Chapter Text
Jean was a skeptic, in every sense of the word. If it didn't have a realistic answer, he wouldn't even acknowledge it. Jean has been like this throughout his cognitive life. So he found himself very troubled by the recent occurrences that were happening. Missing keys, opened curtains, giggles in the middle of the night and worse still, the ghost of his ex running his bone chilling hands across his back. Yes, Jean Kirstein was a skeptic, but the return of Marco Bott was starting to make him question his own skepticism. But this isn't the best place to start; the best place to begin this story would be seven years ago, when Jean first met the love of his life.
Jean was turned twenty- one, and was spending his last year as an undergraduate at Sania University. The past four years had been hard, but well worth it. He had met his closest friend, a mixed boy with a boisterous personality; Connie Springer. The two were assigned as random roommates in their freshman year, however they roomed together every year after the fact and were even planning to get an apartment together once they graduated. There were a lot of things about Connie that made Jean like him, the main one being that Connie wasn't even slightly perturbed by the fact that Jean was gay. He was even understanding when Jean would bring home a guy. Even though he hit it off very well with Connie, Jean's perpetual loner mentality made it practically impossible to keep a friend for more than a year. Even so, he was able to make friends with a gay couple, Reiner and Bertolt. The lack of a large friend circle did little to put a damper on his years as a student. He was able to land a good job in the mall close to the university and he enjoyed his classes as a Psychology major. Jean loved everything about his college life. But his favorite thing was the close vicinity of an Einstein's Bagels. Every Monday and Friday morning, he would run to the bagel place to grab a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese. He had done so since the second semester of his freshman year. He choose Monday as a “pick me up” and chose Friday as a celebratory treat for making it through the week. This Friday was no different. This semester, Jean only had classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Because of this, he didn't have to wake up early or rush to get his bagel. It was ten in the morning, and Jean was waiting patiently in line. He placed his order and stepped away from the front counter.
“Blueberry with strawberry,” a cheerful voice rang out. Jean looked up from his phone and headed toward the counter. He reached out for the bagged breakfast.
“That's me,” Jean said, though he found himself thoroughly surprised. He was surprised by the sound of a voice that wasn't his making the statement. He was also surprised by the hand that had brushed against his own. He looked over to see a freckled male who looked just as surprised him. The male had freckles that dusted over his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. Jean saw the shock in his large brown eyes fade to a softer expression that matched his smile.
“My bad,” the freckled man said, removing his hand from the bagel. “I've never heard anyone order this before so I assumed...” the man trailed off, bashfully rubbing the back of his neck. Jean blinked a few times. The man was handsome, but in a strange almost plain way. And yet... he seemed unique. Jean cleared his throat and tried to return the smile.
“Nah, it's fine. I thought the same thing,” Jean said as he regained his casual demeanor. Jean picked up the bag and stepped toward the male. He was a little taller that Jean, but he didn't mind.
“So, what's your name?” Jean asked.
“I'm Marco,” the freckled man said extending his hand. Jean took Marco's hand in a firm handshake.
“I'm Jean.” Marco smiled even wider than before.
“Nice to meet you,” Marco said brightly. The cashier's voice rang out, calling the same order as before. Marco grabbed his bagel and made his way back to Jean.
“It's funny, my friend said that buying this was weird,” Marco said.
“Yeah, same here.” Neither moved from their positions, both seeming to awkwardly find a way to continue the conversation.
“So, uhm, what time are your classes?” Jean asked.
“Oh! I got lucky. I have Fridays off.”
“Same here.”
“So... uh... do you want to eat together?” Jean fiddled with the corner edge of the paper that was holding his bagel.
“Sure, where at?” Jean asked after a pause.
“Well, we could eat at that table over there,” Marco said, pointing past Jean. Jean nodded with a smile and headed over to the table with Marco trailing behind him. They sat and talked. They talked about everything and nothing, long after both boys had finished their bagels. They learned about each other, and it surprised Jean. He had never been much of a conversationalist, and he wasn't a very good listener either. And yet, Marco was able to get him to talk in a deep way that normally warranted at least a month of previous conversations. Jean found himself very interested in Marco as well. He liked hearing his quirky tales. Even as he saw that they had been talking for over two hours, he still found no desire to leave. It was Marco who voiced surprise at the amount of time that had passed.
