On Christmas Eve, Lunetta was extremely hyper. And my grandparents on my father's side came in. Plus, my uncle on my father's side came in with his two sons. My grandmother was short with a grey bun atop her head, brown eyes, and light skin. My grandfather was a tall man with grey hair and a very receeding hairline and hazel eyes. My 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. My uncle's name was Roger and the boys were Noah and Jonas. All three of the children were very excited for Christmas and they jumped around a lot. Jean and I eventually decided that we would go take a walk. So we pulled on our jackets, shoes, gloves, and scarfs. Jean pulled on his green beanie with snowflakes on it and I put on earmuffs. When we walked out and I closed the door behind us, we both breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh my God your cousins are insane..." Jean said, walking down the porch steps. I laughed and followed, "I know." I said as we stepped onto the sidewalk and started walking, side by side. "But they're cute." I finished. He smirked, "Yeah. Cute." I laughed at that. "Hey!" I said. He grinned at me. He was so cute... I really wanted to date him... "I like how your family yells at eachother in italian." He said. I grinned. "Yeah. My poor grandparents that are here dont know the language, though. So they're always so confused." We both laughed. I wondered the if Jean spoke any other language. "Jean. Do you speak any other languages?" I asked. "French." Sexy. "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." What? I laughed at that. "Why did you make a C?" He grinned. "I didnt do anything, that's why. What did you make in your foreign language class?" I smirked at him, "I was valedictorian, Jean. I got all A's every year." "Well fine then Mr. Smartypants." I laughed a bit. "Man..." He suddenly said, "Mattheius must be missing you. You were good for their school." I smirked. "Right..." I said. Jean shivered softly and blew into his hands, then rubbed them together then shoved them into his pockets. "Are your hands cold?" I asked. "Yeah. My gloves suck." He was too cute. I then held my hands out to him. He raised an eyebrow and gave me his hands. I held his hands in my own, contently. "Thanks." He said. We reached the end of the sidewalk on the familiar dead end street. "Why are we here?" Jean asked. "C'mon." I said, letting my hands go and trudging through the snow to the metal fence blocking us from the hill on the other side. This place brought back memories. Jean followed me. "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." I said as I climbed up the gate and plopped down on the otherside. I remembered Mina and Thomas throwing snowballs. Hitch and I built a fort to block their attacks. We all laughed. I remember crying here, my friends comforting me... I also remembered doing... Something else here during the summer between my junior and senior years of highschool. With a guy I cant remember... I sighed softly and pulled myself back to reality, smiling at Jean and saying, "Come on." "I dont know about this." Jean said hesitantly, "I'll probably break myself or the fence." He climbed up the fence shakily. I was prepared to catch him if he needed it. He jumped down, landing on his butt. I helped him up. That didnt look easy for him. "You alright?" I asked. He brushed himself off. "Yeah. I'm cool." "You arent cool, Jean. But I'm glad you're alright." I said, walking past him and towards the hill. Suddenly, something cold pelted the back of my head. I jerked around to look at him, nearly tripping. He was half smiling, with crossed arms. "Oh. Really? It's like that?" I said, realizing that he just threw a snowball at me. I leaned down and bunched up some snow together. "Dont you dare." He warned. I grinned, throwing the snowball. He clearly tried to get out of the way but I could aim well. It hit him square in the face. I cracked up as he wiped his face. The he started heading up the hill towards me. "Stay away!" I exclaimed, running up the remainder of the hill and down the other side. I saw the familiar tree that I loved and made a way to it, hiding behind the trunk from Jean, expecting him to be able to see me. I heard crunching footsteps and I got prepared by grabbed a ton of snow and packingn it together, holding it in my arms. "Marco. Seriously? This was your hiding spot?" I heard Jean say, walking around the trunk. I attacked, then, throwing the massive pile of snow at his face. He stumbled and fell down with an, "OOMPH!" His face was pink from the cold and he looked up at me with surprised eyes. Cute cute! I laughed and stood over him. "My God!" He yelled. I laughed as Jean stood up. I couldnt stop laughing. He was so cute and that was so perfect. Suddenly, a hand grabbed the collar of my jacket. I stopped laughing, looking at the man in front of me with wide eyes, trying to process what was happening. Jean pushed me so my back was against the tree. I felt my face get extremely hot. What was he doing? "J-Jean?" He put his hands on the trunk of the tree on either side of me, staring at my face. Please dont kiss me... Please dont make it more complicated... We just stared at eachother for a few moments before Jean suddenly reached up and shook a tree branch above us, backing up quickly and laughing as the snow fell down on my head. "AHH! JEAN! You-!" I yelled, trying to sheild myself as I stumbled out from under the branch. Oh my God noo! He was so dead. I looked at him with wide eyes and I knew that Jean knew it, too. When I started walking towards him, however, he ran to the otherside of the tree. I walked around