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1. Jericrew
“Guys,” Markus says, sliding into their lunch table. “I have a problem.”
“Oh?” Kara prompts. She scoots closer towards him, and waves at him to continue. Beside her, North, Josh, and Simon continue their conversation, too deep in their own argument to spare Markus more than a nod.
“You know how I’ve been hanging out quite a lot with Connor…”
“Yes, Connor,” Kara says. “Connor Anders. Shy, sweet, intense Connor Anderson who you thought was standoffish and just another piece of unseasoned chicken breast?”
"Yeah, well." Markus ducks his head down, cheeks pinkening. “I was wrong. Hella wrong. Things have massively changed. I’ve told you that, right?”
Surely he has, because frankly, if he’s quite honest with himself, Connor’s been occupying his mind for months at a time now. It started off with Markus leaving behind his book in class, since he was eager to get started on painting the sets for the school play. Connor, who happened to sit beside him in class, had hunted him down in his art studio and returned his book. Then he stood there, painfully awkward in his lanky limbs, until Markus took pity and asked if he wanted to help him with the set and props.
Surprisingly, Connor accepted. He grabs a pair of sewing needles and happily sat, listening to Markus rattle off about the play, his projects, and his art theory. Markus could tell that Connor had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but he was happy to listen, nodding through his confusion.
Then he came back the next day, and the next, and the next. Until Markus just felt that it was natural to always have him walking right beside him.
Since Connor and his twin, Nines, seem to be involved in every sport known to mankind, Markus hasn’t had the chance to bring Connor and Nines into his friend group outside of class.
“Markus?” Kara waves her hand in front of his face. “Hello? Markus? Are you there?”
Markus shakes himself from his stupor, and wills his body from turning red. “Yeah, yeah.. sorry. I got distracted.”
He must be imagining things, but it looks as if Kara is trying to tamp down a smirk. “You were saying?” she asks.
How do you explain that you can’t stop thinking about Connor’s face lighting up as he talks about his Saint Bernard, Sumo, in a way that won’t end up with your friends making fun of you for the next ten years of your life?
“I think—well, there is.A small possible chance.That I may have a crush on him. A tiny one. On him—on Connor,” Markus says, his throat swallowing visibly.
Kara blinks. Two seconds pass by where she just stares at him.
"And?" she asks. "Is that all?"
Markus almost sputters. “Is that all? ”
Ignoring Markus, Kara swivels to their friends. “Hey guys!” she says, giddily. “Guess who finally realised he's been mooning over Connor Anderson for the past fifty years of his life or somethjng?”
North, Simon, and Josh pause their conversation, then, almost simultaneously, North and Simon groan, before rummaging through their pockets and handing Josh a ten dollar note. Josh’s grin is exuding smugness.
“And that,” Josh says, “Is how I’m going to pay for lunch for the next week. Thank you, guys.”
"Wow," Markus says. "So this is what betrayal feels like." He looks to North for an explanation.
“Damnit, Markus,” North says. “You couldn’t continue being so fucking oblivious for two more weeks? For your best pal?”
Kara giggles, and incredulous, Markus looks at Simon.
Simon shrugs. “To be fair, my bet was for when you took Connor to Carl’s gallery showing, so I’ve already lost for a while now. I just wanted all three of us to lose together.”
Markus puts his face in his hands. “I can’t believe you guys.”
“Cheer up, Markus,” Kara says, patting him on the back. “Now that we’re-but-mostly-you are all up to date, we can start working on your game plan for Connor!”
“Game plan?” Markus says. “What game plan?”
“ Game plan game plan.” North waggles her eyebrows. “You were the one to bring up Connor in the first place. What else were you going to ask us?”
“Okay, fine.” Markus sighs. “Any suggestions on how I can ask him out? And where? Minimal amount of laughter please.”
“You should take Connor and Sumo to a dog park,” Kara says. “Then you can stroll by yourselves… alone… , talking and hanging out while surrounded by the things that Connor loves the most.”
Markus thinks on it, then shakes his head. “Too casual. Connor and I always walk Sumo through the park every weekend.”
“A new Italian place has opened up in town?” Simon says. “You could take him there for a romantic date?”
“Oh, Vinci’s?” Markus asks. “Connor and I already went there last week. It was really nice. A little too formal for my tastes, though.”
