Well, a new chapter for all you fans out there. This one's quite a lot bigger than I expected, a whopping 3.947.
I just hope you don't think it too stretched out, or too boring.
If you think it's a bit distant, you could be right. I've never really been good at inserting emotions into a story, and I have the feeling I'm watching my english a little too much at the moment.
I really want to thank the reveiwers do far. Kate, Luvluvand of course crashetburn, love ya! You made me write this new chapter .
Crashetburn: I didn't really understand that review. Would u mind elaborating it a bit, because I honestly didn't understand.
Chapter 2
So far, the day had not gone well. At all. Marco was so preoccupied with everything that school just didn't seem to fir in right now. A rare thing for Marco, very rare. During the first few periods, his thoughts were everywhere but in the classroom. Ellie and Paige covered for him as much as they could, but at a certain point he just couldn't help blurting out 'I just can't!' The teacher was unpleasantly surprised and replied with something that was nothing more than a low humming sound to Marco. In fact, he was so lost in his thoughts, that if Mr Simpson hadn't nudged him, he would probably still be sitting in that classroom.
Oddly enough, neither Ellie nor Paige had come up to him for a talk yet, and it was nearly time for lunch. That would mean that either they had decided not to try, or they were planning a full scale offensive. Probably...no, definately the latter one. Just one more thing to worry about.
This is rediculous. I am Marco del Rossi, one of the hardest working students in this entire school. I've handled problems before. I've come out to my ex-girlfriend, who was my girlfriend at that time. I came out to one of my best friends, and that led to an entirely different problem. The point is, I've gotten over it all. And I will get over this, I'm sure of it.
But first, he would have to deal with Ms and Mrs Spanish Inquisition, Ellie Nash and Paige Michalchuck. What could he tell them? He most certainly couldn't tell them he'd come out to his mom last night, that was something he would have to wait with, at least for now. If he was to tell anyone, Dylan would be the first.
Ellie was most definately his best friend, and Paige had been really supportive, but this was something between Dylan and himself. This time, the girls would come in second, not first. So now, he had to make something up. Maybe...yeah, that might just work.
So now he had a solution. That was all nice and stuff, but he just couldn't get the last conversation he had with Dylan out of his mind. It was as if it had just happened over and over, and he still felt the same way he had just after that talk.
He'd been having regular flashbacks to that moment, and to last night, when he'd come out to his mother, all day. Even now, while he was desperately trying to avoid Ellie and Paige, he could see it all happen before his eyes again, from the start.
He was at the pharmacy where his mother worked, to take some pictures for his electorial posters at school. His first three pictures were horrible, he knew already, but the fourth one, that was a total surprise. Just before the flash, the curtains moved and a head full of golden curls jolted in, kissing him ever so gently on the cheek, barely in time for the picture to be taken.
The only thing to do was to make sure the picture would not fall into the wrong hands. So, as inconspicuous as he could, he ripped off the fourth picture before handing the other shots over to his mother. Dylan hadn't been too excited about that move. After that, he kissed his mom, and what followed was a conversation that would be scorched into his mind for eternity.
'All right, I'll see you at home, ma,' he said, kissing her affectionately on the cheek, 'Bye.' He turned around only to find Dylan had just half walked, half ran out on him. He sprinted off after him. 'Dylan.' No response. 'Dylan! Wait up.' Still no response. 'Dylan, where are you going?' The golden-curled god turned around, the look on his face unmistakable. He was disappointed, and hurt. It wasn't really all that visible, but Marco had learned to recognise the few emotions Dylan showed on his face in the past half year. 'Back to my dorm.'
'Okay, then take this here with you, to make your dormmates jealous.' Marco held up the picture he'd just torn off the strip. Dylan looked at it, but didn't show any related emotions or thoughts. 'They're straight.' 'Okay, so make them uncomfortable.' Dylan sighed. 'Actually, they don't have a problem with me being gay.' Marco's eyes shifted quickly, reflecting the massive string of thoughts racing through his mind at the moment.
'I'm your boyfriend Marco.' Dylan's tone was sharp, almost angry.Yeah, well, I know that. What's your point, Dylan. What do you want me to say? 'I know.' Dylan sighed again, this time deeper than he had before, as if preparing to deliver a final blow. 'Yeah, well. You're the only one in your family that does.' And just like that, he angrily thrusted his hand out, the picture in it, and left it to Marco. 'Babe, I...' Marco was cut off by the cold, low voice 'Call you later.' And Dylan just walked off, back to his dorm. To Marco, it might as well have been a sledgehammer pounding on his head. Yeah, well, what am I supposed to do? You know how difficult this is, Dylan, you've been there before. This is just..how can you just say it like that?.
