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Why in the world would she agree to this? Why is she stuck sitting here? With this,… With him!
She sat next to Leo Rossi, her other side was some stranger. The whole class got the back row seat. Alya thinks that she would like Leo if she just gave him a chance.
The cinema lights dimmed, Marinette furiously eating the popcorn, not giving at Leo a single glance.
The movie started with a scene in a dark forest.
“Didn’t know you like horror movies so much” Leo smirked as he leaned away, looking at Marinette.
“Eh? Horror? What do you mean horror?” Marinette looked at him confused.
“…You do realize that this is a horror movie, right?” Little devil horns seemed to appear out of Leo Rossi’s head. Marinette paled.
She looked back to the screen to see… a bunch of people making a ritual, as the camera pans towards the sigil on the floor, the screen went dark. “Eek!” Marinette squeaked out of terror, lifting the popcorn bucket and hiding her face behind it.
Leo was snickering at her reaction. “Shut up! I wasn’t ready!” She whisper-screamed. She puts down the popcorn and covered her eyes with her fingers.
“Relax, the movie isn’t that scary. No jump scares yet” he chuckled.
Leo looks back to the screen, a couple moving into a scary-looking house. Yeah, that would end well.
20 minutes into the movie later, he felt something or rather someone is entering his personal space. He looked to his side to see Marinette leaning close to him. “What are you doing?”
She looks up at his face, frowning at him. “Don’t get the wrong idea. You’re the only person I know and I don’t want to hug strangers.”
“So you don’t like horror movies? ”
“Hated them. Whose idea was it?”
“Mine” He overheard from a conversation that Marinette hated horror movies, he didn’t think it was that bad.
She grabbed his arm, digging her nails into his sleeve. “I knew it!” she hissed. He winced at the feeling, the pain from her nails is excruciating. Is this why girls keep their nails long?
A sudden jump scare from the movie made Marinette let go of his arm and hid her face behind him. The pain faded but now he is sitting weird with Marinette trying to dig a hole into his seat.
He grimaced at the uncomfortableness “Hey, you can come out now.” He looked back up at the screen. “No more jump scares at the moment.”
“Truth?”
“Truth”
She peeked out of his back, looking at the screen with one eye open. No more jump scares at the moment. She held her head low and had her eyes are staring straight at the floor. Both hands in her lap. Her body so tensed that if she is a bowstring, she would snap.
She curiously looks at Leo when at the same time he turned his head and their eyes met. They quickly turn their heads away.
He turned to look at Marinette again to see that she is trying to turn into a turtle. She is lifting her shirt to hide her head underneath her shirt. But her shirt was small thus exposing a little bit of her belly button, which is not good in an air-conditioned cinema. So she had to pull her shirt down to cover up her cold stomach, then repeat.
He sighed as he took off his jacket and covered her head.
“I- "She was cut off by the screams of terror from the screen. She squeaks and instantly koala hugs Leo’s arm.
"Hey, get off” Marinette looks up at him with watery eyes. Some kind of feeling struck him like an arrow. He should never have suggested a horror movie for the class.
He reached into his pocket, pulling out his music player. He placed his earbuds into Marinette’s ears.
“I have a few Jagged Stone songs in here. But mostly are other music. You could, um… distract yourself.”
Marinette seemed to have calmed down as she removes herself from his arm.
She cleared her throat. “Thanks” She sat back down and fiddled with the music player.
Why is he helping me? I thought he hated me? Wasn’t his goal is to humiliate me?
Curiosity killed the cat as she looked up to see a jumpscare on the screen. The earbuds didn’t block much of the sound.
“Eeek!” Marinette jumped onto Leo’s lap, making him almost spill his popcorn.
“What the?” Leo shouted in shock.
“Shush!!” The people are shushing him. Marinette is hugging him, hiding her face into his neck, shaking like a leaf.
“Get me out of here, please” Marinette looks at him, tears are watering her eyes. He could even feel her heart pumping. A weird feeling is stabbing his heart.
“Okay, wait for a moment. Just get off of me.” Leo gently pried her off of him. She sat back down her seat.
He adjusted the jacket on her head, covering her face so she would not have to see the screen when she stands up.
“Come on, let’s go now” Leo stood up and held Marinette’s hand while Marinette had one hand holding on the jacket.
They both walk out of the movie, and into the lobby.
————————————————–
Leo sat Marinette down at the lobby benches. “Stay here, don’t move”
He went to the concession stands and bought a bottle of water.
He walked back to Marinette, she took the jacket off her head and wore it like a cape. It looks like she is drowning fabric but she looked cute like that.
“Here,” He passed the water bottle to Marinette. “Have some water to calm your nerves”
Marinette stared at the water bottle for a long time. “Why are you helping me?”
“I don’t know. I feel guilty, I guess”
“Now you have feelings? Well, it took you long enough.”
“I’m sorry, by the way,” He sat next to Marinette. She kept silent. “I didn’t think that you had it this bad.”
“What now?”
“We can either wait for them to finish the movie, or I could send you home now?”
“I want to go home quickly, just let me text Alya about it,” Marinette says as she typed out a message on the phone.
————————————————–
The sun was setting by the time they got close to the bakery
“You know, this is a lovely night. The street light is turning on and the night filled with swirling stars. Leo commented.
"Yeah, it would be perfect for a couple,” Marinette states out.
“Too bad, it’s me you are with” he chuckled softly. “You would have preferred Adrien”
“Adrien is dating Kagami, remember? Besides, I’m moving away from relationships for a moment. Going to focus on me more.”
“Oh, well, that’s good.” He looked at the street lights shining. “It’s too bad that this nice view is seen by us single people”
“Yeah, what a waste of a lovely night. Well, I’m here already.” They stopped in front of the bakery. She stood in front of the bakery doors until she realized something.
“Almost forgot!” She pulled out the music player from her pocket and pull the jacket off her shoulders.
“Keep it, I have more where that jacket came from and I was planning to buy a new music player anyway.” He pushes the player into Marinette’s hand.
“But-”
“Think of it as an olive branch, for all the things I have done to you”
“Okay,” She tucks in a loose hair and smiled. “Goodbye Rossi.”
She has a pretty smile. Leo thought. I want to see that smile again.
“Goodbye, Dupain-Cheng” He waited for her to enter the bakery and watched her disappear from his line of sight.
He smiled as he slowly walked away from the bakery. He glanced back to see a room on the second floor is lit up. Must be her room then. At least she has reached her room already. He started to walk away again.
“Hey, Leo” He looks up again to see Marinette, leaning out of her bedroom window. Her hair was loose from the pigtails. The light from her room gave her a sort of ethereal look. “Thanks for walking me home!” She shouts as she closes the window.
He can’t help but to try and imprint that image into his head “But soft, what light through yonder window breaks” He breathes out. “It is the east, and Marinette is the sun.”
That’s when he had started to fall for Marinette Dupain-Cheng.