They all walk to a food corner. Jackson and Mark coming down from everything that happened earlier, they walk closely. Hand in hand, Jackson slightly leaning into Mark as they walk behind the other boys.

Arriving at the food corner they order some drinks and something to eat. Jackson, Yugyeom and BamBam get a hotdog and some cola. The others getting a freshly made waffle and also a soft drink.

They sit down at the wooden table with wooden bench attached. They eat silently, there is some kind of tension between all of them. Before, they thought they had settled it and that it was okay now, yet all of them feel uneasy. All of them eye at Mark and Jackson, the two not saying a word. They only have eyes for their food and drinks.

Jinyoung feels the tension in his body rise and he can't handle seeing his friends like this, they are a newly formed group and seeing them act out of their natural behavior is weird for him. He has always been quite emotional, he feels the other's emotions quickly.

Jinyoung knows Yugyeom feels the same way and the two exchange glances, both of their faces worried. They both feel the tension so extremely that it's hard for them to eat. Yugyeom feels overly nervous with all the emotions that he feels boiling inside of him.

Jinyoung on the other hand feels anxious. It's the first time something like this happens and they all don't know what to do. He shares a glance with Jaebum, who also looks back at him with a worried glance on his face. He feels it too, but not as strongly as the other two.

Jinyoung feels tense, his motherly instincts kicking in, he sighs out loud.

"Okay, guys spit it. All of you. Where did our usual behavior go?" he spits.

Everyone is quiet and looks at him, heads hanging low. They all want to answer but they can't bring their feelings into words. Maybe that's a problem that they'll have more often in the future but it had never happened to them before.

Normally they would be jumping around and exchanging stories. But this was not the case now, Jackson looks up and he can't believe he caused something like this. He caused them all to feel this way. Guilt washes over him. Being the vitamin of the group can be great, always lifting the others' moods, but it can be preposterous aswell. He just completely downed their moods, something which he never did to them before. Atleast, that's how he feels.

"I- I'm sorry guys." Jackson mumbles.

Mark looks at him, questioning why the hell he is saying sorry. When they were walking over here, he seemed to have comforted the younger. He shouldn't feel sorry, it wasn't his fault.

"Why are you saying sorry?" Jinyoung asks, as if he could read Mark's thoughts.

"If I hadn't taken that dare, this tension wouldn't have been a thing. It's my fault."

"Listen Jackson, nothing of this is your fault. You couldn't know what that dare was about, neither could I. It happened, I don't hate you and the others don't hate you either. I know you feel like it's your fault but it isn't your fault. We were put in a situation we couldn't escape out of, we did everything we could." Mark says, wrapping his arms around Jackson, who sat next to him.

The other gladly accepts the hug and lets the tears escape his eyes, wetting Mark's jacket. Silent sobs leave his mouth as Mark tightens his grip. Jackson's body moves up and down quickly, letting all his guilt wash over him, while crying out loud. Mark sways them from left to right, shushing the younger, telling him not to cry.

Jinyoung is the first to walk over to the other two from the other side of the table, wanting to comfort his best friend. He rubs Jackson's back and soon the others get close too and a group hug arises, all of them wanting to comfort him.

Others may look at the seven boys weirdly because they're in a public and they're being so close, but none of them care at that moment. Jackson is way more important than that.

Jackson feels himself calm down and his sobs get less. Jackson rises his head and looks at all of them, his head being pressed into Mark's chest. He hears his heartbeat and for some reason it's soothing for him, he smiles through his tears. The others let go slowly and Jackson wipes his tears with his sleeve.

Mark helps him wiping his tears, with his own sleeves. He looks down at the younger, he feels such a strong need to take care of him that he can't help but to hold him closely.

Jackson nuzzles his head into Mark's chest listening to his soothing heartbeat once again. The others sit down at their places again, Jaebum ruffles his hair before sitting down again.

Mark slowly releases his grip on Jackson, his hands moving to his waist and watching the other intently. Jackson wipes his last tears away and sighs.

"Are you okay now?" Youngjae asks, worry still lacing his voice.

"I'm okay, thank you guys. I just needed to get this out."

"It's alright Jacks." Mark speaks up and without realizing it he plants a kiss on the younger's forehead.

Jaebum chuckles, nudging BamBam next to him who was already concentrated on eating his food. BamBam looks up and catches the last bit of the gesture.

Finally, Jaebum had got some more evidence of the two liking each other since the dinner.

"Ooohh." BamBam says smirking, laughing with Jaebum, mocking the other two.

Mark and Jackson's faces heat up as they realize what just happened. Yugyeom just chuckles with his boyfriend and watching the blush on the faces of his hyungs unravel.

"Yah!" Mark brings out a bit hesitantly.

They all laugh, even Jackson, who looks up at the elder. His attempt to sound strict and threating the others obviously failed but he finds it extremely cute how he still tried.

They all continue to eat their food and drink their drinks. When they're finished they move on to going to the tigers, Jackson still wanted to go there and as he had a mental breakdown earlier they all agreed to see the cat like animals.

