Love Above all Else

7. More Than Friends

"I can tell."

He reaches over and puts his arm over the back of the bench behind me. I scoot just a little closer to get warm as we both drink our hot cocoa.

~~~~~~

"Hey Journal,

Everything is great. Just wanted to write it all down. 

I am getting closer to Marco finally. I am excited to get to know him more because I love having him as one of my friends. Him and Nate are great, but they couldn't be more different. Nate is rowdy and a jokester while Marco is sweet and anxious. They are both similarly built, but that's about it. 

Thanksgiving was fun, seeing my family and all, but I am excited for Christmas. Me and Nate hung out last night and bought presents for the group and it was so much fun. Afterward, we got hot cocoa and talked some about our personal lives. He is a nice guy and I really appreciate our time together, but I think he might have deeper feelings for me. We joke around and have fun, but I don't feel like I connect with him that much on a deeper level. I know we can relate to similar things about ourselves, but we don't talk about the deeper things in life.

Whatever happens, I know we will all be okay. Or at least I hope so.

                                                                                                                       , Belle"

~~~~~~

"What did you get me?," Riley asks while clapping her hands the next day at lunch. Marco Nate and I are on one side while Riley and Chevy sit opposite of us. 

"Riley if I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise."

"But I don't like surprises!"

"I love surprises," Marco adds, "but you didn't have to get me anything. I only recently started hanging out with y'all. I would understand if you didn't get me anything."

"Oh, hush. I wanted to get you a present so I did. The only person I need to get a present, for now, is Nate." I roll my eyes because Nate wouldn't leave my side in the store. I tried to sneak away to get him a gift, but he would always catch up to me. 

Nate tried to be sly and whispered a, "You are enough of a present for me.," into my ear. He looks over to me and offers a wink after leaning back in his chair. The things this boy tells me. it is enough for a mental facepalm. All I can do is blush. I try to hide my face and laugh, but Everyone at the table notices, giving us questioning stares. Nate always knows how to get me riled up. 

"Nate, stop being weird," Chevy says as she throws one of her fries at him. Her efforts are all for nothing because he just catches it in his mouth. He even flexes his arms triumphantly, obviously feeling on top of the world for catching a fry in his mouth at the last second. They didn't always get along the best, but they were funny so it doesn't bother us that much. We know they love one another deep down.

"Are you okay? He didn't offend you, or anything did he?" Marco talked in a hushed tone to me, much more unnoticeable than Nate, while the siblings pulled Riley into their argument. Marco always knew the right questions to ask. Just another thing to add to the list. 

"No, I'm fine. He just likes to mess around a lot. I'm okay though. Thanks."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's all good."

~~~

Marco beats me to the library later in the day. But when I get there, he looks sad. I stand in the doorway admiring his beautiful features. Snap out of it. It is just Marco.