"GOOD AFTERNOOOOOOON!" mari screamed, jumping as she exited her car.
"noah, what the fuck?" mari yelled, throwing her car keys at him.
"ow! why the car keys?!" mari huffed, throwing her hands up as she shut her door.
"it was a defense mechanism!" she defended, walking over to take her keys from noah before locking her car.
"you'd die in a horror movie, you know that right?" noah asked, the two approaching the building.
"yeah, i know." mari sighed defeatedly. noah and mari entered the building. the pair talked about their most recent imessage game they had played as they walked into the fittings room.
"oh, hey guys." mari looked up from her phone, previously had been showing noah how she had in fact sent back the 8ball game.
"noah, you're in room 5." noah left the room and mari set her bag down.
"mars, hey!" mari turned around and saw joe walking into the room and she smiled, about to wave when he pulled her into a hug.
"hi, jojo." mari giggled as she hugged joe back, the hug lasting a bit longer. joe groaned in mari's ear, making her stomach flip as she quickly pulled away from the hug.
"I take it you'll continue with that nickname?"
"well, am I still mars to you?" Mari raised her eyebrow, crossing her arms as she stared at him.
"Forever and always, love." Joe smirked, walking away as mari was left blushing and caught off guard.
"what.." she whispered, shaking her head as she decided to stop thinking about him calling her love.
"alright, mari. if we could have you try on this outfit?" mari nodded and grabbed the costume.
mari removed her shirt and pants as the costumer worked with joe on the other side of the room.
"what do we think?" mari asked, staring at herself in the mirror as she took in the simplicity of her costume. "this sweater is so cute."
"i think this is a good one." the costumer begin checking to make sure it fit correctly before having her pose for a costume picture. "let's try this one."
mari took off her clothes, handing them to the costumer before looking at the next costume. it was a yellow dress with a jean jacket, probably one of mari's favorites.
"hey joe, are your costumes cool?" mari called out, glancing over at joe who was currently in his hellfire shirt and jeans. "shit, i like it!"
joe glanced over before quickly adverting his eyes. "oh, sorry."
"what?"
"you're indecent." mari laughed loudly, clearing her throat as a way to stop her laughter.
"sorry." mari snickered, biting her lip as she stared at joe. "but seriously, it's fine. it's not a big deal, it's just shorts and bra."
joe nodded, making her smile. as she went to grab the dress, joe peeked over at her and couldn't help but stare. he swallowed hard when she looked over and sent him a small smile before pulling the dress over her head.
as joe pulled on the 3rd leather jacket he had to try on, he heard mari gasp. "shut the fuck up!"
"what?"
"look!" mari yelled excitedly, running over to joe to show him her jean jacket that had a hellfire club patch sewn onto the breast pocket.
"mars, that's sick." joe smiled brightly, reaching out to touch the patch. realizing where joe's hand was placed, mari looked down at his hand before looking up at him with a nervous smile.
"uh.."
"alright, what do we think about this 3rd jacket?" the customer said as she walked back into the room, joe quickly yanking his hand off mari's chest and clearing his throat.
"i think this one fits the best. mari?" mari looked up, finally making eye contact with joe.
"yeah?"
"thoughts?" joe smiled, gesturing to himself as he did a weird pose.
"it looks perfect." mari nodded, giving joe a tight lipped smile before going back to her other clothes and posing for a costume photo.
"thanks, love.." joe whispered, even though he knew mari couldn't hear it.
••••••••••••
"alright, are you ready?" mari asked, fixing her hair and grabbing her bag as noah walked into the room.
"for what?" mari furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"dinner? i told you about it earlier." she said, still seeing noah's confused stare. "joe asked me the other day if i wanted to go to dinner with him and whoever else had the same schedule for fittings?"
noah glanced between mari and joe, who was approaching the two as he buttoned up his shirt, and noah slowly smiled.
"you know what, i have plans tonight that i totally forgot about!" noah smirked discreetly, nodding as he watched mari frown.
"aw, seriously? that sucks."
"yeah, you know maybe you two should just go by yourselves then." joe looked at mari, who didn't notice he was staring, and smiled slightly.
"alright, we'll maybe next time you can join us?" joe asked, quickly agreeing to the idea of a dinner with just him and mari.
