I Promise (Septiplier Story)

19 - After PAX

Once PAX was over as vendors took down their booths and people cleaned up, everyone gathered together on the floor.

"Congratulations!" a voice cried from behind Mark and Jack. They turned just in time to be hugged by Suzy. She had them both in her arms, and was squeezing them while giggling.

"Ummm, thanks?" Jack said slightly confused.

"Owe, owe, owe," Mark said as she caught the edge of his wound.

"Sorry," she said and released them. "We heard about the proposal," she said cheeky as Brian, Arin and Dan walked up behind her, all smiles. "Knew that dare would work," she said winking at Jack.

"Oh Lord," he responded as he and Mark laughed.

"Dare, what dare?" Wade asked.

"Never mind," both Mark and Jack said at the same time, causing an outburst of laughter from everyone.

Wade simply looked confused, which only added to the merriment.

Eventually they gathered everyone together and decided to get dinner before everyone had to go their separate ways.

~*~

Since most people's flights were not going to be until later that night, or early the next morning, Mark, Jack, Bob, Wade, their wives, the Grumps, Felix and Ken decided to have dinner at a local, family owned restaurant. The place had a back room, usually reserved for wedding rehearsals, or other small gatherings, so it was just right for their needs. It was a great place to get dinner while having some privacy from all the fans still in town.

The room was adorned with many paintings or wall sculptures of American memorabilia, and there were many tables lined up in a row, covered in white table clothes, to accommodate all the guests. At one end of the table sat Dan, with Brian as the first person to his right. It went down the line of Brian, Ken, Felix, Molly then Wade. At the other end was Bob, and to his right down the line was Mandy, Jack, Mark, Suzy and Arin, who was on Dan's left.

After drinks were served and their orders taken by the wait staff, they all talked about their time at the convention.

"... yeah and then Yami just started walking behind me, like gaurdin' me or something, along with these meat heads ..." Jack was telling Felix.

"Where is Yami and Jessica?" Mandy asked.

"They had to leave early," Wade answered.

"I don't remember hearing you complain at the time Jack," Mark said with fake astonishment.

"I'm not complaining, really, believe me, I appreciate it," Jack playfully argued back.

"I would hope so, considering I got stabbed for you," Mark said pointing to the bandage on his arm.

"You didn't have too," Jack said slightly more seriously, it still pained him that Mark got hurt on his account.

"And let you get stabbed in the throat, I'd rather die," Mark said quickly.

Jack stopped for a moment and looked at Mark, as the man suddenly found his napkin rather interesting.

The chatter in the room was brought to a halt when the sound of metal gently tapping glass was heard.

"What are you doing Felix?" Brian asked, as he looked down the table.

"Isn't it tradition to clang a glass to get a new couple to kiss?" He asked.

Mark looked up, as Felix smirked at him from across the table.

"We didn't get married you twit," Mark said to his Swedish friend.

However, to his and Jack's surprise, everyone else began to join in with the clatter.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" Jack asked and found everyone smiling at them both.

"Stop," Mark said, but no one listened.

"It's just our friends Mark, it's not like we're in public," Jack said quietly to his boyfriend.

Mark looked over at him, as if thinking weather or not he'd want to play along, but otherwise didn't move. Jack rolled his eyes and gave Mark a kiss on the cheek, which made the clattering stop, but there was a lot of disappointment from across the table.

"Spoil sport," Suzy said from beside Mark as she put her fork down.

"I just don't like PDA," Mark tried to argue in defense.

"Don't worry about it," Jack said close to Mark's ear, while placing a hand on the other man's broad shoulder.

"We would never judge you Mark," Dan said from the end of the table, and everyone got quiet.

Both men looked down the table at where Dan was sitting. The tall man had his elbows resting on the table, with his arms up, and fingers intertwined together, as he looked at them both.

"I know that," Mark said.

"Are you sure?" Dan asked seriously.

Jack watched as Mark took a moment to look down the table at each person sitting there, including him, before he spoke again. Each person met his gaze, and smiled, some would nod, as if to confirm what Dan said. Wade and Bob Mark stopped at the longest, and each man grinned at them both, and gave them a nod, as if to say the same, they would never judge. Suzy gave Mark a gentle squeeze when he looked to her, and Arin nodded, as he placed a hand on Dan's arm for a brief moment before slipping it back to in front of him.

"I do now, thank you," Mark said to the group.

"Same here," Jack added with a smile. His heart swelled at the love that was coming from this table of friends.

For the first time, in over two months, Jack felt alive and happy again. His cheeks were hurting from how much he had been smiling since that afternoon, but he didn't care, in fact he loved it. If they hadn't been in a restaurant, he would be yelling at the top of his lungs right now, with how much happiness he felt. His hand still laid on Mark's shoulder, and when Mark looked over at him, he could tell that the man was trying to hold back the tears, only he wasn't very successful as a tear slid down his face. Jack reached out and wiped it away, caressing his cheek in the process.

"We have the bestest friends ever," Jack said to Mark but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Again the sound of metal clinked against glass, as the table of friends once again wanted to see a kiss from the new couple.

This time Jack didn't wait for Mark, but he slowly leaned forward, his hand still on Mark's cheek, and he slowly closed his eyes as his lips touched Mark's in a tender kiss. He half expected for his boyfriend to pull away, but instead, Mark kissed back gently. The kiss only lasted a brief moment, but it was enough for the group, as they cheered and clapped for the two men.

Soon, their food arrived and everyone's attention turned to their dinners. Over the course of their meal, the conversation went back to what it was before the kiss, and declaration of friendship. Eventually though, people had to start leaving, as some where taking red-eyes out and needed to get to the airport. Unfortunately Jack was one of them. He and Mark gathered their belongings after making sure to say goodbye to everyone there, and left for the airport.