Mark's POV

I sat on the front steps of my house, scrolling through my phone. Molly was having a big party tonight at the Recreational Center to celebrate the start of summer. A bunch of people, mainly theatre people, would be there. Molly was picking everybody up in her brand new car she got for getting into Honors Society and having straight A's all year.

Suddenly a bright blue car turned around the corner. I stood up, but then quickly froze. Somebody was in the back seat, leaning out the window wearing a Llama mask.

"MERK LES GO PARY!" A muffled voice spoke through the mask.

"Uh, what?" I laughed. The person pulled off the mask, revealing green hair that stuck up everywhere.

"MARK LET'S GO PARTY!" Jack pushed open the door and pulled me inside. I sat down next to him and he put the mask back on.

"Why the fuck are you wearing that?" I looked at Jack, who was messing with a black bag.

"Because I'm cooler than you'll ever be." His muffled voice spoke as he pulled a ukulele out of the black bag.

"Why do you-"

"BECAUSE NO MORE HOMEWORK!" Jack shouted and, very violently, started playing the ukulele.

"Uh, where did he get that?" I put my hand on the back of Felix's chair. He was in the front seat next to Molly.

"He's had the ukulele." Felix looked up from his phone.

"The mask." I told him, just as Jack dropped his pick on the floor. He muttered a swear word and leaned to pick it up.

"From heaven." Felix laughed.

"JACK! STICK YOUR HEAD OUT THE WINDOW!" Molly shouted and rolled down Jack's window. Outside there was a huge crowd walking by. Jack stuck his head out the window and people laughed and pointed at his mask.

"Jack, why..." I put my face in my hands, trying to hide my embarrassed smile. The crowd passed and Jack sat back in his seat. He rolled up the window and leaned back.

Finally we arrived at the Rec Center. Molly parked and we all jumped out of the car. Jack bounced as he walked towards the door. Molly, Felix and I hung back and watched him.

"He's been really happy since his mom came back. I guess he's finally forgiven her." Molly smiled softly.

"I still can't believe he bought that Llama mask." I chuckled. We all made Jack leave it in the car, but he didn't mind. He just really wanted to go to the party.

"Let him have his fun. He has never been this way." Felix ran a hand through his hair.

"I honestly figured he would be more upset about his mom coming back. Something else definitely happened that day." Molly bit her lip, thinking. Finally I realized that Jack hadn't told them that we were dating yet. The does that mean... I'm the reason why he's so happy?

"Mark? Are you okay?" Felix opened the door to the Rec Center.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." I flashed him a kind smile and walked inside. Tons of decorations were everywhere and there was food like cake and cupcakes. By the time we had gotten inside Jack was leaning by the counter eating a cupcake.

"Jack! Wait until the party!" Molly scolded. Jack just flipped her off and continued eating his cupcake. Molly rolled her eyes and looked around at the decorations. "This is going to be awesome!"

----------

Just an hour later, everyone had arrived. All the lights were out except for changing colored lights and the disco ball in the gym, where everyone was dancing wildly to the music. Molly was with a group of girls and Felix was joking around with some guy in a bear hat. Jack and I were off in a corner across the room talking.

"Half of these people are drunk off their asses." Jack giggled and looked around. A few 'popular' people invited themselves, and they were all barely dressed and grinding on each other.

"Uh, hey Jack?" I bit my lip. I wondered if this was the right time to ask.

"Yeah?" Jack turned to me. Suddenly concerned filled his eyes as he spoke. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I uh..." I took a deep breath. "Did you really mean to say no to bring my boyfriend a few days ago?" I thought back to the day we had our offer.

"Of course not!" Jack took my hands in his. "I was only joking around. Of course I'm your boyfriend." He smiled brightly. I felt so relieved, and my smile shone like a lightbulb.

"Well, do you ever uh..." I looked over to the other side of the room, my eyes flickering between Molly and Felix. "Plan on telling them?" I looked back to him.

"Maybe..." He muttered. "If we get the chance, we'll tell them tonight, okay?" Jack ran his thumbs over my knuckles. Felix turned to look at us and we quickly let go of each other's hands. He shrugged and went back to talking to his bear friend.

