Chapter Text
Marco had been in love with his best friend Jean since forever. They’d known each other almost all their lives. He still remembered when he first saw the shy pudgy kid with hair the color of hay.
It was October of fifth grade and they were already well into the second month of school. Jean had just moved to their city from a whole different state. He’d lived in a big city, one that was near the ocean, something which a young Marco could not even imagine since he and all the other kids in his school were local and had lived there their whole lives. He had been introduced by the teacher and glared at them all when he’d said his ‘hello’. Despite the hostility in his demeanor, Marco had noticed the hint of fear he was so desperately trying to hide in his large amber eyes.
Due to the fact that children were mean and Jean was really self-conscious, he mostly kept to himself. Aside from curious questions about his former state of residence, the other children didn’t really make any effort to befriend him. They thoughtlessly asked him why he was fat, being oblivious to his feelings in that way that kids often are. Jean put on a tough guy attitude, pretending he didn’t care.
“It’s just baby-fat,” he huffed defensively. “My parents said I would outgrow it. And I will! So just be quiet!”
He sat at the back corner of the class, never taking the initiative to speak to anyone, even after a few weeks. He’d always eat lunch alone in the same manner, sitting in the corner of the cafeteria discouraging anyone from even getting near him. Marco couldn’t imagine someone not wanting to have friends so he took it upon himself to get to know the new kid.
It was easier said than done, though, since Marco himself was really shy. His only opportunity was lunchtime since Jean was always dropped off and picked up from school by his nanny, no exceptions. Jean’s family was well off and lived in a large two story house on the outskirts of the city. The only reason he was even in public school was because the nearest private school had a waiting list and his family didn’t have enough influence in their new city of residence to pull any strings.
He approached Jean’s table and set his tray down slowly, watching Jean the whole time in case he would explode and yell at him to sit somewhere else.
“What do you want, freckle face?” he muttered gloomily, not even bothering to make eye contact.
Marco chuckled nervously, not really knowing what to say. It’s not like he wasn’t constantly being made of for his freckles either. At least Jean didn’t seem angry.
“What’s so funny?” Jean asked, eyeing him like he was out of his mind.
“I guess I do look pretty weird with so many freckles, huh?” he said simply, smiling out of habit.
Jean scrunched his face up in confusion as though he hadn’t been expecting that kind of an answer.
“Will it make you angry if I sit here?” Marco asked, biting his lower lip with uncertainty.
Jean’s eyes widened for a moment, but then his face gradually relaxed in to a cocky smirk. That’s the first time Marco remembered seeing him that way and he would never forget it.
“I guess that depends on you,” he answered slyly. “Don’t do anything stupid and I probably won’t get angry.”
“Ok!” Marco beamed sitting down immediately to Jean’s apparent surprise.
They ate together mostly in silence, Jean flushing slightly because the other kids were making mean comments about them and sending mocking glances their way. He glared back at them, daring them to come over and say something to his face. Marco noticed too, but he didn’t care. He knew every single one of these kids personally and therefore was immune to anything they might say. Eventually the novelty of Jean being the new kid would pass, and once they got tired of making fun of him he’d blend in just like everyone else.
After a couple of days of the same thing, Marco coming by and silently sitting next to him at lunchtime, Jean’s patience seemed to wear thin.
“How come you always sit here with me, but you never say anything?”
Marco lowered his gaze to his food, fidgeting with his fork.
“Did you lose a bet or something?” Jean prodded, his brows furrowed in anger. “Is that the only reason you're doing this?”
“No,” he said quietly, his face flushing. “I guess… I guess I don’t say anything because there’s really nothing interesting for me to say to you. You’re from a big fancy city near the ocean. Everything here must be really boring to you. So I don’t want to bother you with it.”
“Oh,” Jean said simply. Then he smiled widely. “That’s actually kind of true.”
Marco smiled back, his nervousness slowly slipping away.
“What’s it like to live in a big city?”
“Crowded,” Jean sighed. “There’s so many people and cars everywhere, it makes you dizzy.”
Marco’s eyes got larger with interest. He couldn’t imagine anything crowded. Their city population was near five thousand, and that was being generous. The most people he ever saw together in one place besides school was church every Sunday. But he knew them all, so it wasn’t bad. When he told Jean as much, the tawny haired kid laughed like a maniac.
“You’re not kidding. This place is almost a ghost town. In the city there are so many people, it’s impossible for you to know them all. Everyone is always in a hurry too, and every street looks almost the same. If you’re not careful, you could get really lost.”
“Sounds awful,” Marco frowned, his eyes full of fear.
Jean laughed. Full belly laughed, and it made Marco feel warm inside.
“You get used to it,” he said with a bit of arrogance.
“If you say so,” Marco said teasingly.
He got nervous all over again when he noticed Jean was gazing him with hesitation. Had he done something wrong? He was just about to ask, when Jean suddenly blurted out.
“Hey, do you want to come over to my house after school?”
Marco almost choked on his mac and cheese. They’d just starting speaking and he was already inviting him over? He honestly didn’t think things would progress this fast.
“That sounds like fun,” he started, but then hesitated. “But I’d have to ask my mom first.”
Jean was suddenly glaring at him. Marco swallowed, not sure why he’d be angry all of a sudden.
“Do you think she’d say no? Is it because of my parents?”
“What? N-no!” Marco exclaimed with surprise.
“Well, then what?”
“Well, it’s just that I know you get picked up…” he trailed off, hoping it was self-explanatory. It wasn’t.
“So what?”
“So…” he rolled his eyes. “I’d have to walk home and ask her first. You’d already be gone, right?”
Jean thought about this for a minute.
“What if we gave you a ride home?” he asked earnestly. “Then you could ask her and we could leave from there.”
Marco wasn’t sure if that was a good idea, but Jean made it sound like it was perfectly fine.
“Would your…um- driver really be okay with that?” He’d hesitated to say 'nanny' because he wasn’t sure if Jean would be offended by it.
“Pfft!” Jean waved dismissively. “Like she has a choice! We usually just go straight home because I ask her to.”
Oh, so it’s like that, Marco thought.
“Well, if that’s ok, then sure!” he smiled brightly.
Jean smiled back at him with barely contained enthusiasm.
“We’ll have so much fun Marco! You’ll see!”