AN: Okay, so I've been trying to upload this for about 3 days now. Stupid Anyways, I know this is the longest I've ever taken between updates and I'm sorry for that. I was really busy with school and other stuff and it just kept getting put off. But on that note, I have to say that I will be abandoning this fic after this chapter. I can't be positive I won't be picking this up at a later point, but for now I'm killing it. I'm pretty much stopping writing altogether. There are a number of reasons for this that I don't really care to publicly discuss, but yeah. I'm sorry to all my loyal readers, and my lovely reviewers. This will be it for a while...possibly forever.

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About two weeks later, as Mark got into Roger's car at lunchtime he noticed a small package in festive wrapping paper on his seat.

"What's this?"

"It's for you, silly."

"But…why?"

"You seriously don't know?"

Mark stared at Roger blankly while racking his brain. "Just happy to see me?" He offered, weakly.

Roger narrowed his eyes at Mark, jokingly. "It's our one month, you jerk."

Mark smiled gleefully. "Is it really?"

"Of course it is, asshole. Why on earth would I make that up?"

Mark blushed, grinning like a fool. "I can't believe we've been together for a month. It felt like a dream at first. And you remembered. Hell, I didn't even give it a thought. And you got me a present?"

"Yeah…well, I wouldn't get too excited about that last one until you open it."

"Oh, bullshit. It's all pretty and crap. Where the fuck did you get metallic silver wrapping paper with rainbow hearts?"

"My mother…is insane."

"Don't I know it." Mark said as he opened the present excitedly. Immediately, his mood changed. He looked at Roger, equal parts amused and confused. "Vaginal contraceptive films?"

Roger laughed heartily, throwing his head back. "Okay, so you know that new mini-mart that just opened up? The one owned by the Asians that only hire other Asians, and have effectively made their staff completely non-English-speaking?"

"…Yeah…"

"Well, I was asking the guy where to find film, and he misunderstood me. So I got you this. The opportunity was just too great; I could not pass it up."

Mark began to join in with Roger's laughter. "Umm, thanks. I guess I could give these to Cindy…?"

"Geez, that girl's not on the pill? How is she not pregnant already?"

"I honestly have no idea."

"Oh, there's another present in there for you."

"Is there?" Mark moved the contraceptives and found a burned CD.

"I made you a copy of the Dashboard Confessional CD. The one with our song on it."

"Our song?" Roger nodded. "I like the sound of that." Mark smiled to himself, fingering the front of the CD in a slight daze. "It's 'our song'."

"You are too cute." Roger declared, leaning into Mark and capturing his lips in a soft, gentle kiss that sent Mark's skin on fire, tingling for more. As their activity got a bit more heated, Mark was pushed up against the passenger seat window, awkwardly, as his feet still hung over the seat. Roger had somewhat crawled on top of Mark, uncomfortably resting over the hard armrest compartment in between the seats. Both so enveloped in each other, they barely noticed the highly discomforting positions. Their very poorly arranged make out session was interrupted suddenly with a tapping on the window. Roger sat up, suddenly, very alert. "Fuck, Mark."

Mark looked horrified. Roger didn't know what else to do, so he rolled down the window. Mark sat up and turned his head. He sighed in relief. "Oh, hi Mr. Adams." This was said incredibly nonchalantly. Roger was suddenly very confused.

"Hey, Mark. How's it going?"

Mark noted the utterly lost look on his boyfriends face and laughed lightly, explaining, "It's okay. He knows."

"Yes, Mark and I share a passion." Roger furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "For the male body, that is."

"Oh, you're gay!" Roger blurted out, bluntly. "But, how did you two find out about each other?"

"Well, plenty of people know about me. I'm not closeted; I just don't shout it at the top of my lungs. I don't think the administration would really appreciate that…"

Mark turned to Roger to explain the situation. "I used to go to a gay and lesbian support group once a week. I went a few towns over so nobody would recognize me, and told my mom I was going to a photography class. I used to show her random photos and tell her they were my photography projects. It was highly amusing. Anyways, it happened to be Mr. Adams's town, and Mr. Adams happened to run the group."

"When did you go to a gay and lesbian support group?"

"It was right after Craig. I needed someone to talk to, and it wasn't like I could talk to anyone here."

"But you didn't even realize he'd r–"

"I didn't actually talk much." Mark cut Roger off. "But it was nice to be around people who were like me, and knew who I was, and understood."

"We miss you at the center." Mr. Adams said. "It's less exciting without your photomontages and videos." He turned his attention to Roger. "Mark used to take a lot of pictures and video during the meetings, and he'd show us them and other things he'd taken. Most of it was stuff he couldn't show other people, because of the content."

"Yeah. I wasn't exactly keen on showing my mother my photos of boys with their bathing suits falling down." Mark added, smiling at Roger. "This is Roger, by the way. My boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Mr. Adams said, putting out his hand through the window to shake Roger's. "You two should be more careful, though. I mean, I could have been anyone."

Roger bit his lip. "Yeah, before Mark saw it was you I thought he was going to have a heart attack."

"Say, aren't you that guy in that band? Korean Mitochondria?"

"Yup."

"Wow, nice job bagging a rock star, Mark. Who would've thought Roger Davis, lead singer of Korean Mitochondria: a homosexual."

Roger laughed nervously. "Actually, I might not be the lead singer of Korean Mitochondria anymore. My friend Anna who named the band is trying to convince me to change the name to Ode to Pedestrians: The Novel: The Movie."

"Oh, I know that Anna. I had her in class with Mark last year. She had such a crush on you, Mark."

Mark blushed, biting his lip. "Am I the only one who didn't know this!"

"Well, that's the job of the gay boy. To be oblivious to pretty, vivacious girls with rather large crushes on them." He paused, smiling at his own comment. "Well, I really must be going. I have…papers to grade. I literally have grown up things to do. When did I become old, right? Well, it was nice to meet you Roger. And it was nice seeing you again, Mark. Don't be a stranger, alright?"

"I won't be." Mark said, smiling and waving as Roger rolled the window back up. He turned back to Roger, apprehensively. "Was that…okay?"

"Yeah, of course. I told you I wouldn't mind if we were publicly together. Plus, Mr. Adams is a pretty cool guy."

"I know, but its one thing to say it and another to go through with it."

"Well, I'll admit it was a little weird for me at first. I mean, I've never even thought about another guy before you, Mark. I always thought I was straight. I don't really know what I am right now… heh…" He laughed nervously, biting his lip before continuing. "But you know, it's not so weird now. So, you're not a girl. It doesn't mean I can't have feelings for you the way I have feelings for girls. At any rate, I like you more than any girl I've ever dated." Mark blushed, smiling to himself as Roger continued. "What's so special about girls, anyway? Who needs girls when I have a Mark."

Mark shrugged. "Kissing Nanette just sort of made me want to throw up."

"That's because it was Nanette. She repulsed you. Plus, you don't like girls."

"She had bad breath, too."

"So do you."

"I do not!" He breathed in Roger's face childishly.

"I don't know about that. I need to get a little closer to test that out." He teased, a coy smile on his face as he pulled Mark's lips into deep kiss that sent Mark's mind reeling. "You're right," he laughed. "Minty fresh."