Everything's Alright

Mark

I wake up to find a pair of arms surrounding my body like a strange jungle vine. I look to my right and see Jack, faces only inches away from mine, with messy hair and his mouth tilted slightly open as he steadily breathes his morning breath into my face. I feel the repellent smell in my mouth, but I kiss Jack awake anyways. His lips are smooth and soft. I get up and start to brush my teeth. I look over at Jack and see him turning down the bed. Huh. I realize I never do that. I don't think I really even know how to. As he's doing this, I see he's shirtless and pant-less. His arms seem to be his canvas, but I don't say anything about it. I don't even know what I could say about it. I walk up behind him and encircle my arms around his waist. He stops folding and tries to turn and smile at me shyly. I kiss him on the crook of his neck and keep my lips there. Only now do I see how skinny Jack is. His ribs and hipbones are clearly visible. His collarbones are the most prominent I've ever seen on any human. His stomach is practically a concave. I feel concerned. How much has he really eaten when I'm not there? I don't think I want to know the answer.
---
I stand at the end of the aisle next to Jack. I look out into the crowd and see my friends, family, soon-to-be-family, and the specimen next to me. I try to recall all that's happened. Just 4 months ago I asked him to marry me. 10 months before that, we actually made contact with each other. 3 months ago, he moved in with me. 2 months ago, he ate his first full meal. 3 weeks ago, he hit 7 million subscribers. We made a Twitter for Schrödinger, our cat, yesterday. Today, we are getting married. My glasses get all foggy, and trying to rub on them with my sweaty thumb does nothing. Once everybody's seated and ready, the priest betwixt us starts his spiel. After a good 2 minutes, it comes time for the vows. Jack is the first to go. He pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket. I see his hand trembling.
"Mark," he addresses me, "I vow I'll always stay by your side. I can guarantee that, even in death, I'll stay with you. Hopefully, the whole death part won't come soon." That gets a few chuckles from the audience, "I promise that I'll constantly be there, even when you don't want me to be. I hope that, even when I don't tell you, you still know I love you. I'll tell you through my actions. Over all, I promise to love you unconditionally." I look him in the eyes. I feel them water up. Oh god, not now. He's already off the hook, but I'm in danger here. I take out a crumpled piece of notebook paper I spent a week on from my pocket.
"Jack, I promise I'll love you even when you do dumb stuff. I'll love you when you forget to feed the cat, or put a red sock in with my good white tshirts, or steal my beanie on purpose." My voice catches on the word "good". "No matter what happens, what life puts us through, I know I'll love you. It could be poverty, prejudice, disease, but no matter-" I stop. My face is an oven right now and my throat is closing. I clear it and try again. "No matter what it is, I'll be here. I swear." I feel a couple of tears slip out from my eyes. We get to the "I do"s, and I kiss that groom. At first neither of us tilt our heads, so I poke him in the eye with my glasses. As we kiss, I feel his arms wrap around me and his hands meet each other on the small of my back. I feel okay.
-
Our after party is rowdy and rambunctious as all hell. My mom goes up to give a speech. I try to mentally prepare myself.
"Yknow, I remember when Mark told us he was gay. He was around 15. It was no shock. He had watched high school musical at least 12 times by then!" I laugh with the audience. "I honestly think the greatest problem he has is fear. I remember him telling us how anxious he was. We told him that, of course, he's gonna find the love of his life. We're gonna walk him down the isle. He's gonna be happy. But, most importantly, 'get downstairs, wedding guests are arriving'." That got a lot of laughter. I feel my face redden. Jack put his arm around me and crosses his long, slender legs. Eventually, at 2:00 we get back home. We moved into an actual house, rather than an apartment. Once we get into the frame of the front door, I gently push Jack up against the door frame. I lean my forehead against his and smell the alcohol on his breath. We connect, and his hands splay across my chest. We break, and simply look at each other. In the half inky darkness and half yellow kitchen light, Jack's eyes somehow seem to glow. I look down to see a teensy black creature weave its way through our legs. It peers up at me and I see a flash of green before it turns its attention to Jack. I swear, Schrö always favored Jack. We never really found out if it was a boy or a girl. It was abused as a kitten, so you can guess why we couldn't tell. It's missing half of its left ear and was declawed by its previous owner. Jack gets on his knees to pet it. He knows the exact right spot, just above the nape of the neck, centered between the ears. I remember him messaging me about it over Skype. He was practically a kid on Christmas, he was so pumped about having a cat. Whenever I go to pet it, I end up getting scratched or whatever. I see Jack realize what position he's in and instantly get up. Things have been getting quite awkward, as neither of us has actually, like, done it with a guy before. Yeah. I mean, we just never got around to it. We go inside. F. Schröde made a mess. There's a failed muffin batch on the ground. We tried to make something for the reception, but the best we can do is getting a mediocre score on baking simulator.
"Oh, fuck." I say. I see the fear in Jack's eyes.
"Oh, Mark, I'm so sorry! I'll fix this, I just gotta-"
"No, I'll get it. Go to bed, please. I'll join you later, okay?" I tell him. I turn on my heel just so I can look him right in the eye. "This isn't your fault." He nods shakily and runs off to the bedroom. I put Schrödinger in there with him.