Too overcome by emotions and thoughts, Marco found himself a quiet place to sit and sorted out his thoughts there and then, trying to figure out what to say to Dylan on the phone...or worse, what to expect from Dylan.
It had been too much for him. The angst, the disbelief and the doubt were flooding his brain entirely, and it felt like he would never recover from this mental blow in the gut. It was a gaping wound in his abdomen, one that only his true love could heal, even if it was just a smile, or a gaze into those deep, blue eyes.
As if he were being attacked, he suddenly turned around and slapped the person that ambushed him hard in the face. No two seconds later, before he even realized what he had done, he was slapped in the face as well. It felt like a moving train had just slammed into his face, making it burn like it was the desert sand of the sahara. 'Marco! What the hell is wrong with you?'
Shaking his head, he blinked a couple of times, trying to get out of his emotional stupor. Slowly he began to realize what he had just done. 'Paige, I am so sorry. I..I..I was just...ouch, jezus, where did you learn to hit people like that?' His cheek was burning crimson red, and it felt like he could bake an egg on it. It was so soar, he couldn't even touch it with his hand to ease the pain a bit.
'Honey, I have an older brother. What kind of authority would I have if it wasn't for this...and blackmail, of course.' She grinned in her typical Paige-like way and turned to Ellie, who was standing beside her. 'Ellie, you were definately right. Our little stud boy here is having issues. Now, what could we do to make him talk. Inspire me, would you, dear?' Ellie, in her turn, was shocked to see what Marco had just done, but it soon turned into a rather suspicious smirk on her face at Paige's request for inspiration.
Not good. Not good. Need to find an escape route, fast. Ellie stepped closer to Paige, slowly moving her head closer to Paige's. Wait a minute. Are they going to? No, they wouldn't, would they? Stopping an inch short of Paige's ear, her lips began to move. Paige seemed delighted, and Ellie's smirk turned into a facewide grin. Most definately not good. I have to turn back, and quickly, too!
As if chased by death itself, Marco whirled around and was preparing to make a run for it. He got as far as one foot before he crashed into Spinner. 'Whoa, slow down, sunshine. I don't think they're quite through with you yet.' 'Spinner, you have to...' Spin grasped him firmly and turned him around, whispering something into his ear. 'Sorry, stud boy, but Paige can be very persuasive. You'll have to sit this one out. If I were you, I'd get it over with as quickly as you can...who knows what might happen if you don't. '
Those words weren't exaclty what Marco was hoping for. More the opposite, in fact. Paige was quite famous for her...persuasive methods. He could have just given up that instant, but something told him this wasn't right. He would do anything to get out of here and just tell Dylan what had happened that night. Unfortunately, everything just wasn't enough for Paige. She wanted something he wasn't planning on giving her.
'Marco, hon, you're stuck. Here. With us. There's two ways we can do this. Either you tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, or...we make you. I'd go with the second option, it's so much more fun, wouldn't you say, El?' Ellie nodded and smiled as if she were already having the time of her life, except this smile was slightly evil.
Without even a split second of thought, Marco had already visualised about ten possible ways of torture that Paige was likely to use. How am I gettin out of this one? God, don't they know I'd rather keep this to myself. It's called a private life for a reason, you know. Why, why is there no justice whatsoever in this world? Why? 'Alright, fine, I give up. But I'm only telling Paige and Ellie. Spinner, scram, this is none of your concern. Paige will tell you in a few minutes anyway.' Spin looked at him, then shrugged. 'Hey, man, it's not like I want to hear it anyway. I was just framed into doing this by my...lovely girlfriend. Uh...bye, honeybee.'
Just like that he ran off, and Marco was quite sure he knew why. The look in Paige's eye was only a few inches short of a death stare, and that stare could make even the most sane people jump off a bridge. 'Glad we persuaded you. It would have been fun to give you a particularly nast round of tickling, but I suppose this works as well. Right, now from the top. After we left school, what did you do?'
Marco sighed heavily, reflecting the graveness of the situation he had allowed himself to get into. He told them of the pharmacy, the pictures, his conversation with Dylan. As if he were having that flashback again, everything just rushed through his body and mind, making it very hard to talk normally. Tears welled up, his voice began to tremble and after a few more seconds he was crying over the table, asking them what to do.
It just wasn't fair. Dylan and he had spent so much time together, he deserved more than this. All the good times they had shared, all the love they had given each other. Did it all mean nothing to him? Was it all just a big joke? It sure hadn't felt that way. The moments they shared, the kissing, the intense love. It couldn't be fake, it just couldn't. But he still wasn't convinced of that.
