Ten Steps at a Time

by Kikiwannabanana

Hi this is a fanfic I wrote when I was 16 in 2015. I'm now 21 and got into talking about JeanMarco with the people who are close to me nowadays and decided to revive this. It's a modern art college au JeanMarco fanfiction. I hope you enjoy, and please go easy on me for the writing. This was 6 years ago hehe. Also TW for EDs, just in case.

20. Ten Steps at a Time CH 12 (Jean)

The next day, Pixis talked to us about a new play coming to town at the local theatre. Dammit. More stage painting. I wasnt planning on going so I didnt pay any attention to the times.

I was just hanging out in the commons room with a few people when Marco called me. I answered with a, "What?" "Get your ass down here, horseface." He said. I laughed, "No way! Boring." "Jean plleeaasee..." I sighed. Then I hung up, smirking. My phone rang again. I answered with, "What?!" "JEAN!" He yelled. I laughed. "Please dont leave me alone..." "Armin and Bert should be there." "They are but I want you to be down here..." Dammit he was so perfect. I couldnt resist... "Fine..." I gave in. "Yay! Thank you!" I grumbled, "You're lucky I love you..." Then I hung up and got up, "C'mon, guys. We have that theatre thing to do. It's starting right now." After fifteen minutes of convincing, an almost fist fight between Jaegar and myself, and another fifteen minute trip to the theatre, we were dressed in our coveralls and Reiner opened the door across the theatre opened, Reiner followed by Connie, Mikasa, myself, and a very angry Eren came in. We all jumped up on stage. Marco smiled at me as I walked over to him. "Hey." He said. I sighed. "Hi, Marco." He set his paint roller down. "Thank you for coming!" He held my arms out to me and I hugged him. He was hugging him back when out of fucking nowhere I heard someone yell, "YAAYAAYAA!" Then someone kicked me really hard. Ouch! And Marco and I both fell. Marco yelped as we slid across the tarp a bit. I was so pissed that I didnt even want to react to anyhing to give Eren any glory. But Jesus my fucking back! Eren grabbed the back of my coveralls, pulling me onto my feet. Marco jumped up. "Why did you have to remind us about this shit, horseface?!" Eren yelled, holding onto my collar and shaking me. I punched him across the jaw and Eren let me go immediately. Then Eren did his fucking signature move where he grabbed my arm and put his other hand on my collarbone, then he kicked my leg, causing me to fall flat. I groaned in pain. Shit. I must have had a ton of bruises on my leg in that one spot by now. Mikasa rushed over and grabbed Eren. "Eren! You idiot!" I, stupidly, attempted to stand again but my leg gave out. Suddenly, Shadis yelled, "Are you all okay? I heard a loud noise!" From next to Pixis. We were all silent as Marco helped up. My leg hurt like Hell so I held onto him pretty tightly. "Sasha farted." Mikasa suddenly said. "Wwhhhaaaatttt?!" Sasha yelled. "It's always Sasha..." Shadis said, going backstage with Pixis. "Nooooo! Mikasa whyyy!" Sasha exclaimed. "Who is that guy who was asking us what that noise was?" Marco asked me. "That's Shadis. He's one of the freshman teachers. We all had him when we were newbs at this school." "Are you okay...?" He asked me. "Yeah. I'll be fine. He's done that to me before." I said. "Okay... So I can let go of you?" I half smiled at him, "If you want to." He turned red and let me go. I stood up straight and turned to the set piece Marco was working on. "So. What're we doing?" "We're painting this set peice to look like a hallway. I made a plan." He said, handing me a peice of paper that had a rough sketch, with color, of what I thought it should look like. The fuck. "Holy shit, freckles. You went all out! Cool. This is what we'll do, then." Connie and Sasha came over and looked at the plan. "We'll help, too." Connie said. "By the way." Marco said to us. I looked at him. "No dicks." We all groaned. "But Macckkkooo..." I whined. He smirked. "No." I sighed then we went to get paint rollers.

