On my block: Monse and Cesar

Chapter 10 part 3

Monse pulls away slowly and they both smile. "Are you kidding me?" Olivia laughs before she pulls them both away. "I asked you if something was going on with you guys for a reason." She tells them. "I didn't wanna ruin your day." Cesar defends his actions. "How long?" Olivia asks but she doesn't sound mad. "Like a week." Monse admits. "But it started before I got here." She smiles. "Wait, you're not mad?" Cesar asks. "How dumb do you guys think I am?" She crosses her arms. "We tried to end it before it even started." Monse says. "I've seen you guys together. Whatever you had before I came here, it never ended." Olivia says. "Can you please be mad so I don't keep feeling so guilty?" Cesar laughs. "Life's too short. Be together. I just wish you kiss him in front of everyone before we even broke up." Olivia hugs Monse before she walks away. "That was... weird." Cesar says. They both look over and see Olivia hold Ruby's hand and she leads him back into the house. "Wait, you don't think." Monse looks at Cesar. "Maybe I wasn't the only one who liked someone else." He says. "So what now?" She asks. "That's up to you." Cesar kisses her cheek and walks away. He leaves Monse with a million thoughts. "Life's too short." She mumbles. "Come on. We're dancing." Monse grabs Cesar's hand. "Really?" He laughs and she just smiles. "Ok, let's dance." Cesar says. "We aren't hiding for once. Does it feel weird to you?" She asks. "No, it feels good." He smiles. "Why does it feel like people are staring at us?" Monse asks. "Because you kissed me in front of everyone and now we're slow dancing like nothing happened." He says and Monse looks nervous. "Hey, we can take this as slow as you want. No one needs to know about us yet." Cesar tells her. "I'm tired of hiding, Cesar." Monse says. "Then don't." He tells her. They both lean in slowly even though they can hear all the chismosa old ladies talking about them. It's a slow kiss that could last forever and both of them would be happy. Monse let's herself relax and enjoy it instead of worrying about other people. "Maybe we should go somewhere else." Cesar says against her lips. "No." Monse shakes her head. He looks over at a group of people who are obviously talking about them and then looks back at Monse. "I know but right now, I couldn't care less." She kisses him again. "Can I talk to you two for a second?" Geny asks but it's obviously not optional. They follow her in the kitchen and she crosses her arms. "Talk." She tells them. "Olivia dumped me." Cesar explains. "When? bI saw you two on my couch kissing a few days ago." Geny points out. "It's only been a few minutes." Monse says, honestly. "I understand you two are young and relationships are no big deal. To all the abuelitas standing outside watching you, basically have sex, it's a big deal." She explains to them. "We were just kissing." Cesar shrugs. "And that's fine. Just keep it away from them so that I don't have to hear about all night." She walks away. "So I guess we're back to hiding." Monse tells Cesar. "Just for tonight." He holds her hand. "It feels kinda pointless after everyone already saw us." She says. "Yeah, maybe if you didn't always jump on me they wouldn't know." He smiles. "I've never 'jumped' on you." Monse says. "Pretty sure you're the one who kissed me first." Cesar narrows his eyes. "You told me to stop hiding!" She points out. "I don't just mean tonight. Remember the first time we kissed?" He asks.
*** Beginning of Summer Freshman Year***
"Maybe I should just stay back." Monse says while they walk towards her house. "No way, you deserve to be there. They need you." Cesar nudges her. "Need is a strong word." She shrugs. "Speaking of needing something." Cesar steps in front of Monse. "I want to tell you something before you go." He says seriously. "Is everything ok?" She looks at him, worried. "I guess we'll find out after I tell you." Cesar says. "Well spill! You're making me nervous." Monse sucks her lip. "I like you, Monse." He says quickly and she doesn't say anything. "If you don't feel the same way I get it. We drop it and just go back to normal. I just thought-" Monse starts leaning in and he stops talking.
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"Ok I kissed you first but only 'cause you wouldn't stop talking long enough to let me say I liked you too." Monse tells him. "Admit it. You're always the instigator." He laughs. "Give me one more example." She says. "When you first got back from camp." Cesar doesn't even need to think about it. They see ruby and Olivia walk out of her room and they share a look. "Do we wanna know what just happened in there?" Monse asks. "Some of us don't sleep together anytime we leave the room." Ruby snaps back. "What's that supposed to mean?" She crosses her arms. "It means we should go dance." Olivia says. The guys walk ahead but Monse pulls her back. "What'd you tell Ruby?" She asks Olivia. "He wanted to know why I broke up with Cesar out of nowhere." Olivia explains. "So you told him what happened?!" Monse starts to spiral. "I thought you guys were gonna be open!" Olivia defends herself. "He's gonna hate me." She says. "Hurry up or we're dancing together!" Cesar laughs when he walk back in. "Going." The girls say at the same time. "Let's go enjoy my birthday. I honestly don't think anything can ruin it." Olivia whispers. "Second dance in front of people. This has to be some kind of record for you." Cesar says. "Don't push it." Monse laughs. "All that matters is I can finally be with you... the right way." He kisses her.