“ Ah jeez, it's already after three,” Marco stated, looking at his phone. Jean felt himself smirking at the look of disappointment that spread on Marco's face.
“Well, you can give me your number. We can talk some more tomorrow. You free?” Jean asked. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to hand over to Marco. The freckled male took the phone with a smile and added his phone number to the contact list.
“Send me a text so I can save your number,” Marco said, handing over Jean's phone. Jean smiled as he looked at the contact. Marco added a smiley face on his contact. Jean typed in a text to send to Marco.
Jean: Hey
Jean smirked at the snort that came from Marco. Jean waited for a response as he saw Marco rapidly move his fingers to text a message. Jean felt his phone vibrate and looked at the message.
Marco:) : Howdy.
Jean couldn't hold back his laughter.
“Seriously? 'Howdy'? Man, you're a dork.”
“Hey, now!” Marco said with a giggle. They texted back and forth sitting across from each other for a little bit longer. After awhile, Jean eventually was the first one to stand.
“Alright, I'm going to go ahead and go. I'll text you later,” Jean said with a smile. Marco nodded and stood up as well.
“Yeah, I'll catch you later,” Marco said. Both males walked in opposite directions, but Jean turned to watch Marco. The freckled male never turned back, but Jean didn't mind. He felt his lips twitch up into a smile. The male was definitely handsome, and was most certainly Jean's type. This was going to be a good year.
Over the next few months, Jean had gotten to know Marco, and had gotten to know him very well. He knew his birthday, favorite color, that he had allergies to pretty much all wildlife, hell, Jean even knew Marco's measurements. The one thing he didn't know, was whether Marco was gay or not. Jean had tried multiple times to subtly get some sort of information out of him. Asking if Marco had a dream guy, purposely adding emphasis on the word “guy”. But Marco either didn't notice, or he was choosing to avoid giving an answer. But Jean wanted to know. He wanted to know if he had a chance at the freckled man. The pair was now sitting on Jean's bed, marathoning the first season of “Orange is the New Black” as per Marco's request. Jean was into the show, though he never felt inclined to watch it until Marco had suggested it. He would cast glances in Marco's direction to see try and catch Marco looking in his direction. Unfortunately, Marco was engrossed with the show and never took his eyes of the laptop the screen. Jean groaned and leaned over on Marco. The freckled male finally took his eyes off of the show to stare wide eyed at Jean.
“H-hey! What's the matter?” Marco asked softly. Jean took note of the fact that Marco didn't even bother to try and shove him away. Jean smiled and leaned in closer against Marco.
“Meh... I get bored with shows pretty easily,” Jean said in a hum. Marco didn't say anything for a little bit, so Jean decided to press on. He nudged against Marco again.
“I'm getting kind of sleepy. Do you want me to take you home?” Jean asked. Jean lived in what was called a “dormment”. It was a dorm room set up like an apartment. He still lived with Connie, but he had his own room, and they had additions like a kitchen and their own study room. Marco, on the other hand, lived in an apartment that was about fifteen minutes away from campus. Marco had taken the university shuttle to get onto campus, so it would have been Jean that was to drive him home. Marco pursed his lips together in thought.
“Well... it is pretty late. I think I've got some clothes that I left a while back is still here. You mind if I just crash here?” Marco asked. Jean smirked at the timid sound of Marco's request.
“Of course, man.” Jean said, finally lifting himself off of Marco. Marco shifted in his spot on the bed so that he could bring his legs up to his chest.
“Connie won't mind me staying over?”
