The Little Things [Book 1]

Chapter Forty-Three: Free Kick

Mark snapped the door behind him with an intensity he wasn't aware he had, causing a few yelps of surprise to erupt from the small living room.

"What an ass!" he yelled out, going in the room and looking over the people who sat there.

Reese was sitting on the sofa, clutching a terrified Angela, with the most scornful expression he possessed. His parents were both sitting on the loveseat looking at Mark bewildered. He hoped he hadn't woken them up. They already weren't big fans of his.

"What the hell, dude?" Reese whined and sat back with a sharp exhale.

"Thomas played against Hal tonight. And I got into a fight with him. And his parents were there". Mark paused and knitted his eyebrows together. "Also, Jack showed up yesterday, but that's a different story..."

Reese shook his head and turned to his parents. "Finish the movie on your own, we're going to my room," he told them and stood up.

The three of them went downstairs to Reese's room, the basement. He had fixed it up two years ago, right before his senior year. A flat-screen with a home theater system -Mark wondered why they had been watching the movie upstairs-, a pool-table, a wonderful vinyl collection, and a punching bag. Or as Reese called them, the essentials.

"So, start from the thing with Jack," Reese said with a sigh and fell on his bed. Mark sat opposite of him on his desk chair, while Angela went to sit next to her boyfriend.

"After practice, yesterday, Thomas came over... because my parents weren't going to show up and you know..." Mark started saying. Seeing Reese's nod he went on. "After we... we were talking and Jack just showed up. We talked for a bit, and then Thomas had to leave because his sister went into labor and Jack told me he's moving to LA. Also, he wants to start going by Ashton".

"What did you talk about?" Angela asked.

"How his life has changed, we remembered the past a little, you know stuff. The thing is, today I skipped to spent time with Ashton since he was leaving, and when I went to the match –after Ashton left- Thomas had this attitude... I don't know, I kind of teased him about him being jealous, but that didn't go too well".

"He was jealous of you and Jack?" Reese asked with a worried expression. Mark was quick to react, raising his hand and waving them around.

"No, no, it wasn't like that. He wasn't jealous. It was actually... kind of adorable..." Mark said hastily and then thought through his own words. Adorable?

"Since when do you consider jealousy adorable?" Reese asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Everyone thinks jealousy is adorable when they're in love," Angela told him with a nudge. Reese gave her a look and turned to his best friend again.

"Really?" he asked him. Mark stayed silent, but that told everything to Reese. "And here I thought you'd never fall for someone harder than you had fallen for Jack..." he said with a shake of his head. Mark rolled his eyes.

"I liked Ashton. I think... I think I actually love Thomas".

"Why?" Angela's soft question drew the attention of both boys. "I mean... what's different?"

Mark shrugged. "His smile... it lights up my day. And I miss him when I'm not with him. I miss his smell and his voice and his laughter, even when he's only been away for a little while. And my mind always drifts to him. Especially when I'm taking pictures. I just..." Mark stopped to shake his head and sigh. "If what I'm feeling isn't love, then I don't want love. I want this; forever".

Angela and Reese shared a look and then Reese spoke up. "So, Thomas was adorably jealous... what happened next?"

"Hal interrupted us asking if I was trying to turn Thomas. And then he insinuated that I turned Ashton..."

"Motherfucker!" Reese exclaimed and sat up, pacing as to not punch something.

"Yeah, so I hit him," Mark went on, and at once Reese came to a halt.

"You, what?" he asked, leaning forward.

"I hit him... a lot".

"When you said you got into a fight with him I thought you meant that you talked angrily at each other," Angela said, having also leaned forward from the bed.

"Yes, that exactly," Reese said, nodding and pointing at his girlfriend.

"We didn't talk angrily at each other. I straight up punched him in the face. Multiple times..." Mark replied.

"Don't get me wrong, he deserved it, but do you really think it was smart? From a 'they could report you to the Principal or worse, charge you with assault' standpoint," Reese said, sitting back down.

"I don't know whether it was smart. I didn't really think it through. I will talk it out with my parents. But, well, if the guy who sent me to the hospital presses charges against me for slightly bruising his face I don't have a feeling it will go too well for him..."

"Yes, but if you don't consider the things he told you, to a third person it could have looked unprovoked," Reese countered.

"I don't care about the legal bullshit right now!" Mark exclaimed, wanting to continue the story.

"Right –yes, you hit him, go on".

"His parents came talking about how I was at fault and how I had ruined their lives and... Jack, and I sort of lost it again. I called his mother a whore. An ungrateful whore".

"Jesus Christ, Mark, are you out of your mind?" Reese interrupted him.

"I also called his father an asshole. And I told them they took him away from me and they made him suicidal and ashamed of himself... and his father said I was the reason he was ashamed of himself. Because I touched him".

"Okay, he deserved the asshole title," Angela said with a disgusted look.

"Coach put an end to it, telling me to leave, and as I was leaving Hal asked me if I was running back to William," Mark finished.

That made Reese pace again. He walked up to the punching bag, growled, gave it a hard punch, and then returned.

"I swear to God, one of these days I will murder that piece of shit," he said and kneeled in front of Mark. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking straight at him. Mark kept the eye contact for a second and then lowered his gaze while running a hand over the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I almost had a panic attack when Mrs. Cooper started yelling, but I stopped it... and then again another one when I got in my car. But I'm okay..."

Reese let out a heavy breath and rose back up. "So, what now?" he asked, sitting back next to Angela. He pressed a soft kiss on her temple and then looked at Mark expectantly.

"I need to tell my parents about the thing with Hal. Because I don't know what his parents are going to do and they need to know. To be ready. I also want to talk to Ashton... I said some things about him that I need to let him know. I mean, everything that I said were things he has already told them... but still. And –"

Mark was cut off by his own phone going off with a text. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.

Thomas: We have to talk... we were in the middle of something when Hal interrupted us...

"And?" Angela prodded Mark to go on.

"And I need to talk to Thomas," Mark finished and sighed. He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "I need to go," he said and quickly typed a reply to Thomas.

"Text me later!" Reese called out as Mark walked up the stairs and left.