Chapter 44: Epilogue
"Okay, the chicken's in the oven, the potatoes are on the stove, we got vegetables in the small pot, and your father bought the pies and drinks." Eleanor Moore recited, counting off the items on her fingers. Then she gasped. "Juice! He didn't get the pineapple juice! Oh, goodness."
Mason kept back the smile trying to grow on his face and placed a comforting hand on his mother's shoulder.
"Mom, it's okay." He told her warmly. "We don't need pineapple juice. The bulk box of soda cans will do just fine."
Mrs. Moore seemed unconvinced as she looked at her son, but after a few silent moments, she sighed in defeat.
"Alright. We'll leave out the juice." She finally agreed with a small smile. "We can just serve it next time. If all goes well between you and Mark, there will be many more dinners between our families."
Mason was suddenly on the defense and found his cheeks growing warm with a blush. He and Mark had been officially dating for two weeks when they agreed to tell everyone, including their parents. Now, only a month since Mark and Mason confessed their feelings to one another, they were having dinner at Mason's house to celebrate. And everything was coordinated by Mason's mom.
Forgetting about the remnants of roasted potatoes on her fingers, Eleanor began to pinch at his cheeks.
"Oh my lord, I just can't believe my little boy has a boyfriend." She cooed, adding salt to the wound by making obnoxious kissing noises. Mason wriggled to get his face out of her grasp. After a bit of struggle, he was finally free and wiped at his face with a grimace.
"Mom, I've already dated people before." He argued with a frown. "You met nearly all of them."
"But none of them were Mark Tyler and you know that makes a difference." She retorted with a quick wink. Wiping her hands against her apron, Mason's mother started toward the stairs in the foyer. "Come on, let's get cleaned up. We have to welcome the Tylers properly."
Mason shook his head. His mother was usually a little extra but this dinner was bringing out all the different sides of her. Yet, Mason never complained. In a way, her excessive effort showed how much she supported him and Mark. Mason had to be grateful that his mom always accepted him no matter what. With a smile on his face, Mason followed her up the stairs. After all, he still had to clean the potato off his face.
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The best way Mason could describe dinner with Mark and his parents was comfortable. The two families had known each other for years and were already intertwined by the marriage of their eldest sons. And funny enough, now they came together again to celebrate their youngest boys becoming official. Mason thought that his mom would be the most extra with all the food she prepared for the day, but Tania Tyler rivaled her for the position when they opened the door to find her and her family carrying a comical amount of desserts and drinks.
"Pineapple juice!" Eleanor had exclaimed when she noticed the bottle in Mark's hands.
"I know it's your favourite." Mrs. Tyler had smiled.
Everyone just knew each other so well. It was easy for Mason to talk to Mark's dad about new things the man discovered in his travels or to joke with Tania over Mark's meticulous habits. Their parents weren't being introduced but were instead catching up with one another, getting updates on life events and business ventures.
Mark wasn't treated like Mason's new boyfriend, he was simply Mark, a boy the Moores had known for years. Dave Moore pushed Mark to eat his vegetables nearly as often as he did Mason and teased them both about needing to bulk up.
"Kids are just too skinny these days." He joked.
And like always, everyone laughed, because they knew how wrong Dave was.
So, when the night grew darker, it only made sense for their parents to go into the living room and drink wine while Mason and Mark went up to his bedroom alone.
"I feel like this shouldn't be going this well." Mark told Mason the moment Mason closed his bedroom door. "It barely even feels like they know we're dating. It was just . . . normal."
Mark walked over to Mason's bed and fell back onto the mattress, his breath leaving him in a single whoosh. Mason followed his boyfriend's lead, lying down in the bed next to Mark. It was an impromptu cuddle but the two wordlessly arranged themselves. Mason shifted down so his head could rest on Mark's right shoulder. Mark's right arm came under Mason's shoulder and around Mason's back to pull him closer while Mason entangled their legs. Mason hummed as he thought back on Mark's comment.
"Well, they're basically best friends at this point." Mason reasoned. "My dad is constantly getting marriage advice from yours and our moms seem to know half of the same people."
"That's because they introduced all of their friends to each other." Mark added with a chuckle, absentmindedly rubbing Mason's back. "I remember the day it happened. A bunch of middle-aged women were out in our backyard and all I saw when I looked out the window was moving hands. They were all talking at the exact same time. It was amazing."
Mark and Mason laughed, Mason's voice getting muffled slightly in Mark's shirt. There was a bit of silence then with only the sound of their breath filling the space. They'd only dated for a month, but they have been sensual for several months and had known each other far longer than that. Thus Mason felt no need to break the silence with noise and was content to just be with Mark.
"Did I tell you I love you today?" Mark suddenly asked, breaking through the silence.
Mason scrunched up his face in thought, thinking over that day.
"Probably, but it'd be nice to hear it again." He said with a teasing smile. Mark didn't miss a beat, craning his neck to place a kiss on Mason's forehead.
"I love you."
Mason hid his smile with Mark's shoulder.
"I love you too."
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"I think that's the last box." Mark sighed. He placed the large cardboard box down to the left of the doorway, it was the only space left in the foyer of the apartment.