North leans forward. “He’s in the rugby club, right? Why don’t you join the rugby club, tackle him on the field, hug the living shit out of him and never let go? Stake your claim, make it known that you’re the only one who belongs on top of him!”
Kara and North exchange high-fives while Simon says, "Nice."
“North!” Markus wants to slump in his chair. “Connor’s not in the rugby club anymore, remember? He almost broke his rib last time he played and we had to wait for hours at the doctor’s for an x-ray.”
Josh stares at him. "Are you kidding us right now?" he says. “Christ, Markus. You’re hopeless. Why don’t you just run up to him and kiss the living daylights out of him?”
“ Josh! ”
“I’m serious, man. It already sounds like you two are dating, anyway. You could literally make out with him in the hallway and no one in the entire school would blink."
When Markus looks around the table, everyone else is gesturing in some kind of agreement to Josh.
“I can’t just—just run up to him—and—and!” Markus does his best impression of a fire truck. “How do I even know if Connor feels the same way?”
Silence falls onto the table as all of his friends—Kara, North, Simon, and Josh—look at him as if he had announced to the whole table that he was a flat-earth conspirator.
But Markus ignores that, because his heart is already racing twice as fast as usual, while his thoughts race.
The possibility of Connor liking him back… it’s just too much to handle.
"I'll think about it," he concedes, and he's proud of himself because he's only fifty percent lying about it to his friends.
2. Carl and Leo.
“—Sumo lost a pound since his new exercise regime. I’m so proud of him. He’s doing so well—dude! What the hell, Nines! You were suppose to come and gank me! Not steal my kill!”
Over their video call, Markus can hear Nines’ howl of laughter, and Cole’s, the youngest Anderson, giggles.
“You snooze you lose, Connie!” Cole shrieks over the call.
Markus isn’t even playing with them—he’s doing his homework, instead—but he laughs with them. It’s just nice to have the twins and Cole as background music. Sometimes, Cole even manages to finagle Markus for himself while Connor and Nines fight in the background. Then, he would rattle about his day in his usual chipper way, and Markus can’t deny that the eight year old isn’t ridiculously adorable.
His eyes land on the time. “Oops, I gotta go to dinner now,” Markus says. “Call you guys later.”
After a round of distracted ‘ Bye, ’ and ‘ Talk to you later, ’ Markus closes his laptop and heads down to help set up the dinner table. Once he finishes, he goes off to wake Carl from his nap and roll him to the dining room, while Leo starts filling up their plates.
Now that both his adopted brother and his adopted dad are here, this would be the perfect time for advice. Indeed, when Carl asks about his friends—mentioning Connor specifically—Markus sets aside his utensils and clears his throat.
“Actually,” Markus starts off. “About Connor… You know how he and I are... getting pretty close. So I was thinking... I was thinking of asking him out on a date, and I was wondering if you guys might have some advice you can give me?”
Raising their eyebrows, Carl and Leo shares a look with each other.
“You’re fucking with us,” Leo finally says. “Carl and I thought you two have been dating this whole time.”
If Markus had been drinking, he would’ve spat it all out. “I’m sorry, what?”
"I must admit," Carl dabs a napkin on his mouth, "this is quite a surprise."
“We were just waiting for you to feel comfortable to introduce him to us officially as your boyfriend,” Leo says. “Since... Christ, Markus, you guys were basically on top of each other, cuddling through every movie you watch together." He stares at Markus. "You mean you two just… platonically cuddle like that all the time? Like, as friends? Seriously?”
“Shut up, Leo.”
“The young man did sit through the whole competition just to watch your performance,” Carl says. “That takes dedication. Even I almost fell asleep about two hours in.”
“He came because I asked him to,” Markus explains. “He’s was just being nice.”
Leo snorts. “Sure, maybe the first round you invited him to. But to sit through three sessions of competition even before you landed into the finals? ”
Markus says nothing, because Leo will just be worse if he knew that Connor brought him flowers each time he came as a sign of good luck.
“Ah,” Carl says, smiling. “Young love.”
God, he’s so tempted to jump out the window. “You guys are so mean,” Markus says, playing with his food. “Here I am, going to my family for support, and what do I get instead? Mocked within an inch of my life.”
