"Mark, will you go to Prom with me?"

You felt like time started to move in slow motion after you finally asked the question that you didn't even think that you would have the courage to ask in the first place. You then found yourself tapping your foot nervously, wondering what he was going to say. Was he actually going to say yes? Only time would tell.

And of course, time decided to move ever so slowly, prolonging the answer that would either make you happy beyond words or make you extremely upset.
God, why won't he answer? Why can't I figure out what he's thinking? I'm usually able to tell what he's thinking just by looking into his eyes, but I can't now. He's sending off so many mixed messages.

After what felt like a lifetime had passed, Mark looked you dead in the eyes and opened his mouth to speak, something he's never done during the time that you've known him. You felt your heart pounding in your chest with excitement and you wondered what Mark's voice was going to sound like. You imagined that it would just as cute as he was and when you did so, you became even more excited to hear Mark speak.
But it was at that moment that he closed his mouth and started writing on his dry erase board instead.
You resisted the urge to let out a sigh of disappointment when you realized that you wouldn't get to hear Mark's voice. You really had gotten your hopes up and thought that he was actually going to give you his response to your question by speaking rather than writing it on his dry erase board or by using sign language.
Oh well, he's mute by choice rather than being born like that so he has to speak eventually.
Right?

After waiting yet again, you felt time moving in slow motion as you watched Mark turn his dry erase board so that you could read what his response to your question was.
Wait, he's actually saying yes?
Sure enough, a glance at the dry erase board showed that Mark was written, "Yes!" in all capital letters. He had also underlined the word and drawn a smiley face next to it.
"Hold on, you aren't kidding, right?" While you were desperately hoping for him to say yes, you weren't expecting him to. Even though you knew how he felt towards you, Mark was extremely shy and seemed like he was too scared to express the romantic feelings he felt towards you.
But maybe him accepting your request to go to Prom with you was a step in the right direction and was showing that he wasn't actually as scared to express the feelings he felt as you thought he was.
No, I'm not kidding. Mark shook his head to reaffirm the fact that he did indeed want to go to Prom with you. Going to Prom with you sounds like it would be amazing.
Suddenly, you found yourself pulling Mark into a tight hug. He immediately dropped everything he had in his hands and hugged you back just as, if not, tighter, tightly as you hugged him. It was only after a few moments had passed that you two managed to pull away from each other and before you knew it, Mark grabbed ahold of your hand and all of the stuff that he had dropped on the ground before he yanked you inside of his house, closing the door behind him before he dragged you over to the couch and sat down, letting go of your hand as he did so.

"Mark, are you sure that it's a good idea for me to be here?" You asked as you sat down next to him, even though you already knew that Mary was distracting Mark's mother for as long as possible and was going to text you when she was on her way home. "What if your mom finds out that I'm here? Won't she get mad?"
Mark must've been feeling lazy because instead of immediately reaching for his dry erase board, he immediately started using sign language.
She's not home so you don't have to worry about her.
"But what if she comes homes and she sees that I'm here?"
I told you that I didn't care how she felt towards you because it's irrelevant. I cherish you as a friend and nothing's going to change that. I'm going to confront her about making me fake a relationship with Mary and how she's stealing money from her family after Prom anyways. And if I have to confront her sooner, then so be it, even though she's most likely going to kick me out after I give her a piece of my mind anyways.
"No, she wouldn't dare kick you out..."
Oh, but she would. She's just that money-crazy and self-obsessed. And it's slowly gotten worse ever since my father's hospital bills started racking up. Looking back on everything, she was always like this. Almost every single conversation that my parents had were about money. You know, things like how our family doesn't have enough money to buy things that she wanted, but we didn't even technically need. For example, she always wanted to buy a beach house in... Well, I don't even remember because I tuned out that lecture towards my dad a long time ago. My mother is a woman who values money, a woman who values money to the point of where she'll do anything to get her hands on more of it. And I really do mean anything. I think stealing money that's supposed to be used to pay for my father's medical bills is enough evidence to support that theory.
"I can't believe she turned out to be like this." You shook your head in disbelief. "She seemed like she was so nice when I first met her."
Yeah, she has that effect on people. How do you think she managed to convince a family who barely even knows her to pay for all of my father's treatments?
You shrugged a bit, not really knowing what to say.
But enough about my mother. Let's not talk about her anymore, especially since we're spending time together for the first time in months. We should appreciate this time, even more so since we don't know when my mother's going to be back.
"Well, what do you want to do then?"
Mark blushed a bit as he looked down at his hands, obviously hesitant to say whatever was on his mind. You stayed quiet and waited for him to gather up the courage to say what was on his mind, even though you knew that it was dumb for you to expect him not to back out because not only did he back out of speaking for the first time ever since he chose to become mute, but he also backed out of telling you how he truly felt about you.