Mason narrowed his eyes at the taller man as he stood with his hands on his knees, exhausted. He'd just come from the bedroom where he'd moved about five different boxes. He wanted to be as lazy as Mark and leave everything near the front door, but if he did that, there would be no room to walk. Mason managed to pull himself into a standing position, standing with his hands on his hips and glaring at Mark.
"Do you think or do you know?" Mason sassed. "Because I do not want to be celebrating not having to lug up another heavy box when you go, 'oh wait, my toothbrush!'"
"Why the hell would I put my toothbrush in a box?" Mark laughed, causing Mason's cheeks to turn red from embarrassment.
"It was an example, Mark." Mason shot back struggling to keep back his smile. "Is that really the last box?"
Mark rolled his eyes. Before answering, he walked past Mason to step into the living room. There was nothing there to designate it as such since they didn't have any furniture, but Mark knew because of its proximity to the front door. Walking over to the right side of the room, Mark exhaled as he leaned against the clean white wall.
"Yup, that's the last one."
Mason let out a weak 'yay' as he went over to his boyfriend. While Mark usually would have thrown his arm around Mason at this point, his arms felt like jelly. He simply grabbed Mason's hand and found even that to be a strenuous effort. Mason leaned further onto Mark, his right leg bending with how much of his weight he was placing on his boyfriend. Mark staggered a bit from the extra weight but didn't comment on it.
"I can't believe we finally finished!" Mason exclaimed dramatically. "I thought it would never end."
"Mason, we just brought the boxes up." Mark commented, breaking through Mason's celebrations. "We still have to unpack everything, buy furniture and cleaning supplies, and tons of other things."
Mark's comment brought Mason's attention back to the space they were in. The living room was the largest space in the apartment and it was an empty white square with only him, Mark, and a few brown boxes. Mason then rolled his eyes, pulling off from Mark's body and standing in front of the other man.
"I know that." He stated, glaring at Mark playfully. "God, you're so annoying."
With a smirk on his face, Mark started to close the distance between them.
"And you're going to be living with me for the next four years." Mark teased, arms going around Mason's neck. Mason's smile broadened.
Earlier that year, Mason's parents were still trying to convince him to stay at home for college. Over time, he made them comfortable with the concept of him finally going out on his own. But, when it was time to start finalizing dorms and apartments, Mason's parents were still wary about him moving out. So Mason thought Mark was crazy when he told them that he wanted to live with Mason. There was no way his parents would allow their youngest to spend the next four years of his life living with his boyfriend. Miraculously, the Moores thought it was a great idea. They trusted that Mark was responsible to help Mason out and knew that if Mason was keeping something from them, they could find out through Mark's parents. Their reasoning was very odd to him, but Mason wouldn't complain. He was going to be living with Mark.
Mason further closed the distance between him and Mark and brought his arms up to tighten around Mark's back.
"Next four years?" Mason asked, tilting his head in confusion. "For the rest of our lives if I can help it."
Mark chuckled softly. With a smile, he brought his forehead down to touch Mason, looking directly into his eyes as he spoke.
"Mason, are you obsessed with me?"
"I'm in love with you." Mason replied with no hesitation. "And yeah, probably obsessed with you too."
Mason had barely finished his sentence before Mark brought his chin down, connecting their lips. Mark pulled away from Mason's mouth just long enough to say,
"Good, I didn't want to be the only one crazy about my boyfriend."
Mason didn't let him get away for long. He reconnected their mouths again, pushing every inch of his body into Mark's to get ever closer. Things were heating up quickly and the longer they kissed, the more Mark feared they would go all the way. Mark pulled away suddenly, taking several large steps away from Mason.
"Wait," He panted, holding his hands in front of him. Mason was curious as he looked between Mark's face and his outstretched hands. "We have to meet up with Anton and his fiancee."
Mason's lips quickly morphed into a pout.
"Can't we just reschedule for tomorrow?" He asked, words mumbled a bit from his pout. He tried to creep closer to Mark, reaching out for his shirt, but Mark dodged his hands. This went on for another minute, Mason trying to get back to kiss Mark while Mark evaded his advances. Then, Mark changed his tactics. Stopping, Mark grabbed both of Mason's wrists, holding his boyfriend still while he spoke.
"So you don't want to do this tomorrow?" Mark asked him, a cheeky smirk on his lips. "When we'll have the entire day to ourselves?"
Mason's eyes went wide.
"What the hell are we standing around for? We have to go meet Anton!" Mason said.
Mark was laughing as he watched Mason rush out of the apartment.
"Wait up, I still have to lock the door!"
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Man, it's really over.
I hope you guys all enjoyed Mason and Mark's story. I honestly went through so many emotions writing this story. There were one or two times where I wondered if I would be able to finish it. Now, I'm so glad I kept pushing and was able to finish it.
Mark and Mason are truly my babies so I'm just happy they're happy.
In my bio, I have a full list of my published books and some books in the works you guys can anticipate in the future.
For those of you curious about some characters mentioned in this book, My Middle School Crush is the third book in a four-book series set in the same world. All of the books are now COMPLETE for your binging pleasure
I also have a few other completed books that aren't involving the same characters so please go and check those out.
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