I didnt want to hear it from Jean, to be honest. I was so done with him not thinking that he had to apologize when he did something that wasnt alright. He was so sweet before these chaacter flaws came out of him. But I genuinely couldnt get over him... I refused to let Jean off the hook for this, though. He would just have to apologize. So. I sat on the other side of the room during class and didnt speak to him outside of class. When Jean wasnt involved in my life, I attracted weirdos. Just like back at Mattheius and in highschool. I dont know why being seen with Jean kept the weirdos away but it did. And now they were back. There was this guy I had noticed who stood leaning against a wall on the route I usually took to class. Didnt know him. He was about my height, maybe an inch shorter. He had a strong jawline, and his bright blue-green eyes hidden behind glasses contrasted with his slightly tanned skin. He had short platinum blonde hair. I didnt know him at all. I was walking to my next class with Bertholdt and Armin. "How is the Jean thing?" Armin said to me as we approached the side of he building where the guy usually stood. I sighed. "It's the same. I'm waiting for him to apologize." "That might be a lost cause.." Bert said. I laughed a bit, "I know. But if he wants to have a good relationship with me again, he has to do it. Hopefully Connie and Sasha will press him to do it. They know what Jean has to do if he wants to be my friend again." We got closer to the wall and, sure enough, the guy was there. We almost passed him just as usual when he said, "Hi, Marco." I tensed a bit. What the heck? Armin and Bert looked at the guy and we kept walking. I looked at him, as well. "Um, hi." I said as we passed by him. I turned back to face forwards and we were silent for a few moments. "Do you know that guy?" Armin asked me. "No! No I dont!" Armin made this face that showed his horror. I laughed a bit nervously. "I mean. I've seen him before but I dont know his name." "Maybe he has a thing for you?" Armin questioned. "I dont know." I answered. "But that's pretty weird." "You should ask him his name next time he talks to you." Bert said. I nodded. "Yeah. I will. I mean. It's strange but I'm all for meeting new people." As we approached the building, I saw Jean coming the other way with Connie, Sasha, Eren, and Mikasa. Bertholdt and Armin stopped, pulling me to a halt. And we watched the five of them a ways away but still in hearing distance. As they got closer, I heard Connie say, "...Jean did something wrong. But Jean doesnt even know what he did wrong!" "What?" Eren asked, "Dude, Marco is literally the nicest guy on the planet!" "He has dealt with all of your problems the moment he met you. And everyone in our class goes to him with their problems because he's a good listener and he gives good advice." Mikasa said. I was embarassed. I felt my face get hot. Then I heard Jean groan and yell, "Look! I dont give a shit! Can I just rant in peace?! See? This is me! Not giving any fucks!" Then he flung the door to the building where our next class was open and stomped in. Classic Jean. Armin and Bert looked at me. That stung but... I wouldnt let him know that I heard this. He meant it to be between him and the people around him. Not an evesdropping Marco. So I just kept on walking to our next class.

The day after the next, I had to walk to class alone because I was a little bit late. And as I approached the wall, I saw that the guy was, indeed, there. "Hi, Marco." He said as I approached. I stopped and turned to him. "Hi. Um. Do I know you? I'm sorry if I dont remember." He smirked. "Sorry. I'm Gerald." He said, holding his hand out to me. Weird. I shook his hand. "How do you know me?" I asked him. "I just seen you every day walking this way and I wanted to know who you were so I asked around and I found out from my classmates that you were thag Mattheius guy that the school had been gloating about getting." That made sense. Not that creepy. "I see." I said. "Yeah. I didnt talk to you before because that guy, Jean, was always walking with you." I raised an eyebrow. He didnt want to talk to me because of Jean? Did Jean look threatening or something? Because I didnt see it. "Really?" I questioned, "Jean?" "Yeah." Gerald responded, "That guy's weird. He's always cat calling chicks and I saw him give a senior last year a black eye. The dude had to have been a whole foot taller, too." I seriously doubted that happened. This guy was definitely over-exaggerating. And I dont think Jean would cat call anyone. But then again, he did seem to let out new qualities almost every day. Maybe it was possible? This guy... He had to have been in a different grade because he was never in any of my classes. "Are you a sophomore or...?" "Naw. I'm a senior." He said. Oh! Oh... "Oh wow." I said. "Okay." "C'mon. I'll walk you to your class." He said, stepping away from the wall. I sighed a bit. "Okay." Then we started walking in the direction of my next class. "So, why did you transfer here? Mattheius is amazing." "I just felt like I didnt belong there. My family isnt very well off and everyone there wasnt exactly humble. And they made me feel like my work was less than good." Gerald nodded in understanding. "I get it. I came from Burries School of Graphic Design in Missouri. Felt the same way." What? He's relating to my story? Well, one part of my story? Burries is a really nice school. "Really?" I said. "Yeah. Of course." "I applied for Burries." I mentioned. "Didja get accepted?" "Yes. I did." "Wow." He said, smiling at me, "You must be really amazing." I smiled. "Well thank you." We approached the building where my class was. "Would you mind if I got your number?" Gerald said, holding his phone out to me. "Sure!" I smiled and took his phone, tapping my name and number in then takingg a selfie on his phone for the profile picture. "Great! I didnt expect you to take that selfie, though." He said as he took his phone back. "I always do that." I smiled and he smiled back. "Bye, Marco." "Bye." Then he went on his way. I sighed a bit and headed to my class. I was really late.

