On Christmas Eve, Lunetta was, literally, flipping out. And, what was even better, was that Marco's grandparents on his dad's side came in. Plus, his uncle on his dad's side came in with his two little boys. Marco's grandparents were nice people. His grandmother was short with a grey bun atop her head, brown eyes, and light skin. His grandfather was a tall man with grey hair and a very receeding hairline and hazel eyes. His other uncle was short and had light brown, almost blonde, hair and hazel eyes. His two little boys, who were nine, were twins with blue eyes and shaggy dirty blonde hair. I was to call Marco's grandparents, grandma and grandpa. His uncle's name was Roger and the boys were Noah and Jonas. This addition of children did not help Lunetta's freaking out. All three of them were fucking obsessed with Christmas and they jumped around nonstop. Marco and I decided that we would go take a walk. So we pulled on our jackets, shoes, gloves, and scarfs. Marco put on earmuffs and I pulled on my green beanie with snowflakes on it. When we walked out and Marco closed the door behind us, we both breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh my God your cousins are insane..." I said, walking down the porch steps. Marco laughed and followed me, "I know." He said as we stepped onto the sidewalk and started walking, side by side. "But they're cute." He finished. I smirked, "Yeah. Cute." Marco laughed at that. "Hey!" He said. I grinned at him. "I like how your family yells at eachother in italian." Marco grinned. "Yeah. My poor grandparents that are here dont know the language, though. So they're always so confused." We both laughed. "Jean. Do you speak any other languages?" He asked me. "French. It came in handy when I had to have a foreign language class. I'm fluent in it so I just picked French and made a C in the class, overall." Marco laughed at that. "Why did you make a C?" I grinned. "I didnt do anything, that's why. What did you make in your foreign language class?" Marco smirked at me, "I was valedictorian, Jean. I got all A's every year." "Well find then Mr. Smartypants." Marco laughed a bit. "Man..." I said, "Mattheius must be missing you. You were good for their school." Marco smirked. "Right..." He said. My hands were freezing off. My stupid gloves were shit. I blew into my hands and rubbed them together then shoved them into my pockets. "Are your hands cold?" Marco asked me. "Yeah. My gloves suck." Marco then held his hands our to me. I raised an eyebrow and gave him my hands. We were still walking so it must have looked really awkward. Marco held my hands in his own and I smirked. "Thanks." I said. We reached the end of the sidewalk on this dead end street. "Why are we here?" I asked. "C'mon." He said, letting my hands go and trudging through te snow to the metal fence blocking us from the hill on the other side. I raised an eyebrow and followed him. "My friends and I used to come to this hill all the time. There's a giant tree on the otherside that we would always climb." He said as he climbed up the gate and landed on the otherside. All I could think about was how agile he was. He made it over that fence in thirty seconds. I sighed. "Come on." He said, smiling at me. "I dont know about this. I'll probably break myself or the fence." I climbed up the fence shakily. Not fun. Then I jumped down, nearly breaking my legs and landing on my ass. Marco helped me up. "You alright?" He asked. I brushed myself off. "Yeah. I'm cool." "You arent cool, Jean. But I'm glad you're alright." He said, walking past me and towards the hill. I smirked, balling up a snowball and throwing it at Marco. It hit him on the back of the head and he jerked around to look at me, nearly tripping. I half smiled, crossing my arms. "Oh. Really? It's like that?" He said, leaning down and bunching up some snow together. "Dont you dare." I warned. Marco just grinned, throwing the snowball. I tried to get out of the way but he had a good arm. It hit me right in the face. He cracked up as I wiped my face. Oh he was dead. I started heading up the hill after the brunette. "Stay away!" He exclaimed, running up the remainder of the hill and disapearing on the other side. I smirked. He was ridiculous. I made my way up the hill and when I was at the top and saw what was below me, I was taken aback. There was untouched snow, and a lot of it, covering the ground as far as I could see. And there was a huge tree. At first I wondered where Marco was because I didnt see him but then I saw the footprints. They led straight to the tree and I saw him standing behind the trunk. Idiot. I half smiled, rolling my eyes and making my way over to the tree. "Marco. Seriously? This was your hiding spot?" I walked around the trunk and was immediately covered in a ton of snow that was randomly thrown at me. It surprised me so much that I fell down. "OOMPH!" Marco laughed and stood over me. "My God!" I yelled. Marco was just laughing his ass off. I stood up, taking his unfocused state as an advantage. I noticed the snow on a branch above us. I just needed to distract Marco so he wouldnt notice me reaching up. I suddenly got an idea. I didnt know if it was going to work but... I would still try... I grabbed Marco by the collar of his jacket and he stopped laughing, looking at me with wide eyes. I pushed him so his back was against the tree. He turned a dark red. "J-Jean?" I put my hands on the trunk of the tree on either side of him and just stared at him. This was working, surprisingly, well as a distraction. I stared at him for a few moments before I reached up and shook the tree branch, backing up quickly and