"Hey. Hey, Remi. Wait up!" Marcelo called out to Remi, who was a waking a few feet in front of him, as he ran to catch up with him. Remi turned around and saw Marcelo which confused him. Where did Marcelo come from? Marcelo caught up with Remi and walked next to him at the same pace, catching his breath. He looked down at Remi for a few seconds and smiled. "Hey."
"H-Hi. How did you know that I—"
"Damon told me that you were about to come to work. I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?"
"We can go inside of the library first."
Remi nodded and they walked across the street, Marcelo holding his hand out against Remi's back to make sure that he made it. They walked past a few buildings behind other people of the city before they finally made it to the library. Marcelo hopped in front of Remi and grabbed the door handle, opening the door for Remi. Remi walked underneath Marcelo's arm and walked into the library. It was quiet like always. Remi didn't see anymore boxes of books in his designated section, so he was slightly relieved since Marcelo had something to talk about.
The two went over to Remi's spot and sat down on the bean bags that were right next to each other beside the bookshelves. Remi held Paxton's paw and looked up at Marcelo to see if he was going to begin talking.
"How has your day been?" Marcelo asked after a while, breaking the silence.
"It's been f-fine. H-How about yours?"
"It's been wonderful. Thanks for asking. You look amazing today by the way."
Remi's cheeks reddened and he looked down at his outfit with a quiet, Thank you. He had on a blue jean skirt with a pink ruffle trim fitted shirt that was cropped a bit and had tiny cherries all over them, long light pink socks that were folded over to sit at his ankles, and white converses.
Marcelo chuckled seeing Remi blushed. He blushed so much at every tiny thing. It was as interesting as it was cute. Marcelo gazed for a while longer before actually getting to the point.
"I... we haven't seen each other for a few days, and I wished that I could pull my phone out to text you to see what you were doing, but... I don't have your number. Now, I know that you might not feel comfortable giving your number to me. If that's the case, that's fi—"
Marcelo's mouth made an "o" shape as he watched Remi pull his phone out and turn it on, going to the contacts before holding it out towards him.
"You don't mind?"
"You chased me all the way h-here to get my number so I... I would feel bad if I didn't give it t-to you."
"Don't. Don't feel bad. I promise it's alright if you don't want me to have it. I promise."
Remi pursed his lips in annoyance and held his phone out further. "Put yours in."
Smiling, Marcelo grabbed Remi's phone and punched his number in. He left the name plate blank since he wanted to see what Remi would put as his contact name. He texted himself to make sure that everything worked. Seconds later, his phone pinged. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw Remi's number on the screen along with, ɴᴇᴡ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ.
Marcelo clicked on the message before clicking on Remi's contact and saving Remi's number as,
Remi🌷
He handed Remi's phone back to him and turned his own phone off, looking up at Remi once again. "Now, you have access to me at all times."
The smaller one put his phone back up and turned towards Marcelo a bit more. Paxton wagged his tail and lapped at Remi's fingers for some reason.
"Do you have any books to put up today?"
"N-No, I did all of them myself yesterday after the crowd left."
"Awe, I wish you had have told me. I could've helped."
"No, i-it's fine. It's what I get paid t-to do."
"I don't mind helping a friend. We're friends now, aren't we?"
More color was added onto Remi's cheeks as he processed what Marcelo said. He looked at Marcelo and made the face of a fish out of water, symbolizing his shock. He'd never had someone ask him if they were friends. No one ever really wanted to be friends with the shy kid. But without further ado, Remi nodded, yes. Yes, they were friends.
Marcelo smiled in satisfaction. But before Remi could say anything else, Marcelo grabbed him and shoved him underneath his arm, ruffling his hair. Remi groaned and punched Marcelo on his abdomen. "Hey, stop it! Marcelo, q-quit!" Marcelo chuckled and kept going.
After a while, he stopped and let Remi go. Remi sat back and glared at Marcelo, making Marcelo chuckle.
"Shhh." Mrs. Callum warned. As she looked away, Remi looked back at Marcelo to see a smile tugging at his lips that soon turned into a snicker. Remi put a hand over his mouth as seeing Marcelo snicker made him start snickering too. Soon, they were both cracking up for no reason while trying not to be loud.
"S-Stop, Marcelo."
"What do you mean? You're laughing just as hard as me." Marcelo whisper-yelled, making Remi put his face in his hands and laugh even more.
Once Remi got all of his giggles out, he sat back up, red faced and flustered. "Y-You're gonna get me fired." he whispered.
"She wouldn't dare fire someone like you. I wouldn't let her." Marcelo reached out and flattened Remi's hair out from where he roughened it up. "Sorry about your hair. Since we're friends, I took the chance to ruffle it."
"Well, l-let me ruffle yours."
"No can do. My locks are too immaculate, too pristine, too impeccable."
"Mine are better."
"Oh really? I think we should ask Mr. Paxton here." Marcelo looked down at Paxton. "So... Paxton, whose locks are better? Mine or Remi's?"
Paxton wagged his tail some more and stood on all fours in Remi's lap. He then pushed up on his hind legs and stood up all the way, putting his paws on Remi's chest and lapping all over Remi's face. Remi grinned smugly and looked over at Marcelo.
"He's biased. He's so biased!"
"N-No, it's just the truth."
"Yes, it is. I admit."