After they have seen the tigers and a few other animals they make their way back to the cars, heading home. They even ate dinner at the zoo and it was all good between them again. Jinyoung was happy that everyone felt happy again. He felt drained by the overflowing emotions earlier, but it was worth it.

Before Jackson can get into his car with Jinyoung, Mark pulls his back by his wrist, preventing him from stepping into the car.

"Do you want to stay over at my place?" he asks.

Mark feels the need to be close to him and he didn't want the other to doubt himself again when he was lying in bed, the need of taking care of him being strongly present in his chest once again.

"Sure." Jackson answers with a smile.

Jackson tells Jinyoung about his plans and the other is too tired to actually listen to the other so he just agrees.

They say goodbye to the others and get into Marks car. The ride was filled with singing along with songs from the radio and laughing at each other for singing so incredibly bad.

They get out of Mark's car and into his apartment. They take off their shoes and jackets, moving onto the living room.

Jackson has gotten to use to Mark's apartment and he felt very comfortable. He plopped down on the couch and Mark settles next to him.

Mark pulls the younger closer, grabbing his shoulder letting the other swing one of his legs over his and letting his head rest on his chest. Jackson's arm resting beside Mark's waist and he moves his hand to wrap it around his waist completely.

Mark's chest moved up and down and Jackson could hear his heartbeat, he felt like he could get used to something like this.

"It was a tiring day, wasn't it?" Mark carefully asks.

Jackson hums, worn out from all the adventures of that day.

"Don't feel guilty about the whole kissing thing okay? You couldn't do anything about it and things like this happen, it only strengthens our bond."

"I know, I just felt guilty for putting you in a situation because of my enthusiasm."

"You shouldn't feel guilty, I like your enthusiastic side. It's fine really."

Jackson sighs in content and he wraps his arms around Mark's waist a little more, wanting to be close to the other. Mark pulls Jackson a bit closer in and rests his head on Jackson's head. His heartbeat sped up a little and a warm feelings spreads over his whole body.

It feels so right.

But both of them are scared. Scared to damage their friendship.

They are afraid. Afraid of this what they have.

They both somewhere know it's more than a friendship, more than a normal friendship. Their skinship was different, their actions had a little more meaning.

But both of them don't let their minds go there just yet, not ready to admit to this feeling. They can't think about it. And so they stay in this awkward space between a friendship and a bit more.

Mark was drained in his thoughts, he couldn't let his mind go there. Meanwhile, Jackson had fallen asleep on him. When he stirs a bit in his sleep, Mark's attention gets drawn to him. He looks down at the blonde hairs on the other's face just covering his eyes.

Those eyes. Those big brown eyes that hold so much emotion. Those eyes which would probably draw him in if they want to. Those eyes which had gone red from crying earlier today. Those eyes which had this sparkle in them whenever Jackson was enthusiastic about something, that sparkle that was there before they had to do the dare.

That kiss. The fact that Mark had taken the initiative to kiss the other. Never ever in a relationship he had been like this. He had always been observing and waiting for the other to make a move. But Jackson was special, he did things to Mark he had never thought of doing.

If that was already like this now, Mark didn't know what to expect for the future. The feeling to need to take care of Jackson is so strong. The feeling is stronger than all his other feelings for the boy. Maybe there is a stronger emotion behind it, but then again, Mark couldn't make his mind go there just yet.

He feels aware for the positions his hands are in, one hand on Jackson's waist and the other somewhere in the middle of his back.

A warm tingly feeling spreads from his fingers to his arms. From his arms it spreads to his shoulders and all the way down to his toes.

It feels so right, so right.

And if it did then why was Mark not allowing his mind to go there?

He stares in front of him to the white painted wall. His eyelids start to grow heavy, but he is fighting his sleep.

He couldn't just let Jackson sleep on him, he was comfortable and he didn't want to wake the younger. But it felt like his bed was calling him.

So he loosens his grip a bit and looks down at Jackson once again.

"Jackson?" he whispers.

Jackson's eyes flutter open and Mark looks into those dark coffee brown eyes, which sleepily look back up at him.

"Let's get to bed, come on."

Jackson obeys without saying anything. He slowly climbs off of Mark and stands up to walk upstairs. Mark followed him, dimming all the lights of the living room.

They quickly change into sleeping shirts and their sweatpants. Or more like, Jackson lends some from Mark. They smell like him and Jackson loves the smell. His mind not quite wrapping around the meaning of him liking that smell.

Jackson lays down in the bed and Mark lays next to him.

"Mark?" he softly calls.

"Yes?" Mark answers. The way he calls his name feels different this time, but he couldn't place why exactly.

"Can I please cuddle you? I felt so nice earlier." Jackson is still half asleep and Mark's warmth was so comfortable earlier. He feels the need to have that warmth again.

"Of course."

Jackson scoots closer to Mark, his head laying on Mark's chest and one of his legs tangled with Mark's. Mark's arms wrapped around Jackson's waist and the other one on his own stomach.

They quickly fall asleep, what a tiring day it was.

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A/N: Weeellll theeennn... Hopefully you enjoyed ❤ See you next time!

~Jacksonsidiot 💕