Chapter Text
—2 years later—
The sound of music gently drifted throughout the house, mingling with pots and pans clattering in the kitchen and the soft sound of something sizzling on a pan. Faint growling from the living room suggested the dogs were playing, either by tackling each other or having a friendly game of tug of war with one of their way-to-many toys. To say they were spoiled would be an understatement.
Mark smiled to himself, feeling all too sappy for a random Tuesday morning in the middle of fall. Ethan would relentlessly tease him about it whenever he was in one of these weird nostalgic moods, but he couldn’t help it.
Speaking of Ethan, Mark could hear him singing along quietly to the song that was playing. The dogs were no longer making a ruckus, which meant Ethan had probably broken up their playing for a moment of peace. The click of nails against the hardwood floors behind him had him turning to look. Chica, a big loveable golden retriever and the newest addition to the family, had plopped herself right behind him in the kitchen, wagging her tail with a soft thump thump thump on the ground.
“Hey there, girl.” He cooed at her, reaching down to give her some pets.
Ethan had insisted they get another dog as soon as they had settled into their house rambling on about how Spencer needed a friend. Though with the way Ethan had let Mark pick when they went to the dog rescue center, refusing to give any personal input, he assumed it was because Mark had mentioned a long time ago he wanted a dog.
He straightened back up and turned off the stove, happy with the eggs and sausage he had made for breakfast. He pulled two plates out of one of the cupboards and Ethan walked in, taking one of the plates from him.
“Ooh, eggs.” Ethan joked, shoveling some onto his plate. Mark huffed out a laugh. They practically had eggs every morning unless Ethan decided to randomly try and make muffins or pancakes. At first, anytime Ethan tried to cook or bake anything it always ended up burnt or not looking/ tasting right. He was getting better, after many failed attempts and some help from Mark. He wasn’t used to cooking, saying he never had time before and just ordered food instead.
“We got any bread for toast?” Ethan questioned, looking through the pantry with his plate balanced in one hand.
“Nope, ran out yesterday.” Mark replied, walking up behind him and pointing into the pantry, “We have bagels though.”
“Sweet.” He smiled and grabbed two, automatically assuming (correctly) that Mark would want one as well.
“Wanna eat on the back porch?” Mark asked, glancing out the window and seeing it was a nice day outside. Ethan nodded and Mark took his plate from him, walking out the sliding glass door onto the porch. He set the plates down on the small wooden table in between the two chairs, sitting down in one.
He took a deep breath, enjoying the crisp mountain air. After leaving Headquarters he hadn’t known where they were going. As it turned out, Ethan decided that it would be extremely difficult for anyone to find them in the mountains of Wyoming, smack dab in the middle of a huge forest. It was a two-hour drive to the nearest town, where they had to stockpile groceries. Mark didn’t mind too much, however. It had eventually helped him get over his fear of driving plus since they both went together, the two hours flew by.
Mark heard the glass door slide open again, followed briefly by some grumbling about the cold weather. The bagels were placed on the plates before Ethan disappeared again. Glancing back, Mark saw that the brunette had made his way back inside, jogging up the stairs. He hoped Ethan was going to grab him a hoodie too as he ran his hands up and down his goosebump covered arms. He didn’t have to wait long since Ethan had decided to full-on sprint back out onto the porch and sling a sweater over Mark’s head.
“Hey!” Mark exclaimed, fumbling around with the sweater to get it out of his face. When he could see again he was met with Ethan’s mischievous smirk.
“Having some trouble there?” He asked innocently, adjusting his own hoodie (well- technically Mark’s) that he had thrown on.
“Like you didn’t do that on purpose you jerk,” Mark replied with a mock glare, finally putting it on and crossing his arms. Ethan simply smiled and put his plate in his lap.
“Thanks for making breakfast.” He said happily before he forked some eggs into his mouth. Mark simply hummed in response since he already had a mouthful of food. They listened to the music that was flowing through the door that had been left open, enjoying the peaceful morning in relative silence. It was this kind of domesticity that had Mark’s heart melt and made him feel like he had been swaddled in a blanket of comfort.