it, not seeing him anymore. Then something blonde caught my attention and I looked up at Jean. Who was sitting in the tree. I laughed. "You're going to hide from me in a tree?" He grinned and hissed at me. I rolled my eyes. "Jean, you're so strange." He smirked, "You're strange." I climbed up the tree and sat on the branch next to him. "Hey." I said. He looked at me skeptically, "You're not going to push me off, are you?" I laughed softly. "No I'm not going to push you off... Your hands must be freezing." "I dont trust you right now." He said. I reached above us and shook a branch. The snow fell on both of us. I laughed but Jean jerked, almost falling off of the branch. I grabbed him quickly, pulling him back, then holding him close to my chest. His face got pinker than it already was. "You okay?" I asked him, my eyebrows knitting together, "Sorry. I didnt think you'd fall..." Jean took a chilly breath. "Y-Yeah. I'm fine, Marco." I smiled softly at him, happy that he was okay, and wiped snow off of his jacket and hair. Then I caught his eye. Oh no... I stared at him. Nono... I had to ask him out now... Or else it would be really awkward. I sighed softly, contemplating whether to kiss him first or ask him out first. I looked at his lips... They were chapped and pink and so attractive... My face felt hot... Screw it. I grabbed the front of his jacket and pressed my lips against his' hard. I closes my eyes tightly. I suddenly felt him kiss me back, placing a hand on one of my knees and his other hand in my hair. I felt his breath blow gently on my face as I pulled away from the kiss slowly. "Jean..." I said. He opened his eyes and looked at me. "Do you want to-" "Wait!" He suddenly exclaimed. I was confused. Wait? "Shut up. I'm asking. Not the other way around. Do you want to go out with me?" He said. I blinked, processing, before laughing softly and feeling my face get hotter. "Yeah." I said, "I do. Really bad." He grinned. Thank the heavens.
I suddenly realized that... Jean sounded like he was planning on asking me out. "Wait..." I said, "How long have you-" "Been wanting to ask?" He interuppted, "For fucking ages." I smiled a bit and my face got really hot. "I just had to wait for Connie to ask Sasha out." What? I blinked and looked at him then I realized... My eyes widened. "You just asked the person the thing..." He laughed and nodded. "Yep." I smacked his shoulder. "You are such a nerd!" He laughed harder, "Hey! That hurt!" "It did not." I disagreed, "And I like you a lot. You couldve asked me out at anytime!" "I didnt know!" He exclaimed, laughing. I suddenly thought about the ice skating event that happened every year. I smirked and took his hands, holding them in my own. "We should go to this annual ice skating event downtown." I said. He smirked at me, "I was actually gonna ask you if you wanted to do that." "Really?" I said, smiling at him. He nodded and half smiled. That half smile, though. "Thomas mentioned it to me so I wanted to do that with you. I was actually gonna confess after that." I smiled a bit. "You nerd." I said. He smirked at me, "You're the nerd." I laughed softly. "So." He started, "How long have you been wanting to get with me?" I smirked. "You talk like you're better than everyone else, Jean." He 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." What? I laughed softly and my face got hotter than it already was. "I am not." "So you're saying I'm not the best because I'm not with the nicest guy on the planet?" He said. I grinned, "Yes. You're not the best because of that." He smirked. "You gonna answer my question or not?" I laughed softly, thinking for a moment, before saying, "Right. Um... My intentions were to be in a romantic relationship with you from the start." He raised an eyebrow. "Wait, seriously?" I smiled and nodded. "You're crazy. You could have asked me out this whole time." I 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." He laughed. "I had already planned it, Marco. Get out of my face." I grinned, "Well I was planning it, too. So. Sorry." "Fight me!" He exclaimed. I laughed, "I'm not going to do that." "Come on! Punch my shoulder!" "Jean. No." He looked like he was serious but I ddnt want to hurt him, "I want to feel how hard you can hit." I smirked, "I dont want to hurt you." "You wont. I've been tackled by Reiner." I sighed softly then he balled up my fist. Jean would not ever let this go, "Jean..." I warned. "Go!" He suddenly yelled. So I punched his shoulder with half the amount of force that I could. I didnt want to really hurt him. "OW! Shit!" He exclaimed, putting a hand over his shoulder, "Woah! You hit hard!" "You made me!" I said, pushing his hand off of his shoulder, and rubbing it gently. "I'm fine, dude." I knitted my eyebrows together. "It's fine, Marco. I told you to do it." "Yeah and I shouldnt have. I'm supposed to be the responsible one." He laughed, "Hey!" I grinned. Dating Jean would not help my new issue with cursing and stubborness. Which he caused in the first place. I sighed softly. He was so attractive and funny and... God. Amazing. I thought so, at least. The way the light hits his golden eyes perfectly. The way he would wrinkle his nose unconsciously when he was thinking about something... The perfect flush he got when he was embarassed... The passion in him for protecting those he cares about... I was falling and crashing for this man. I was in too deep now. I couldnt get out of this. Stress suddenly hit me when I noticed Jean run a hand through his hair, sticking his nose up in the air for a moment and sniffing casually, looking so... Snobby. This relationship would not be easy.
