Chapter Soundtrack: watch?v=mAY9jV_uNGg
"FIVE!".
The door banged open, making the two teens wake up with a brusque startle. Both Five and Marben looked at the dazzling light coming from the hallway without managing to see who was at the door.
"Dad's back! You gotta take her home!". Ben, Marben told herself, definitely Ben: Klaus was high, Allison was an unforgiving bitch and Diego would have stuttered like hell. It had got to be Ben.
"Shi'!" slurred Five starting to uncoordinatedly fuss under her; Marben rolled off of him and in a second was on the carpet, still half blinded by the light and struggling to find her shoes.
"Come on, Five! Get a move on!" said Ben, then shut the door after himself, disappearing, and everything was dark again.
"Gosh, it's like…being high on mushies…".
"Wha'?".
"Nothing, nothing…ah, I can't find my shoe…".
"Let's go, Marben, we don't have time!".
"And what about my shoe?".
"I'll bring it along tomorrow evening, just move!".
"FOUND IT!". Shoes in hand, Marben spotted Five and literally jumped straight into his embrace. In a flash of blue light, they were gone.
The landing in the dorm room went slightly less efficiently: still caught by surprise by Marben's upsurge, Five lost his balance and both of them fell untidily to the ground, scattering around the floor the shoes they hadn't had the time to put on. They immediately burst out laughing, heartily, aloud, uncaring of the late hour, piled up on top of one another as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Eventually, little by little, their laughs abated into mirthful giggles and then some occasional snickers.
"Oh god" sighed Five, and the strong rush of air from his lungs directly caressing Marben's cheek made her feel things. "We're terrible!".
"Oh no, I wouldn't say that, babe" snickered the girl. "Our departure was fucking perfect…we just lost it a little on the landing, that's all".
"WE?" blurted the boy, an incredulous laugh on his lips. "I had everything under control, it was you that charged at me like a freakin' bull at the bullfight!". They started laughing again, snuggling closer to each other despite being sweaty; when the laughter died out, enjoying the silence and the simple delight of being together took over.
"Tell me something of you I still don't know" said Five, softly, after some time.
"Uhm…nothing's coming to my mi…ah, I play the piano and the guitar, other than the violin".
"Shit! You're a prodigy, then!".
"Now, don't be sappy, Dimple!".
"Not a prodigy? A…portent. No, portent sounds just awful…a marvel! It even sounds a bit like your name, you're a marvel!".
"Seriously, Five. Just because I'm a multi-instrumentalist? Come on!".
"As you please, then, Peaches. But I still think you're marvelous".
"Ooooh, my dear…I swear, you weren't a sucker for pet names, when I met you. And certainly not this sappy!".
"And here's another thing of you I didn't know: you like your man a little sugary".
"Mmmmh, I might".
"Lucky me, I can be the sappiest of all for the right Doll".
"Such a poet, my Five, such a poet! Now, tell me why your sister Allison is a pain in the butt".
"Eeww! You wanna talk about Allison?".
"Yes. I met her, a couple of hours ago, and I'd like to hear a second opinion on why she is the way she is".
''Cause she's a bitch, isn't it obvious?".
That comment reminded Marben of how Five had referred to Klaus as 'mad' or 'the difficult brother'; she lifted her head and looked down at her boyfriend.
"You're an almost complete arsehole, to your siblings, you know that?". Five's face flushed red in indignation.
"Oh, come on, just because I made a rude comment about my sister?".
"Yes, that, and what about that sign you made earlier, addressing to Klaus?" the girl countered, slowly repeating said gesture. Five then looked stunned, as if he had suddenly realized he really had a completely different attitude from what he was used to think, in regard of his brothers and sisters.
"Ca…can you tell you're always nice to your siblings? Like all the fucking time?".
"Yes, because I'm the oldest and I feel extremely protective of them".
"Well, that's really sweet, considering that y'all are real relatives and your family is not a total mess!".
"Five" Marben interrupted him, dryly but not unkindly, "Don't turn this into a drama. I didn't say you're a despicable person, only...try to put yourself in their shoes, sometime, maybe it could help you understand some things about the relationship you share with them…like why you and Allison don't get along, for example!".
"I don't know why we don't get along, alright? Or to be more accurate, I don't care: we weren't close as kids and we're even less, now that…".
"…that you're turning into a man and she's turning into a woman?".