'Oh, Marco, he really screwed you up. How could he, that insensitive bag of dirt. We won't let him do this to you, honey. You're the best thing that's happened to him since a long time, we've all seen it, and I am not letting him ruin both your lives with some stupid move. El, hand me a cell phone, would you, my battery's dead from talking with Dylan and...' Marco's eyes flashed at her mentioning that name. He bolted up and stammered out 'WHAT? You talked to Dylan yesterday, and today? For that long? Oh man, this is bad.' This was just...one more thing. Why didn't he call him last night, like he was supposed to.
Paige was shocked by his response, and she looked like she felt guilty, matching expressions with her neighbour, Ellie, who was holding up a cell phone in front of Paige's face. Ellie was distraught. She had no idea Marco was feeling this bad, and listening to him, seeing him like this was causing her great pain. She couldn't help but feel guilty for letting him talk like this. Even worse, she couldn't do a thing to help Marco. She didn't really know Dylan, and well...that was just about it. Moral support wasn;t going to be much help. Marco needed Dylan, and fast too.
Still a bit shocked, Paige grabbed the cell phone, but didn't do anything with it yet. She just looked at Marco, analyzing him and the situation. 'Yeah, he just couldn't stop talking to me. It was all more of a blur of words, I couldn't really understand half of it. There was something about pictures, mom, running off, it was all really confusing. But honey, what I don't understand is why you haven't told your parents yet. I mean, Dylan's a real treasure, just like you are. Surely it's about time they get to know it.'
'I haven't even finished my story yet. There's more to come.' He breathed deeply a couple of times, calming down the emotional tide that had just overcome him. 'Last night, I got home after sitting at the mall for over three hours. It was already past dinner time, and my mother and father were sitting in the kitchen. When I got in, my mother almost exploded with concern. She was all 'Where have you been? Are you alright? Do you need any food?'.To be honest it freaked me out, but it was only at that time that I realised I had been gone for such a long time. My father told me he liked the picture he got, and that everything should be arranged by today. Everything was still so fresh in my memory that I just didn't hear half of it, so I nodded and slowly walked up to my room.'
'Oh, Marco, I'm so sorry. I wish I hadn't...I had no idea. If I had known, I would've...' Ellie stammered and stuttered, trying to show that she hadn't intended for this to happen, but what's out is out, and there was no changing that. Besides, one person with an utterly depressing mood was more than enough at this table. 'Ellie, just drop it. I know you didn't mean to, but let me finish my story, ok?' She nodded in silent agreement.
'So I went up to my room and I just sat up on my bed. I didn't think about homework, cleaning up or anything else, except Dylan. What had happened was just too much for me to take in all at once. He knows perfectly well what my parents are like. Anyway, I just cried. I cried and cried and suddenly, my mom appears in the doorway. I had no idea how long she had already been there, but she looked concerned. Well, okay, that's a logical response, but I was more thinking of the reason she looked that way. Was it because I was crying, or because she had figured it all out? I didn't know, so I just freaked. And suddenly she asked me 'what's wrong, Marco? You look upset.' I couldn't say anything except that is was just relationship problems. Everyone breaks up, you know? That suddenly lit up something in her face. She sounded all excited when she said she never knew I had a girlfriend. And then, all of a sudden, I mean, I didn't even mean to...'
He became more and more sad, wanting to cry, and the tremor in the boy's voice increased rapidly. The girls just sat there, thoughtfully listening to his story, trying to imagine what he must have felt like. While Ellie just sat there with her hands, captivated by her best friend's perilous story, Paige was as excited as she could get. After about ten seconds, the tension became too much for her. She just had to know. Well, she already knew, but she depserately needed to hear it. 'Well, come on, don't leave me hanging here, Del Rossi. Tell us, what happened!'
He closed his eyes, breathing deeply and rythmically, attempting to overcome the enormous amounts of stress, anxiety and angst that had washed over him just now. Not at all rushed by the blonde authorities in front of him. After another, nervewracking sigh, he softly, but steadily spoke.
'I told her I never said I did. She got tears in her eyes and said that she always thought it was Dylan. I denied that I was gay. What was I supposed to do. I hadn't even said it and she was already crying. She just stood there, watching me, crying, sobbing. And then it just came out. I just said it. Thinking of Dylan, thinking of the pressure on me, the lying against my mother, I just couldn't hold it in anymore. And I just told her. Yes, I am. I am gay. Then she really started crying, and she left the room in the worst mood I had ever seen her in. I really, really wish I hadn't told her at that moment, and so I cried all night long, up until the moment I fell asleep, only to be woken up by the glaring sun in the early morning. I rushed off as quickly as I could, hoping to avoid my parents. I mean, what if my mother told him? What if he didn't like it at all. I've seen what he can do, and it's not pretty. So I just left and ran for it. And that's when Ellie sort of found me, sitting on the ground.'