laughing as the snow fell down on Marco's head. "AHH! JEAN! You-!" He yelled, trying to sheild himself as he stumbled out from under the branch. He looked at me with wide eyes. I was fucked. When Marco started walking towards me, and I ran to the otherside of the tree, managing to climb up it at, hopefully, not reaching distance as Marco came around the tree. He looked up at me and laughed. "You're going to hide from me in a tree?" I grinned and hissed at him and he rolled his eyes. "Jean, you're so strange." I smirked, "You're strange." Marco climbed up the tree and sat on the banch next to me. "Hey." He said. I looked at him skeptically, "You're not going to push me off, are you?" Marco laughed softly. "No I'm not going to push you off... Your hands must be freezing." "I dont trust you right now." I said. Marco reached above us and shook a branch. The snow fell on both of us. He laughed and I was just attempting to save myself. I had jerked, almost falling off of the branch. But Marco grabbed me and pulled me back, holding me close to himself. I felt my face get hot. He was really warm. "You okay?" He asked me, his eyebrows knitting together, "Sorry. I didnt think you'd fall..." I took a chilly breath. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine, Marco." He smiled softly at me and wiped snow off of my jacket and hair. Then he caught my eye and gulped. I stared at him. Dammit. This was probably one of the only times we'd be alone during this break. I was planning on confessing at the ice skating thing but-my thoughts were cut off as Marco's hands grabbed the front of my jacket. Then his lips pressed against mine pretty hard. My face got hot and my eyes widened. Oh God... I kissed him back and slowly closed my eyes, placing a hand on one of his knees and my other hand tangled in his hair. I sighed softly as Marco pulled away from the kiss slowly. "Jean..." He said. I opened my eyes and looked at him. "Do you want to-" "Wait!" I exclaimed. He looked confused. "Shut up. I'm asking. Not the other way around. Do you want to go out with me?" Marco blinked owlishly before laughing softly and turning redder. "Yeah." He said, "I do. Really bad." I grinned. Thank God.
"Wait..." He said, "How long have you-" "Been wanting to ask?" I interuppted, "For fucking ages." He smiled a bit and turned redder. "I just had to wait for Connie to ask Sasha out." Marco blinked and looked at me then his eyes widened. "You just asked the person the thing..." I laughed and nodded. "Yep." He smacked my shoulder. "You are such a nerd!" I laughed, "Hey! That hurt!" "It did not." He disagreed, "And I like you a lot. You couldve asked me out at anytime!" "I didnt know!" I exclaimed, laughing. Marco smirked and took my hands, holding them in his own. "We should go to this annual ice skating event downtown." Marco said. I smirked at him, "I was actually gonna ask you if you wanted to do that." "Really?" He said, smiling at me. I nodded and half smiled. "Thomas mentioned it to me so I wanted to do that with you. I was actually gonna confess after that." He smiled a bit. "You nerd." He said. I smirked at him, "You're the nerd." He laughed softly. "So." I started, "How long have you been wanting to get with me?" He smirked. "You talk like you're better than everyone else, Jean." I grinned, "I am officially in a relationship with, apparently, the nicest person on the planet. According to everyone in our class and your friends here at home." Marco laughed softly and turned redder. "I am not." "So you're saying I'm not the best because I'm not with the nicest guy on the planet?" I said. Marco grinned, "Yes. You're not the best because of that." I smirked. "You gonna answer my question or not?" Marco laughed softly, "Right. Um... My intentions were to be in a romantic relationship with you from the start." What? I raised an eyebrow. "Wait, seriously?" Marco smiled and nodded. "You're crazy. You could have asked me out this whole time." He just laughed and said, "Jean. I tried on multiple occassions. And I was gonna try again during the break, obviously. I just tried to then you cut me off so you could be the man." I laughed. "I had already planned it, Marco. Get out of my face." He grinned, "Well I was planning it, too. So. Sorry." "Fight me!" I exclaimed. Marco laughed, "I'm not going yo do that." "Come on! Punch my shoulder!" "Jean. No." I was serious, "I want to feel how hard you can hit." Marco smirked, "I dont want to hurt you." "You wont. I've been tackled by Reiner." Marco sighed softly then he balled up his fist, "Jean..." He warned. "Go!" I yelled. Then Marco punched my shoulder and it hurt like a bittcchhh. "OW! Shit!" I exclaimed, putting a hand over my shoulder, "Woah! You hit hard!" "You made me!" He said, pushing my hand off of my shoulder. Then he rubbed my shoulder gently. "I'm fine, dude." Marco had his eyebrows knitted together. "It's fine, Marco. I told you to do it." "Yeah and I shouldnt have. I'm supposed to be the responsible one." I laughed, "Hey!" He grinned. It dawned on me that maybe this wasnt such a fabulous idea to go out with Marco Bodt...yup. Just realized it. Considering the conversation we'd had about Graphic Design and me not doing what I wanted to do because of money... Now Marco had me in his grip and he could potentially change my mind... Goddammit. Oh well. I couldnt worry about it. I would worry when it was brought up again. And I knew he wouldnt forget about it so... I just had to wait in silence for it to be brought up again. I had to declare my major by next year, at least. And now I had to tell this goober about my eating disorder… It was required soon. Dammit.
