"Good morning," Mark said and kissed the crown of Thomas's head. Thomas had woken up a few hours before Mark and he had gone to the living room to sit on the couch and play with Kenzie.

"Practice was canceled for today and tomorrow," Thomas said. He paused for a second and looked up at Mark. "Tomorrow is the funeral".

"I'll be there," Mark assured him with a half-smile.

"Are you leaving?" Thomas asked him, noticing that Mark was already dressed. He sounded so weak that it broke Mark's heart.

"Only for a bit. I have some errands to run. I need to go to the office to hand in some photographs and my boss texted me that he needed to talk to me, so I need to be there. I won't be gone for long," he said while putting on his coat. "What do you want for lunch? I can go grocery shopping on my way back".

Thomas shrugged and that made Mark stop short. He let out a heavy breath want up to Thomas, scratching Kenzie's ear when she turned her head to him. He crouched down next to where Thomas sat and drew his gaze by placing a hand on his cheek.

"Try not to think about it. I don't know, watch something on TV, read a book maybe. Keep your mind busy. Don't overthink it," Mark told him and caressed his cheek. "I love you," he added, kissed Thomas on the forehead, and reluctantly left.

***

About half an hour later he was waiting outside his boss' office chatting with his secretary. She was a mousy girl, maybe a couple of years younger than himself, with blonde hair that was tied in a braid and long nails that clicked against the keyboard when she typed. She hadn't really been able to look at Mark in the eyes during their conversation and even though she had makeup on, her blush could be detected.

The door to the boss' office opened just as she was about to take a sip from her coffee, making her sit up straight. Lily Weathers walked out of the office and Mr. Folkner stepped outside.

"McGregor!" he said with a huge smile on his face. "Come in," he said and let Mark go inside the office.

Mr. Folkner was about ten years older than Mark, with the wrinkles around his eyes to show for it. Mark had admitted it to himself the day he met his boss that the guy was attractive. He had black hair and a short beard and piercing blue eyes that saw through your soul. He also seemed to work out daily despite having a job than consumed almost all of his time and a family.

"I have a new assignment for you, Mark," Mr. Folkner said after they sat down on opposite sides of his desk.

"A new... but I haven't finished the one I'm already assigned to," Mark said confused but the older man's words.

"I'm fully aware of that. But I am in fact more impressed with your concert photography than your sports photography. Not to say that your photographs of the Portland Scouts are not impressive. To be honest with you, what I'm offering you is not a new assignment. It's basically a new job. You'll still work for me, but a friend of mine, who happens to be a singer, loves your photographs and would like for you to photograph the North American leg of her tour. It will be for the next two months and if you accept you will have to leave by the end of the week. I realize that you need to talk to your manager before accepting anything, but-"

"I can't accept," Mark interrupted him. Folkner just let out a soft chuckle.

"If you're worried about your current assignment, you shouldn't be. In time, I will find a replacement for you that can match up your abilities," he said, sitting back in his chair.

"That's not why I am declining. While I loved the two years that I spend in my past going on tours and I can picture myself doing it again, I cannot leave Portland right now. Not for two months," Mark said. Mr. Folkner seemed to think Mark's words through and eventually, he nodded, giving up.

"If you change your mind, give me a call," he said and noted something on a piece of paper. "There was something else I wanted to discuss with you," he went on, looking up at Mark and tapping his pen on the notebook before him. "Will you be attending Frank Davie's funeral tomorrow?"

"Yes". Mr. Folkner clasped his hands together and rested his chin against them, nodding along.

"I assigned Lily to do a piece about him since she is my only journalist who had met him in person and I would appreciate it if you could send in one of your best photographs of him to go alongside the article," he said.

"I will send it in, but I don't think having Lily do the article is the best choice," Mark replied. At that, his boss raised an eyebrow. "I just think that the circumstances of his death might... cloud her objectivity," Mark added, choosing his words carefully.

