Mason was buzzing with excitement, rustling through the clothes in his closest with rushed motions. He was playing some music on his phone loudly as he tried to find the perfect outfit to wear tonight. He wasn't sure whether he was going on the lookout for someone else to date like his parents thought he did, but he definitely wanted to look cute in case he did.

He heard the squeak of the door and looked back to see his mother pushing the door open. Seeing Mason dancing, hearing the music, and watching as Mason went through his closest told her that Mason was going out tonight. Mason was a boy of habit, and this was his favourite thing to do before he went out.

"I almost forgot that you are going out tonight." She commented casually, trying to get a look at what Mason was considering. She would be lying if she said that she didn't want to help him pick out his clothes. It is what she got the chance to do all the time when Mason was younger, she didn't want to have to wait until his wedding to get the chance again.

Mason, completely unaware of the sad thoughts running through his mother's mind, turned back around to continue digging through his closest. Mason snorted out a laugh when he processed what his mom had said.

"You probably did forget." Mason said, smiling at the way he easily read his mom. "Possibly because you and dad seem to think that I go out all the time and this is just normal to you."

His mom laughed loudly but didn't respond to what he'd said. She instead changed the subject.

"So who is going out with you?" She went and asked, eyes flittering over her son's room without focusing on any particular thing. "I would assume that you are taking the usual bunch, Jasmine, Clark, Daniel, and Mark, but is there anyone else?"

Mason went to pull out a red v-neck top that hugged his body nicely, considering how it would look under the dim lights or surrounded by sweaty bodies while he thought of the answer to his mother's question.

"I invited a couple of people that I met at the nursing program. Tobias and Gabe." He said, holding the red top to his chest and looking down at it with a hum. "I think that Jasmine invited a girl that she knows but that's about it."

His mom let out a surprised hum, walking into his room casually.

"That sounds like a real party. Probably will be a lot of fun for you teens."

Mason suddenly stopped in his movements of placing the shirt back on the rack, turning to his mother with a suspicious expression. There was just something in her tone . . .

"Mom." He drawled, some sass coming to back up his words. "If you have something to say, please say it already, I hate when you beat around the bush."

His mother sighed heavily, also hating when her son figured her out so easily. So what it was cute that they knew each other so well, it did not help when she was trying to manipulate him.

"Fine, I just want to remind you to be aware." She admitted, now dropping the cool mom act and going straight for the lecture. "We both know how drugs can ruin your life and I don't want you thinking that just because it's once at a party that it's okay."

"Alright, mom."

"And try not to drink too much, bad things have happened to kids who thought they could drink more than they could." She added on, her eyes filled with badly concealed worry and fear for her child.

"I'll do my best." He replied, not feeling like lying to his mom. She sighed heavily but didn't try to push for a better answer. "Besides, you don't have to worry about the drug thing. I value my future and looks way too much to want to get into that."

The smile that fell across his mother's face was priceless, and Mason was smiling too when she pulled him into a tight but brief hug.

"Okay, I won't keep you from getting ready for too long. Have fun, okay?" She told her son, holding onto his shoulders tightly despite Mason being quite a bit taller than her. Mason nodded with a smile and watched her walk out of the room.

With his mom gone, he got back to dancing and changing. It took him a few more minutes, but he settled on a silky deep purple top that made his torso look even more lithe and sultry, and a pair of tight black shorts that were a bit lower than mid-thigh. He planned to put a small silver stud in his pierced ear, a couple of silver chains around his neck with a few matching bracelets and finished off the outfit with solid black velvet platforms.

Staring at the different pieces laid out on his bed, Mason knew that he would by slaying the club scene with his casual but sexy look. He could see the looks on the girls' and guys' faces right now.

Mason went to his bathroom to take a quick shower and brush his teeth. His hair was freshly washed and styled, and as he headed downstairs to eat, he knew that he looked hot. Mason went for the food that his mother made earlier which he hadn't yet eaten.

He wanted to eat right before he left so he wouldn't suddenly get hungry in the club and be in a bad mood. And to avoid a drunk him acting weird for food and getting into some sort of mess. Mason didn't like to think back on that night.

But Mason tried to plan to be sober, being reminded of how much his mother worried made him want to be a bit more mature than usual. Mason pulled on one of the simple blue aprons that they had in the house, tying it around his back as he way his way over to the stove where the extra food was warming.

He did not don this beautiful outfit just to go change because he spilled something on his shirt or pants. He did not trust himself enough to not mess it up. Dinner was pretty spot on like usual, and Mason had just washed and rubbed lotion on his hands when his doorbell rang. Mason pulled his phone out of his pocket to see that Jasmine texted him that she would be arriving soon, and assumed that this was her.

Opening the door, he found Jasmine and her friend Kellie standing in front of the door with wide smiles.

"You ready to get plastered bitch?!" Jasmine asked excitedly, turning around to twerk a bit in front of Mason. Mason scowled at his friend, looking back into the foyer behind him before turning to his still twerking friend again.

"Jasmine! You can't just yell that out here, my parents are still home!" He chided as harshly and quietly as he could. "A-and stop twerking outside, the neighbours could see you and think that we ordered a stripper."

That got Jasmine to stop her dancing, standing straight with a smile that Kellie mirrored, despite having watched her friend getting scolded by the brown boy. Kellie tried to remind herself that she was used to this, or at least knew that it was coming. She had met Mason a few times before and because Mason knew Jasmine for so long, the two acted more like siblings than friends.

