A few weeks later, John went to Mark's apartment early in the morning. He was on the underground. The bassist didn't have his own car, as he mostly used public transport. He signed an autograph for a little girl, which made her very happy. John had a backpack with him. He had bought something for breakfast in one of the underground stations. The bassist took about 15 minutes to get off at the stop near Mark's apartment. He took the escalators to the surface and winked a little at the light that hit him. In a good mood, he passed a magazine stand, whistling. He almost missed it, but his eyes widened. He stopped and picked up one of the magazines. The cover showed him and Mark. Both on stage live. But what worried him was the headline:

"Rock musicians made for each other."

John swallowed. How had the press found out that they were soul mates? Well, nothing bad actually, and no big secret either. He didn't care at all. But Mark... shit, the younger one was a very private person. John bought the magazine and leafed through it as he walked. He would read the article later. When he stood in front of Mark's apartment building, he put the magazine in his backpack before unlocking the door and going up the stairs. Mark had given him a key because he himself had a key to John's apartment too. The bassist went up the stairs, greeted one of the neighbours and then unlocked the apartment door. He took off his shoes and left them by the door, as well as his backpack and jacket. He left his scarf around his neck. The curly-headed man looked around in surprise. It was somehow much too quiet in the apartment. It was never quiet at Mark's place. He strolled into the kitchen and looked around, but it was empty. John opened the bedroom door, but there was no one in bed either. The bed sheets were neatly folded. Strange, Mark never made his bed. He always left the bed sheets crumpled on the bed.

"Mark?" He called out in surprise before his eyes focused on a figure next to the sofa.

Mark was lying on the floor. His guitar was lying across his legs. Next to him was a puddle of coffee and an overturned coffee mug. John had to grin. He got a feeling of déjà vu. That was how he had met the younger man. Mark's eyes were closed and he was breathing calmly. John got a rag and wiped up the coffee before placing the cup on the small living room table. The bassist knelt next to his soul mate and gently squeezed his shoulder.

"Honey?" Mark murmured quietly and wrapped his arms around the guitar's neck as if it were a teddy bear. John giggled. "Darling. It's morning. Wake up." He gently kissed Mark's forehead. The younger man opened his eyes sleepily. John noticed that he had large bags under his eyes, his eyes were slightly swollen red. He just looked exhausted. The guitarist groaned softly as he sat up. John took the blue acoustic guitar from him and placed it on the sofa. It was a blue Ovation guitar.

"John?" Mark breathed weakly and tiredly.

"Yes." John giggled.

"What...what happened?" Mark stretched, yawning, wincing as his bones cracked. Damn, his back hurt.

"I guess you fell asleep and slid down the sofa until you were lying on the floor." John laughed. "The usual stuff, right?" Mark giggled a little.

"Shit, my back hurts." Mark groaned as he sat up. John looked at him worriedly. "I guess I'm too old to sleep on the floor." The older man laughed and pulled him gently into his arms to kiss him.

"Don't say that." Mark put his arms around him and hugged him gently.

"When did you come?"

"A few minutes ago. I brought breakfast." John pointed behind him with his thumb, toward the kitchen.

"I'm tired." Mark yawned and caught himself closing his eyes again.

"Then go and get some more sleep. But in bed this time, alright?" Mark giggled as he let go of John and slowly walked toward his bedroom. He winced and put a hand on his lower back.

"Shit." He muttered quietly.

"Do you have pain cream?" John asked and followed him. Mark was sitting on the edge of the bed. He was wearing a T-shirt and gray sweatpants.

"Mh. Yes. In the bathroom cabinet. Why?"

"If your back hurts, I can put cream on you." John said and made his way to the bathroom. He quickly found the green tube he was looking for and came back. Mark was still sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes closed, his shoulders slumped. "Mark? Don't sleep yet." John laughed as he had to wake the younger one. "Damn, how long were you awake last night?"

"Till five o'clock? I have no idea." The younger one mumbled as he climbed onto the bed and lay down. He fell onto the pillows, completely destroyed, and closed his eyes again. John tugged at Mark's shirt.

"Take that off." Mark moaned quietly as he leaned on his forearms and pulled the fabric over his head.

"I'm tired." Mark murmured.

