[A/N] Pretty long. 2.2k words. Enjoy!

Edit: Republished this. Hopefully I'll make something I like more later but I may as well let this stay up.

The charcoal pencil glided along the page as he added detail to the dry-looking grasses and the hill a bit further back. This was coming along pretty well, Mark thought. He was on-track to ACTUALLY have a decent-enough product to submit to the contest. If all went according to plan, he'd finally be able to join one— perfectionism and perhaps a smidge of anxiety preventing him from doing so previously.

The door swung open. Elizabeth— Liz? He wasn't sure which one she preferred at this point— walked in with her usual swagger, phone in hand. "Guess who?" she teased lightly, tossing it to her brother.

"Lee?" he asked tentatively.

A joyful laugh rang out from a distinctly non-female voice. "No, wrong one. But I can understand why you expected her."

"DEREK!" Mark cried out, a beam immediately filling his face.

"Heya! Sorry it's been a couple weeks since my last call. I've been pretty busy."

"I relate. How's school?"

"Oh, you know. About as well as you could expect. And you? I bet you're crushing it!"

"Damn right! It's stressful, but I'm still acing everything." He sighed. "I miss you."

"I miss you too! Which is why I have to tell you something."

At this point, Mark had migrated from his desk to his bed, laying on his stomach and kicking his legs idly. This got his attention, though. "Everything okay?"

"Don't worry, everything's fine. It's good news! My school's soccer team is gonna play against yours in two weeks! We're playing at a field that's in between our two towns, and anyone can spectate for free! If you want to stop by, we can even make a day out of it afterwards!" Mark's heart filled with longing; it had been so long since he'd seen Derek in person. He wondered if Derek was taller than him by now. He cast a glance at his calendar. "Still there?"

"Oh! Um, yeah. What day of the week?"

"It's a Saturday. Feel free to invite Cove, too, by the way! I don't want him feeling left out of the party!" Mark could hear the wink in his voice.

He hesitated. The contest deadline was the day after that, so he'd be missing out on his last day to work on the packet of drawings. "I'll be there!" he blurted out despite it. "And I'll tell Cove! I'm sure he'll come. He likes sports more than I do, anyway, so he can teach me how everything works."

"Awesome! I can't wait to see you guys! And hey. Just cause I'm playing against your team doesn't mean I'll go easy on them!"

"Make it an uphill battle! I wanna see what you can do!"

"Alright! I'm pumped!" Contented silence fills the air for a few seconds. "Okay. I have to go now. I promised my brothers I'd play some board games with them. Have a fantastic day!"

"Bye, Derek!" There was a click, and then nothing. Mark let out a sigh before hoisting himself out of bed. Welp. Time to buckle down.

...

"It has to be five pages, and you need to make sure to cite at least seven reputable sources. Maybe go to the library to read up on the court cases you were assigned. And if you prefer a more tech-based approach, you can try the search engines we taught you like EBSCOHost and Jstor..."

The teacher's instructions gradually became like background noise in Cove's mind. He'd turned to look at Mark's expression. That was an unfortunate due date. Two days after the soccer game and one day after the contest deadline. Mark's eyes were wide open and he blinked rapidly, pressing his fingertips to his temples. "Hey, umm... if you're too busy, I can go to the game and take lots of pictures for you?" he offered in a whisper.

Mark propped his face up on his fist and made eye contact with him. Cove's ocean-blue eyes were so large and lovely and full of concern. He felt immense appreciation from the gaze, and fleetingly, he considered the proposition. "No. I'm going."

Cove nearly blurted out an astonished "What?!" but managed to stop himself before it escaped. He'd learned from many years of experience that getting Mark scolded was one of the worst things he could do. So he returned to his own notes and made sure to store the "need for emotional care" into his brain. But really. Four drawings ("acceptable" ones at that), five pages, and a possible trip to the library in two weeks?

It was like their friend Terri would say. "Preposterous!"

...

Cove squinted in bed, trying to see whether Mark's bedroom light was on from across the street. Looked like it... Mark typically stayed up later than him anyway, but this couldn't be normal. It was two in the morning. He quietly slipped out of the house and walked over there, mentally apologizing to his dad for sneaking out again but also fully aware that this would not be the last time. He hoisted his way up to the second-story window like he had a million times before, balancing precariously as he knocked.

Mark snapped to attention like something out of a horror movie. After a startlingly long time, he processed what was going on and opened the window. "Hey, Prince! Rapunzel ain't leavin' his tower 'til tomorrow morning, but feel free to crash this party!" he cheered loudly.

Cove's jaw dropped and his eyebrows pulled together. "That was like... the most out-of-character thing you've ever said to me." He cast a look at the desk and noticed— how many was that?— SEVEN empty coffee cups?! "Are you—?! Please tell me you didn't drink all of that tonight!" Briefly, he feared he'd have to look up what to do if Mark had a caffeine overdose.

"Nahhhh... I just haven't thrown any cups away in three days. Nor have I really actually slept!" The chipper tone felt paradoxical considering the bags under his eyes and the dozens of crumpled, scribbled out, or just plain tossed aside pieces of paper scattered around the room.

"Mark... please." His tone was desperate, and Mark's eyes narrowed defensively before he pouted.

"Let's go outside. I feel like this is gonna get loud and I don't want Moms to bust us." He headed toward the stairs, but wobbled like a zombie.

"No you don't. You're seriously gonna hurt yourself," Cove interjected, scooping Mark up with little effort and carrying him all the way to the front entrance.

"I'll have you know," Mark interjected, heading toward the poppy hill on autopilot, "that I haven't literally been up for three days straight. I've gotten somewhere between three and four hours a night." He sat down in the soft grass, and Cove followed suit.

