The next day Pixis was telling us about some set pieces at a local theatre that needed to be painted and designed. We were required to go and help. The first two sessions were the next day from ten to one and from three to eight. We only had Hanji's class on Tuesdays and Thursdays from ten to twelve. And Pixis' class was from seven to nine everyday. Then the afternoon class was from four to seven on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. We each got a pair of coveralls. And were expected to be there the next day.
I got to the theatre and the only people who were there were Pixis, obviously, Armin, Bertholdt, Annie, Christa, and Ymir(who was dragged along). And me. As we were starting to paint, I called Jean. He left class early and wasnt in the dorm when I got there so I assumed he was already here but he wasnt. Jean answered with a, "What?" "Get your ass down here, horseface." I said. He laughed, "No way! Boring." "Jean plleeaasee..." I heard him sigh then go silent. Then I heard a boop boop. He hung up! I gasped a bit and called him again, offended. He answered with, "What?!" "JEAN!" Jean laughed. "Please dont leave me alone..." "Armin and Bert should be there." "They are but I want you to be down here..." Jean was silent then he said, "Fine..." "Yay! Thank you!" Jean grumbled something that sounded like, "You're lucky I love you..." But he hung up before I could ask him what exactly he said. I turned and Ymir was right there. I jumped and yelped, genuinely horrified, putting a hand on my chest. "You scared me!" "Did you just get Jean to come down here?" "Y-Yes. Why?" Ymir made a face, "Because he's gonna force everyone else to come." "That's good then!" I exclaimed. "No it's not! None of them ever work! They all just dance around to Pixis' music he has playing and paint dicks everywhere." I smirked. "I'm sure they wouldnt leave the dicks." "They would. It happened last performance when we were asked to paint a set. Reiner and Jean painted dicks on the entire back of a set peice that was meant to be a prison wall and it showed up on opening night like that. We had to come to the theatre that night and fix it and guess who didnt show up? Jean and Reiner." "Well I'm here now." I said. "So don't worry." Ymir sighed and shrugged, then headed back to her station with Christa. I was the only person that Pixis assigned to a certain important set peice. I dont know why he trusted that I'd get it done... It was a big hallway piece that stretched all the way across the stage and showed up multiple times during the production. I sighed as I started to paint it. After around thirty minutes of painting this thing a deep red color, the door across the theatre opened and Reiner came in followed by Connie, Sasha, Jean, Mikasa, and Eren. Eren looked extremely displeased. They were all wearing their coveralls and they jumped up on stage. I smiled at Jean as he walked over to me. "Hey." I said. He sighed. "Hi, Marco." I set my paint roller down. "Thank you for coming!" I held my arms out to him. He hugged me and I hugged him back. Suddenly I heard someone yell, "YAYAYAYAYA!" Then Jean was shoved into me with a loud and pained sound and we both fell. I yelped as I slid across the tarp a bit with Jean on me. Eren grabbed the back of Jean's coveralls, pulling him onto his feet. I barely had any time to recover before I realized what was happening and jumped up. "Why did you have to remind us about this shit, horseface?!" Eren yelled, holding onto Jean's collar and shaking him. Jean punched Eren across the jaw and Eren let him go immediately. Then Eren did something I'd never seen. He did this move where he grabbed Jean's arm and put his other hand on Jean's collarbone, then he kicked Jean's leg, causing him to fall flat. Mikasa rushed over and grabbed Eren. "Eren! You idiot!" Jean did not deserve that... Jean attempted to stand but his leg gave out again. I felt really territorial at that moment and I was about to give Eren the what for when a man I had never seen before said, "Are you all okay? I heard a loud noise!" From next to Pixis. We were all silent as I helped Jean up. Jean must've been in a lot of pain from that kick because he held onto me pretty tightly. "Sasha farted." Mikasa suddenly said. "Whaaaaaaat?!" Sasha yelled. "It's always Sasha..." The man said, going backstage with Pixis. "Nooooo! Mikasa whyyy!" Sasha exclaimed. "Who is that guy who was asking us what that noise was?" I asked Jean. "That's Shadis. He's one of the freshman teachers. We all had him when we were newbs at this school." I was worried about his leg. "Are you okay...?" I asked him. "Yeah. I'll be fine. He's done that to me before." "Okay... So I can let go of you?" Jean half smiled at me, "If you want to." I felt my face get hot and I let him go. He stood up straight and turned to the set piece I was working on. "So. What're we doing?" "We're painting this set peice to look like a hallway. I made a plan." I said, handing him a peice of paper that had a rough sketch, with color, of what I thought it should look like. "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." I said to all of them. They looked at me. "No dicks." They all groaned. "But Macckkkooo..." Jean whined. I smirked. "No." He sighed then the three of them went to get paint rollers.