I sighed as I opened the door to the classroom. Hanji stopped what she was saying abruptly to look at me. Wait... Hanji? Why was the nurse teaching our pottery class? I was so confused. "Why are you so late?" Levi said from the chair next tothe teacher's desk, looking over at me. Why was Levi here, too? "I-uhhh..." I struggled to find my words, "I got held up." I started to head towards where Armin was sitting when Hanji grabbed my backpack and pulled me over to her. "Why dont you tell the class what you were doing?! Might be interesting!" I saw Levi pinch the bridge of his nose out of the corner of my eye. Darn. I didnt really want to explain. I caught Jean's eye from across the room. And the little... The little fart was smirking at me. "Well go on!" Hanji continued. I couldnt disobey someone of authority. I smiled at her. "I was talking to this senior who found out I was from Mattheius from his friends and he wanted to talk to me. That's all." Hanji let me go and I started walking over to my spot next to Armin. "Well that's interesting! What was his name?!" I smiled a bit as I sat down, "Gerald. I dont know his last name." "Ooooohhh!" Hanji said, wiggling an eyebrow. Pfftt! I laughed. So, apparently, our teacher Gunther had taken a six week leave due to an injury and we had to have another teacher. And the fill-in was Hanji. When Hanji finally stopped talking, we worked on the projects we were already doing. "So that guy talked to you?" Armin said to me. I nodded. "What guy?" Eren said, looking over, past Mikasa who he was sitting next to. Mikasa looked at me as well. I opened my mouth to explain when Jean came over. "Who's that guy?" He asked me. I just looked at him. He raised an eyebrow after me not saying anything for a few moments. "Get outta here, horseface! Marco doesnt want to talk to you!" Eren exclaimed. "Shut up, Jeager! Nobody's talking to you!" "Stoppit." I said. "Look, Jean. I dont think it's very neccessary to let you know who he was." Jean looked at me and I raised my eyebrows. "Oh c'mon, Marco. You know we're friends." Was he serious. "Maybe when you fix your attitude." I said. Jean narrowed his eyebrows at that. That was mean... I shouldnt have said that... "Ohhh!" Eren exclaimed. "OOHHHHHHH SHIIAATT!" Reiner yelled from across the room. "Shut up, Jeager! This is not your problem!" Jean yelled. Eren stood up, then, his chair falling and slamming down behind him. Oh crap. Jean went for Eren's face with his fist and before I knew it, I had grabbed Jean's arm and pulled him back. "Stop!" I exclaimed. Everyone looked at me, including Jean. It was quiet then I let go of Jean's arm. He sighed. "Marco." He said, "Can we talk, like, in private." I really really wanted to say yes but I didnt want to hear Jean give me a best friend speech and if I agreed, I would basically be-suddenly, Jean touched my hair, fixing it. But I smacked his hand away and narrowed my eyebrows at him, frowning and saying, "Maybe some other time. I need to do this project." Meanwhile, Mikasa was picking up Eren's chair and sitting him down in it. Jean huffed. "Fine." He said coldly before almost stomping back to Connie and Sasha.

