Upon waking up the next morning, you swore that you could hear the faint sounds of a guitar coming from downstairs. As you listened to them, you forced yourself to sit up, rub sleep out of your eyes, and stretch. Afterwards, you got out of bed and started following the sounds of the guitar.

Just as you expected, you were led into the basement as you listened to the guitar. Unsurprisingly, you saw that the source of the noise that you had awoken to was August.
“Oh, did I wake you up?” He asked you as he looked over and saw you standing in the doorway. “I’m sorry if I did. I was trying to be as quiet as possible.”
“Yeah, you did, but it’s fine.” You assured him. “I slept in really late yesterday, so I really needed to get up.”
“Oh, okay.” August shrugged. He paused for a couple of moments before he asked, “Hey, um, is Troy… okay? We were talking about light hearted thing for a while, but later on, he started venting about… Well, I won’t say in case he doesn’t want anyone else to know for now, but it was some really heavy stuff.”
“Oh, uh, yeah, as far as I know, he’s fine.” You were really surprised to hear this since Troy genuinely seemed like he was happy and content with his life.
“Are you sure?” August asked, clearly not convinced. “Because anyone that smokes and drinks as much as he does surely can’t be happy.”
“I mean, I don’t exactly like the fact that he smokes and drinks since he’ll usually do both on the same day.” You shrugged. “But, again, as far as I know, his smoking and drinking isn’t at an unhealthy amount.”
“I would beg to differ.” August rebuked. “He told me that, unless it’s a good day, there’s never really a moment where he isn’t drunk or high.”
You sat in stunned silence for a few moments before you finally responded. “N-No, that’s not true.”
“That’s what he told me.” August shrugged again. “Granted, he was drunk, so maybe it was just him saying some dumb shit.” He then added, “I don’t really know since I haven’t even known him for a full twenty-four hours, but I just thought that I would let you know.”
“Well, thanks for the information.” You said. “I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.”
“Oh yeah, since we’re still talking about Troy, there’s no way that he just graduated college.” August stated. “That boy’s got the biggest baby face that I’ve ever seen. He honestly looks like he’s still in high school.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” You couldn’t help but laugh a little since one of Troy’s biggest pet peeves was when people refused to believe that he was twenty-two. “But no, he’s shown me everything he possibly can to prove that he’s not lying about his age.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” August laughed a little as well. “He seems like he’s the kind of person to do that.” He laughed again. “It’s just funny because, in my opinion, I actually look like I’m nineteen, so when people ask me how old I am, nine times out of ten, they actually believe me.” He shrugged yet again. “Oh well, his baby face doesn’t change the fact that I find him to be quite cute, just like you, (Y/N).”

Just as you were about to question him, you felt your heart skip a beat as you suddenly heard Troy’s voice from behind you. You had no idea how he had managed to startle you because he reeked of a smell that just had to be a mix of alcohol and marijuana.
“Hey, why’d you stop playing?” When you turned to face him, you saw that he was pointing at August. “I was listening to you upstairs for a while, and you suddenly stopped out of complete nowhere.”
“I stopped playing because (Y/N) came down here and we were talking.” August explained to him. “Although, if you’d like, I could get back to playing.”
“Yeah, I would like that.” A very slight smile formed on Troy’s face when he said this. “I would like that a lot.”
“If that’s the case, do you have any requests?”
Troy shook his head. “Just play whatever. I’ll enjoy it no matter what it is.”
After he said this, you swore that you could see the faintest hint of a blush forming on August’s face for a brief moment, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared, so you couldn’t one-hundred percent confirm whether or not he had actually been blushing.

