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It was beginning to become a lot more like Fall now. The leaves on the tress were starting to change color, temperatures were dropping and the bitter winds kept giving Jean goosebumps all over his body - which he hated. What a day for having a day off from classes, isn't it?
The two men already always did a lot of things together in their dorm that they weren't really sure at all what to do on that particular day off, they pondered for a moment, till a very loud grumble broke the silence. It took Jean by surprise that he quickly shot his head and glanced at Marco's rosy red face, presumably that the sound came from his stomach, from then it was decided to go out to a cafe or restaurant to eat.
A few minutes passed and the roommates were crossing the road safely, even with Marco slightly clenching onto Jean's jacket which made him feel safer. Once they made it to the other side of the pavement, Jean looks around to catch any kind of eating place that would sound satisfying enough for his hunger.
"What do you think, Marco? There appears to be some fancy restaurant over in that direction. Hopefully the food isn't 100% fancy that they're tasteless, huh?" He attempted to joke that made himself chuckle.
He got a bit confused when Marco didn't react to his so-called joke but when he turned to look at him, the freckled boy was staring at what appears to be a McDonald's in the distance. The expression on his face was so merry looking like he never went to that overrated fast-food joint in forever. Marco looked back at Jean while pointing straight at the destination he desperately wanted to go to.
Jean could only look back at him with disgust. "Really? There of all places? Come on, there's gotta be something better." He was never really a fan of the said fast-food place, except when he was a kid of course, the food there just seemed to greasy for his taste as he got older I guess. But the sudden sorrow of Marco's face put Jean's stomach in a swirl again.
"Hmph. Alright, but I'll only be going there just for you." With the choice settled, the two walked along the pavement together.
When they arrived, it wasn't all that busy - Just a few parents with their children sitting down with their meals. Luckily that Jean and Marco were the second ones in line, so they won't have to wait long at all. Jean ordered a simple fruit oatmeal along with a diet coke drink, and he helped out Marco with his order for the employee to understand; which would be an egg McMuffin alongside fries and some water for later. Jean is oddly surprised that Marco can into such stuff, but yet again, there's still a lot he doesn't know about him.
After receiving their meals, Marco picked out a seat near the window for them to sit, when suddenly two figures behind those seats caught Jean's eye. There was a tall, short grey haired man in a turquoise hoodie and stretching out his arms out of boredom, and a young woman with a ponytail scarfing down her food like she hadn't eaten for ten years. Jean blinked his eyes as if he thought he was dreaming, but he wasn't, and made his way over the neighboring table.
His eyes were definitely not deceiving him. "C-Connie? Sasha? Is that you?" He stuttered in shock but was happy at the same time.
The pair looked up, and the woman almost chocked on her burger while the man's jaw dropped. They immediately jumped up from their seats in joy. "WOW!! J-Jean, it's been forever man!" Connie shouted out, not caring that the families and workers were disturbed.
"I never thought we'd see you again at all!" Sasha exclaimed loudly.
"I know. It's great to see both of you." Jean himself tried to keep his voice down unlike his old friends here.
Just as he could continue rambling, he quickly took notice of the confused Marco behind him. Feeling bad, he shifted closer to his new friend in order to full him in on the situation. "Sorry about that, these are my friends I've known from childhood." He informed Marco, who understood and waved gratefully back at them.
Connie and Sasha wave back at him as well. "Is he a friend of yours too, Jean?" The woman asked.
"Yeah. Um... why don't we all sit together while doing catching up. We're kinda distracting everyone else."
Connie nodded in embarrassment, so did Sasha, and moved aside their food for Jean to place his tray onto the table and themselves for the two guys to sit next to them.
After finishing most of their food, Jean was the first one to speak up. "You see Marco, Connie and Sasha here were my closest friends in Elementary School. All the way from 1st to 5th grade. We kept in touch for a bit during middle school but... life kinda got in the way first. It's crazy to think that I'd ever see you guys again."
"I know, right?" Connie laughed aloud. He's a pretty loud person, especially when he's happy, but gets mortified whenever anyone mentions it. He covers his mouth before he could shout out once more.
"Also to add... we were your ONLY friends you had throughout Elementary School." Sasha mumbled while chewing then swallowing. "I'm pretty sure you only wanted to hang with us 'cause it'd make you look cool with side..."
"Enough with that, Sasha." Jean barked, embarrass by his youthful behavior.
But with that said, Marco looked like he wanted to laugh - covering his adoring smile with his palm and shutting his eyes. Just looking at it almost made Jean wanna blush, but he fought it off to not show it in front of Connie and Sasha.
"So... Jean said your name is Marco, huh? That's a nice name." Sasha complimented which made the freckled boy blush himself. Another strike to the heart of Jean.
"How'd you and Jean meet? Did ya join college at the same time?" Connie asked, calmer this time.
Marco instinctively started communicating with his usual sign language motions. Basically saying that Jean and him are roommates and that he helped him while he was sick and became friends soon after. Throughout it all, Connie and Sasha became more confuse at his actions - Jean himself just watched in sympathy for both his old friends and his new.
"Uh... what was all of that?" Connie titled his head in confusion. Sasha mimicked him too.
"Sorry guys. I should've told you from the start. Marco can't speak, so he uses signs and hand motions to talk instead." Jean gently placed a hand on Marco's shoulder, in order to not make Marco feel bad.
