all for a woman

Marcus was... embarrassed, ashamed, a little angry and slightly puzzled and now a days, he hardly ever smiled. Usually he just frowned considering most of the 86,400 seconds of the day were spent on how hung up he was that Nine hadn't shown up for his first official date.

Playing the guitar didn't seem fun anymore and the had given up in the drumming lessons. There wasn't any muse anywhere. His family had taken notice but... he avoided any type of communication to what it meant.

"So, what do you think Cleo?" He muttered to his ginger cat whom he had taken out for some air. "Think I should move on?"

Funny how certain locations seem to bring out certain responses in people. For Ninette Fontaine, it seemed, that the tranquial silence of any garden scenery seemed to be the only place where she could relax enough to admit to herself that she was hurting.

"Set me free, why don't cha babe, Get out my life, why don't cha babe,," her voice rund clear and strong as she was under the impression that no one else could hear her, "'Cause you don't really love me, You just keep me hangin' on."

As she continued to sing, pink hair dancing around in the slight brease, eyes roaming almost calculatingly, she was complete unware that he wandering feet were bringing her closer to the last person she wanted to see.

As he had stuffed his hand into a pocket searching for a couple of cat treats he had brought for Cleo, Marcus's ears perked up at the familiar singing voice. His ears concentrating slightly on the lyrics.

His ears did one thing.

His heart raced.

His mind began to formulate multiple of thoughts that he couldn't just think of one at the moment.

Marcus's whispered her name to himself, as his eyes began to search for the familiar blonde that had... he mentally shook his head. However, when his eyes found the pinked haired girl, they quickly looked away and settled upon Cleo. He didn't know what to do as he knelt down and gave the cat some of the treats.

The boy petted his cat before standing up and placing his hands back into his pockets. His eyes glanced back at the older girl but would remove them if he was caught.

For once in a very long time, he was tongue tied. Marcus wasn't sure how to act. Mean? He hardly liked being mean. Saying a simple Hello? It was worth a shot.

"Uh, hey," Marcus said, avoiding any type of eye contact with her.

Ninette froze at the voice, her lyrics dying mid sentence as her heavily made up eyes locked on the familiar blonde head.

"Look who's out and about," she finaly drawled, her voice hard to cover the pain she felt stabbing somewhere in her. "All alone - don't have you're little friend with you?"

She tilted her head, eyes pointedly looking anywhere but Marcus.

"Cam something or other."

"It is summer," Marcus replied when he shrugged and then proceeded to point at his new ginger cat with a small smile as he looked at her adoringly and picked up his cat and started to pet her. "Yep, her name's Cleo after Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator from Egypt," he informed her as he scratched the back of his cats ear. "Milly was there when I picked her..." he didn't finish the sentence when she mentioned Milly as Cam.

His eyes hardened, into a slight glare.

"Oh, you mean Milly, the girl that was there to help me out when you ditched me on our first date?" Marcus asked as he placed Cleo on the ground and the cat decided to stroll near Nine.

"She's not with me," the young boy said. "But what's it to you?"

Ninette frowned for a moment, and then looked at the cat. She couldn't help the snort of amusement that came from her, but she turned her head before he could see her lips turn upwards.

He wasn't allowed to make her smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she drawled slowly, "I meant the girl you replaced me with; didn't even bother to wait for a girl to show up before you got another one to take her place."

She shook her head.

She was done with this conversation.

"Forget it."

She moved to walk away, but unbeknownce to her, the long ties for her shirt had gotten tangled into the rose bush behind her. So when she tried to walk away, it had merely wipelashed her painfully back.

With a pride that would never be defeated, Ninette promptly went to trying to untangle herself, only to not be able to do it.

She let out a frusterated growl as her eyes narrowed.

He hadn't seen her smile but the way she snorted - even if it did sound a little gross - Marcus knew it had amused her. Sure, he didn't know her the most, like Julian and the other Angels did but it was some kind of intuition like that.

"Hey, I did wait for you," Marcus responded, the frown on his face present. "I wanted for you for forty minutes and you were the one who didn't show up. I waited for you like an idiot for a very long time, it's not my fault that she waited along with me while you ditched me."

Shoving his hand into his pockets, Marcus shook his head sadly, frown still there. Thinking about it, he realized that Nine had probably never seen him frown. But he didn't care at the moment, even he hated frowning.

