My Best Friend's Mother Ch. 04

I parked nearby and we walked in, Mark walking off and away from me as soon as we were inside. I didn't go after him because I thought it was probably better to let him go off on his own first and then I could go and speak to him when he had calmed down somewhat.

I got a red solo cup, filled with some mysterious liquid already and sniffed it. I grimace but took a sip anyway, as while I wasn't the biggest fan of alcohol I definitely needed some to be able to talk to Mark without completely messing everything I knew I should say up. Something about this was making me more nervous than it should and I was just unsure why I was feeling like that. Maybe it was just the leftover feelings from when I was younger and how I now know I used to look up to Mark and envied the relationship he had with one of his parents at least.

After a few minutes, I started getting bored of sitting in the corner trying to drink but look as obscure as possible so I started going around the house looking for where Mark could possibly be. I knew Mark wouldn't be drinking - he wouldn't have come to this party if it wasn't for me - and he was no longer the same boy who could get peer pressured really easily so I wasn't worried about him from that perspective.

What I was worried about more was that he had lost all his 'friends' who he had been drinking excessively with, and it didn't seem like he had anyone to rely on. He had me for a while, but because our relationship was still recovering, and because I had his mother, it was never as close as best friends as we were before.

I finally found mark after walking around and finally deciding to check outside. He was there, a bottle of water in his hand staring at a group of girls that were across the garden from him. I walked up beside him, grinning and slung an arm over his should. The alcohol was making me bold.

"So which one do you like?" I asked, nodding towards the group he had been staring at. "The blonde, the redhead or the brunette?"

"What are you talking about?" he said, flustered and trying to brush me off. "I don't like any of them, why would I?"

"Yeah of course you don't," I said, grinning as his eyes still drifted back to the group of girls, before looking away as if he was guilty.

I looked at the girls, trying to think of why one would tickle his fancy starting with the blonde. A slim, hourglass figure and long legs that poked out the bottom of her red dress. Her high heels - and I do mean 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 heels - made her seem tallest than she was, but she couldn't have been much over 5' flat. As her gaze danced over to us I was sure that it wasn't her, as when she waved there was no reaction or change in expression from Mark which proved it wasn't her.

I shifted my eyes over to the next girl in line, which turned out to be the redhead. Her freckled face framed an innocent smile as she laughed along at whatever joke it was that her friend was telling. Her sparkling eyes brushed against us but moved on without stopping and even if Mark did like this girl there was no spark on her side.

I looked at the final girl, the brunette. It was subtle, by every lull in conversation was filled by her without it seeming obvious. It was clear that she was the most socially inclined, red lips forming practised smiles as she conversed. Their interactions went through her as if the two weren't really friends and were just together because they wanted to be friends with this girl. She wasn't the most outstanding girl I had seen and even compared to other friends she wasn't anything special objectively, but something about her aura, her confidence, that allowed her to stand out. I looked at Mark, hoping that there would be some recognition in his eye, something to show that he liked this girl but there was nothing.

His eyes still followed the same path, so I stood directly next to him, squinting and able to see a fourth person that I hadn't before. Looking around through her glasses as if she were a lost puppy, she clenched a red solo cup between her hands. I couldn't understand why she was here, especially since it seemed like it was the last thing she wanted to do, but she was cute, and I was going to somehow find out whether she was nice as well.

"Her?" I asked Mark, and he quickly spun on me.

"I don't know why you're trying to talk to me, or why you're questioning who I like because it isn't any of your business," he shrugged my arm from his shoulder with a sneer. "We're not best friends anymore, not after what you did with my mother."

"Mark please," I said, jerking back. "I didn't mean it like that at all, it's just that she doesn't seem like someone that you'd usually go for."

"Yeah, well, you don't really know me well now, do you?" he didn't spare me a glance, but he stayed right next to me, hesitation in his eyes as I could see the want to go up to her but now that he wasn't drinking anything of substance he didn't have the crutch, alcohol, he used to use.