We were painting the stupid set piece red when Pixis' music had a weird turn of events. You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate came on. We all stopped painting. The fuck?! Reiner started laughing then singing along when the first line, "I believe in miracles, where you from? You sexy thang!" Came on. We all laughed. "Why does he have thiisss...?" Marco asked. I was dying of laughter when I had the perfect idea. "We should dance." I said, turning to Marco and putting my paint roller down. i was feeling really energetic, to be honest. "No way, Jean. This is serious bussiness." He said, poking the set piece with his paint roller. I grabbed his paint roller from him and put it down. "Oh come on, you sexay thang!" Marco laughed and turned red. "Stoppit! Im gonna kill you!" I grabbed his hands and we danced until the song was over. "No more, Jean." Marco said as we walked back over. I was grinning and Marco was red. I grabbed my paint roller. "Whatever. I know you'll dance with me again if I ask. You're too nice." He picked up his own paint roller and rolled his eyes. "Sure, Jean." We started painting again. "You sexy thang." I said, then I laughed. "Stop!" Marco exclaimed. "Jean. Are you gonna do the thing?" Connie asked suddenly asked me. I frowned at him. Really? He needed to get over me asking Marco out. "I dont know." "You have to! Now! Go!" "No way, man! You're crazy." "What are you talking about?" Marco asked. "Nothing, Marco." I said, "Dont worry about it. Connie's just being annoying." "Hey!" Connie exclaimed. Marco shrugged, letting it go. "It's true!" I said to Connie. "Jerk." He responded. I wondered what Marco would even be doing for Christmas Break. "Marco." I said. "Huh?" He asked, looking at me. "What're you doing for Christmas break?" Hopefully. He looked at me owlishly before saying, "About that. Jean. Do you want to spend Christmas with me?" What? I stared at him. "Wait. What?" "I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, turning red. "I just thought that you might want to since you asked me about Thanksgiving! I just thought it would be-" "Marco. Relax." I interuppted, laughing a bit. Endearing. "Hell yes I want to go with you!" He sighed with releif. "Thank God..." "Screw my family. Your mom is boss." I said. "If you tell her about anything I wasnt supposed to do during highschool again, it will be worse than last time." He threatened. Was he serious? I just raised an eyebrow. "Marco... I dont mind if it gets worse than that." He turned redder. "W-What?" "Marco we nearly kissed. I dont mind." I said, turning back to the painting. "You didnt mind?" He said. I looked at him. He had his hand over his mouth. "No. I didnt." "W-What? I'm so confused..." I smirked and rolled my eyes. Who was the awkward one who didnt know what was going on at any time now? "Marco. You heard me." Without another word, Marco left to go get more paint. I sighed and just continued painting. "I'm gonna go help him." Connie sais, walking backstage. Maybe I went too far? Suddenly I heard Connie yell, "But he said he wouldnt mind kissing you!" Then I heard a loud clattering. Everyone on stage stopped what they were doing then Marco yelled, "Connie! Stop! Please! I'm just trying to-! Arrrgh!" Everyone, I realized, was now looking at me. "Well go on!" Sasha exclaimed, gesturing to the backstage door. "What about you?" I asked. "Connie can take care of himself. I rolled my eyes. Yeah right. I jogged into the doorway going backstage. "Everything alright?" I asked. "Yes, Jean. It's fine." Marco leaned down and picked up the paint tray. That must have been what was dropped. Then he set it on a table. "I'll just leave you two alone!" Connie exclaimed. "Connie!" Marco growled at him. Woah! That growl! Connie then ran out past me. Stupid Connie. I made his way over to Marco. "What's up with you?" I asked. Marco shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just... Thinking... That's all..." "... You know I love you, right, man?" I said. He nodded, turning red. I stepped closer to him. Maybe I could kiss him? "Jean... You're acting kind of strange." Marco said, interuppting my actions. Dammit. "I dont think I am." I disagreed. "Well you are." He then grabbed the paint tray and walked past me, back onto the stage. I sighed, following him back to the set peice to continue painting.