"Hey, how did you get Bob and Wade to come to your house when we played Werewolf?" I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.

"You ask to many questions." Jack giggled. "Well, I walked up to them after school. At first they were all pissed and like 'What are you doing here?!' And stuff. Then, I told them that I liked you, and they told me to stay away from you and whatever. Eventually I told them that I wanted to invite you over and I needed their help to get us together blah blah blah... And they agreed. The end." Jack scratched the back of his neck.

"Wow, you had all of this planned out." I chuckled.

"Because I'm awesome, but I'm also desperate." Jack laughed and took a sip of his soda.

"Why did you introduce me to them when I came over?" Jack rolled his eyes, having to answer another question.

"Because I'm the most socially awkward person ever." He leaned back in his chair. "Seriously, half the things you say are questions. Instead of questioning things why don't you just deal with how things are and just move on. Do things instead of questioning them." Jack glanced up at me.

"You're just such a mysterious person." I let out a breathy laugh.

"Hey, guys!" Molly surprised us. Jack yelped and jumped up, almost falling out of his chair. "Enjoying the party?"

"Yeah! I-It's great." Jack quickly took another drink from his soda.

"You guys have been talking all night and not moving. Is something up?" She looked at Jack, her eyes etched with worry.

"Nope!" Jack said too quickly.

"Jack, you're aweful at keeping secrets from your friends." Molly pulled up a chair and sat down. "Spill." She grinned.

"No." He furrowed his eyebrows like a little kid.

"Please?" Molly put her chin in her hands.

"Jack, what's your secret." Felix pulled up another chair. I continued to stand next to Jack.

"I don't have a secret." He pouted.

"Yes, you do. You can keep secrets from anybody except for your friends. You're terrible at it." Felix laughed.

"I am not!" Jack defended himself. "And I don't have a secret!" He crossed his arms.

"Hey, Jack, I wanna show you something cool!" I pretended to look interested in something and pulled Jack along by his arm. We went into another room full of teens playing ping pong and air hockey. "This is our chance. Let's just please get it over with." I whispered.

"Can't we just be a secret-"

"No, that doesn't work. They are your friends. Please?" I looked at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Okay." He sighed. "I love you." He smiled softly at me.

"I love you, too." I pecked his forehead and pulled him back towards the other room. We held hands and intertwined our fingers.

"Molly, Felix, we want to tell you something." I squeezed Jack's hand slightly as a signal for him to talk.

"Uh, that really was a cool thing you showed me!" Jack chuckled nervously. Molly raised her eyebrows and folded her arms, glaring at Jack. He sighed and took a deep breath. "Uh, the truth is..." He chewed his lip. "Mark and I are... Dating. He's my, uh, boyfriend." He winced, preparing for the worst. Instead, Molly squealed and jumped up to hug Jack. Felix grinned and stood up.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Molly hugged Jack tightly.

"BOB OWES ME TWENTY BUCKS!" Felix cheered.

"Don't tell Bob and Wade yet. I want to tell them on my own." I laughed slightly. Molly finally let go of Jack and turned to me.

"Thank you so much!" She wrapped her arms around my neck. She whispered in my ear so only I could hear her. "You take care of Jack. Please, he's been so happy recently, and I know it's because of you. Just... Keep him happy, okay?" I nodded and pat her on the back.

Once she let go I hugged Jack tightly. He hugged me back, pressing soft kisses to my neck.

"Hey! That's gay!" One of the uninvited popular guys shouted at us.

"Yeah, and so am I!" Jack leaned back and shouted. He then kissed me passionately, and I gently moved my lips against his. I heard Molly squeal again and all the popular people go silent.

----------

The party ended and Molly was driving everybody home. Since Jack had told Molly and Felix we were dating, he was totally comfortable with laying on my shoulder in the back seat.

"Hey, I'm want to have a get together tomorrow at my house. Just the four of us. You guys chill with that?" Molly asked. "We can just watch movies and stuff."

"Yeah, sounds awesome!" Jack said excitedly.

"I can go." I said happily.

"Awesome! It's settled then!" Molly cheered and continued driving.

"Does my opinion not matter?" Felix acted offended.