"I know, and I really would like us to become friends again, even if the situation is kinda weird-"

"Dating my mother, fucking my mother while you were supposed to be my best friend isn't a fucking, 'weird situation'," I knew I was losing him. "I don't like the fact that you're with my mother, and I'm not going to accept it. I have somewhat forgiven my mother for it because I have to take some responsibility for being a dick towards her, but, on the other hand, you..." He trailed off, shaking his head in disappointment.

He wasn't wrong, and it was something that I had been thinking about a lot recently. At first, I hadn't thought I had done anything wrong. I had been in love with her for a long time and she eventually reciprocated those feelings. I was never as good of a friend in Mark's eyes, or so I thought, but after seeing his reaction and how much his hatred bored through me every time I talked to him, I was starting to realise that maybe I was in the wrong in this situation. I didn't have an active parent in my life, so even if someone dated my mother, that includes Mark, I wouldn't care as it would have no effect on what I do or my emotional state. However, being that narrow-minded and thinking that everyone will think like I do is where I first started to go wrong.

A few times I had looked up what people's opinions online were about a best friend dating their mother and the general consensus was that anyone who did it was a piece of shit - barring exceptional circumstances - and that there was an unwritten rule about this stuff. It was mentioned alongside another unwritten rule which was about not dating a friend's ex-girlfriend/boyfriend. That I could clearly understand. If I was dating someone and Mark got together with her after we broke up I would be pissed. It was reading that comparison, that made me realise just how fucked up what I did was - especially since although it was compared to dating a friend's ex, it was listed as much worse.

I knew it was fucked up, but I wasn't going to give her up as I valued my relationship with her over my friendship with Mark. I hoped we could eventually come to an understanding, but I wasn't going to force anything on him and was just going to help out when I could, like now. I left his side, feeling his aze burning into my back, and walked up past the group of three girls and manoeuvring myself through to the girl. She didn't notice me at first, her glazed eyes far away thinking about something completely different. I coughed, causing her to snap out of the thoughts that were taking her attention.

"Hey, what are you doing at a party alone in the corner?" I asked, smiling lightly to show I wasn't being serious.

She stared at my face, furrowing her brow as she tilted her head to one side in confusion. "What do you mean?"

All these people are having a great time dancing-" indicating one group of girls. "-Or, doing whatever they are doing over there." I said, letting out a small laugh as I looked at the group who was dying from laughing so much, stumbling and falling over each other.

"I don't know," she said, looking a little uncomfortable. "I...don't know.

I had seemed like she was going to say something more, but cut herself off as if she realised she was talking to a complete stranger and didn't want to dump all her baggage onto me without at least getting to know me first.

"If this isn't really your scene then why did you come?" I said, immediately going to rephrase once I realised how horrible that sounded. "No, I mean wouldn't you be having a better time if you didn't come here and did something that you enjoyed?"

"Well, maybe," she said, her eyes drifting out over the expanse of people.

It was like getting blood out of a stone, she wasn't responding positively to anything I was saying and she was probably very introverted - which begged the question, why did she choose to come to this party? I needed to take another, different, approach.

"I'm going, to be honest with you, I only came over here because one of my friends has a really big crush on you," I said, and she finally snapped her eyes onto mine, shock spilling over he ever-widening eyes.

"But why?" she said bluntly, clamping her hand over her mouth as if she hadn't realised that she was talking.

"Why what?" I asked.

She looked reluctant to answer, and I was just going to move on when I heard something really quiet coming from her mouth, mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?" I asked, leaning in closer this time.

"Why would anyone be interested in me?" she said, grimacing as if those words were a burden to ever say.

"I'm not sure, you'll probably have to ask him yourself," I said, moving behind her and twisting her body so that she was pointed towards where Mark was standing. "There he is."

"Mark?" she said incredulously, turning her red-tinged face in my direction. "As if."