It was Sunday afternoon and we were all painting. Jaegar had been an idiot the whole time so we were arguing. When I decided that he deserved some gray paint on his face. So I grabbed two handfuls of the gray we were using for the hallway set piece and flung them at Eren. He closed his eyes and spit out paint as the handfuls hit his face. "Jean!" I heard Marco exclaim. I ignored him, laughing but that was short lived because Eren picked up the entire tray, dumping it on my head. What the fuck? Then I heard Reiner yell, "PAINT WAAARRR!" Then we all went insane! I just went for Eren with any paint I could find. He ran up to the second floor of the set and I came up behind me from the other staircase. I threw a ton of green paint at him and he fell the stairs. I laughed but stopped when Mikasa came over and threw blue paint at my face. Then Sasha threw red and green paint at me when I turned around. Seasonally appropriate. Well done, Sasha. It went on for a long while. I got a ton of paint on me and managed to get a ton of paint on a lot of other people. Eventually... We all calmed down... Then I suddenly noticed Marco. My eyes widened as I jumped down off of the second floor of the set and sprinted to the curtain controls where he was lying, unconscious, with red paint splatted down one half of his face. "Shit!" I yelled. Everyone froze, looking over. Then I knelt down in front of Marco. "M-Marco?" I said, shaking his shoulders. "Marco!" I knitted my eyebrows together. Marco opened his eyes a bit. Thank God. "Marco. Are you okay?" He stared at me for a second before blinking and shaking his head then flinching. He groaned in pain, closing his eyes tightly and reaching for his forehead. I grabbed his hand before it got there and knitted my eyebrows together even more. I felt faint myself. "Marco..." I said. Shit. He needed help. So I yelled over my shoulder, "Somebody go get help!" Reiner and Mikasa ran off. "What happened, Marco...?" I felt so stupid. I really should have stopped when he yelled my name... Or I shouldnt have even hit Eren with any paint to begin with. This was my fault. I just hoped Marco didn't have amnesia or some shit. Or a blood clot in his head that he was gonna die from in five hours. I felt like a fucking idiot. If anything, I should have protected him or stayed with him when it was happening. Goddammit... "How did I not notice sooner?" I said, "I mean... You were gone but... God I'm so stupid... Did anyone else see? Someone had to have seen... Somebody must have shoved you..." Then Marco let out a pained and scratchy, "Dont blame yourself..." I sighed a bit in relief. Thank God he could hear me and answer back. He opened his eyes and they went from focused to unfocused a couple of times. Shit he was hurt. He groaned. "Mikasa and Reiner went to get help..." I said. "Can you see me at all?" "Mhm..." He mumbled. "I'm probably covered in paint..." I said, "You didnt get very covered... But you managed to get red paint all down one side of your face..." I looked over my shoulder as Pixis and Shadis jogged over with Reiner and Mikasa trailing behind. I moved to the side, still gripping Marco's hand as the two professors knelt down near Marco. "Okay, Marco." Pixis said, "Let me see." Pixis lifted his head off of the curtain controls, feeling around his scalp, and looking for bumps. "Can you see?" Shadis asked. He nodded slightly. "Is it blurry?" He nodded slightly again. "It's getting better, though..." He mumbled. I smirked a bit at that. Overachiever. "Can you hear me?" "Yeah..." "Okay... You've got quite a bump..." Pixis said. "Are you feeling nauseated?" He shook his head. That was a good sign. "I think... I'm okay..." He said. Hell yes. "We'll figure out who shoved you, okay? I know there arent cameras, but we'll try and figure it out." Shadis said. But Marco shook my head and said, "No no... It's okay... They probably just did it in the craziness of the paint throwing... They probably didnt realize I'd get hurt... I dont want trouble..." Dammit, Marco... Shadis nodded and Pixis said, "Whatever you want, Marco." I squeezed his hand. Idiot. "Jean." Pixis said, looking at me. I straightened up. "Take Marco offstage and have him sit in an audience seat until he feels better." "Alright." I said. Shadis and Pixis moved then I helped him up and led him offstage and into a seat. He groaned, leaning his head back against the back of the seat. I sat next to him, still gripping his hand. "What happened...?" I asked again. "I dont remember..." He responded, I got blinded by paint... I dont remember if I was shoved or if I stumbled into the controls..." He couldnt have been shoved. "Marco. Somebody must have shoved you." He sighed softly. "I dont remember..."