"Mark, I'm sorry. You have to sleep. Everything is going to suffer if you keep doing this. You're never gonna draw something you're satisfied with, and your paper isn't gonna get you the grade you want—"

"Need."

"Want," he insisted.

"I... I have to do this!"

"I don't like seeing you this way!"

"I want this so bad!" Mark begged, grabbing Cove's hand and locking their fingers together. Cove scolded himself for being flustered for even a moment. They stayed that way, stubborn and wordless, for what could have been years.

"Derek would be really upset if he knew you were doing this."

The instant Cove's quiet assertion left his mouth, Mark was yelling his response. "I miss him! Look, I miss him! I miss him so bad! You know how you go away for a few weeks to visit your mom? I miss Derek the same way, but he doesn't come back! I don't even know if he's taller than me now!" He leaned into Cove's chest and sobbed, glasses smooshing into his face from the force.

Cove ran his hand along Mark's back, murmuring mollifying shush noises and trying not to cry himself. They sat clutching one another until Mark's tears had dried. Nothing but exhaustion was left in their wake. He thought, and thought, and thought some more. How would he make this better? He supposed it would have to be one step at a time. "C'mon." Too weary to resist, Mark rose.

They plodded back to Mark's house, and Cove, mind racing, took charge. He poured some milk into a mug and threw it in the microwave. While it heated, he sat Mark down on the couch and gently took his bun out, letting his soft hair tumble down to his chest. "Go get in your pajamas." Once again, the answer was wordless obedience. Mug in hand, Cove waited a few feet from Mark's bedroom door until he was let in. Mark sat on the bed taking small, slow sips while Cove tried to smooth out and sort the desecrated drawings. "Just get rid of them. I don't wanna look at them."

"No. Even if you can't salvage them for the contest, everything you make is good. If you hate them, then I want them."

"Most of them aren't even finished."

"Doesn't matter." He'd moved on to throwing the coffee cups into the wastebasket.

"...I'm sorry, Cove. I'm sorry you have to deal with this right now. I'm sorry you have to deal with me."

"Absolutely not!" Cove interrupted loudly. Both of them went wide-eyed, fearing that anyone in the house would wake up. But after a minute of nothing happening, the tension drained from their shoulders. "I am not DEALING with you. You're not a burden. You know how much you mean to me. We always look out for each other."

"Even when I'm a mess?"

"You're never a mess."

Mark gulped down the remainder of his milk and laid on his side, feeling a pleasant warmth in his stomach. "Could you stay here until I fall asleep?" Cove leaned back against the side of the bed, prepared for a long wait. But before he knew it, Mark's fingers stopped playing with his hair and went limp. Cove nearly let his lips graze the top of Mark's head before he pulled away in alarm. Regret began to swarm him as he took the drawings and scrambled out the window. Why would he even think about doing that?! That would be super creepy! Consent! CONSENT! His face burned and his heart pounded out of his chest. He sprinted home.

...

Mark rode shotgun while Cove drove to the "big park." His sketchbook was laid out in his lap and he stared out the window. It was nice that he'd have time to draw something just for fun now after a handful of weeks where he only really drew for the contest. He wondered what he should do. Draw the landscape? Try and draw a portrait? Or maybe make some OC's? The possibilities were endless. Cove had told him to dress comfy; they might sit in the grass. Mark was a smidge skeptical, but pushed any doubts aside. Even if something fishy was going on, it would be positive. That's how it was with Cove.

They parked and walked the short distance to the field. Cove was getting fidgety now, and Mark was gradually getting more and more sure that something was up. "You okay?"

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine. Just... worrying about the paper we turned in last week." He almost bought it, but Cove wasn't giving him anything to work with, so they settled on the ground. Cove did a bit of assigned reading while Mark drew, and the latter prepared for a relatively peaceful afternoon.

A soccer ball rolled over to where they were sitting, and Mark got up to kick it back to whoever was playing with it. "Thanks! You're a real pal!" called out a familiar voice with an easy wave. Mark stood still for several moments, dumbstruck. Tanned skin. Bright green eyes. Light brown hair.

He whipped around to face Cove, who was covering his delighted smile. "You did this," he accused, hopping from enthusiasm.

"Well?" Cove pointed.

A built-up scream erupted from Mark's throat as he barreled toward Derek, jumping to give him a massive hug. Derek laughed boisterously as he accepted him into his arms. "I can't believe you're here! You got so tall, oh my God. Not as tall as Cove, that mountain of a man, but I'm the only member of the shorty squad now."

"Damn, you got so many piercings now, man! Back when we were thirteen, it was just one cartilage piercing, right?" The fact that he could remember that made Mark huff bashfully.

"What can I say? I got a bit obsessed with the look. Have to take them out for school, though. I'm still just as much of a goodie two-shoes."

"Sorry to say this, but you gotta take 'em out now, too." When Mark raised a perplexed eyebrow, he elaborated. "I didn't bring this soccer ball just to practice on my own! This is gonna be a three-player game!"

Ah. That explained "dress comfortably." Mark went back over to Cove for a moment so he could remove his earrings and nose ring. While doing so, he softly spoke to Cove. "You're so completely wonderful. You took care of me when I was being too headstrong and you even made this happen just so I wouldn't be sad. You really are my favorite person."

To his great joy, Cove's face reddened. "Ahaha. Don't worry about it. I was happy to. I mean, Derek's my friend, too."

"Let's go," Mark winked, taking Cove's hand to help him to his feet. The trio were reunited in Sunset Bird. And everything felt right.