The next morning, it was, like six am and I was perfectly happy asleep in bed with Marco when I suddenly heard, like, three people screaming at the top of their lungs. I jolted awake and so did Marco. We both sat up. There were children jumping on our bed. "Guys...!" Marco exclaimed to his cousins, "Get outta here...!" "But it's Christmas!" Lunetta screamed. Marco sighed and got up. "Where's your shirt!?" Noah exclaimed, jumping onto Marco's back. "OOF!" Marco exclaimed as he caught the boy. "In my drawer you weirdo." "You dont sleep with a shirt? Mr. Jean had one!" I smirked. Marco had run out of nightshirts so he had to do some laundry today. But for the night, he just went without. And I got a good look at him... Marco took really good care of his body. I also got a better look at that scar. I hadnt asked him about it, though. "You dont have to be so formal with him. He doesnt deserve that." Marco said. "Hey!" I exclaimed. Marco let Noah down onto the floor. "Go." He said, "We'll be out in a minute." The three of them ran out then. Marco closed the door behind them then he looked at me and he was smirking. "Does that happen every time?" I asked. "Yep." He said, "I should have been prepared." When I saw Marco opening the drawer to the dresser to get out a shirt, I decided I had better ask about the scar now if I really wanted to know. "Marco." I said. Marco looked at me. "Where did that scar come from? I mean, I dont want to assume..." Marco smiled softly. "It's okay. It's from the accident. Glass is dangerous." I nodded. "Okay. I was just wondering." "Yeah." He said, pulling out a red v-neck t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Then he headed out into the hall. To the bathroom, I assumed. So I took that as my que to get dressed. So I did just that. I got dressed into a black long-sleeved shirt and skinny blue jeans. I then started snooping. I had to do it at some point. I started opening up drawers and I realized that Marco had a sort of junk drawer where a ton of just items were and no clothes. As soon as I found out about the drawer, I heard somebody comming down the hall so I slammed the drawer shut and went to grab my phone from the outlet on the other side of the bed. Marco opened up the door then and smiled at me. "Hey. C'mon. Breakfast is ready." I smiled and went out of the room, closing the door behind me. Then I followed Marco down the hall. Pretty much everyone was awake. They were all dressed in daytime clothes except for the children. "We have to eat first." Rosetta was saying to the kids. "Noooo!" Lunetta exclaimed. "Come on. Come sit at the table." I was wondering how the Hell all of us were gonna sit at that table. "Marco. Come help me with the table." Jerry said. Marco headed over and the two of them folded the table out so it was twice the size it was before. Oh okay. Nice. Everyone took their seats and Camelia started serving breakfast just as Marco's grandparents came in. "Good morning!" Camelia said. "Good morning." Marco's grandma responded. Then the two of them took their seats. Marco leaned in and kissed me on the cheek right before we started eating. "Did it happen?" Camelia asked, looking at Marco with wide eyes. He nodded, turning red and smiling. I felt my face get hot. "We win!" Jerry suddenly yelled at Marco's aunt and uncle. "Darn!" Michael exclaimed. "What?" Marco said. The Michael and Rosetta pulled their wallets out of their pockets and put a twenty each down in front of Marco's parents. "Guys!" Marco exclaimed. I cracked up. "Amazing!" I yelled. His parents laughed, too and I covered my mouth because I realized how loud I was. Breakfast was amazing then the kids immediarely went to the presents under the tree. I didnt get anything. I mean, it was expected. And I didnt mind. It was nice watching them get excited for their own presents. I had gotton Marco something but I was waiting to give it to him because it was actually back at Coirtney.
That evening, we had a great dinner. Which was rare for me. Marco's fmaily was really the best. They were so sweet and they all loved eachother so much. Now, there were a few moments that were tense. For example, Marco had been working on this piece during the break. He worked on it, not 24/7. But he spent at least three to four hours a day on it. Mostly after dinner. And when the meal was over, Marco, like the goody two shoes he is, took all our plates into the kitchen and his dad brought in the dishes that held the food. Marco was about to start helping his parents clean up but Camelia told him to go work on his project. "No no..." Marco said, "I want to help you guys. It's okay." "Marco. We can handle it. Dont worry. I know that every piece you do is important." Marco sighed, "That may be true but I want to spend time-" "Marco." Camelia said, "Go work." "Mom. Let me help." "No, Marco!" She exclaimed. I felt slightly awkward at this moment but then I realized that they were literally fighting so the other person could have what they wanted... I didnt deserve to be here. I didnt deserve to even know Marco, much less be in a romantic relationship with him. I started regretting asking him out because I knew that if I failed, I would pull him down with me and that put some stress on me. We didnt do much for the next few days. It was actually kind of sad. That post Christmas depression set in and we were all feeling it. The week went by really quick. It was already almost New Years. The next day, Monday the 29th, was when Marco and I had planned to go ice skating. I would have to try to not fall on my face. I'd never actually ice skated before. Which was just brilliant. I started regretting agreeing to going to this thing.
