𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑 ❪ M. FLINT ❫

XXI

A short yelp escaped the girl's lips as she ran away from the singing dwarf, the imitated cupid flying behind her rapidly. Turning into a busy hallway, the girl let out a sigh of relief when the dwarf was no longer in sight.

"Oi." Marcus walked towards her, watching curiously as to why she was panting lightly. "You look like you ran around the entire pitch." He joked, earning a glaring pout from her.

She looked both ways, making sure the dwarf was nowhere near before scolding him. "Why would you send me a dwarf? It's embarrassing."

The broad male furrowed his brows, smirking lightly at her. "I didn't send one, but it looks like you have a secret admirer."

She rolled her eyes as he chuckled, pushing his shoulder lightly. "It's not funny, Marcus. If you didn't send it, then who did?" She watched as he shrugged, eyes widening at the dwarf who once again found her. "No," she whined.

Attempting to run, she was held by the wrist. Marcus had stopped her, causing the unpleasant dwarf to stop in front of the pair. He cleared his throat, speaking out with a scratchy voice. "You are my secret Valentine. Who I am? I cannot say. I think you are simply wonderful in every single way." With that the dwarf finally left, fluttering its wings before stopping in front of another student.

"Rosier, looks like someone's mad about you." Marcus let her wrist go, walking besides her silently.

"Well, I don't like secrets. Let alone an admirer." She informed him, eyeing him suspiciously. "Are you positive that wasn't you."

"Trust me, it's not." He assured her, "I would have done something differently, that one's absolutely cliche."

The girl laughed quietly, "Really? What would have been yours?"

The boy shrugged, stopping besides her. "Of all the things I can do on this Earth," he paused, "I just want to build a bridge from my heart to yours."

The girl rolled her eyes, "Marcus, stop stealing people's poems. That dwarf is killing you with his stare." She pointed towards the dwarf who had not even five seconds ago delivered the same poem to the girl behind them.

He raised a brow, turning to the dwarf and mumbling an apology with a sly grin. "Alright, enough games. What about this secret admirer?" He continued their walk, sitting on an empty bench in the courtyard.

Y/n raised a brow at him, a small smirk on her lips. "What about it?"

"Well, I don't know." He managed to speak, "Don't you want to know who he is?"

"Who's to say it's not a she? And no, I could care less." She shrugged. "Why, do you want to know who it is?"

"I'm curious, that's all." He admitted, turning away before the blush on his cheeks grew brighter.

"Flint, you're not jealous, are you?" The girl smirked at his silence, taking a seat besides him with a deep frown. "I don't care who he or she is. And you don't need to worry about it either, I promise." She comforted him, slipping her soft hand into his callused one.

Her action brought his attention back to her, watching their hands with a frown. "You sure about that?" He whispered, causing her to look at him confused. "You could be with someone so much better before we get married. You don't have to lie to make me feel better." He pulled his hand away from hers, standing up from the bench with a huff.

"I'm not lying, Marcus." She stood up with a sigh, watching as he turned away from her. "Maybe I don't want to be with anyone else, maybe I just want this. Maybe I want you."

He shook his head at her, a low scoff leaving his lips. "No you don't. You think I don't know about people calling me a troll behind my back. You don't know how many times I've been turned down just because of how I look, they didn't even bother on getting to know me." He cried out with a laugh.

"I have." She whispered. "I've gotten to know you, Marcus. And the version I know of you is amazing." She walked towards him, offering him a smile.

He stared at her silently, her innocent smile sending him into a short frenzy. He sighed through his nose, "Come on, class is going to start soon." He walked away, leaving the girl behind with a small frown.

. . . ✿ . . .

"You've been staring at him for a while now." Penelope spoke out, taking a seat besides Y/n in the library. "Everything alright?"

Y/n snapped back, resuming her notes. "Yeah, sorry."

"Hey," Penelope laid her hand out on top of the h/c girls paper. "You can talk to me. What's going on?"

Biting her lip, Y/n sent Marcus another worried glance. "I'm worried about Marcus."

Penelope's eyes widened at the confession, glancing between her friend and the male who sat two tables away from them. "What do you mean?"

"He's upset about someone sending a singing dwarf to me." Y/n whispered, cradling her quill.

"He's jealous?" Penelope asked, watching as her friend shrugged with a pout.

"I don't know, maybe." Y/n rubbed her face, pushing her notes away.

"I think he's insecure." The brunette informed her, glancing at her with a frown. "I think the idea of someone as beautiful as you falling for him isn't much of an ideal situation, not likely to happen. I just think he feels as though someone can easily swoop you from him."

"How do you know?" Y/n leaned forward.

"Because, I know what it's like to be called horrible names and fall in love with someone." Penelope admitted, glancing towards the dark haired boy that joined Flint. "I guess we're afraid of what happens when we do confess how we feel."

Y/n furrowed her brows, following Penelope's gaze. A small gasp left her lips as she watched Montague talk to Marcus, the pair oblivious of the stares they were receiving. "Why don't you tell him how you feel?"

Penelope frowned, turning back towards Y/n before standing up. "The same reason why Marcus won't tell you," she paused, forcing a small smile. "The fear of rejection."