Nonetheless, you let the two of them be and made your way back up to your bedroom. Once you were in your bedroom, you went over to your phone and took it off of the charger, noticing that you had received a text from Mark when you had done so.
Hey, let’s hang out today since I’m no longer fucked up from pot brownies.
Why, I would absolutely love to. You replied almost instantly. What would you like to do today?
This isn’t surprising at all, but I would really love to go to an art gallery.
I’d like that too. You smiled as you typed your response to him, though you mostly said this because you knew that Mark would gush about every single piece of artwork that was in whatever art gallery that the two of you ended up going to.
Let’s make it happen then. At that very moment, you could imagine that that beautiful smile of his had formed on his face. Although whatever art gallery we go to will have to suffice since we currently cannot go to the Louvre AKA what has to be the best art gallery in the world from what I’ve seen.
I’ll remember that. You told him, now determined to one day do whatever you needed to do in order to get Mark to Paris so that he could see the Louvre for himself. By the way, I realized that I’ve never asked you this, but who’s your favorite artist?
Vincent Van Gogh, without a doubt. Mark’s response was lightning fast, showing you that he didn’t even have to think about the answer to your questions whatsoever. Not only did he paint my all time favorite painting, Starry Night, but something about his artwork inspired me to continue making artwork myself at a very young age when I was contemplating giving up art completely. To this day, I have no idea what exactly it was about his artwork that inspired me, but I’m really glad that it did because I don’t know where or what kind of person I’d be without art.
Well, if that’s the case, then I’m really glad as well. You smiled despite the fact Mark currently couldn’t see it on your face. Because I also don’t know where or what kind of person you’d be without art.
Several moments passed by without a response from either one of you after that. You were just about to send Mark a text asking if he was still there, but he sent a message before you could even begin typing.
I’m coming to pick you up. I’ll let you know when I’m here.
Oh, okay. I’ll see you in a little bit then. You responded, realizing that you weren’t ready to go whatsoever as you put your phone down on your bedside table. After doing so, you walked over to your closet and spent a couple of moments looking through all of your clothes before you decided on wearing your favorite outfit. You then proceeded to get changed in a record amount of time before you rushed into the bathroom so that you could finish getting ready.

*****

Having impeccable timing, you finished getting ready the moment that Mark texted you saying that he had arrived and was waiting for you out in the driveway. You let him know that you were on your way out before you looked in the mirror to ensure that you looked okay, though you weren’t exactly sure why you were doing so. After all, it wasn’t like you were going on a date or anything.
As soon as this thought crossed your mind, you began blushing madly. You then realized that, deep down inside, you kinda wished it was, in fact, a date. This was because, if it was a date, you and Mark could do more romantic things such as holding hands, flirting, and, most importantly, kissing, even though you knew better. You knew that there was an unspoken agreement between the two of you that you would stay friends because you both had a fear of ruining your close friendship in the scenario where your guys’ relationship didn’t work out. Well, you were afraid that the close friendship would be ruined if you guys ended up breaking up, at least. You were just theorizing that Mark had the same fear since he had shown signs of it in the past.

Regardless of that, at the end of the day, you wanted him. You really wanted him. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t visualize yourself with anyone else. Not only that, but you also had never had the feelings you had for Mark for anyone else before. Despite your fear of permanently damaging your friendship with him if things didn’t work out, you wanted to call him yours and you wanted him to call you his. You wanted every night to be like the night you had spent at his house where you two were wrapped up in each other’s arms and fell asleep on his bed. You wanted every day to be like those days where you two decided that you needed to get away for a little while and go to Cleveland or Columbus as a result. You wanted to not be afraid of expressing your true feelings towards him. You wanted to hold hands with him. You wanted to flirt with him. You wanted to kiss him.
Even though you knew better, at the end of the day, you wanted him.

*****

You forced yourself to come back to reality after you spent the last little bit of time daydreaming since you didn’t want to keep Mark waiting any longer. You sighed softly as you grabbed your phone and purse and began heading out to his car.

