Disclaimer: I do not own Until Dawn or any of its characters. The faceclaim I used for the cover of this story is model: Marilhéa Peillard.
Author's Note: And so it begins. Poor Hannah and Beth. I don't want to do this. Why must I do this?
Linda Ku: I'm glad you loved it. ; u ; That makes me so happy that this story makes you feel this way. I'll give you some more to bask in before I hurt you, but this story has a happy ending so you'll know it'll be alright in the end. Oh yeah, I think everyone gets the big sister/motherly vibes from Sam because she's pacifist so it was only natural she sees things like that and her teaming up with Grans helps out in the future. Its only because Marceline makes her discomfort pretty obvious. She's that "conceal, don't feel" person. You know when she's upset, but she tries her best to act un-bothered but it doesn't work. Omg that makes me so happy. Omg that would be amazing, but you don't have to do that. But if you do, I'd totally make it my cover story on Wattpad because I'm considering on putting it on there. I'm dying because the first thing that came to mind was Marsh/Marshua. I'm bad at thinking of ship names. xD Oh, I'm definitely going to change a few things. I can't tell you. Gotta keep you on your toes! Ohhhhh, you'll have to wait and see about that. asldkfhsdf I adore you, ok. Your reviews make me tear up. All the reviews, faves, and follows do.
hodhod2011danger: I updated quickly as you wished! You'll love this chapter~
Chloe: OMG! That would've been an amazing twist. Why haven't I thought of that? Damn. I should've did that. Same here, and you have to kinda love him because he got Wolfie to like him. Wolfie was everything.
Two Years Later...
To say he was nervous was an understatement. His eyes were staring at the door as his throat began to constrict, which made him barely able to even breathe. This is had been the first time he came to Marceline's house without Beth and Hannah. How could he walk in by himself? He did it the first time when Marceline practically passed out in front of the school, but that was just an in and out thing. This time... It was going to feel awkward, wasn't it? He would have to speak to her grandmother, who he knew was nice from the first time and the few times before, but that meant speaking to her by himself. The woman adored his sisters and they would distract her with conversation, but since he found the courage to ask Marceline out. Not on a date, but to hangout with just the two of them. Then he could ask if she could make to the Lodge since the last attempts, she had other plans. But how he feeling now, Josh was beginning to feel like giving up was the best idea.
It was too late though. He had already pressed the pad of his finger against the doorbell, hearing it chime from the inside as the wind would occasionally blow the wind chimes would cling against each other to create a soothing song. Josh found most of them annoying, but this set had a pleasing sound and almost made him relax. His body tensed all over again when the door open to reveal the small, white-haired woman. Her grey, round eyes looked up at him, squinting, but then suddenly shimmered with warmth when he figured that she remembered him.
"You're the Washington boy from before. Josh, right?" Aureliana asked, making sure she had the right person.
"Uhm, yes, Mrs. Moreau." Normally Josh wasn't nervous around adults, he did his best to impress them as the son of a big time director and attending many luncheons with stars. Yet, this woman, who held no fame and was merely Marceline's grandmother made him nervous, and he really didn't want to make the wrong solo impression. She was going to judge him for how he behaved now. Not before, not with Hannah and Beth, but now. By himself. How she thought of him was entirely up to him.
"Mrs. Moreau?" She chuckled as she opened the door, allowing him inside. "I'll have to educate you."
His brows furrowed in confusion but it hadn't stopped him from walking inside. His hands slid into his pockets rather awkwardly and his eyes gazed down to the floor, trying to figure out what she meant by that. Other than that, he found himself feeling quite comfortable by the natural warmth of this place. It wasn't a large home but neither was it small. It was what you would consider comfy, or the right fit.
"Take a seat." Her hand extended towards the living room where the fireplace was already lit. Josh's steps were slow, and hesitant, but he found himself taking a seat in the wine-colored recliner. She had returned with a glass of water and handed it to him. He took it kindly as she then sat down.
A silence came between them, Joshua shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a few sips of the crisp water. It helped his throat from becoming dry, which was only happening due to his anxiousness. "I am not Mrs. Moreau, that's Marceline's mother maiden name." Aureliana explained with a soft voice, urging him to loosen up.
His brows raised at this, "Oh… I just assumed since, well…" The words just wouldn't come out right.
"Marceline has her mother's maiden name. Not her father's name." She corrected him, "It was the only way her mother could insure that Marceline would inherit the Moreau's fortune."
Josh could remember Marceline telling him of the strained relationship she had with her mother's family and how her mother had suddenly disappeared. He didn't like bringing it up even though he was curious. His curiosity never got the best of him since he could see the discomfort and hurt when she spoke about anything relating to her mother. He wondered if years of friendship would eventually lead her to talk, but it never did. "I didn't mean to offend you."
"I know, boy. Calm down." Her chuckle made his body continue on the winding road of relief and comfort, "You looked like a deer in headlights." He smiled upon her teasing. "You can call me Mrs. Serrano."
"Ah, I didn't know Marceline was—" He looked at the glass of water in thought.
"Spaniard?" She nodded, "Yes, she is. My family, her father's family, is from Spain. I was born and raised in Valencia." The smile on her face made a smile appear on Josh's too. She was more than proud of her heritage, "I'd like for Marceline to see it, but I think she's pretty tired of traveling."
