Chapter 4

Chapter 4

AN: I'm not sure why but I was inspired to write another chapter for this story tonight. Not sure if I will be continuing this trend anytime soon though. This was written in one sitting and not betaed so any mistakes are mine. Enjoy!

The next day was Saturday and Dylan found himself at loose ends. He had studying he could do but he couldn't concentrate on anything but Marco. After leaving the Italian boys house last night Dylan had taken a long walk around the local park, trying to clear his mind. He hadn't accomplished that goal. Maybe he'd have better luck today. He pulled on sneakers, grabbed a jacket, his keys and his Ipod. He was whistling when he headed out the door.

When he approached "The Dot" just before lunchtime, he was surprised that he could hear raised voices all the way outside. What was going on in there? He looked through the windows trying to see what was going on, and was surprised and worried to see Marco and Spinner in the center of the floor. There was a crowd around them but Dylan could see enough to know that Marco was nearing the end of his rope. His chest was having with every breath. His hands were flying around as they punctuated each of his statements. It wasn't often that Marco became enraged enough to speak so forcefully, but when he did it was best just to stand clear and let him burn out. However, it appeared that Spinner was doing just the opposite. He was in Marco's face and it looked like the entire situation was about a minute and a half away from blowing up in everyone's faces.

Dylan quickly jogged up the steps and entered the tense restaurant. No one paid any attention to the new arrival.

"Where do you get off on this "God" complex? Huh? Where was all this salvation talk when you were torturing Rick?"

The crowd was silent, but whispers could be heard running through the assembled onlookers. A ribbon of awareness ran through them as Rick's name was brought up. Dylan saw Jimmy, who was in his chair behind Marco, frown briefly at the thought of the person who had injured him.

"That was a long time ago. I've changed."

"Not for the better. I can't believe I ever considered you my friend."

Was Spinner trying to repair this relationship or ruin it? Either way he was doing a good job of pissing Marco off. Dylan tried to get through the crowd and reach out to Marco, but it was slow going. Luckily he was tall enough to see over most everyone. He wished that Marco would just look over and see him, hopefully allow him to help in some way.

"Well, I have new friends now."

"Sure. The bigoted freaks who take advantage of your stupidity to use you in their mindless protests. Great friends there Spin."

Spinner's fists clenched and his face was becoming an alarming shade of red. Dylan tried again to get through the crowd, this time skimming the edge until he came around to Jimmy, Ellie, Paige and Alex. They were too absorbed to notice him, and Dylan was almost too absorbed to notice the guy who stood in front of Paige, slowly reaching out to Marco's shoulder. What did he think he was doing? How could he possibly calm the Italian's ire?

"You know what? I've had enough. I don't need to listen to this."

Spinner threw up his hands and turned his back on Marco, intent on making it to the door and escaping the dramatic scene.

"And I needed to stand there yesterday and listen to Linus call me those names? Needed to listen to him say those... those things to me?"

Spinner froze at that, even thought the crowd had parted before him so that he had a clear exit route.

"I needed to have you stand there, just fucking stand there, and let him talk to me that way? Did our friendship mean nothing to you?"

Marco was entering dangerous territory. His anger was fading and frustration and sadness were sneaking in. His reasons for confronting Spinner were becoming blurred and Dylan knew that Marco needed to get out of there before he fell apart. He had been none too steady yesterday during their short talk, and it seemed that Marco's emotions hadn't settled. In fact it seemed that there were too many things boiling just below the surface that Marco was desperately trying to control. Dylan took another step forward, standing beside Jimmy and barely noticing the double take that the young black man did when he glanced up.

The young man reaching out to Marco finally made contact and curled his hand around the brunette's shoulder. It took a second but Marco did look over his shoulder and when the face finally registered, he took a deep breath. He looked once more at Spinner before turning fully and looking at the man behind him. 'Who is that?' Dylan thought. A thought tickled at the back of his mind but he refused to let it come to fruition. He refused to think about the possible consequences of that touch.

The crowd was starting to talk more loudly and starting to realize that the confrontation was deescalating. The excitement was over. Spinner shook his head furiously and ran out of the building, the bell above the door clanging angrily as he slammed the door shut. Everyone looked at Marco when Spinner left, wondering what he would do. He just deflated. There was no other word for it. He fell back into a chair placed conveniently behind him and dropped his head to his chest. Dylan managed to get even closer yet, as Paige and Alex stepped closer also.

"How could he do this? He used to… he was…"

Marco didn't finish the sentence that Dylan could barely hear through the sea of whispers. Why didn't someone do something? Why didn't someone take Marco out of here, away from all the eyes and ears? And then someone did, and Dylan felt his heart drop.

"Come on Honey. Let's get out of here. Go take a walk or something."

He saw the young man step up and take Marco's hand, lead him towards a back door. Lead him away from his friends, from Dylan. Lead him away from his past, Dylan though poetically. The infamous Tim. He almost went to follow them, to provide assistance that he knew only he could give but Paige finally noticed him.

"Dylan! When did you get here?"

"Um, a few minutes ago."

He shuffled his feet on the scarred linoleum as Paige and Alex, Dylan and Ellie talked around him. A minute later he broke into their conversation.

"Don't you think… um… shouldn't someone go check on him?"

They all looked at him, with varying levels of confusion. He saw the pity welling up in his sister's eyes.

"Dylan, Hun, I think that they just need to be alone right now. We'll talk to him later. Don't worry about it."

But as the crowd slowly drifted back to their tables, as food and drinks were served and the tension in the air was forgotten, Dylan couldn't stop thinking about Marco. He wanted to do something, wanted to at the very least to go and find him and make sure that he was alright. But was that his place anymore? Did he have that right? He needed to talk to Marco but he knew the Italian was running on too many emotions right now and it wouldn't be fair to start the 'I want you back' conversation.

As long as Dylan thought that Marco's swirling emotions were the reason he stayed away, he didn't have to consider the possibility that maybe there was someone else out there holding Marco, soothing him and letting him talk about his problems. Someone else that he could now put a face and a name too after months of trying not to imagine Marco with faceless guys who were healing the heart that Dylan had broken.

If Marco would just give him one chance, Dylan would heal his heart. He would do whatever it took to put it back together, and he would hope that Marco would give it back to him. To keep this time.