As you sat down in the passenger seat, Mark greeted you with a wave and by saying, There you are. I was just getting ready to text you and ask you where you were and what was going on.
“Oh, well, I’m here now.” You shrugged, still feeling a little upset about what you had just been thinking about while you had been in the bathroom.
Mark picked up on the fact that you were upset right away and asked, What’s wrong?
“Nothing.” You immediately dismissed him. You just wanted to go to the art gallery with him and forget about everything  that had crossed your mind while getting ready.
(Y/N). He made it abundantly clear that he didn’t believe you, not even for one second. You’re my best friend. You should know by now that I can tell when something’s wrong.
You sighed, knowing full well that he wasn’t going to drop the matter until you either told him the truth (which you weren’t exactly keen on doing this very moment) or lied.
“Fine, I’ll tell you.” You sighed again. “August is back.”
You settled on telling him this since you weren’t entirely lying. While it was very much true that August was back, it wasn’t the reason why you were upset.
Wait, what? For a very brief moment, Mark made it seem like he didn’t believe you were telling the truth and was going to press you further, but, thankfully, he instead chose to let his shock over his statement overtake his suspicion. Since when?
“Last night.” You replied. You proceeded to explain to him how August had called you asking for a ride from the airport almost as soon as you had arrived back home and, being the kind of person that you were, you agreed to drive up there and give him a ride. You then explained how he had refused to tell you the reason he had returned back home and how, after he said that he needed a place to stay, Troy agreed to allow him to live with you and him.
“Those two are getting along really well.” You added. “Last night, they drank and watched TV together and then this morning, August was playing guitar downstairs and I went down there to talk to him for a little bit. Then, Troy came downstairs and I ended up going back upstairs as August proceeded to play some songs on his guitar because Troy asked to hear some songs.”
That’s nice to hear and all, but August is back? Mark seemed like he was worried about the shaggy brown haired boy’s sudden return. I wish he would’ve given a warning ahead of time.
“Well, like I said, I don’t know the circumstances behind his return.” You told him. “Because of that, maybe it just wasn’t possible for him to message any of us and let us know that he was coming back.”
I mean, yeah, you’re probably right. Your words didn’t seem to reassure Mark whatsoever. But still, I wish we would’ve gotten a warning.
“Why are you so worried about him being here?” You questioned. “It’s not like he’s a bad person or anything.”
No more questions. I’m driving and I need to focus. Mark immediately dismissed the subject and began driving to the art gallery.
“Um, okay then.” You didn’t question him any further and got on your phone so that you would be occupied until you arrived at the art gallery.

*****

You felt a tap on your shoulder fifteen to twenty minutes later, and you looked up to see that the art gallery was right in front of you.
“Are you ready?” You asked Mark as you looked over at him.
He nodded as he took his key out of the ignition and got out of the car. Just as you were also about to get out of the car, Mark opened your door for you.
“Thanks.” You blushed slightly as you stepped out, hearing the door close behind you as you did so.
Mark simply smiled in response and began walking into the art gallery. You smiled as well and followed him.

After Mark paid for both of you to get in (you repeatedly said that you would pay for your own ticket, but he kept insisting on paying for both of them until you gave up on arguing with him and allowed him to do what he wanted,) you let him lead the way, mostly because he almost immediately ran to one of the paintings after paying for the tickets. You smiled brightly as you quickly caught up to him, rejoicing in the sheer awe that filled his eyes as he looked at the painting once you had done so.
You know, it’s amazing. Mark slowly moved his hands as he continued staring at the painting. Humans are more than capable of creating beautiful things, but yet, most of the time, they choose to create ugly things instead.
You didn’t say anything. Instead, you just nodded your head in agreement.

Your heart skipped a beat when you felt Mark grab ahold of your hand and tug on your arm slightly. You looked over at him, and he motioned for you to follow. You gave him a slight nod before he led to a different painting.
(Y/N), I treasure these moments that I get to spend with you. Mark signed once the two of you were standing next to said painting, which was a watercolor painting of a red rose. I really do.
“I do too, Mark.” You whispered softly as you gently squeezed his hand, relishing in the fact that he hadn’t let go just yet. “I do too.”
You then began wondering if you should tell him. Tell him how you felt, that is. It was glaringly obvious that he wasn’t going to be the one to confess first. Besides, even if things didn’t go the way you wanted them to, you still felt like you would feel much better telling him.

When you made your decision, you closed your eyes and took a deep breath in order to calm yourself down and to prepare yourself for the worst (if it even happened, that is.)
“Mark, there’s something that I need to tell you.” You didn’t wait for his response because you just wanted to get the confession over and done with. “I like you. Not only as a friend, but as… more than a friend. I know that we kinda have this unspoken agreement that we’re just gonna be friends since we’re afraid of getting into a relationship, having it not work out, and ruining our friendship as result… well, I assume you have the same fear, at least… but I really can’t help myself. You’re absolutely beautiful inside and out, you have a wonderful smile, you’re unbelievably talented, and so much more. I could stand here all day and talk about everything that I love about you, but I won’t waste your time by doing that. Everything from how your eyes crinkle when you smile to how good you are at listening and being there for someone when they need you the most, I love absolutely anything and everything about you, and yes, that includes your flaws.” You paused for a brief moment. “The short version of all this rambling is that I like you… a lot. Even if you don’t have the same feelings for me as I do for you, I just wanted you to know that, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t help falling in love with you.”