We were about halfway through painting the set peice red when the song You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate came on. We all stopped because... This was Pixis' music. 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. I turned red. "Why does he have thiisss...?" I asked. Jean was cracking up then he turned to me. "We should dance." He put his paint roller down. "No way, Jean. This is serious bussiness." I poked the set piece with my paint roller. Jean grabbed my paint roller and put it down. Then he said, "Oh come on, you sexay thang!" I laughed. "Stoppit! Im gonna kill you!" Jean grabbed my hands and I caught a glimpse of Connie and Sasha. They had these, "Really?" faces on. I humoured Jean and danced with him until the song ended. Then I went back to the set peice, smiling, and probably very red. "No more, Jean." Jean walked back over, grinning, and he was pink. He grabbed his paint roller. "Whatever. I know you'll dance with me again if I ask. You're too nice." I picked up my own paint roller and rolled my eyes. "Sure, Jean." We started painting again. "You sexy thang." Jean said, then he laughed. "Stop!" I exclaimed. But I was really amused. "Jean. Are you gonna do the thing?" Connie asked him. Jean frowned at him. "I dont know." "You have to! Now! Go!" "No way, man! You're crazy." "What are you talking about?" I asked. "Nothing, Marco." Jean said, "Dont worry about it. Connie's just being annoying." "Hey!" Connie exclaimed. I shrugged, tuning them out. I started thinking that I really needed to ask Jean out. I would ask him to come home with me over the Christmas break, for sure. I would ask later on nearer to that time. "Marco." Jean said, pulling me put pf my thoughts. "Huh?" I asked, looking at him. "What're you doing for Christmas break?" Hopefully. You... Maybe I'd ask now if he wanted to come home with me. "About that. Jean. Do you want to spend Christmas with me?" He stared at me. "Wait. What?" "I'm sorry!" I exclaimed. "I just thought that you might want to since you asked me about Thanksgiving! I just thought it would be-" "Marco. Relax." He laughed a bit. "Hell yes I want to go with you!" I sighed with relief. "Thank God..." "Screw my family. Your mom is boss." "If you tell her about anything I wasn't supposed to do during highschool again, it will be worse than last time." Jean raised an eyebrow. "Marco... I don't mind if it gets worse than that." I turned red. "W-What?" "Marco we nearly kissed. I don't mind." He said, turning back to his painting but going dark pink. I put a hand over my mouth... He didn't mind? I felt my face get even hotter. "You didn't mind?" He looked at me. "No. I didnt." "W-What? I'm so confused..." He smirked and rolled his eyes. "Marco. You heard me." I was so confused... I took the paint almost being gone as an excuse to leave and go get more. I was filling up the tray when Connie came in. "So." He said. "You gonna ask him out now?" I was still feeling really flushed. "Leave me alone, Connie. I don't know." "But he said he wouldn't mind kissing you!" He suddenly yelled. I jumped a bit, dropping the paint tray. "Connie! Stop! Please! I'm just trying to-! Arrrgh!" Connie backed up. I sighed. "I'm sorry, Connie. I'm just not in the mood right now." Jean jogged into the doorway. "Everything alright?" I sighed. "Yes, Jean. It's fine." I picked up the tray and set it on a table. "I'll just leave you two alone!" Connie exclaimed. "Connie!" I growled at him. He ran out past Jean. Jean made his way over to me. "What's up with you?" He asked. I shook my head. "Nothing. I'm just... Thinking... That's all..." "... You know I love you, right, man?" He said. I nodded, feeling my face get hot. Jean stepped closer to me. "Jean... You're acting kind of strange." "I dont think I am." He disagreed. "Well you are." I grabbed the paint tray and walked past him, back onto the stage. Jean followed me back to the set peice and we continued painting.
