Love Me Like You Do

Chapter 1 - March

    A sigh echoed through the dorm room, followed by a couple of thudding sounds. Jean Kirstein slumped back on his bed, another day of classes done with, finally. A low growl sounded from his stomach. "Ugh. Need food." About that time, he heard a loud knock on his door. Willing himself up, off the bed, he shuffled to the door and pulled it open. "Uh, hi Jean!"

"Oh, Marco, hey. What's up?" Jean almost immediately perked up at the sight of his best friend. "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get something to eat? I noticed how sluggish you were, leaving class." He let out a small laugh at the end of his sentence. Pink tinted Jean's cheeks as he glanced away in thought. "Yeah, sounds great." A grin formed on his face as he grabbed his jacket from a near by chair.

    It wasn't long before the two ended up at a pizza parlor. Rumor had it that this was the best pizza place in the city, why hadn't they been here before? The two grabbed a table and started looking over the menu. "So how have your classes been so far?" A look of dread crept over Jean's face. "Horrible."

"Come on, it can't be that bad, can it?"

"If you call failing every class 'not that bad', then maybe."

"Do you need some help? I, uh, I'm acing all my classes, so I wouldn't mind helping you." Jean looked at his freckled friend and smiled. "Are you sure you don't mind helping a looser like me?" Marco laughed at his comment. "You're not a looser, Jean. But no, of course not. Besides, college has been pretty stressful, I'd like to see you more, even if it's just to study." Jean held onto Marco's every word. He couldn't quite grasp at why what his friend said, had meant so much to him. "Yeah, that'd be nice, Marco." When the waiter had come to the table, Jean ordered a coke, where as Marco asked for an orange soda. They ordered an extra cheese pizza to share, and sat their menus aside.

    As the two waited, they talked about anything and everything, though avoided school at all costs. It wasn't too long before Marco asked a question that Jean wasn't exactly prepared for. "So, Jean, do you have a girlfriend?" A smile was ever-present on his face as he waited for an answer. Jean gave a mock pout before answering. "Nah. Last girl I tried to hit on... I think I almost lost my balls, man. She was scary." Marco attempted to stifle a laugh. He had a pretty good idea who this girl was. "What about you? I'm sure you have all the girls flocking to you. You're pretty cute."

'What the fuck was that? Did I really just say he was cute... What the actual fuck.'

"Heh, thank you, Jean but um... I don't really... Date girls." He turned away as an obvious blush of embarrassment covered his face. It took a second for what he said, to register in Jean's mind. "Oooooh... Hey man, that's cool. You do you." Jean smiled and leaned forward, patting Marco's arm across the table. Marco smiled in return, happy that Jean didn't over react or even react negatively. This wasn't a topic they'd ever brought up in the past, they had never felt the need.

    After they finished their pizza, Jean paid and the two walked out of the building. "Say, Marco. It's Friday, wanna go catch a movie? Take a break from studying?"

"Oh, I've heard there's a good one playing!" Marco seemed pretty excited to get out and do something fun, and Jean liked to see his friend have fun and smile. Marco really had a beautiful smile. Anyone could admit that, you'd have to be crazy to not see it. "Well then, come on, I'll race you to the theater." The building was less than a block away, and the two had raced there before, when they went to the theater a lot last school year. Jean laughed and ran off, Marco on heels. It didn't take long before Jean was left behind Marco, resulting in Marco making it to the theater before Jean. Bending forward and resting his hands on his knees, Jean huffed and looked up at Marco. "You've gotten faster heh."

"Maybe you're just slow." Marco stuck his tongue out and pushed open the theater door, searching the board for the movie he had wanted to see. Finally finding it, he paid for two tickets and handed one to Jean.