"Hey, hey, McGregor!" a voice called, and Mark stopped looking at his camera roll and looked up. Ronnie walked up to him and came to a halt with a big grin on his face. "You free tomorrow night? After the match?" he asked.

"Sorry, I'm not," he said after thinking it through. "I'm going to a fundraiser. Why?"

"Oh, well, we are going to throw a party for the birthday boy, so I was just wondering if you were free and up for it," Ronnie replied.

"Birthday boy?"

"It's Heissmann's birthday," Ronnie said with a matter-of-factly tone.

"Tomorrow?" Mark asked, mostly to himself. How could he have forgotten Thomas's birthday?

"Yeah, he's turning twenty-five," Ronnie said with a grin. "Anyway, see you tomorrow at the match!" he added, turned around, and left.

Mark stood still for a few moments, mostly surprised with himself for forgetting, but also just then realizing that Thomas's birthday was on the same day as National Coming Out Day. There was some kind of irony there that he felt bad for thinking of. From afar, Mark looked at Thomas and texted him that he would go over at his place later that night.

He left the training field and went back to his place to shower. Once he got out, with water still dripping from his hair, he saw that Thomas had texted him back saying that he would be expecting him. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he watered his little fern that rested on the dining table, feeling bad for not having watered it for the few days he had spent over at Thomas's. He got dressed and a few minutes later he was on his way to Thomas's.

"Tomorrow is your birthday," he said, as soon as Thomas opened the door. Thomas gave him an amused look and a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, it's my birthday," he replied and closed the door behind Mark. "Did Ronnie tell you?"

"He invited me to your party," Mark went on, hanging his coat and leaving his umbrella by the door. "How come you hang out so much with photographers?" Thomas shrugged. 

"We hang out with journalists too. I mean, not all of them, but some. I think they invited Weathers too".

"Lily? Really?"

"Yeah, why? Do you have a problem with her?" Thomas asked and sat down on his couch.

"Obviously. She's the daughter of Jeremiah and Tara Weathers," Mark said and sat down next to Thomas, turning his body toward him.

"Am I supposed to know who they are?"

"Tara used to have a morning talk show. It was canceled about three years ago. Maybe four. Her commentary was quite conservative and homophobic, to say the least. As for Jeremiah... he wanted my parents to publish his books, but they declined. So, he self-published and I fucking hate every single one of them," Mark said, running a hand through his hair.

Thomas stayed silent for a few moments, so Mark leaned down and took out his camera from his camera bag. Thomas flinched a bit at that and Mark raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not going to take a picture of you here. At least not while I'm using this memory card. I just want to look through today's photos," Mark told him.

"You know," Thomas started while stretching his back against the armrest, "I was thinking of getting a dog". Mark looked at him through half-lidded eyes and hummed for him to go on. "I've always wanted one and I've been thinking about it for a while and I think it's about time".

"Do you have a specific breed you want?"

"Yeah. A friend of mine got two purebred rescues and they had a few puppies a couple of months back. So, I'm gonna get one of the females. An Irish wolfhound," Thomas answered, and Mark looked up at him.

"Those are huge," he said to Thomas.

"I know. I like huge things, you know that about me," Thomas replied, and Mark rolled his eyes at that.

"I also know you like Irish things".

"Oh, you mean like whiskey," Thomas asked, smiling at Mark deviously.

Mark squinted at him and set aside his camera. He didn't reply and instead moved until he had his hands resting on the armrest behind Thomas, keeping him trapped there. He licked his lips and hovered over Thomas, pulling back his face when Thomas tried to go in for a kiss.

"Say it," he whispered, not taking his eyes away from Thomas for a second. He leaned down, his lips ghosting over Thomas's, but not giving him the satisfaction of kissing him just yet. "Say it," he repeated, this time with a little more intensity.

"I love you," Thomas said hurriedly and didn't wait for Mark to lean down again, pushing himself up and crashing his lips against Mark's.

"I can't come to the party tomorrow," Mark said, some minutes later, as he sat back and took ahold of his camera again.

"Oh, what are you going to be doing?" Thomas asked, trying not to sound as disappointed as he was feeling.

"Some friends of mine are doing a fundraiser live stream and I'm going to help them. Tomorrow is National Coming Out day and our goal is two hundred thousand dollars which are going straight to the Trevor Project," Mark replied and frowned at the camera. "I really like this one of you. I'm definitely sending this in," he said and showed the picture to Thomas.

"Two hundred thousand? That's a big goal..." Thomas said, leaning over and resting his head on Mark's shoulder.

"It's big, but we've reached bigger goals before. And it's not like we won't be donating too," Mark said.

"You really don't think you'll be able to come?" Thomas asked, rubbing his face against Mark's sweater.

"The live stream will be over at like midnight, but we will have been live for eight hours at that point and we will be exhausted. I might be able to come for a bit, but I can't promise you anything," Mark said and turned to Thomas, sadness clear in his features. "I really don't want to miss your birthday party," he went on and kissed his forehead.

"It's okay. You'll be exhausted. We have a match too. You don't have to come. But you need to be here for the next day to meet my puppy. She needs to get to know you," Thomas said.

"Have you picked a name for her? Have you even picked a puppy or...?"

"Yeah, I met her a few days ago and I have some names in mind, but I'll settle when she's finally mine," Thomas said. Mark smiled at him and stood up. 

"What do you want for dinner?"

"You're gonna cook for me?"

"Have you eaten anything?" Mark asked him. Thomas shook his head. "Then I'm gonna cook for you, babe".

Mark turned around and went to the kitchen, waiting for Thomas to follow him. After going through his fridge, he started cooking, all while Thomas told him about the party. It was supposed to be a surprise party, but Ronnie was throwing it and Ronnie was horrible with secrets. He seriously couldn't keep a thing to himself.

Ronnie was one of Thomas' oldest friends at this point. He had met him at one of his first days of that soccer camp Evangeline had gotten him in seven years ago. After the breakup, he decided to really focus on his career, and making new friends hadn't been on his mind at all. Ronnie had just been persistent. By the time Thomas moved away from his hometown and joined a team he had gotten used to talking to Ronnie, so he didn't remove him from his life. Then a few months later Ronnie started playing for Portland Scouts, who eventually hired Thomas as their center forward.

"So, you're good friends?" Mark asked finally, serving the food he had made.

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like me and Dean, or Rachel, but he knows pretty much everything about me," Thomas said taking a friend bite.

"Everything?" Mark repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, there are some things that I keep to myself..." Thomas replied, looking coyly away.

"Things that you don't even tell me?"

Thomas didn't reply. He simply smiled at Mark, leaned forward, and kissed him.