Chapter -2-

I'd like to thank ACEOFHEARTS13, psumathgirl, Hogwardsbagofskittles and especially Kaitlinbell for their reviews. Just to make sure everyone knows, this is an AU fic and I am taking some liberties with what I think the characters might be feeling and thinking. I would really love to hear what you think about their thoughts and emotions too. Please review!


Marco pressed the wrapped ice gently to his knuckles. The cold feeling was a shock at first but it soon began to soothe the ache. He shook his head at he looked at his hand, thinking about what had lead him to this moment.

He'd set up for his safe sex seminar during last period. They were all ready in the front foyer of the school when the final bell rang and things went well. For the first 5 minutes. Out of nowhere Spinner and his Friendship group buddies had started saying things about abstinence and waving huge posters that proposed no sex as the only safe sex.

He'd seen red those first few moments, but after reminding himself that he had a right to host the seminar and that Spinner, Linus and the other Friendship club groupies were interfering. He kept playing their conversation over and over in his mind.

He was tired of people assuming that just because he was gay he couldn't be a good Christian too. He was a devout Roman Catholic and he went to church every Sunday. He knew things were going to have to change, but there was no reason why he should be prohibited from worshipping because of his sexuality.

He wouldn't have minded if Linus had spouted off some nonsense about gay stereotypes or Christian beliefs because Marco could have come back from them. What he hadn't been able to take was the personal attacks against him. Linus seemed intent on insulting him, and he'd gotten under Marco's skin by picking at some issues that the Italian had already been thinking about himself.

He took a drink of the coffee beside him as he shifted the ice around his hand. He'd never thought that his hand would hurt this much after one punch. He'd seen red for the first few minutes after storming out of the school, but halfway across the parking lot headed toward home, he'd begun to feel the burning sting. Tim had caught up with him and they'd walked home together, not saying anything until they reached Marco's house. His mother was at a woman's church meeting and his father was still at work so he didn't have to explain anything to them at the moment. He didn't know if he'd be able to when they did arrive home.

He'd never felt like that before, physically wanting to hit someone. He didn't know if it was that Linus had brought up issues that were already bugging him, or now that he was very openly gay he felt more deeply about the insults and slurs directed at him. Whatever the reason, he hadn't been able to think about anything else at that moment except getting Linus to shut up. And he'd done it.

His phone beeped beside him and he picked it up with his uninjured hand to look at the text message. It was from Tim, checking that he was doing alright. The other teen had left about half an hour ago, claiming that he needed to get home and talk to his parents incase the school called them about the fight. Marco didn't know what to make of his own feelings for Tim. They'd been through a lot together already in such a short time. He felt a kinship with him, because of a shared interest in movies and music and the like.

But he didn't feel the spark, the chemistry that he'd felt with Dylan. Having only been with one person before though, Marco wondered if the thing with Dylan had been so… new and exciting because it was his first boyfriend after admitting to himself he was gay. His first relationship with an older, very attractive male who'd shown him the ropes. Maybe the situation with Tim was normal for most relationship beginnings and he was expecting too much. He promised himself that he'd invest more time and interest in him and see where the rest of the year took them. He sent a quick message back that he was fine and that he'd phone later once he talked to his parents.

As he reached for his coffee again, someone knocked on the front door and he walked over to the entranceway, leaving the ice on the kitchen counter.

He didn't look too hard at the figure behind the door as he opened it, but as soon as he saw Dylan's worried face he groaned and turned around, walking back into the kitchen.

"And my day just keeps getting better and better." His sarcastic tone was one warning that he wasn't to happy with the visit, the way he cocked his head to one side after turning to face the older teen with the counter between them was another one.

"What are you doing here Dylan? What are you doing back in town and why are you at my house?"

Dylan opened his mouth to answer but he caught sight of Marco's bruised hand and rushed over to examine it. Marco tried to pull his hand away but Dylan held on.

"You should have ice on this. It's gotta hurt."

"I am icing it. Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Dylan just sighed as Marco picked up the ice on the counter and walked a few steps away from him. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, wondering what to say and how, if he should comfort.

"I didn't believe it when Spinner came over and said that you'd punched some guy. I had to—"

"Don't even talk to me about Spinner right now. I don't even want to think about what that backstabbing coward did."

Dylan lifted conceding hands, holding them in front of them. "Alright. Let's talk about what's going on with you. The Marco I knew would never have hit someone, no matter how upset he was."

"Yeah, well, that was a long time ago and things have changed." Marco himself was surprised at how bitter he sounded. He'd been sure that he'd dealt with his breakup issues a long time ago.

"Well they can't have changed that much. You can't be a totally different person."

Marco looked up at him through his dark eyelashes. "Dylan, right now I don't know who I am. Maybe I was the real me with you, maybe it's who I am now. All I know is that there's so many things going on that my head's spinning. And I don't know why I'm telling all this to you." He picked up his coffee and moved into the living room.

Dylan followed a second later, watching him carefully. This was his chance. Could he convince Marco that he was sorry, that he hadn't meant to hurt him? He knew that they'd had something special and that they still had a chance that a future together. But that meant earning back his trust and making him understand why he'd done what he'd done that first year in university.

"Marco, you told me all that because you know, deep down, that you can always talk to me. Even in the beginning that was one thing you always knew."

He sat beside him on the couch, both of them looking across the room at the opposite wall. "I've thought about emailing you a couple times, I even dialed your number on the phone, all except for the last digit."

He sighed and turned to look at Marco again. "What I'm trying to say is that I want to try and be at least friends again. I want to be able to talk to you, and I want you to know that you can come and talk to me. God Marco, when I think about all the stuff that we shared before, I don't know how I got this far without—"

"Okay." Marco interrupted him. "We can try talking a bit more. But that's all. I mean it Dylan, I've got too much going on right now to have you jerk me around for no reason."

"I won't." They sat for a few moments, the only sounds the muted rush of traffic outside and the hum of the fridge in the other room.

"So… " Dylan started. "Want to tell me what's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"