The next day, Marco and I had to drive downtown at around seven to get to the ice skating thing. So Marco drove and I was in the passenger's seat, fearing for my life. He was getting ever so slightly better very slowly. I couldnt hold his hand because he was insistent on keeping both hands on the wheel. He had wide eyes and I was afraid he'd snap whenever we turned wrong or went over a speed bump. We got downtown pretty okay but he parked terribly and we had to switch places so I could park us correctly. He was apologizing nonstop and when I parked, I put my hand over his mouth for a breif moment so he would shut up then I said, "Dude it's fine." Then I got out. Marco got out as well and I locked the car, handing him the keys after. "Dont call me 'dude' anymore, Jean." He said, taking my hand as we walked along and smiling a bit. I smirked, "Fine. What do you want me to call you?" Marco shrugged, "I dont know. Not 'dude', though." I squeezed his hand. "Right." "Are we gonna tell Connie and Sasha?" He asked. I grinned, "I dont know. Connie didnt tell me. Let's not tell anyone and make them think we're still just friends." Marco laughed softly, "That's so mean but okay." "Yes!" I exclaimed, "Thank you!" He smiled at me. "I'm paying for it." I said as we approached the temporary stand in front of the lake where we had to pay and get our skates. Not a ton of people were there. Thank God. "Jean. No." Marco said, "I'm paying for myself." "Nope." I responded, stepping aside so people could get past us as ee stood there. I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and slipped my golden credit card from it's holder. "Jean-" "Marco, I literally have too much money. I could buy a house and have enough left to buy, like, twenty seven more." Marco raised an eyebrow at me and said, "Cottages or mansions?" "The house I made for my still life." I responded. Then remembered that I had broken Marco's. Yeesh. "Okay so a mansion." "I dont live in a mansion." I said. He raised an eyebrow, "You dont live in that tiny stick house to begin with." I laughed. "No! I did a replica of my own house with that still life!" "Ohh!" Marco said, laughing, "You live in a nice house, Jean." I smirked, "Yeah it's annoying." He smiled a bit and kissed my nose. I smirked and felt my face get slightly hot as I went over and paid for the both of us. "What shoe sizes?" The lady asked me. I turned, "Marco!" Marco came over, "Hm?" He asked me. "What shoe size are you?" "Ten." He responded. "Ten and nine." I said to the lady. Marco took my hand as the lady went to go grab our skates. I looked at Marco and he smiled at me then kissed the top of my head. "Dont do that." I said, "It feels like I'm small when you do that." Marco smirked as the woman came back and placed the skates on the desk. "Alright." She said, "Here you go." Marco let my hand go and grabbed both pairs of skates and started heading over to a bench. I followed behind him. "I hope you realize I've never skated before and I'll probably die tonite." I said as Marco sat down and handed me my skates. He laughed a bit, "You'll be fine, silly." I sat next to him. "Have you ice skated before?" I asked him. He pulled on one of the skates, "Yep. I used to take figure skating lessons and I came down here every year." Woah. "You were learning how to figure skate?" "Yeah." He said, lacing up the shoes. I pulled my own on. "I did it from... Uhm... The fourth grade to the eighth grade." "Why'd you stop?" I asked. He shrugged, "I lost my passion for it. Plus, it was vigorous training by the eighth grade and I started not being able to have free time. It was, wake up, go to shool, come home and do homework, then go to practice. And on the weekends, practice was nearly all day. So I quit." I grinned. No wonder this guy was so frickin agile. "Ballet was also something I did." He said, waiting for me to lace up my shoes, which I was having trouble with. "Really?" I was surprised. "Yeah. I had ice skating every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Then ballet the other days. And both Sunday and Saturday were devoted to skating. I did ballet theough my senior year, though. Didnt give that up. I was actually still practicing in Texas at Mattheius but I couldnt find any places that I liked in Coirtney's area." "No wonder." I said. He smirked at me, "No wonder what?" "No wonder you're so gay." Marco laughed and I grinned, "Kidding. No wonder you're so graceful." He smiled. "Need some help?" He said, noticing the trouble I was having with the skates. "No!" I exclaimed, "Get away! I can do it!" He jumped at my yelling and laughed, "Calm down! Okay!" We sat there for a few more minutes then Marco suddenly grabbed my foot and pulled it onto his lap. I nearly fell back. "Dude!" I said, "I dont respond to that anymore." Marco said, tying my shoe. I smirked. He smiled slightly and then he grabbed my other foot and tied the laces for that one, too. He stood, "Do you need help walking?" "Dont sass me." I said, standing. He laughed softly, "I'm not! I was genuinely asking." I sighed, knowing I was going to fall on my face before I even got on the ice. I held my arms out to Marco and he smiled, pulling me onto my feet. I managed to get on the ice alright. But I fell a lot and everytime, Marco helped me up. Eventually, I just sat on the edge of the lake. "Show me some of your ice skating things." I said to Marco. He laughed softly, "Really?" "Yeah. I'm interested." I grinned at him. He took off his earmuffs and scarf and threw them at me. I caught them, "Wow okay. Eager." He smiled at me. There were at least two other people on the ice so he wouldnt be getting in anybody's way. He sighed. "I might fall. I havent done this in more than two years." I smirked, "Good. We'll be even if you fall twenty seven more times." "You are obsessed with that number." Marco said, laughing. I grinned. "Go!" Then Marco skated away from me. I was actually really excited to see what he could do. He skated around before actually preparing to go into a jump. He jumped and spun in the air