Heart Shed

Chapter One

Marco's POV

So begins the story of my new life, a life without Dylan. I know, I know, I've tried this before and it didn't work, but this time, I'm certain, I can survive without Dylan. I've moved out of his house and I have an apartment of my own. Okay, so it's not exactly my own seeing as I share it with Ellie, my best friend ever, but at least it's a home that's not with my family and that's not with Dylan. I need this, it will be good for me, especially after Dylan went and broke my heart again, even worse than he did before. However, unlike before, I will not let him get the chance to come back into my life. Ellie and I have taken an apartment, can you believe this, in New York City! That's right, we live in the United States now, both of us fresh out of college and in the working world. Ellie got a job as a reporter for the New York Chronicle and me, well I'm not really sure you want to know that. Anyway, you're probably wondering how I planned on making sure Dylan doesn't get the chance to come back into my life once again. Well, that's simple, he has no idea that Ellie and I now live in New York; in fact he has no idea where I am at all. All he knows is that while he was off doing his hockey thing, I packed up all my stuff and left with not so much as a good-bye note. I was so hurt with what he had done I didn't tell him anything, not even good-bye.

Okay, so now you're probably wondering how Ellie and I ended up living together in New York, one of the most expensive places in the US. Well, allow me to tell you. You see, one night, before Dylan broke my heart for the billionth time, Ellie came home with the exciting news that she had gotten a job with a major paper in New York City. I was happy for her because she is my best friend but I was also sad because she would be moving so far away from me and it wouldn't be like it always was. Sure, I would be able to call her on the phone and write letters and maybe even see her once in a while but it wouldn't be the same. Then, just a day before Ellie was supposed to leave for New York, I walked in on Dylan, in our bed, with another guy, and not just any other guy, a guy I remembered well from my last year at Degrassi; it was Tim. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I stormed out of the house and didn't come home all night, ignoring my phone everytime it rang and I saw that it was Dylan. Ellie hadn't been at home at the time and so I called her as soon as I was out the front door; she agreed to meet me at The Dot where we had some coffee and I told her what had happened. That's when she asked if I wanted to move with her to New York. I told her I couldn't do that because I would be invading on her life and she just said that I wouldn't and that I was her best friend and if it helped, she was willing to do it, as long as I agreed to pay half the rent and utilities. So, after a few moments of thinking, I told her that I would like that very much. So now, here we are, in a high class, two bedroom, penthouse apartment in New York City the big apple. I hate to brag and all but thanks to Ellie's offer, my life has never been better and I gotta remember to repay her for it someday.

"Marco? Earth to Marco! Come in Marco!" I snapped out of my daze and back into reality. Ellie and I were sitting at a cafe in the middle of Times Square. We had been discussing her latest project for the paper and I guess I just kind of drifted off into thought about what Dylan had done and why we were here for about the millionth time since it happened. But that was almost eight months ago now and I knew I shouldn't still be thinking about it but I couldn't help it. Regardless of all that he had put me through, I still cared about Dylan but I knew I was definitely ready to move on. I shook my head and looked back at Ellie.

"Sorry Ellie, what were you saying?" She sighed and rolled her eyes but she wore a smile on her face.

"Marco, are you still thinking about the incident with Dylan and Tim?" she asked. I pretended not to hear her and looked down at my hands, thinking suddenly to myself that they were awfully dirty. "Marco, don't try to ignore the question."

"I'm sorry Ellie, I know I said I was ready to move on and I am but it still hurts. I can't believe Dylan would do that again, let alone with Tim of all people."

"You don't have to apologize Marco, I know this is hard on you but I also know that you are strong and I believe that you can get over this." She put some money on the table and got up, grabbing her bag from where it sat on the ground by her chair. I followed her and got up so fast I knocked my chair over. Ellie laughed as she swung her bag over her shoulder. "Come on, I have the day off today, so let's go have some fun." I looked at her with a confused expression. "Don't give me that look. I know this is not like me but I'm going to take you shopping and buy you anything you want. That should cheer you up. After all, you do love shopping, don't you?" A wide smile spread across my face and I draped my arm around her.