It was Sunday afternoon. It was four. We were all painting. When someone threw paint. Eren and Jean had been bickering the whole time and I was just tuning them out until Jean grabbed two hands full of the grey paint we were using and flung them at Eren. They hit him right in the face and he closed his eyes, spitting out paint. I gasped. "Jean!" Eren grabbed the grey paint tray and dumped it on Jean. "PAINT WAAARRR!" Reiner yelled, throwing green paint at Annie. She immediately flung paint back. Then everyone went insane, tossing paint everwhere. I got hit by one or two handfuls of paint. But only on my coveralls, thank goodness. I managed to hit some people but the paint was getting all over the set and I did not approve! Armin appeared not to approve, as well. He was guarding his set piece with his body. I saw Connie literally jump onto Reiner from the top of the set with a scream and Eren fell down a few steps on the set stairs. I slowly backed up nearer to backstage as the war continued. I coulnt tell who anyone was, anymore. There was paint all over everything. On the floor, the set, everyone, and everything! Suddenly, I saw a flash of blonde hair with green and blue paint coming for me out of the corner of my eye and I didnt have time to react as I was blinded by red paint and shoved into the mechanisms for the curtains. My head hit something extremely hard and metal and I felt myself fall as I drifted out of consciousness, slowly losing the sounds ofthe paint war. See. This is what happens. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt! It felt like I was out for a long time before I heard Jean saying from far away, "M-Marco?" "Marco!" And I felt hands on my shoulders, shaking me. I saw light coming back to me and when I opened my eyes, it was blurry. I felt dizzy and my head was throbbing. "Marco. Are you okay?" Jean's voice sounded far away. I managed to focus for a few seconds on Jean before it became blurry again. He was covered in all kinds of different colored paint. I blinked and shook my head, flinching when the throbbing got worse. I groaned in pain, closing my eyes tightly and reaching for my forehead. Jean grabbed my hand before it got there, though. "Marco..." I heard him say. Then I heard him yell behind himself, "Somebody go get help!" I heard quick footsteps in the distance but Jean stayed holding onto my hand. "What happened, Marco...?" I couldnt remember... Somebody shoved me...? Or maybe I was hit with paint and stumbled...? "How did I not notice? 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..." It wasnt Jean's fault that I got hurt... I opened my mouth to speak and managed a pained and far away sounding, "Dont blame yourself..." Jean sighed a bit. I heard ringing in my ears and thought that maybe I would try to open my eyes again. When I did, it was less blurry, but my head felt terrible. Jean was staring at me, with an extremely worried expression on his face. I could only focus on him. Everything behind him was completely blurry. I managed a groan. "Mikasa and Reiner went to get help..." He said. "Can you see me at all?" I managed a, "Mhm..." "I'm probably covered in paint... You didnt get very covered... But you managed to get red paint all down one side of your face..." Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching and Jean looked over his shoulder then moved to the side, still gripping my hand as Pixis and that Shadis teacher came into view. "Okay, Marco." Pixis said, "Let me see." Pixis lifted my head off of whatever it was leaning on and felt around my scalp, looking for bumps, I supposed. "Can you see?" Shadis asked me. I managed a slight nod. "Is it blurry?" I nodded slightly again. But I could see a lot clearer than before. "It's getting better, though..." I mumbled. "Can you hear me?" "Yeah..." "Okay... You've got quite a bump..." Pixis said. "Are you feeling nauseated?" I shook my head. I was feeling less and less dizzy. "I think... I'm okay..." I said. Nobody sounded like they were underwater anymore. "We'll figure out who shoved you, okay? I know there aren't cameras, but we'll try and figure it out." Shadis said. I shook my head. "No no... It's okay... They probably just did it in the craziness of the paint throwing... They probably didn't realize I'd get hurt... I dont want trouble..." Shadis nodded and Pixis said, "Whatever you want, Marco." I felt Jean squeeze my hand. "Jean." Pixis said, looking over at him, "Take Marco offstage and have him sit in an audience seat until he feels better." "Alright." Jean said. Shadis and Pixis moved out of my view and Jean came into it, still looking very worried, then helped me up and led me offstage and into a seat. I groaned, leaning my head back against the back of the seat. Jean sat next to me, still gripping my hand. "What happened...?" He asked me. "I don't remember... I got blinded by paint... I don't remember if I was shoved or if I stumbled into the controls..." "Marco. Somebody must have shoved you." I sighed softly. "I dont remember..."