As a previously upbeat song ended, a new slow one began. Ethan frowned and reached for his phone, which was connected to the speakers by Bluetooth inside, to skip it. He never was one for slow songs because he said they sounded too sad for him, but Mark had an idea
“Hold on.” He said, taking Ethan by the hand. He pulled him up out of his seat towards him, eliciting a surprised squeak from the brunette.
“What are you doing?” Ethan laughed, putting his hands on Mark’s shoulders.
“We are dancing.” Mark replied simply, starting to sway them side to side, his hands on Ethan’s waist, “the only problem with my brilliant idea, though, is that I don’t know how to.”
“I don’t either, so we’re perfect dance partners.” Ethan shrugged before narrowing his eyes with a smile at Mark, “you’re in one of your sappy moods today, aren’t you?”
“So what if I am.” Mark retorted, “you love it. I mean- someone has to be the hopeless romantic in this relationship.”
Ethan took one of his hands from Mark’s shoulders and placed it on his jaw lovingly, kissing him delicately, as if he was fragile. Though Mark would never admit it, he loved being treated that way sometimes.
“You’re right,” Ethan said afterward, exhaling through his nose slowly. He stared up at Mark for a little longer than he usually did, something swirling in his eyes that the raven-haired man couldn’t pinpoint. He finally spoke.
“There’s no way you’re a real person. You have to be some kind of figment of my imagination.”
Mark smiled, raising an eyebrow. “And why is that?”
“You’re too good to be true.”
“Who’s being sappy now?” Mark replied, not really knowing what else to say since he was still bad at accepting compliments.
“Shut up, I mean it.” Ethan huffed, the corner of his mouth quirking up despite his protest before getting serious again, “I really really love you, Mark and I don’t think there will ever be enough words I can say to truly express how much I do.”
Mark’s heart fluttered and beat harder in his chest, the soft, loving expression on Ethan’s face had been enough to take his breath away.
“I love you too, Ethan. Fuck- I’ve never felt this way about anyone else, and I never will.”
He covered Ethan’s hand that was still resting on his jaw with his own. His smile widened as he felt the cold metal of the ring on his finger. They had agreed to not get legally married because of their fake identities, but Mark had given him a ring after they had been in Wyoming for a year. Shortly after, Ethan gave Mark a similar one and he hadn’t taken it off since.
Overwhelmed with emotion he didn’t expect on a Tuesday morning at 9 am, he seized Ethan’s lips against his own. It wasn’t fleeting like Ethan’s had been, but the brunette welcomed it easily. It was slow and affectionate, matching the energy of how their morning had been going so far. He wasn’t sure who pulled away first, but soon they were both taking deep breaths. God- he suddenly hated that he had to breathe. He would’ve been perfectly happy kissing Ethan for the rest of the morning without being interrupted by the need for oxygen. In his mind, Ethan was at the top of his priority list. Unfortunately, however, his lungs begged to differ.
“Well, we didn’t really end up dancing all that much.” Ethan pointed out after a moment with a playful smile that he failed to stifle. Mark shrugged, not really caring all too much.
“Maybe we can later.” He finally let go of Ethan and picked up both their plates, “how about we get the dogs and go for a short hike?”
Ethan clasped his hands together and beamed, heading inside quickly to get the dog’s leashes on Mark assumed. Mark trailed after him, a lopsided grin on his face as he watched his partner round Chica and Spencer up and talking to them sweetly as he put their leashes on. After Mark put two water bottles and a few snacks in a backpack, just in case, he met Ethan on the front porch.
“Ready to go?” Ethan asked, turning and handing him Chica’s leash. Mark swung the backpack on his shoulders and took Ethan’s hand in his own with a comforting familiarity, threading their fingers together.
“Yep, all ready.”
And off they went onto the trails they had walked countless times together. Mark loved watching Ethan’s face light up whenever he spotted a wild animal, whether it was just a squirrel or a huge moose they had seen once. He knew he looked like a lovesick idiot whenever he looked at Ethan, but he didn’t care since he had accepted a long time ago that he was one.
Now, walking side-by-side with Ethan, he wondered how the hell he got so lucky that Ethan felt the same way about him.
Mark looked over at Ethan, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. Ethan smiled and squeezed his hand back.