Do you like dancing?
It felt like years had passed before Mark told you what thought he had on his mind that was causing him to blush via sign language. After he finally told you, his blush somehow managed to grow even bigger, making it so his entire face was as red as a tomato.
"Um, yeah..." You trailed off, confused as to why he was asking whether you liked dancing. "But only slow dancing. Why?"
Somehow, Mark's face became even more red and he avoided your gaze as he responded to you, moving his hands rather quickly. Well, since we're going to be Prom dates and all, we're going to have to have a slow dance eventually and... I was wondering if you wanted to, I don't know, maybe slow dance with me so that I don't mess up when Prom comes around? I'm not exactly that great of a slow dancer. I've basically got two left feet. He paused for a moment and turned so that he was facing you. But it's totally okay if you don't want to slow dance at all, whether that'd be right here and right now or at Prom.
You smiled as you reached over and grabbed ahold of his hands, holding onto them tightly as you looked him dead in the eyes. "Mark, I would love to slow dance with you. And that applies for both right here and right now and at Prom."
Mark had a huge grin on his face as he stood up, clearly flustered as he shyly held out his hand towards you. You grinned back at him and happily grabbed ahold of his hand, allowing him to pull you off of the couch and grab ahold of your other hand. He held onto both of your hands for a few moments before he let go of both of them and grabbed his phone out of his pocket before he walked over to the speaker that was sitting on the TV stand and plugged his phone into it. He then turned on the speaker and put on a slow song a moment after he did so. He set his phone down next to the speaker and looked back at you, grabbing ahold of your hands once more. His eyes seem to say, "May I have this dance?"
You simply nodded as you pulled him close to you, moving his arms so that they were wrapped around your waist before you wrapped your arms around his neck. You then felt a smile form on your smile as you realized that the two of you were so close to each other that the tip of your noses were brushing together. And if you two were to move any closer...
No, don't think about that. You shouldn't rush things. This is the first time you're hanging out with him in months. If you rush things, then you'll go back to not being friends with him.
With that in mind, you continued slow dancing with Mark, savoring every single moment of it and wanting more once the song ended.

"Did... Did you enjoy that?" Despite the fact that Mark was the one who was nervous in the first place, it seems like the roles had reversed and you were the nervous one while he was the confident one. It was strange, yet wonderful to see Mark feeling so confident, especially since he had been lacking confidence ever since the day you two had met.
He nodded as he reached up and tucked some pieces of your hair behind your ear while keeping an arm wrapped around your waist. He seemed hesitant to let go of you, but you were okay with that.
Mostly because you were hesitant to let go of him as well.
"I can't wait for Prom." You whispered as you looked down at the ground and stared at your feet. "What about you?" You forced yourself to look back up at him.
Mark nodded once more as he grabbed ahold of your hand and began leading you up to his room. You felt yourself starting to blush when he did this, even though you knew that he wouldn't try and make advances on you. While it was true he had gained confidence that you knew had been long gone, you could still sense that he was being cautious, just like you were. You were glad that he was in the same state of mind that you were in, especially since the last thing you wanted was to lose him again.

"Mark...? What are you doing?" You asked the black-haired, flower-crown-wearing boy as you watched him walk over to where he kept all of his pictures of Amy, a girl you were once convinced that he was still deeply in love with, despite the fact that she was now gone from this world. He then took all of the pictures and buried them underneath his vanity. Even though it had been months since you had been in or even seen his room, it hadn't changed one bit, unlike the boy that called it his safe haven. Once he did that, he walked back over to you and started communicating via sign language.
Finally moving on. That's what Amy would've wanted me to do. And if the roles were reversed, I would've wanted her to move on as well. Am I still upset that she's no longer with us? Of course I am. Do I wish that she was still with us today? Of course I do. But she's not, and I have to accept that. That's what she wants me to do. I know it is. You felt your heart skip a beat as his brown eyes met your (E/C) eyes. The first step I want to take in finally moving on from her is to replace her photos with photos of my best friend, which, even though it took me way too long to realize it, is you. He paused for a moment as the confidence that he had suddenly gained earlier seemed to be starting to fade away. So, um, if you don't mind of course... I would like to take a couple of photos of you and hang them up all over my room. It's okay if you don't want to though... It was merely just a suggestion.
You smiled as you placed both of your hands on his shoulders. "Get your camera, Pretty Boy."
You covered your mouth when you realized that you called him by the nickname that you loved referring to him by out loud. At that moment, you wanted more than anything to have the power to turn back time so that you could've just smiled and nodded rather than actually said something.
But, unfortunately, once something happened, whether that something was good or bad, it happened, and there was nothing that could be done to change the fact that it happened.