once and he nearly stuck the landing but he landed wrong and fell on his butt. "You alright?" I yelled to him. He gave me a thumbs up then he stood surprisingly gracefully and I could tell he was going to try again. He warmed up by going around the lake a few times then he went into the jump, spun, and stuck the landing. And when he landed it, it was fucking beautiful. The air got knocked out of me. He came over to me, shaking his head. "I can do a better one than that." He said, stopping in front of me. "Are you kidding me? That one was amazing!" He laughed softly, "Thank you but... It was pretty bad." I didnt know if he was being modest or if it was genuinely bad. "I thought it was gorgeous." I said. He kissed the top pf my head and I smacked his face, not hard. "Hey!" He exclaimed, "What was that for?" "For kissing my head! I said no!" "But you called me 'dude' two times. We're even now." He said. "Fine! Dont do it again!" I exclaimed. Marco grabbed his scarf and earmuffs, putting them on. "C'mon." He said, grabbing my hands and pulling me up. I smirked as Marco pulled me along around the lake. "I'm just gonna fall." I said. He smirked a bit at me, "And I'll help you up, clumsy." I nearly tripped even though Marco was holding onto me and he grabbed me, pulling me close to his chest. I smirked a bit, holding onto his arms and looking at him. He smiled and kissed my cheek. I almost giggled but I stoppd myself. There was definately something wrong with me if I was about to giggle. "You're doing something weird to me. Get away." I said, leaning away from Marco. Marco laughed a bit and nuzzled his face into my neck, "No I'm not. You're fine." I smirked, "Marco. Dude." "Stop that..." He said into my neck. I grinned, running a hand through his hair before prying him off of me. "God. I'm needy?" He laughed, "Yes. You are, Jean. I was just snuggling." I rolled my eyes. "Right." I said. "I'll leave you out here on the lake." He warned, smiling. "No!" I said, grabbing his arm. He laughed softly.
We soon got out of there, happily. And then we started walking around town. We eventually ended up at the same candy shop as before. Marco wanted to go in there for something for Lunetta, Noah, and Jonas so I waited outside. Connie called me while I was waiting. "Huh?" I answered. "Hey! How's Marco?" "If you want to know you can call him." I said. "Fine! How are YOU?" "Oh wow. You're asking me how I am?" Connie laughed, "Shut up and answer the question." I laughed. "I'm fine, dude." "Did you just laugh? What?" Oh shit. I cant sound so happy. "Yeah. Why?" I said, nervously. It was silent, "Did something happen?" He asked me. "Christmas was just fun. It's nice to relax for a bit. I'm not stressed out here." "Well..." Connie said, "That's good." "How was your Christmas?" I asked him. "It was good, man. Good times. How's the eating thing? Told Marco yet?" "It's actually been easier to eat for some reason." it was silent, "That's good, man." "Yeah. I havent told Marco yet but I will soon, hopefully." "Yeah, dude. I think you need to tell him soon, y'know?" I sighed, "Yeah but... I'll tell him when I'm ready." "Yeah." Connie agreed. Marco came out of the store then, with a bag. I nodded once at him and he smiled, walking over to me. "That's good, Connie." I said to him out of context, trying to hint that Marco was here. He sighed, picking up on it, thank God. Connie was becoming more observational. You kind of had to be, at this point, if you were going to be my friend. Marco smiled softly at me and took my hand, leading me away from the candy store. "So now that I know about you, can I ask how Marco is?" I sighed, "Fine. Shoot." "How is Marco?" He asked. "He's fine." Marco looked at me and I winked at him. He smirked and took my phone. I grinned as he said, "Connie?... Hey! How are you? How's Sasha?" He grinned slowly as Connie gave his answer. He laughed softly, really cutely. "Yeah. I get that. Fun. Okay. Well I dont want to hold you up for too long. I'll pass you back to Jean. Then Marco handed me my phone back. "Dude." Connie said to me immediately, "Sasha ate, like, all the cake on Christmas." "Why do you sound so surprised?" "Because it was scary. That's why. I mean, I expected it but it was still scary!" I laughed. After we ended our conversation and I hung up, Marco squeezed my hand, "You were so nice to him." I smirked at him, "I'm in a good mood, dork." He laughed softly. We headed more towards an iffy part of downtown. But we were going to be okay, I thought. I suddenly noticed out of the corner of my eyes, some guy who was with his friends, just drop a styrofoam cup on the grass. I stopped. Marco looked at me, "What?" I looked back at the guys and frowned. "That guy just littered." "Jean. Just ignore it." But that wasnt happening. I let go of Marco's hands and headed over, picking the cup up. Then I turned and threw it right at the back of that litterers head and yelled, "Hey! Throw away your shit, asshole!" I knew they were all bigger than me... But I could take them. The guy turned to me. "Hey! Did you just thrrow that shit?" He said, walking over to me. He was my height but he was big. "Yeah. I did, shit bag." Marco suddenly got between us, his back to me. "I'm sorry about him." He said to the douchebag, "He's just really passionate about keeping the environment healthy. I'll take care of that cup for yo-" He was cut off by this idiot punching him square in the jaw. Marco made this strange sound and stumbled back a bit. The shitbag laughed, "Queers." He said to his two friends and the other guys laughed, too. Oh now it was on. I knew Marco could take these assholes but he wouldnt do that. So I'd just have to take care of it myself. I stepped around to stand in front of Marco and kicked this douche right where it hurts. He made a strangled sound then his two buddies went for me. I was about to punch one of them in the face when the other one grabbed me by the hair. Wow! Okay. Now I know how Eren feels! He yanked me down to the sidewalk and I had the air knocked out of me as I was