fic: Something to Keep
title: Something to Keep
fandom: The Social Network
pairing: Eduardo/Mark
word count: ~1700
rating: R
warning: PDA, too much cuteness, sex
disclaimer: Based on a fictional representation of real people; not meant to represent the actual people in any way. I don't own anything.
summary: They go on a date--that's not really a date, because they're not dating, right?--and Eduardo gets frisky on the subway.
notes: Written here on the promptfest for the prompt: "PDA. Any kind of public groping, footsie, hand holding or kissing. Maybe public sex? Just stuff in public! XD"
--
It’s kind of a secret.
It’s a secret in the not-really-a-secret kind of way. Like how everyone in Chem 101 knows that Jeff Wright sells the answers to the exams for fifty bucks a pop, but if you asked them, they’d claim they’d never heard about it.
Okay, well, it’s not exactly like that.
The point is, it’s not really something they’re publicizing. It’s not like they’re trying to hide it, necessarily. But there’s a difference between discretion and a cover-up.
And okay, fine, so maybe as far as secrets go, it’s not exactly the best-kept one in history. Chris and Dustin know, obviously, because it’s not really something you can keep from your roommates. And Mark has a feeling a couple of the guys on Eduardo’s floor might have an inkling, since he’s been spotted ducking out of there on the way run to class in yesterday’s clothes-not enough mornings to call it a habit, per se, but enough to call it a trend.
So yeah, he supposes it’s not really a secret that they’re sleeping together. But so what? People have sex all the time in college, and it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It doesn’t mean people will assume they’re dating.
They’re not, for your information.
Dating, that is.
At least, Mark is pretty sure they’re not.
Fairly sure.
It’s just hooking up. They’re not, like a couple.
Right?
---
One Saturday night, they go to Central Square to get dinner and to see a comedy troupe from Northeastern. Which, okay, admittedly, sounds rather like a date, but it’s really not like that. It’s something they would do before the sex started happening, which just goes to show that it’s totally normal and not at all a coupley kind of thing.
And yes, okay, Eduardo pays for dinner, but it’s not even weird because he always does that, and it’s just burgers anyway, nothing fancy.
The show is pretty fun. Mark isn’t a huge fan of improv, generally speaking, but the troupe is good and have a handful of jokes that are pretty clever. Eduardo likes it a lot; he’s laughing almost the whole time, and he keeps glancing over at Mark, smile wide and eyes lit up, after the best jokes, and Mark can’t help but grin back at him.
Towards the end of the show, Eduardo puts his hand on Mark’s knee-casually, like he’s not even thinking about it-and Mark feels a familiar flip in his stomach for a moment. Stupid, stupid, he thinks, because it’s the tamest thing ever, and he’s seen Eduardo naked for God’s sake. He shouldn’t still be reacting like this.
After the show, they go to a frozen yogurt shop, and Mark insists on paying. Eduardo tells him he doesn’t owe him anything for dinner, it was his treat, but Mark says he wants to, and Eduardo says okay, if you insist.
Mark gets Rocky Road and Eduardo gets chocolate swirl, and Mark gives him a hard time for that, because it’s basically just vanilla, and why couldn’t he get an interesting flavor of froyo, really. And then Eduardo teases Mark for saying “froyo,” and Mark gets defensive and insists it’s definitely a thing people say, where has Eduardo been living. And Eduardo laughs and says “God, you’re so cute,” which makes Mark feel all weird and flushed and jittery, and he has to shove a spoonful into his mouth to avoid saying something embarrassing. So stupid, he thinks again, because Eduardo calls him cute about a hundred times a day, and it’s really not a big deal.
---
It’s pretty late by the time they get on the subway, so the Red Line is fairly deserted. There’s an older woman reading and a trio of giggly teenage girls, but that’s pretty much it.
Eduardo keeps laughing and grinning, which is dumb because the show wasn’t that funny. He’s leaning against Mark, a solid and warm pressure. He puts his hand on Mark’s knee again, and Mark feels hot all over. He wonders, idly, if the other people on the train think that they’re together.
Not that they are.
Eduardo leans further in and drops his face into Mark’s neck. Mark jolts and stiffens, glancing around as Eduardo nuzzles (because really, there is no other word for it) into Mark’s neck, his breath damp.
Mark laughs nervously. “Wardo, what are you doing?” he murmurs.
“Nothing,” Eduardo mumbles.“You’re acting drunk,” Mark says. “What-” But then Eduardo slides his hand a bit further up Mark’s leg, and he forgets what he was saying.
“Not drunk,” Eduardo says. Then he starts kissing Mark neck.
And that’s just-okay. Normally, Mark wouldn’t find that objectionable. Like, pretty much the opposite. Generally, he tries to encourage as much neck-kissing-or any kissing, really-as possible.
