FicWad

Someone to Live For
Love Science

------
In which Mark and Angel discuss college decisions... and then don't discuss very much at all.

DISCLAIMER: Not mine; just borrowing. Will return when finished.
------

When Mark gets his acceptance letter, he doesn't even mention it for a couple of weeks. Angel still hasn't said anything about how his own applications turned out, and he doesn't want to accidentally put five states between them or something.

But Angel notices something's up, as usual, and finally brings the matter up one weekend, after they finish off a dinner-and-homework marathon.

"You've been sitting on something for a while now, honey. What is it?"

"Got into NYU. The film school. They're offering me a pretty good scholarship."

Angel grins, then kisses Mark thoroughly. "Told you you could pull it off."

"I guess. But I don't know whether I'm gonna take it."

"Why not? It's what you want to do."

"Well, yeah, but... you haven't mentioned where you're going yet. I don't want to end up really far away from you."

"Point. Juilliard's offering a half tuition scholarship, and while I want to at least wait and see what else comes in, my parents are insisting I'll be crazy if I turn it down. Still not sold on the idea, but if you're gonna be in the area, it sounds better already."

Mark kisses Angel. "Figured you'd get in. Don't let me make the decision for you, though."

"Where we end up in relation to each other's been a consideration the whole time - you said so yourself. It'll help if you're there."

"If you say so."

"I do. We should celebrate."

"Got anything in mind?"

"Not as such. Parents are out of town for the weekend, though - you could stay here. Bet if you told yours we're still studying they'd let you stay."

"Hmm. I like the way you think. And you know how I've been struggling with my Spanish lately..."

Angel laughs. "If by struggling you mean damn near fluent. Your mother might buy that line, though. Go ahead and call."

Mark goes, and the story works surprisingly well - his mother even offers to run some clothes over to Angel's house so they don't lose their momentum. He's fallen into the habit of making sure there's something around just for occasions like this, though, so he tells her not to worry about it.

"My mother is ever so worried about my Spanish grades," he tells Angel, when he goes back to the living room. "She said we should study as long as we need to."

"You really pulled her in with that, didn't you? But I suppose, in that spirit, we should get to work. Where do you think we should start?"

"I was thinking of chemistry, actually."

Angel raises an eyebrow, and for a moment Mark's afraid he's going to point out neither of them are taking chemistry this year, or at least call him on the horrible joke. Instead, he pulls Mark close and kisses him until they're both nearly breathless. "Think we can work with that."

Somehow they keep from kissing each other long enough to get upstairs and to Angel's room. Mark's starting to regret his tendency to wear layers, though it doesn't seem to matter too much; they're both shirtless before too long. He doesn't even realize just how far this is going until Angel goes for the front of Mark's jeans, and pauses.

The question's there, even if neither of them says it out loud - words went out the window a while ago. Mark can't even bring himself to flail over it, between both of them being new at this and the bit where if they don't go through with it, he might explode or something. So he kisses Angel, and reaches back for the zipper on Angel's skirt, and so it goes.

Afterward, a comfortable silence settles in; eventually, Angel breaks it.

"Just when I thought this sharing-a-bed thing couldn't get any better."

"Mmm." Mark's brain is starting to catch up with the situation, even if it's a little late now.

Angel kisses him. "Relax, honey. No need to be so tense."

"I'm not tense, I'm flailing. Worried that I suck... okay, bad word choice."

"Got nothing to worry about."

"You sure?"

"'Course I'm sure. Love you."

That helps a lot; Mark smiles, and pulls the blankets up around them. "Love you too, my Angel."

"'S not a job description. Just a name. Well, nickname."

"Works for me."

Before too much longer, they're both sound asleep.