“I was just as overdramatic when I was your age,” Carl says. “Maybe even worse, perhaps. I remember panicking whenever I was thinking about her… so much so that I honestly didn’t know what I was doing half the time. Instead of writing her an admiring note. I accidentally wrote her a note that said, ‘ Get out of my school.’ ”
“Oh my god.”
“ Pfft!” Leo snorts. “How do you go from one extreme to another?” He gestures his fork towards Markus. “You know what? You’re a bit of a disaster too, Markus, but at least you’re not dad’s level of disaster… yet .”
“Great,” Markus mutters. “Another thing to worry about.”
Markus almost sweats just thinking about it.
“Look, asking out Connor’s not actually that hard,” Leo says. “You’re practically dating each other anyway. Just get him somewhere private, soften him up a bit, hold lots of eye contact and ask him about his day—”
Nodding along, Markus mentally takes notes.
“—then push him down on the bed, or the wall—any hard surface would do, really—get on your knees, pull down his pants, and—”
“—and I can’t believe I actually thought you were going to be sensible for once!” Markus interrupts, sputtering once again as a blush quickly spread across his face. “You can’t just say stuff like that! Carl is right there!”
Carl shrugs. “I was a young artist once.”
“See? Dad totally gets it.” Leo winks. “He was such a heartbreaker in his time.”
Right. He forgot that his adopted family’s very open about these things.
But, Leo does have a point. Maybe he could get Connor somewhere private, then find the nerve to ask him out there?
“Ugh,” Markus says. “What if I choke in front of him?”
Leo gives him a solid pat on the back. “ Of course you will . Everyone does, especially on their first time. That’s why you have to go slow—”
“—I meant my words, Leo!”
Leo, the devil, only starts laughing again, and Carl is laughing so much that he’s wheezing. Really, his family is a menace.
His only source of vindication is that Connor and Nines laughs just as loud as Leo and Carl did when Markus tells them of Carl’s pathetic attempt at romance.
The next day, Markus opens his locker and finds a note slipped through it.
“Ooh,” Connor says, sounding a little nervous, leaning beside Markus’ locker. “A note. What does it say?”
Get out of my school 😉
Markus laughs while reading it, before rolling his eyes. “Leo thinks he’s being funny.”
Connor suddenly stands up straight. “Wait, what do you—Leo?”
Markus shows him the piece of paper and Connor—
Connor is glaring at the piece of paper like the piece of paper had betrayed him in some way.
“Uhm, Connor?” Markus says, placing one hand on his shoulder. He squeezes it to draw his attention. “You okay over there? What’s with the angry face?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.” Connor shakes his head and gives him back the note. He flashes Markus a bright smile. “Shall we go to class now?”
3. Gavin?
Markus is in the middle rummaging through his backpack while he walks down the hallway when he smacks his shoulder against someone else.
“Sorry—”
“Watch where you're going—”
Markus stifles his cringe when Gavin Reed—one of the most unpleasant people in school—turns around and smirks.
“Look what we have here,” Gavin says. “Our resident Casanova. I heard you’re finished with pining over Anderson, and sniffing around for scraps of advice like a pathetic little dog.”
Markus folds his arms. “Why does it matter to you, Gavin?” he says. “You know, it takes more effort to be a dick to others than it does to be kind. It says something about you that you always choose the former instead of the latter.”
Connor likes dogs anyway, Markus thinks to himself.
Gavin visibly fumes, squaring his shoulders, and pointing his finger at him. “Stick your stupid philosophical debates where they belong, Manfred. God, you and Anderson deserves each other—what with your stupid sayings and Anderson with his stupid statistics and stupidly plush lips—”
Markus blinks. Wait, what?
“— and his goofy smile, and stupidly big, brown eyes…” Gavin trails off, staring at his own finger as if lost in thought.
Markus is lost as well. “Okay…?”
Gavin snaps back into attention. He flushes an angry red. “Fuck off! I’m going to… to…” He breaks off, his folded in with confusion.
For once in his life, Markus takes pity on Gavin. “You go…do that…” he says, giving Gavin a worried look before turning around and walking away.
4. Sumo
“So you think Gavin is infatuated with me?” Connor asks, throwing a tennis ball against the wall, while Sumo lies on top of him. “That’s fucked up, but it does explain his obvious fixation. His maturity resembles that of a six year old’s, and he must respond to his crush as such.”