"So you're going to just walk away without trying to resolve anything?" Marcus asked, his voice raising a few octaves.

Chuckling humorlessly as he walked towards the pink haired Nine, the blonde male contemplated in helping her out but decided against it.

"I'll help you out if we talk about this," he offered her with half a smile. "

"Oh, forgive me," she growled, still yanking on the tangles. Far too frusturated to allow her logic to tell her that it would work faster if she actually clamed down and untangled it rahter than just simply yanking on it, "When I come on a date, even though I'm only a few minutes late, I'm supposed to be just okay with another girl sitting at the table?"

She let her breath out sharply through her nose, her eyes narrowing at him.

"Talking doesn't solve anything," she grummbled, even though she was in fact already was talking.

"So now it means that I can't have friends?" Marcus asked, a raising an eyebrow and his voice slightly accusing, "I had made it clear to Milly that I was waiting for you and that the moment you walked into the store, that she'd be out of the table. But guess what, you never showed up!"

His right hand raised to his head, running his fingers through his blonde hair.

"Talking solves things," Marcus replied but hadn't decided to point that she already was. "Let's just get this straight because obviously, you don't want to see my face. Look, I like you no matter what you say against it and the fact that you ditched me, doesn't make me feel any better. I mean, I didn't even see you.

"Honestly, I would've felt slightly better if you would have walked on over and thrown something on my face."

"You can have friends! I just don't want to see them when-when-!" her voice was raising echoing around the area. She growled once more and began tugging at the strings againg. She tugged and pulled getting all the more frusterated as it still didn't move. Nothing ever bothered to work.

She kicked out her foot making on more huff of frustration before her shoulders sagged and her face went back to a blank look of defeat.

"I trusted you," she muttered, almost to herself, but it was so silent where they were, Marcus would have no problem hearing. "I don't let people in, and I don't... I don't trust, but I trusted you... and then I showed up, and I saw her... and it just seemed to confirm what I always knew."

She gave the string another pathetic half hearted tug.

"There's no point caring."

"When what?" He asked, "And what if one day something, I don't know, serious happened between us and then I'd like you to meet them and as of right now Milly's my only friend." Taking a step close towards her, he looked at her with a small unbelieving smile and hurt projecting through his brown eyes.

With curiosity, he listened to Nine and her words. Analyzing what she was saying.

"I'm curious to know why you trusted me and you don't trust many people," the blonde asked the older girl quietly, almost too scared to know the answer to his question. "I'm not special or amazing or anything. Why did you even trust me?

Looking away from her, Marcus mustered up a sad smile, "There's always some point in caring. It's not always easy or fun but there's always some kind of reason."

"Marcus."

She paused over the name, looking at him for a long moment, seeing the face that was familiar to her, but not now because it reminded her of her long gone friend, but because...

It reminded her of him; it was Marcus's face. It was... his idenity. And she liked it all the more for that.

But- but...

She couldn't say that. She couldn't just be that... vulnerable. When you were that vulnerable you got hurt. Ninette had learned that, leanred that more than once. She simply could not allow herself to be...

"I don't know why I trust you," she said softly, her mind hyper aware that she hadn't used the past tense... part of her still trusted him. How wrong was that? He had hurt her and yets she...

"I just..."

She swallowed and shook her head; she couldn't continue. She was like a trapped animal her. Frozen, exposed. She wanted to blot, run away.

And yet she was stuck.

So she ran away back into her mind. Shutting down all her emotions. It was what she always did.

"Can we just... either help me get out or just- just leave me alone."

He didn't point it out and even if he did, the feeling of taking a step in whatever progress the blonde boy had made with her.

Marcus sighed, frown still present and the dejected look in his eyes wouldn't falter until he'd get over... whatever this was between them.

Whether he was just another fling to her.

Or she actually liked him but was too scared.

"You know, I'm scared too," he confessed as quietly as he moved to remove her shirt ties from being tangled. "But I'm probably just some other fling."

Finally untangling her, he stepped back, mentally sighing as his mind when on a slight over drive.

"There," he muttered as his eye wandered anywhere but her. The defenseless boy shoved his hands back into his pockets, his eyes trailing towards where the absent Cleo had disappeared into the bushes.

"I guess you're going to leave now," Marcus whispered.