The next morning, I was asleep, warm, with Jean, when there was sudden screaming. I jolted awake and so did Jean. We both sat up quickly. My cousins were jumping on our bed, I processed groggily and confused. Jean looked pissed. He was squinting and gripping onto the sheet and comforter. "Guys...!" I exclaimed to them, "Get outta here...!" "But it's Christmas!" Lunetta screamed. I sighed and got up. "Where's your shirt!?" Noah exclaimed, jumping onto my back. "OOF!" I exclaimed as he caught the little monster. "In my drawer you weirdo." "You dont sleep with a shirt? Mr. Jean had one!" I had run out of night shirts so I had to do laundry today. However, last night, I just decided to go without. "You dont have to be so formal with him. He doesnt deserve that." I said. "Hey!" Jean exclaimed. I let Noah down onto the floor. "Go." I said, "We'll be out in a minute." Then the three of them ran out. I closed the door behind them then turned to Jean, smirking. "Does that happen every time?" He asked. "Yep." I said, "I should have been prepared." I went over to the dresser, pulling a t-shirt out and I was just about to put it on when Jean said, "Marco." And I looked at him, "Where did that scar come from? I mean, I dont want to assume..." Oh right. The scar... I had almost forgot about the fact that it was showing last night. I smiled softly. "It's okay. It's from the accident. Glass is dangerous." He nodded. "Okay. I was just wondering." "Yeah." I said, pulling on the red v-neck and a pair of jeans. Then I went out into the hall, stepping into the bathroom to put on deodorant and brush my teeth. As I came out of the bathroom, my mother yelled, "Marco! Breakfast is ready!" "Okay, mom!" I yelled back. Then I went down the hall back to my room, hearing something slam from inside. Um. What? I opened the door and saw Jean getting his phone from the outlet on the other side of my bed. I smiled at him. "Hey. C'mon. Breakfast is ready." He smiled and came out of the room, closing the door behind him, then following me down the hall. Almost everyone was awake. "We have to eat first." My aunt was saying to my cousins. "Noooo!" Lunetta exclaimed. "Come on. Come sit at the table." "Marco. Come help me with the table." My dad said. So I headed over and the two of us folded the table out so it was twice the size it was before. Everyone took their seats and my mother started serving breakfast just as my grandparents came in. "Good morning!" My mom said. "Good morning." My grandma responded. Then the two of them took their seats. I looked at Jean. He looked extremely awkward. As per usual. He was really stiff around my family. So I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek right before we started eating to hopefully calm him down. "Did it happen?" Mom asked, looking at me with wide eyes. I nodded, smiling and feeling my face get hot. Jean turned pink. "We win!" My dad suddenly yelled at my aunt and uncle. "Darn!" My uncle exclaimed. "What?" I askes. My aunt and uncle suddenly pulled their wallets out of their pockets and put a twenty each down in front of my parents. Had they been betting? "Guys!" I exclaimed. Jean just cracked up. "Amazing!" He yelled. My parents laughed, too and Jean covered his mouth. After breakfast, the kids immediarely went to the presents under the tree. I didnt get anything from Jean but that was okay. He would be getting something from me when we got back to school.
