Summary: Marco has a secret. A big secret. And he has to hide it from his best friend, Jean Kirschtein. However, it's difficult for him to do because they've been friends since a very young age and Marco just hates lying to Jean, and every time he does lie to him, he hates himself more and more. But little did he know that Jean was hiding the exact same secret from him.

Alright, so! This isn't my first time writing a fan-fiction, but it is the first time I've uploaded it to any kind of website, and it's also my first time writing an Attack on Titan fan-fiction. Also, this is actually based on a rp I was doing with a friend of mine, so I had a little difficulty putting it in the way it is. But I did try, and I hope you enjoy it! c:

Marco let out a sigh as he sat down on the bench, having gotten fed up with standing around whilst waiting for his friend, Jean Kirschtein. If he was being honest, Marco actually thought Jean would've been there already since Marco was a little late.

But he wasn't there, and it made Marco wonder how late Jean was actually going to be. Because Marco would only be waiting for a while before actually leaving.

Jean was Marco's best friend- Actually, he was really his only friend. They had been friends since Marco could remember, and he really loved being around Jean. He could tell him everything. Well, almost everything. There were a few things he couldn't tell him. Like why he sometimes showed up with a few cuts and bruises. Or why he would sometimes would show up really really late without a good explanation as to why.

There was a good reason for it, Marco just couldn't tell Jean. Or anyone for that matter.

Marco Bodt had brown hair and brown eyes, and had freckles on his cheeks. That was...one of the things he hated about himself. People always made fun of him for it when he was younger. And ever since then, he had just hated them. However, Jean seemed to like them. He stood tall at 178 cm (5' 10'') and weighed 70 kg (154 lb). He was kind of person that would help anyone, even if he didn't know them. A kind-hearted person. He liked to wear slightly bigger clothes as they were more comfortable to him. Like right now. His over-sized sweater covered his hands and stopped just a little below his hips. And his pants, well, they were just some comfortable blue pants. Something simple.

However there was one thing about him that no one could guess just by looking at him. Marco wasn't normal. He looked and acted normal, but he really wasn't. He was... Well, even Marco didn't know what he was. But what he did know was that he wasn't normal. Because normal people didn't walk around with..."special abilities". He had no idea when it happened or how it happened, but it did. And the only thing he knew was that he couldn't tell anyone. Especially not Jean. Because he didn't want their friendship to be ruined since he had been lying to the other for quite a long while now. And if he did tell Jean, then his friend would either laugh in his face and say that it was a good joke, or he would freak out.

And Marco didn't want either of those things to happen.

People had big secrets that they didn't want to tell anyone, and that was Marco's. It was funny, really. To Marco, it sounded like some kind of superhero movie. The geeky kid gets certain powers, becomes the hero, and gets the woman of his dreams. That wasn't Marco, though. Okay, he was the geek, but he wasn't the hero.

However, he did occasionally find himself in fights. But he could still be classified as the good guy. Because they people that he got into fights would be known as the "bad guys". But it wasn't like he went around wearing a cape and tights with his underwear pulled over the tights. The freckled male watched a lot of movies and read a lot of comics.

He was sort of glad that he wasn't normal, but at the same time, he wasn't. Because he had to hide it from Jean and always had to lie to him, and Marco wasn't that great of a liar. But Jean seemed to believe him, so he couldn't really complain. That didn't stop him from feeling absolutely terrible for lying to his best friend about these kind of things, though.

The freckled male looked down at his watch after a while, only now just realizing that he had been sitting there for longer than he thought he had. Perhaps he should just go now since it seemed like Jean wasn't going to show up. 'Well...so much for spending the day together', he thought. Marco frowned as he continued to stare at his watch for a while longer before finally standing up and stretching, looking around to see if Jean was there. He couldn't see him, but he stayed for a few more minutes, really wanting to spend some time with his friend.

And it wasn't long before his best friend was running towards him, out of breath by the time he got to the bench. "Marco-!" He breathed. "I'm s-sorry, sorry I'm late, I got caught up in some business, y'know...phew!" He bent over a little to catch his breath fully.

