Our Life: Beginnings And Always Oneshots

The First Dress

Cove Holden and Mark Romwell didn't often get to go to the mall— though it was somewhat close to Cliff's scuba shop, it was rather inconvenient for Noelani, Pam, or Cliff himself to take them. They'd only been a handful of times since the initial visit with Kyra, Derek, and Lee. Now, though? Now things were changing. The boys, best of friends for eight years, were now sixteen, and driver's licences were acquired. Mark had never been super keen on driving, though he could in a pinch, but Cove was far more comfortable behind a wheel— which worked, given that Cove was the more adventurous.

As such, Mark was happy to be whisked off by his favorite person. The car was familiar— the same one Cove's father had driven them in so many times before, now passed on to son— and the two unironically jammed out to pop songs for the whole drive. If pop didn't happen to be Mark's favorite, Cove probably would've found the genre stupid, but of course by now he knew all of the words to quite a few songs. Despite not being stellar at singing, Mark still loved to do it, and he was gradually improving just through continued effort. Cove was oftentimes far too self-conscious to sing, but, to Mark's complete and utter delight, that all seemed to melt away when it was just the two of them.

Occasionally, when a volume adjustment was needed, their hands would brush together and send them both into a momentary fluster. Even though both of them had been almost uncomfortably attracted to each other for years at this point, neither had said anything. Frankly, Mark found the panic to be part of the fun of HAVING a crush, at least for now.

Someday... Someday he'd say something. But for now, this was fine. Besides. The longer they waited, the more of a celebration it would be for both families when the inevitable occurred. He shuffled in his seat with a mischievous smile. "Whatcha thinking about?" Cove asked, anticipating shenanigans.

Mark frantically thought up a lie that would guide the conversation in the proper direction. "All the snacks I'm planning on stealing bites from when you're not looking" suited his needs perfectly. It prompted Cove to redden just a bit and laugh weightlessly before sticking his tongue out.

"You're impossible."

"Impossibly perfect, you mean! As long as you don't mind how weepy I can get," he played.

"Oh, please. I cry just as often. You MET me while I was crying." Cove's aquamarine eyes shone in amusement before settling into a nostalgic warmth.

The brief recollection of that night stirred Mark's heart. Thinking about how lonely and lost Cove had felt back then made him sad, but it also opened the door to all of their most cherished childhood memories. "I know I say this all the time, but I'm so glad I know you. You're really special to me." Speaking of tears, Mark was now attempting to maybe NOT do that right now. Fortunately, for once, the tears didn't come.

Cove went even redder, but his smile was radiant. "M-Mark! H-How do you always manage to take me by surprise like that?! I mean, obviously, I care about you loads back."

"So... you won't get mad at me when I swipe some of your food, is what you're telling me?" A beat of astonished silence passed, and then the two boys cackled, Cove taking a hand off the wheel just briefly to give Mark a light shove.

The rest of the drive passed by in a lighthearted quiet. It was always fascinating to Cove how Mark could so easily bring affection to any conversation and still make it feel completely natural by the end. They hopped out of the car, Mark vivid with excitement. That was another thing about Mark. It seemed like, no matter how mundane things were, he was somehow always enthusiastic for whatever they were doing.

The framing strands of white hair that were out of his typical bun twirled with him, hitting him slightly in the face. He laughed. "Can you piggyback me?"