Marco let out a shaky breath and tried to smooth out his breathing. He drew in a deep breath, ignoring the hitch and blew it out slowly. In, out, in out. Instead of helping the hitch was just becoming more pronounced. He swore fiercely, but softly, not wanting anyone to hear him.
In, out. God, why were his eyes burning? They were so dry they were burning, he blinked and rubbed them with the heel of his hands. His eyes still stung, but it was becoming more of a prickling as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.
Marco squeezed his eyes shut, trying to close them tighter against the tears, trying to squeeze them tighter still because he could feel the moisture collecting behind them. He tilted his head back and rested it against the tree, banging his fist on the rock ground that was sparsely covered by grass and leaves.
His mouth twisted and he bit back a moan of frustration as tears began to leak out from under his eyelids, no matter how tightly he tried to close them. He opened his eyes and could see the blue sky with a sprinkling of blurred cloud. He turned his head to the side and could see watery trees and bushes.
The tears continued to stream down his face, dripping onto his shirt and falling from the tip of his chin to the dirt, making splotchy damp spots.
Marco ran a hand over his face but didn't bother trying to wipe away the tears because they were replaced faster then he could dry them. He didn't know what he hated worse, the pain deep inside him, a hot molten ball of lead; or that he was giving into the pain.
Jake didn't deserve his tears, not after what he had done, yet they still came, slipping down his face, one after the other. Jake had been his best friend, he should have understood. It was likely that Marco would never see his dear friend anymore.
After what Jake said Marco didn't really want to ever talk to Jake again, but still, he'd be lucky to ever be allowed on anymore missions.
Marco had known Jake since they were in diapers and he had never, never suspected that Jake was homophobic. That Jake would turn on his best friend, that Jake would go and ruin any vestiges of their friendship by saying what he had.
Of course Jake hadn't merely said that he hated all queers and thought that Marco was better off dead, he had screamed it loud enough for his stupid cousin and girlfriend to overhear. Marco had actually been lucky in one respect, they hadn't been having a meeting, so two members of their motley little team of super hero's didn't know Marco's evil little secret yet.
They would soon no doubt, as would the rest of the school, but at least the object of Marco's ill conceived affections hadn't been there. He didn't have any of those misconceptions he had had at the beginning of the day. He had been going to share his secret with his best friend and then ask the said friend if he thought there was a chance Tobias might return the feelings.
That illusion had been shattered when Jake had exploded, screaming all kinds of names and expressions Marco didn't want to remember. No, he wasn't as naïve as he had been that morning. He didn't even imagine that Tobias might like him anymore, he was probably just like Jake and all the other bigots in the world.
Marco shook his head fiercely, tears flying from his cheeks as he tried to clear the thoughts from his mind. He just wanted to forget, suck it up and quit crying and go home.
Hell, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go home anymore. His father would undoubtedly hear about it, and he and his little wife would probably turn their noses up while trying not to completely crush his feelings because they had that obligation as his parents.
Marco's entire body tensed as a stick snapped, from just behind his tree. He closed his eyes again as someone knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Marco," she said the word seeming to drag out as she trailed off unsure of what to say.
"Go away," he said in a tight voice that only quavered a little boy. "This is really breaking the guy's code Cassie, you can't see me cry." Cassie frowned and squeezed his shoulder, ignoring the stupid joke.
"I'm not going to go away Marco. You're hurt and I want you to know I'm here for you."
"Thanks but no thanks Cassie, I don't need your sympathy. You better watch it, you might catch my gayness, and Jake wouldn't like that very much." He voice cracked a few times and he scowled.
"What Jake said was wrong, and I'm surprised that he was stupid enough to think like that let alone say it to you."
"It was a shock to me too," he spit out, grimacing. He opened his eyes and looked over Cassie's shoulder, avoiding her pitying eyes.
"Marco, I know it hurts when ever you hear someone say things like that," Cassie told him, her own voice thick with tears. Especially someone close to you that you love and trust. Rachel's back there yelling at him right now. He had no right to say those things, even if he does believe them. But I am telling you they aren't true."
Cassie studied Marco's face intently, glad to see that the tears were starting to dry on his cheeks and though his eyes still looked wet they were no longer leaking fat teardrops.
"Whatever Cassie. Thanks for the pep talk and all. You should get back to your boyfriend before he worries I'm doing something to you."
