The Adventure (Tomark)

Chapter 11

A/N: I'm back!  Once again, thanks for your votes, comments and messages! I'm super excited about every little interaction with you guys and I'm so glad that you still keep up with "The Adventure". I hope you'll enjoy the new chapter & that you are prepared for the emotional rollercoaster it is :'D. It's also the return of slutty!Mark, so please read with caution. Cheers!

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When Mark returns to Poway a few weeks later, the trees are already brown and losing their leaves. It has been a while, but Tom, thanks to his friend's regular calls, didn't really mind his absence for the first time. He loves listening to Mark's stories on the phone, his lengthy statements about his favorite bands or movies — and he especially loves that little, sweet groan the older boy makes when he complains about college. Although Tom thinks that there is not much to complain about with all that freedom, excess and fun college offers, he doesn't mind cheering up Mark in those moments. And vice versa, the conversations with Mark encourage him as well, as they make Poway and high school more bearable.

Mark calling him every other evening has become a nice custom; it shows that he cares about him after all. However, when the phone rings on that particular day (and Tom storms downstairs to snatch the receiver from his nosy mom), the person on the other side of the line actually is Anne.

„Hey, DeLonge!" she exclaims cheerfully. „What are you up to? You probably are busy, right?"

Tom raises an eyebrow. His classmate sounds slightly intoxicated, but he can't blame her. It's Saturday and most people probably indeed are 'busy' with living it up. Tom is the odd one out, though. Not only does he lack the circle of friends one needs to paint the town red (Travis once again spends the evening at his girlfriend's house), but the weekends also are extra heavy on his heart. As much as he enjoys listening to Mark's stories on the phone, he knows that they are only half of the truth: they don't include the older boy's hookups. And while he appreciates being spared humiliation and lovesickness, he can't help but to imagine what Mark is doing as soon as he has a day off, attends some stupid college party and doesn't call. Tom feels dumb because of this, but it's difficult to ignore that unpleasant, weird feeling. And because it's nothing that can be smoothed away by alcohol (if anything, getting drunk probably would make it worse), he doesn't really feel like going out, either. But that's something he won't tell Anne.

„Yeah, I was about to leave," he thus claims quietly.

„Aww, that's too bad! I was actually hoping you could come over, have a few drinks and stuff. I asked Mark to come as well, you know. He's actually on his way."

Tom's heart immediately starts beating faster and when he finally replies, his voice almost cracks. „I mean, uh, I could... um, I could probably change plans, right?"

***

Tom arrives at the Hoppuses house shortly afterwards. He rings the doorbell and clings to his skateboard tightly, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. Now that he thinks about it, despite them constantly talking, Mark being away from Poway for a few weeks was tough. The thought of being close to the other boy again and actually seeing him thus is exciting, almost overwhelming. Fortunately, Mark seems to feel the same. When he opens the door seconds later, he immediately embraces his taller friend, burying his face in Tom's neck and pressing his nose against his skin. Tom wraps his arms around Mark as well, sensing the particular mixture of aftershave and tobacco that always surrounds him. He feels pure bliss for a moment.

„That was fucking gay," Mark jokes after letting go of him. Still, he reaches out again and softly brushes a strand of hair away from Tom's forehead.