But they’re on the subway, and people are looking. The group of girls are all whispering and giggling and pointing quite obviously, and the older woman, who’s pretending not to look but obviously is, is sort of sneering at them.
“Wardo,” Mark hisses. “There are people looking.”
“I’m sure they’ve seen worse,” Eduardo murmurs, and then he starts sucking. Mark is sure he’s probably the color of…well, the color of something very red, and not entirely from embarrassment. “Wardo,” he says, but it comes out less stern and more breathless.
The woman looks positively appalled, but it doesn’t really bother Mark as much as it probably should, but he thinks, well, she’s probably just bitter that she’s not getting laid. The girls, on the other hand, look delighted, like this is the best thing they’ve seen in months. It probably is, the pervs.
Eduardo is still sucking on his neck, and Mark feels like he’s burning up, and his stomach is twisting in a not-altogether-unpleasant way. This isn’t at all appropriate behavior, Mark knows, but it’s just, Eduardo’s mouth, it’s like, if Mark doesn’t believe in God, but he might be willing to rethink that given the things Eduardo’s mouth can do.
But still, this really not appropriate, at all, and one of the girls, the blonde one, takes her phone out, and is she taking a picture? That is just creepy.
The older woman huffs, loudly, being even less discreet about looking. Then Eduardo bites on the juncture of Mark’s shoulder, like, bites. And, shit, Mark really doesn’t want to get a boner on a subway car, and if Eduardo’s hand moves up any further on his thigh, this is going to turn into a very serious situation.
Just then, they get to their stop, which is very lucky, or very unlucky, depending on how you look at it. Mark stands up so fast he almost trips, and grabs Eduardo by the arm and yanks him out of the door, trying to ignore the way the girls look almost disappointed. Fucking voyeurs, they can go write some dirty stories to wank to if they’re that desperate.
Eduardo is laughing as Mark tugs him up the stairs of the station and out into the crisp night air. “Did you see their faces? Oh my god.”
Mark pulls him through the Square, not bothering to wait for the traffic lights to change. As soon as they get onto campus, he pushes Eduardo under a tree and up against it, and kisses him, hard, going up on his toes and threading his fingers through his hair. Eduardo tastes like vanilla and fudge, and Mark kisses him until he loses his breath, and then he murmurs into his mouth, “You. Are. Insane.”
“You’re stupid,” Eduardo counters.
“What? Why am I stupid?” Mark sputters, biting back a grin.
“Because we’re right across from my dorm, but we’re not in there.”
“That’s your fault,” Mark says stubbornly, to which Eduardo just grins and pulls Mark across the quad. The dew in the grass is making Mark’s socks wet, and he can’t stop laughing, which is so stupid, he’s just so stupid.
He sees a couple of guys he recognizes down the hall when Eduardo is fumbling for his key. And, okay, if they didn’t know before, they definitely do now. One of them raises his eyebrows and smirks at Mark, and all Mark can do is blush and grin helplessly.
Once Eduardo gets the door open and swipes at the light switch, he pushes Mark up against the door and wedges his leg between Mark’s thighs and goes to work on his neck again. Mark tips his head back and closes his eyes, breathless, his hands gentle around the back of Eduardo’s neck. He lets pleasure wash over him and doesn’t try to slow it down as Eduardo tongues at his collarbone and grinds against him. It’s only a minute before they’re both gasping and shuddering against each other.
Mark melts against the door and sinks down to the floor, smiling and catching his breath. Maybe he should be embarrassed about coming so easily, but he’s just happy, stupidly, stupidly happy.
Eduardo drops down next to him. Mark turns to him and Eduardo leans against him, brushes his hair back, and kisses him, soft, tender.
Mark doesn’t know what he did to deserve this, something so nice. This. Whatever it is.
“Eduardo,” he says.
“Hmm?” Eduardo hums.
“What are we-I mean-are we dating?”
Eduardo grins. “I sure hope so,” he says. “I would feel pretty stupid if we weren’t.”
“Uh,” Mark says. “Why?”
“Because, I’ve been telling everyone you’re my boyfriend,” Eduardo says, nudging Mark slightly.
“Oh,” Mark says, because he has no idea what to say to that. Or even how to speak, really.
Eduardo’s smile wilts. “Was that-is that not okay? God, I should have-I shouldn’t have said anything before asking you-”
Mark catches his wrist. “Wardo,” he says, cutting him off from his anxious words.
The fluttering feeling is back in his chest. He’s been so confused, but he’s a little less so, now, and he thinks he gets it, maybe, has some idea what it is. Maybe it’s something he wants to have, something to keep, and it’s not stupid, not really very stupid at all.
“It’s really okay,” he says. Eduardo smiles again, relieved and sweet and bright.
Oh well, it wasn’t really that good of a secret anyway.