The post Christmas depression set in after a few days passed. Finally, it was the 29th, the day we would go ice skating. We drove downtown at around seven to get to the ice skating event. I drove and Jean was in the passenger's seat. I was staring, wide eyed, at the road the whole time, trying to focus. We got downtown but I managed to park very crookedly. We had to switch places so Jean could park us correctly. I felt really bad about it so I was apologizing for what I did until Jean put a hand over my mouth for a breif moment. I stopped talking and Jean said, "Dude it's fine." Then got out, taking the keys with him. I sighed, getting out and catching up with Jean as he locked the car, handing me the keys afterwards. There was that word again. "Dont call me 'dude' anymore, Jean." I said, taking his hand as we walked along and smiling a bit. He smirked, "Fine. What do you want me to call you?" I shrugged, "I dont know. Not 'dude', though." He squeezed my hand. "Right." "Are we gonna tell Connie and Sasha?" I asked. Jean just grinned, "I dont know. Connie didnt tell me for like, twenty seven days after he started dating Sasha. Let's not tell anyone and make them think we're still just friends." I laughed softly, "That's so mean but okay." "Yes!" He exclaimed, "Thank you!" I smiled at him. "I'm paying for it." Jean suddenly said as we approached the temporary stand in front of the lake where we had to pay and get our skates. There were only two people on the ice at the moment. "Jean. No." I said, "I'm paying for myself." "Nope." Jean responded, stepping aside so people could get past us as we stood there. Jean pulled his wallet out of his pocket and slid his golden credit card out 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." Oh? I raised an eyebrow at him and asked, "Cottages or mansions?" "The house I made for my still life." He responded. That was a fancy house. "Okay so a mansion." I said. "I dont live in a mansion." He said. I raised an eyebrow, "You dont live in that tiny stick house to begin with." Jean laughed. "No! I did a replica of my own house with that still life!" "Ohh!" I said, laughing, "You live in a nice house, Jean." Jean smirked, "Yeah it's annoying." I smiled a bit and kissed his nose. He smirked and turned pink. Then he went over to pay for the both of us. I hummed softly, waiting, when Jean exclaimed, "Marco!" I looked up and came over, "Hm?" I asked. "What shoe size are you?" "Ten." I responded. "Ten and nine." He said to the lady. He was so cute... I took his hand as the lady went to go grab our skates. Jean looked at me. His face was pink from the cold. I smiled at him then kissed the top of his head. "Dont do that." He said, "It feels like I'm small when you do that." I smirked as the woman came back and placed the skates on the desk. Way to bring the tone down. "Alright." She said, "Here you go." I let Jean's hand go and grabbed both pairs of skates, heading over to a bench. "I hope you realize I've never skated before and I'll probably die tonite." Jean said, following behind me, as I sat down and handed him his skates. I laughed softly, "You'll be fine, silly." Jean sat next to me. "Have you ice skated before?" He asked me. This question. I pulled on one of the skates, "Yep. I used to take figure skating lessons and I came down here every year." I saw Jean's expression turn to shock. "You were learning how to figure skate?" "Yeah." I said, lacing up the shoes. Jean pulled his own on. "I did it from... Uhm... The fourth grade to the eighth grade." I continued: "Why'd you stop?" He asked. I 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 saw Jean grin out of the corner of my eye. Dork. "Ballet was also something I did." I mentioned as I finished lacing up my shoes and waited for Jean to lace up his shoes. "Really?" He asked. "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." He said. I smirked at him, "No wonder what?" "No wonder you're so gay." I laughed and Jean grinned again, "Kidding. No wonder you're so graceful." I smiled. "Need some help?" I said, noticing that he was having with the skates. "No!" He suddenly yelled, "Get away! I can do it!" I jumped in surprise and laughed, "Calm down! Okay!" We sat there for a few more minutes. I got kind of impatient, to be honest. More of Jean rubbing off on me, I suppose. And I grabbed his foot, pulling it onto my lap. "Dude!" He said, "I dont respond to that anymore." I responded, tying his shoe. I saw him smirk. I smiled slightly and then he grabbed his other foot and tied the laces for that one, too. I then stood, "Do you need help walking?" "Dont sass me." He said, standing. I laughed softly, "I'm not! I was genuinely asking." He sighed, contemplating, before he held his arms out to me. I smiled, pulling him onto my feet. He managed to get on the ice well enough. But he kept falling. Jean hadnt been lying when he said that he'd never skated before. Eventually, he decided to just sit on the edge of the lake. "Show me some of your ice skating things." He said to me at one point. I laughed softly, "Really?" "Yeah. I'm interested." He grinned at me. Fine. I took off my earmuffs and scarf and threw them at the blonde. Jean caught them, "Wow okay. Eager." He said. I just smiled. I was glad that there were barely any people because that meant there was a very low chance of me destroying someone's loved one. It suddenly dawned on me that I hadnt done this in a while and I sighed. "I might fall. I havent done this in more than two years." Jean smirked, "Good. We'll be even if you fall twenty seven more times." "You are obsessed with that number." I said, laughing and recalling his streak of the number 27. He grinned. "Go!" I skated away from him. I skated around before actually preparing to go into a jump. I had to prepare myself. I should have stretched before this. But I couldnt have known. I ended up going into the jump without really being prepared. I jumped and spun in the air once(a really bad spin)and landed wrong, tripping and falling on my butt. "You alright?" I heard Jean yell. Gosh darnit. I gave Jean a thumbs up then stood wobbily. I started warming up