"How did they know each other?" Jack asked.

"They were friends before..." Mark trailed off.

"Oh."

An awkward pause and a throat clear later, Mark asked, "Who do you live with?"

Jack looked at Mark with an almost sad look in his eyes.

"I mean, if that's too personal, I understand. I was just wondering," Mark quickly added.

"My adoptive mom."

"Isn't she going to mind that I'll be living with you guys temporarily?"

Temporarily.

Jack hated that word. It was always associated with lies.

"Lexi will only be gone temporarily."

His childhood dog never came back.

"Alex is only temporarily mad at you."

Another broken friendship Jack could add to the list.

"You just temporarily want to fight Matthew."

That feeling is still there.

"Your father and I will be back from the store temporarily."

Guess who never came back.

"Jack?" Mark asked.

"Oh! Yeah sorry. I uh, don't think she'll mind because she's nearly always away for work."

"Oh that's cool," Mark said. "Is that hard?"    *cough*

"I mean, yeah, sometimes. It's weird not having a mom, y'know," The green-haired boy replied. 

"Yeah I can imagine."

Mark saw Jack playing with the necklace in his hand. 

"I- uh. I'm sorry if I shouldn't have given you the necklace. It's just, Nan- Lola, Lola asked me to give it to you, and I thought she knew what she was saying," Mark rambled. 

"Mark, she did. She knew what she was saying," Jack shut him up.

"How so?" Mark asked. 

"Well," Jack said scooting closer to Mark. "What she said, led to this."

Mark couldn't even take a breath before he felt the other's lips press into his own. Warm and soft. Almost like homemade cookies. The kiss only lasted for no more than five seconds, but it was perfect. Short and sweet. 

Jack pulled away and noticed Mark's face was a shade lighter than his hair. Jack burst out laughing, feeling himself blush as well. 

"What was that for mate?" Mark asked playfully. 

"Mate?" 

"Mate."

Jack pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was 8:30 and he had 9 text messages and 13 missed calls. All from his stepmom. His breath hitched and Mark picked up on it.

"Are you okay?" Mark asked.

"Y-yeah," Jack replied.

"Are you sure?"

Jack paused. "Yeah."

Mark glanced at him. A look that seemed to say, "Okay, sure."

"I have to go h-home. You want me to w-walk you to your mom's house?" Jack spoke fast. Almost like he was scared. 

"You seem to be in a hurry. I can go by myself."

"You have my number?" Jack asked, standing up. 

"No."

They quickly traded numbers.

"I'll call you when it's safe," Jack took off running.

"Safe?" Mark asked, but Jack was too far away to hear. 

Jack was running as fast as he could. His stepmom never called more than seven times, and she never texted. He was about two blocks from his house before his phone rang. It was his "stepmom". 

"Sean! Baby, how are you?"

"Felix." 

"Lose the attitude, Seanie!"

"For the last time," Jack said coldly. "It's Jack."

"Why get rid of the name your birth parents gave you? It's the only thing you have left of them." 

"Stop talking to me."

"That's a great idea! I'll show you instead. You better be home soon, Seanie." 

And Felix hung up.

One thing Jack knew. He could never go home. Ever.