---
fandom: The Social Network
pairing: Eduardo/Mark
word count: ~1700
rating: R
warning: PDA, too much cuteness, sex
disclaimer: Based on a fictional representation of real people; not meant to represent the actual people in any way. I don't own anything.
summary: They go on a date--that's not really a date, because they're not dating, right?--and Eduardo gets frisky on the subway.
notes: Written here on the promptfest for the prompt: "PDA. Any kind of public groping, footsie, hand holding or kissing. Maybe public sex? Just stuff in public! XD"
--
It’s kind of a secret.
It’s a secret in the not-really-a-secret kind of way. Like how everyone in Chem 101 knows that Jeff Wright sells the answers to the exams for fifty bucks a pop, but if you asked them, they’d claim they’d never heard about it.
Okay, well, it’s not exactly like that.
The point is, it’s not really something they’re publicizing. It’s not like they’re trying to hide it, necessarily. But there’s a difference between discretion and a cover-up.
And okay, fine, so maybe as far as secrets go, it’s not exactly the best-kept one in history. Chris and Dustin know, obviously, because it’s not really something you can keep from your roommates. And Mark has a feeling a couple of the guys on Eduardo’s floor might have an inkling, since he’s been spotted ducking out of there on the way run to class in yesterday’s clothes-not enough mornings to call it a habit, per se, but enough to call it a trend.
So yeah, he supposes it’s not really a secret that they’re sleeping together. But so what? People have sex all the time in college, and it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. It doesn’t mean people will assume they’re dating.
They’re not, for your information.
Dating, that is.
At least, Mark is pretty sure they’re not.
Fairly sure.
It’s just hooking up. They’re not, like a couple.
Right?
---
One Saturday night, they go to Central Square to get dinner and to see a comedy troupe from Northeastern. Which, okay, admittedly, sounds rather like a date, but it’s really not like that. It’s something they would do before the sex started happening, which just goes to show that it’s totally normal and not at all a coupley kind of thing.
And yes, okay, Eduardo pays for dinner, but it’s not even weird because he always does that, and it’s just burgers anyway, nothing fancy.
The show is pretty fun. Mark isn’t a huge fan of improv, generally speaking, but the troupe is good and have a handful of jokes that are pretty clever. Eduardo likes it a lot; he’s laughing almost the whole time, and he keeps glancing over at Mark, smile wide and eyes lit up, after the best jokes, and Mark can’t help but grin back at him.
Towards the end of the show, Eduardo puts his hand on Mark’s knee-casually, like he’s not even thinking about it-and Mark feels a familiar flip in his stomach for a moment. Stupid, stupid, he thinks, because it’s the tamest thing ever, and he’s seen Eduardo naked for God’s sake. He shouldn’t still be reacting like this.
After the show, they go to a frozen yogurt shop, and Mark insists on paying. Eduardo tells him he doesn’t owe him anything for dinner, it was his treat, but Mark says he wants to, and Eduardo says okay, if you insist.
Mark gets Rocky Road and Eduardo gets chocolate swirl, and Mark gives him a hard time for that, because it’s basically just vanilla, and why couldn’t he get an interesting flavor of froyo, really. And then Eduardo teases Mark for saying “froyo,” and Mark gets defensive and insists it’s definitely a thing people say, where has Eduardo been living. And Eduardo laughs and says “God, you’re so cute,” which makes Mark feel all weird and flushed and jittery, and he has to shove a spoonful into his mouth to avoid saying something embarrassing. So stupid, he thinks again, because Eduardo calls him cute about a hundred times a day, and it’s really not a big deal.
---
It’s pretty late by the time they get on the subway, so the Red Line is fairly deserted. There’s an older woman reading and a trio of giggly teenage girls, but that’s pretty much it.
Eduardo keeps laughing and grinning, which is dumb because the show wasn’t that funny. He’s leaning against Mark, a solid and warm pressure. He puts his hand on Mark’s knee again, and Mark feels hot all over. He wonders, idly, if the other people on the train think that they’re together.
Not that they are.
Eduardo leans further in and drops his face into Mark’s neck. Mark jolts and stiffens, glancing around as Eduardo nuzzles (because really, there is no other word for it) into Mark’s neck, his breath damp.
Mark laughs nervously. “Wardo, what are you doing?” he murmurs.
“Nothing,” Eduardo mumbles.“You’re acting drunk,” Mark says. “What-” But then Eduardo slides his hand a bit further up Mark’s leg, and he forgets what he was saying.
“Not drunk,” Eduardo says. Then he starts kissing Mark neck.
And that’s just-okay. Normally, Mark wouldn’t find that objectionable. Like, pretty much the opposite. Generally, he tries to encourage as much neck-kissing-or any kissing, really-as possible.