"oh yeah, for sure!" noah laughed, knowing he was lying through his teeth about other plans. his only plan tonight was to go home and play video games and he would have joined them for dinner, had he not seen how joe had been staring at mari when she wasn't looking. "i gotta finish here so i'll see you later."
mari hugged noah quickly, saying a small goodbye before waiting for joe at the door. "let's go jojo!"
"alright alright." joe laughed, shaking his head at the girl and her need for using that nickname.
the pair quickly made it to their car, deciding on restaurant. joe stopped mari before she walked to her car, gently grabbing her wrist.
"do you want to just drive with me? i can always drive you back to your car after?" joe asked, smiling in an almost nervous matter.
"oh, sure."
the two got into joe's car, a semi awkward silence falling over the two almost like a blanket. as joe drove, mari watched him as the street lights danced across his face. she watched as the lights started on his chest and twirled it's way up his chin, up his nose and across his forehead before disappearing into his curls. a small smile found its way on her face as she watched each lamp light dance the same routine.
"what?" mari snapped out of her gaze, shaking her head. joe was side eying her, trying to focus on the road as well.
"huh?" mari's voice was hoarse, making her clear her throat. joe pulled up to a red light and stopped, taking the opportunity to fully look at mari.
"i could feel your eyes on me since we left the lot." mari's eyes slightly widened, not realizing her staring was so obvious.
"sorry, i think just kinda of zoned out." she lied, smiling forcefully before gesturing to the now green light. joe nodded and started driving again, noticing how mari was no facing the complete opposite way and staring outside the passenger window.
•••••••
"Oh my god, MARI!" joe exclaimed, a gasp escaping both his and mari's lips.
"oh fuck!" mari cursed, immediately covering her mouth to stop the sound that was coming out.
"mars, are you serious?" joe laughed, watching the blonde in front of her as she had panic in her eyes.
"what do i do?" mari whispered, trying to find a napkin. she had broken the cup her drink was in, not even understanding how she did it.
as she reevaluated the situation in front of her, and joe's red face from laughing, she covered her mouth again. she couldn't believe the mess she had made and that alone made her want to laugh out loud to the point where her stomach cramped.
mari heard a click and she looked up, eyes widened at the sight of joe with his phone out, aiming towards her. "did you take a picture?"
joe nodded, laughing as she huffed. she desperately tried to clean up the spilled drink and thanked god that the actual part of the cup holding her alcohol didn't break.
"you ass, help me!" mari begged, almost dropping the cup. she couldn't put it down as it would fall over and spill everywhere, making a bigger mess.
"do you guys need help?"
"yes, oh my god, please?" mari laughed, the waiter politely taking the cup and rushing off with it. "joe, shut up."
"i didn't say anything!" joe threw his hands up in surrender, laughing. mari wiped her hands off on the napkin, shaking her head as joe watched.
"you're a menace, joseph robert quinn."
"that's still not my middle name."
"okay, so what is it then, joseph william quinn?"
"mari, stop!" joe laughed, throwing a napkin at mari who gasped. she went to throw it back at him when she grabbed a bread roll and chucked it at him, realizing what it was the second it left her hands.
"oh my god!" mari gasped, covering her mouth and staring at joe with wide apologetic eyes as she watched the bread bounce off his head and onto the table. "i am..so fucking sorry."
"mars...." joe started, making mari wince at his tone.
"jo i didn't mean it!" joe broke out laughing, causing mari to give in and start her giggling fit.
the two looked absolutely insane, both laughing loudly. joe was the first one to stop laughing and he watched mari with a giant smile on his face. she was red in the face with tears in her eyes and joe couldn't imagine a better sound than the sounds of her laughter.
"stop staring at me, you freak." mari said, seemingly out of nowhere to joe, who was in such a trance looking at mari. he didn't even realize she had stopped laughing and was watching him with furrowed eyebrows, wondering why he was staring at her so intently.
"what?"
"you're staring at me like you're in love with me or something." she jokingly rolled her eyes, a small laugh following. joe's eyes widened a tiny bit and he felt the embarrassment bubbling.
"shut up." joe said, rubbing his face with his hands to almost wipe away the blush that had to be so evidently shown on his cheeks. "you're going to be the death of me, mars."
mari smirked, grabbing his hand and playfully squeezing it. he looked down at their hands, his stomach flipping at the feeling of her small hands holding his much larger hands. "i know, jojo. i know."