"He's not my boyfriend," Cassie said sounding offended. "Do you really think I could be with some one that narrow minded? Besides I'm sure my girlfriend's keeping him occupied at the moment."
"Yeah what's she doing, yelling at him? Big whoop, did you say girlfriend," he asked startled.
"Yes, I did. I stayed long enough to make Rach promise not to kill him but I had to pry her off him first. She didn't like what he said to you any more then I did."
"I hope she gives him a black eye for me," Marco said with a shaky laugh. "I bet Jake wasn't expecting that, half his little team being gay. Ah the divided super hero's, three gays, three straights. Or at least Ax is probably as straight as you can get for an Andalite."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that Marco. I think its more of four to two."
"Huh?"
"Marco, you can always talk to me, ok, or Rachael. We both know what you're going through, and maybe we can help, and yes I know it's against your guy code, but well, sometimes it helps just knowing someone's there."
"Thanks Cassie," Marco said with some sincerity. She was right after all, his heart did feel a little lighter with the simple knowledge that he wasn't the only one. That Cassie and Rachel weren't going to turn on him like Jake had. "What did you mean by four to two?"
"It doesn't matter right now. Do you want to come back with me?"
"Not really."
"At least walk with me part of the way, I wont make you see that homophobic jerk if you don't want to."
"No thanks Cassie, don't worry, I'll head home soon."
"Ok." Cassie hugged Marco, startling him before leaving. He didn't look but he was fairly sure she morphed to get back to where she had left Rachel and Jake.
Marco sighed and leaned heavily against his tree, scrubbing the sticky, half-dried tears from his face. He sat there for a minute trying to figure out what she had meant, and was surprised to hear someone else walking towards him. At first he thought that it was Just Cassie coming back, but when he twisted around to see he was startled to see Tobias, in human morph approaching him.
"Marco?" Tobias called out, sounding a little uncertain. "I know you're out here, Cassie told me you were."
"What else did she say?" Marco asked staring ahead of him stonily, ignoring Tobias as best he could while the other boy stood next to him.
"Nothing, but when me and Ax pulled Rachel off Jake she told us what happened. And I just wanted you to know I'm cool with it."
"That's big of you. You came to find me to tell me that? Thanks for dropping by, you can go on your way now."
"Why are you always so rude when you're hurt. Can't you accept the fact that maybe we're concerned about you, that maybe someone could possibly care about you and want to help you out?"
"Of course not, why would anyone care about me?" Marco snapped glaring up at Tobias. Tobias felt a stab of pain slice through his heart when he saw Marco's tear stained face. He dropped to his heals and stared at Marco for a minute.
Marco broke his gaze away from Tobias' and turned his face as far away from Tobias as he could manage without hurting himself and was surprised to feel more tears well up in his eyes. He made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat.
"Marco, I came out here because I wanted to tell you, that, well, I like you. Cassie knew, we'd talked about it a few times and she suggested that I come talk to you now. And now that I know there the slightest chance of you liking me back," Tobias trailed off, unsure of how to phrase the next part of what he wanted to say.
"Tobias," Marco said, his voice had a slight shake to it but Marco ignored it, swallowing deeply. "I do, how could I not like you?"
Tobias reached out and cupped his hand under Marco's chin, making Marco's gaze meet his own.
"Will you go out with me?"
"Yeah," Marco said with a small laugh
"Why are you crying? God, it hurts to watch you cry, to see you in pain."
"I don't know," Marco all but whispered. Tobias lifted his hand from Marco's chin and gently stroked his cheek, drying a few of the tears. Marco unconsciously leaned his face into Tobias' warm hand, a shuddering sigh escaping him.
"If any one asks we can just say their tears of happiness," Tobias decided. Then he slowly leaned forward, pressing his lips against Marco's.
Marco couldn't believe how soft and gentle Tobias' lips were, it was nothing like how he had imagined. Tobias licked Marco's lips and tasted the salt of Marco's tears before Marco opened his mouth, inviting Tobias' tongue.
Their tongues danced, caressing as they kissed each other deeply, passionately, forgetting the world and people like Jake. They broke the kiss but still didn't emerge from their dream like world, and Tobias wrapped his arms around Marco, holding him tightly.
