The farm proved to be a very nice home. Both Marco and Jean refused to sleep in the Master bedroom so they alternated who slept on the couch each night, Marco liked The Walking Dead and refused to let Jean open the barn, and Jean hated the fake bear rug. At least, Marco said it was fake. Jean didn't quite believe him.
Winter was coming and the only source of heat they had was a small fireplace that they didn't want to use much in case bandits or something saw the smoke. They had reinforced the fence and made it a bit higher but they went on supply runs that often lasted more than just a day, though they always returned as quickly as possible.
"What are we going to do about winter?" Marco asked one night at "dinner".
"I don't know. I found a multitude of blankets in the upstairs closet but blankets can only do so much really," Jean said. Marco nodded.
They thought about it that night. Jean didn't come up with anything but Marco remembered how warm it would be when his dog use to sleep with him. Living creatures were like natural heaters. He decided to bring it up tomorrow.
"We should sleep together," Marco said as he sat next to Jean on the couch the next afternoon.
"What?!" Jean stared at Marco, who then realised how that had sounded.
"No, no. Like, in the same bed, not like that," Marco said as he blushed, "Last night I was thinking about how we can stay warm this winter, and I remembered how warm it was when my dog would sleep with me when I was little."
"Oh, right. Yeah that makes sense," Jean said. Marco smiled and got up to go get a book from their small pile. They found a few lying around the house and there wasn't really much to do during the apocalypse. Marco had read a couple of them already and Jean had chosen the largest one to read first so he was working on that one.
He grabbed both his and Jean's book and brought them back to the couch. He gave Jean his and they both sat and read for a while. Jean got bored of his book so he closed it and put it down. He looked at Marco and saw how much he was enjoying his book and smiled. He ended up just watching Marco read until his stomach growled and Marco looked up from his book.
"Hungry?"
Jean blushed and laughed gently, "Yeah, a little."
Marco stood and grabbed the bag of food. He closed his eyes and pulled out a random food. It was the pickle jar. He attempted to take the lid off but it didn't come loose. He tried again but he couldn't get it to budge. After one final attempt at popping the lid, he gave in and slowly walked over to Jean. His cheeks flushed as he held out the jar to him.
"Can you help me?" Marco asked as he stared at the floor in embarrassment. Jean chuckled slightly before he took the jar from Marco and twisted the lid. It opened easily and Marco gaped at it. He pouted and flopped onto the couch next to Jean, who smiled and handed him a pickle.
As they ate Jean realised there was something he hadn't asked Marco. He didn't know what Marco did before all this, or who he was. Marco had never asked about Jean either. He decided to change this and asked, "So, what did you do before corpses started walking?"
Marco was a little surprised, he and Jean had been friends for months and before had never come up. "Well, I was in university for four years getting a pointless liberal arts degree before I finally decided that I wanted to join the police force. So I've been working on getting an associates in criminal justice, I was so close too," He said with a giggle, "What about you?"
"Well, I didn't really have any plans for my future, but my father insisted I at least get a bachelor's in political science, keep my dad happy."
Marco perked up at the mention of Jean's father. He tended to avoid the subject but Marco was curious. He pressed Jean for information but Jean changed the topic quickly back to Marco's life. They rambled on late into the night, talking about how Marco always wanted a brother named Polo and how Jean hated when people called him John.
"It's french, say it that way," He said and Marco laughed. It was the middle of the night when they finally got tired. They walked upstairs together. Marco quickly took the right side of the bed. Jean was slightly more apprehensive, but lay down on the left side of the bed so he and Marco were back to back. Sleep didn't come easily these days but eventually Jean's eyelids began to droop and he fell asleep.