kicked in the side. "BOOPH!" I exclaimed. Then I saw Madco go for the guy who was kicking me. And holy shit it was scary to watch, even though I knew he was doing it to protect me. Marco punched that guy so hard that he was out cold. The douche I had kicked in the junk earlier pulled me to my feet, grabbing me by the collar and gettingg a good punch in to my nose. I struggled free of his grip and kicked him square in the stomach, grabbing his hair when he bent over and pulling it hard. Marco suddenly came out of nowhere, pushing this guy out of my grip, grabbing the front of his shirt, and pushing him up against the window of a closed shop. "I would leave if I were you." He said menacingly. The dude looked terrified now. I felt satisfied. "Do you hear me?" Marco said, slamming him against the window again. He nodded. Marco let him go then and he and his buddy grabbed their passed out friend and got the Hell out. I realized then that something wet was coming down my chin. I put a hand over my nose and saw when I pulled it away, that I was bleeding. Goddammit. Marco came over to me, grabbing me by the shoulders, "Are you okay? My God Jean you idiot! You need to learn how to ignore people!" He exclaimed. I looked at him. A bruise was forming on his jaw, and he had a few cuts. One on his cheekbone, across his nose, and above his eyebrow. I sighed, realizing that I caused this. "I'm sorry, Marco..." I said. He sighed softly, walking over and grabbing the bag that he dropped on the floor then he came back over to me and put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me back to where we had parked. I just held my nose. I was till pretty pissed off. "That asshole..." I said. Marco sighed, "Jean. People will be like that. You just have to ignore it." "I wont ignore it. It's frickin stupid." I said. "He punched you in the face, laughed about it, then called us queers, Marco!" Marco just rubbed my shoulders. "Did you break anything?" He asked me. "No." I said, annoyed, "I'm just fine." "Except for your bleeding nose and re-busted lip. Jean, they could have seriously hurt you." "You are seriously hurt, Marco." I said, "You're limping." He shook his head, "I dont care if I'm dying. I'm just worried about you." He unlocked the car when we arrived at it and got into the driver's seat. "Dude, your leg." "Stop calling me dude and it's fine. Get in the car." He was not amused. I obediently got into the passenger's seat.
When we got home, his parents were horrified and it turned out that Marco just had a sprained ankle, thank God. I still felt terrible for causing this, though. He was so much more hurt than I was. My nose wasn't broken but I wished it was. Marco felt really guilty so he stayed in his room the whole next day. I eventually psyched myself up and went in there, "Hey..." I said. He was working on his project and he looked at me and sighed, "Hey... How are you?" I smirked, "Fine." I came in, closing the door behind me. I headed over and sat at at the foot of his bed. "Look. I'm sorry, Marco. I didnt think." He smiled a bit, "It's okay. I'm just glad you're alright." I knew I was lucky I got away with a bloody nose and my lip busting again. "Yeah but you got hurt pretty bad..." I said, rubbing his ankle which was placed on a pillow and being iced underneath. He smiled softly, "I'm okay..." He said. "Thanks for helping me fight." I said. He laughed softly, "I couldnt just stand there. They werent going to listen to me after the way you provoked them. I thought I could calm that guy down by talking to him but... I got punched." He grinned a bit. "I know." I said, "That pissed me off." "You're sweet." He said. I traced Marco's ankle tattoo with my finger and looked at the piece he was working on. "It looks good." I said. He smiled. "Thank you." "Have you filled out the forms for that national competition yet?" He stared at me before shaking his head. "Marcoooo." He laughed, "Well I cant get up nooww!" He leaned his head back against the headboard of the bed. I smirked, "Lazy." "Sprained ankle." "That too. Where are the forms?" He pointed to the junk drawer that I had found out about before. I stood and went and opened the drawer, pulling the forms out of a manilla folder. "What else is in here?" I asked, putting the forms on the dresser. "Nothing interesting." He said. I didnt believe that but I closed the drawer, vowing to look through it later. I then grabbed the forms and flopped down next to Marco on the bed, putting the forms on top of his piece. He grinned at me then started filling them out. "Fine. Whatever, Jean. If ou really want me to..." "You have to." He chuckled softly. Someone knocked on the door. "Come in." Marco said. Lunetta pushed open the door and ran in. "Marco! Are you okay?" Ah yes. She was asleep when we went out and she had been out all day today with her parents. He smiled, "Yeah. I'm okay." Marco said. She climbed onto the bed and crawled over me, landing right in between Marco and myself. I smirked. "Whatcha doing?" She asked him. "Filling out things for an art competition." She then stood up on the bed. "No jumping." Marco said. So she jumped on his head. "Ahh!" He exclaimed, laughing and catching her. She laughed, too. "Why did you just body slam my head?" She just kept laughing. "Jeez!" She then stood back up and jumped onto me. "Oof!" I said as she flopped down into my lap. "I dont appreciate this." She giggled. "Marco! You have drawings on you!" She said, pointing to his tattooed wrist. He smiled a bit, "Yes I do." I smirked. I entertained Lunetta as Marco filled out the forms and she eventually left, closing the door behind her for once(because Marco told her to). "She is a handful." I said to Marco. He nodded, "Yes. But it's worth it. She's got such a bright future. I feel like putting up with her until she's older and more mature will be worth it." I smiled, "You're right." I agreed. "Here." Marco said, holding the packet of forms out to me, "Put these back in the drawer for me?" I stood, putting them back in thdrawer then floppin down next to him again. He smiled at me before starting to work on his project again. