(Whoops this is 2 days late)

Technically I don't consider this a real chapter since it kind of falls out of line with the plot, so think of it as more of a side story (plus I couldn't resist not writing jeanmarco valentines)

Valentine's day. The one day of the year where it's 100% acceptable for gross, hormonal teens make out and have sex with other gross, hormonal teens. I could tell this day was going to be just fantastic already. Every single year I'm forced to stare at other kids be all over each other in the hallway because our school doesn't give a shit about PDA rules. It sickens me in every way, especially because I'm sure with what I heard Sasha saying the other day, Connie would soon be joining the majority. Plus, with my newly realized crush on Marco, it'd be even harder to ignore the fact that I wasn't sharing this day with him. I sighed as I got my shoes on.

Today was going to be a long day.

Later when I arrived at school, my mood continued to be sour. Even Marco's cute freckled face couldn't lift my spirits.

"Hey Jane! Happy Valentine's day!" he greeted with a wide grin.

...

Scratch that, my day was better already.

"Hi Marco. Happy Valentine's Day," I greeted casually. I sort of wanted him to comment on who he'd pick for a Valentine, but that didn't end up happening. I could hear Sasha and Connie snicker behind me, and when I turned around, Connie was staring straight at me, smirking and making rude gestures with his hands. I was about ready to go over and punch them both in the face. Unfortunately, the warning bell sounded before I could even take a step, and the two idiots ran off giggling. I sighed.

"Guess it's time to go down the land of horny teenagers." Marco laughed a little and followed me down to our first class. But we barely took five steps before Marco suddenly stopped.

"That's right! I gotta stop at my locker first. I left my book in there." I rolled my eyes.

"Is it really that important? How do you even know we're going to be using it today?"

"Because Mr. Zacharius said we'd be using it today, remember?" Oh yeah. Well at least I actually had my book with me for once.

When we arrived at his locker, I noticed that there was something stuck to mine. Marco looked surprised too.

"I wonder who that's from?" he asked as I ripped off the envelope from my locker. Inside held a letter and a paper heart with a lollipop.

Dear Jane,

This is not your secret admirer. This is Reiner telling you to give this to Marco because watching you two be around each other and not dating is killing us all.

Love, Reiner

PS- Here's a thing that might help you later tonight.

Wait, what thing was Reiner talking about? I reached into the envelope again, this time feeling something... latex and long. Without even pulling it out I knew what it was.

I don't think I've ever been more ready to murder someone in my life.

"Uhh, Jane? You okay there? The bell's about to go off you know," Marco reminded me. But suddenly, I had an idea, and I told Marco to go to class without me.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Positive. Just tell Mr. Zacharius I got held up in te bathroom or some shit." And with that, he left, leaving me to my revenge.

A few minutes after I had received Reiner's "gift," I decided he deserved a little response.

Dear Reiner,

Go fuck yourself.

Love, Jane

PS- You and Bertl are gonna need this more than I will, trust me.

I smiled as I slipped the letter back into the envelope, then stuck the condom on the outside of his locker. Reiner had brought this onto himself, and he was paying for it in the best of ways.

Later came lunch, and so far my day was as boring as hell, besides the fact that Reiner later confronted me, and I had to keep a straight face when he yelled at me about how much trouble we both could've been in (but mostly him). Well Reiner, maybe if you had kept the condom in it's package it would've worked out better.

"Jane! Come over here!" a farmilar voice called, pulling me out of my thoughts. Marco was right by the entrance of the school. I wondered why he was all the way over there instead of in the cafeteria. By the time I got there, he suddenly looked nervous.

"Do you wanna go somewhere for lunch?" he asked in a shy tone. Marco was confusing me.

"Uh, why not right here?" I honestly had no idea what he meant by "somewhere."

"No, I mean off campus. Where do you wanna go?" Wait, was I hearing this correctly? Marco Bodt, straight A-teacher's pet Marco Bodt, wanting to go off campus, which is against the rules?

"Uh Marco, just what are you on? You do realize we could get in huge trouble if we go off, right?" Not that I really cared, but it was for Marco's sake. However, he just laughed.

"We won't get caught if we go now," he said, flashing me a small smirk which made my heart skip a beat.

"I like the way you think Mr. Bodt."

A few minutes later, we ended up at Subway. Marco knew Subway was my favorite, and if that plus everything else he does doesn't make him boyfriend material then I don't know what does. I was still curious as to why he chose today out of all days to break the rules, so I asked him about it when we sat down. He blushed a little before answering,

"Well, it is Valentine's day, and you're really important to me. You always have been, you know? So I thought we could eat lunch, just the two of us."

God damn Marco, you sure are one smooth motherfucker.

By this point I was probably blushing so hard I looked like a tomato, but he only awkwardly laughed.

"I was going to get you something, but I didn't know what, so I thought Subway would work. Sorry if you thought it was creepy or-"

"No no! It's not creepy at all. Thanks Marco," I said, almost adding "thanks for being absolutely perfect." Once we were done, he suggested going over to his place after school to play video games, to which I said hell yes.

Surprisingly, we didn't get caught at all, and I spent the rest of the day practically floating down the halls (oh god, I'm starting to sound like a romance novel).

When I finally got to Marco's house, I noticed a box of chocolates sitting on the table.

"Who're these for?" I asked, causing him to blush a little.

"My mom gave them to me, but you can have them if you want." Marco truly is a saint in disguise I swear to god.

