Jean sat silently in his bedroom with Marco. The two of them taped the last of Jean's boxes in silence. That wouldn't have normally been a problem, since they usually enjoyed the presence of the other. At the moment, the silence between the two of them was unbearable. A million things should have been said, a thousand thoughts left unspoken.

  Jean finished taping the last box, kicking it to the side when done.

  "Jean, the moving van is here." Jean's mother spoke, entering the room.

  "Alright." He sighed before glancing at Marco, who was looking at the boxes. Jean didn't speak, he only stood. Grabbing a box in his hands, he left the room.

  He could sense Marco's gaze burning into his back, shaking it off he walked downstairs to the moving van. He couldn't shake the feeling that something should be said.

  He threw his box in the moving van and trotted back up the stairs. Marco was still sitting on the blanket-less  mattress, thinking about something Jean wish he could understand.

  "Hey." Jean said, walking into the room.

  "Hey." Marco replied, putting on a small smile.

  "Just a few more boxes and I'll be leaving. I don't plan to not talk to you until then. I think it would be best if we got to spend more time together." Jean stated.

  Marco gazed at Jean quietly. "I don't know what to say Jean, I just wish you didn't have to go so far away."

  "It's okay to be sad about it, hell, I'm really sad that I won't be able to see your beautiful face every morning." Jean laughed dryly. Marco smiled one of his normal, happy smiles, but Jean detects some pain in his gaze.

  "I know, I just wish you wouldn't be gone so long. It'll feel like forever." Marco said quietly.

  "Yeah, but I'll come visit, and you can come visit too. Nothing could keep us apart forever." Jean ensured. Marco bit his lip and then leaned over to kiss Jean.

  "Besides, it's only college, what could happen?" Jean stated.

  Marco took a deep breath. "There is one more thing I need to tell you Jean. My father called me."

  "What?" Jean's face dropped, and he lost his happy smile. His face darkened with anger as he thought about the horrible man.

  "He called, and talked to me. He said a bunch of garbage about how proud he is, and how happy he is with his new girlfriend. He said I should visit him." Marco sighed.

  "You're not actually going to go see him, are you?" Jean questioned, gaze clouded with worry.

  "Not in a million years." Marco replied bitterly.

  "He doesn't deserve to see you and your beautiful face." Jean stated with a small smile.

  Marco laughed. "He'd probably just call me a cripple and an excuse for a man once he laid eyes on me."

  Jean's face dropped. "Hey, you aren't a cripple. Even if you are a cripple it doesn't make you any less capable." He said.

  Marco gave a small smile, and Jean couldn't help but to kiss it. Marco's hand brushed Jean's cheek gently before they pulled away. "It's better when I see you smile Freckles. Your beautiful all the time, but God, your smile is even more amazing." Jean breathed out happily.

  Marco took advantage of Jean's soft side, he knew that he was the only person lucky enough to witness it. Marco kissed Jean's nose, and Jean blushed cutely.

  "Let's finish getting the boxes in the van, then after that we can do whatever you want to do." Jean said before standing. Marco smiled up at him, then he got up to help with the boxes.

  "We should have an hour to spend together after we're done putting these boxes up." Jean stated.

  Marco picked up a box and looked down. "I wish we had more time." He said sadly.

  "Me too. You know you can come visit any time, and I'll be back around Christmas time. I promise." Jean stated. Marco gave another small smile, then he carried the box downstairs.

* * *

  It wasn't long until they finished loading the boxes, giving them both some time to say goodbye.

  "I wish we had more time." Marco sighed.

  "Me too, but there's no point in wasting time sulking about it." Jean stated.

  Jean and Marco both sat on the foot in Jean's bedroom, which was now empty. Marco crawled over to where Jean laid, and he snuggled next to him.

  "How about we stay like this. We don't even have to say anything." Marco suggested.

  "Yeah, it's nice." Jean said, burying his face in the crook of Marco's neck.

  Marco lazily kissed Jean's cheek and pulled him closer.

  "Boys, are you in there?" Jean's mother called out.

  "Yeah." Jean replied. His mother walked moments later.

  "You guys are just laying here? You don't want to go to the park or anything?" She questioned.

  "We don't need too." Jean replied. Marco smiled and kissed him again.

