His Saving Grace [Book 0.5/Prequel]

Part Two

Between school, football, and his friends and family, Jack barely had enough time for Mark. They spent as much of their weekends as they could spare together, but that was all. No dates. No hand-holding. No quick kisses after Jack's team would win a game. They were together. But they couldn't be together.

As senior year was flying by, Jack grew to despise his friends. They hadn't done anything wrong. They were lovely people. Unfortunately, they all were –or at the very least claimed to be- straight. So, they couldn't understand. And on top of that, most were in love.

Jack couldn't stand it. He couldn't stand having to sit back and watch them hold onto the girls they loved. Watch them kiss them, show them off, while he had to hide. Hide who he was. Hide who he loved. Hide Mark. It got so bad, he stopped hanging out with them.

Another thing Jack grew to despise, was Mark's wonderful personality. He was so much in love with Mark. He loved every little detail about him. From his charming smile, to his crooked nose, to his strong opinions, to his passion for taking pictures. He loved Mark. And Mark loved him. Mark, in fact, loved him so much that he understood and respected his need to stay in the closet. He never whined about the lack of public affection, or the non-existent dates, or the lying.

Oh, Jack hated the lying. He hated having to lie.

He lied to his friends. He lied to his family. And he hated forcing Mark to lie for him too. Mark lied to his friends and to his family about seeing someone. In the end, Jack told Mark that should tell his friends and family about their relationship. It was unfair to keep on asking Mark to lie for him.

At first, Jack met Mark's parents. They were as wonderful as one would expect. Understanding. Accepting. Meeting the McGregor's, filled Jack with sadness, because he knew his own family would never be like that.

After that, it was time to meet Mark's friends. Reese, he already knew, so Jack ended up getting to know Reese's girlfriend, Angela, and Sam. Sam was the girl he had seen at the Halloween party with Mark. To Jack's dismay she ended up being the most intimidating person Jack had ever met. Her neutral expression was one of dislike and her body language had Jack on high alert. She seemed like a lion ready to pound on him.

As it turned out, she wasn't some friend who had an intense crush on Mark and was envious of their relationship. On the contrary, the girl was something of an overprotective older sister to him.

In fact, while Mark's friends were pretty okay with him, they all were overprotective of Mark. They were looking out for him, because while Mark seemed to have it all together, in reality he was an unstable mess. The night Jack met Mark's friends was the night he realized the extent of Mark's mental disorder.

Mark said that he had an Acute Panic Disorder long ago, but since he hadn't seen one of the "bad ones" Jack couldn't be a judge of it. Seeing how Mark's friends were about their relationship, he realized that what he thought of Mark's mental state was an underestimation.

But that didn't affect their relationship in the least bit. Jack was unsure of how he would –or whether he could- help Mark if he ever came across a situation where he was in a bad place. But that worry was a very small voice in the corner of his mind. Jack wasn't about to listen to that little voice when the rest of his mind was yelling at him that Mark was all he had.

It was a few days after graduation when some bad thoughts started invading his mind. He had been offered a football scholarship, even though wasn't the best player, and wanting to get as far away as possible from his family, Jack took the offer, not thinking for a second about his relationship with Mark. With Mark having another year of school, unless they broke up, they had to stay together despite the distance.