With a great sigh, he felt a heavy load of thoughts, emotions and general stress slide off his back like it was nothing. He felt better, much better, but not good enough, not nearly. Both Ellie and Paige screamed simultaneously, turning into a hell siren of sorts. Marco shut his ears with his hands as quickly as he could, avoiding the possibility of going deaf at such an early age. Ellie was excited and terribly relieved, but she didn't say anything. She was enjoying this moment in silence, because she saw Marco relax, and because he finally did it. He did it, she still couldn't believe it, but he did it!
Paige, on the other hand, was all over Marco, hugging him and complimenting him like there was no tomorrow. 'Marco, I am so glad for you. I can't believe you finally did this. I love you, I just love you! God, I'm all psyched up about it. Wait, I've got to tell Dylan. Where did I leave my cell phone?' Within a split second, Marco lunged out and whisked the cell phone off the table. 'Sorry, Paige, but I just can't let you do that. This was something I wanted to tell Dylan first, and so I would like you to keep it to yourself until tomorrow, because tonight, I am calling him, and if he doesn't answer, then I'll just drop by at his dorm. I...I just hope that this will solve the entire issue with him. It's been just a day, but the feeling of losing him, and not being with him for such a long time is just killing me, not to mention the thought of not being around him ever again.'
The mood around darkened once more, but Paige quickly took care of that. She had decided: This was a happy moment, and if Paige Michalchuk says it's a happy moment, it's a happy moment. 'Wow, I guess it's okay. I think it's really sweet. But I am still going to kick the insensitive bag's ass about this. Would you at least let me do that, honey?' She turned all puppy dog eyes on Marco, and who was he to resist such a cute sight, although seconds ago he could've mistaken her with a bulldog rather than a puppy. 'Well, I guess. Just don't go too hard on him, would you? He is still my boyfriend, not to mention your brother.'
Marco couldn't resist smiling. Unbelievable, he actually smiled. He felt happy again, the first time in over twenty-four hours. It felt good, liberating, like the dark clouds covering his mind had retreated to a distant corner. As soon as she saw it, Ellie started smiling too, a rare sight indeed. Marco wondered if she felt like he had felt all the time, because she never smiled. He could only hope she didn't, because to be honest, he would kill himself. Paige smiled as well, but that was most likely because she got to kick her brother's but...again. 'Honey, don't worry about your mother. Remember how you felt when you first told Spin you were gay. She probably feels something similar. It's not necessarily a bad thing, you know. She just has a lot to deal with. But why don't you take this opportunity and tell your father as well. At least it'll come from you, and not someone else.' Marco's smile faded instantly the moment she mentioned his father. She obviously had no idea of what she was talking about.
'What, are you insane. Have you even met him? He's like, the worst homophobe ever. Last year, on my first date with Dylan, we ran into him, remember. He was killing the waiter with a look and a word, just because he thought the man was gay. Imagine what he would do if he found out. It's just too horrible to even imagine. I might as well jump off a cliff.' Panic gripped at him. Why could nobody understand this predicament?
'Look, all I'm saying is, that if you don't tell him, someone else might. And that is worse than anything. At least when you tell him, you will be prepared for it, and he won't, so you will have the upper hand. I;m not saying you should do it this instant, but just think about it, and don't wait too long, okay, hon?' Too tired of all the stress to argue, he just nodded. There was some sense in what she was saying. Having the upper hand. He could only hope that would be enough to actually win that round. But he doubted it, sincerely. At least his mother knew, and everyone at school already knew. And dylan would probably talk to him again, and be with him. A welcome thought, which filled him with warm, fuzzy feelings, making him all mushy inside.
'Well, thanks a lot for the support Paige. You too, El. I've got to get home now. Just remember, don't tell Dylan, and please don;t stay on the phone with him all night, would you?' With a big smile on his face, he turned around, Paige and Ellie wavin him goodbye. 'Marco, honey, you know me, don't you?' Paige cried out in the most innocent tone she could muster. 'Yes. That's exactly why I'm warning you.' He yelled back with a grin.
He was happy, truly happy. Full of excitement and anticipation, he headed home to face his parents. He could only hope his mother hadn't talked about it yet, and that she would accept it. If only he were more sure...