Connie and Sasha both 'Ooooh.' in unison. They apologized gratefully to the freckled boy, but Marco shrugged if off quickly with another big smile. Before they can continue with their conversation, Marco made a fist with his thumb sticking out between his fingers, shaking it around a little, before standing up from his seat. The two idiots were still confused, but Jean explained to them that that was him saying he's going to the restroom - he's seen this a few times in their dorm by now.
While he was gone, Jean, Connie and Sasha reminisce about past times during Elementary. Stories like how Jean used to nickname Connie 'Parrot' 'cause of his loud voice (not in a mean way of course), how the three of them would always split up together on field trips and wind up getting lost, and a favourite of theirs... the times of prank wars on their other classmates and how they always end up on top. Laughs and giggles were spread through the whole area but not too distracting for anyone - it seems people enjoyed hearing long time friends still getting along so well. When the laughter quiet down, Sasha decided to bring up Marco who has been absent for so long.
"Um... is Marco doing okay in there?" She asked worriedly. "You don't think he's gotten sick from his lunch?"
"Nah. He usually takes this long. Something to do with the liking of washing before leaving the restrooms." Jean assured his gluttonous friend.
"Oh. You seem to know the guy pretty well, especially since you said you've only known him for a month."
"Well... he's been needing a lot of help, because of his disability, and I would feel like a giant ass if I didn't do anything for the poor guy."
Jean didn't realise that his face was starting to go red; thinking back to how Marco looked and behaved on that day. His big, brown pleading eyes, to the first time he saw that beaming smile that can lighten up anyone's day. Both Connie and Sasha noticed this and glanced at each other, slowly grinning from ear to ear with a slight giggle escaping Sasha's lips. The bearded man catches this and asked them both upfront what was so funny to them.
"Ooooh. We just figured you out, old pal." Connie teased his still blushing friend.
"You got feelings for him, have you?" Sasha snickered quietly.
That very sentence made Jean's blush get redder and redder, all the way to the tips of his ears. He wanted to yell straight at their faces that that's not the case but stopped himself 'cause they're still in a public fast-food joint after all. He took a big deep breath and exhaled before replying under his breath. "T-That isn't true. He's a nice guy and all but we're just friends for the time being, got it? Put it right in your skulls." That last part got them confused.
"For the time being? So you do like him?"
"N-NO! That's not what I meant..."
As much as this was fun to Connie, seeing Jean get all flustered about developing feelings, he came out and stated to Jean. "Look man, you're making it more obvious with that attitude. It's fine if you like him, we're not the types to judge anyone like that."
Jean looked down on the table in embarrassment. "O-Okay, maybe I'm growing 'something' for him, but I don't think I can take it any further. Marco looks pretty happy with us just being close friends anyway."
"How'd you know if you've never asked him?" Sasha replied. "I mean... Connie and I never thought that we'd be more than besties, until last month when we started dating. I know not everyone is like us but I'm just throwing it out there for ya."
At first, Jean didn't want to believe it. He had no idea why his cheeks would always burn up at the sight of Marco or how awkward it started getting whenever he sits close to him for the past few weeks, he refused to think he was becoming gay for his new best friend - that what he kept repeating to himself. But he can't ever stop thinking about him during classes, and how he always felt happier whenever he came back to the dorm to see him. If he ever did let Marco know about this, how would he react? Would they even see each other the same way anymore? Damn, this is making Jean's head hurt.
Suddenly, Jean heard the sound of footsteps walking towards their table. Jean looked up only to see that it's Marco, who he quickly looked away from to hide his rosy red face. Marco signalled him with a wave, but instead the bearded man sprung up from his seat to take their tray of empty boxes and greasy napkins over the trash bins. Sasha tried to distract the ignored Marco by telling him about their prank war days, while Connie peeks over at Jean with the disappointed stare in his eyes.
All of them were in the car park now; Sasha was just getting out his car keys from her pocket. Marco opened his palm and folded down his fingers twice, Connie asked Jean what that meant and he responded that it's him saying 'Goodbye.' He said goodbye to him back, repeating the sign back at him, and entered Sasha's car in the front seat. Before the two guys can head back to the crossing of the road, Connie whispered enough for Jean to hear, which the bearded man leaned his head in for.
"I'll say it again, it's okay if you like him. Maybe you'll find the right time to tell him yourself." He quietly whispered again - Only to get a unamused glare from Jean in return. "Uh... and I also hope we can catch up some other time as well."
"Yeah! Like me and Connie share a Twitter account together. You can find us on there if you want." Sasha offered him with a smile, then whispered back "But seriously, Marco seems to be really sweet and friendly. You'd never find a guy or girl like him anywhere if you ask me."
"Alright. I get it. Now I'll see you guys again some time." Jean growled. Right after their exchange, the car started and the pair drove off out of the car park and onto the road ahead. Jean gave one last wave before they headed out of sight. Marco's smile stayed even after they left, but as soon as he looked at the deep-in-thought Jean, the smile faded into a frown. He wanted to ask him what's wrong, is he missing his friends already? Is he still mad that they went to this particular joint? He didn't know.
Jean started walking a few feet away from the confused mute; only to utter one sentence and to stop for the rest of the way back to the dorm.
"I'm feeling tired, we should head back now."