It was a little while until I felt any better and people came to make sure I was alright. No matter how many times Pixis yelled at Jean to get back to work, he stayed sitting next to me holding my hand. I didn't mind the hand holding. When it was around 45 minutes until the end of the shift, I was still feeling a bit dizzy so Jean decided to take me back to Coirtney and everyone wished me a good night. I was too exhausted to care about the stress of the car. When we got back to Coirtney, I could pretty much walk on my own. Jean still helped me, through, lacing his fingers with mine. He helped me to our dorm. "You hungry?" He asked me. I shook my head a bit. "Okay... Well... You should go shower. I left something in my car. Just... Relax." I nodded. Then Jean let my hand go and headed out. I sighed and took off my jacket, scarf, shoes, and gloves, then taking my phone out of my pocket and setting it on the side table. I made my way to the shower area down the hall, grabbing a towel. I looked in the mirror and, as Jean said, I managed to get red paint down one side of my face. I smirked a bit as I got into the shower, making sure to get the paint washed off. I was in there for a while, trying to remember what happened. In the end, though, I couldn't recall who it was but I did decide that there's no way I could have stumbled because I fell very hard. Somebody had to have shoved me in order for me to have fallen so hard as to pass out and be dizzy. When I was done, I wrapped the towel around my waist and grabbed the clothes I had taken off. Then I made my way back to the dorm, opening the door. Jean was there but he was, thankfully, in the bathroom. So I quickly put on a pair of underwear, my blue night pants and a grey t-shirt then I put my dirty clothes and towel in my hamper. I also set my coveralls down on my desk. I got into bed, grabbing my cell phone. Jean came out of the bathroom, then, carrying out his coveralls and wearing his jeans and black t-shirt. His face and hair still covered in paint. "Oh. Good. You're out." He smiled at me and I smiled back. He set his coveralls down on his bed and grabbed some clothes. Leaving the room to take a shower, I assumed. I was correct in my guessing. Considering when he came back, his hair was wet. I looked up from my phone when he came in. He was paint free and had sweat pants on. But no shirt. I felt my face get hot. He dried his hair with the towel before tossing it and his clothes from that day into his clothes hamper. I knew he wasnt a bulky guy so how slim he was was no surprise but I wasnt expecting the no shirt thing.
Jean came over to me. "Are you feeling better?" I nodded, biting my lip. He needed to put a shirt on. I couldnt handle this. Jean half smiled, "Good." Screw this guy! I felt my face get hotter. I wish I could screw him... I needed to ask him out. Now! "Jean...?" I asked. "Hm?" He responded. I sat up and sighed, grabbing one of his hands. He turned a bit pink and stared at me. "Jean... Do you... I really am in lo-" Someone banged on the door suddenly and Reiner boomed, "Marco are you okay?!" From outside. I groaned, letting go of Jean's hand and flopping back down onto the bed. Jean frowned and headed over to the door, opening it. I heard Reiner yell, "Put on a shirt, man! Marco doesnt want that shit!" Then he came in and came over to me followed by Annie and Bertholdt. "Hey, man! You alright?" "Yeah. I'm doing alright." I smiled a bit and sat up. "Marco." Annie suddenly said. I 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." I blinked a bit, processing what she had said. Then I realized. Oh! She threw the paint. I stumbled? No... That's not right... I couldnt have fallen so hard as to pass out. I smiled at her. "It's okay, Annie. I'm alright. I know it was probably just in the heat of the battle so-" "No fucking way!" Jean suddenly exclaimed. We all looked at him. "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!" I said. "No it's not!" I sighed. "Annie." She looked at me and I smiled, "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. Jean slammed the door behind them then turned to me, glaring. "... What?" I asked. "Look. She shoved you! Marco you cant seriously believe that you stumbled, right? You cant be that dumb-" "Jean." I interupted, "I know. She shoved me." Jean stared at me before walking over to me quickly, "Well then what the fuck, Marco?! I'll hurt that bitch!" I sighed. "Calm down. You don't understand." "No I dont! She lied!" I sat up more, grabbed Jean's hands, pulling him down to sit on the 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 don't find important. And I'm fine, Jean." I smiled at him. He just kept staring at me, "It's better to forgive." I finished. Jean sighed. "... Are you even real?" He asked. I smirked. "No. This is all a dream. I'm really dead right now." Jean frowned, "Don't even joke about that. I would literally kill myself." "No you wouldn't." I said, smiling a bit more. "How do you know?" "Because you would know that I wouldn't be okay with you just up and killing yourself. Plus, I think that if I died, you'd become less of an idiot." Jean laughed. "Thanks, Marco. You're the best." I laughed a bit.
