.drei. 

After Marco tweeted about his relationship with Jude Wopschall, fans and the media alike went into a frenzy and set out to find out who the mystery person was. From what they could gather about her name, they were just as confused as his team mates and thought she was a male. It didn't help much that her profile was on private and her avatar was the BVB logo. 

Jude wasn't one to take pictures often.

She also wanted to stay out of the media as much as possible. Jude knew the amount of fame football players had, especially the ones who were chosen to represent their national team. And she just knew she would get hate from people if she posted anything about Marco for everyone to see. 

She chose to keep her life as private as possible.

But Marco was different. He wanted everyone to know he was in love with Jude Wopschall. 

When the bakery closed for the day in the afternoon, Marco took Jude and Grace back to their house, as had become their new routine. Jude quickly changed into BVB training pants that she had stolen from Marco and her favorite jersey with his name on the back. Before they left her house, Marco took a picture with his girlfriend. She was kissing him on the cheek and only one side of her face was visible, while he was smiling wide into the camara.

He immediately went to post it on his twitter account.

woodynho: jude and i about to go play some footie! twitpic.com/13nn56nbh6b56vvgfcv4k

In another part of Dortmund, Mats had already returned from his vacation with his girlfriend Pia and he got a notification on his phone. woodynho has just uploaded a picture! 

Mats slid his thumb across the screen and the twitter app was opened. Pia was sitting on the couch with Mats, cuddled up beside him while they watched a scary movie together. Those were Mats' favorite because he had an excuse to hold his girlfriend close. Her curious eyes looked at the picture on his cellphone screen where she saw Marco and Jude. "Oh, how cute." She squealed in delight. On various occasions, she and Mats had tried to hook Marco up with mutual female friends of theirs, but things never seemed to work out for them. Now they knew, or thought they knew, why. "It looks like Marco really loves his boyfriend."

"He looks a little girly though." Mats commented, crinkling up his nose. Something in Jude's face gave him the suspicion that Jude was probably the most sensitive one of the two.

"But he's a cute boy." Pia argued. 

"Hey!" Mats pouted. 

"Not cuter than you, Matsy." She pinched his cheek playfully, "But he looks like a child, how old is he?"

Mats searched for Jude on Marco's follow list. Jude wasn't following a lot of people, and not many people were following him. "It says on his bio that he's twenty years old." He soon added an observation, "His profile is private and his avatar is the BVB logo, he must be a shy boy."

"He's probably afraid of what people will think." Mats' girlfriend reasoned.

Sighing, Mats said, "I hope they don't get a lot of hate for this." He closed his twitter app and slid his phone back into his pocket.

"I doubt it." Pia said with a shake of her head. "People are more supportive nowadays, they're more open to new ideas and new ways of living life. It isn't as much of a social stigma as it used to be. And if anyone dares to say anything negative to them, they have us to support them. Marco is your friend, he needs us more than ever. This must be a difficult time for both Jude and Marco."

"I think its good that Marco doesn't seem to care that people may think negatively about this." Mats finally said.  "That's the most important thing."

"I'm just surprised he chose twitter, of all places, to come out of the closet." Pia shrugged. "I thought he would do something a bit more private first, with his family and closest friends."

Mats reasoned. "Maybe he just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible."

"What's Jude's twitter username?" Pia asked, whipping her cellphone out of her pocket and opening the twitter app. "I'm going to follow him to show him I support their relationship."

"No, liebe." Mats groaned, throwing his head back on the couch cushion. "Leave Jude alone. I don't want you to be nosey and ruin their relationship somehow."

She gasped. "When have I ever ruined someone's relationship?"

"Remember Bastian and Sarah?" Mats raised an eyebrow at her.

"That was you, Mats." Pia reminded him. "You introduced Ana to Bastian."

The truimphant smile when he thought he was right dropped in an instant when he remembered she was the one who was right. "Shit, that's true." Tapping his index finger to his lips in thought, he said, "What about Thomas and Lisa?"

"That was you too." Pia said. "I suggested Lisa and Thomas could take care of the apartment last summer while we went on vacation. You insisted that Mariel was perfect for the job, along with Thomas. He was just lucky that Lisa forgave him and took him back, but you're a homewrecker, Mats."

"Lets just drop this conversation." Mats suggested, and looking down at his phone screen, he told her, "His usename is judewopschall. All together, no periods, dashes, or underscores."

"Hm." Pia raised an eyebrow, typing the username into her twitter search bar. "Simple, but effective."

Back at the park, Jude and Marco played football until the summer sun was completely out if sight. Most people had already gone home and the street lamps were turned on to provide light. 

Marco stopped, panting a bit tiredly. But the grin was unmistakeable as he said to her, "You can't beat me. I'm still the best." Marco was thrilled he had one thing that he was better than Jude at, and it meant he could teach her, as well as tease her the way she did when he lost at FIFA. He still couldn't beat her, but he could beat her at real football. 

"Not for long." She glared playfully. Kicking the football in his direction, she said, "We should get going. I don't want my mom to worry about me being out so late."

"You're her only child." Marco pointed out. "She's always going to worry about you, liebe."

Jude nodded in agreement. "That's true. Because before you and I met, my mom and I only had each other."

"What happened to your dad?" He wondered. Neither Grace nor Jude ever talked about her dad. He only knew that Grace had been a single mother and had Jude when she was very young. Just how young, he did not know. But grace seemed to be in her mid-thirties, which meant she had Jude when she was around fifteen or sixteen. And he was sure it must have been difficult for her to bring up a child when she was so young herself.

Shrugging, she replied, "I don't have one. And I never needed a father anyway. My mom is braver, and stronger than anyone I have ever known. As far as I know, I only have a mom." In her words, he found there was a great appreciation for her mother and all the sacrifices she had made for Jude.

"But she never got married or dated anyone." Marco continued as they made their way back to his car. During their game, the temperature had dropped and she borrowed his sweater to keep warm, which he didn't mind. Jude liked wearing his clothes, despite the fact that they were a bit loose on her, because she liked the fact that they smelled like him. It made her feel like he was with her, even when they were apart.

"My mom was too busy taking care of me." Jude replied. Just as Marco got the passenger side door open for her, they both saw a flash in the distance, but dismissed it like nothing had happened. Once in the car, Jude continued, "But now I think its about time she finds someone who can love her and make her happy."

"Just like we are." Marco smiled, taking her hand in his.

Jude nodded in agreement.

-

i know its been a while since i've uploaded a chapter here. but the thing is i've been very inspired with my james story. and since there are a few chapters left for it to end, i thought i would focus most of my free time and energy on it. but i wrote this chapter for you all today.

and i hope you enjoy it. i know there hasn't been much of jude and marco in this book, but i just wanted to show his friends' reactions to marco's 'coming out'. so that is why i have been a bit more focused on them. and there goes mats, homewrecking relationships. this little detail will be important if you're reading my other story 'roses' (you don't have to read it, but if you do, it is the sequel to 'arabella'). 

so thank you for reading and supporting me. i love you.

-clary xx