Josh gave her a nod, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind seeing your family. She's a good ole' granny's girl."
Aureliana's eyes twinkled at that, her eyes crinkling mirthfully. "More like a daddy's girl but I see she was able to cope without him thanks to you and the twins. She speaks highly of all three of you." Hearing that made him, happy more or less. "Since only you came, I assume you're taking my granddaughter out on a date?"
He had been taking a sip of the water while Aureliana was talking, but once he heard her question if it was a date, Josh nearly choked. Hitting his fist against his chest and letting out a series of coughs, he shook his head. "No, Mrs. Serrano, it's nothing like that." He strained to say, wincing at the soreness of letting the water go down the wrong pipe.
"Oh?" Her grey, thick brow rose. "So when will it be a date?"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Mrs. Serrano." His heart felt like it was beating 90 times per minute. "Marceline and I are just—"
"Friends." A sigh escaped her, "Still stuck on that? She keeps saying that too. So when will you quit the charades? Who is going to be the one to end this whole "friends" business?"
He had to admit, he could see where Marceline's bluntness came from. In fact, he could imagine this was how Marceline would be when she was her grandmother's age. Josh couldn't help but hide his face in his hand, "It's that obvious, huh?"
"That you like her? Yes. I still remember when you carried her home the first day of school." Her eyes looked up at the ceiling, recalling the memory. "I also remember when she couldn't stop talking about how you and your friends went to the carnival and you won her that giant stuffed bear. She sleeps with it as old as she is. Don't worry, she likes you too. You two even went to prom together. Prom. Don't couples usually do that?"
Everything in the world was telling him to believe it, he wanted to, but a small part of his mind that seemed to overpower everything that made him want to believe told him not to. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Serrano, but she likes someone else."
Her brows knitted together, quite skeptical. "And who would that be?"
"I have a suspicion that it's our friend Mike." Taking a big gulp of the water this time, he could feel his body sinking into the recliner as he spoke. "I don't blame her. Not that I like men or anything, but Mike is kind of what all the girls go after. Even my sister has the hugest crush on him. I think that's the reason Mars doesn't act on it, it's for Hannah's sake and he's kind of dating our friend Emily."
The elderly woman looked down in thought, her hands resting on her lap. Aureliana couldn't recall Marceline ever speaking about Mike, or whom she assumed was actually named Michael, specifically. Marceline was hard to figure out, even for her at times, but she'd think she would know about a boy named Mike if Marceline was serious about him. "Tell me about this, Mike boy."
His eyes absently looked at the floating pieces of ice. It was hard to talk about someone that was his friend, and someone he was trying desperately not to be envious of. "He's the son of the senator, Colton Munroe. He makes good grades, he's about to be Class President, and he has that model-like smile that gets the girls all crazy. He's pretty buff too, but I don't miss the gym either, Mrs. Serrano." He teased at the end.
"Well, this boy does sound pretty perfect." She shrugged her shoulders. "But I still don't think my grandbaby likes him."
Josh wanted to believe that, but the way Marceline always seemed to watch Michael whenever he was in the room and how tongue-tied she would be whenever they were talking… It would make sense if she liked him. She never acted nervous or flustered with him. She never looked at him the way he looked at her. "I guess we're both failing at figuring her out."
"That wouldn't be a first." Aureliana tried to smile despite seeing how sad the look in his eyes were. "If it means anything, you have my vote."
"It means a lot, Mrs. Serrano. And it also means, I won't let you down." Grandma's seal of approval did lift his spirit's some. He almost felt confident about just telling Marceline how he felt. If she rejected him, he would be hurt but at least he could say he got it off his chest.
Marceline, meanwhile, was coming down the steps. Her black jeans clung onto her as she was adjusting her flats that were folding in the back. The brightness of her long and yellow, button down shirt was what caught Joshua's eyes as she blinked a few times, seemingly adjusting her eyes. "How come everytime I see, you're tired?" He asked.
"I was taking a nap." She stuck her tongue out as him while pulling her hair up into a simple ponytail. "I'll be back, Gran-Gran."
Aureliana smiled upon the sight of her before giving a Josh a quick thumbs up. He returned it, making sure Marceline was too distracted by her phone to see it.
She followed him to the door and then looked at her grandmother, who followed behind. "Have a nice date."
"It's not a date." Marceline quickly said as her grandmother's nimble fingers were pulling down Marceline's tanktop from the bottom, "G-Gran-Gran, what are you—"
"Show a little cleavage." Aureliana unbuttoned two white buttons, "Live a little. You're what, eighteen now? Act like it."
"Grandma!" Joshua turned around after hearing the embarrassment in her voice. He wondered what that old woman was up to. "I'm seventeen, thank you. I don't turn eighteen until April, Gran-Gran."
"Same difference." The woman then shook her hand dismissively, "Get goin'. Go on. Shoo."
Glaring at her, as well as wanting to hide her red face, she walked towards Joshua's car without looking back. "Have a good time."
"We will, Mrs. Serrano!" Joshua waved, being polite as ever. Marceline's eyes widened at the fact he knew her grandmother's last name, which meant she must've gave him the talk.
It didn't come off as a surprise that the door was opened for her. In fact, she stole a quick glance to see that usual grin and couldn't fight the smile that wanted to spread across her face. "You know..." Leaning against the door to look up at him, she kept her eyes fixated on his. "I could open the door myself."