  "I'm fine as long as I get to have some time with him." Marco said simply.

  "Alright, as long as your happy." She replied. "Jean, make sure you say goodbye to me before you go."

  "Don't worry, I will." Jean responded before burying his head back into Marco.

  "Your warm." Jean sighed.

  Marco giggled slightly. "You are too."

  "Hey, you have Skype, right?" Jean questioned.

  "Yeah. Do you?"

  "Yes, here, let me get a piece of paper." Jean stood up and raced down stairs and returned moments later with a pen and paper.

  Marco stood and walked over to Jean. "Here." Jean said, pushing the paper with scrawled writing over to him.

  "Shoot! I don't have pockets." Marco said worriedly. Jean grabbed the piece of paper from Marco, and he gently placed it under Marco's eyepatch.

  Jean smiled at Marco, who looked down at him. "It might be uncomfortable, and I'm sorry for that, but you probably won't lose it." Jean assured. 

  Marco placed his hand on Jean's cheek and leaned in for a tender kiss. Jean parted his mouth slightly, giving Marco enough space to slip his tongue in. Jean tilted his head slightly as Marco deepened the kiss. When they pulled away for air, Jean pulled Marco in a tight hug. "Not gonna give this up." Marco choked out in a soft sob."

  "Never will." Jean replied, rubbing Marco's back before pulling away. "You don't have to worry about never seeing me, I'll visit as often as possible. This is my home, you ate my home."

  Marco sniffed and rubbed his eye. "Okay. I love you Jean!" He yelped, pulling Jean back in his embrace.

  "I love you too Marco." Jean replied simply. "You know it's not goodbye."

  "Yeah." Marco nodded.

  "It's time. I'll see you later, I promise." Jean said, kissing Marco's cheek gently. Jean walked downstairs with Marco to say goodbye to his mother.

  "Jeanboy. You've grown so much. I'm so proud. Even if you have an 'asshole mode', I still love you." She said with a smile, embracing Jean and giving him a quick peck on his cheek.

  Jean said his final goodbyes, promising to return in winter.

* * *

  "Classes have been good so far. I have a weird roommate though." Jean hummed, looking at the terrible quality laptop he owned.

  "I don't know, he must be pretty good if he has to put up with you." Marco laughed, voice cut through terrible audio. Jean never said it, but he hated Skype calls. He hated seeing the face he loved, and knowing that he wouldn't get to touch that face, hug that person.

  "Hey!" Jean whined.

   Marco's voice came in a reply, "I'm just kidding."

  His laughter, music  Jean's ears. He smiled at his boyfriend through the screen. "I know, hey, Marco?"

  "Yes?" Marco asked.

  "I think I can come visit a little earlier, but it will only be for a short while." Jean said.

  "I don't know Jean, if it will be too hard, then you can wait until Christmas. I'll still wait for you." Marco yawned on the other line.

  "Are you tired?" Jean asked. It was a stupid question, there was a four hour time difference. Marco's time was ahead by four hours, and it was around ten o'clock P.M. for Jean.

  "Yeah, it's two o'clock here." Marco replied, almost in shock at how long they had been talking.

  "You need to get some sleep. I love you." Jean said with a small smile.

  "I love you too, Jean, goodnight." Marco said, giving a small wave before exiting the call.

  Jean closed his laptop and collapsed on to his dorm room bed. The blankets were the same ones he had at his old house, but the bed was garbage. It squeaked with every motion, and the agonizing back pain Jean suffered through every morning was par for the course.

  Jean had an idea burning in his head, and it made his stomach sick just thinking of it. The next day was Friday, so Jean had time to go shopping for one of the most important items he would ever buy. The real question scared Jean; would Marco like it?

  He could hardly sleep after the idea formed, so during the day he always went to buy some coffee. "Jesus Jean, age nineteen, and your already planning one of the biggest moments in you life." Jean sighed to himself.

  "Dude, I'm trying to sleep." Jean's roommate, Skylar, huffed.

  "I thought you were talking to your friends." Jean said.

  "No, they all went offline ages ago." Skylar sighed.

  "Is it a group chat, or something? Do you know them in real life?" Jean questioned.

  "Yes, I grew up with them, from elementary to highschool. I don't really like to talk about it." Skylar stated.