It was weeks later and Christmas Break was in one day. The Christmas party was this evening at seven, in the commons building. The whole school was invited so it definately would be a good oppourtunity to make some more friends. As it started getting closer to seven, I started getting ready. "We should be fashionably late, Marco." Jean said, watching something on his phone. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Fashionably late isnt a thing. 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!" I exclaimed, pinching the snowman nose poking out of my blue christmas sweater. Jean smirked at me. "C'mon. That's pretty cool!" I continued. Jean laughed. "Shut up, you nerd." "You should wear one!" I said, holding a Christmas sweater out that was green and had a gingerbread man on it whose gumdrop buttons were 3D. Jean yawned and got up. "I have a confession. I already own one and I was planning on wearing it so dont worry." What? Really? "Wow. Okay. Wasnt expecting that." I said. "Why?" Jean asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "Because..." I said, smirking and walking over him then flicking the earrings he has in his ear lobes. He smirked and smacked my hand away. "What? Thought I was too hardcore for that?" He asked. "No. I thought that you thought you were too hardcore for that." He laughed a bit. "No way! I'm fine with being a nerd every once in a while!" I laughed, "Am I a nerd?" "Of course, Marco." I rolled my eyes, grinning. "Thanks." He grinned back, "No problem." Jean got his sweater on soon enough. It was white with a Christmas tree on it and the ornaments were 3D. I was really glad that he could be so nerdy with me! To be nice, I waited with him until 7:45 to get going to the commons building. Then both of us headed out. We could hear the music coming from the commons building quite a ways away and when I opened the door to the building, my ears almost died. Jean didnt seem affected as he walked in past me. I walked in behind him, closing the door behind me. Jean grabbed my arm and led me through the crowd. "Are you gonna get drunk again?" I asked him over the music. He half smiled at me and shook his head. I smiled a bit back and we made our way over to the snack table. "Why are we here?" I asked him. "I wanted to talk to Connie and Sasha." Then I realized. Sasha was basically lying on the snack table, eating everything in sight and Connie was apologizing to anyone who wanted anything to eat. "Hey, dude!" Jean said, heading over to Connie. I figured that I'd let them talk and I headed away to explore. I approached an area that wasnt so loud. I suddenly felt someone grab the back of my sweater and I turned to find the dean, Erwin, standing right there. "Marco Bodt! I've been meaning to meet you! I'm Erwin, dean of Coirtney!" He held his hand out to me and I smiled a bit nervously, shaking his hand. "I know who you are, sir." "Oh please. Call me Erwin. Come on. I want to introduce you to the school. Some of our freshman dont exactly understand what a great artist you are and that where you came from is an extremely hard school to be accepted to." Oh man... I didnt want attention. But I couldnt disagree with this man. So I nodded, still feeling really nervous. Then we headed up the stairs and over to the balcony on the second floor looking out over the first floor. The balcony was also where the source of music was coming from. Erwin turned it off. Now I felt really nervous. Erwin grabbed the microphone and made sure it was on before saying into it, "Hello! I have an announcement to make!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. I saw Jean and Connie looking over then Connie saw me and pointed at me, saying something to Jean. Jean and I locked eyes and he raised an eyebrow. I looked away. Then Erwin 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 school to be here." Then Erwin grabbed my arm and pulled me to the balcony railing. I felt like I was about to die. "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." My face was definitely red. I sighed softly, smiling a bit. Then Erwin patted my 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 Erwin led me back downstairs. "So," He started, turning to me, "What made you want to switch schools?" "Oh. Yes. I've always liked smaller schools better. The professors can help more than at large school like Mattheius. And I needed guidance with my technique. Mattheius couldn't provide that." Erwin nodded. "Very smart. I've seen your work and I would like you to sign up for the schools' competition against the other colleges and universities in the country." "But... That's a competition for the seniors..." "I know it is. Here." Then he opened his messenger bag and pulled out a folder, opening it and pulling out a packet of paper then handing it to me. "This has all the information and sign up sheets for the competition. Just turn this in when you come back from Christmas break and then you'll be in." "T-Thank you, sir!" I exclaimed, smiling and folding up the papers then putting them in my pocket. Erwin smiled and patted my shoulder before heading away, closing his messenger bag as he went.