"That's what I love about you Ellie, you always know how to make my day." She smiled and the two of us set off together for one of the biggest shopping malls in all of New York City. Okay, it wasn't exactly a shopping mall, it was only the famous, Macy's department store that they have the Thanksgiving Day parade at every year but as big as it is, it might as well be a mall.

Ellie's POV

And so we entered Macy's department store for what seemed like the hundredth time since we had been in New York. I couldn't believe Marco and I had been living here for almost eight months now, that's three quarters of a year. Of course by now, everything around us had become quite familiar and it was getting easier and easier every day to find our way around. I was starting to feel like this was home and the best thing about it, Marco was here with me. I would never tell him this, but secretly, I'm glad Dylan hurt him again, I don't think I ever would've been able to do this on my own. If I had tried, I probably would've wound up moving back to Canada and taking a job at a small paper there, where life could never be more normal and boring. Living in New York City had been a blast and it was so easy to deal with because of Marco, he had always been my reason for going through with anything; he always gave me that extra push that I needed, and he had been there when things blew over with Jesse. That had really put me in a spin, first Craig, who was and perhaps still is, the only person I ever really loved, and then Jesse who I found out in the end, was just using me. God, could my relationships get any worse? Speaking of relationships, neither me or Marco had tried to find one since we had moved here. I decided it was best to devote my time to my job and Marco just wasn't ready to make dating part of his life again yet. I guess now, nearly eight months later, he's still not ready and my work is just too important to me to let a boyfriend take any of my time.

"Ellie?" Marco asked suddenly. I looked up at him. "I'm gonna go up to the fifth floor to look at something for a bit, do you mind?" Although I was a little suspicious about what he was doing, I shook my head. "Thanks, I'll call you when I'm ready to join up again." I nodded and watched him head off for the elevator. I had known Marco for several years now and he was still full of surprises. Seeing as I was now on my own, I went of to go look at some curtains for the living room windows. I wasn't much for decorating but I was tired of seeing how plain they looked all the time so I finally decided to do something about it. Besides, Marco was good with decorating, I'm sure he would be very happy to finally have some curtains for that window.

I was looking at some silk curtains that were a deep royal blue color when I heard a sudden voice from behind me. "Ellie?" it said, "Is that really you?" I spun around to see who had spoken and my mouth dropped open. There he was, Craig Manning, the first man who had ever held my heart. I had no idea what he was doing in New York. Although he looked quite a bit different, his hair had grown out, down to his shoulders, and he had a slight goatee, I had no trouble recognizing those eyes of his and I knew immediately who he was.

"Craig," I said in a laughlike voice, "What are you doing here?"

"The band and I are on a US tour. We have some time now to do a little sight-seeing. I should ask the same thing of you. I never expected to see you in New York, especially not after you told me you didn't want to have anything to do with me again. I don't blame you, I got pretty heavy into that whole cocaine business, I'm a really sorry but I'm a clean man now Ellie, I really am."

"I'm sure you are Craig but it's not going to change anything between you and me. It's over and I have moved on. It's time you did too." I turned and started to walk away but then stopped and looked at him again. "As to what I'm doing in New York, I live here now. I got a job with the Chronicle." Without another word, I turned on my heel and walked off again, leaving him staring after me.

"Ellie!" he called, "Ellie, wait!" I didn't listen, I just kept on walking. I knew he was running after me so I was relieved when I heard my cell phone ring. I picked it up and was grateful to have someone else to talk to.

"Hello?"

"Ellie, where are you? I'm ready to join back up?"

"I'm in the linen department, did you find what you were looking for Marco?"