We spent a lot of time playing Left 4 Dead (as per tradition). But I soon found myself growing bored of getting attacked by hunters over and over again, so I requested we play a round of Mario Kart. Marco looked at me like I was insane.

"Do you not remember what happened last time we played that game?" he asked. Uh, no I don't actually...

Oh wait. It's coming back to me.

"I'm the best at Mario Kart!" I shouted.

"Ok Jean, we'll see about that," Marco said as he rolled his eyes." A few minutes of gameplay had passed, and I had lost the first round and was quickly losing the second. I was so determined to win that round that when I jumped and tried to do the mid air speed boost, I ended up flinging the Wii remote backwards and into his window. I left a two foot crack in his window.

Yeah. That wasn't one of my best moments.

"I'll be careful this time, I promise." I practically beg. He sighs.

"Alright," he gave in. "But you have to pay if you break anything again." I rolled my eyes. Seriously, a person breaks a window once and suddenly they can't be trusted again.

"I'm gonna do it Marco! I'm in first place and you're in third! Your ass is dead!"

"We'll see about that, Ms. Kirstchein..." he murmured almost evilly. It was the last lap of the final race, and we were already half way through the course. He had won one race, and I had won one, so this race would determine the champion. Victory was practically in my reach.

Until he moved up to second that is.

But it's okay because I was almost there. Just gotta keep going. Let nothing distract me.

"Hey Jane."

"Not now Marco, I'm trying to not let anything di-"

And suddenly, Marco leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.

I was frozen in place. My hands didn't move, my eyes were as wide as plates, and Marco had cheered when he got first place.

Wait a minute.

"YOU CHEATER!" I full on screamed as Marco laughed his ass off.

"Hey, I did win fair and square!" he defended when he finally stopped laughing.

"Fair and square my ass! You're really dead now!" I dropped the controller and tickled him until he couldn't breathe. His face was red from laughing so hard. I couldn't help but laugh too, and soon I was too tired to even try anymore. In fact, it was pretty late anyway.

"What time even is it?" I asked. He checked the TV clock.

"8:34. You stayed quite awhile."

"I know. Guess I should be getting home, huh." I really didn't want to leave. Being right here with Marco and forgetting all about the time was one of my favorite things to do.

"You don't have to go you know. There's no school tomorrow, and you haven't stayed over since... Well, you know," he trailed off awkwardly. I only smiled.

"Sounds fun. But one thing," Marco looked concerned for a second. "You can't cheat anymore." He smiled again.

"Well I don't know about that..."

"I'll leave right now."

"Just kidding. Geeze, you grumpy girl," he laughed, messing with my hair.

For the rest of the night, we played video games and had a giant pillow fight that resulted in a spilled cup of Coke. By the end, we were exhausted. By the time we were ready to sleep, he insisted I take the bed while he take the couch.

"No Marco, I can't let you sleep on the couch in your own home. We'll both take your bed. And don't you even worry about me. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'll get uncomfortable with you." He looked like he wanted to protest, but I cut him off, and he gave up. Of course, he had no idea that I lied about being uncomfortable (I mean he's the person I like so why would I not be uncomfortable and oh god what have I done maybe this was a bad idea). But I also knew Marco was a good guy, and he'd never do anything to me.

After a few minutes of getting ready, we were finally resting comfortably. Well, I wasn't actually. Marco's house was damn cold, and the sheets weren't very thick (God Marco how do you not freeze).

"Hey, are you shivering? Do you want me to warm up the house?"

"Nah, it's fine. I'll just take this extra blanket," I said as I reached over to grab an extra he had on the ground. Marco just shrugged beside me.

"Alright then. Goodnight Jane. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Marco." I almost added "I love you" onto the end of that, but didn't. He'd given me the best Valentine's day I'd ever had, and that was enough for me.

Ah yes, doesn't it just bother you that Marco and Jane still aren't together? :,D Man does it bother me! Oh also, bonus Marco POV:

I honestly did not mean to kiss her during Mario Kart. I mean, I wanted to win, sure, but I wasn't even willing to go that far. I'm just thankful she thought I was trying to cheat instead of what actually came over me.

See, I've had a crush on this girl ever since she was a guy. I won't lie about that. Her, er, his facial expression when he was passionate about anything was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. My favorite times were spent with him playing video games, or even just being dorky in general. However, I'm 99% sure that Jean was straight. He just didn't seem like the type of guy to be gay, or even bi. I was selfish for wishing he only liked me and I knew it. So when he became a she, I thought of it as a golden opportunity. But she was more stressed out with being the opposite gender than I thought she'd be, and I don't want to confuse her more. Plus I'm sure she still wanted someone else besides me anyway. So now, I keep my feelings hidden, and only do subtle things, just to make her happy.

Tonight it was harder to conceal my feelings. I was sure I screwed it up when I kissed her, but she didn't even notice. And now here she was. In my bed. Which makes me uncomfortable. Which is why I wanted to sleep on the couch. At least she was completely asleep. Now maybe I could- oh god why was she scooting closer? The closer she got, the more I could feel her cold skin against my own, and I understood why she felt the need to get close. I can't even believe after I offered to warm up the house she still does this. I sighed and wrapped my arms around her, pressing her up against me for warmth. She nuzzled into me and I sighed again.

"You're really gonna be the death of me, you know that?" I whispered. Then, with some hesitation, I kissed her head.

"I love you, Jane."