Now See Here! (m/m)

Love is Blind

A/N: Second to last chapter! And you KNEW this saying had to be used as a title SOMETIME, didn't you? ;)

Now See Here!

Chapter 9: Love is Blind

"Jake! How lovely to see you again!" Sarah Sanders greeted the man warmly.

"I'm here too...?" Mark pointed out.

"Oh, don't be jealous! I swear, this is because we never got him a little brother or sister... he's just not good at sharing the attention..." his mother let them all know.

"Yes, because I'm four years old..." the blond muttered.

"Oh, stop that and come into the dining room. Your father is in there. I have to dash to the kitchen," Sarah said and left.

"Don't worry, you have my attention and it's undivided," Jake promised.

"Until you smell my mom's cooking..." Mark smirked. "Then you'll forget all about me."

"Mmm, that does smell good. Hello? Who are you?" Jake joked and grabbed the blonds' hand, pumping it up and down enthusiastically.

"Are you two ever going to come in from the hallway? What are you doing out there? Do I even want to know?" his father called from the next room, and Jake cleared his throat, suddenly more serious. Mark even thought he could hear him straightening his back, but maybe that was just his imagination.

True enough, once they were in the company of his parents again, Jake was all business. Polite, friendly and warm business, but Mark rather preferred his playful side. It must be a bit daunting to talk to strangers like this, though, especially as they happened to be the parents of your boyfriend, so the blond didn't comment. He wondered if he would ever meet Jake's mother and almost froze in terror at the thought. Yes, he should cut Jake some slack.

The dinner consisted of discussions about everything from cheating students to the economy and baseball and Mark happily noted that his parents hadn't actually made him feel embarrassed yet... until his mother, after dinner, started pointing out photographs of him to Jake and telling stories about his childhood. Mark was about to drag the man out of the house in pure desperation when his phone rang.

"Hi, it's Andrew O'Connor, I got your number from Lance, I was wondering if you were doing anything this afternoon?"

"Um... I'm with Jake at my parents-"

"Oh, that lucky bastard got back on your good side, then?"

"Erm... yeah... wait, when did you get my number from Lance?"

"When I called him yesterday."

"You have his number?"

"I'm just that good."

"What did you bribe him with?"

"He's suddenly one of our beta testers... he wouldn't go for my goody-bag, so..."

"Was that a metaphor for something else?"

"Maybe... but listen, you wanted to learn a bit more about gaming than you did on Friday, right? I have a sweet setup at my place, so why don't you bring your boyfriend over and try some out?"

"Well... we didn't have anything specific planned... and it might be good for work..."

"Great! Just one thing..."

"Yes?"

"Bring Lance too."

"You dog."