again, skating around the lake and waiting until I was actually ready. Then I went into the jump, spun(terribly), and landed very shakily, but managing to stay upright. Not good. I didnt want to yell at Jean from across the area so I skated over to him, stopping in front of him, and saying, "I can do a better one than that." Jean had wide eyes and a very pink face, "Are you kidding me?" He exclaimed, "That one was amazong!" I laughed softly, "Thank you but... It was pretty bad." "I thought it was gorgeous." He disagreed. He was so sweet... I kissed the top of his head and in return, I got smacked in the face. "Hey!" I exclaimed, "What was that for?" "For kissing my head! I said no!" "But you called me 'dude' two times. We're even now." I said. "Fine! Dont do it again!" He exclaimed. I grabbed my scarf and earmuffs, putting them on. "C'mon." I said, grabbing my boyfriend's hands and pulling him up. He smirked as I pulled him around the lake. "I'm just gonna fall." He said. I smirked a bit at the cutie, "And I'll help you up, clumsy." He did almost fall. But I was there. And I grabbed him, pulling him close to my chest. He smirked softly at me, holding onto my arms. He was so beautiful... I couldnt get over it... I smiled and kissed his cheek. "You're doing something weird to me. Get away." Jean said, turning a dark pink and leaning away from me. I laughed a bit and nuzzled his face into his neck, "No I'm not. You're fine." Jean smirked, "Marco. Dude." "Stop that..." I breathed into his neck. I felt him rake a hand through my hair before trying to pry me off of him. "God. I'm needy?" He asked. I laughed, "Yes. You are, Jean. I was just snuggling." He rolled his eyes. "Right." He said. "I'll leave you out here on the lake." I warned, smiling. "No!" He said, grabbing my arm. I laughed softly.
We soon left the ice skating rink, walking around, and ended up at the same candy shop as before. Which was perfect because I needed to go in and get some candy for my cousins. So I went in and Jean waited out front. I gathered what I knew my cousins would appreciate. Then my eyes locked on that stupid singing pickle again. I smiled softly, pulling it off of the shelf. Darn. This thing was ridiculous. It was the exact one as before, I noticed. The packaging had the same dents on it as before. I sighed, realizing what I had to do. So I took everything to check out and paid for it all, hiding the pickle at the bottom of the bag, under the candy, then walking back over to my boyfriend. He nodded once at me and I smiles, walking over to him and realizing that he was on the phone. "That's good, Connie." He said. I smiled softly at him and took his hand, leading him away from the candy store. Jean sighed, "Fine. Shoot." He said to Connie. It was quiet then Jean said, "He's fine." He's talking about me. I looked at him and he winked at me. I smirked and took his phone. He grinned as I said, "Connie?... Hey! How are you? How's Sasha?" I grinned slowly as Connie said, "Hey, bro! I'm good! Sasha's good! A massive handful, as per the usual. I'm just taking a walk right now. Trying to get away from my annoying family." I laughed softly. "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 I handed Jean his phone back. It was silent as Jean smirked and said to Connie, "Why do you sound so surprised?" It was quiet again then Jean laughed. After they ended their conversation and hung up, I squeezed his hand, "You were so nice to him." I said. He smirked at me, "I'm in a good mood, dork." I laughed softly. We headed more towards an iffy part of downtown. If we just ignored whoever was down here, we'd be okay. After a while, Jean stopped walked. I looked at him, "What?" I asked. He was looking at a group of three dudes who were larger than him. He was frowning. "That guy just littered." I sighed, "Jean. Just ignore it." But he let go of my hand and headed over, picking the cup up. Nonono, Jean. Please dont. Jean suddenly turned and threw the cup right at the back of one of the guys' heads and yelled, "Hey! Throw away your shit, asshole!" No, Jean... Crap... I was kind of paralyzed... The were all bigger than my blonde boyfriend... The guy turned to Jean. No... I dont want to have to hit them. "Hey! Did you just thrrow that shit?" He said, walking over to Jean. He was extremely muscley. Damn. They were going to beat eachother up. "Yeah. I did, shit bag." I stepped between the two of them, my back to Jean, in order to protect him. "I'm sorry about him." I said to the guy, "He's just really passionate about keeping the environment healthy. I'll take care of that cup for yo-" Suddenly, I felt a hard pain in my jaw as my head jerked back and I dropped my bag of goodies from the candy shop... I stumbled and groaned in pain. Oh my God. That hurt. He had just punched me. Really hard. I heard the guy laugh and say, "Queers." And the other guys laughed, too. No. I'm okay with people messing with me but... Not Jean. I suddenly saw blonde fluff cloud my vision as Jean stepped around to stand in front of me, kicking the laughing guy right in the twiddle diddles. He made a strangled sound then his two buddies went for Jean. My head was spinning. I desperately tried to gather myself. I needed to focus. Suddenly, I saw Jean being held by his hair and then one guy coming for me. I acted on reflex and punched him at least four times in the face. It was enough to stun him as I realized that Jean was lying, curled on the floor, with another guy kicking him. Anger boiled in my stomach. Fuck these guys. I took in Jean's pained expression and it was more than enough to get me to wind up the biggest Falcon Punch in the history of Nintendo. I pelted that guy so hard in the face with my fist, that he was out cold. Then the guy who I had stunned earlier in the brawl came for me again. I dodged him, managing to trip and hurt my ankle badly in the process. But I kicked his legs out from under him with my good foot. As he struggled to get up, I noticed Jean pulling on the hair of the main guy who had littered in the first place. All this hair pulling was starting to get girly. What was this? A mini game for