The next few days flew by until there was one day left before Thanksgiving break. And Jean still hadnt tried to apologize. I would wait, though. We were in the middle of Pixis class. He had finished his instruction for the day. Now we were working on getting ready a project he had given us to start over the break. I sighed as I worked, sitting with Armin. I looked over at where Jean was and Connie and Sasha were talking to him. He was frowning. I hoped they were pushing him to apologize to me. Suddenly, Jean caught my eye and I looked back at what I was doing. Awkward. Somebody knocked on the classroom door then came in. I looked up to see who it was. Gerald. What? He nodded at me then headed over to Pixis and said, "I need to see Marco Bodt." What? "Oh." Pixis said, "Okay. Marco." I looked at Armin and he looked at me, shrugging. I stood, putting my work on a desk and grabbing my phone, then heading over to Gerald and Pixis. "He needs to see you." Pixis said, waving us off. I smirked and Gerald led me out. As soon as the door was closed I said, "What is this, Gerald? I have to work." He smiled at me. "I wanted to talk to you." I smirked. "I cant talk right now. I have to get this project started for Thanksgiving break." "Can you talk to me over lunch?" He asked, raising an eyebrow... Did this guy ask me out or...? ... I needed to consult my team. "I'll text you an answer in a few minutes, okay?" I smiled. He nodded, smiling wider, "Sure." "You're so ridiculous. Coming and interuppting my class so you could ask me out to lunch" "You're worth it." He said. I felt my face get a bit hot. Okay. This guy definately just asked me out. "Whatever." I said as I opened the door to the classroom. "Bye, Gerald." "See ya." He said. I went back into the room and he door swung shut behind me. I headed back over to Armin and sat, starting to work on my piece again. "Who was that?" Armin whispered to me. "Gerald." I said. Mikasa looked over, "That was that guy?" She said. "Yeah. I need your help." Eeen started paying attention when I said that. The I started. "So. He just asked me out to lunch. Like... Out." Armin frowndd a bit, "Did you say yes?" "I said I'd text him in a bit and give him and answer. I had to ask you guys what you thought I should do." "Do it!" Eren exclaimed. Mikasa hushed him and we all glanced at Jean to try and make sure he didnt hear, he was looking so he probably heard that yell, before we continued talking. "Dude." Eren whispered, "Do it. Jean deserves it." I smirked. "Eren, I'm not going to date someone just to make someone else upset." "Do you even like him?" Armin asked me. "Maybe? A bit." I said. "I would." Mikasa said, "Because what if Jean never fixes this?" I sighed... "I wouldnt." Armin said. I looked at him. He looked really serious about this. "Marco. Are you really going to be that guy? I mean, Jean obviously has a thing for you. You're just hitting a rough patch. Once it's fixed up, you could potentially start something together." I sighed. He was right. "Okay... You're right... I'll tell him in person later on after class." Armin nodded. When the end of class rolled around, I grabbed my stuff and headed to the studio building, putting my things away in there. I then headed up the stairs to the second floor where Gerald's studio was located. His was 107 so I headed down the hall and knocked on the door. I felt slightly awkward but I had to do this in person. Gerald opened the door and smiled immediately, "Hey!" "Hey." I said. "Listen. About lunch..." "Yep?" He asked. "I... Cant go out with you... Im sorry but I'm in the middle of a conflict with a close friend and I just cant handle this right now." Gerald stopped smiling and it was silent for a few moments before he said, "I understand." I smiled softly, "Thanks. Still friends?" "Yeah!" He exclaimed.