"What kind of knight would I be if I can't open all kinds of doors for you?" He asked with a tilt of his head, he watched as she slowly nodded, seeing his point.
"I suppose you have a point there." Biting the inside of her cheek, she fought her best not to pout. "You still haven't told me where you're taking me."
"Well, m'lady, you'll see when we get there." Josh urged her to climb inside the car and she was left unsatisfied with his answer. Without a word, she settled into her seat and placed on her seatbelt.
Taking her cellphone from out of her pocket, she was surprised to see a message from Hannah. Before she could type a message back, Josh had swiped the cellphone from hands. "No cellphones."
"What?! Why?" Confused, her brows knitted together as she watched him place her cellphone in the back seat. "Josh, give it back."
"Nope." Her brows scrunched as he began to drive. "Where we're going, your phone would be too distracting."
Although annoyed, her head tilted as a flicker of question gleamed in her eyes. "Oh, this better be good. Hannie was just messaging me too."
"You can talk to her later. You guys talk every day." Keeping his eyes on the road, the corner of his lips rose as he saw her curiosity was getting to her. She settled back in the seat and looked out the window, probably wondering where he was taking her.
"I talk to you every day." Marceline said with her hand pressed to her cheek as her elbow was resting on the small ledge of the car window. "How would you feel if I stop responding?"
His green eyes looked to the corners, looking at her quickly before back at the road. "You do that to me all the time."
"No I don't!" She argued, "Name one time?"
"Uhm, last night." Imagining how her face looked at the moment as he couldn't see it for himself since he entered the boulevard, he couldn't stop from smirking. "We talk until you sleep, and you always sleep first."
A series of grumbles escaped her lips, knowing that she was caught. Her arms folded across her chest as she sunk into her seat, "Well, I have evidence of when you slept on me."
"What?" Curious, he gave her his full attention once they reached a red light. "No you don't."
"Yes, yes I do." Smirking, she looked at him and leaned over. "I have pictures to prove it."
His eyes widened in shock, "P-Pictures?!"
"I couldn't stop myself." Placing her hands on her face, shaking her head as her eyes closed as she got lost into the memory. "Your sleeping face is soooo cute!"
"Mars!" Reaching into the backseat for her cellphone, he frankly tried to open it but the pin code wasn't anything that he could think. "Delete them!"
The red on his face was so clear despite what little light there was outside. Her eyes were soaking in every bit of his expression while grinning like an idiot. "And why would I do that? That's my ammo. Also, no texting and driving."
Snatching her phone from his hands, she pointed towards the road and unlocked her phone. She suspected that he wouldn't dare take her phone again and leave her to text in peace. "If you were scared I was going to ignore you to text, you know better than that."
Giving up, for now, he sighed. "You're a handful, you know that?" His eyes remained focused ahead on him, "I just wanted time with just us, no distractions."
"I aim to please." Her face lit up from her phone as she rummaged through her messages. "If it really upsets you then I'll turn it off once we get there. Is that better?" Marceline offered before changing the topic, "Oh, y'know, Chris keeps trying to make me download his new app."
"I'm satisfied with that but I'm going to hold you to it." It was almost like a warning, which meant he would get back at her if she went back on her word. "Why won't you? His apps are great." Of course, Joshua would be the one to defend his best friend.
She gave a shrug, "Well, for one, I don't play League."
"Heh, after you lost a few times you just gave up on it. You have to fail in order to achieve, Mars." His eyes met hers to catch the dull look on her face. He snickered as he could feel the heat emanating off her body, and not in a good way.
"Are you calling me a sore loser, Josh?" Marceline queried, her eyes staring at him as if she could create holes on his face.
"No, no." He shook his head, "Now why would I do that? Me? No, I would never. Never in my life."
"The sarcasm… It burns." She hissed, her hand then traveled towards the radio. "Can I, Ser Joshua?"
Wrinkling his brows, he glanced at her. "When have I ever stopped you before?"
Flicking through the stations, Marceline tried to find a song that she at least tolerated. Of course, nothing was to her liken until one song came across. Her eyes widened and then lit up, slowly looking to Josh, who already looked defeated and broken before she ever screamed out the lyrics. "All I am is a man! I want the world in my hands! I hate the beach but I stand in California with my toes in the sand~" Oddly enough, he could say he enjoyed her nearly damaging his ear drums. Her eyes closed, fists balled up, and the way she tried to find anything as an instrument. "Use the sleeves of my sweater, let's have an adventure~"
The song was catchy, he had to admit. Not his usual taste but something he'd give a listen to. His eyes would look at her out the corners as his fingers tapped the steering wheel in the rhythm of the song, watching her shoulders sync up to the flow before she practically killed him with the chorus. "'Cause it's too cooooooold, whoa! For you hereeee and nooooow!"
Unable to resist the catchyness of the music, he found himself doing that without being forced to, "So let me hooooooold, whoa! Both your hands in the holes of my sweater." Marceline's head whipped towards him, surprised to hear him belting it out with her. And that's when the whole ride transitioned into a duet karaoke.
When he finally pulled up to their destination after handing some man at a booth something that her eyes didn't catch. Instead Marceline's eyes looked around to see other parked cars but there was a giant screen in the front. Blinking several times, she turned to look at him. "Wait a second, is this a—"
"Drive-in? Yep." Josh went on to say, "I did try to invite everyone else but they were too busy." He was lying, and he hated that he did but he could already imagine the drama of having everyone stuck in one car or two, considering Mike and Emily probably wanted to make out in peace. And the two were hardly alone, and so he found this to be the perfect solution. "Plus I already had two tickets."