  "Do you miss them?" Jean asked.

  "Of course. I miss them all, all nine of them."

  "I left a lot of my friends too, and my boyfriend. I've been thinking." Jean said.

  "About what?" Skylar queried.

  "I want to propose to my boyfriend." Jean announced.

  "I mean, you do love him. You don't get any younger either, if you've known him long enough to love him, then yeah, propose. He'll most likely say yes, I can tell that he loves you." Skylar stated.

  "Do you listen to my Skype calls?" Jean questioned.

  "No, I just don't have a pair of headphones, so I can't block out what you say." Skylar huffed thickly.

  Jean rolled his eyes and laid back down. Yeah. He'll buy the ring tomorrow.

* * *
   
  "Hey, man." Jean said, planning to start a conversation with Skylar.

  "Yeah?" Skylar asked, shrugging his shoulders.

  "Did you come here with a scholarship?" Jean asked.

  "Sorta, more like a state thing." Skylar stated.

  "Oh, cool."

  "Yep. I gotta go, I'm gonna drive to my friend's college. He lives several thousand miles away, so wish me luck. " Skylar said, giving a thumbs up before leaving the room.

  Jean had only spent a little amount of time around Skylar, but he knew a bit about him. Skylar was the type of person to make jokes, but you could look into their eyes and tell how actually mentally fucked they are.

  Skylar didn't have a great connection with his parents, and he never talked about them, but he talked about his siblings from time to time.

  Jean stood up from his terrible dorm bed and walked outside, making sure to grab a credit card for him to use. He moved all of his boxes into the dorm since the apartment building had an infestation of bed bugs, and he wasn't about to pay for that, so he had just got a dorm room.

  He hopped in his car and drove to a jewelry store not too far away from the campus, loud music blared from his speakers as he drove.

  It wasn't long until he arrived at the store, and he walked nervously to the door. He pulled the handle and walked inside.

  It was fairly packed, but not overwhelming. The store being surprisingly quiet wasn't much of a shock. Jean walked over to the front desk and asked the woman there where the engagement rings were. She simply pointed to a small glass cabinet housing several nice rings.

  Golds, silvers, and the glittering of diamonds from in the cabinet was almost scary to Jean. He had to make a good decision. His gaze flitted to a simple, yet elegant ring. It looked to be a gold band, shining like the sun in the glass cabinet. He wanted to look at it more, he wanted see if it was perfect for Marco.

  He had asked the woman to bring the ring out, which she politely did. On closer inspection he realized that it had very small diamonds in it, each one shining much like a star. It was absolutely perfect, and Jean had to choke back his feelings so he wouldn't  make a scene in the store.

  He payed for it, and slipped it in the perfect little, black, velvet box. This was hopefully going to lead him to the next chapter in his life. His life with Marco.

* * *

  The rest of the semester passed quickly, at least until finals. Jean was practically on his fucking toes studying. His main goal was to not fail the damn tests his professors had planned, specifically to kill him.

  He managed to scrape through them, getting Bs or, surprisingly, As. The moment the semester ended he jumped in his car and began to go home, well, after saying goodbye to Skylar and grabbing the ring. He'd already planned quite a night with Marco, and Jean made sure he would never forget it.

  Planning in his head, over and over, he figured out the best way to pop the question. The car ride was dull, the only good thing being his music (but not really). He pulled into Marco's driveway late at night. It was going to be a surprise, considering he forgot to tell Marco that he was on his way. Oh well, it was too late to stop himself from knocking on the wooden door that he knew so well.

  The door creaked open, leaving a visibly shocked, black haired, freckled boy. "Jean!" He yelped, jumping into the arms of his boyfriend.

  "Yeah! I came to see you." Jean replied, stumbling slightly from Marco's weight.

  "I'm so happy that you did. I missed you." Marco stated, carefully getting back from Jean's hold.

  "I missed you too, dork." Jean replied, caressing Marco's cheek with his knuckles. Marco smiled warmly at him and kissed him gently.

  Marco brought Jean inside from the cold, and announced to his mother that Jean had come to visit. She was excited, but tired due to the late hour, so Marco helped her to bed.