Two boys embraced each other tightly, forgetting every pain and nuisance of the real world. Forgetting that within a week they would once again be participating in a battle to save the world and time its self seemed to fade away,
In, out. God, why were his eyes burning? They were so dry they were burning, he blinked and rubbed them with the heel of his hands. His eyes still stung, but it was becoming more of a prickling as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.
Marco squeezed his eyes shut, trying to close them tighter against the tears, trying to squeeze them tighter still because he could feel the moisture collecting behind them. He tilted his head back and rested it against the tree, banging his fist on the rock ground that was sparsely covered by grass and leaves.
His mouth twisted and he bit back a moan of frustration as tears began to leak out from under his eyelids, no matter how tightly he tried to close them. He opened his eyes and could see the blue sky with a sprinkling of blurred cloud. He turned his head to the side and could see watery trees and bushes.
The tears continued to stream down his face, dripping onto his shirt and falling from the tip of his chin to the dirt, making splotchy damp spots.
Marco ran a hand over his face but didn't bother trying to wipe away the tears because they were replaced faster then he could dry them. He didn't know what he hated worse, the pain deep inside him, a hot molten ball of lead; or that he was giving into the pain.
Jake didn't deserve his tears, not after what he had done, yet they still came, slipping down his face, one after the other. Jake had been his best friend, he should have understood. It was likely that Marco would never see his dear friend anymore.
After what Jake said Marco didn't really want to ever talk to Jake again, but still, he'd be lucky to ever be allowed on anymore missions.
Marco had known Jake since they were in diapers and he had never, never suspected that Jake was homophobic. That Jake would turn on his best friend, that Jake would go and ruin any vestiges of their friendship by saying what he had.
Of course Jake hadn't merely said that he hated all queers and thought that Marco was better off dead, he had screamed it loud enough for his stupid cousin and girlfriend to overhear. Marco had actually been lucky in one respect, they hadn't been having a meeting, so two members of their motley little team of super hero's didn't know Marco's evil little secret yet.
They would soon no doubt, as would the rest of the school, but at least the object of Marco's ill conceived affections hadn't been there. He didn't have any of those misconceptions he had had at the beginning of the day. He had been going to share his secret with his best friend and then ask the said friend if he thought there was a chance Tobias might return the feelings.
That illusion had been shattered when Jake had exploded, screaming all kinds of names and expressions Marco didn't want to remember. No, he wasn't as naïve as he had been that morning. He didn't even imagine that Tobias might like him anymore, he was probably just like Jake and all the other bigots in the world.
Marco shook his head fiercely, tears flying from his cheeks as he tried to clear the thoughts from his mind. He just wanted to forget, suck it up and quit crying and go home.
Hell, he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go home anymore. His father would undoubtedly hear about it, and he and his little wife would probably turn their noses up while trying not to completely crush his feelings because they had that obligation as his parents.
Marco's entire body tensed as a stick snapped, from just behind his tree. He closed his eyes again as someone knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Marco," she said the word seeming to drag out as she trailed off unsure of what to say.
"Go away," he said in a tight voice that only quavered a little boy. "This is really breaking the guy's code Cassie, you can't see me cry." Cassie frowned and squeezed his shoulder, ignoring the stupid joke.
"I'm not going to go away Marco. You're hurt and I want you to know I'm here for you."
"Thanks but no thanks Cassie, I don't need your sympathy. You better watch it, you might catch my gayness, and Jake wouldn't like that very much." He voice cracked a few times and he scowled.
"What Jake said was wrong, and I'm surprised that he was stupid enough to think like that let alone say it to you."
"It was a shock to me too," he spit out, grimacing. He opened his eyes and looked over Cassie's shoulder, avoiding her pitying eyes.
"Marco, I know it hurts when ever you hear someone say things like that," Cassie told him, her own voice thick with tears. Especially someone close to you that you love and trust. Rachel's back there yelling at him right now. He had no right to say those things, even if he does believe them. But I am telling you they aren't true."
Cassie studied Marco's face intently, glad to see that the tears were starting to dry on his cheeks and though his eyes still looked wet they were no longer leaking fat teardrops.
"Whatever Cassie. Thanks for the pep talk and all. You should get back to your boyfriend before he worries I'm doing something to you."
