Sand Between Our Fingers

04~

JACKSON'S POV

My heart fluttered with excitement when Mark agreed to come out to the movies and dinner with me. Was this a date? Wait no, I was straight. Wasn't I? Why was I questioning all of these things? For as long as I had remembered I had always liked girls, but Mark was making me feel so different.

"Mark, can I ask you something?" I asked.

"What's up?" He asked.

"What's it like, like...how would you describe..." I said before the door opened.

"Are you guys eating dinner with us?" Marks mom asked looking at both of us.

"We are going to the movies, but make sure you leave leftovers in the fridge mom, you know I love your cooking," Mark said and smiled. There was something purely magical about the bond between Mark and his mother that I couldn't describe.

"What's that question?" Mark asked once his mother was gone.

"Oh, I forgot. What kind of food do you like?" I asked knowing that I didn't forget what my question was.

"Burgers and Fries," Mark said with a cute little smile, his smiles gave me happiness. Maybe I was bisexual, or was I gay? I hadn't thought about girls ever since I had met Mark.

"Are you guys going on that death trap?" Mark's mom butted in. "Of course not, you'll take Mark's car," she finished.

"You have a car?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just don't drive it often," Mark said.

"Well let's go see it," I said with excitement.

Mark led us out of the room with a nod and took me down to the garage opening the door to present 4 cars currently parked in the garage, three of which were Audi's.

"Mine is the BMW sports edition," Mark said pointing to the bright green car at the end of the row. I was truly blown away that he even had a car like this.

"Why didn't you drive to school?" I asked.

"Well, it wouldn't make much sense for the science nerd to have such nice things. Why show off what I have when people only want to hurt me?" Mark said.

"I would never hurt you?" I told him. "I would've protected you," I finished.

"You're too sweet," Mark said. A blush rushed to my cheeks and I had to drop my smile to the floor.

"Jackson," Mark said and I met his gaze.

"Can I tell you a secret?" He asked cupping my cheek. The sincerity in his voice made my heart throb, ah fuck it I gave in.

"What?" I asked.

"I drive fast so you're going to need to wear your seatbelt if you wish to survive," Mark said before giving me a small laugh and running down to the car.

Fuck....I wanted him too....I was hoping he would...

MARK'S POV

DAMN IT! I WANTED TO KISS HIM, SO FUCKING BAD! How could I kiss someone though when they only thought of us as friends? Maybe I should have kissed him. Fuck it all right? Well I didn't...

I quickly hurried and got inside of the car on the drivers side. The inside was accented with a strip of lights that glowed blue which highlighted the white and brown leather interior. I had to catch my breath before Jackson got in the car or else I would explode with gay emotion. It sucked that Jackson was the only one who knew that I was gay...he kept my secret but he didn't keep my love, if he knew I liked him, and he liked me back then he would have the ultimate combination.

"You're a punk," Jackson said laughing as he got into the car with me.

"Perhaps," I said pushing the button to open the garage door. "Buckle up," I said and began to back out after starting the car.

As soon as we were on the road I rolled the windows down and let the wind take care of the rest. I had this perfect little spot in New Jersey off the beach that served the best burgers and fries that you'd ever tasted. I couldn't help but occasionally look over at Jackson while we drove. I didn't know whether he was enjoying himself or if he was holding his shit in from how fast I drove.

"Where are we going?" Jackson asked.

"There's this spot in New Jersey about 45 minutes away on the beach that has the best burgers and fries," I told him.

"Good thing it's Friday and I don't have school tomorrow," Jackson said with a goofy smile.

"I guess so," I told him.

*     *     *

The drive to the restaurant was filled with chatter and music for the rest of the time we were in the car. It was honestly nice to see Jackson be comfortable around me for once, it was like I finally got to speak to the him that I knew so well.

"So do you want to sit and eat or walk and eat? The beach is beautiful," I said while I parked the car.

"We can walk if you want," Jackson said.

"That's fine," I said beginning to get out of the car before a hand stopped me. My heart shuttered.

"About that question earlier, how did you know you liked boys?" Jackson asked.

"Well, I never felt crazy about girls. Boys just gave me this giddy feeling inside. It is weird, it's very hard to resist the urges ya know, especially when you like the one sitting across from you," I said my heart pounding. "That's my secret, I wanted to tell you in the garage, but," I said.

"Don't worry about it, it's okay," Jackson said to me and offered a smile.

Did he like me too?

JACKSON'S POV

He likes me...Mark likes me, and...I think I like him back but I can't be sure, I'd need more than this and I'd need to invest myself to him, I was okay with that.

"Can we call this a date?" I asked him.

"A friend date? That's cool, sure Jackson," Mark said and smiled at me.

"I like it," I replied to him before getting out of the car with Mark and heading inside of the restaurant.