“Matty's Y-chromosome gave him that gorgeous dick you're so fond of,"

Belle pointed out.

“True. You may have a point," Mari giggled.

“Speaking of points: I will clarify mine. Neevie's a perfect girlfriend for you: I'll give you that. But in the end, Belle's the one you're gonna marry."

Belle and I both frowned. With a sigh, I arched an eyebrow and pumped my fist in the air. "You're Team Belle all the way, aren't you?"

“You know it."

“You're biased."

Mari shrugged. "I get to be. Root for the home team and all. Isn't that why you're a 49ers fan?"

I waved her off dismissively.

“Matty and I will never get married," Belle said quietly.

THAT certainly shut Mari up. The Latina's large and luminous eyes got

REALLY big, and her jaw dropped open. But her silence only lasted a few seconds. "You've never said THAT before."

Belle sighed and shrugged.

“I love Matty; that much is true. I'LL always love him. But I can't possibly think about marrying him right now. If anything, I need to convince myself that we'll NEVER get married, otherwise I'll never be able to leave him."

“Leave him? The hell are you talking about?" Mari asked in confusion.

“Yeah... what are you talking about?" I added, equally confused.

Pursing her Lips, Belle Leaned back a bit but kept her arms around me.

She took a deep breath as she stared off into the darkness, but after exhaling slowly she brought her focus back to me and leaned in to give me a tender kiss.

“I DO Love you, please believe that," she said quietly

“I do believe it," I replied. "But your tone scares the hell out of me."

“Look, we're still young. We're still teenagers. We think we know what love is -- and I genuinely believe I know enough about it to be sure I love you -- but there's a reason why every grown-up we ever meet says that we teenagers don't know as much as we think. And at least in this regard, I know it's true."

I blinked twice and frowned, hearing her words but not understanding their meaning. "I have NO idea what you're talking about right now."

Belle sighed, pursed her lips, and gave me an apologetic Look

“Matty... you're not going to be my one and only for the rest of my life."

I promptly Let go of her, and since she'd been Leaning back against my arms, she almost fell backwards in the water but managed to catch herself.