Her hand slid towards her chest, her heart racing as an over-pour of hotness rushed to her face. All of a sudden it felt as if it had become 100° in the car and she was having a hard time to stay cool and calm. "If y-you're not comfortable we can just go somewhere else…" Josh wondered if the silence meant she was angry. His green eyes stayed glued to her as she suddenly looked over at him with a straight face.
"No, it's fine." It felt like she had to use every muscle in her body to even say it. "W-What movie are we watchin'?" Forcing herself to not appear unnerved, she tried to place on her brave persona.
Relieved, Josh sighed. "Justin Bieber's: Believe." Shaking his head, he fought hard to not smile, or laugh for that matter, and keep a straight, believable face. "I wanted you to know the real me. I am," he dramatically paused, "a Belieber." He said in a whisper.
With her mouth agape and her eyes wide in actual horror, she quickly slapped his shoulder. "Stop it, you're freaking me out! If you're serious I will get out this car right now!" The look on her face had his body erupt and shake with laughter, leaning back on his seat as he wrapped his arms around his middle. "Josh! I'm not kidding."
"You'd really think I would be a Belieber?" Wiping a stray tear from the corner of his eyes, she kept her eyes glued onto him. "Seriously, we're going to be watching 'Open Grave'. Its was released at the Tribeca Film Festival, so it wasn't in theaters." Josh tried to stop his laughing, his mouth still twitching as she was reeling back from his joke.
"Sounds interesting." Marceline had quickly replied to a few messages before turning the phone off and placing it in her pocket as she promised and removing this darn seatbelt. "But no snacks?"
"What do you mean no snacks?" Grabbing his bookbag from the backseat, filled all the way to the top with bags of chips, candies, and anything she could literally name that was junk. "I'm the man with the plan. I'm always prepared."
A line of a smile stretched across her face. "Is that Starbursts I see?"
"Your eyes are not deceiving you." He replied, handing her the pack as he watched her fiddle to rip it open. As usual, he watched as she handed him all the yellow ones. "I'm always stuck with the yellow."
"Chris doesn't complain." Marceline huffed, "He accepts them kindly."
"That's because you always give him the clear and green Gummy bears too." Josh had reached down for a bag of Hot Cheetos, "And I get stuck with the yellow ones."
"If you didn't like 'em then why didn't you say anything?" She asked, fiddling with taking off the wrapping paper of a red one. "I like the rest."
Joshua noticed for a while now that cherry seemed to be her favorite flavor. It was always her first resort. Cherry lollipops, red gummy bears, red starbursts. His eyes looked down to see her eagerly trying to get the red, squared candy into her mouth. "I don't mind but can I at least get a variety?"
"You're so picky." She huffed, "But fine, I won't give Chris all the clear and green ones. I'll share with you next time."
"My, the lady is humble as she is graceful~" He chuckled as he was given a glare. "They sell sodas and foods over there." He pointed to the corner, secluded food area from the rest of the cars. "What do you want to drink?"
Her eyes stared at the red starburst in thought before glancing over at him. "Mmm," Marceline hummed before finally thinking of an answer, "sweet tea."
"I'll be back." He placed the bag down in his seat, undoing his seatbelt before getting out of the car.
"Wait, I have money!" Plopping the starburst in her mouth, she reached into her back pocket for her wallet.
"And so do I. Keep yours. I'll be back." It was too late. He was already gone.
Her head shook in disbelief. "This guy… Just because you're rich doesn't mean you can just spend your money all willy nilly on me."
Focusing her gaze on him, she watched as he stood in line before looking around at the random cars. Since it had become dark it was hard to see what was happening in other people's vehicles, which made her grateful. It was awkward to see other people kissing or even going beyond that. Why would they choose a drive-in to have sex? Marceline had no idea, but some people got the thrill of other people knowing. The car movements were obvious enough to let a person know.
Now that she thought about it, she became flustered all over again. She feared this a long time ago. Marceline wanted a drive-in with their friends because she felt if her and Josh were alone, something might happen. At first, she thought it was arrogant for her to just assume that without later on realizing that she had actually liked Joshua. More than as a friend. Maybe it would be her to initiate the kiss since she was entangled in her own feelings. The dark setting, a movie, and being alone with the person you like was more than enough to make you feel the courage to do it, but what if he rejected her? How awkward would the ride home be? Their friendship would never be the same.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the car door open, Josh handing her cup of sweet tea while climbing back inside and closing the door. Her eyes couldn't help but wander to his form as she chewed her Starburst, observing as he placed his drink in the cup holder, put the bookbag on the floor of the backseat as he kept his bag of chips close. Josh had this habit of not eating until the movie started where she was too impatient to. He liked to eat while being immersed into the film, which she always found was oddly cute.
Sometimes she would miss parts of the movie ( especially important parts to the plot ) because she had noticed this habit. Beth and Hannah were the same as her, wanting to eat and not worry if the movie started or not. Her eyes tore themselves away from him, not wanting to be entranced by him any longer.
