somewhat pure and still experience his body. Mark just hoped he could hold back long enough.

" . . . the key to courting is showing the courtee that you care." Mason informed Mark, speaking as if he was teaching an important lesson. "How am I supposed to believe that you care if you don't buy flowers and pluck off the thorns with your bare hands?"

Mason was tugging on his shoes as he said this, his attention split between telling Mark all about his new boyfriend duties and getting on the converse. Mark laughed loudly not only at Mason's silly words, but also at the dumb face he was making as he pulled the tight shoe on.

"Who even says courting anymore?" Mark commented in between giddy laughs.

Mason frowned but Mark could still see the glimmer of humour in his eyes.

"Me."

And that was all he needed to say.

———————————————

Hey guys! I hope you are all enjoying your Friday.

I am very happy because I just finished another chapter so soon after the last one. 

I honestly feel super accomplished about it.

I'm not sure whether I am going to focus on writing the chapter after this, (because I want the boys on a cute date) or if I'll try to write more for Connected to Him.

I would ask for your opinion but I feel like you'd all say, MIDDLE SCHOOL CRUSH anyway, so.

Also, I'm considering removing my

A/N from the last chapter because I want the two chapters to flow better when they are read back to back.

Enough rambling!

Did we want them to just fuck or are you excited for the slow and steady approach?

I know we got at least one horndog out there who is upset, but remember, we're trying to encourage feels here. 

By the time I'm finished, Mark won't know what hit him.

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.

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Anywhore!

Vote, Comment, Share, Follow, anything else you can do with this book and I'll see you in the next Chapter.bye!!!👋🏾👋🏾👋🏾

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