Platonic (37 page)
He slips inside easily and they both groan. They take it as slow as they can in little movements, tiny sparks of friction as Daniel kisses the muscles of Mark’s back and neck and then Mark’s mouth when he looks back and asks for it.
Eventually Mark mumbles, “Please,” and that’s all it takes for Daniel to fuck him properly, a half-dozen strokes, his hand on Mark’s cock matching the movement, both of them coming within seconds of each other.
They lie on the messed-up sheets and Daniel’s phone starts to ring.
It’s a normal workday for him, and Mark should be in the office just after lunch. Thank goodness for the transatlantic time difference. Mark showers first, quickly cleaning himself up and getting dressed while Daniel does the same. Mark hovers in the doorway to Daniel’s apartment, not sure what to say when there are still so many things to be said. And yet, none of them seem important.
It is Daniel who finally speaks. “I’ll be home soon.”
Mark swallows and doesn’t feel like crying because Daniel
will
be home and it
will
be soon. “I love you. I always will.”
“Yeah,” Daniel says, unable to stop himself from tracing a few of the lines on Mark’s face. Then he smiles. “I guess in the scheme of forever, eleven years isn’t really that long a wait.”
Mark laughs and kisses the pad of Daniel’s thumb before his hand falls away. “And six more weeks really just seems like nothing,” Mark admits.
It’s true, he realizes: in the scheme of things, in all the time they’ve managed to exist through, never really forgetting each other, never really losing each other, weeks don’t even register. The distance, too, Mark thinks, is now an ingrained part of his perspective. They couldn’t handle the eight hundred miles between Illinois and New York when they were young, but they’ve managed three thousand miles now. Three thousand miles and eleven years and their relationship seems made of steel. Mark knows they can make it through anything because they’ve already made it through so much.
“I’ll be home soon and then we can make a start on everything,” Daniel says, and he kisses him one last time and then Mark is closing the door, knowing he won’t see Daniel again until they’re both home, together, in New York.
EPILOGUE
Mark is not supposed to meet Daniel at the airport. Daniel’s flight out of Heathrow is delayed and Mark has a big caseload at the moment—two promotions in a year will do that. What’s more, the trek out to JFK is expensive and pointless, so Daniel calls Mark and tells him not to worry.
It’s obvious that Mark doesn’t care so much about the impracticality, though, and Daniel doesn’t try too hard to talk him out of it. By the time the plane touches down, Mark aches and he knows Daniel will be feeling it as well, missing each other more than ever and knowing that soon,
soon,
their hearts will ache with better things.
Mark gets to the airport early and waits, standing at the arrivals gate with a bunch of turquoise and sunset-colored orchids that he had to order a week in advance. Then Daniel shouts his name from ten feet away and the flowers fall to the ground when he flings himself into Mark’s arms.
They hug and hug, and someone pushes the flowers closer to their feet so they don’t get trampled, but neither of them notices this.
They hug until they’re kissing, hanging onto each other and saying, “Hi, hello, how are you?” over and over and over until their cheeks ache from grinning.
Eventually they remember themselves, and when they pull apart they notice a few wandering eyes glancing at them, some surprised eyebrows, as well as knowing looks and smiles. Daniel picks up his flowers and says, “Thank you,” as he tries to reassemble them into the perfect bouquet.
Mark just shrugs and grips Daniel’s hand, pulling Daniel’s luggage along behind him. “Thank
you
,” Mark says for no obvious reason.
They make it halfway to the exit before Mark stops Daniel in the middle of the airport with a tug of his hand and a small frown. “We are gonna move in together, right?” he asks. They’ve spoken about it, of course, and Daniel has somehow convinced Mark that he doesn’t see the money thing as an issue. But so much of it has been in the abstract up until now. They’ve discussed neighborhoods and kids and politics, all the things down the road as well as the immediate need for this and that date, as much sex as their bodies can handle and sleepovers at Rita’s. But they haven’t properly talked about what really comes next.
Daniel grins, though, turning to face Mark and squeezing his hand as he nods, saying, “We’d better be,” like it’s obvious. Then his eyes drop, flicker for a moment around the airport they’re still standing. “The people staying in my old apartment want to take up the lease permanently and I’ve kind of told them they can.”
It shouldn’t be shocking but it is, this new life that’s suddenly real. “You’re gonna come stay with me?”
“I don’t want to move into your place permanently—” Daniel cuts off and starts to laugh at the frown Mark can’t control. “I mean, I was planning on leaving my stuff in storage until we can find somewhere a bit bigger for us to move into… together?”
Now Mark can’t hide his massive grin.
“In Manhattan?” Daniel asks, looking up through his lashes and grinning right back.
“Together,” Mark says, trying on the word.
“With Max.”
“Of course.”
They stare at each other until a particularly noisy suitcase wheels past them and breaks the moment. Then they’re blushing, and Daniel drops his gaze, and Mark feels his stomach swoop with how good it all feels.
“So now what?” Mark asks.
“We go back to your place.”
Mark remembers: “I bought cheesecake.”
Daniel groans, and it wouldn’t normally be pornographic but it seems as though it’s been forever since Mark touched him properly and suddenly having Daniel with him isn’t enough. Mark wants him alone.
“Your place, sex, dessert, planning—”
“I bought the very best sheets and made the bed,” Mark interjects. “And yes, we have a lot of planning to do,” he adds, and this is even more intimate.
“Sounds like a perfect afternoon.” Daniel squeezes his hand again. “I can draw you, if we have time.”
“It does. We do.” Mark tugs him in and presses an easy kiss to his lips. When he pulls back he’s smiling. “I’d love that,” he says as they begin walking again. “How did we get this lucky?”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank Annie, Candy and Lex for being the trio behind Interlude Press and for giving me the opportunity to write a novel I never imagined could exist. Each of them have played their own important part in the creation of this book and without them I still wouldn’t be capable of dreaming of being a published novelist. A big thank you to Becky also for creating a cover design that captures the essence of the novel in ways beyond anything I could imagine.
Izzy was the first person to hear the story of
Platonic
, and it was on her urging that I wrote it into a fanfiction. Tyna edited that original fanfic beautifully and taught me a lot about restraint and commas. Carrie read the first version of the novel and helped me work out what had to be done to make it better. Without any one of these women I don’t think the story would be half what it is now and so I thank them all profusely.
To J and T, the only two people in my day-to-day life who knew what was going on (even if they never knew or understood all of it): thank you for simply listening.
Questions for Discussion
1. The cover of
Platonic
illustrates a bed sliced in pieces, making one whole. How does this relate to relationship themes of
Platonic
?
2. In the prologue, the characters plot out their future. Over the course of the book, Mark tells the story of his first love several times to his lovers and friends. What does this say about Mark’s understanding of his own love story?
3. Mark and Daniel start out with an idealized view of their future. What does it take to get them to a point where they have a future, and is that future possible?
4. How do Patrick’s views of relationships shape and change Mark’s views?
5. How is Mark’s personal growth illustrated through sex?
6. Their flaws led to the demise of Mark and Daniel’s original relationship. When they are reunited, Daniel again has to leave almost immediately, leaving them to deal with the same issues they were unable to resolve ten years earlier. How do they handle it differently? Have Mark and Daniel come full circle, or are they just starting the same pattern all over again?
7. Both Mark and Daniel are ambitious people who let their careers lead them to new places. Do they put their jobs ahead of the relationship? Or did they grow enough to be able to strike a balance between the two?
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