Trailers began to start to show movies already on dvd and upcoming movies. Marceline's lips were wrapped around the straw, taking a sip as her eyes watched the trailers with mild interest. Some of the movies looked good, and she nearly squealed at the trailer of Divergent. Beth, Hannah Sam, Ashley, and herself had all promised to watch the movie since they read the books. Jessica only wanted to see it because of Theo James and Emily declared herself more of a "Hunger Games" person even though they tried to explain it was just as good and not entirely the same.
"You and my sisters are gonna go see that, right?" Josh's voice made her instantly forget the memory of Emily's dismissal of the movie, her eyes glancing over at him.
"Divergent? Yeah. That doesn't come out until March though." Marceline answered before placing her cup in the second cup holder. "It's a shame you won't be coming with us."
"I'm not into it." Josh said, shaking his head as he ate another Hot Cheeto. "It's not my style."
"But you went with me to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2.." The wave of regret came across his face, which made her lips quiver as she tried to suppress her laugh.
"Don't you mean you dragged me to see it? Beth and I didn't want to go. Ash dragged Chris and Emily dragged Mike. The only guy who escaped was Matt, and that's because he had football practice." Josh wanted to get that movie out of his head, shivering as he had flashbacks of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen.
Marceline's eyes crinkled, "But you had fun. You laughed, a lot."
"That's because Beth and Chris wouldn't stop crackin' jokes." It was true. Beth and Chris made every joke that there could be made about it, and Marceline had a hard time even trying to pay attention to the movie and was shushed with the rest of them for laughing. Twilight wasn't her favorite series, not by a long shot, but she knew how much Hannah wanted to see it and Ashley just wanted to "get this series over with" as she claimed since she saw the first movie and read the books. She was that type that once she started something, she had to finish it. That was what Marceline admired about her.
The conversation abruptly ended since the movie began to start. She could hear Josh finally opening the bag, now eating as soon as the movie studio names and some of the name credits were gone. Marceline had no idea what this movie was about and so she was blindsided, but it made her somewhat excited at the same time. It had to be horror, she knew that was Josh's favorite genre. Just the title alone told you was a horror movie anyway. Leaning back against the seat, she plopped an orange strawberry after unwrapping it in her mouth while watching the movie.
. . .
"Okay, I'm totally lost." Marceline finally said, shaking her head. "Who is good? Who is bad? What the fresh hell is going on?"
Already half way into the movie, she was already lost. It was one of those movies that you had to keep guessing and it was leaving her brain scrambled.
Josh glanced at her, amused at at the confusion written all over her face. "You don't know the protagonist and antagonist right away." He said before looking back at the movie, "You have to guess it for yourself."
Guessing was going to give her a headache at this rate. She rubbed her temples while trying to put the pieces together, "I'm about to give up."
"You can do it, Mars." He taunted, "I believe in you."
"Haha." She dry laughed before looking back at him to see him already staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing." He merely said, which left her unsure and curious.
"It's not nothing." She decided to pursue it, "What is it?"
He shook his head, "Nothing."
"Josh." Her brows sunk down, wondering what was really bothering him. For him to lose focus of the movie and just stare at her, there had to be something wrong. "I hate when you do that. Why don't you ever tell me—"
In that moment, something overcame him. All his pent up emotions that he tried to force in the back of his mind became energy and surged through him, like lightning in his veins. His thoughts were a mess, dancing along with impulse and desire and that's when he became desperate. Desperate enough to press his lips fiercely against her own in the middle of her sentence.
Her body felt like shutting down, she had already stopped breathing. Her heart felt like it was about to break out of her chest cavity since it was hammering so hard, to the point that it hurt. A cold sweat slid down her brow, down to her neck and beneath her clothes. Her ears felt like they were on fire and her heart was loud enough that she could hear the quick rhythm in her ears, and she was almost afraid that he could hear it himself.
Her eyes were wide open, but she couldn't recall seeing anything since a honeyed glaze of shock clouded over her eyes and butterflies seemed to make her stomach feel weightless. All she could focus on other than all of that was how the kiss felt and how his nose rubbed against her own, even how his lips were surprisingly soft as it tightly locked her lips.
Her eyes finally slit closed, and she managed to relax her lips but he had already pulled away, scrambling back until he somewhat hit the closed, car door.
"Shit!" He was panicked, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath. "Shit, shit, shit!" He chanted, wondering why he had lost all control over himself.
Marceline's eyes opened slowly, hazily as she could still feel her lips tingle. A part of her wanted to laugh at how much he was panicking, probably thinking she was going to hate him for kissing her. It sure did solve the reason why he always stared and she was grateful to finally know where his feelings were.
"Well," she managed to speak, "that happened."
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
"It's okay, Josh. Really. I—"
"No, its not. I forced myself on you and I wasn't thinking." He slapped his palm against the edge of the steering wheel, "Shit…"
Her eyes watched him rest on the steering wheel, trying to gather himself together. It seemed like no matter she said, he would just quickly retreat and utter an apology. She couldn't even say she enjoyed the kiss, that she liked him, and that she wanted to kiss him again. He wouldn't let her say a thing, and he kept moving so much that she couldn't even show it. Marceline leaned back into the seat in defeat. This was not how it was supposed to happen...
Due to the awkwardness and how distracted they became from the movie, Josh settled for driving her back home and they sat in silence during the entire ride.
Three Weeks Later. . .
They pretended that nothing ever happened.
