ABC's of Love - Septiplier

Affection

This is the mini series inside of Jessobecka's story "Septiplier One Shots" which is such a good book, I recommend reading it for Jess' stories are the greatest.

As requested by imaddicted2them, here they are all collected for your benefit :)

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"Jack?" Mark's eyes widened as his gaze landed on the Irishman who stood not too far away. He had a jacket slung over his forearm, and the other hand was dragging a suitcase behind him. Mark had been requested by Bob and Wade to tag along on their trip to their airport to get Bob's wife, Mandy. So why the hell was Jack here?

"Mark! Guys!" Jack exclaimed, grinning wildly and pulling Bob into a hug first. Bob smiled, and Jack moved onto Wade.

"Jack, what are you doing here?" Mark asked as the man approached him, pulling him in for a hug. Jack pulled away, unable to hide his confusion.

"You didn't know?" Jack asked, and Mark shook his head. Jack turned to Bob and Wade who looked unable to keep their laughter in. "You guys said you would tell him. You told me that he was okay with me staying at his place. How would he be okay with that if he never knew about it?"

"Oh, yah, by the way Mark, Jack's staying at your place." Bob said, and that was when Wade lost it. He turned away, his face going red from laughter. Bob chuckled, restraining himself.

"What? No." Jack said, frowning at them and then at the floor. "Its fine, Mark didn't know; how would he be prepared? I'll go get a hotel."

"No!" Mark exclaimed, suddenly darting forward and grabbing Jack's arm. He looked into the man's blue eyes for merely a second before remembering what he was doing. "Its okay. You came here with the expectation to stay at my place, so I will make room for you."

"Mark, you don't have-."

"Shush!" Mark ordered, placing a finger against Jack's lips and then poking him in the nose. "No words from you. However, you," he turned to face Bob and Wade who were turned from them, laughing in the quietest way they would manage. "Have some explaining to do."

"What? We knew Jack was coming, he needed a place to stay, we thought we'd make it a surprise for you, and man it was worth it." Bob said, suppressing a chuckle. Mark rolled his eyes, and turned to Jack. He motioned him to follow, leaving Bob and Wade to pick up Mandy who actually was coming to the airport conveniently at the same time, and walked the other direction. Jack regaled his flight and the awful turbulence they had experienced along the way. He spoke vibrantly of his stop in New York where he had met several nice people who helped him when he had gotten, and Mark simply listened happily.

"Do you have any other things to carry?" Mark asked once the stories were done and they had reached the exit, and Jack shook his head.

"I didn't know how long I was staying so I just packed the necessities and a bit extra." Jack said, and Mark frowned at this. Jack just decided to leave randomly for a period of time he didn't even know? That wasn't like him, he was usually so organized. Mark didn't question it aloud as they walked through the airport, or the parking garage. Once they were in his car, Jack's luggage in the trunk and on the road, Mark cleared his throat.

"Jack, what made you come to America so randomly? Usually you aren't like this. It's always more organized." Mark noted jokingly, but instantly regretted saying this. Jack froze, tearing his gaze from the window and looking at Mark with sad eyes; Mark suddenly found it difficult to focus on the road. "Jack, what's wrong? Talk to me."

"My, uhm.." Jack trailed off at first, his voice shaking and gravelly. He cleared his throat, blinking tears away. "My girlfriend broke up with me, and then some stupid drama was caused somewhere in the family. I just needed an escape, and-." Jack's voice broke off an octave higher than normal, and he clenched a fist and shoved it next to his mouth to stop himself from crying. Mark's breath caught in his throat; how did it get this bad so quickly? He wanted to ask, but with the state Jack was in at this point, he clamped his mouth shut.

"Jack, its alright. You don't have to tell me now, let's focus on getting home, alright?" Mark spoke softly, reluctantly keep his eyes on the road. He reached his hand over, resting it on Jack's knee as he rested his elbow on the door, leaning against his hand and shielding his eyes. He peeked at Mark for a mere second, then his hand, and then went back to fighting tears. "I'm going to take care of you now, okay? How about we get a pizza tonight, and we'll play a game on our own. We won't bother recording or anything, it'll just be junk food and madness, okay?" Jack nodded, trying to organize his thoughts.

Through the whole ride home, Mark kept his hand on Jack's knee, or his shoulder, or his back. Simply somewhere on the Irishman to remind him that he was no longer alone. Mark would be there for him, however long Jack decided to stay; however long he needed Mark

To Be Continued...