“Oh did I not tell you? Connie is staying at his girlfriend's place for the weekend,” Jean said. Jean remembered when he first me Connie's main squeeze, Sasha Blouse. The girl was bright and friendly, a perfect match for Connie. Jean was hoping the lack of his dormmate would get Marco to relax. He was going to find out for sure if he had a chance at Marco. Jean normally wasn't this concerned when trying to enter a relationship. In fact, Jean typically never took any sort of initiative. If the guy he liked liked him back, it took the other guy to come and say something. Jean honestly just didn't care enough. But there was something special about Marco. He didn't want this one to get away. Jean pushed himself off of the bed with a grunt and made his way to the dresser. Thankfully, this wasn't the first time that Marco had spent the night at the dormment, so Marco had pajamas that he had forgotten. Jean grabbed the dark blue T- shirt and gray sweatpants to throw to Marco. Jean snorted at the muffled sound of shock from Marco when the garments hit him in the face. Jean searched through the dressers to get a tank top and boxer shorts to bed. By the time Jean made it back to the bed, Marco had already changed clothes. Only slightly disappointed, Jean did the same. Both boys sat quietly on the bed until Marco let out a huff.
“I''m not tired,” he groaned. Jean snickered.
“Wanna play some Left for dead?”
“Hell yes.” The two stood up and headed to the small living room area. Connie and Jean had put their money together to but a fifty inch HD TV. This is where they played video games and watched movies, and was where Jean was currently hooking up the xbox.
“One or two?” Jean asked, peering over his shoulder at Marco.
“Uhm... two! I've got beef with the Chargers.” Jean rolled his eyes with a smile and put the selected game into the console. Marco was sitting cross legged on the futon, but had left enough room for Jean to plop down beside him. Jean always loved playing this game with Marco. The duo would barrel through the common infected zombies without a problem, It wasn't until the special infected made the appearance that the game got interesting. Jean had to get the character that he controlled to go running after Marco's as he was dragged away by the Smoker. To add insult to injury, the Tank ( a giant zombie that looked like a fleshy gorilla) appeared right in front of Marco. Jean took off with a loud laugh, only to have karma bite him in the ass when he toppled over the witch. Both were simultaneously taken out, thus losing the round. They tried again and made it all the way to the final round before Marco let out a long, and painfully adorable, yawn.
“I thought you said you weren't sleepy,” Jean said. He was trying to suppress his own signs of tiredness.
“Guess that last round took all the energy out of me. Oh, and I guess it being three and all has something to do with it.” Jean stretched, standing up to get the numbness out of his legs.
“I guess I can sleep on the futon,” Marco murmured, more to himself.
“What? Sleeping with another man make you nervous?” Jean asked slyly, which was a sharp contrast to the mantra of “Please say no” that ran through his head. Marco blushed and looked away.
“Well... no it doesn't... but-”
“Then stay in bed with me. It's a queen size, so there's space.”
“It's just... I don't want to make you uncomfortable,” Marco said meekly.
“Unless you kick in your sleep, I'll be just fine.”
“It's not that, I-”
“You a drooler?”
“Ew, no! Well, sometimes but that's not it.”
“You snore?”
“No.”
“Then what-”
“I'm gay!” Jean was effectively silenced. Marco's face was beet red.
“What?” Jean asked dumbly. Marco looked completely flustered as he put his head in his hands.
“Damn it, Jean! I didn't want to tell you!” Marco didn't remove his hands from his face. Jean's dumbfounded look melted into a goofy smile.
“Oh my god! That is literally the best news I've gotten all week!”
“'Huh?”
“I've been trying to find out if I had a chance at you and-”
“Wait, what?” Marco was now staring at Jean. Said male smirked.
“I'm saying that I like you.” Jean said, not even batting an eyelash at the confession. Marco opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, closed it with a pause and then repeated the process.
“Don't you think it's too early for this?” Marco asked.
“Too early in our friendship? Well, not really.”
“Well, I meant to early in the morning. It's like, three in the morning. I can't process this right now,” Marco said, rubbing his face tiredly. Jean smirked and walked toward his room.
“Well, we've got all weekend to figure this out. So come on to bed,” Jean said, not bothering to wait for a response. Marco treaded in after him and crawled into the bed while Jean turned off the light. They were laying with their backs to each other, though Jean was sure the he would “accidentally” roll over so that his arm would drape over Marco. The freckled male was already asleep, which Jean found rather funny since this would never have given Jean any hint into the male's sexuality. Jean couldn't hold back the smile plastered on his face as he rolled over. Marco grunted quietly at the added weight of Jean's arm, but didn't react further.
“This is perfect.”