All that remained of them, this giant misunderstanding that ruined the relationship between them, were them speaking to each other as if the kiss never happened. She spoke to him as if she couldn't recall any memory of the night of the drive-in, and he teased and played as if he didn't as well. Despite the fact they tried to smooth over what Marceline would never consider a blemish, their relationship was completely strained. They were unable to be close as they were before, not able to touch each other casually as they used to. They became tense and flustered whenever they grabbed the same thing and then kept their distance on group outings with Marceline practically smothering Hannah. Chris, Sam, and the twins had noticed the odd behavior but didn't say a thing, but twins as well as Sam were the only ones itching to confront her about it.
Hannah and Beth took it upon themselves to invite Marceline to the Lodge for a winter trip with the group, to have fun before they college began since Josh was already ahead of them. Marceline, Hanna, Beth, and Sam wouldn't start until October, attending Los Angeles film school, which Joshua also attended. Marceline decided to take up on acting, feeling as if it was something she could could and felt passionate about. Her and Josh used to joke that they would be the next Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter or the next Len Wisemen and Kate Beckinsale since the former were splitting up as saddening as it was. Even though the fact that these were couples, they didn't mind joking around about it before but now it felt too awkward to even discuss things like that with one another.
Marceline sighed as they were walking up the mountain to the lodge, her arms wrapped around her as she buried half of her face in the red scarf that Josh wrapped around her when she complained how could she was. He didn't speak to her after the moment of kindness, leaving her upset and confused. She was a little grateful that his scent was still on the scarf and found herself remembering how she and Chris said he was a weirdo for sniffing people. And yet, here she was just mindlessly sniffing for his scent on the scarf. Hannah was on her right and Beth to her left, Joshua was walking ahead of them with Chris and they were locked in conversation that they couldn't be distracted by anything else.
Her eyes were glued to the back of Joshua's head, wanting to grab his arm and finally talk some sense into him but the courage would die down as quickly as it came. "Alright, now tell me what's going on with you and my brother?" Beth finally asked, not wanting to wait and be lost in the middle of the odd looks the two would give one another. She had also made sure that they weren't in earshot between them and Josh. Marceline tore her eyes away before she felt even more upset.
Her brown eyes looked to Beth's, who was staring now into hers and waiting for an answer. "He kissed me."
Beth's eyes nearly bulged out of the sockets, surprised by the fact. "And?"
"And that was it." She shrugged, "And we're like this, not speaking, and drowning the group in negative energy."
Hannah's eyes saddened, able to tell how much their friend was obviously hurt. Marceline liked to put on a brave face but the expression she was constantly making at Josh was enough to help them know how hurt she was about their damaged relationship. "Did you try to tell him how you feel?"
"He wouldn't even let me say." Marceline shook her head, "And now it's just… weird between us. We don't skype anymore or text each other like we used to."
Beth draped an arm around her shoulders while Hannah wrapped an arm around her waist, both of them pressing their heads against hers. "Don't worry, we're gonna fix this. All we have to do is get you two alone and then you'll have no choice but to talk about it." The short-haired Washington reasoned.
"I always thought you and Josh would be good together." Hannah said, trying to lighten up Marceline's mood. "I can tell how much you really liked each other."
Their words did make her feel better. She was hoping that Beth's idea would work but she was also afraid that it would be useless. "You guys, you don't have to try to tell me all of this."
"We're your best friends, Marce." Beth insisted, "This is what we're supposed to do." She reasoned, "And I want to see both you and my brother happy, no matter how gross it'll be."
Chuckling, she shook her head. "Wow, thanks." Marceline replied sarcastically.
"I always wondered why Josh looked sad." Hannah sighed, "I didn't know it was over this."
Feeling guilty, she glanced over at Hannah. "I didn't mean to worry you, Hannie. I never wanted Josh to be sad."
"D-Don't be sorry!" She urged her, "It's not your fault. I'm just a little jealous how you guys have gone that far. Mike and I…"
Beth and Marceline immediately frowned at that. Hannah, after these two years, and the off-and-on relationship between Mike and Emily, none of it didn't get through her head. Beth had hoped that Hannah would get over her crush and eventually move on, but her twin showed no signs of improving. In fact, she was only getting worse. Marceline thought the same and was always afraid to approach the conversation about it since last time things got pretty bad really quickly. With Hannah crying and running off, making her feel terrible for even bringing the idea up.
So this time, they decided not to say anything and that it was best to just ignore it. Marceline didn't know how deep Hannah's feelings about Michael were entirely, but she still had hoped that time would allow her to move on. She would let him go, or so she hoped.
Josh had opened the door to the lodge and they all followed inside. Beth, Hannah, and Marceline had unzipped their coats despite how cold it still felt inside. There was a lingering warmth since their parents, Bob and Melinda, were here last weekend but the overall cold of the mountain had tried to wipe away any traces left inside. Beth and Hannah made their way downstairs in the basement to get the boiler working while Chris and Josh were going to handle electricity.
Marceline stayed behind and sat on the couch of the Great Room, stretching her arms over her shoulder before resting her head on the arm of the couch. She wore a cream-colored sweater dress with short-sleeves, a tan belt around her waist to accentuate her small waist, a pair of black tights and brown boots. Her mother's bangle was around her wrist, which proved to distract her since she was in the dark by herself and has nothing else to do. It was first time, but she couldn't explore in the dark since it made it feel pretty spooky. She hadn't gone the past two years whenever Josh and the twins arranged a weekend here with the group since it was around the same time her dad had time for her to visit. Marceline had went to South Korea for a week the past two years to spend time with him. She never realized until then just how much he missed him when she had saw him.