"You can go to sleep now." John giggled. He squeezed a little of the white pain reliever gel onto his fingers and began to spread it on Mark's lower back. He looked at Mark's back with a smile. The angles of his shoulder blades, the valley of his spine and the smooth, almost hairless skin. His skin felt very soft. Mark groaned weakly. "Does it hurt here?" John asked worriedly as his fingers massaged the cream into Mark's lower back.

"Mh." Mark grumbled in agreement. John pulled Mark's pants down a little so as not to soil them and saw the waistband of his underpants. John's face turned red. God, he wanted this man so much. But he knew he had to wait until the guitarist was ready. He massaged the cream into the pale skin a little more before pulling back.

"Done." He got no answer and giggled as he realized that the blonde had fallen asleep again. John went into the bathroom and washed the remains of the cream from his hand. Then he strolled back into the bedroom and covered the younger man with a blanket.

*

John started to clean up the mess in the living room before sitting down at the kitchen table and having breakfast. He got the magazine he had bought and read the article. About an hour passed before the phone rang. John stood up and went to the receiver before holding it to his ear.

"Illsley." He said firmly.

"John? This is David." John smiled. "Is Mark with you?"

"Sure. He's in bed sleeping."

"Any news? That's nothing special." The younger man laughed. John grinned. "John, I called because we have an interview in half an hour." The bassist's eyes widened.

"In half an hour? Why the hell do we have an interview?"

"I don't know. The producer said the interview was important. Me and Pick are already here. Come to BBC Radio in East London."

"In half an hour!? Are you kidding, how are we supposed to manage that!?"

"I don't know! Hurry up!" John put the receiver down and sighed. His heart was racing. He stormed into the bedroom.

"Mark! Wake up!" He shook the younger man's shoulder. The curly blond man raised his head from the pillow in confusion. His blue eyes were cloudy from lack of sleep.

"John?" He breathed. "What happened?" Mark sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes with both hands. John stood at Mark's closet and threw trousers and a shirt at him.

"Here. Put these on."

"What's wrong?" Mark yawned, slowly taking the pants in his hands.

"We have an interview in 30 minutes. David just called. Hurry up, we have to get to East London." Mark groaned in agony as he took off his clothes before pulling the jeans over his slim legs. John watched him and couldn't help but feel his excitement increasing a little. The younger man stood up and yawned again before pulling the shirt John had given to him, over his head. He staggered sleepily towards John. "Hurry up." The two went into the hallway and put on their shoes. Mark almost fell on his butt as he tried to pull his left sneaker over his verse. John held him by the hip.

"I'm tired." Mark whined as John took the car keys from the key rack and pulled the singer out of the apartment and down the stairs. John held Mark by the hand and pulled him behind him. The guitarist's feet had trouble keeping up. They reached Mark's car and John unlocked it. He pushed Mark into the passenger seat. Mark rubbed his eyes and yawned again. John sat behind the wheel and took a deep breath. He hadn't driven a car for a long time. But that was probably like riding a bike, wasn't it? You don't forget how to do that. John put the key in the ignition and started the engine. When he wanted to drive off, the car began to jolt. Mark reached out and pressed John's leg onto the clutch. "Step on the gas." He yawned tiredly. John pressed the accelerator and drove off. The bassist's face turned a little red. "The car needs more gas when starting off." Mark mumbled and rummaged around in the centre console. "You have to step on the gas more and pay attention to the clutch point." John nodded. Mark pulled a pair of mirrored sunglasses out of the centre console and put them on his nose. "Much better." Mark mumbled. He had a bit of a headache from lack of sleep. He leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes. It wasn't long before John woke him up again. Mark groaned weakly.

"Come on. We're here. We have five minutes left." Mark got out of the car. John locked it and they entered the BBC building. Mark followed him. They went to the lady at the reception, who sent them into the elevator. They went to the second floor. Mark leaned against the mirrored wall of the elevator, yawning. John watched him. "Have you ever thought about having a normal sleep pattern?"

"Ah, piss off." Mark grumbled. John giggled and kissed Mark's cheek. The two stepped out of the elevator and walked down a long corridor. They spotted Pick and David waiting in front of a studio door.

"Ah! You did it after all!" Pick cheered. Mark, who was still wearing his sunglasses, flinched a little when he heard the loud voice.