Barbie goes to Fashion Week. Teresa kept stealing the cookies so Barbie had to fuck her up? I growled, jumping up and pushing this guy out of Jean's grip, grabbing the front of his shirt, and slamming him up against the window of a closed shop. "I would leave if I were you." I said as menacingly as I could muster. My foot was dying. The guy looked pretty horrified now. That was actually pretty satisfying... "Do you hear me?" I said, ramming him against the window again. He nodded. I let him go then and he and his buddy grabbed their passed out friend and got out of there. I sighed shakily, trying to catch my breath. I looked over at Jean. He had blood streaming down his mouth and chin from his nose and his lip had re-busted. His hair was very messed up. Darn. If his nose was broken... I was going to kill him. Jean put a hand over his nose, pulling it back and looking at it. I limped over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, "Are you okay? My God Jean you idiot! You need to learn how to ignore people!" I exclaimed. I was so worried that I was shaking. He looked at me, studying my face. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Marco..." He said. I sighed softly, gulping and walking over and grabbing the bag that I had dropped on the sidewalk then I came back over to Jean and put my arm around his shoulders, pulling him back to where we had parked. I was limping really bad. I winced whenever my foot landed to hard. God it hurt. Jean just held his nose. "That asshole..." Jean said. I sighed, "Jean. People will be like that. You just have to ignore it." "I wont ignore it. It's frickin stupid." He said. "He punched you in the face, laughed about it, then called us queers, Marco!" I rubbed his shoulders, trying to relax him. "Did you break anything?" I asked. "No." He said, bitterly, "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." He said, noticing my foot, "You're limping." I shook my head, "I dont care if I'm dying. I'm just worried about you." I unlocked the car when we arrived at it and got into the driver's seat. "Dude, your leg." Jean said. "Stop calling me dude and it's fine. Get in the car." I responded, frustrated. He obediently got into the passenger's seat, thank God.
My parents were not best pleased with my state of injury. I just had a sprained ankle, it turned out. But it didnt matter because I still got hurt. I cleaned up the cuts on my face, covering them up. Now that it was over, I felt really guilty and I didnt want to be around people. So I stayed in my room the next day and worked on my peices. It was around four when Jean opened the door and said, "Hey..." "Hey..." I responded, studying his face and sighing, "How are you?" He smirked, "Fine." He then came in, closing the door behind him, then heading over and sitting at at the foot of my bed. "Look. I'm sorry, Marco. I didnt think." He suddenly said. I smiled a bit, "It's okay. I'm just glad you're alright." "Yeah but you got hurt pretty bad..." He said, rubbing my ankle gently that was placed on a pillow and being iced underneath. I smiled softly, "I'm okay..." I said. "Thanks for helping me fight." He responded and I 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." I grinned a bit. "I know." He said, "That pissed me off." "You're sweet." I said. I felt Jean's finger trace the dandelion on my ankle. He looked at the piece I was working on. "It looks good." He said. I smiled. "Thank you." "Have you filled out the forms for that national competition yet?" Oh man... I stared at him before shaking my head. "Marcoooo." He groaned. I laughed, "Well I cant get up nooww!" I said, leaning my head back against the headboard of the bed. He smirked, "Lazy." "Sprained ankle." "That too. Where are the forms?" He asked me. I pointed to the junk drawer of mine that was in the dresser. Everyone has one of those, right? He stood and went and opened the drawer, pulling the forms out the manilla folder. "What else is in here?" He asked, putting the forms on the dresser. "Nothing interesting." I responded. He grabbed the forms and flopped down next to me on the bed, putting the forms on top of my piece. I grinned at him then started filling them out. "Fine. Whatever, Jean. If you really want me to..." "You have to." I chuckled softly. Someone knocked on the door. "Come in." I said. Lunetta opened the door and ran in. "Marco! Are you okay?" She had bern asleep when we went out and she was out all day today with her parents. She must have been worried. I smiled reassuringly, "Yeah. I'm okay." I said. She climbed onto the bed and crawled over us, landing right in between us. I saw Jean smirk. "Whatcha doing?" She asked me. "Filling out things for an art competition." She stood up on the bed. "No jumping." I said. Suddenly, she jumped up and landed on my head. I was not expecting it. "Ahh!" I exclaimed, laughing and catching her. She laughed, too. "Why did you just body slam my head?" She kept laughing. "Jeez!" She stood back up and jumped onto Jean. "Oof!" He said as she flopped down into his lap. "I dont appreciate this." She giggled. "Marco! You have drawings on you!" She said, pointing to my tattoo on my wrist. I smiled a bit, "Yes I do." Jean entertained Lunetta as I filled out the forms. Watching them made me feel all warm and fuzzy. They were so cute. She eventually left, closing the door behind her. "She is a handful." Jean said. I 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." Jean smiled, "You're right." He agreed. "Here." I said, holding the packet of forms out to him, "Put these back in the drawer for me?" He stood, putting them back in the drawer then flopped down next to me again. I smiled at him before continuing to work on my peice. Jean pulled his phone out of his pocket and put one of his earbuds in, then he started tapping away. I let out a soft breath and it was silent for a few moments before Jean said, "Do you have a Vine account, Marco?" Vine. That app? I looked at him, "No." I said, "Why?" Jean 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 was so adorable... I dont know why him explaining that made him so endearing but it did...