I did not get back to work no matter how many times Pixis yelled at me and Marco said I should get back to work. I refused. And around 45 minutes before the shift was over, Marco still wasnt feeling perfectly better so I decided that maybe we should just go. So everyone wished us a good night and I drove us back to Coirtney. Marco just closed his eyes and relaxed as I drove. He was probably exhausted. When we reached Coirtney, I got out of the car and closed my door, immediately walking around to Marco's side. When he gotout and closed the door behind him, I locked the car and grabbed his hand and helped him to the dorm room. "You hungry?" I asked him as we went into the room. Then I remembered my wallet was in the car and I forgot it. Dammit. Marco shook his head a bit. "Okay... Well..." I said, "You should go shower. I left something in my car. Just... Relax." Then I headed out to the car, opening it and rbabing my wallet from inside just as Ymir's van pulled up and she and Christa got out. I closed the door again and locked he car. Ymir walked over to me. I looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She never talked to me. "Hey." She said. "Hi?" I responded. "I wanted to ask you about what happened to Marco a few days ago." What? I raised an eyebrow, "Care to clarify?" I asked. "When he was all messed up and looked like shit that one day last week." Right. His sister's birthday. "That happened a few days ago... Why are you bringing it up now?" "I havent gotton a chance to talk to you before now." She responded. Christa came up next to her. "What are you talking about?" "Look." I started, "Marco was just having a bad day. That's all. Some home stuff happened." It was silent then I started walking back to the dorm building when Ymir said, "It was his sister, right?" I stopped. "Something about his sister? Her deathiversary or something?" I turned back around. "Her birthday. " I said cautiously. "Oh poor Marco." Christa said, "Is he okay?" "He is now." I said. Then I noticed the shit eating grin on Ymir's face. I glared at her. "What?" I asked. "I was right. He and his family obsess about his sister." "Fuck you!" I yelled. "They do not! They just were celebrating her special day to honor her life! You wouldnt know or understand that kind of loss!" Ymir scowled. "You wouldnt know, either." She said. "You're right. I dont know that kind of loss but I have enough of a heart to understand that he and his family are extremely hurt!" I was so angry that I didnt notice Mikasa's car pulling up or any three of them getting out. "Well maybe they need to learn to get over it." She said. Oh fucking Hell no. I was shocked. Who was this bitch?! "You-! What?! How dare you?!" I got right in that idiot's face. "You bitch! I will fucking end you!" I spat at her. Ymir just took it, blank faced, which pissed me off even more. Then I felt someone pulling me away from her. "Jean stop!" Armin exclaimed. I looked and Eren had me in his grip. Oh Hell no. "Let me go, Jaegar!" But then I noticed that Eren had this expression that said "I might be slightly worried about you calm the fuck down." So I sighed. "Take deep breaths." Armin said. I looked back at Ymir and Mikasa was standing in front of her, talking to her about something. Eren let me go a bit. "What happened?" Armin asked me. "She was spouting shit about how Marco and his family are obsessed with his sister and him being so upset on her birthday last week was just proof." I growled. "Oh... Was that why Marco looked so sick that one day?" "Yes." I hissed. Armin sighed. "Just relax..." He said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I sighed, trying to relax. I took a few deep breaths and managed to relax a bit after a while. "Alright... Eren... You can let go..." Eren let my arms go and I sighed. Then Ymir and Christa walked past us and into the dorm building. Christa made this "Sorry" face at me as she passed. "Jean." Mikasa said, "Are you okay?" I nodded. "Is Marco okay?" She asked. I nodded again. "Yeah. He's alright. Thanks guys. Eren. For once." I said. Eren smirked a bit. I sighed. Then all four of us headed into the dorm building and parted ways as we got to our dorm floors and our rooms. I opened the dorm door and headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I was covered in paint. Then I walked back out and Marco was there, on his bed, looking at his phone. He looked up when I walked in. "Oh good. You're out." I said, smiling a bit and grabbing some boxers and sweat pants. Then heading to shower myself. I made sure to get all the paint off and I got dressed. I felt like a complete idiot… I'd forgotten my shirt. But. Maybe it would be better this way. I was beginning to understand that I had a problem… And maybe Marco could see that if I didn't have a shirt on. I looked at the scale and it took all my willpower to ignore it. I ripped my eyes away and went down the hall. I opened up the dorm room door and Marco looked up, turning red. Right. No shirt.