Well I was pretty happy that was over. As I passed Jean's studio to get back to my own, the door suddenly opened and Jean yanked me in. I stumbled and almost fell as I was pulled in. Jean slammed the door. "What-Jean-why?!" Jean turned to me. "We gotta talk about that guy." I had to process what he said. "Were you spying on me? Jean seriously I'm not-" "Shh!" He shushed me. I crossed my arms and frowned. "Marco. That senior's a weirdo." "Really? Because he said you were a weirdo." Jean raised an eyebrow. "You're a weirdo." "You're a weirdo! Now let me out!" Jean slammed his back against the door in order to block it. I smirked. "You know I can pock you up right?" "Not today! I put on three pounds, muthafucka." I laughed. "Stop! Let me out!" "Dude. That guy's weird. Trust me. He doesnt have any friends." "I doubt that." "I'm serious! We went to the same highschool together and we were pretty olayfriends. Then he started being weird and I kind of slowly backed away. And he still doesnt have any friends." "Jean." I said, "I've had two real friends in my life. I know how that feels. Now let me out." "Fine do whatever you want but dont come crawling to me when you get stabbed in your Bodt butt." We were quiet before I said, "That's not all you want to talk about, is it?" He sighed a bit. "No." I planted my feet on the ground in a more comfortable manner to get ready for this. "Dude." He said, "I'm sorry. For making you drag my ass around all the time when I'm a complete asshat. I just dont even have any social skills. But that's no excuse. I'm gonna try harder to learn how to get all this stuff you're going through." I smiled. "Yaay! I forgive you!" Then I picked him up into a bear hug. He struggled and made a disgruntled sound. "Duuuuuddeee!" I literally wanted to kiss him. I didnt think that would be appropriate, though. So I just put him down after a few moments. Jean sounded disgruntled but he was smiling when I put him down and he brushed himself off. I couldnt resist so I leaned down and kissed his cheek. Regret immediately. He turned very pink and looked shocked. "I-I'm sorry, Jean! I didnt mean to-! I mean-! I just got caught up in-!" "It's fine!" Jean interuppted me. "Marco. It's fine." He smiled a bit. "It's fine." Oh God so awkward. I was an idiot. He sighed a bit. "So... Do you want to go get lunch?" I smiled. "Yes."

Thanksgiving Break wasnt very different than any other. I went home, my parents and I spent a lot of time together, and I came back to Coirtney at the end of the break. However, I texted Jean a lot throughout the break and he was keen on telling me everything that he was doing. The way it sounded, his parents werent very interested in what he was doing and they didnt spend much time with him. Even on Thanksgiving. And I had gotton a couple tattoos. I had a small one of my right wrist that said my last name, Bodt, in bold letters with a blue bird underneath it, spreading it's wings. It wasn't huge. It just covered my wrist right under my palm. That' s all you need for something like that, right? Also, if I ever got married and my last name changed, it wouldnt matter because the family I came from would still be Bodt. I didn't want the one on my foot but Thomas had given it to me against my will. It was on my ankle and it was a small black and white dandelion with the seeds blowing away. I liked it because the center of each of the seeds that were blowing away, was a freckle of mine. I thought it was nice how Thomas incorporated that. Also, my mom and dad were trying to teach me how to drive. We went out to practice once a day from when I got home to me driving to the airport and tehy were telling me to enroll in a driving school for the summer in Montana. So I was planning on doing that. It would be a course where I would learn all the rules of the road and get my permit. Then I would do a 32 hour thing in a span of 6 months and go and take my driving test. The first day I drove was traumatixing. And we almost died. By the last day, I was starting to get ever so slightly better and I could go on the highways. Which I was not happy about because I was horrified anytime I got near our car. They told me to keep practicing but there was no way I was doing that. I wasn't even going to tell Jean because he would have made me do it somehow. When I got off the plane into Pennsylvania, where Coirtney is, and grabbed my bag from luggage claim, I saw Jean sitting a ways away, tapping away at his phone. I was really happy to see him. I mean, we had sent pictures to eachother over the break but seeing him in person was better than that. I smiled and jogged over to him. He looked up and smiled. "Hey!" He stood up. "Hey." I said. "What are you doing here?" "I thought I'd pick you up from the airport." I really wanted to hug him but... "I missed you." He suddenly said. What? I felt my face get a bit hot. "I-... Really?" Jean smirked. "What? You didnt miss me?" "No it's not that!" I exclaimed, laughing a bit and rubbing my nose nervously. "I just... Wasnt expecting that... I missed you, too." He looked down a bit, half-smiling, his hands shoved in his pockets. God he was so cute... I really wanted to hug him... Screw it. I stepped closer to him and pulled him into