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and put one of my earbuds in, then I started flipping through Vine. I was following everyone in our class who had a Vine account. That was almost all of the class and the people who didnt have one, were usually in vines with other people in our class. Almost everyone was putting up vines of Christmas break. I never put up anything. I didnt even have one video posted. "Do you have a Vine account, Marco?" Marco looked at me, "No." He said, "Why?" I shrugged, "Just wondering. Almost everyone in our class, including me, has one and they're all posting Christmas shit right now. Plus birthday stuff for Bert." He grinned, leaning over and kissing my temple. I smirked, my face getting hot. "What are you kissing me for?" "Because you're cute." He said. I spluttered, "Cute? Fuck off!" Marco laughed, "That was so loud! Shush!" "You're fucking cute." I said to Marco. His face flushed red, "Thanks. But I doubt it." I rolled my eyes. "You are, dude." He smacked my shoulder. "Wha-?" "Stop calling me 'dude'!" I sighed, "Why are you so against that word?" "Because I'm your boyfriend! You only call friends 'dude'!" My face gor really hot. That's right... Marco was my 'boyfriend'. Holy shit. I made some weird squeaking sound. It would have been a lot worse if I hadnt held that loud squeal back. Marco looked at me with a "what was that sound?" expression. Marco opened his mouth to say something annoying so I cut him off with, "Eat my shorts!" He laughed. "That is not appropriate." He said. I smirked, "Whatever." "Come here." He said, holding his arm out to me. "No." I said. He smirked, "Please, Jean?" I sighed a bit, contemplating before I scooted closer to him. I needed to be nice. He was hurt. He smiled and kissed my cheek, putting his arm around my shoulders. Weirdo. I decided that Marco needed a break from his work. So I grabbed the board and Marco lifted his pen off of the paper quickly as I pulled his peice away from him. "What are you doing?" "You should take a break. You're almost done with this peice." He closed the pen and put it on the side table. I put his peice up against the wooden closet then turned and when I saw his smirk, my face got hot. "What?" I said. "You're cute. That's what." I frowned, "Stop saying that." "No. Now come here." He said, holding his arms out to me. "And if I dont?" I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "I'll get up and probably hurt my ankle again." He said. Dammit. I rolled my eyes and headed over to him. "Fine." He chuckled softly and pulled me down next to him. "Aww you caarree." He said, hugging me tightly. "Of course I do, you friggin idiot! Now get off of me!" He laughed and let go.
The next day was the 31st and the kids werent as excited about New Years. Obviously. I was just excited to potentially get to drink something alchoholic without looking like an asshole. Marco's family was cooking all day. It was around noon when I was asked to help. Camelia, Rosetta, and Marco's grandma were cooking(I know. It was all women. None of the guys were cooking.) "Jean! Would you mind helping us?" Rosetta said into the living room. Marco smiled at me and I smiled back, standing and heading into the kitchen. "Would you mind rinsing off and cutting those up?" Camelia asked me, nodding to some vegetables. "Yeah. No problem." I washed my hands then started rinsing off the vegetables. "So why arent any of the other guys helping?" I asked. Camelia giggled, "They're not skilled enough." I laughed, "What makes you think I am? I think I've cut vegetables once in my life." "Well I would ask Marco but I dont want him to stand for too long on that foot. I know it's healed but... I'm a mom, you know." I nodded, "Yeah I get it. My mom'd be the same way." "What is your mother like?" Camelia asked, smiling at me and wiping down the stove so she could start cooking on it. I chuckled as I took the vegetables to the cutting board. "Well... She's pretty great. She's an accepting lady. A bit awkward, she seems cruel, but she's really very generous and kind." Camelia nodded, "What do your parents do?" "My mom is a doctor and my dad is a lawyer." Camelia looked a bit shocked, "Really? Wow. How impressive." "I guess." I responded. "So you come from a wealthy family?" She asked me. I nodded, "Yeah." "Wow. It all makes sense now." She said. I laughed, "What do you mean?" She laughed, too. "Oh I dont mean anything by it, honey." She said, smiling and putting a pot on the stove. I grinned. Marco definately got his humor from his mother. She was awesome. "I'm really glad that you two are together now." She said. I felt my face get hot. "Marco's such a nice kid. I think he deserves the best." She raised anneyebrow at me as she said this. I knew she was talking about the fighting. I sighed, "Y-Yes ma'am." If his mother wasnt happy with Marco getting into fights, I should really try not to confront people so often. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped qnd turned and Marco was there. "Dude!" I exclaimed, "My God you scared me!" He laughed. "Sorry!" He then said to his mother, "It's okay. You dont have to try and give Jean warnings. Because, first of all, he wont listen-" "Hey!" "-Also, I want to be able to protect him so I dont mind..." I felt my face get hotter and I rolled my eyes, continuing to cut vegetables. "I'm not saying you cant protect him." Camelia said, "I'm just telling him to be more careful. I dont want either of you to get hurt." "Thank you, mother." Marco said, "Can I help you with anything?" "I think we got it, honey." She responded. "Alright." Marco said, "Good luck, Jean." He then kissed my cheek and squeezed my shoulder before going back into the living room. I learned that Marco's dad worked as a construction worker and he also worked in retail. So I understood the money issue. Camelia was a stay at home mom. After I cut up the vegetables, Camelia said she didnt need anymore help so I headed back into the living room.