"I can assure you that he most definitely likes you," I said, beckoning Mark over to us, but it looked like he was doing everything possible to act like he wasn't watching with intent, so he didn't notice my gesture. "And this isn't any kind of trick. I haven't seen him this smitten with someone, ever. How did you two meet?"

"I was supposed to be helping him study a few months ago, after all his grades suddenly took a massive hit, and then we've sort of been hanging out since then," she explained. "Who are you to Mark, anyways?"

"We're childhood friends," I explained.

"Oh, so you're Dylan!" she said, her standoffish nature suddenly dropping and she looked much more relaxed once I mentioned who I was. "I've heard so much about you from Mark."

I furrowed my brows, wondering what he was telling her about me because he hadn't liked me and had been openly hostile to me, for a long time, so I was confused about why her face looked so relaxed and open. It was as if he had told her good things about me and good things only.

"Only good things I hope," I said, testing the waters.

"Of course!" she said, her beaming smile starting to fade into a pained one. "He told me about how you two had a fight, and how he wished you could go back to being as good of friends as you were previously."

"He told you that?" I asked, getting a nod of confirmation. "Did he tell you about why we were fighting?"

"No, but from what he said, it was something you did that made him really annoyed. At first, he was perfectly content to dislike you, but the more time passed, the more he seemed to want your friendship back, and the more he seemed to realise that he had treated you really badly in the past because of his jealousy," she said, said, her eyes drifting over to Mark. "He hasn't talked to you about any of this?"

"No, he hasn't," I said, looking over at Mark like I was seeing him for the first time.

I had known I was in the wrong, and I still do know that I was in the wrong, but only by breaking up with Penelope could this issue be resolved fully - and even then the fact I was with his mother in the first place would probably be something that stained our relationship for however long it would last after that happened. Seeing that even while I was doing something that violated the sanctity of our relationship he had started to want our friendship back gave me hope that maybe I didn't have to choose between Penelope or him, and maybe I could have both. I didn't care that I was being greedy, I wanted everything I could get.

"Are you going to leave now?" she asked, and I could see that although it would pain her to leave after I revealed that Mark did indeed like her, she would do it if I wanted to. I wasn't going to let that happen though.

"No," I said shaking my head. "That conversation can be had at any time, but right now it is about Mark and you, whose name I still don't know."

"It's Alice," she said. "Nice to meet you."

"Now, Alice, I am going to start to get the ball rolling and then you are going to take advantage of that opportunity, because you do like Mark, or was I just seeing things?"

"...I do like him," she said, reverting back to her previously nervous self. "But I don't think that this is the night that I should do something, I think if I wait a bit longer-"

"Nope!" I said matter of factly, pushing her forward - without receiving much resistance - until she was in front of Mark. "Mark, I know that you like Alice, and the good news is that she also likes you as well, don't you Alice?"

She blushed bright red, but once she looked up into Mark's eyes and saw the hopeful look on his face she instantly melted and nodded.

"And Mark, you definitely like cute little Alice as well, don't you?" Without any sense of hesitation, Mark nodded, and I saw a little grin break out on Alice's face, and her shoulders dropped beneath my fingers, sagging in relief. "Okay, so you two talk about how much you like each other and I'll leave you to it."

"Thanks, Dylan," Mark said genuinely, taking his eyes off Alice for only a moment.

"Just make sure you two actually talk about your feelings otherwise I am going to have to supervise this conversation," I joked, already moving away from the two. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Mark actually let out a laugh at that, and for a split second, it felt like we were back to normal. I turned away from them, not allowing myself to know if Mark reverted back to his normal self when faced with me, or if he was genuinely starting to want our relationship built up again. For me though, it was easier to not know, and just hope that he was being real with me.

I stood around for the rest of the party, occasionally going to check that Mark hadn't decided to succumb to his anxiety, but I didn't have to worry about that. In the corner, just the two of them seemed to be having the most amazing conversation (although I was sure it was just them being smitten with the other).