"Never in all the years she has worked for me has she given me the impression that her objectivity can be clouded, so I'm trusting her with this. But if it makes you feel better, I will proofread her article before it is published," Mr. Folkner said.

It took a second for Mark to nod along. His boss was an ally, who he had met during one of his motivational speeches about LGBTQ youth that had taken place at his daughter's school. The same daughter that identified as a lesbian even back then. He still wasn't happy about Lily writing that article but at the very least he felt as if Folkner's allyship would safe the situation.

"If that's all..." Mark started after a few moments.

"Oh, yes, that's all," Mr. Folkner said rising up and walking Mark to the door. "Keep up the good work. And if you do change your mind... just give me a call. You have until the end of the week," he reminded Mark as he opened the door.

"I'm really honored by the offer, but as I said. I'm afraid I cannot accept," Mark said again and walked out. His boss nodded and then turned to his secretary to ask her about his next appointment.

Mark left the office while checking his phone to see if Thomas had texted him in all that time. When he saw no new notifications on his phone he sighed and picked up his pace, thinking that the faster he finished with the grocery shopping the faster he could get back to Thomas's place.

Seeing that he was done with his errands faster than he had imagined, he quickly when over to his own place and got a few things like his toothbrush and laptop, before going back to Thomas's. Practice might have been canceled but he still had his own work to do.

"Hey," he said as he walked in Thomas's apartment and closed the door behind him with his leg. He held onto two bags of groceries and he also carried a small bag with his things. He didn't turn to look at Thomas, who was still sitting on the couch, but he cooed at Kenzie who followed him to the kitchen. He was about to start putting the groceries away when he stopped short, noticing that Thomas hadn't responded.

The TV was on, but the volume was turned low, so Thomas had to have heard him. He walked back to the living room and slowly approached Thomas from the back. His eyes studied the bright screen for a few moments, a soccer match being displayed and then they moved down to the coffee table before Thomas.

There was an empty whiskey bottle on its side and another one that seemed almost completely full. Thomas's glass was almost empty too. Slowly, Mark placed both his arms over Thomas's shoulders and hugged him from behind.

"Hey," he repeated while brushing his lips against Thomas's cheek.

"There was only a little in the first one. Barely two glasses," Thomas slurred. His eyes were glued on the TV, tears staining his cheeks.

"You need to eat something," Mark told him, not letting go of him just yet.

"I'm gonna end up like him," Thomas said with a sob and Mark's blood went cold.

"Thomas..."

"I'm never going to come out. I'm never going to be myself. I'm never going to be happy. I-" he was cut short by a more intense sob and then just shook his head when no other words came out.

Mark practically sprinted to the front on the couch, hating that he had to let go of Thomas. As soon as he was kneeling before him, he ran his hand over Thomas's thighs and searched for his eyes.

"Don't say that. You will be happy. You can be happy. Coming out won't give you happiness. Sure, being yourself feels nice, but if you're not ready to..."

"I have been ready to come out for seven years," he said shaking his head. "But I can't".

Before Mark could say anything, Thomas leaned down and kissed him, catching him off guard. Mark back up a bit and Thomas followed, not letting him break the kiss, and then slid down and sat on Mark's lap. The kiss was rough and needy, and Mark let himself enjoy it despite thinking that they shouldn't be kissing at that moment.

One of Thomas's hands was one the back of Mark's head, keeping him glued to himself, and so when Mark heard the front door open and close he physically couldn't pull back, but he could open his eyes. Alerted, he started pushing Thomas away by his chest as he saw a woman close to her fifties approach them. But Thomas didn't pull back until she cleared her throat to get his attention. He gave her a quick glance and then turned his face back to Mark.

"Mark meet Evangeline Burner, my agent. Evangeline meet Mark McGregor, my fucking boyfriend," Thomas said, and he started kissing Mark's neck while rolling his hips against Mark's.

"Nice to meet you," Mark told her awkwardly right before Thomas attacked his lips again.