  Jean decided to bring the small amount of clothes he had into Marco's bedroom and collapsed on his boyfriend's bed. Jean didn't remember what happened after that, aside from Marco joining him in bed and giving him kisses as he lulled off to sleep. He didn't dream, but he did feel content.

* * *

  "Marco, I want you to come with me to see the lights." Jean said, hoping Marco would reply with an, "okay."

  "Alright." Marco agreed.

  Good enough. Jean smiled brightly, and grabbed Marco by the hand.

  "Wait, Jean, not yet." Marco said.

  Jean realized exactly why Marco didn't want to go yet. It was Christmas morning, and it was normal for some people to celebrate it. "Oh, right." Jean said.

  Jean had gotten Marco a present, and Marco had gotten him one as well. Much like a gift exchange. So after Marco put kibble in Duke's outside bowl he joined Jean and his mother at their tree.

  Everyone got two presents, Jean got one from Marco and one from Marco's mother. They opened them at the same time. From Marco's mom, he received a picture of him and Marco from a year earlier. They we're smiling warmly, cheer on their faces. Jean would take this back to the dorm for sure.

  Jean opened Marco's present for him next, and when he realized exactly what it was he grew extremely happy. A coffee mug, custom made, with a picture of him and Marco on it. There was one word written on it, and that word was: forever.

  "I really like it." Jean said with a smile, pecking Marco on the cheek. Marco's mom took pictures, and after that Jean took Marco on that date.

  They would have to wait until much later to go see the lights, for obvious reasons, so they just sat at the park down the road for the while, talking, playing, and cuddling as the day went by and grew darker.

  After a while Jean led Marco to the Wellness Center, or that one place that puts lights up around a lake every year. Magnolia lake, with crystal waters and trees surrounding it, is a lovely place during the day, but is even more breathtaking at night.

  They walked around the track, lights glowing brightly and shining on their faces. Jean grew more nervous as they walked, after a full lap Jean planned to pop the question.

  All kinds of anxieties flared in his stomach as butterflies danced all around. He linked his arm with Marco's, hopping it would soothe his fears. It surprisingly helped, Marco's strong arm around Jean's, giving comfort and warmth.

  "I like that one." Marco said, pointing to a set of lights displayed to look like a horse drawn carriage. Of course it wasn't actually actually horse drawn carriage, just some lights.

  "Yeah, it looks nice. I'll take a picture of you with it." Jean stated, bringing out his phone to quickly snap a photo.

  Marco beamed with happiness as he looked at the picture that Jean had taken moments before. "It's great!"

  "Yep, now let's keep going, this wind is freezing my ass off." Jean responded, voice thick with affectionate sarcasm.

  Marco kissed his cheek, and they kept walking around the lake. The lights, beautiful in the night, were very captivating, and Marco had run on to a bridge that went over Magnolia creek. The bridge was covered with lights, on the railings, and some even hung overhead.

  Marco was laughing, his freckles alight, and cheeks red with the cold. Jean's hand itched to pull at the velvet box in is pocket, and he did, rather quickly. Marco didn't see it coming.

  Marco turned, his laughter suddenly dying down. "Jean?" He questioned to his boyfriend, who was kneeling on the ground.

  "Hey Marco, this was a surprise for me too," Jean said, "but will you marry me?"

  Marco's hands went to cover his face, small, wet, droplets of tears fell down his face. Marco's smile, however, never faded, and he knelt on the ground in front of Jean.

  He uncontrollably shook his head 'yes' as tears came down his face. Inaudible words tried to form, but it was nearly impossible.

  Jean just did what he thought Marco would want. He grabbed Marco's hand and slipped the ring on it, then he hugged Marco tightly.

  The two sat on the bridge, hugging eachother in the cold for a long while. Marco was so happy, and he couldn't wait to tell his mother, and the same went for Jean too. Now all he had left to do was finish college, then he could get married to Marco. He'd graduate for Marco, Jean would do anything for him.

*

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This was quite a ride. I never expected to have so much fun writing this when I first started. This is sadly the end, but wait, there's more. Actually not really, but there will be other JeanMarco stories. There will be one JeanMarco centric one later on  and before that there will be an Attack on Titan zombie AU, and I have been working on that since November. There will be a long wait for these, so if you want to know stuff, ask me. Love you, thanks for reading this!