Jean was so relieved to see Marco still there, still waiting. Marco surely put up with a lot from the man. Bless his soul.

Jean was different from Marco in many ways. Some little, and some big, and some he wasn't even aware of. Like how he was much like Marco, yet so different. He, too, was given "special gifts" that he can't share with anyone. Not even Marco. He could never explain why he was sometimes late, or often in a little bit of pain here and there. Even the occasional bruise came with a quick excuse like "I tripped down the stairs today". He was so good at lying that it became part of his personality.

So, yes, he was just like Marco, in that aspect, except Jean couldn't consider himself to be a "good guy". He had done many shameful things with his "gift". Bad things, he had even hurt people in unimaginable ways. Jean was a bad guy, but he would never let himself live with that title. He accepted that he surely wasn't using his ability for what is considered good or lawful, but never would he proudly call himself a villain as if he lived in a tacky superhero film. He loved those, oh yes. He was quite the comic and movie buff...perhaps that explained why he always found himself rooting for the villains.

He knew if Marco ever found out, he would be ashamed. Marco was like Jean's good conscious, whether he wanted it or not. Nonetheless, Marco was Jean's best friend and, while Jean had a good amount of friends, Marco was the only one he really hung out with.

"No. It's fine, Jean, I don't mind waiting. Um, did you run all the way here?"

"Huh? Nah, but the second I saw you I started runnin', in case you were about to take off. You sure you're not mad I made you wait so long? Next time I'll text you, promise." He nodded firmly.

Marco also nodded and smiled at his friend, placing his hand on his shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "I promise I'm not mad at you, Jean. Like I said, I don't mind waiting. Though...only for so long, of course. But I guess it was good that you started running because I actually was about to leave." He chuckled softly, removing his hand from the other's shoulder. Though, he was trying to figure out what exactly this "business" was. Jean never told him. And Marco always wanted to ask what it was. But, he never did, afraid that he might be prying into his personal life. And Marco really didn't want to do that.

However, every time Jean said that he had been taking care of some "business", Marco always just gave him a smile and nodded, as if knowing what this business was. And he didn't, and he really didn't want to ask him. But it was beginning to annoy him slightly. Why couldn't Jean just tell him what it was? Why did he call it "business"? It worried Marco slightly. Was it something bad? Was that reason why Jean was always showing up with cuts and bruises? He hated it when Jean kept secrets from him. But, he also hated keeping secrets from Jean.

This time, he was actually going to ask Jean what this business was. He was worried about his friend, not wanting to think that it was something bad. That it was the real reason why Jean was showing up cuts and bruises. Plus, it couldn't hurt to ask one time, right? Right. So, when they started walking, Marco just went for it and asked Jean what this "business" was.

Jean was still thinking about how Marco's touch was always so gentle and calming that he wasn't really paying attention. To anything. He loved Marco's touch. He smiled still, feeling his face heat up just a little. Though, all those feelings withered away in a snap when Marco asked the question. Jean had to force himself not to trip up or freeze in his step.

"Ah, y'know..." Fucking incredible, he couldn't think of a lie for this? A lie he had been using for so long? "Family stuff. Had to go pick up some medicine for my mom and it was a headache. The pharmacy got some stuff mixed up, you know how it is..." Okay, that wasn't so bad, and not a full lie. His mom was sick and Marco knew that because she had been that way for over a year. He felt guilty pulling that card but it was believable. It wasn't like he couldn't just use any other excuse. He didn't have a job, what he did was his job. And if he said it was personal and didn't want to talk about it, it would only make Marco more suspicious and that was dangerous.

"You should've just stayed home then. I mean, family is more important. And we could've done this another day." He murmured, giving his friend a small smile. "But, I do hope that your mother gets better."

"Marco, it's fine, trust me. It's been a while since we've done this anyway. Just the two of us hanging out."