a tight hug. Jean slowly wrapped his arms around me, hugging me back. I sighed softly. Im sure he could feel my heart beating. It was so loud in my ears. Jean touched my hair, obviously. I smirked a bit when I felt it. We stood there for a few moments before I pulled away. Jean smiled at me and I smiled back. "C'mon." He said, grabbing my suitcase and headed for the door. I followed. "Jean. How are we going to get a suitcase on a motercycle?" "Oh! Right! I got a car over the break." What?! "Wait... You did? Why? Thanksgiving isnt meant for gifts." "I know. But I figures it'd be better for me to have a car so I asked my parents for one a few weeks ago and they gave it to me this past week. I was expecting it to happen at Christmas so it was a shock but, hey, whatever works." I sighed. Jean's parents were pretty wealthy so Jean could just ask and they would get him what he wanted. Jean and I approaced a very nice black, shiny car. Oh man... I was just starting to get used to the motercycle! Now he had to go and get a car... Jean opened the trunk and put my suitcase in, closing it after. He looked at me. "... Well go on and get in." Ugghh. I made a sound then opened thw passenger side door, getting in and closing the door behind me. Jean flopped in next to me, closing his door. He put the keys in the ignition as I was clipping my seatbelt on. Jean put his own seatbelt on and rested his arm on the back of my chair as he looked out the back window to back out of the parking space. Oh my God I'm going to die. I took a shaky breath and Jean glanced at me. When we were out of the parking space, Jean ruffled my hair before starting to drive us to Coirtney.

Soon, though, I wasnt so terrified, because Jean kept conversation with me the whole ride. Which I was thankful for. "Did you start on that project?" He said. "Yeah. It's in my suitcase." I answered. "How far did you get?" "About halfway done, I would say." "How do you do this shit so quickly?" I laughed a bit. "Because I actually work on it." Jean smirked. "I work on it too! You must have Bodt bots or something. Clones." I laughed harder. "Bodt bots! You should patent that!" Jean laughed. When we reached Coirtney, Jean parked and pulled the keys out of the ignition, stuffing them into his pocket as he got out of the car. I stepped out, as well. Jean opened the trunk and pulled my suitcase out, setting it on the floor, then closing the trunk and locking the car. I grabbed my suitcase and Jean and I headed to the dorm building. "Hey. I did somethig you may or may not approve of." Jean said. Crap. What did he do? "Whaat...?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "I requested a room change over the break. And... Then I requested another room change, under your name." What?! "Jean!" I exclaimed. "What?! Why?" "Dude! We have the same dorm together now! Be happy!" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I dont think I can handle you for that long. You do something ridiculous every two seconds." Jean laughed. "Hey! I thought we were friends, Marco!" "What's the room number? Do you have my key?" "Yeah!" He said, handing me the key. "It's room 135 on the same floor as before. And you'll have to give your old room key to Armin." "Right." I said, shoving the key into my pocket. I shook my head and Jean laughed. "I swear..." I said as I started carrying my suitcase up the stairs to the floor that my new room was on.

Jean helped me unpack then I gave my old key back to Armin. He wished me luck, to which I responded with a groan. I really needed to ask Jean out soon, though. I couldnt really wait anymore. It just wasnt the right time, though. When Jean and I went back to the lobby of the dorm building, Annie was carrying a giant freaking tree into the building with Reiner and Bertholdt's help, and Annie nearly hit me with it, not seeing me. I fell onto the floor trying to get out of the way, making a disgruntled sound in the process. "Oh sorry, Marco." Annie said. "I-It's fine." I said, standing. "You alright?" Jean asked me. I nodded. "That's a big ass tree!" Ymir yelled from the couch in the lobby where she was sitting with Christa, Sasha, and Connie. I smirked. "Hell yeah it is!" Reiner yelled back. "Okay." Annie said as they got to where they wanted the tree to be. "How are we going to put this thing down?" The three of them situated themselves so Bertholdt, who was at the end, was standing next to the spot they wanted to put the tree. Bert and Reiner started to position their parts of the tree down into the spot but Annie couldnt push the top up. "Let me help." I said, heading over and replacing Annie with myself. I pushed the top of the tree up as best I could, but I couldnt quite get it. "Marco." Bert said. "Let's switch jobs." Good idea. Maybe it would have been a good idea to have people hold up our parts while we switched because when we let go, Reiner almost died, yelling, "FUCK! TREE! ORGANS! CRUSHHEDD!" We grabbed our new parts of the tree and Reiner recovered. "God you guys! Do you want me to die?" I laughed a bit. "Im so sorry, Reiner!" Then we started successfully placing the tree down in it's spot. I sighed in relief when it was there. "Thanks, Marco." Annie said. "No problem." I smiled at her.

