His Bright Eyes (Septiplier)

The Trial Run

-Mark's POV-

Ring...

Ring...

"Hey Mark," Ethan said, in a chipper voice. Way too chipper for 9:00am.

"Hey, Ethan" I said, trying my best keep my voice steady. "What are your plans tonight? I wanted to invite you and Tyler over for barbecue and a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity."

"Oh? Yes, that sounds great! What time?"

"Anytime after 7:00pm would be fine," I said, "I think Tyler is going to be coming over about 7:30pm or so. Jack is still here, so it will four of us in all, unless you wanted to bring someone."

"Mark, seriously? You know I have no other friends than you guys," he said in mock sadness.

I chuckled.

"I'll be over right around 7pm then. Need me to bring anything?"

"Some dessert if you want, and it's BYOB."

"Ok, great," he said, sounding excited. "How's Jack doing, by the way? I really haven't had a chance to talk to him since he had announced that and his girlfriend split. He seemed really upset about it."

I paused at the question, trying to figure out the best way to answer it without giving too much away about the real reason both he and Tyler were coming over.

"Mark? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry," I said quickly, "I thought I heard someone at the door." The lie felt rough in my throat, and I coughed. "Jack is doing much better."

"That's good to hear," he said, sounding relieved. "I'll see you guys later tonight."

"Ok, pal. Talk to you later."

I hung up the phone and exhaled deeply, leaning heavily on the kitchen counter. It felt like I had been secretly holding my breath during that entire conversation. Tyler's call had been so much easier. Pretty much me asking him if he wanted to have dinner and play cards, him saying "cool" and hanging up. Barely ten words were said between us, but then again, that was how Tyler was in most conversations.

Ethan asking directly about Jack had thrown me for a loop completely. If I was this stressed out talking to one of my best friends about Jack's overall health in passing, how in the hell was I going to tell either of them that we were now exclusively dating?

This is supposed to be the easiest talk. The trial run. Ethan and Tyler were bound to be the most quickly supportive, other than Wade and Bob.

Why the hell am I so terrified?

"Are you ok?" I heard him say from behind me.

I swiveled around to see Jack, yawning deeply and green locks tousled walking to the refrigerator. I ran my fingers through my hair and adjusted my glasses.

"Uh oh," he said, stopping his route to the fridge and heading towards me instead. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Bright Eyes," I said, trying to smile coolly. "Just getting everything set up for tonight. Both Ethan and Tyler are heading over after 7pm, like we planned out."

His blue eyes narrowed, and I could tell that he absolutely was seeing my stress hanging off of me, like a bad fitting coat.

"Ok," he said slowly, and thankfully turned back to the refrigerator without asking follow up questions. I chalked it up to him still being tired, but decided to change the subject quickly, just to be safe.

"I'm heading to the store to get meat for the grill and sides," I said, sitting down at the kitchen table. "Did you want anything specific?"

"You know I'm fine with pretty much anything," he said holding a bowl and box of cereal, and placing them on the table next to me. "I'll work on getting the plane tickets for Ohio after I eat."