(I've Known You) A Life and A Day

Love Will Come and Find Me Again

  The rain had eased up significantly since that morning, and Mark could even see a light bit of sunlight peeking through the sunlight as he stood on his steps and waited for Michael to arrive. This was his favorite time to be outside, when it had just finished raining and everything was quiet and calm and just so right. These were the times when he used to sit on the deck overlooking the backyard and look at the tree line, enjoying the peace and the occasional sound of soft clicks as Whizzer sat next to him, camera in hand. While Marvin liked to look at nature on his own in private, Whizzer liked to document it with photos. So many photos. He’d often pretend that he didn’t notice when Whizzer snuck photos of him when he was supposed to be taking pictures of the flowers or something else out in nature.

  His lover certainly loved to take photos, even if the things he were documenting were odd, or sometimes, even morbid. During his final weeks, to keep him occupied in his hospital bed, Whizzer took photos of anything he could. The morphine drip, the progress of how thin his arms and legs got, the nurses who seemed to look even more exhausted with each new photograph, and every possible thing he could sneak a quick picture of. It seemed like his favorite thing to take pictures of during his hospital stay was Marvin. Whether he was calmly reading to him, or passed out in a chair by his side, or staring out the window with a newfound tinge of terror in his eyes, it would end up a brand new documented moment before it was over.

  The sound of a car pulling up the driveway thankfully pulled Mark out of his thoughts before the waterworks kicked in, and he looked up to see Michael parking.

  A fucking Camaro.

  Mark stepped off the porch in awe as his taller counterpart got out of the car, of course dressed in an outfit that was so tight he was convinced that it would take the Jaws of Life to get him out of it. “Uh, showing off much? We made out in a high school bathroom; I don’t really think you need to swoon me with fancy cars and skin-tight outfits,” he joked, crossing his arms a bit.

  “Who said I was showing off? I mean, I am, but that’s not the point,” Michael chuckled and pocketed his keys before leaning against the bright red car in a “cool guy” sorta way. “This is actually my car though.”

  “How? Are you secretly a CIA agent? Are you the FBI agent that monitors my laptop?”

  Michael scoffed and playfully rolled his eyes.  “No, my dad’s a CEO for some boring marketing company. I’m a latchkey kid, so he makes up for it by giving me a credit card and no spending limit. The car was my sixteenth birthday present. My mom got me a Mercedes, but he apparently thought it was ugly. They’re divorced but they still work together so they try to buy my affection so I don’t take each other’s sides. Sorry, am I rambling? I don’t really talk about it a lot.”

  “Ah, no worries. I’m a latchkey kid too. My parents own a magazine company and they’re always off on business to some other country,” Mark explained, wrapping his jacket tighter around his shoulders. “So, where are we going at six in the afternoon? It’s getting dark.”

  “Alright, old man. Hold your horses. It’s a surprise.” With that, Michael unlocked the car and opened Mark’s door for him. Mark smiled and thanked the boy before taking his seat, trying to mask just how nervous yet excited he really was.

**

  Michael had taken him to the park. It was really nice when they arrived; the last few kids were being led home by their mothers and it was peacefully quiet. They both stepped out of the car, and Mark almost had a panic attack when he saw what was in the other’s hand.

  “I’m kind of a photography nerd, sorry. I figured we could hang around here for a little and talk while I get some photos? Maybe if you end up being good company, I’ll take you out to dinner,” he said with a wink, turning on the camera and making Mark’s heart nearly go into overdrive.

  All the boy could do was simply nod, and thus began their journey for the next two hours. Michael took photos of the trees and flowers, solos shots of the lone swing set, and a couple of shots of Mark walking next to him or sitting on the swing after a while, all while they asked each other questions and told their stories of their lives.

  When they decided to end their park adventures, it was dark, with the only solid light source being the streetlights reflecting off of the black asphalt in the parking lot. Mark noticed it gave Michael a golden, almost angelic glow. It hurt, of course, but also felt so right.

  They returned to the car and Michael, as promised, drove to a pretty fancy restaurant. Mark suddenly felt underdressed and broke just by looking at the building. “Uh, do you think they’ll serve people who look like they just walked out of a bad nineties sitcom?” he asked jokingly, only to get two shopping bags thrown at his face.

  “Let me know if they’re too big or too small. I took the liberty of buying you some nice clothes that didn’t make me want to burn what you wear.”

  Mark made a face that could only be described as a mix between offended and unsure. “Hey! I think my clothes are pretty nice!”

  Michael eyed the other up and down before scoffing and crossing his arms. “Honey, don’t kid yourself. I have a better fashion sense than everyone at that godforsaken school, and that most definitely includes you.” Mark honestly wanted to be offended, but he really couldn’t. He recognized this argument from all the ones he had with Whizzer, so he chose to just give in, thank Michael for the clothes, and duck into the bathroom to change when they made their way into the restaurant.

  Dinner went by smoothly. Smoothly, meaning they nearly got kicked out from all the times Michael made Mark laugh so loudly he would disturb the other patrons. Thankfully, they made it to the end of their meal without getting kicked out and retreated back to the car.

  It only took Mark ten seconds after getting in the car to lean in and press his lips to Michael’s. It took Michael almost ten minutes to tell Mark to wait until they got to his house to continue.

**

  Mark remembered a lot from the life he lived before this one. He remembered his first real date with Whizzer, his second real date with Whizzer, their first kiss, kicking him out over a goddamn game of chess, missing him for two long years, being so happy when he came back into his life, and the dreadful downhill slope of his last few months.

  What he couldn’t recall, however, was the first time they’d had sex. He didn’t mean a shifty handjob in the back alley of a gay bar downtown, or a sloppy blowjob in his car. He meant actual, big boy sex. Their first time actually screwing was apparently sponsored by Jack Daniels, from the amount of booze Marvin had consumed prior to the event. Even still, their first time having sex when he was fully sober was an experience he would never forget. It was terrifying, sure, but Whizzer was surprisingly sweet. Not exactly patient, but sweet nonetheless.

  And now, lying next to an already softly snoring Michael, Mark thought back to those moments. Like Whizzer, Michael wasn’t particularly on the patient side, but he was very caring in helping the nervous boy.

  Oddly enough, lying in bed were the times that Mark missed Whizzer the most, but those thoughts were tucked away safely in the back of his mind. He could finally just focus on the moment and enjoy the time he had with Michael, who was starting to stir a little in his sleep.

  “Marv, come back to bed.”

  Holy. Shit.

  Mark couldn’t breathe. His blood ran cold, and he suddenly understood how the people who Medusa turned to stone felt. He probably just heard him wrong, he could’ve just said Mark, or he was talking about a different Marv-

  “Marv, Jason’s fine just come back to bed.”

  Holy. Fucking. Shit.

  And, just like that, he was once again left with a thousand questions and no right answer.