Beside him, Markus gives Sumo a hearty scratch on his sides. “Only you? Is he fixated with Nines as well?”
Connor catches the ball and thinks on it. “No. Then again, Nines is a little bit terrifying.”
“Only you would consider him only ‘a little bit’ terrifying, but considering that you both could flip a man twice your size without breaking a sweat, I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“I’ve seen your parkour moves,” Connor says. “They’re nothing to be ashamed about.”
Sumo barks, as if in agreement, then he nuzzles his head against Connor’s hands, panting. Rolling his eyes, Connor scratches Sumo’s head. Markus doesn’t know how he ever thought Connor could be standoffish when he melts as easily as ice cream on a sunny day whenever Sumo’s involved.
“Sumo lives a very fortunate life,” Connor says. “I shouldn’t spoil him so much, but he’s such a good boy. And if I had someone who’d give me head scratches whenever I wanted… then I understand Sumo’s motivations much better.” Connor tilts his head at Markus and blinks innocently.
Markus grins. “You’re not half as sly as you think you are.”
But he does sink his fingers into Connor’s hair, brushing through the thick strands of hair, running his nails gently against his scalp. There’s something irresistible about being given permission to mess up something that Connor always keeps pristine and combed. Connor closes both eyes and hums in happiness, and Markus can’t help but stare in wonder.
He’s all soft and firm under his hands, his face a little rosy from the warmth of his room. This close, Markus can make out the smallest traces of freckles. Sometimes Markus daydreams about wrapping his arm around Connor’s waist and burying his face in the crook of Connor’s neck. He can already imagine how Connor will smell—like the laundry detergent he uses, and the cotton sheets in his room dried with sunlight—
Connor cracks one eye open. The action, ironically enough, reminds Markus of a cat.
“Hey, Markus.” He reaches out squeezes Markus’ forearms. “Nines told me that there’s a drive-in open cinema showing Mamma Mia on Saturday night.”
“Sounds fun,” Markus says. “What time should I pick you up?”
“The movie starts at seven, but we should aim to be there by six-thirty.” Connor then pauses, before his eyebrows dip down in an expression Markus knows well to be determined. “I know, we usually do this all the time—go and see movies on our own, alone. This time, though… I was wondering… if—"
Hank’s loud curse voice pierces through their haze. There's a series of heavy thuds, before he calls from downstairs, “Connor? Can you come down for a minute? Need your help with something.”
Connor scrunches his nose, and the action reminds him of Sumo whenever he smells something funky.
Markus laughs and gives Connor’s head one last scratch. “You should go to him. He might set a computer on fire if you take too long.”
Connor sighs, and nudges Sumo off him. “Hank is pretty hopeless.”
Sumo, bereaved of his human bed, plops his heavy weight on top of Markus instead, effectively pinning him down for the foreseeable future.
“Be back soon,” Connor says, and Markus tracks his footsteps as he runs out the hallway and down the stairs.
The minute Connor is out of hearing range, Markus flops back onto the bed. “This is hopeless, Sumo. I’m hopeless. I had him right there, and we were alone, and I still couldn’t ask him. Ugh, ” Markus says, one hand patting Sumo. “It’s just…I’m just so worried. What if he doesn’t feel the same? I don’t want to lose this. I don’t want to know if I can handle losing… this… ”
Sumo pants happily, his tail wagging up and down.
“You have no idea what I’m saying, do you?”
Sumo gives a ‘boof’ in reply, before putting his head down between his paws and looking up at Markus with approval.
Markus bites in his smile. “I should romance Connor through scratches and pats, you think?”
Sumo barks his reply.
“I wish,” Markus says. “But unless you want me to be constantly hiding from Hank, I feel like that’s something you should save for the third date.”
5. Nines
Nines and Connor, and to a lesser extent, Cole, are a package deal. That’s something everyone in their school knows without having to put much thought into it. Connor told him that Hank wasn’t even looking to adopt, but he found Connor and Nines on the street and couldn’t bear for them to be separated in the foster system. This was shortly after Cole was born and Hank’s wife passing away, so for all Cole knew, Connor and Nines had always been there.