"Of course we did it." John grinned. The group was led into the interview room. They sat down on colourful armchairs. John sat on a red one, David on a blue one, Pick on an orange one and Mark on a green one. The assistants started dabbing their faces with makeup brushes. Mark moaned and pushed the girl away.

"Not today, mate." He muttered. She shrugged and disappeared into a doorway. They sat next to each other in silence for a while before Mark yawned loudly again.

"Someone hasn't slept, right?" Pick asked, looking over at him as he was sitting next to him.

"Yes, he did. But not enough." The guitarist muttered.

"What is the interview actually about?" John asked, looking at David next to him. The youngest band member shrugged.

"I have no idea. I know as much as you do." Shortly afterwards, the interviewer came in, lights were shined on them and the interview began. It started with simple questions about their well-being and then slowly meandered into their new album, which they were still waiting for. John answered most of the questions as he wanted to keep the camera away from Mark. The elder Knopfler had his head resting on his hand and none of the friends were really sure whether he was sleeping behind the sunglasses. David answered a few questions about guitars. Pick was also asked a few questions. And then came the question that knocked the air out of John's lungs. They asked seriously about his soul sign and his connection with Mark. The elder Knopfler sat up a little straighter in his chair and put his arms on the armrests.

"The rumour mill has been busy the last few days and we've heard that you two are soul mates. Is that true?" Asked the interviewer, looking first at John and then at Mark.

"Yes. That's true." John said cautiously. The camera was immediately pulled closer to his face.

"Dire Straits has been around for a few years now. And you two knew each other long before that. How come you only just noticed?" Asked the interviewer.

"Well, that's complicated." John bit his lower lip and looked worriedly over at Mark. The guitarist sighed.

"We just noticed it now. We were pretty busy with music and neither of us had really cared about what the letters on our wrists meant." Mark explained. John smiled contentedly. That answer should be enough. But it apparently wasn't enough for the reporter. He started asking more questions. Some of them so intimate that they even made John blush. They were live on TV. What should he say? Mark sighed and took off his sunglasses. You could see his tired eyes and David bit his lip to keep from laughing. He hadn't seen his brother in this state for at least five years.

"Listen. I'm tired, I've hardly slept and I'm not in the mood to answer questions about my and John's sex life." Mark sighed and rubbed his eye briefly with his left hand. "If you have any more questions about the new album, I'll be happy to answer them." The reporter looked at him in surprise.

"I'm just asking the questions our listeners have asked."

"Oh. I know that." Mark nodded and put a finger to his lower lip, as he often did in interviews. "But I don't want to answer that question."

"Is it because you..." Mark interrupted him in mid-sentence.

"It's because I have a private life. And now that John and I have found each other, it's becoming increasingly difficult to protect that private life from a camera. I would be very grateful if you would play Private Investigations on the radio instead of conducting private investigations into my life." With that, the interview ended and the soft guitar tones of Private Investigations began to play. The interviewer turned to his colleague at the mixing desk in surprise.

"I wasn't finished, Mike!" He shouted angrily. The man shrugged his shoulders.

"I think Mr. Knopfler is right." Mark smiled at Mike before standing up and making his way out. The other band members followed him.

"Damn rat! How dare he ask you such questions?" David cursed when they were in the elevator.

"Yes! The next question would have been which of you two was fucking who." Pick grumbled angrily. John felt his face turning red. Mark gently took John's hand in his and rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb. John smiled down at him.

"How are you feeling?" The blonde asked.

"Better now that those damn questions are over. You've got the whole thing sorted out well." Mark giggled. John kissed him on the cheek. The two walked out of the elevator and Mark wanted to let go of John's hand, but the bassist laced their fingers tightly. Reporters rushed towards them and took photos of them. Mark quickly put on his sunglasses. A reporter asked John a question about their relationship.

"What can I say? I love this man. Even if he's a little scatterbrained." John grinned. Mark pulled him away from the cameras and to his car. David and Pick got into another car. Mark pushed John against the car and pressed his lips firmly to the taller man's. John looked at him in surprise. They heard the shutters of cameras being pressed. "What are you doing?" The brunette asked with wide eyes. Mark giggled, his cheeks turning a little red.