Craig's POV

Had Ellie just said "Marco"? Was Marco really here in New York with her? I couldn't even believe that Ellie was in New York. On top of that, I couldn't believe that she was actually living here! It had been a few years, I don't know how many, I lost count, since we had last seen each other and I thought surely she would at least want to be friends but after all this time, she was still angry at me for the whole cocaine thing and she blew me off just as easily as if I had been a fly on her shoulder. I didn't move toward her anymore, I just stood there and watched. She was now standing by the elevator, waiting with her arms folded across her chest. Sure enough, the elevator opened and Marco Del Rossi stepped out of it. He threw his arm around her as I remember he so often did and the two of them set off together, discussing something, I didn't know what. However, I was almost certain she was telling him about running into me and he was probably very surprised. I don't blame him, I mean, what are the chances of you running into the biggest love of your life in the biggest department store in New York after you hadn't seen each other in who knows how many years.

The worse thing about the whole thing was not the fact that she had blown me off again, but rather the fact that she looked at me with a disgusted look on her face and I got the impression that she was repulsed by my appearance. I mean, okay, so I'm not exactly all that clean cut anymore but I don't do drugs. . .anymore, and I don't drink. In fact, I don't do anything wrong now. It's just that I am so busy with my band and the tour that I've hardly had time to take care of myself lately. So what, my hair is long and I have a goatee, not to mention my clothes aren't exactly clean but isn't it what's on the inside that matters? I mean, come on now, what do I have to do to get Ellie to forgive me? Was she really done with me? Did I really just have to move on? I didn't know but one thing was clear, I wasn't about to give up on Ellie that easily, not at all.

Marco's POV

So, Ellie had run into Craig, that was definitely the last thing I had expected to happen while we were living in New York. The funny thing was, she didn't seem bothered by it and it was that simple fact that told me that she was ready to leave Craig behind and Jesse too for that matter, and move on, find someone new and start over again. It was then I realized that it was time for me to do that too. After all, it had been almost eight months since I had left Dylan and he hadn't once tried to come looking for me. He couldn't call me either because I had changed my cell phone number, giving the new number only to those I thought were important so he had no way to get ahold of me. There was always e-mail but strangely enough, he hadn't bothered to try that. Hmmm, maybe it wasn't so strange, he was a blonde after all. Dylan had never been very bright in my mind but that was one of the reasons why I loved him so much, it gave me a reason to help him out. Sure he was smart when it came to school but real life, always seemed to have him confused. I may be ready to move on now but I still wonder how he's doing and where his life has taken him. As much as I hate him for what he had done, I still hope he's okay.

"What are you going to do about Craig?" I asked Ellie after several moments of silence.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do about Craig, absolutely nothing." I raised my eyebrows.

"You sure about that now?" She laughed.

"Oh Marco, as much as I still like Craig, as much as I still love him, I'm ready to leave my high school sweetheart behind and find my true love." It was my turn to laugh. I had never heard Ellie talk so ridiculously before. "No, I'm just kidding but I am ready to move on from Craig and see what other fish there are in the sea. Hey, we're in New York and this is definitely a hot spot! I bet both of us can easily find men here, there are so many people around."

"Gee thanks Ellie but I'm still not sure I'm ready to move on yet. My heart is still trying to mend itself from what Dylan did." Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at me.

"That's just the point Marco, your heart is still trying to mend because you won't let it. Look, I'll make you a deal. You go out on one date, just one and if you don't find that it makes you happy to be out there trying to find someone who will take your heart and treat it with all the tenderness it deserves, than I won't pester you about anymore and I'll let you do things on your own time. Do we have a deal?" I looked at her for a moment and something in my mind said to give it a try.

"Well, hey, why not, it could never hurt to try, right?" I responded. "Deal.""Good. We can start by finding you something eyecatching to wear tonight. We're going to go out for a night on the town and if you want to catch a guy's eye, you have to be able to take their breath away. Come on, I'm going to make sure you're so breath-taking, you won't even be able to catch your own breath at the sight of your appearance." Although I trusted Ellie with everything I had, I couldn't help but to feel nervous about what she planned on doing. Ellie wasn't exactly the go to girl for fashion tips, that was more Paige's thing. Oh Paige, good old Paige, I wondered what she was up to right at that very moment.