Ninette was silent as she watched him calmly untangle her from the bush, her eyes following the movement carefully.

"I wouldn't be scared if it was just a fling."

Her eyes were solemn as she admited this, her shoulders still sagging, her bright hair and vibrant make up which once had seemed rebelious seemed desperate as she looked at the boy with a tired face.

"Don't you want me to go? Don't you just want to be rid of me?"

"I wasn't going to be another fling, was I?" He muttered, stumbling upon a few words here and there, "Or at least, you didn't it want it to be."

Marcus bit the inside of his cheek nervously, a habit that he had grown to get used to over as the summer had progressed. It wasn't one that liked but it was one that he couldn't get rid of to save his life.

"No," he whispered but his response was assertive. "I don't want you to go but... but you seem like you wanted or at least want to get rid of me earlier. If you want to stay here, I'll go."

Of course, it was obvious that Marcus didn't want to leave. With his hands shoved into his pocket as he looked at her with a small smile, "I'd rather much stay here with you."

Ninette rolled her shoulders and smirked, a slight bit of her old ease coming back, perhaps because she was free to move should she wish - no longer trapped there - or perhaps it was just because... "If it had been just a fling, casanova, I wouldn't have let you take me for food."

"You don't have to go," she heard herself saying. "I just... its just... you can stay, and I'll try- not that promising anything, but- for a little while, it might not hurt- I suppose.."

"Well then, I guess I was just idiotic for making up things in my head, right?" Marcus answered quietly when the girl's old attitude returned. I should've left her tangled in there for a while longer, he thought to himself. "Like I'd have any change with you, huh?" He chuckled emotionless as he peered over to Nine with a small, sad smile.

Shaking his head, Marcus ran his fingers through his hair as he thought about it. "No, maybe it's time I go. I'd feel like I'm some kind of disturbance to you if I stay here." Giving another sad laugh with his on shoulder shrug, "At least, I would feel like that."

Ninette's eye brows lowered in confusion, what was the boy talking about? Had she not just been nicer to him in the last five mintues than she had been to anyone in months. She'd admited more...

She had more or less told him that he wasn't making things up in his head. And yet...

She shook her head, frusturation bubbling up in her, "Forget it. You weren't making up things but- just... forget it."

Shaking her head, she turned on her heals and went back the way she had been going before she had saw him.

"I'm sorry," he said out loud painfully, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. "I just... I'm making things more complicated than I should have."

Marcus just couldn't get it through his head on why someone that had implied that liked him, stood him up.

"I just want to understand why you did it," Marcus said as he followed behind her. "I can get over the fact that you just wanted a fling from me but just... just help me understand."

Ninette stopped walking. The boy was so-so-so-

She let out a growl, whirled around, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him towards her. Her lips crashed against his, and she was kissing him, her mouth moving against his in a passion born from rage. After a moment, she pulled away, pushing him back a little rougher than she perhaps meant to but in the end not caring.

"You weren't a fling! I didn't think you were so stupid! I did it cause you weren't supposed to be a fling! I let myself care, and I put myself out there.... and I saw that-that-" she growled, thew her hands up in the air, and turned to stalk off again.

"I was late, cause I was scared... scared of getting hurt. And when I saw you talking to her.... I was hurt. I don't like being hurt."

He was too late to react to Nine's spontaneous kiss that by the end of it, Marcus was left with being more confused than ever. However, following words kept playing in his head, as the small smile crept into his face because he hadn't been a fling and her words and reactions to it confirmed it.

"Caring isn't that bad," he piped up, the frown was long gone as it had been replaced with the smile. It felt normal for him.

Frowns were foreign to him and he didn't like them but because of summer's incidents, Marcus couldn't help himself.

"Ninette," Marcus said slowly, her full name rolling off of his tongue and lips effortlessly with his smile. He walked up to her, his hands on her harms that eventually turned into a hug, "I would never, ever intentionally try to hurt you in any way shape or form because I like you too much."

Ninette looked at him for a long lingering moment, her eyes sad, even as he was brightening.

"But even unintentionally..." she trailed off and shrugged, "I did the hurt thing once, long ago. This is just..."

She swallowed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I can't take the risk. I can't do it again."

Her gaze lingering for just a moment, she proceeded to shake her head and before the other boy could do anything, she was gone, nothing he would say or do, going to stop her.