"No! We are forcing you to come have fun with your friends!" Jack laughed. Everybody continued having mixed conversations as Jack pulled out his phone. My phone buzzed in my back pocket. I pulled it out to see a text from Jack.

Wanna stay the night at my house?

I wrapped my arm around him and nodded. He snuggled closer and smiled.

"This car is new. No sex in the back seat!" Molly joked. Jack quickly jumped back and pushed me away.

"Molly!" He shrieked.

"I'm kidding!" Molly laughed.

"Hey, can you drop both me and Mark off at my apartment?" Jack asked quietly.

"Woah, slow down. I was joking." Molly turned into Jack's complex.

"Mark is just staying over!" He said defensively. Molly just giggled and pulled up in front of his apartment.

"See ya tomorrow!" Molly unlocked the car.

"Buh-bye!" I said as I crawled out of the car, Jack following behind me with his mask and ukulele.

"So... Llama mask." I chuckled as I walked alongside Jack.

"Yeah. I just thought it'd be funny, I don't know... You see people with horse masks and stuff, but have you ever seen someone with a Llama mask?" He swung his arms back and forth. I just sighed and rolled my eyes. "Exactly! I am the animal mask hipster!" He giggled.

"You're so weird." I laughed with him.

"Thanks to you." He sighed happily and opened the door to his apartment. It was completely clean, and there was a woman about my height sitting on the couch.

"Who's this?" She stood up and walked over.

"Mom, this is Mark, my boyfriend." He sighed happily and squeezed my hand.

"Oh, nice to meet you! I'm Caitlyn." She shook my hand. She smiled brightly and stood up straight. It felt as if she was trying too hard, but that was definitely better than the way she must've been before. "You're so handsome! And you must be a very nice man." She looked at me, an unknown emotion in her eyes.

"Uh, thank you." I nervously stepped closer to Jack.

"Mom, he's my age. He just looks older." Jack seemed to know what she was thinking.

"Of course." She sighed happily. "Well, it's time for bed. Goodnight, boys." She grinned and walked towards the door on the other side of the room. She stepped inside and Jack and I were left to ourselves once again.

"C'mon, let's go to my room." His bedroom door was only a few feet away. We opened the door to reveal a small room, his bed in the center. He sat on the edge, and I sat down next to him. I tried to relax, but his mom seemed so... Odd.

"Mark? What's the matter?" He looked up at me. I must've zoned out and looked worried. He sighed and held my hands. "I know, she's probably not the most normal mom... But she hasn't properly raised a kid before, let alone a teenager. Give her a chance. She'll learn." He smiled kindly.

"I know. But..." I huffed out a small laugh. "Do I really look older than 16?" I asked. He giggled softly.

"Well, you do have a bit of stubble." He looked at me, his eyes warm and loving.

"Where?" I asked, leaning slightly closer to Jack.

"Right here." He whispered as he traced his finger along my jawline until he reached my lips. He kissed me softly and cupped his hand around the back of my next. I leaned into the kiss, grabbing his waist and rubbing my thumbs gently along his sides. He scooted forward until he was sitting on my lap, arms tied tightly around my neck. I just opened my eyes for a split second to look at him. He looked so happy, like there was nothing that could ever hurt him. There was nothing for him to hold back. With me, he could be as wierd or as crazy as he wanted to be, and his past would haunt him no longer.

I had a broken boy in my arms. I only know half of who he truly is, and I need to find out the rest. I need to fix every little problem that he faces. It's my job to fix him.

~IMPORTANT AN~

Recently I got 500 FOLLOWERS!!! THAT'S INSANE!!!

I want to do something super special! Please let me know what you guys would want me to do :)

-----------

Wow, these first few chapters are REALLY long...

I'm sorry that this chapter is so bad. I feel like I rushed it and it doesn't make sense.

If you don't understand, the Llama mask is mainly to represent that Jack doesn't worry about being himself any more. No, he's not a Llama. He's just really fun and goofy, and Mark has helped him finally be happy with who he is.

Also, I have a Llama mask and it is literally the best purchase I have ever made.

But the ukulele will show up later!

Also, the last paragraph is in reference to the book title and upcoming plot line :3

Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading and if you liked it PUNCH that vote button in the face, LIKE A BOSS! And I will see all you fangirls IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!