"He's not my boyfriend," Cassie said sounding offended. "Do you really think I could be with some one that narrow minded? Besides I'm sure my girlfriend's keeping him occupied at the moment."
"Yeah what's she doing, yelling at him? Big whoop, did you say girlfriend," he asked startled.
"Yes, I did. I stayed long enough to make Rach promise not to kill him but I had to pry her off him first. She didn't like what he said to you any more then I did."
"I hope she gives him a black eye for me," Marco said with a shaky laugh. "I bet Jake wasn't expecting that, half his little team being gay. Ah the divided super hero's, three gays, three straights. Or at least Ax is probably as straight as you can get for an Andalite."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that Marco. I think its more of four to two."
"Huh?"
"Marco, you can always talk to me, ok, or Rachael. We both know what you're going through, and maybe we can help, and yes I know it's against your guy code, but well, sometimes it helps just knowing someone's there."
"Thanks Cassie," Marco said with some sincerity. She was right after all, his heart did feel a little lighter with the simple knowledge that he wasn't the only one. That Cassie and Rachel weren't going to turn on him like Jake had. "What did you mean by four to two?"
"It doesn't matter right now. Do you want to come back with me?"
"Not really."
"At least walk with me part of the way, I wont make you see that homophobic jerk if you don't want to."
"No thanks Cassie, don't worry, I'll head home soon."
"Ok." Cassie hugged Marco, startling him before leaving. He didn't look but he was fairly sure she morphed to get back to where she had left Rachel and Jake.
Marco sighed and leaned heavily against his tree, scrubbing the sticky, half-dried tears from his face. He sat there for a minute trying to figure out what she had meant, and was surprised to hear someone else walking towards him. At first he thought that it was Just Cassie coming back, but when he twisted around to see he was startled to see Tobias, in human morph approaching him.
"Marco?" Tobias called out, sounding a little uncertain. "I know you're out here, Cassie told me you were."
"What else did she say?" Marco asked staring ahead of him stonily, ignoring Tobias as best he could while the other boy stood next to him.
"Nothing, but when me and Ax pulled Rachel off Jake she told us what happened. And I just wanted you to know I'm cool with it."
"That's big of you. You came to find me to tell me that? Thanks for dropping by, you can go on your way now."
"Why are you always so rude when you're hurt. Can't you accept the fact that maybe we're concerned about you, that maybe someone could possibly care about you and want to help you out?"
"Of course not, why would anyone care about me?" Marco snapped glaring up at Tobias. Tobias felt a stab of pain slice through his heart when he saw Marco's tear stained face. He dropped to his heals and stared at Marco for a minute.
Marco broke his gaze away from Tobias' and turned his face as far away from Tobias as he could manage without hurting himself and was surprised to feel more tears well up in his eyes. He made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat.
"Marco, I came out here because I wanted to tell you, that, well, I like you. Cassie knew, we'd talked about it a few times and she suggested that I come talk to you now. And now that I know there the slightest chance of you liking me back," Tobias trailed off, unsure of how to phrase the next part of what he wanted to say.
"Tobias," Marco said, his voice had a slight shake to it but Marco ignored it, swallowing deeply. "I do, how could I not like you?"
Tobias reached out and cupped his hand under Marco's chin, making Marco's gaze meet his own.
"Will you go out with me?"
"Yeah," Marco said with a small laugh
"Why are you crying? God, it hurts to watch you cry, to see you in pain."
"I don't know," Marco all but whispered. Tobias lifted his hand from Marco's chin and gently stroked his cheek, drying a few of the tears. Marco unconsciously leaned his face into Tobias' warm hand, a shuddering sigh escaping him.
"If any one asks we can just say their tears of happiness," Tobias decided. Then he slowly leaned forward, pressing his lips against Marco's.
Marco couldn't believe how soft and gentle Tobias' lips were, it was nothing like how he had imagined. Tobias licked Marco's lips and tasted the salt of Marco's tears before Marco opened his mouth, inviting Tobias' tongue.
Their tongues danced, caressing as they kissed each other deeply, passionately, forgetting the world and people like Jake. They broke the kiss but still didn't emerge from their dream like world, and Tobias wrapped his arms around Marco, holding him tightly.
Two boys embraced each other tightly, forgetting every pain and nuisance of the real world. Forgetting that within a week they would once again be participating in a battle to save the world and time its self seemed to fade away,