Things had finally seemed to settle down for Marco. He was about to start his sophomore year of high school.
After a lot of legal battles, and emotional battles, Marco's parents had made the decision to terminate parental rights to Marco. He was happy to be out of that house, and under the guardianship of Coach Erwin and his fiancé. Marco was so exhausted his lawyer, social worker, and therapist agreed that a plea deal with his father was best. Marco agreed to drop all charges if his family cut all contact with him.
It still stung deep when he learned that before that his parents were already in the process of terminating parent rights to him.
Jean came over that night and the 2 stayed up all night binge watching Free!, one of Marco's favorite animes. Jean wasn't super into mangas or animes but he knew it made him happy.
Marco ended up falling asleep on Jean's shoulder. Jean couldn't help but notice his the heat in his face.
With the help of his therapist and Erwin and Keith, and his friends, he was becoming more comfortable in his identity as a gay man. He was in show choir, played varsity soccer, was a founding member of the Trost High LBGTQ+ Alliance club, and in the Otaku club. He had a new found sense of confidence.
He was publicly outed by his mother in a Facebook post, and it soon it was all around school. Jean almost got suspended for trying to keep the a*ssholes off Marco's back. Marco didn't know how he would have made through his first year of high school without him.
Now as the summer was drawing to a close, Marco found himself on the brink of another first.
He had met Ben at a soccer camp hosted by the local college. The two grew close, learning that he went to Wall Sina high school which was only about 45 minutes from Trost. He confided into Marco that he was bisexual.
*****************************
Jean was laying on his bed, bored. Normally he'd most likely be hanging out with Jean. But he had been recently spending a lot of time with Ben. A guy he had met at a soccer camp.
He was happy for his friend but he also felt a pang in his chest when he Marco talked about him. Jean couldn't quite explain it, but he chalked it up to jealousy over Marco getting into a relationship while he was still single.
He sighed, looking a Mikasa Instagram. Her latest post was a picture of her and Eren, out getting ice cream together. There was the heart emoji as the caption.
Jean's Instagram stalking was interrupted by a text from Marco.
He opened the message. Marco was dressed in navy blue shorts, wearing a white polo Ralph Lauren V-neck shirt. His back hair combed a bit, finishing the look off with a pair of Sperry boat shoes. The text underneath read..."How do I look?"
Jean sat up at bit, feeling the sam weird feeling he felt when Marco had fallen asleep on his shoulder.
He stared at the picture a bit.
"You look good, Ben is going to love it"
"I think he might ask me to be his boyfriend tonight 🤞😊" Marco replied.
"Best of luck 😁"
Jean went back to Instagram. He ignored Mikasa's post.
He typed in Ben Mason in the search bar.
******************************
"I'll pick you up at 10 ok Marco?" Erwin said as Marco got out.
"Yep!"
"Have a good time" Erwin said, excited at having a quite night at home with Keith. Not that they didn't like having Marco around, they loved him, but the two had stepped into parenthood quite fast.
Marco waved goodbye and Erwin drove off.
Marco made his way through the plaza. It was light with soft lights, lined with tables from the various restaurants and bars, and the sound of dinners enjoy a Friday night out.
He finally saw him. Ben was sitting at an outdoor table at a local Italian place known for their artisan pizza. It wasn't super fancy but it was definitely a step up from a Chipotle.
"Hey" he said as Ben got up to give him a hug.
"Hey, you looked nice" he said.
"So do you" Marco said smiling.
The two sat down and the waiter appeared.
**********************************
The pair sat outside a local ice cream shop. After a great dinner, the had walked a bit, holding hands. Marco had gotten used to stares, and Ben just didn't care what others thought. He loved that confidence in him, reminded him of Jean.
"So Marco, I've been thinking...."
Marco's heart began racing.
"I really like you and um do you wanna like be official" Ben asked, grabbing his hand.
Marco smiled. He decided to pull a bold move himself. Instead of giving him an answer he leaned in a kissed him.
"I'll take that as a yes then" Ben said grinning.
********************************
Jean was sitting in his living room, his dad engaged in the Braves v the Marlins, his mom looking at knitting ideas on Pinterest, and Jean was scrolling through Reddit.
"How's Marco and that boy Bryan?" His mom asked.
"Hmm? Oh his name is Ben and I think they might start dating soon" Jean said flatly.
"You don't sound too thrilled about it" his mom said. "Do you not like this guy"
"No he's fine, and he's good to Marco, I just-"
"Katherine it's normal for boys to get a bit jealous when their best friend gets a girlfriend, well boyfriend in this case" his dad said. "Jean, Marco doesn't seem like the kind of friend who will drop you for guy, just like you wouldn't drop him for a girl."
"I know, and I'm happy for him" Jean said.
"Are you still kinda upset about that Ackerman girl?" His dad asked.
"Eh I mean it's clear that she always like Eren"
"You mean Dr. Jeager's kid? That loud mouth you play soccer with?" Jean's mom asked. "Not sure what she sees in him"
"They grew up together" Jean said.
"Well they do say the best relationships start from friendships" his dad said.
Jean switched over to Instagram. His heart sank.
It was a post Marco.
Him and Ben were taking a selfie, holding ice cream cones. The caption had the Heart emoji underneath with the #boyfriend.
Jean double tapped the photo, and commented "congratulations guys 😁"
But in reality, Jean felt sad and confused.
"I'm going to bed" he mumbled.
"G'Night sweetheart" his mom said.
Jean flopped on to his bed. His cat, Max startled by the sudden movement.
He groaned, looking at his cats wide eyes.
"Is it just jealousy or fear?" He asked.
Max lick his paw.
.....To Be Continued