Which is how Connor is so handy with a needle and sewing machine, he says. Hank is hopeless with the sewing, and because he pulls such long hours as a detective in Detroit’s Police Department, Connor and Nines has taken it upon themselves to keep the house running and the family fed like a pair of well-oiled machines.
If there was anyone else in the world who’s more of a Connor expert than he was, then it would obviously be Nines.
So Markus is over at the Anderson’s for dinner when he decides he’s going to do it—he’s going to ask Nines for advice.
Connor’s washing Sumo outside when Cole comes pattering to him. “Hi, Markus!” Cole says. “Nines says you have to look after me while he gets dinner ready. But he’s using the big knife and it’s so cool .”
By big knife, Cole must mean the big, rectangular butcher knife that Nines particularly likes.
Hmm. Markus almost starts sweating.
“Alright,” Markus says. “Why don’t we get started on your homework? We can get it out of the way now so we can all watch movies after dinner.”
Cole pouts. “Okay. But I hate math.”
“Me too, kid,” Markus says. “But Nines and Connor? Loves it with every breath they have.”
Cole purses his lips in deep thought. It’s a little dirty to play on a little kid’s idolisations, but hey, all is fair in love and homework.
“Okay,” he finally decides. “If Nines and Connor like math…”
Markus pats his shoulder and gives Cole a dazzling smile. “Atta boy.”
From where they sit on the living room, Markus can see Nines working on the whole chicken from the corner of his eye, waiting for the right time that Markus can go up and ask Nines for advice. Preferably when Nines doesn’t have the butcher knife within ten metres of himself and Markus.
He can see Nines wearing a frilly green apron, probably something that Cole picked out from the shop. There’s a whole, steamed chicken on the chopping block, and Markus watches as Nines brings the knife down with a ‘bang’ against the chopping board, cracking through the chicken’s joints, all the while humming happily to himself.
Cole, noticing that Markus is watching with wide eyes, leans over to whisper, “It’s so cool, isn’t it? Sometimes Nines doesn’t even need the knife to split the whole chicken in half.”
Markus laughs nervously, even as Nines arranges the pieces of chicken neatly on a plate.
… Yeah.
That’s a ‘no’ from Markus for now. Maybe he’ll ask Nines about Connor as a last resort.
A very last resort.
+1. Connor
Funnily enough, after weeks of agonizing and pondering, Connor is the one to stomp up to him in their school hallway. His jaw is tightened in a determined expression, and he puts both hands on Markus’ shoulders.
“Markus,” Connor says, eyes burning for the truth. “Do you have a crush on me?”
Markus gapes for three seconds solid, then he picks his jaw up from the floor and starts flustering. “I—”
“Because I feel the same way.” His eyebrows dip. “Although, I feel as if crush isn’t... nuanced or deep enough to describe how I feel about you. But I wasn’t really sure, and both Nines and Cole told me that you were staring at Nines yesterday so I was worried that maybe—for a second—that instead of me you were thinking of—”
“No!” He grabs Connor’s hands and squeezes. “Connor, I’m so happy you said that.” Markus beams a smile at him, eyes sparkling with the intensity of his happiness. “I feel the same way.”
Connor shudders out his breath in relief. “Good. Good—I’m glad, because I was sure, then I wasn’t sure— and I had to find out from Gavin— from all the possibilities of people that could’ve informed me, it was Gavin who said that you’ve been asking people about dating advice.” Connor shakes his head. “ Gavin, Markus!”
Markus pauses. “I don’t think I can ever apologize enough for that,” he says solemnly.
One end of Connor’s lips tips into a smile. “No,” he says. “You can’t.”
And then they stand in the hallway, heedless of the people bustling around them, grinning at each other like they’ve won the world.
Markus decides then there, for once in his life, that maybe Josh was right.
He leans forward until he could feel Connor’s breath stutter against his lips, and presses his own softly against Connor’s.
Not quite 'kissing the living daylights out of him’ as Josh had suggested, but the full body blush that spreads on Connor’s face makes it feel like it is.
“Come to mine after school?” Markus says. “I think it’s time I introduced you to Carl and Leo officially as my boyfriend.”
Connor smiles and leans forward, squashing their noses together. “Yes! Of course! I’d—” he breaks off in a laugh, feeling equally as giddy as Markus does. “I’d like that very much.”