I went over to him and said, "Are you feeling better?" He nodded, biting his bottom lip. I half smiled, "Good." His face got redder. "Jean...?" He asked. "Hm?" I responded. Then he sat up and sighed, grabbing one of my hands. Oh shit. I got hot in the face and stared at him. "Jean... Do you... I really am in lo-" Someone banged on the door suddenly and Reiner boomed, "Marco are you okay?!" From outside. Marco groaned, letting go of my hand and flopping back down onto the bed. I frowned. Fucking dammit. I headed over to the door, opening it. Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie were there. Reiner looked me up and down then yelled, "Put on a shirt, man! Marco doesnt want that shit!" Thanks Reiner… Then they came in and went over to Marco. "Hey, man! You alright?" "Yeah. I'm doing alright." He smiled a bit and sat up. He was so nice. "Marco." Annie suddenly said. He looked at her. "I want to apologize. I'm the one who threw the paint at you, causing you to stumble and hit your head. So, I'm really sorry." What? Wait... What? Are you shitting me?! Stumbled?! Fucking bull! Marco just smiled at her. "It's okay, Annie." No way! I was not gonna let him be so fucking nice about this! "I'm alright." He continued, "I know it was probably just in the heat of the battle so-" "No fucking way!" I interuppted. They all looked at me. "Marco was shoved into those curtain controls! If he stumbled, he must have stumbled pretty damn hard into those controls to pass out and get a bump that big!" "J-Jean. It's okay!" Marco said. "No it's not!" Marco sighed and turned to Annie. "Annie." She looked at him and he smiled at her, "It's okay. I forgive you. Dont mind him." She nodded. "I'm glad you're okay." Then she walked out, Bertholdt and Reiner trailing behind. What the fuck?! I slammed the door behind them then turned to him, glaring. This idiot. "... What?" He asked. "Look. She shoved you! Marco you cant seriously believe that you stumbled, right? You cant be that dumb-" "Jean." He interuppted me, "I know. She shoved me." I stared at him. Why. I walked over to him quickly, "Well then what the fuck, Marco?! I'll hurt that bitch!" He just sighed. "Calm down. You dont understand." "No I dont! She lied!" He suddenly sat up more, grabbing my hands, and pulling me down to sit on his bed. "Listen. Whether it was in the heat of the paint war or whether she was aware of the shove, and whether she lied or not, I hate the idea of dwelling on things I dont find important. And I'm fine, Jean." He smiled at me. Dammit... This guy was amazing... I stared at him. "It's better to forgive." He finished. I sighed. He was so great... "... Are you even real?" I asked. He smirked. "No. This is all a dream. I'm really dead right now." I frowned, "Dont even joke about that. I would literally kill myself." "No you wouldnt." He said, smiling a bit more. "How do you know?" "Because you would know that I wouldnt be okay with you just up and killing yourself. Plus, I think that if I died, you'd become less of an idiot." I laughed. "Thanks, Marco. Your the best." He laughed a bit.