Luckily for you, Mark simply smiled and it was at that moment that you noticed that he was wearing the flower crown that you had made for him all those months ago. When you noticed this, you felt a smile involuntarily form on your face and for a brief moment, you wondered when exactly Mary had given it back to him before you realized that it wasn't even that important and that you should just be glad the flower crown was in the possession of its rightful owner.

After Mark had given you a smile to acknowledge the fact that you had called him by the nickname that you thought suited him so well, he turned and walked towards his bed before he laid down on the floor and reached his arm underneath his bed. A few moments later, he pulled his arm back out from underneath the bed with a blue Polaroid camera in his hand. You then wondered if it was Amy that got Mark into old school stuff such as a Polaroid camera given the fact that her last moments could be found on a VCR tape or if it was Mark that got Amy into old school stuff. Either way, you had to admit that you were a bit jealous that Mark had a Polaroid camera because you had been thinking about getting one for quite a while.

After Mark stood back up, he placed the camera down on his bed and reached up and carefully removed his flower crown from the top of his head. Before you could question him as to why he was taking it off, he took a couple of steps towards you and carefully placed it on top of your head.
I want to take one picture of you wearing my flower crown because I've always wanted to see what you looked like wearing it! Mark smiled brightly as he moved his hands excitedly like a child would when their parents gave them what they wanted.
You couldn't help but laugh as you veru slightly adjusted the flower crown. "How do you want me to pose?"
Do whatever you want. Just take it off after I take the picture because I want to take pictures of you not wearing it too.
You nodded and watched as Mark picked up the camera as you tried to think of a pose you should do for the picture. After a moment of thinking, you had the perfect idea. You gently grabbed ahold of two of the flowers on the flower crown and moved your eyes so that it would look like you were looking up at the flower crown. A smile involuntarily formed on your face and you heard the click of Mark's camera a moment later. Afterwards, you looked back at the camera and watched as the picture Mark had just taken print out. When it was done printing out, Mark grabbed ahold of it and turned it towards him so that he could look at it. You then walked over to him so that you were standing next to him and could therefore see the picture.
Mark nodded his head in approval and you felt your face growing hot and a blush growing on your face when he did so.
"I... I think it looks nice." For some reason, you found yourself becoming nervous around him. "What do you think?"
I like it too. Mark responded as he set the picture down on his bed. Also, I have something for you. I want to give it to you before I forget to do so.
"What is it?" You asked as he walked over to you and grabbed ahold of both of your wrists before he he gently moved your arms up so that your hands were now covering your eyes. He then let go of your wrists, keeping your eyes covered like he wanted you to do and after a few moments, you felt him place something on top of your head. He gently adjusted it for a couple of moments before he grabbed ahold of your wrists and moved your hands away from your face. When you could see him again, he pointed to the mirror in the corner of his room. You nodded in understanding and walked over to it, letting out a gasp when you saw your reflection.
You were now wearing a flower crown that had nothing but red roses on it.
Well, almost nothing but red roses, that is.
Little did you know, on the very back of the flower crown, there was a red daisy. While it would be fairly noticeable to other people given the fact that it seemed to clash against the red roses, you didn't know it was there due to its location and you wouldn't know until either someone pointed it out to you or you took off the flower crown.
"Mark, did you... did you make this for me like I made the one you're wearing right now?" Even though you already knew the answer, you couldn't help but ask because you wanted him to confirm it, which would therefore cause your idiotic grin to somehow become even more idiotic than it already was, something that you didn't even think was possible.

