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Bellemere excused herself from the girls she usually hung out with after school, the rehearsed lie about a headache coming easily, and they walked on after brief goodbyes. Alone on the block, Bellemere grinned and turned to the alley. “You’re awful at being sneaky, you know that?” she announced to the lanky teen crouched behind a dumpster.
“Come on, I did better that time.” Rocinante Donquixote unfolded himself and gingerly stepped around the large green bin. “When did you catch me?”
“Two blocks after we left school.” Bellemere caught his hand, and twined their fingers together. The paler teen blushed, and she tugged him gently across the street. “You knocked over a garbage can with a cat inside. It’s a miracle Catalina didn’t want to go check it out.”
His pale face was very much pink, and Bellemere opted to cut through the alleys towards the river rather than risk somebody glimpsing them on the street. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered.” she laughed, messenger bag brushing Rocinante’s leg as they walked.
“You’re the one who’s always going on about how much trouble you’d be in if your dad found out.”
“You say the same stuff about your brother, you know.”
“Well, your dad has the power to toss Doffy in jail, so excuse me for exercising restraint.”
Bellemere grinned, and pulled Rocinante into the dead-end offshoot of the alley. It used to open up onto the street before the shops on either side expanded, but the plus side was nobody could see them unless they were looking. “Restraint?” she lifted her other hand and traced the edge of one backpack strap on Rocinante’s shoulder. “And what would you do if nobody could catch us?”
“Te besaría.” the gangly blonde replied immediately. “God, I’d kiss you so much.”
“It has been a while, hasn’t it.” Bellemere moved her hand to the back of his neck. “Think you’re out of practice yet?”
“Is that permission?”
“Besame.” she breathed, and pulled him down. He tasted like cigarette smoke and bubblegum, and his ever-clumsy hands entangled themselves oh so slowly in her hair so as not to hurt her by accident. They didn’t part until she was lightheaded, and his breathing was ragged, and even then their faces remained close, her hands on his neck and his in her hair, their foreheads resting together despite the awkward way he had to stoop to accomplish that.
“I could get used to more of that.” Bellemere chuckled, quiet and breathy. “If only my dad would take that stick out of his ass.”
“If only.” Rocinante agreed, pressing a gentle kiss to her nose. “Did you want to get to the river, or just stay here and kiss some more?”
“River.” she said after a moment, rocking up on her toes to give Rocinante a peck on the cheek. “This alley stinks.”
“You’re the one who dragged us down here.” the blond laughed, and Bellemere glowed a little at the sound. She’d never heard him laugh like that around anyone else. Hell, during school it was hard to pry more than four words at a time out of him. But when they were alone together, Rocinante was a completely different person. Open and kind and close to being a downright chatterbox.
“Did you catch last night’s episode?” he untangled his hands from her hair, and she wondered for the billionth time if she should just hack it short with scissors and damn the consequences.
“Too much homework, and dad filled up the recording schedule with procedurals so I have to wait for a rerun.” she groaned.
“I can describe it for you, if you want.” Rocinante said quickly, and she couldn’t help but mirror his childlike grin.
“Sure. But I want all the gory details.”
“Okay, so it starts with a car crash.” Rocinante began, and she tucked her hands in her hoodie pockets as they walked. Watching her secret sorta-boyfriend talk was almost as interesting as watching the show he was currently detailing. He flung his arms around in massive gestures, and the expressions which crossed his face were so animated she sometimes forgot to listen to his words. Not this time though, especially as he started waxing poetic about the various operations the cast of doctors had been forced to perform to save the little girl who survived the car crash.
They reached the river before he’d finished, and Bellemere grabbed Rocinante’s hood so he wouldn’t fall down the slope while describing the girl’s reaction to waking up after three days in and out of surgery to find herself an orphan.
“Well, damn.” Bellemere carefully picked her way along the bank, steadying Rocinante until they reached the pair of overturned milk crates which served as seats. “I’m gonna have to catch a rerun sooner than later. That sounds awesome!”
“It is.” the blonde grinned, sitting heavily on his crate. It pitched backwards, throwing him down onto the ground, and she laughed.
“How are you so clumsy?”
“I was cursed.” the blond deadpanned, picking himself up and righting the milk crate so it sat upside down on the filthy concrete slab which had maybe once been meant to be part of a bike path or something.
Bellemere laughed some more, and leaned cautiously against him until he until began to lean back. “Cursed with clumsiness and shyness.”
“And blessed with the best girlfriend in the world.” Rocinante pressed a kiss to her cheek, and she held his hand tight. Just another year and a half and they could leave this town, go to college somewhere far away, travel the world and be happy together.
“I love you.” she said quietly, her words almost lost in the quiet sound of the river.
Rocinante’s face lit up, and he squeezed her hand back. “Yo también!” he flushed immediately after, and Bellemere laughed.
“It’s so cute when you do that.” she leaned her head on his shoulder, and could practically feel his racing heartbeat.
“Te amo, te quiero.” he spoke softer this time. “Eres mi tesoro, mi corazón.”
Bellemere was nowhere near as fluent in Spanish as Rocinante was, still learning bits and pieces from her boyfriend, but adoration sounded the same in every language. She blushed, and released his hand to hug him tight. “Once we graduate, let’s leave this town and never look back.”
It was strange, to finally speak the words which had been bouncing around her head for so long, but Rocinante nodded once and pulled away from her. “Si.” he looked down, and took both her hands in his. “But only if I can be sure my brother has somebody to take care of him.”
Bellemere nearly spat that nobody should ever care for that asshole, but held her tongue. Doflamingo was Roci’s brother before anything else, and the day Rocinante stopped loving his family was they day he died.
“We’ve got a while.” she curled her fingers into his, and when he lifted his head she met his gaze evenly. “But let’s promise now. No matter what, we’ll leave this place before we turn thirty.”
“And when we leave, we'll never look back.” Rocinante agreed, returning her grip gently.