Dangerous

Home

The school had taken legal actions and the police were sent to Mark's apartment. They took his step-dad away and took photos of the place. Knowing about his past like I do now...I can't imagine what pain he must've felt having to go back there everyday. The state said until further notice, he could choose to stay with the school or with me...so he chose me. They asked if he wanted them to bring him anything from the apartment, but he told them to either leave it, take it for evidence, or burn it regarding his belongings. He didn't even take the bike.

I told my family about everything.
They were mad at first that I had lied to them about seeing Mark, but when I told them what had happened and the police came to talk to them about Mark's temporary custody, they agreed to let him stay.

So I drove him to the house. I looked over at him, holding his hand.

"Welcome home."

He smiled at the comment. I was going to make sure he got all the things he should've gotten years ago. We situated him in the guest room, where he had a large bed all to himself. We had bought him some fresh new clothes and put them in the closet for him. Everything seemed perfect. And apparently he agreed because when he walked in, he almost started crying (happy tears this time). He hugged me before jumping on the bed.

"Get over here!"

I laughed as I jumped on the bed next to him, bouncing a bit. We laughed a bit and I could tell he was really happy.

"Thank you for all of this...I can't tell you how grateful I am..."

"Of course, Mark..."

He was leaning over me a bit as I lied on the bed, and reached up to touch his face. There were still marks but the swelling was almost gone and the bruises had faded. And I could see both of his gorgeous brown eyes.
He looked me in the eye for a moment, before slowly leaning down and connecting his lips with mine. I was a little shocked at first just at the fact that it was happening, but quickly closed my eyes and kissed him back. I cupped his cheek as his hand stayed on the mattress next to my head, holding him up. Then he slowly pulled away, opening his eyes and smiling at me, which I returned.

"Really, thank you."

"Of course."

~~~

We decided not to mention the kiss to anyone since my family was still getting used to him. My parents just told my little sister Brooke that he needed to stay with us for a bit. The real story was far too much for her...she was only 13. My parents, while a bit weary, were very kind to him nonetheless, and cared for him as much as they could. He was pulled from school until he was situated in a more permanent home, and I was given permission to stay home as well for a while to care for him, since he didn't really know the rest of my family. It was all seeming to be going well and we were happy. But now I was wondering...that kiss...what did it mean? Was it a heat of the moment thing? Or was he actually interested in me? And how did I feel about him?

We both walked back up to his room after dinner. We talked for what seemed like hours but for some reason there was a weird tension that I couldn't put my finger on. I think we both realized it was there when we stopped talking and just looked at each other. Something about his face was just...different than usual. Then, before I could think and stop myself, I asked the question that had been driving me crazy.

"Just asking but before dinner...was it a heat of the moment thing or...something more?"

My eyes went wide as I tried to correct myself.

"I mean it's totally fine if you didn't mean it...I just thought I'd ask...god, I'm a total idiot...I'm really sor-"

Then before I realized what was happening, his quickly grabbed my face and pulled me towards him, kissing me hard. This time it was a lot more assertive and I couldn't help but lean into his hand on my face, close my eyes, and kiss back. Not too long after, he leaned back a little, resting his forehead on mine and looking down.

"I fucking meant it..."

As soon as I heard that, I just started smiling. His eyes moved up to my face as he smiled a little and I bit his lip. Then we slowly leaned into each other again, placing sweet small kisses on each other's lips and we both couldn't stop smiling. But we had to stop once we heard a knock on the door. Best to keep this between us. We moved apart as the door opened and my mom popped her head in.

"Do you guys want to go out for ice cream?"

"Ice cream?!"

I looked over at Mark after his sudden outburst and he was smiling wide.

"I'm guessing that's a yes."

We both nodded as she smiled and shut the door again.

"I've never had ice cream before..."

"Well, then we must take you to the best of the best. Lest go."