A ghost of a smile came across her lips as she also remembered making Tteokbokki ( Spicy rice cakes ) that she had learned over her trip. They all couldn't believe how spicy it was, and how most of them had cried for water after one bite. It was also a good time for her and Michael to bond, seeing as how they high-five'd for having a good tolerance and love for spicy foods. Who knew food would be what brought them together.
"What are you doing up in here in the dark?"
It almost scared her how he suddenly appeared, right at the door with a heavy winter coat and a large dufflebag filled with his things. What a coincidence too since she was just thinking about him. "Oh, Josh and Chris went to turn on the electricity—" As soon as she mentioned it, the lights flickered on on. Both of them looked up and then at each other, "See? Annnnnnnd Beth and Hannah are getting the boiler running."
"Alright then!" Mike then took a seat on the couch, sighing as he felt relaxed. She had sat up, not wanting to awkwardly lay there. "That means no work from me."
Marceline chuckled at that, crossing her legs as her hands rested on the edge of the cushion of the sofa. "Let me guess, you and Em got into an argument?"
"Its that obvious?" He asked, genuinely surprised that she had figured that out.
"Uh, yeah." She nodded, "You two should be coming here together like a couple." Marceline stated the obvious. What boyfriend and girlfriend arrives separately on a trip? They were either pissed at one another or broken up, especially since Emily would've loved for Michael to carry her things.
He rolled his eyes, shaking his head with a sigh escaping him soon after. "She's so controlling. I can't deal with it half of the time." He tilted his head some, "What's a guy to do?"
Marceline could see how Emily's possessive and snarky attitude could leave someone screaming for dear life, but she knew that Michael was willing to tolerate it. He loved her. If he didn't, they wouldn't have gotten back together after they had broken up so many times. "When there's love, there's a way."
"Gettin' Edgar Allen Poe on me?" Michael teased, "You know, I'm glad we're on speaking terms and not you running from me like I'm the Devil or somethin'."
Raising a brow, she tilted her head forward slightly. "I'm pretty sure Mr. Poe never said that, but okay." A smile had then graced her lips, "Who knew that all it would take is our love for spicy food to bring us together." Lightly, she punched his shoulder. "I had nothing personally against you. You just reminded me of my lame ex is all."
Sitting up, he appeared intrigued by this. "So, he was handsome as me, huh?"
"Oh, definitely." With a roll of her eyes, she gave him a teasing smile.
"So you admit that I'm handsome, huh?" Placing his hand on his chest, he tried for the most feminine voice he could muster. "Ooooh Marceline~ You make my heart go a-flutter!"
Laughing, she aimed to kick his leg. "Don't tell Em I said that or she'll rip out my vocal chords." Her hand went up to her neck, smoothly gliding her palm against her skin. "You know how territorial she is."
Lightly nudging his knuckle against her chin, he scooted closer to her. His face wasn't too far away from hers and she was sure that he wouldn't keep testing dangerous waters, and so she stayed as she was without any movements. "Just say I'm yours and she has no territory to claim." Although she knew he was teasing, or at least she hope, she gave him a dull stare.
"Paws off, Mike!" Beth's voice captured their attention, both of them looking over the couch at her as Hannah looked at the two of them in confusion. "You're such a horndog. Anything with two legs, you just want to get between."
"That's not true!" Michael said defensively, "If I wanted, I could've been in between yours~"
"Ugh!" With a scoff, she rolled her eyes. "Not even in your dreams, Munroe!" Throwing a pillow at him, he hunched over with his hands raised up.
"I was just jokin', Beth!" He said as she grabbed another pillow, smacking him with him and he winced whenever he was viciously hit. Marceline had slyly stood up and made her way towards Hannah, snaking her arms around the girl in order to calm any suspicions. "Ow! Calm down!"
Beth relented after a few more hits before tossing the pillow away, satisfied as he was still crouched to block what he suspected might be another hit incoming. Josh and Chris had walked into the aftermath, confused but mildly entertained. "Did I just miss a beatdown?" said Chris before looking at Josh, "I think we missed a beatdown."
"You sure did." Marceline said, her eyes on Chris. "Beth was letting Mike have it."
Letting Hannah go, she watched as she walked over towards Mike. "Are you alright, Mike? Beth didn't hit you too hard, did she?" Her hands hovered over his face, wanting to inspect if Beth did some actual damage. It burned Marceline's down to her very soul to see Hannah hover over him, genuinely worried about him and Michael being receptive of her gentleness. He had to know. He had to have known of Hannah's feelings for him. So why? Why was he allowing her to act like this towards him. Why was he allowing her to act like this?
"I'm fine, Hannah." Michael gave her a small smile, "Don't worry about it."
The lodge's front door had opened, everyone turning to see Samantha, Matthew and Ashley were the next to walk in, giving everyone a wave. "Didn't think the bus would take as long as it did. Good thing Matt picked us up." Sam explained the reason why they were somewhat late despite the fact that they were pretty much on time.
"Yes, Matt is our hero." Ashley said, giving the boy a pat on the shoulder as he gave a smile and performed a playful bow.