Mikasa suddenly came in with Eren, carrying a ton of Christmas decorations. "Found them!" Eren exclaimed. "Good for you, Jeager." Jean said. "Shut up! Oh. Marco's back!" Eren and Mikasa came over and put the decorations down. Mikasa hugged me and I hugged her back before she pulled away. "Do I get a hug?" Eren said, holding his arms out to me. I laughed. "Su-" "No!" Jean exclaimed sliding in to stand in front of me. I laughed a bit and put my hands on Jean's shoulders, looking at Eren from behind Jean. "Sorry, Eren. I guess you dont get a hug." Eren smirked. "Fine. Whatever." I poked Jean. "Dont be such a jerk. He just wanted a hug. He's my friend." "Trust exercise-GO!" He suddenly exclaimed, falling back. I scrambled to catch him. "Eep!" I yelled, managing to grab him. "Dont do that! I was legitimately afraid that I'd let you drop." "But you wouldnt." Jean said. I sighed. "Help us decorate!" Eren yelled to Armin who was coming down the stairs. "Fine. Fine." Armin responded. I let Jean go. "Did you have sugar before you left for the airport?" "No." He said, turning to me, smiling. "I'm just excited to see you." I felt my face get hot. Sasha and Connie suddenly showed up next to us. "Are you guys dating yet?" Connie asked. My face got really hot and Jean turned a deep red. "I-uh..." I managed. "I'm gonna help decorate the tree." Then I got out of that awkward moment and went over to Armin, Eren, and Mikasa. Christa and Ymir were on their way over to the decorations, too. There was definately more than one awkward moment with Jean and I when this tree was being decorated.

It was great when the tree was done and Bertholdt got the star on top of it with some help from Reiner. It looked amazing. I headed to the couch and flopped down into it. Jean came over after a few moments, smiling at me and sitting next to me. I smiled back. "So..." He said. "Yeah?" I smiled a bit more. "About what Connie and Sasha said..." I felt my face get hot. He wasnt about to ask me out, was he? "Y-Yeah?" He rubbed the back of his neck and turned pink. "I just... Well... I wanted to... Urg." He sighed and looked at me. "Marco... Would you... Could we... Maybe go ou-" Eren suddenly flopped down on top of us really hard. "AHH!" I yeed, genuinely terrified for a bit until I realized what was happening. "OOOF!" Jean exclaimed. "Hey guys." Eren said. "What're you two up to? Not doing anything that would be too good for horseface, yeah?" Jean pushed Eren off- "Get the fuck off, Jaegar!"-and onto the floor. Eren hit his head on the coffee table as he went down. Oh God. "Eren!" I exclaimed, standing and helping Eren up. Jean groaned and stood. "Jean. Cant you be nicer? Nobody has ro get hurt." I said, making sure Eren was alright. "Yeah horseface!" "Can I not just have a private moment wih you, Marco?!" It got really quiet in the lobby and my face felt hot as I realized that everyone near the tree was staring at us. Mikasa ran over and grabbed Eren, scolding him. "What do you need to talk to Marco privately about, Jean?" Ymir questioned. Jean turned pinker and I felt like I needed to save him. "Just..." I said. Jean looked at me. "Nothing, guys. Okay?" Everyone seemed to calm down and go back to what they were doing, thankfully. I sighed with relief. "Thanks..." Jean said. "Of course..." I said. "Now. What did you want to say to me?" Jean considered it for a minute then said, "Bah... Forget it. It's not important." Uugghhh! Nooo! Freaking Eren! I sighed. "Okay..." "Did you have something to say?" Yes. I want to kiss your face. "No." Dammit Marco. "Marco!" Armin yelled for me. I sighed. "Polo!" I said back, walking over.