"I know," Marco muttered. "I miss how things used to be. You know, when we were younger and we could tell each other anything. And we wouldn't leave each others side." He frowned, glancing down to his feet and letting out a small huff. It was true, they used to talk a lot before they had grown up and became more mature, but now that they were hiding a lot of stuff from each other, there really wasn't much that they could talk about. So, most of the time, they would just sit there in silence.

Jean was thinking the same. He missed how they used to be, truly. Well, this was nice, but it could be better. If he didn't have so much to hide, if things didn't change so suddenly. It was times like these he wished he could confess to Marco, and show him what he was capable of. But there was just so much that could go wrong, it was so unfair. He felt like he was drifting away from his best friend. He walked in silence for a long while, hands in his pockets, until he spoke up. "So, whatcha been up to lately? Anything exciting?"

"No, not really. What about you, have you been doing anything exciting? Have you been looking for a job?"

Jean cringed slightly, looking to Marco. "No... But I hope I can land one soon, I could really use the money." He said with a shrug, looking ahead again. "What about you, do you have a job?"

"I do, yes." The freckled male said with a smile, also looking ahead again. "At the bakery that's close to where I live. You know, the one that's actually called 'The Bakery'." He chuckled softly, looking at him. "And, Jean, if you ever need help with money, you know you can come to me. Especially since you're helping your mother."

"Ah. You know I could never trouble you with money." Jean really couldn't. Even if Marco would be willingly giving it to him, he'd still feel bad if he took it from him. But he had no problem taking it from other people when they were in high school. Jean had been the popular kid in high school. The one that was on the football team, had lots of friends, and could any girl they wanted. And he had also been a bit of a bully, though not as much as a bully as Eren Jaeger. It had been a while since the two had seen each other, and Jean still hated the little bastard.

Though, his hate had only grew in high school when he found out that Eren's sister, Mikasa, didn't return his feelings. Yep. He'd had a one-sided crush on Eren's sister. They weren't actually blood related - Mikasa had been brought into Eren's family when she was nine years old after her parents had died - but that didn't mean anything. They were still very close, and would protect each other like siblings should do. However, Jean hadn't forgotten about his little crush, but he had blamed the entire thing on his hormones.

It was the way they were. They had tried forming a weird kind of friendship at one point, but it just didn't work and they went back to hating each other. Some people were just supposed to hate each other. Like Jean and Eren. Jean snapped out of his small reverie when Marco began speaking again, glancing to his friend.

"I know, but just remember that I don't mind, and I'm always here for you if you need me."

"And I'm here for you if you need to talk. I saw that frown you had earlier. Remember, if you need to talk, you can tell me everything." Jean muttered, and Marco made a small face, rubbing the back of his head. "I know, Jean." God, he really wished he could tell him everything. But thanks to his stupid "special abilities", he couldn't. And he found himself lying more and more these days.

He hated it.

After that small conversation, it went silent again, and Marco hated that even more. And he was pretty sure that Jean hated it just as much. Actually, it was beginning to make Marco uncomfortable. He tried to think of something to talk about...and failed. So, he stayed quiet for a while longer before eventually speaking up. "You know, I was going to ask you if you'd like to paint one of my rooms with me. I mean, it's not like we're doing anything out here, and I just thought it would be better than walking in silence." He said with a small chuckle, turning to look at Jean, who just smiled at him.

"That actually does sound better. And I wouldn't mind helping you, so how about we head back to your place and start painting?"

"Alright."

Was it going to be even more awkward once they were at Marco's house? Or was it going to be fine? Hopefully things would be fine. Because Marco really didn't want things to be even more awkward between the two of them. The brunet smiled back at Jean and then started heading back to his house, Jean always at his side with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

Marco knew already that it was going to be awkward between the two once they were inside and painting the room. There wasn't really much to talk about when painting a room, and not to mention that Marco and Jean weren't talking as much lately. Things would be so much easier if he could just tell Jean everything. But, unfortunately, he couldn't. And thanks to that, they weren't as close as they used to be. 'This'll be fun', Marco thought sarcastically, looking down at the ground as they continued to walk. Thankfully, it wasn't that far away from Marco's house, and they were soon there.