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TOM

All I asked-

MARK

I know what you asked! But I can't know the answer to that. You ask for contact, we have contact. I think it's good. Later you don't want me to touch you. How do I know that? I don't know that. I have no way of knowing anything like that. You want me to fuckin' read your mind, to be a fuckin' mind reader. I move towards you, you're nowhere near where I thought you'd be. You act like I'm Typhoid Mary. You shrink away like I'm a poison thing, like I got rat poison comin' outta' my skin. What happened? You asked for contact. This kinda' shit I used to get from Paula. I'm not with Paula now, I'm with you, and you act like a fuckin' bitch. What do you want from me? What do you want me to be this week? I love you. How come when I say that, you shrink like I just grew snakes outta' my head? I love you, too fuckin' bad you don't want to hear it. I love you. You know what's amazing? Do you?

TOM

...That you love me?

MARK

Yeah, well, that too. What's amazing right now is that I grew up on Long Island. I used to go out and beat up queers. That's what we did for fun, my partners an I- "My partners" Jesus Christ I sound like a fuckin'-...my friends. Guys like me. Guys from the neighborhood would go out. I did it a lot, ya' know? So, you think I haven't come a long way since then? Shit! Now I got you tryin' to drive me back to women, is that what's goin' on here? That's crap-

TOM

I love you too, Mark.

MARK

...Man, you don't act like it.

TOM

I really do.

MARK

Why, cause you're scared right now? You love me when you think I'm outta' here? Fuck, you know that word just drops out, it drops right out. It's like any word you hear too many times, it starts to bug you, ya' know, but "love" that word loses meaning, my friend. You say, "I love you" too many times and it don't mean anything. Like the word ain't the thing. The word is not what it is. It doesn't mean what it's supposed to mean, then it doesn't mean nothin'.

TOM

I know.

MARK

Oh, you know! You fuckin' know. You know shit is what you know, and that's both sides of that fuckin' coin.

TOM

What are you going on about?