Before giving you his response, Mark walked up to you so that he was standing right behind you. His five foot ten figure seemed to tower over you at that moment, not that you minded, of course. As he stood behind you, he nodded in response to the question that you had asked him just moments prior. Just like you had anticipated, the grin on your face grew and the blush that you had on your face earlier when he had said that he had thought that the picture he had taken of you was nice returned, only it was much deeper and therefore much more noticeable this time around.
Suddenly, your breathing became hitched as you felt Mark slowly wrap his arms around you and hug you from behind. Before you could even properly process what was going on, you felt him slowly turn you around so that you were now facing him. You could feel your heart pounding in your chest so hard and so fast that it was a wonder how it wasn't bursting right out of your chest. Then, with a newfound confidence that you noticed almost immediately, Mark closed his eyes and slowly began leaning in towards you. Once you realized what was about to happen, you eagerly closed your eyes and began leaning towards him as well, your heart somehow beating faster as you did so.

Just as Mark's lips were about to press up against yours, a very loud noise filled the room.
Your ringtone.
You resisted the urge to let out a groan as you forced yourself to pull away from Mark and answer the phone. You didn't even look to see who was calling you because you were pissed off that they had had the nerve to interrupt what would've been a very special moment. You placed the phone up to your ear, ready to go off on the person, but they started speaking before you could even open up your mouth.
"(Y/N), you've gotta get out of Mark's house as soon as possible." You instantly recognized the voice as belonging to Mary. "His mom is really suspicious. She accused me of only inviting her to help me pick out my Prom dress because I "was trying to get her out of the house in order to hide something, but that she didn't know what that something was."" She let out a sigh, "But anyway, the point is that she's on her way back and you better get the hell out of her house unless you want to face her wrath. And trust me when I say that you don't want to do that. That woman is extremely scary when she's angry."
You let out a sad sigh, wishing that you didn't have to leave so soon. While you were appreciative of the fact that Mary went out of her way to set up a plan to get Mark's mother out of the house and even successfully managed to do so, even if it was just for a little bit.
"Okay, I'm leaving right now." You tried so hard to hide the sadness that you felt as you spoke, but you failed miserably at doing so. "Thanks for getting her out of the house, even if it wasn't for as long as I would've liked."
"Oh, it's no problem really." Even though you couldn't see her right now, you knew that Mary was smiling right now. "You're going to have to tell me everything that happened as soon as possible. But, for now, you have to focus on getting out of that house."
"Okay, I will." You let out another sad sigh as you forced yourself to look at Mark, who was looking at you as if he was trying to figure out what Mary was saying, even though he more than likely didn't know that she was the person you were talking to. "Thanks again for doing this. I owe you one."
"Like I said before, you don't owe me anything." Mary replied. "If anything, this is my way of trying to make amends with you after everything that happened, which I'm really sorry for and feel really bad about." She sighed and you imagined that the smile you had imagined she had had on her face just a few moments prior had slowly faded away and was now gone. "Okay, I'm going to hang up now so that you can leave Mark's house, even though I know that you really don't want to. I guess I'll see you around."
Before you could even reply, she hung up and you placed your phone back into your pocket after she had done so. You then looked back at Mark and the expression on his face showed that he knew that you had to leave. You sighed as you walked over to him and grabbed ahold of his hands, staring into those brown eyes that you loved so much as you did so.
"I have to leave." You grew sadder as you said this, not realizing how much you truly wanted to stay at his house and stay with him. "I guess I'll see you next Saturday, which is when Prom is. Maybe I'll get to see you sooner if we somehow get lucky, but I highly doubt it." You let out a sigh for what felt like the millionth time today.
Mark gave you a smile, but you could tell it was a forced and sad smile. Someone who was a mile away could tell you that his smile wasn't genuine. See you then. His hands moved slowly, further driving home that he just as, if not, more, upset than you were that you had to leave.
You pulled him into a tight hug and rested your head on his shoulder, not wanting to let go of him or him to let go of him. It was only after a few moments, which, in reality, had felt like a few seconds, that you forced yourself to pull away from him and give him a sad wave goodbye, promising him that you two would see each other again and that you would allow him to take more pictures of you as soon as they were given the opportunity since he had only taken one picture of you. Mark nodded, that sad expression still on his face. You sighed quietly and finally turned away, leaving the house once and for all. You didn't even care that you were stuck walking back to Troy's house. All you cared about was that you felt as if the time you had spent with Mark had come and gone much too fast.
Prom can't come soon enough. I really hope that this next week goes by in a blink of an eye because I already can't wait to see Mark again.