But they’re on the subway, and people are looking. The group of girls are all whispering and giggling and pointing quite obviously, and the older woman, who’s pretending not to look but obviously is, is sort of sneering at them.
“Wardo,” Mark hisses. “There are people looking.”
“I’m sure they’ve seen worse,” Eduardo murmurs, and then he starts sucking. Mark is sure he’s probably the color of…well, the color of something very red, and not entirely from embarrassment. “Wardo,” he says, but it comes out less stern and more breathless.
The woman looks positively appalled, but it doesn’t really bother Mark as much as it probably should, but he thinks, well, she’s probably just bitter that she’s not getting laid. The girls, on the other hand, look delighted, like this is the best thing they’ve seen in months. It probably is, the pervs.
Eduardo is still sucking on his neck, and Mark feels like he’s burning up, and his stomach is twisting in a not-altogether-unpleasant way. This isn’t at all appropriate behavior, Mark knows, but it’s just, Eduardo’s mouth, it’s like, if Mark doesn’t believe in God, but he might be willing to rethink that given the things Eduardo’s mouth can do.
But still, this really not appropriate, at all, and one of the girls, the blonde one, takes her phone out, and is she taking a picture? That is just creepy.
The older woman huffs, loudly, being even less discreet about looking. Then Eduardo bites on the juncture of Mark’s shoulder, like, bites. And, shit, Mark really doesn’t want to get a boner on a subway car, and if Eduardo’s hand moves up any further on his thigh, this is going to turn into a very serious situation.
Just then, they get to their stop, which is very lucky, or very unlucky, depending on how you look at it. Mark stands up so fast he almost trips, and grabs Eduardo by the arm and yanks him out of the door, trying to ignore the way the girls look almost disappointed. Fucking voyeurs, they can go write some dirty stories to wank to if they’re that desperate.
Eduardo is laughing as Mark tugs him up the stairs of the station and out into the crisp night air. “Did you see their faces? Oh my god.”
Mark pulls him through the Square, not bothering to wait for the traffic lights to change. As soon as they get onto campus, he pushes Eduardo under a tree and up against it, and kisses him, hard, going up on his toes and threading his fingers through his hair. Eduardo tastes like vanilla and fudge, and Mark kisses him until he loses his breath, and then he murmurs into his mouth, “You. Are. Insane.”
“You’re stupid,” Eduardo counters.
“What? Why am I stupid?” Mark sputters, biting back a grin.
“Because we’re right across from my dorm, but we’re not in there.”
“That’s your fault,” Mark says stubbornly, to which Eduardo just grins and pulls Mark across the quad. The dew in the grass is making Mark’s socks wet, and he can’t stop laughing, which is so stupid, he’s just so stupid.
He sees a couple of guys he recognizes down the hall when Eduardo is fumbling for his key. And, okay, if they didn’t know before, they definitely do now. One of them raises his eyebrows and smirks at Mark, and all Mark can do is blush and grin helplessly.
Once Eduardo gets the door open and swipes at the light switch, he pushes Mark up against the door and wedges his leg between Mark’s thighs and goes to work on his neck again. Mark tips his head back and closes his eyes, breathless, his hands gentle around the back of Eduardo’s neck. He lets pleasure wash over him and doesn’t try to slow it down as Eduardo tongues at his collarbone and grinds against him. It’s only a minute before they’re both gasping and shuddering against each other.
Mark melts against the door and sinks down to the floor, smiling and catching his breath. Maybe he should be embarrassed about coming so easily, but he’s just happy, stupidly, stupidly happy.
Eduardo drops down next to him. Mark turns to him and Eduardo leans against him, brushes his hair back, and kisses him, soft, tender.
Mark doesn’t know what he did to deserve this, something so nice. This. Whatever it is.
“Eduardo,” he says.
“Hmm?” Eduardo hums.
“What are we-I mean-are we dating?”
Eduardo grins. “I sure hope so,” he says. “I would feel pretty stupid if we weren’t.”
“Uh,” Mark says. “Why?”
“Because, I’ve been telling everyone you’re my boyfriend,” Eduardo says, nudging Mark slightly.
“Oh,” Mark says, because he has no idea what to say to that. Or even how to speak, really.
Eduardo’s smile wilts. “Was that-is that not okay? God, I should have-I shouldn’t have said anything before asking you-”
Mark catches his wrist. “Wardo,” he says, cutting him off from his anxious words.
The fluttering feeling is back in his chest. He’s been so confused, but he’s a little less so, now, and he thinks he gets it, maybe, has some idea what it is. Maybe it’s something he wants to have, something to keep, and it’s not stupid, not really very stupid at all.
“It’s really okay,” he says. Eduardo smiles again, relieved and sweet and bright.
Oh well, it wasn’t really that good of a secret anyway.
---