It felt like no time had passed then suddenly Christmas Break was in one day. The Christmas party was tonite at seven, in the commons building. The whole school would be there, as per usual. As it started getting closer to seven, Marco started getting ready. Nerd. "We should be fashionably late, Marco." I said, watching GMM on my phone. "Fashionably late isnt a thing." Marco said. When I looked at him, he was raising an eyebrow. "You just want to be lazy. Besides, nobody can be fashionably anything in these Christmas sweaters, as amazing as they are. Look! My snowman has a 3D nose!" He exclaimed, pinching the snowman nose poking out of the blue christmas sweater he was wearing. It was pretty amazing. And he was so endearing. I smirked at him. "C'mon. That's pretty cool!" He continued. I laughed. "Shut up, you nerd." "You should wear one!" He said, holding a Christmas sweater out that was green and had a gingerbread man on it whose gumdrop buttons were 3D. I yawned and got up. "I have a confession. I already own one and I was planning on wearing it so dont worry." He raised his eyebrows in shock. "Wow. Okay. Wasnt expecting that." "Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Because..." He said, smirking and walking over to me. Then he suddenly started flicking the earrings I had in my ear lobes. I smirked and smacked his hand away. "What? Thought I was too hardcore for that?" I asked. "No. I thought that YOU thought you were too hardcore for that." I laughed a bit. "No way! I'm fine with being a nerd every once in a while!" Marco laughed, "Am I a nerd?" "Of course, Marco." He rolled his eyes, grinning. "Thanks." I grinned back, "No problem." I got on my sweater soon enough. It was white with a Christmas tree on it and the ornaments were 3D. We waited until 7:45 to get going to the commons building. Then both of us headed out. The music was always slightly loud but when Marco opened the door to the building, he almost died. I just walked in past him. I waited for Marco to walk in behind me, and close the door then I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the snack table. "Are you gonna get drunk again?" He asked me over the music. I was not doing that again. Got in so much trouble last time that happened. I half smiled at him and shook my head. He smiled a bit back and we made our way over to the snack table. "Why are we here?" He asked me. "I wanted to talk to Connie and Sasha." As per usual, Sasha was lying on the snack table, eating everything and Connie was apologizing to anyone who wanted anything to eat. "Hey, dude!" I said, heading over to Connie. "Hey!" Connie exclaimed. "What's up? Where's Marco?" What? I looked behind myself. He wasnt there. Weird. I turned back to Connie. "Dunno. Must've headed off. Saw something shiny?" Connie grinned at that and I grinned back. "So. You guys are gonna spend Christmas together?" My face got a bit hot. "Yeah." I responded, "I'm planning on telling him my feelings then." "Thank God." Connie said. I smirked. "Dude!" Connie exclaimed, raising his eyebrows, "Marco was gonna get grabbed by someone. And there's still potential for that at any time when you arent with him." I nodded. I knew that. He was amazing and perfect and sweet as fuck. "Yeah yeah." I said. The music suddenly shut off. "Hello!" The dean, Erwin, suddenly said from the balcony, "I have an announcement to make!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. Then Connie pointed past my shoulder and said to me, "Marco's there!" I locked eyes with him and raised an eyebrow. Dafuq? He looked away. Then the dean started. "As you all know, we always get new students. From all different schools. However, this year, we have a student that has come a long way from his old schhool to be here." Then the dean grabbed Marco's arm and pulled him to the balcony railing. He was so red and it was cute. I grinned. "This is Marco Bodt. He came here for Mattheius University." There was a grumble of appreciation from everyone. "I encourage all of our freshman to be at his level by the time you are a junior." Marco smiled a bit. He deserved that praise. The dude was amazing. Then the dean patted his back. "That is all! Return to your party thing." Then he turned the music back on and put the microphone down. Everyone returned to what they were doing and I saw Marco and the dean head back downstairs. "That was odd." Connie said. I shrugged. "I think Marco deserved it. See ya, Connie. Gonna go talk to the man of the hour." I grinned as I walked towards where I saw Marco go to.

