NEIGHBORS.MARK

eight

Mark followed Ava back up to her apartment unit. They talked about Lucas and how immersed he was in his plans and how they didn't really believe it'd work. Especially after only one bar stop. They laughed and thought about the experience, their drunkenness a bit more noticeable. They both slouched through the hallways and tried to be as quiet as possible. But by just looking at each other, they'd begin to laugh again.

Upon arriving at her apartment, he noticed the same red glow that he usually saw from his living room window. It was coming from strands of LED lights that bordered her ceilings. Mark's eyes followed the lights and watched as they enclosed the room. Ava noticed where his eyes had wandered and she giggled before grabbing a remote and changed the color.

"See, they change. What's your favorite color?" She asked curiously.

"Blue." He answered as she quickly changed the color.

And I guess it was true. The color of a room can really change the mood.

Mark went from being curious and active to dazed and mellow. The blue was dark and it made the room feel like metal. Not cold like metal. Just metallic. It made time feel conceptually impossible. As if time didn't exist.

But it did.

And they had plenty of it.

Ava turned her body and quickly went to the kitchen cabinets and pulled out two glasses. She then grabbed a bottle of alcohol by its neck. She walked to the couch in the middle of the living room and motioned for Mark to sit with her. He hesitantly walked through the blue and sat across from her. She poured him some alcohol and then connected her phone to the Bluetooth speaker. She picked an album by Joji which flooded the room with a sort of tension that was inexplicable.

Mark started feeling a pull. Like gravity was calling him to her. And he believed she felt it to. Mark grabbed the nape of his neck and looked at her. She looked away, suddenly getting meek. Ava rolled her eyes and finished the alcohol in her glass.

"I don't want to have sex with you, Mark." She blatantly stated.

"So no head?" Mark thought to himself, he quickly tried to pull himself out of his comically drunk mindset.

He shook his head, "We don't have to."

She nodded hers.

It went quiet between the two of them. Ava skipped through songs and Mark watched her get increasing uncomfortable. He wondered why. But he didn't ask. If she wanted to tell him. She would have. Mark quickly decided he'd take off. Maybe he'd wait outside their apartment until Lucas and his hook up were asleep. Then he'd sneak in and sleep on the couch. Mark ran his hands on his jeans and stood up.

"I'm sorry I won't have sex with you." Ava murmured as Mark shook his head.

"No don't worry." Mark comforted her as he remained peering down at her, "I'll go, I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I wasn't raped or anything." She quickly explained.

Mark quietly thought to himself again, Good, I can't handle anymore rape after Mr. Kim.

He altered his response, "I didn't think you were, but you don't have to explain. Good night, Ava."

Mark turned to walk out. Maybe he was moving too fast. Or maybe he was lying to himself just to make himself feel better.

"No, wait!" Ava called after him.

Mark turned around and looked at her, the blue lights shining. SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK was playing in the background, "Stay the night, Mark. We won't do anything, but maybe you could just hold me?"

"Hold you?" Mark questioned.

Ava nodded her head and grabbed Mark's hand. She pulled him into her bedroom where she started undressing. Mark sat on her bed and watched her as she changed from her outfit to a pair of shorts and a long t-shirt. He scoffed to himself. She wants him to stay but doesn't want to have sex with him. But she'll undress in front of him? It was torture to Mark. Ava turned around and handed him some Nike sweatpants.

"Here, you can wear these." She said as Mark laughed to himself.

It should be the other way around, him handing her his baggy clothes. Watching her slip into them and then slow dancing with her in the dark with nothing but the city lights in the window, guiding them. He thanked her, undressed and put the sweatpants on. She offered him a shirt but he refused. She then went to one side of her bed and patted the spot next to her. He hesitantly slipped into the bed and let her direct the movement. She ended up in his arms.

Ava whispered to him, "Can I kiss you?"

Mark's eye widened in the dark of her room, "Fuck yeah."

Mark sat up and rested his back on her headboard. He watched as Ava crawled onto his lap, moving her hair into a low, messy ponytail.

And that's when Mark saw them.

The stars in her eyes.

They twinkled and danced like delicate ballerinas in the night sky. They stared into his soul and made him feel such a comfort that he had never felt before. He watched as they blinked shut and open. His heart starting to feel that pull again. The gravity pulling them together. The cosmos aligning just for them.

Ava grabbed his face and kissed him. It was soft at first. Gentle pecks that spanned from his lips to his jawline. She kissed his neck and Mark laughed. It wasn't that he was ticklish or anything. It was because it was funny to him. He hasn't ever been so intimate with someone without having sex with them. He liked what they were doing together more, though. No pressure of sex. Just kissing. It felt better.

So there they were. In her dark room with the city lights peering into the window. Her body on his lap, his lips on hers. The gravity pulling them together. The circle of cosmic energy swallowing them.

It was perfect.

————

I have a certain someone that I want to do this with, but homeboy is not down. I'm sad.

-Mames