"Yeah, that".
"…you don't seem all that disgusted by the idea of me turning into a woman, tough…".
"Because you already are a woman, and above all you're not my sister! And thank god, or I'd be having nightmares for the thoughts I sometimes get about you doing…".
Straight away, the dark room filled with the heaviest silence possible. Or at least, this is what Five would have said if he'd been asked to describe the vibe. Marben, however, wasn't of the same opinion: slowly, she reached the switch of the nearest lamp and turned it on.
"Five Hargreeves" she said in a delusive tone, eyes boring into the green ones of her boyfriend from above "Did you just admit you've been having fantasies about me?".
Five looked terrified: with eyes wide like saucers he nodded brusquely, Adam's apple going up and down in his exposed, nervous throat. Marben smiled mysteriously at him, then, and next thing he knew the room was dark again. Five didn't dare to move, scared shitless by the idea of Marben being disgusted, now that she knew, so he stayed there where she'd left him…and in a few seconds his ears were overjoyed by the soft sound of clothes being left to fall on the floor. Right then and there he found the guts to say something, his pubescent voice cracking mercilessly.
"Marben…I survived last time by miracle. How can you expect me to see tomorrow if you keep doing this while I'm in the room?".
A hiss and then a small crackle later, a lit match illuminated flickeringly the same Marben that had welcomed him that evening, in a skimpy white camisole, pink knickers…and inexplicably, a black domino mask on her lovely face.
"Wha…where did you get that?" blowed Five, sitting up and extending a hand toward her face, looking awed. Marben smiled and shifted a little, moving away to avoid being touched; she instead pushed forward the small flame, and only then the boy realized that she wasn't holding out a match, but a muffin with a lit, blue birthday candle on the top. 'LOVE MY DIMPLE' was written around the birthday candle in blue icing.
"Happy birthday with weeks of delay, love" said Marben with a soft smile. "And sorry if I couldn't arrange something better, but…". Grabbing the muffin in one hand, Five leaned forward and winded his free arm around Marben's neck, dragging her in a steamy kiss.
"This is perfect. You are perfect!" he said when they broke apart, looking down to his small birthday cake. His first ever.
"'Love my Dimple'" he snickered. "So now someone else knows you call me like that…". Marben shook her head, looking very pleased with herself.
"I made the inscription personally. Nobody else knows your dirty secret, Dimple". Five looked at her with mirth and something absolutely soft and unguarded, in his eyes, something that made her want to hold him forever. But first, the birthday party.
"So. Are you gonna blow that candle off or you want me to sing 'Happy Birthday to You', first?". For a moment Five looked puzzled, and even a tad shy.
"I…don't know. Nobody has ever sang it to me". He looked up at his girlfriend. "Is it nice?".
Marben didn't have the heart to tell him that no, it was the most embarrassing moment of every single birthday party in the world, so she simply sat beside him, rested her head on his shoulder and sweetly sang him happy birthday in hushed tones, trying for him to make it sound the less awkward possible, both of them staring at the little flame melting the wax of the blue candle.
"Blow to my three, babe" warned when she was done, "One. Two. Three".
Both teens blew on the little candle and although it went off in a puff of smoke, the room didn't sink into darkness again: the timid light of a new day seeped in by the window, illuminating them tenuously.
"My…fake birthday's already passed…" said Five in a thin and crestfallen voice. Marben chuckled fondly and kissed the moles on his dimple.
"No, it isn't. We decided to celebrate our birthdays whenever we wanted, so we get to decide when they end, too. And in this case, it's not now". She discarded the burnt birthday candle - Five readily dumped it inside his pocket, unseen - and took off the domino mask.
"I suggest I take the 'Dimple' part and you the 'Love' one. Sounds good, to you?" the girl asked with a smile; Five grinned back.
"Deal!" he said, messily splitting the muffin; they fumbled to catch all the crumbs, between laughs and giggles, and got smears of blue icing on their upper lips and noses, by the end of it all, that they cleaned from each other's faces with kisses and playful nips; there were no gifts, but Five couldn't have asked for anything more. He had never felt happier and more loved in all his life, it was addictive and he wanted it to never end. Never ever.
A/N: Thank you, thank you and THANK YOU again for your wonderful support. Y'all are precious.
PS: I'll be making some changes in the old chapters' format; updates remain on Tuesdays and Fridays.