Mason stopped glaring at Jasmine long enough to send a kind smile to Kellie. He greeted her properly, since they hadn't seen each other in a while, and invited them into his house. 

"I won't take long, I just have to grab a couple more things before we go." Mason told them as he was already racing up the stairs to his room. Mason rushed around quickly, searching for and grabbing the last minute items he forgot to grab before he answered the door.

When he came downstairs again, he actually took in the outfits that the girls were wearing. Kellie was wearing a simple tight red dress that went down to her mid-thigh and had crossed straps over the low cut back. The classic red shade looked amazing on her dark brown skin and she had her black braids thrown over her shoulder to show off her smooth back.

Jasmine was wearing a cute black romper that had thigh hugging shorts that went down the mid-thigh, a simple scoop neck cut, and a large space that started under the bust with a black strap going through it. Mason nodded his head in approval at what they wore before making his way out of the house, saying "let's go" as he passed. Mason nearly forgot to say goodbye to his parents, only remembering as did up the shoelaces on his shoes.

"By mom! By dad!" He yelled quickly before rushing out of the door.

Mason was confidently walking down the concrete path, heading for Jasmine's car. He started to hum a little tune under his breath when he opened the back seat door. All of his air was sucked out and the confidence seemed to rush out of him in an instant.

Mark was seated in the back, head thrown back and as closed as he sprawled out over the seat. His black jeans, black jacket, and black denim shirt gave him a smouldering mysteriousness that Mason was enjoying way too much at the moment. His sleek and styled hair just added into the overall look and Mason found himself frozen still as he stared at the man in front of him.

It didn't help that his shirt raised up when he decided to stretch in front of Mason. Mason was still staring wide-eyed at Mark when Mark's gaze finally fell on him. Mason wanted to quickly chill out and act normal again but Mark did not help him by sending him one of his megawatt smiles.

"Hey Mason, you excited for tonight?" Mark asked in greeting, sitting up and shifting over so Mason had space to sit. Mason needed a second to blink himself out of his stupor but once he was focused back on what Mark was saying, he tried to put on an exciting smile.

"Hey, yeah I think tonight's going to be fun." Mason replied happily, willing his heartbeat to return to normal as he slid in the car, next to Mark. "Tobias and Gabe are coming out tonight so that will also be cool."

Mark's smile faltered a bit, but he was good at quickly fixing his face before Mason took notice. That was really because Mason had to look away before he embarrassed himself.

Kellie and Jasmine came into the car a moment later, both with wide excited smiles on their faces.

"Okay, we just have to pick up Clark then we can go to the club." Jasmine announced, starting the car and driving away from Mason's house. Kellie turned on the radio and the four of them were talking and singing along to the music happily, excited for the night ahead. Mason was hyper-aware of Mark's presence next to him and shifted constantly to try to get comfortable. It was an odd time for the mood to be killed by Jasmine's simple question.

"So who is going to be the DD?" She asked lightly, causing silence to fall over the vehicle.

"What?" Mark asked, unable to think of anything else to respond with. From the backseat, Mason saw how Jasmine rolled her eyes at her brother's response.

"The designated driver. Who is going to drive coming back because I am not trying to stay away from the drinks tonight." Jasmine said again, shaking her head at the thought of staying sober. Kellie looked properly puzzled.

"But I thought that you were the DD since you are driving right now . . . " Kellie said softly, a cute look of confusion on her face. Jasmine was shaking her head before Kellie even finished.

"Nope."

Kellie went to glance at the back seat, now looking at Mason and Mark. She set her sights on Mark first.

"You want to do it, you are the more calm and collected type-"

Kellie was quickly cut off by Mark.

"Not in your wildest dreams Kel." Mark told her, grinning kindly with a dark gleam in his eye. "No one asked me beforehand, so I am going straight for the shots.

Knowing what was coming next, Mason didn't even let anyone ask.

"Fine, I'll do it." I told them, sighing when the three of them let out cheers. "My mom had talked to me about drinking earlier today anyway. It will be nice to not have anything on my conscious tonight."

"Now I know who to thank for our time tonight." Jasmine commented, a happy smile on her nude lips.

Mason crossed his arms over his chest, sitting silently until the four reached Clark's place. Clark jogged out of the building with a soft smile on his face. He was wearing one of his favourite black mesh tops and tight white pants. Mason decided to be obnoxiously extra and whistled as he opened the car door. Clark laughed happily as he sat down, but paused as he waited for Mason to scoot over and allow him more space.

This all occurred because Mason hadn't thought ahead and now was forced to be pressed against Mark's side. The only good thing about the situation was the material that separated the two of them. But Mason still felt the heat radiating from Mark's arm, and all he could focus on, even more than before, was how close the other boy was to him.

If Mason's moved his hand just a couple of inches he could touch his hand or his thigh. Or, his crotch.

Mason had to turn his head away from Mark to try to hide the deep blush coating his cheeks. Thoughts like this would not help him get through this car ride in one piece. Still, breaking apart would still be better than making his crush obvious to the point that Mark finally figured it out.

Clark looked over at Mason, his eyebrow-raising in his silent judgement. He had quickly noticed Mason's odd behaviour and snickered quietly to himself. Mason was hopeless, always denying the presence of his feelings while freaking out over every little thing that Mark did. At least it made good entertainment for him as the bystander.