I grinned, leaning over and kissing his temple. He smirked, his face turning pink. "What are you kissing me for?" He asked. "Because you're cute." I said. Jean spluttered, "Cute? Fuck off!" I laughed, "That was so loud! Shush!" "You're fucking cute." He said. My face felt flushed, "Thanks. But I doubt it." Jean rolled his eyes. "You are, dude." Dammit. I smacked his shoulder. "Wha-?" "Stop calling me 'dude'!" Jean sighed, "Why are you so against that word?" "Because I'm your boyfriend! You only call friends 'dude'!" His face turned really pink and he made a cute squeaking sound. It was completely out of character. I looked at him with a "what was that sound?" expression and I opened my mouth to ask him what that was when I was cut off with, "Eat my shorts!" I couldnt help it. I laughed. "That is not appropriate." I said. Jean smirked, "Whatever." "Come here." I said, holding my arm out to him. "No." He said. I smirked, "Please, Jean?" He sighed a bit, grimacing before scooting close to me. Yes! I smiled and kissed his cheek, putting an arm around his shoulders. It was silent then Jean suddenly got up and grabbed the board that my peoce was on. I lifted my pen off of the paper quickly as he pulled the board away, so as to mot ruin my peice. "What are you doing?" I was confused. "You should take a break. You're almost done with this peice." Maybe... I closed my pen and put it on the side table. Jean put my peice up against the wooden closet. I smirked softly at my boyfriend, watching how he moved. He turned around, and his face got hot. "What?" He asked, seeing me wathing him. "You're cute. That's what." I said. Jean frowned, "Stop saying that." "No. Now come here." I responded, holding my arms out to him. "And if I dont?" He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I'll get up and probably hurt my ankle again." I said. Jean thought. Then he rolled his eyes and headed over to me. "Fine." I chuckled softly and pulled him down next to me. "Aww you caarree." I said, hugging him tightly. "Of course I do, you friggin idiot! Now get off of me!" I laughed and let go.
The next day was the 31st and the kids werent as excited about New Years. They were still kind of excited. My family was cooking all day. It was around noon when Jean was asked to help. My mom, aunt, and grandma were the ones cooking. "Jean! Would you mind helping us?" My aunt had said into the living room. I smiled at my boyfriend and he smiled back, standing and heading into the kitchen. I watched him go... I became aware of his body type. Really really slim... He was muscular enough but... Still very slim. I stared wondering what his childhood had been like. I would probably find our during spring break... I was really nervousited about seeing his family. It would be scary and probably really awkward but, hopefully, I'd learn more about Jean... Suddenly, I overhead my mother say in the kitchen, "...such a nice kid. I think he deserves the best." She was talking about me and the fight. I heard Jean sigh, "Y-Yes ma'am." I got up, heading into the kitchen. I put a hand on Jean's shoulder. He jumped at least 27 miles up. "Dude!" He exclaimed, "My God you scared me!" Oops. I laughed. "Sorry!" I then said to my mom, "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..." Jean was silent, continuing to cut vegetables. "I'm not saying you cant protect him." Mom said, "I'm just telling him to be more careful. I dont want either of you to get hurt." "Thank you, mother." I said, smiling at her concern. Then asking, "Can I help you with anything?" "I think we got it, honey." She responded. "Alright." I said, "Good luck, Jean." I then kissed his cheek and squeezed his shoulder before going back into the living room. I figured that laundry would be a good idea and Jean came in at the perfect time.