Marceline caught the way Chris' eyes lit up as he saw Ashley. "Way to go, Mattie-Matt." Chris praise, too far away to give the jock a well-deserved high five but settled for a compliment instead.
Josh had then raised a case of beer. "If anyone wants to get warm any faster, I got some drinks that'll help."
"Woo!" Michael raised a fist, "Pass me a bottle there, Chris." The blond-haired teen took a green bottle from out the case and threw it it towards Michael, who caught it swiftly with one hand. "Nice!"
"That was a good catch, Mike." Matt complimented him, "You should've tried out for the team."
"And get tackled and ruin this face?" Michael said, his hand motioning towards his "dashing" facial features, "I leave all of that to you, Matt."
Beth had placed some logs in the fireplace and lit a fire, Marceline had walked over and hovered her hands over it. "This feels so good."
"Tell me about it." Beth said as Sam and Ashley huddled over with their hands over the fire. Seeing as the boys were distracted, and the group was nearly all here. She decided on something, "Sam, Ash, you gotta help me out on something."
MArceline's eyes widened before darting at Beth, she knew her all too well. "What is it?" Ashley asked.
"Marce and my brother totally kissed, but my brother thought it was a misunderstanding and—"
"Oh my God! Wha—" Sam immediately covered Ashley's mouth, the four boys looked over skeptically as Hannah quickly joined with the quad of girls.
"Could you be any louder, Ash?" Sam warned as the boys suddenly looked away. They could hear them dismissing it as "gossip" and shaking their heads, joining an understanding how girls were weird.
"Sorry sorry!" The redhead quickly apologized, "Go on."
Beth cleared her throat and then continued on, "Anyway, we have to get them alone. Somehow, someway."
"Guys, really, you don't have to do all of this." Marceline whispered, "Things will work themselves out… hopefully."
The short-haired twin glared at her, "And I'm Santa Claus. Ho. Ho. Ho." She replied sarcastically, making Ashley and Hannah giggle.
Marceline returned the stare but then cracked a smile, unable to hold it. "How about making him jealous? He'll definitely want to make things right then." Ashley suggested.
"With who?" Sam asked, "Matt is no threat. Pfft, Josh wouldn't even take the thought of Chris and Marceline seriously."
All of them slowly looked up at Michael, who was talking to the boys about something they could barely hear. "Oh, oh no! Nope! No way! No! That's a bad idea." Marceline shook her head, "You want Emily to rip out my hair! I love my hair!" She whispered rather fiercely.
"It won't be anything serious." Beth tried to smooth things over, "Boys get to the point faster when their jealous."
Sam seemed on the fence, "I don't know about this either guys. It might cause a fight."
Hannah then shook her head, "I agree with Sam and Marcy, I don't think this is a good idea."
"See?" Marceline knew that Hannah just didn't like the idea that Michael was being used, but she was glad the girl's jealousy was working in her favor.
"Han, it's not that serious." Beth warned, "We all know that Marce doesn't like him."
"I know but…" Her voice trailed until she became silent, her eyes downcast.
Seeing that made Marceline's heart sting. "She's right. Let's not." She glanced over at Josh, "I'll just have to grow a pair of balls for once."
"If you don't grow a pair of balls by ten then a plan will commence." Beth settled for that, which earned her a tight hug from Marceline.
She pressed her cheek against Beth's, nearly smothering her. "This is why you're my best friend, Bethy-boo!"
"Ugh, stop it!" She couldn't help but laugh despite how irritating it was. Marceline continued on the nuzzle fest for a few minutes before finally letting her go.
Soon enough, the last two of the group had arrived. Emily and Jessica walked in and sighed once they felt the warmth of the fire and the door was closed behind them, "Finally." Emily huffed, sounding as if she had walked an entire marathon.
"The snow is getting crazy." Jessica shook her head, "And it took me forever to lock that gate."
"How?" Josh questioned, "Its easy."
Emily then gave Josh a look that read: 'You know why' and he nodded, understanding exactly what she meant by that. "Alright, Porn stars, how about a game?"
"What kind of game?" Sam bothered to ask even though she already knew the answer, "A drinking game, perhaps?"
"Of course!" He said with a smile. "A little loose lips is what makes everything fun."
Jessica raised her hand, "Oh! How about truth or dare? And whoever says no to a dare has to take a shot."
Joshua snapped his fingers, "I like that. C'mon everyone, gather 'round the campfire."
They all made their way towards the Great Room but Marceline was nervous by the smirk on Beth's face. Beth was going to use this game to patch things up even after she warned her to do it by ten. Little did Marceline realize that it was actually ten already and Beth used that as an excuse to create a master plan.
Author's Note: Wow, I was seriously laughing when I was trying to pick out a horror movie that came out around the end of 2013 to January of 2014 during Josh and Marceline drive-in catastrophe because the movie I was going to pick was Dark Summer because I liked the summary of it but it turns out it did badly ( which could've resulted in them making fun of it, of course ) but guess who was in it? Dr. Hill. Peter Stormare. I was like, "Wow, I could reference this in later chapters..." but then I changed it to a movie I actually saw so the critique would make sense but then I ended up not even doing that. Lol.
This chapter was supposed to be longer but my laptop is like "Oh boy, I wanna 'cause you so much problems right now." So, I'll have to split this into two parts.