dandelions ➥ joseph quinn

25

"jamie, stop it!" mari said, glaring at him as he threw his hands up in surrender.

"i didn't do anything!" jamie protested.

"jamie, you literally +4'd mari right now." sadie said from across the table, raising her eyebrow at jamie who glared back.

"she did it first!"

"because you reversed so you could +2 me!"

jamie laughed, gesturing for mari to pick up 4 cards.

"god, i hate you." mari grumbled, snatching up 4 cards and adding them to her deck.

"sure you do, angel face." jamie smirked, watching as mari hid her face as a blush creeped onto her cheeks.

"damn it, caleb!" maya spat, slamming down her hand as she reached for 4 cards. mari started laughing, fanning herself with her cards as she tried to catch her breath.

the table continued the game even as natalia and charlie arrived, both sitting and watching the game. the game continued, with curses being thrown at one another as they kept getting fucked over with cards, until jamie and mari were the only two with 1 card left.

"i'm going to win." mari whispered to jamie who sat next to her. jamie rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"you can't beat me."

"you wish." mari whispered back, smirking slightly. she watched caleb put down a green card and she laughed, slamming down a color changing card. "HA!"

"No!" jamie cried out, groaning as he realized he lost. as everyone at the table laughed and talked over one another, joe walked into the restaurant. his eyes immediately found the table, looking directly at mari.

joe smiled, watching mari laughing as she tucked her hair behind her ear. he watched her movement, his eyes following her hand as she put it on the table, and directly on jamie's hand which was placed on mari's thigh.

the smile dropped from joe's face. he swallowed hard as he absorbed the scene in front of him. the way jamie's hand was on mari's thigh as if it belonged there. mari's hand placed on top of his, both of them laughing at whatever happened before he walked in.

joe sighed, pushing away the feeling that was stabbing his chest and making it hard to breathe. he approached the table, forcing a smile on his face.

"hey guys, sorry i'm late."

mari snorted, setting her drink aside. "why is it you're always the last to arrive?"

mari laughed, licking her lip and pushing her hair out of her way she she turned to look at joe with a smile. the table laughed, agreeing with her.

she stopped smiling immediately, looking at joe with a sinking feeling in her stomach. the rest of the cast looked over, noticing her go quiet.

"who's this?" mari forced out, looking between joe and the blonde that he had an arm wrapped around.

"this is jenny, my girlfriend." mari suddenly felt dizzy. the feeling of throwing up rising in her throat as her hands began to shake from anxiety.

she could feel everyone else's eyes on her, all of them feeling horrible for her.

"oh. well, im mariposa." mari barely got out, nodding at jenny. feeling her chest start to hurt, she broke eye contact with joe and looked at everyone else, swallowing hard.

she looked at jamie, her lip quivering slightly as both jenny and joe took their seats at the table. joe was sat to the right of mari while jamie was sat to the left. "i guess it's serious now?"

jamie frowned, rubbing her shoulder as he leaned in. "im sorry, sweetheart."

mari nodded, discreetly sniffling. she looked at sadie who was already staring at her. sadie nodded, mouthing 'i know' to mari. she quickly pulled out her phone and called mari, making it seem like someone else was calling her.

"oh, shit. excuse me. i have to take this." mari quickly answered the phone, walking out of the restaurant and waiting for sadie to hang up before letting her tears fall.

she took deep shaky breaths, roughly wiping away her tears. she heard the door to the restaurant open and turned to see maya, a sympathetic look on her face.

"mari..." she shook her head, wrapping mari in a hug as she cried.

"i'm being stupid, i'm sorry." maya pulled away from the hug, wiping away mari's tears.

"you are not being stupid. your feelings are 100% valid. i can tell you really like him, i know this isn't fair and i know it hurts." mari nodded, more tears flowing down her cheeks as maya hugged her again.

"this is bullshit." mari sniffled, the pain in her chest growing as she glanced into the restaurant, watching as jenny and joe smiled at one another.