"Hey, Mark!" someone called, and Mark closed the trunk of his car to look up. Joe Aldridge, the goalkeeper, approached him with a small smile and an awkward aura surrounding him.

"Hey, Joe. What's up?" he asked, fixing up his sunglasses in order to look at him without squinting.

"You see... um, well..." the man stuttered, causing Mark to frown.

He didn't know Joe that much but from what Thomas had told him and from what he could see for himself, Joe seemed to be an easy-going extrovert. He rarely got frustrated and was mostly radiating good energy. He certainly didn't seem like a person who contained awkwardness or stuttering in his personality.

"I think my brother is going to come out to me," Joe said in one breath. "And I don't know what to do". Slowly, Mark removed his glasses and folded his arms under his chest.

"What do you mean 'you don't know what to do'?" he said carefully choosing his words.

"I mean, I don't know how to react to that," Joe replied scratching the back of his head.

"Do you mind him... coming out to you?"

"What? No! Of course, not".

"Do you think it will change your relationship with him? Or rather affect it?" Mark then asked, unfolding his arms and letting down his guard as he realized Joe wasn't threatening.

"I don't think it will. Well, I'll probably stop joking about him not getting any girls, but other than that..." he shrugged and lowered his gaze, "he's still my brother. He's still family".

At that, Mark smiled at him. "How old is he?" he asked.

"He's about to turn twenty-seven. He's just a year older than me," Joe replied.

"There's no right way to react. I can't tell you what to tell him. But I can tell you that I think you'll do fine. Just make it clear to him that you still love him and that it doesn't affect the way you see him, and it will be fine," Mark told him and put on his glasses again.

Joe let out a heavy breath and smiled thankfully at Mark. "I will. I'll tell him. Thank you".

Mark nodded back and got ready to get in his car as Joe walked away. Before he did though, he felt his phone buzz and he pulled it out to check the notification.

Thomas: Everything alright?

Mark looked up and saw Thomas standing next to his own car, looking at him with worry in his features. He had probably seen the whole interaction with Joe. Mark quickly typed a reply, letting him know that it wasn't anything he should worry about and smiled at him from afar as he got in the driver's seat and started the engine. Just as he was driving out of the parking lot, his eyes danced over to Thomas again and he noticed that Thomas was talking to someone on the phone and didn't seem happy about whatever he was saying.

***

"Next week I'm throwing a birthday party. You're coming, right?" Mark asked Thomas as they sat at Thomas's kitchen island and ate dinner.

"Next week... right it's the 13th!" Thomas exclaimed. "Uh, where will you throw it?"

"A friend of mine owns a gay bar and he let me rent it out for the night. It's a small place and it's only going to be people who know about us and well, you," Mark said.

"Oh... then yeah I'll be there," Thomas replied and smiled at Mark. "Um, I was thinking about Christmas..." he went on, looking at his food and waiting to see if Mark was going to say anything.

"What about Christmas?"

"Are you going to go back to our hometown? Because if not, I was thinking that we could... you know, go somewhere together. Somewhere remote and snowy..." Thomas said with a sheepish smile.

"That sounds wonderful, but..."

"But," Thomas repeated, and his shoulders slumped.

"I promised my parents I'd go back for Christmas. But we could go for the week after that. Somewhere remote and snowy. Alone for New Year's. Just us," Mark said, reaching out and placing his hand over Thomas'. "Come with me. Back home. Come with me, see your parents again".

"I can't," Thomas replied pulling his hand away and looking down again.

"Seeing your mom broke my heart. Just do it for me," Mark pleaded.

"I'll think about it," Thomas muttered. "So, what did Joe talk to you about?"

Mark raised an eyebrow at that. Nice subject change. "He needed some advice about his brother. He thinks he will come out to him and he wanted to know how to not react badly to it," Mark said.

"Wait, are you being serious?" he asked, blinking surprised.

"Your teammates are more accepting than you think..." he said.

"You don't know that. Just because Joe is okay with it that doesn't mean everyone is".

"Are you talking about Ronnie...?" Mark asked choosing his words carefully for the second time that day.

"Ronnie's not homophobic. He's just ignorant. Most of them are," Thomas muttered.

"Who were you on the phone with?" Mark asked changing the subject again. He didn't want to keep on talking about Thomas' teammates. Not in the way they were.

"Evangeline. She arranged an interview for me without telling me about it. And I need to go," Thomas said with a sigh.

"What kind of an interview?"

"The kind where Lily Weathers is asking the questions," Thomas replied and shook his head.