"Jean." Marco said, standing up off of the couch, "Help me with laundry?" I groaned, "But I just helped with food. "Oh man up, Jeanny-boy!" Marco's uncle exclaimed. Marco grinned. "I cant be so nice for so often." I said, heading into the bedroom to grab my dirty clothes. Marco followed me and grabbed his own clothes then lead me to the laundry room. "Put your datks, whites, and colors in seperate hampers, please." He said. Then he waited for me to seperate my own clothes before he seperated his clothes into each hamper. Marco then smiled softly at me and bumped our noses together before kissing me for a breif moment. I smiled and felt my face get hot. Marco grabbed the darks and dumped them into the washing machine, putting in soap then closing the machine and turning it on. Then he came over to me and hugged me close. I smirked and hugged him back. I was glad that I was only, like, an inch shorter than this guy because I couldnt even imagine how small I would feel if I was actually significantly shorter. Mike suddenly came bounding in and he jumped up on us. "Ahh!" I exclaimed, "Nooo!" Marco laughed, pulling away from me and grabbing onto Mike. "Aww! C'mere!" "How can you do that?" I exclaimed. Marco grinned at me, "Getting Mike was my idea so I can handle him." I grimaced, "Big dogs arent my forte." He pouted, "Why not?" "Because they're scary. I'm not a giant fan of dogs in general. All the dogs I've met belonged to old rich ladies and they were always so loud and bitey." Marco nodded, "I get that." He then let Mike go and the three of us headed back out into the living room. "Hey, Jean!" Marco's mother called from in the kitchen. "Yes, ma'am?" I answered. "How old are you?" Dammit. She was checking if I could have alchohol or not. I sighed. "20." "Alright!" She responded. Marco smacked my shoulder, clearly having thoughts about alchohol, too. "Jean. I didnt know that you were 20!" I rolled my eyes and looked at him, "Good job keeping up with your boyfriend." Marco turned red, "Sorry. I didnt know you couldnt drink yet. I thought you could... You were on the younger side of your graduating class, huh?" I nodded. Yeah. I was the baby of my class. Not very fun.
We ate an amazing dinner(I know I say that a lot but it's true. It's always amazing). I did get some wine, thank God. Marco's mom was cool. It was alright. I drank a glass but I was never a big fan of wine. Marco, Lunetta, and Rosetta went outside to play in the snow and watch the fireworks that were starting up. I felt really privileged to be here. And also like I didnt deserve it... I was such an asshole and these people were so down to earth. I decided to go see what Marco was doing so I pulled on my blue coat, my green beanie with snowflakes on it, black scarf, and black gloves. Then I pulled on my boots. I stepped outside just as Lunetta ran back in, followed by her mother who smiled at me as she passed. Marco was sitting on the snow in the front yard and there were fireworks going off nonstop. I smiled softly and closed the door behind me then I put my hands in my pockets, stepping down the front stairs, the snow crunching under my feet. I headed over to him, stepping causiously in the ice and flopping down next to Marco. "Hey." I said. He looked at me and smiled. "Hey!" He exclaimed. He had his brown jacket on, white ear muffs, red gloves, and his green scarf. "What're you doing out here alone? Everyone went in." Marco looked back up at the fireworks and shrugged. "I was planning on going back in but... Now you're here so..." I felt my face get hot and I half smiled. He was so flirty sometimes. Even when we were just friends he did this shit that made my blush like a frickin teenage girl. He looked at me. "Ever kissed anyone on New Years?" He asked me. I laughed softly. "Yeah. But... Not with you." I responded. Marco turned red and laughed. Well, redder than he already was from the cold kissing his face. "Well... Then..." I snickered. Fucking idiot. Just ask me if you want to kiss me at midnight. "Of course I'll kiss you at midnight, Marco." I said, scooting closer to him. He laced his fingers wih mine. God I didnt deserve this... Then we heard from, it seemed like everywhere, people yelling, "10...! 9...! 8...! 7...!" The fireworks went crazy, "6...! 5...! 4...! 3...! 2...! 1...! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Then everyone cheered and Marco leaned in and pressed his lips against mine. I leaned into the kiss and squeezed his hand, letting my eyes flutter closed. And God it was a good kiss... I was actually kind of disapointed and really exhilarated when he pulled away after a few moments. We ended up just staring at eachother for a moment then Marco laughed softly and I grinned. "Jean... I love you. Happy New Year." "Cheesy nerd." Was my response and Marco laughed more and hugged me close. I smirked and hugged him back. Goddammit I fucking loved this cheesy nerd... "Love you, too, Marco..." I said. And he squeezed me slightly tighter.