u p h e r e ↬ m.f. & s.m. [completed]

ITALY

31st December
5 minutes to midnight

"I never thought Italy could be that beautiful." Jack whispered as he looked out of the old and broken window frame of the bathroom.

"Me too." Mark chuckled slightly as he stared out the window to see various warm lights drowning the small town. "I like those lights here more than those back in America, you know? It's not as noisy."
   He looked back down at the water he was currently taking a bath in. Letting some of it float between his hands to wash his face, as if he was to make sure this wasn't a dream.

"Your mother is so nice to us, her and Thomas just bounded by the second we arrived."

"Well she has all the reasons to be nice to you. You're to boy who brought her sons back into your life, as she puts it." He laughed and looked at Jack slightly worried "You think Thomas will be okay?"

   "Of course he will, he's a tough little boy, comes after his brother." He chuckles, a warm smile upon his lips.

"Cheesy bastard."
Jack laughed and shook his head. "Well love you, too."

There was a moment of silence that followed and you could only hear the sound of water as Mark moved inside the bathtub.
   It was a surprise that there was enough warm water to actually fill one tub. His family here lived even more poorly than they did back in the US.

No heating, no warm water, no luxury. Yet both boys, Mark and Thomas, felt so much more comfortable around this place than they'd ever feel around their father.
    The first day they had arrived Mark's mother took them all to the small gardening house outside of town, where their grandmother already waited for them.

Her English was rusty and she could not speak one word, yet she understood the basics very well. She remembered both of her boys, and was happy to see them. A big smile decorating her creasy face.

"You do know I love you." Mark said as he stepped out of the bath to put a towel around his waist.
   "Of course"

He said in all seriousness as he came closer to put his hands around Mark's slightly tanned and flawless cheeks.
   The boy already wanted to lean in for a kiss as Jack shoved a smartphone display in between them.

"Just a few more seconds" he mumbled against his ear.

They stayed in said position until his phone started signaling a 5 second countdown by begging to beep.

Both boys looked each other in the eyes as they began to lean in. Outside they could already hear people celebrating, yet they could not bother to go out and party, as they thought they may have had enough of it.

1st January 2017

They kissed into New Years Day.

Jack did not care that his clothing got wet by every second that passed that he pressed his body against Mark's.
   They parted as Jack's ringtone went off.

He looked at it and smiled. "Just my mother calling"
He said and put the phone to his ear.

"Hey ma, you remembered the time difference? Thought I told you not to call me, it's so expen-"

"Dad? Why are you-"
"She's what?"
"WHAT HAP-"
"O-okay, call me as soon as you know anything."

His voice got quieter at the end of his sentence. Clearly, there was a gulp forming inside of his growth making it hard for the round green haired boy to get one word out straight.

One single tear was streaming down his cheek. "And dad? Tell her I love her?"
   That was the last thing he said before he put down the phone to face Mark, whom looked at him with worries in his eyes.

"My mom is in the hospital, the baby is coming." He whispered his face as pale as snow.

Mark's hazel eyes widened "It's too early." He said more to himself than to anyone else.
Jack nodded quietly as he down on the edge of the bathtub.

   "Something about blood, a-and whether saving her or my little brother, or neither of them when they'd try to save them both." His voice was full of disbelief, yet as he pushed himself to look up at Mark his face was drained in tears.

The other boy simple went to grab him by his shoulders and pulled him up and into another hug. Never in their lives have they hugged as tight as in this moment.

"I'm so sorry"

Leave a comment/vote if you want to and have a nice day!!