I saw him, eventually, and I walked over to him. "Dude what the Hell was that about?" I asked him. "He just wanted to tell the freshman about me, I suppose. He gave me the information and sign in sheets for a national art competition between colleges and universities here in te U.S." Wait... What? "What?" I raised an eyebrow, "But that's for seniors." "I know. That's what I said." He said. "Wow. That's pretty great, Marco." "I know. I may not do it, though." What?! I spluttered, "Are you stupid!? You have to do it!" He smirked a bit, "Maybe. We'll see." He said. I smirked right the fuck back. "I will make you do it!" I exclaimed. He laughed. "Okay, Jean." It was around nine when we decided to go. I managed to get in a few confrontations and almost a fist fight until Marco pulled him outside. "Jean! Look. You cant fight with everyone you see!" I frowned. "Seriously, Jean." He continued, raising his eyebrows at me. I sighed. "Marco... Can we just go? I'm actually not having a very good time." He nodded. "Yeah. We can go. I'm not having much fun, either. But, seriously, Jean. No fighting." "Marco. Who are you kidding? You know that I'm still gonna fight with people." Then I walked past him. Marco trudged through the snow after me. "We never had a snowball fight." I pointed out. "Maybe we can have one when we come back. It'll still be snowy then, right?" He said. "That's true. It will still be snowy." We made our way back to the dorm building, the music fading from our hearing. When we got to the lobby of the dorm building, everyone was there, as per usual every year. "Hey, guys!" Reiner exclaimed. "Hey." Marco said. "What're you all doing here?" "None of us hang out at that annual party for long." I explained. "It's never really that fun." "Hey guys! Guess what?" Sasha exclaimed, bouncing over to us. "I have a present for you." Marco smiled, "Really?" Yeah right. I wasnt convinced. "Yeah!" Sasha exclaimed, shoving mistletoe in our faces. I was actually wanting to kiss him but I couldnt do it. I was too embarassed to... So I literally karate chopped the mistletoe out of Sasha's hand. "No! I refuse! I didnt see anything!" I yelled. Then I ran into the lobby bathroom. Thing is, I actually did have to go to the restroom. So that's what I did. It was just a coincidence that I ran into the bathroom. Perfect! Then I washed my hands and when I came out, everyone stared at me. "... What?" I said. "Dont stare at me. That's weird." Then I went over to the couch and sat down. Marco came and sat down next to me. Then Sasha ran over, putting the mistletoe over our heads. I groaned. I couldnt do it. "Sasha..." "Oh come on!" Sasha exclaimed, "We all know you want to kiss this man!" She then ruffled Marco's hair. He smirked. Eren came over and took the mistletoe. "Oh come on, Sasha. Jean doesnt deserve to kiss someone as awesome as Marco. Plus, he's too chicken to do it." Oh fucking Hell no. My actions took over as I grabbed Marco's shoulders roughly. "Now hang on a second, Jea-" I cut him off by pressing my lips against his really hard. My face got really hot and Marco eventually pushed me away. "Jean!" Marco exclaimed. He was really red. I glared at Eren who was staring at us with wide eyes. So satisfying. Then everybody started cheering loudly. Then Marco suddenly got up and everyone stopped laughing and cheering. He looked horrified and took the steps two at a time to get to our dorm room. Eren yelled, "Good job, horseface! Look what you did!" What?! "You're the one who was taunting me, Jaegar!" I exclaimed. "Well Marco didnt deserve that! You just proved my point!" Dammit... He was right... "Well you're an idiot." Was my incredible response. As Eren was about to respond, Mikasa suddenly slapped him and flicked his nose. I laughed but that was short lived because she came over to me next, punching my mouth and slapping me and giving me a cut on my cheek by accident as she slapped me. Of course she was worse to me. I took it like a man. Then the guilt started stting in. I shouldnt have kissed Marco like that...

