The Art of Love (Marcaniel Story)

Chapter 6

The next day, Nicolas practically pulled his little brother out of bed. He made sure Nat had something to eat, got changed and grabbed his stuff. He then guided hus brother out the door and practically dragged him to school.

"Nick...!" Nathaniel groaned. "Let go! you're dragging me to class!"

"I know." He replied as they accended the stairs. "This way, I know that you actually went to school."

Nathaniel tried to pull out of his grip, but ended up stumbling into the class when Nick opened the door. When he managed to regain his footing, all his classmates perked up at his arrival.

"Nathaniel!" Marinette jumped up and embraced the red-ginger haired male. "You skipped school yesterday and had everyone worried!" she held the latter at arms lenght. She caught Nicolas take Miss. Bustier out of the classroom for a moment.

"What happened, dude?" Nino questioned.

"..." Nathaniel didn't want to say anything about it, but he knew they had the right to know.

Thankfully, Lila hadn't turned up yet so it was now or never. With a sigh, he turned his head slightly and moved his hair out the way to reveal his hearing aids. Their silence scared him. He quickly covered the hearing aid back with his hair as anxiety rose. He felt a lump in his throat and butterflies in his stomach. Tears welled in his eyes and silently ran down his face. A hand was placed on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the soft, kind, caring expressions of his classmates.

"This is why you've been skipping and disapearing," Marinette began. "Isn't it?"

"..." Nathaniel sniffed and nodded his head as he wiped his tears. "I guess you could say I was just scared for how you'd all react to it... I was scared you'd think differently of me..."

"We would never think differently of you, Nate." Max replied. "And the probability of us doing so is a negative -100 percent."

"And that's a number because Max said it in a smart context." Kim said matter of factly, earning laughs from his peers

"heh...! Thanks, guys... I really mean it..."

"Well if I'm being honest," Alya began. "Marinette actually told me, Nino and Adrien about it the day you ran off. Marinette noticed and said she thought that was the reason you were acting weird."

"Oh... Well... Thanks for keeping it secret, Marinette. You three as well."

Miss Bustier wandered in, welcomed Nathaniel back then asked everyone to take their seats. Just as they sat down, Lila wandered into the class with a smile. A fake smile with fake joy.

"Nathaniel!" she beamed as she clasped her hands together. Honestly? Lila made Nathaniel sick. She was a fake and just all round selfish and self-centred. She only pretend to like others when in reality? All she cared about was herself. Only Nathaniel, Marinette and Adrien could see through her facade. "It's so nice to see you again, really!" Lila continued as she made her way next to him.

She sat so close, she almost sat on his lap. Nathaniel had to move over so he wasnt squished under her fat ass and crippling lies. He scoffed slightly and made sure that his hearing aid, from the side she sat next to him on, was covered. She was the last person Nathan wanted to get up in his case and wellbeing. Because knowing Lila, she'd make up some sort of lie to make Nathaniel's return all about her. Focusing his attention to the front of the class, he managed to block Lila's precesnce from his personal space.

--

By the time lunch rolled around Nathaniel, whom would usually sit by himself, was surrounded by all of his classmates. As Nathaniel was laughing with them, Marinette was guiding someone over. When the group parted, Nathaniel looked up to see who it was. When he did, his face was suddenly flushed with heat as he took in the raven hair and shamrock green eyes.