A few people tried to approach me, which allowed me to have a better time than I thought I was going to, and by the time the house owner wanted everyone to leave, I was having a genuinely good time. Partying wasn't really my scene, but maybe that was just because I had gone to them with anxiety. Now that I was coming to one for a different reason, and with no expectations, I was more than comfortable going with the flow and actually enjoying myself.

The car ride back was quiet, but not the quiet that I was used to with Mark. It felt a little less frosty, and a little more comfortable, as if he was coming around to me being his friend again.

"Thank you," he said out of the blue.

"You're welcome," I said, feeling the tension leaving the car and I felt content with how things were going. I didn't say anything for the rest of the drive because I didn't want to ruin the mood and when we pulled into the driveway I had expected Mark to rush off but he didn't and waited by the door until I was beside him.

"...I'll talk to him," he said, turning to look at me. "Because I can see how much happier she is when she is with you than when my dad is around."

"Thanks," I said, not wanting to break the moment so I let him go upstairs where I could hear the barely muffled female and male voices resonating. I went into the kitchen, wondering how Mark's dad was going to react, and if he was going to be told the truth about Penelope and I being together. It might not be the best idea to string those two together, especially since he didn't seem like someone with an amazing temperament, and just as I thought that I heard the voices growing louder, Mark and Joshua's argument started to be heard by my ears.

"...to leave my house?!" Joshua shouted. "The house that has my wife and child in it?"

"I am your child's dad, but you can't just push your way back into this house and pretend that everything is going to be alright and that we're going to be happy that you're back because we really aren't-"

"I am the man of the house so you have to listen to me-!" Joshua shouted, his voice booming from the room upstairs and I knew that Mark still wasn't able to go against his father fully, understandably so, so I rushed upstairs hoping to provide support.

I walked into the doorway, seeing Joshua getting into Mark's face, and how Mark was starting to crack under the constant barrage of hate from someone who was supposed to love.

"-telling me what to do?!" Joshua spit out, heaving deep breaths from the amount of energy that he was exerting before turning around to Penelope and I got ready to step in, in case he tried to do anything but he started laughing instead. "You seeing this babe? Our son is trying to act like he has any say in this, absurd!"

"He does have a say in this because he is our son, Joshua," Penelope said, soft, but firmly.

"Are you saying that you support our son's idea of me leaving?" Joshua asked, his face tightening into a frown.

"You did leave for a long time, and you just pushed yourself back into our lives when we were perfectly happy without you," Penelope said. "We had moved on and now you're trying to bring back painful memories that you caused because you're selfish and-"

"You keep saying you've moved on but I know you haven't," he said, dismissively "If you really had then there would another person in your life, another man, but since there isn't you can't fool me into thinking that there there is someone else in your life ju-"

"There is someone else in my life and you know who it is," Penelope said, and I felt my heart start to pound, the conversation becoming harder to follow as the blood rushed through my body and obscured the sounds. "I should have told you from the start who it was but I wasn't in my right mind and was still acting like it was all those years ago."

"Ha! That's the funniest shit I've ever..." he trailed off as he took a good look at her face. "...tell me who the bastard is so show him who you really belong to."

"He's not a bastard and why should I tell you who the man I love is when you just threatened him?!"

"Ah, I get it. He's one of those dumb feminine types that would run away as soon as you told him that I am back, isn't that right?"

"No! That isn't right at all, he would never do that and I would never allow you to do that either," Penelope said, getting up from where she had been sitting, a wide range of emotions, especially anger, now running across her face.

"So then tell me who he is so we can have a talk," Joshua said, but I could see that Penelope didn't want to expose my identity if it wasn't something that IO was comfortable with, so she bit her lip and didn't say anything, looking dejected. "See? I knew that he was a pussy, and that he wouldn't be able to get in the way-"

"I wouldn't be able to get in the way of what?" I asked, all three of them turned towards me, having been too invested in their argument to notice me standing by the door. "Come on now, you can say it to my face, can't you?"