I went upstairs and went to the dorm room, opening the door. Marco was sitting on his bed and when he saw me, he sighed, putting his phone in his pocket. "Jean..." He said, heading into the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. I knew what to do. So I headed to my own bed and sat down. Marco came back in, dragging the stool from the bathroom which he set down in front of me then sat in. He opened the first aid kit and pulled out the disinfecting medical wipes which hurt like a fucking biiiiitttcchh. Marco sighed as he cleaned. Dammit. His breath smelled good. Not gonna lie. It was minty. It made sense. This dude flossed every time he ate and had, like, two mints after flossing. Like strong mints. Burn your tongue off strong mints. "Jean... You cant keep doing these things. My parents wont be impressed by your busted lip and this will not give them a good first impression." "Sorry, Marco..." I mumbled. "Apologize to my parents. Not me." "No..." I continued, "I'm sorry for kissing you like that... I really wanted to kiss you but..." I looked away, "I was too embarassed to do it in front of our friends so... When Eren said I couldnt do it, proving that I could was the perfect excuse..." "Jean..." He said. "Why are you so obsessed with kissing me?" I love you. But I didnt say that. I just shrugged, looking at him and saying, "I dont know. You're an attractive guy. I just want to." He turned red. "Well. Can I have a proper kiss, then?" He asked me. Holy shit... I half smiled, "Of course. But you have to get closer." I said. Oh man... What the Hell was I doing? Marco, to my surprise, scooted closer to me. Shit... I put my hand on Marco's jaw and leaned forwards. I was stupid. I pressed my lips against his and let my eyes close. Ow. I felt a random pain in my lip. Then I remembered my busted lip. Well, that was my own fault. I felt Marco's hands press down on the bed on either side of me and he leaned more into the kiss. I wasnt ready, to be honest. So I pulled away and opened my eyes. My face was so hot. Marco's eyes fluttered open. We were really close. Dammit, he had nice eyelashes. And his eyes were such a nice brown. I have a thing for brown eyes... Did I ever mention that? "That kinda hurt..." I said, smiling a bit. He smirked, "Gee. I wonder why. Mr. Busted lip." I smirked back. Then he kissed me again. Just for a second. But it was enough to make my face get hotter. Dammit... Then he slid his thumbs into the belt loops of my jeans, unexpectedly. My face got hotter, yet again. Fucking ridiculous. I had to ask him out now. I know I'd decided to do it during break but... "Marco..." I said, "Have you ever dated anyone before?" "Yeah... I've dated a few people..." He responded, "But not for long..." I nodded a bit, biting my lower lip. Then immediately letting it go because fucking ow. "So..." I continued, "What would you say if I asked you if you wanted to-" Someone knocked on the door and I growled. Marco just smirked a bit and stood, pulling his thumbs out of my belt loops. Him having to do that made me even angrier at whoever was knocking. He went and opened the door and it was Armin. "Hey." He said, "I just wanted to apologize for-... Am I interuppting something?" Marco was flushed as Hell and I knew that I was, too. "Yes!" I exclaimed. "Jean." Marco said, sighing. "It's fine, Armin. What is it?" "I wanted to apologize on behalf of Mikasa." Armin said to me, "She just was kind of done with you two arguing so that's why she attacked you guys. She didnt hurt you too bad right, Jean? You're okay?" "No! Im not okay! I was trying to tell Marco something!" I exclaimed. "He's fine. Dont worry, Armin." Marco said. Armin sighed in relief, "Okay. Thank you! I didnt mean to interrupt anything. So I'm sorry for that, too." "It's okay, Armin." Marco said. Stupid idiot kind amazing motherfucker. Marco started to close the door and he said, "Good night." "Good night, guys." Armin responded. Then he left and Marco closed the door all the way. I was fucking pissed. I didnt want that moment to end. "Jean. You need to relax." He said, grabbing the stool and closing the first aid kit, taking both into the bathroom. I lied down on my bed. When Marco cane out, he walked over to me. "Jean. What were you going to ask me?" He said. Dammit. I glanced at him, sighing, "Nervermind." He sat down on the bed. "Jean. Come on." He said, shaking my shoulder softly. "Please tell me." I pushed his hand away, sitting up. "Look. If I tell you, somebody's just gonna interuppt us, again. I'll tell you during the break, okay?" Marco sighed. "Just tell me now." "No." I said. He groaned.