Please, Don't Leave Me

Chapter 16

          When Nathaniel woke up he looked over at Marc, who was still sound asleep. He smiled and some of his hair out of his face. Marc stirred slightly but didn't wake up, giving Nathaniel time to admire his sleeping form. He was so beautiful snuggled up like this, like a living god. Nathaniel couldn't help but smile lovingly. He decided to check the time and sighed; it was time to wake Marc up to get showers and their costumes on. He gently shook him, "Babe... Time to wake up and ready for the party..." Marc groaned quietly and buried his face in his chest. Nathaniel chuckled and tickled him, making Marc squeak as his eyes popped open. "S-stop!! Th-that t-tickles!!" he laughed before freezing and wincing. Nathaniel got concerned and stopped tickling him, "You OK...?" Marc nodded and explained that he was just a little sore from earlier. Nathaniel nodded in understanding; he figured it would leave him sore. He helped Marc stand, and they went into the conjoined bathroom to shower. 

          Nathaniel got the water to the right temperature for Marc and helped him step inside. Once inside the shower, Marc rested his head on Nathaniel's chest and enjoyed just being in his arms for a few minutes before grabbing some body wash and smiled at his redheaded lover. He then started to wash Nathaniel's chest, surprising him. He blushed when Marc kneeled in front of him to wash his legs and groin gently. "That's actually really hot... And we don't have time for a round two..." Marc smiled and stood before going and washing his back. "I just thought it'd be nice to bathe each other..," he said before kissing his jaw. The redhead smiled and pulled him close, making him squeak and drop the pouf. Nathaniel smiled down at him and lifted his chin slightly. His electric blue eyes locked with Marc's emerald green and he leaned in. Marc blushed and leaned into him, their lips meeting in a soft yet loving kiss. Even though they were both naked and pressed against each other, they only focused on their love. 

          Nathaniel eventually broke the kiss and picked up the nearly-forgotten pouf. He put some more body wash in it before treating Marc the way he was just treated. Marc, of course, wasn't going to complain as he enjoyed the attention. Once finished with bathing they washed each other's hair and conditioned before turning the water off. Nathaniel looked over at his lover, who smiled sweetly at him. His eyes softened and he gave him a peck on the cheek before grabbing a towel for Marc, who took it and wrapped himself up in it. "Thank you, Honey..." Nathaniel froze, taken by surprise by what Marc called him, then smiled big; hearing it from him made their relationship feel all the more real.

          They got dried off and Nathaniel went out into his bedroom to get dressed, wanting the wow factor of Marc's costume again. Marc giggled and got his costume on then put the ears on along with the bell choker. When he opened the door, Nathaniel was smiling a newly finished sketch. He looked up and his jaw once again hit the floor as he slowly walked over to his sexy little Chat Noir, his own costume showing off his toned build that he usually kept hidden. This made Marc blush shyly as he looked away, knowing fully well what he could do with that body of his. The redhead smirked and rested his hands on his hips, feeling the black vinyl submit to Marc's curves. When Marc looked up he saw Nathaniel lick his lips, and he blushed even more. "W-we should get going if we wanna be on time..." Nathaniel, snapping back to reality smiled in embarrassment before agreeing. As they walked out the front door, Nathaniel's mother arrived. "Where are you two going?" she asked. Nathaniel explained everything and she nodded, "I see... Well, have fun but not too much fun~" Both boys turned bright red. "MOM!!!!" She laughed as they ran away before she could make any more comments. 

          It took them only about fifteen minutes to arrive at Nino's party, and there were so many people already. "Whoa that's a lot of people...," Marc said. Nathaniel agreed but then took his hand to reassure him. It worked because he looked at his lover and smiled. They went inside and found Nino talking with Alya. She saw red and looked up. "Nathaniel?? Marc??? Wait.. MARC???? Whoa!!! You looked purrrr-fect!!" she said. Marc smiled shyly and blushed, making her giggle. "Th-thanks, Alya... I guess you could say... I'm the pussy of the relationship..." he said, trying to joke around with her. Her eyes widened and she cracked up laughing. "Nice one, Marc!!" Nathaniel even chuckled and rested a hand on his far hip. Alya noticed and smiled. "You two are the cutest thing ever, I swear on the honor of my LadyBlog!!" The boys smiled at each other then at her. "Looks like we've been Alya-approved, Kitten~" Marc blushed big time and just hid his face in the redhead's read suit, resulting in Nathaniel smiling and holding him close. They both froze when they heard a certain voice say, "Marc... It's good to see you here..." They looked to see Chloe looking down, clearly depressed. Marc looked up at Nathaniel before going over to her. "I know you read my diary... However, I never wrote about the things he did because I was trying to forget about him and what he did to me.... But now, I've decided that I have someone to protect now so I'm facing my past head on... All thanks to you...," he said as he took her hands.

          Everyone stopped and went silent, but Marc didn't care. OK, that was a lie; He felt everyone staring and it made him really shy, but he made up his mind so he kept going. She looked up at him and saw not hatred or resentment but forgiveness and determination. "Thanks to you, I have a loose thread from my past that needs to be tied back into the fabric. Andrew made me this way... He made me shy and scared of attention, but today, I've started taking the steps I needed to become who I once was again... So I am standing here thanking you. I don't know your motives, but whatever they were, I don't hold them against you." Everyone was in awe; no one had ever thanked Chloe for causing trouble. Not even Chloe was expecting it so she looked away once again, ashamed of what she had done. "I... I was jealous of you.... You have always been so beautiful since the day you showed up.... I knew that if my mother saw your makeup being better than mine, I would never hear the end of it... But this time, my jealousy made me lose everything.... Sabrina refuses to even sit next to me anymore and Adrian hates me..... I don't know what to do anymore.... Even the amount of spoiling Daddy does for me makes me sick now....." Marc's eyes softened, and he hugged her tight, making the blonde freeze up in shock before she slowly and gently hugged him back. Chloe never had someone truly forgive her and even use her mischief as a means of making themselves a better person or as a means to confront a fear like this. She decided that from now on, she was going to work on being a better person herself. She closed her eyes and relaxed in his friendly embrace.