Jean came over to me. "Dude what the Hell was that about?" He asked me. "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." "What?" Jean raised an eyebrow, "But that's for seniors." "I know. That's what I said." I told Jean. "Wow. That's pretty great, Marco." "I know. I may not do it, though." Jean spluttered, "Are you stupid!? You have to do it!" I smirked a bit, "Maybe. We'll see." I said. He smirked back, "I will make you do it!" He exclaimed. I laughed. "Okay, Jean." It was around nine when Jean and I decided that we werent having the best time. I barely even got to speak to anyone and the music was really loud. And Jean managed to get in a few confrontations and almost a fist fight until I pulled him outside. "Jean! Look. You cant fight with everyone you see!" Jean frowned at me. "Seriously, Jean." I continued, raising my eyebrows at him. Jean sighed. "Marco... Can we just go? I'm actually not having a very good time." I 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 he walked past me. I smirked, trudging through the snow after him. "We never had a snowball fight." Jean pointed out. I smiled, "Maybe we can have one when we come back. It'll still be snowy then, right?" "That's true." He said, "It will still be snowy." We made out way back to the dorm building, the music fading from our hearing. When we got to the lobby of the dorm building, we found that the entire squad was there. Connie, Sasha, Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Ymir. Everybody was there. "Hey, guys!" Reiner exclaimed. "Hey." I said. "What're you all doing here?" "None of us hang out at that annual party for long." Jean said. "It's never really that fun." "Hey guys! Guess what?" Sasha exclaimed, bouncing over to us. "I have a present for you." I smiled, "Really?" Jean didn't look convinced. "Yeah!" Sasha exclaimed, shoving mistletoe in our faces. Jean literally karate chopped the mistletoe out of Sasha's hand. "No! I refuse! I didn't see anything!" Then he ran into the lobby bathroom. I laughed. Sasha laughed, too. "Sorry, Marco. I guess you aren't getting a kiss." My face got hot and I smiled and shrugged, "That's alright." "Oh I'm sure you guys are gonna kiss at some point this evening!" Reiner exclaimed. I felt my face get even hotter. "And we'll make it happen if you dont do it on your own." "You dont have to-" "We will!" Sasha suddenly exclaimed. I smirked. Jean came out of the bathroom then and everyone looked at him. "... What?" He said. "Dont stare at me. That's weird." He then went over to the couch and sat down. I smirked and walked over, sitting down next to him. Then Sasha ran over, putting the mistletoe over our heads. Jean groaned, "Sasha..." "Oh come on!" Sasha exclaimed, "We all know you want to kiss this man!" She then ruffled my hair. I smirked. Eren came over and took the mistletoe. "Oh come on, Sasha. Jean doesn't deserve to kiss someone as awesome as Marco. Plus, he's too chicken to do it." Oh crap. Jean grabbed my shoulders roughly. "Now hang on a second, Jea-" I was cut off by Jean's lips pressing against mine really hard. I hated that he had to have something to prove in order to do this. My face got really hot and I pushed Jean away after I composed myself. "Jean!" I exclaimed. He was really pink and he glared at Eren who was staring at us with wide eyes. Then everybody started cheering loudly. Oh my God I was literally dying of embarrassment! I had to get out of there! Jean was an idiot! I got up and everyone stopped laughing when they saw me. I dont know what expression I had on my face but I got out of there! I took the steps two at a time to get to the floor with mine and Jean's dorm room on it. I heard from behind me, "Good job, horseface! Look what you did!" Then, "You're the one who was taunting me, Jaegar!" I sighed and made my way to the dorm, opening the door. I felt awful for some reason. Not because I did anything wrong, just because I felt bad. My stomach felt like it was doing summersaults and my head was throbbing. Anxiety. I closed the door behind me and sat on my bed, pulling my phone out of my pocket and texting Thomas and Mina what happened. Mina responded after a bit with, "It sounds like he was embarassed to kiss you under mistletoe so he needed the kind of push that this Eren guy gave him in order to get the morivation to kiss you. Just talk to the guy." I sighed. She was right. I texted back with, "Alright. I'll keep you guys posted." Then Thomas came into the group chat with, "Yeah. What Mina said. Good luck." I smirked.
