My Heart's Always With You Now

"I can't believe graduation is next fucking week!" Zacky sighs happily as he rests his head in my lap, sitting in the spot with our best friends.

"I know." I smile and play with his hair. "Graduation is going to be amazing."

He kisses my leg and sips his coke. "It really is." He sighs and looks up at the sky.

Little did I know it was going to turn out to be the worst night of my life...

"Oh come on!" I laugh and open the bag of popcorn I just made in Mark's microwave. "Night of the Living Dead is so much better!"

Mark laughs and shakes his head. "That's a classic, though. I'm talking new, more gory shit. Like Saw."

I roll my eyes and sit next to him on the couch. "Okay, Saw is an awful movie that should have ended after the second one. What are they on, like fifteen?" I tease him and take a handful of popcorn.

"You've admitted to liking Halloween. They had plenty of sequels," he points out and sips his Sam Adams.

"Mark, you must realize there is a difference between good classic movies, and new silly horror movies." I laugh and pull the blanket over us, cuddling up to his side. He wraps his arm around me and sighs. "I'm just saying you have awful taste in movies."

"Sorry I'm not a movie buff like you." He chuckles and rubs my back, flipping through the channels on the TV.

"When you spend hours a day on a bus full of men whose lives are a horror film, you know every film ever made."

Mark laughs. "I can only imagine." He eats some popcorn and looks down at me. "So how are things with Zacky and Carlee? I'd ask her but she never stops over anymore."

I shrug my shoulders. "Last I heard she was staying at Zacky's. He just had a party a while ago so they are probably still cleaning up." I laugh, not bothered one bit by the idea of them being together. Being with Mark has changed things for me dramatically.

He's just what I have been looking for all of those lonely years in Zacky.

He shakes his head. "I'm glad they got together, though. Then I wouldn't have met you."

I blush a little and look up at him. "Yeah, we're still not watching Saw."

"Dammit." He frowns and pushes the DVD off the coffee table. "Fine."

We spend the rest of the night watching movies and talking about music which was so much fun. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long ass time.

The next morning I wake up covered in sheets. I rub my eyes before opening them, afraid to let the light seep in. Squinting I feel the other side of the bed and notice Mark isn't laying next to me. I frown slightly and see a note on his pillow. I roll onto my stomach with a smile and grab the note, opening it with delicacy.

Morning, beautiful.
I hope you slept well. Since it's Monday I have to go to work but I get off around six. I'll call you then.
Mark
p.s. Freshly made coffee in the pot. Thought you would like some.

I smile at the sweet note then climb out of his bed, finding myself in the same clothes I was in last night. It's too early to do anything sexual with Mark, but it isn't too early to feel absolutely amazing whenever I'm with him.

As I pour coffee into a mug of his, I hear my cell phone go off on the coffee table. I make my way over and answer it after the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hey," Zacky says. "Where are you?"

"Mark's." I take a sip of my coffee and sit back down in his bed.

"Why are you there?" He asks confused.

"Uh. Because he's my boyfriend and I can." I pull my knees into my chest and look around his bedroom.

"Well I'm at your house and am sitting on your couch. I have a few things I want to run by you. When will you be home?"

I groan, not wanting to leave the comfort of Mark's house. "I can be there in thirty minutes," I tell him looking at a watch.

"You're awesome."

"You're awful." I hang up.

I open the door to my apartment and toss my keys in the bowl. "What do you want, Zacky?" I ask when I see him sitting on the couch.

He turns around and raises an eyebrow. "Did you and Mark do it?"

"Wow, what are we in, fourth grade? And no, we haven't. We've only been dating for a month." I sit down next to him and wrap myself up in a blanket. "What do you have to run by me?"

"Well you know that summer home my parents have in Vermont?"

Of course I do. I spent a few summers there with him back in high school. Those were great summers...

I nod and he continues, "well I was thinking about asking Carlee to go with me and my family there next weekend."

Swallowing the random lump in my throat I look at him confused. "What are you asking, Zack?"

"I'm asking if you think it's too soon. I mean, I'm just freaking out about this whole thing." He groans and runs his fingers through his hair. "I really like Carlee and I don't want to push her into something she won't want to do. I mean, you know my family. They can be really weird. I don't want to scare her off."

I laugh. "Zacky, you won't scare her off. You two have been dating for a while now. I don't think she'll be freaked out."

He smiles at me. "Thanks. You're a great friend, Meg." He hugs me. "I'm glad things are going pretty well for you and Mark."

Smiling at the thought of Mark, I look back at Zacky. "Me, too." There was no trace of a lie in my words. No trace of sadness.

I'm finally happy.