"Are you kidding me? This is horrible. Her interviews are so targeted and bad. Does your agent not know that?"

"That's the problem. Evangeline does know. She knows and she set it up as a way for me to get on Lily's good side and stay there. In case there's a need to do damage control..."

"Damage control?"

"Our relationship. Evangeline doesn't trust you. She thinks you will out me. She thinks you will ruin everything she built for me," Thomas started, but Mark cut him off.

"I would never ruin anything you built for yourself".

"I wouldn't be where I am today without her".

"Bullshit. She helped, but the reason why you are who you are today is you. Never forget that," Mark told him and reached to touch his hand again. This time Thomas let him hold him.

"I love you. Never forget that".

***

"Happy birthday, Mark!" Dean and Matias exclaimed as they walked up to Mark. The music that was blasting was loud, but those two had been louder. Mark smiled at them, already a bit drunk, and hugged both of them.

Dean was surprised to see the number of people. It was well over thirty. Maybe fifty. How did Mark know all these people? Some of them were definitely working with him in the media.

"Who are all these people?" he asked Mark, looking over the crowd in order to spot a familiar face. In the distance, he made out Rachel and Bryan.

"Those that needed to be here. He will come later," Mark replied. "When they're gone," he added and turned around.

Without saying another word, he turned around and went to go talk to some of his guests. Grabbing Matias's hand, Dean navigated through the crowd until he reached Rachel and Bryan. Those were the only people he actually knew. Some other faces were familiar, and he was sure he had seen them at a few of Mark's other parties, as well as Matias's book readings, but he didn't really know them. And partially he didn't want to know them. He had already too many things on his mind. He didn't want to add new names and faces in there too.

"I'm gonna get us something to drink!" he said loudly in Matias's ear and left him dancing with their friends.

When he reached the bar, he waited for the bartender to notice him and then ordered two drinks. The woman with the leather clothes and the tattoos on her arms and abdomen smiled at him and started preparing the order. Dean leaned over to grab the drinks when he felt a hand over his forearm.

"Hello," a woman said, smiling sweetly at him.

"Hi. Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked, thinking she looked familiar but not figuring out exactly who she was.

"You might have heard of me. But we haven't met. Lily Weathers," she responded, offering her hand. He eyed it for a second and then took it. Oh, he knew her.

"Dean Williamson".

"You are friends with Mark?" she asked, keeping up the smile she had and now she added a small turn of her head to the side.

"Yeah, since High School," Dean replied. Her smile wavered for a second.

"High School? You were friends back then?"

A chill ran down his spine and warning bells rung in his mind. Her question was simple, but something was off. She didn't seem drunk or tired or in any way anything but alert. As if she was cataloging every moment that passed.

"We weren't close. We just knew of each other," he said with a fake smile. She nodded a hum vibrated in her mouth, but he couldn't hear it. Not with the music blasting.

Not knowing what else to say, Dean nodded back and awkwardly left her. When he handed the drink to Matias, he saw Mark was watching him with a questioning gaze. He wanted to go up to him and assure him that everything was okay, but Lily was still watching him. And he didn't actually believe that. He didn't believe everything was fine.

***

Thomas showed up around one a.m. when it was less crowded and way crazier. Matias was drunk. He had never seen Matias drunk. He was loud. And so was Rachel. Was she also drunk? That he had seen before.

"Thomas!" Rachel exclaimed as soon as she saw him.

Before she could reach him though, a hand shot out and grabbed him by the collar of his burgundy button-up shirt. Mark's lips crashed against his own and Thomas almost fell with the force he used. The taste of rum on Mark's lips made Thomas wonder how many drinks he had had.

"Happy birthday," Thomas told him when they pulled apart and Mark let out a laugh.

He didn't say anything back, instead, he tugged on Thomas until they were on the dancefloor. Mark didn't give him any chance to refuse and Thomas's only option was to start dancing with his friends, even though he didn't really dance. Thankfully for him, the dancing didn't last long as someone came from behind and stopped Mark by grabbing him by the shoulder. Reese looked at Mark and then Thomas, with a beer bottle in his hand. It was almost empty.

"I'm leaving," he told Mark.

"But the party just started!" Mark replied with a laugh, making Thomas laugh to himself. He hadn't seen his boyfriend like that before.

"Yeah, but I'm leaving," Reese pressed, his expression turning harsher.

"Come on, don't be an asshole," Mark yelled back, not wanting his friend to leave.

"I'm not the asshole," Reese growled and walked off, making sure to give Thomas a dirty look before he turned his back to them.