Jean opened the door to the dorm and he was still pink. "H-Hey." He said. Then I noticed that he had a black eye and some cuts. One on the bridge of his nose and the other on his chin. Great. "Jean..." I sighed, putting my phone in my pocket and standing up. Jean came in, closing the door behind him. I went into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit. When I came back in, Jean was sitting on his bed. He obviously knew the protocol by now. I pulled the wooden stool in our bathroom over in front of where Jean was sitting and sat down in it to get on his level so I could tend his cuts easier. I cleaned his wounds and he did not enjoy the disinfecting medical wipes as they stung. I went over his black eye with one, as well, just in case there were any cuts I didnt see around it. I sighed. "Jean... You cant keep doing these things. My parents wont be impressed by your black eye and this will not give them a good first impression." "Sorry, Marco..." He mumbled. "Apologize to my parents. Not me." "No..." He continued, "I'm sorry for kissing you like that... I really wanted to kiss you but... 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 to do it..." Mina was right. Of course. I felt my face get hot. He wanted to kiss me. Jean was looking away and he was pink. I gulped. "Jean..." He didnt look at me, "Why are you so obsessed with kissing me?" Jean shrugged, looking at me, "I dont know. You're an attractive guy. I just want to." I felt my face get hotter as I applied band-aids to Jean's cuts. "Well. Can I have a proper kiss, then?" I asked him. He half smiled, "Of course." Oh God... Was he actually gonna kiss me again? "But you have to get closer." I gulped and scooted closer to him. If Connie and Sasha ever found out about this, they would kill us for still not going out. Jean put a hand on my jaw and before I knew it, his lips were pressed against mine. I let my eyes flutter closed and I let a breath out of my nose, relaxing. I leaned closer and placed my hands on the bed on either side of him. Then he pulled away from the kiss, but he was still so close that our noses could touch if either of us shifted at all. I opened my eyes and Jean was looking at me, extremely pink. This was the first time I'd seen his eyes close up and they were gorgeous. Amber with a yellowy orange undertone. Way more exciting than my brown eyes. "That kinda hurt..." He said, smiling softly. I smirked, "Gee. I wonder why. Mr. Busted lip." Then I kissed him again, just for a brief moment and hooked my thumbs into his jean belt loops at his hips. He turned pinker. "Marco..." He said, "Have you ever dated anyone before?" "Once..." I responded, "But not for long..." He nodded a bit, biting his lower lip. "So..." He continued, "What would you say if I asked you if you wanted to-" Someone knocked on the door and Jean growled. I smirked a bit and stood, pulling my thumbs out of his belt loops. I went and opened the door. Armin was there. "Hey." He said, "I just wanted to apologize for-... Am I interrupting something?" I was probably really flushed and I knew that Jean was, for sure. "Yes!" Jean exclaimed. "Jean." I said, sighing. "It's fine, Armin. What is it?" Armin made an "I'm so sorry" face. Then he said, "I wanted to apologize on behalf of Eren. He was being an idiot. He didn't hurt you too bad right, Jean? You're okay?" "No! Im not okay! I was trying to tell Marco something!" Jean exclaimed. I smirked. "He's fine. Don't worry, Armin." Armin sighed in relief, "Okay. Thank you! I didnt mean to interrupt anything. So I'm sorry for that, too." "It's okay, Armin." I said, smiling and starting to close the door, "Good night." I said. "Good night, guys." Then he left and I closed the door all the way. Jean looked unamused. "Jean. You need to relax." I grabbed the stool and closed the first aid kit, taking both into the bathroom and putting them into their respective spots. When I came back out, Jean was lying down on his bed. I went over to him. "Jean. What were you going to ask me?" Jean looked at me for a brief second. Then he sighed, "Nervermind." I sat down on the bed. "Jean. Come on." I said, shaking his shoulder softly. "Please tell me." He pushed my hand away, sitting up. "Look. If I tell you, somebody's just gonna interuppt us, again. I'll tell you during the break, okay?" I sighed. "Just tell me now." "No." I groaned. He was a jerk.