"Jean." I said, standing up off of the couch, "Help me with laundry?" He groaned, "But I just helped with food. "Oh man up, Jeanny-boy!" My uncle exclaimed. I grinned. What a spoiled child. "I cant be so nice for so often." He said, heading into the bedroom to grab my dirty clothes. I followed behind him and grabbed my own clothes then lead him to the laundry room. "Put your darks, whites, and colors in seperate hampers, please." I said. I let Jean seperate his own clothes before I seperated my own. I then smiled softly at him. He was so adorable. I bumped our noses together before kissing him for a breif moment. He smiled and turned pink. His smile was absolutely amazing. I was so screwed... I ripped myself away from him reluctantly, grabbing the darks and dumping them into the washing machine, putting in soap then closing the machine and turning it on. Then I stepped over to Jean and hugged him close. He hugged me back. I smiled softly. He was only an inch or a half shorer than me but... He was still cute. Mike suddenly came bounding in and he jumped up on us. "Ahh!" Jean yelled, "Nooo!" I laughed, pulling away from him and grabbing Mike. "Aww! C'mere!" "How can you do that?" Jean exclaimed. I grinned at him, "Getting Mike was my idea so I can handle him." Jean grimaced, "Big dogs arent my forte." Aw man... I pouted. This might be the reason I end up dumping this man, "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." Okay. That makes sense. I nodded, "I get that." I then l Mike go and the three of us headed back out into the living room. "Hey, Jean!" My mother called from in the kitchen. "Yes, ma'am?" He answered. "How old are you?" Jean was silent and I raised an eyebrow. Was he even of legal age to drink? He sighed. "20." What? "Alright!" She responded. Dummy! I smacked his shoulder. "Jean. I didnt know that you were 20!" He just rolled his eyes and looked at me, "Good job keeping up with your boyfriend." Oh... My face got hot with embarassment, "Sorry. I didnt know you couldnt drink yet. I thought you could... You were on the younger side of your graduating class, huh?" He nodded.
Later that eveninf, we ate dinner and Jean got some wine. He drank a glass and I convinced myself to at least drink a half a glass. I wasnt really okay with drinking it... I already had my addiction with alchohol. Been there done that. And I didnt want to re-do that. So I tried to avoid it altogether. But, sometimes, it's just something you have to do. It's respectful to do at parties and get togethers and dinners. Afterwards, Lunetta wanted to play in the snow. So she, my aunt, and myself headed out. We had fun but Lunetta eventually got tired. "We're gonna go inside, Marco." My aunt said. I smiled and nodded, "Go ahead." I said as Lunetta hugged me and I hugged her back. Then the two of them walked towards the house and I turned back around, wanting to sit and watch the fireworks for a while but I knew that the counting down would be starting soon so I should probably go back in. When someone sat down next to me. "Hey." Jean said. I looked at him and smiled. "Hey!" I exclaimed, a bit too excited. Calm the butts down, Marco. Jean had on his blue coat, green beanie with snowflakes on it, black gloves, and his black scarf. He was so cute. I had a boring brown jacket on, red gloves, a green scarf, and white earmuffs. How lame was I? But Jean was so attractive. His cheeks and nose were pink from the cold already even though he had just barely stepped outside. "What're you doing out here alone? Everyone went in." He said. I turned my attention back to the exploding colors in the air, shrugging and saying, "I was planning on going back in but... Now you're here so..." I looked at him and he was pinker than before and he was half smiling. Cute. "Ever kissed anyone on New Years?" I asked. He probably had but why not ask? He laughed a bit. "Yeah." He said, "But... Not with you." I felt my face get hot. "Well... Then..." I said. I ran out of things to say. I wanted him to kiss me but even though we were officially dating now, I still felt awkward asking him for a kiss. He snickered and said, "Of course I'll kiss you at midnight, Marco." He scooted closer to me. Thank God. I laced my fingers with his and everyone seemed to start screaming and counting down, "10...! 9...! 8...! 7...! 6...!" I was actually getting really nervous as the fireworks went insane everywhere, "5...! 4...! 3...! 2...! 1...! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Then I thought, screw it, and I leaned forwards, my eyes slipping closed, and pressed my lips against Jean's. He kissed me back, squeezing my hand. I pulled away after a decent time and we just kind of sat there for a few moments, staring at eachother like idiots before I laughed softly. Jean grinned and I said, "Jean... I love you. Happy New Year." "Cheesy nerd." He said. I laughed more and hugged him close. He hugged me back. Then I heard him say, "Love you, too, Marco..." And I held him a little tighter.