.T.O.R.N.

VI

Lukas POV:

I watch the fear-filled boy as the single word escapes his lips. I notice his eye on the brink of tears and his heart seemingly shattering slowly on its own. My heart reaches out to him and I as well am filled with sadness at the sight of him standing here like this. Mark looks up at me then to the floor once again and I feel my own heart start to break. I slowly walk over to the now crying boy and give him a sympathetic look. I take my hand and place it under his chin then gently force him to look at me. I look into his tearful brown eyes and smile at him with compassion before leaning in closer. Without thinking, I capture his lips with mine. He seems shocked at first but gives in and kisses back (I apologize I'm not good at these kinds of scenes). We depart shortly after not wanting a random student to turn the corner and see us. He looks at me with shock and bit of confusion.

"What about the code?" he asks me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Fuck the code."

"Does this mean..." his voice trails off and I simply nod. He wipes his tears away from his face and smiles at me.

My gaze strays from his eyes to the gymnasium door that wasn't far behind him. "We should get back to gym class," I suggest. He nods and we slowly walk back to our class. When we enter it looks like nobody even noticed the two of us were even gone. I silently and lightly scoff at the sight of people still engaged in the beach volleyball game. I notice Jax on the bleachers watching them with a bored expression. His chin rested in his hand as he narrows his green eyes at them failing to play the sport. When he notices us walking up he brushes back his black hair from out of his eyes and grins. We return the smile and I take a seat next to him as Mark sits on my right.

"What happened to you Mark, you look like you just cried a river. That or you're high," Jax laughs near the end. I turn my head to look at him and indeed he does. His eyes are red and puffy from crying which makes me slightly frown.

"I'm fine," Mark states.

"You don't look fine. You look like shit."

"I'm fine Jaxson."

Jax just shrugs it off and stands up and runs a hand through his spiky hair, "Welp, I'm gonna play I don't know about you. Wanna come?"

Mark looks at me at the exact time I do and we agree on our decision with a simple look in the eyes. "Nah we're gonna pass," Mark decides smiling up at Jax who nods and joins the beach volley game.

Once he leaves my gaze turns to Mark and I give a concerned face, "What are we going to do?" I ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Um hello? We're gay I don't think people will take it lightly and be supportive," I explain with obvious worry laced within my words.

He shrugs and looks ahead at the game with a smile, "I agree but I know a couple people we can trust for now though. We'll just have to keep our relationship a secret for the time being until we know who went can definitely trust."

I silently agree with these terms and we continue to observe the sweaty teens play. The silence between us isn't awkward, its more comfortable if anything. We just enjoy each other's presence without saying a word and it's quite calming. I feel a slight touch near my pinky and look over to Mark whose keeping his gaze on the game. I look down at our hands to see him slowly inching his pinky to mine. I smile slightly and decide to take confidence by taking his finger and intertwining it with my own. Mark's hand twitches a bit but otherwise, he doesn't change expressions. As I look back at the game my peripheral vision catches a smile flicker across his face. I too begin to sport one and we continue to watch our peers with linked fingers.

After some time the whistle blows and we begin to change and pack up. Both of us decide to change in the stalls despite the other boys around. We pack up and head back into the gym to wait to leave. Once the bell rings we head out to Mark's truck and climb inside. "Geez, this is becoming a habit for you, hitching a ride with me."

"Hey don't blame me, blame Chloe for taking my car!" I defend as he starts the engine. He laughs off my comeback as if it's his own and just begins to drive. After some silence and listening to the quiet radio, a question comes to mind. "Hey Mark?"

"Yeah Lu?"

"What are we to each other?"

He turns the radio down to where it is barely audible and changes positions as he stops at a red light. "What do you mean?" He asks a tad confused at my question.

"What are we to each other? Relationship wise," I explain.

His eyebrows furrow in thought before raising to match his grin, "Well I would like if you could be my boyfriend." (I don't know how the heck people ask each other out. Don't expect me to know this shit I'm one socially awkward son of a bitch)

I smile back which I had seemed to do a lot of today and answer, "I would like that too." His smile doesn't fade as he continues to drive down the road. I guess we are boyfriends now which makes me happy even though it also terrifies me. I'm scared what others will think and also if this relationship will be healthy and turn out ok. Mark is my best friend and losing him would break me. Without him, I think the world would actually end for me. So jumping into a relationship based on newfound, sinful, feelings horrifies the logical side of me. However for now, I'll enjoy it while this lasts and hope wish and pray for the best.

~:A/N:~
I finally finished this. Also I'm recovering. My body's immune system is the fucking worst. I actually have a lot of inspiration for this book from a new book I've been reading as a recommendation from Scarlet_The_Fox. So thanks Scar! Anyways I'm going to work on VII now and I actually have plans so no writers block for now. Peace!

I'm editing later.
Words: 1116