Summary: Dylan's back in town after Marco broke up with him for wanting an open relationship. How will Marco take seeing him after so long? Read and Review! :)
Rating: K+
Hell Hath No Fury
Chapter Four
The next morning Marco woke up in a haze. He was so exhausted, he could barely remember what happened last night to make him so tired or who was even in town. Marco pulled his clothes messily over his head and made a half-hearted attempt to fix his crazy hair. He was normally pretty good with his appearence, so he figured he was allowed to have one day where he literally rolled out of bed and went to school. He yawned widely, wanting nothing more then to curl back into his bed and sleep until the end of time, but his studious nature wouldn't let him.
So crossing that out of his options, he slumped down the stairs in a decidingly grumpy manner and poured himself a bowl of cereal, where he proceeded to angrily chew it. He also figured that he was allowed to have a bad mood day once in a while, as long as he didn't go over board with it. But the fact that he couldn't remember a thing from yesterday was still eating at him. He had the feeling it was important. Is it someone's birthday today? Do I owe someone something? Do I have a test today? It would be just his luck to have a test on the day where thinking was the absolute last thing he wanted to do.
It wasn't until the clock told him to leave and he opened the front door to see Dylan beaming sunnily down at him, car keys in hand, did he remember what happened. And their deal. "I thought I'd drive you to school today," he stated cheerfully. "If...that's okay," he added, eyeing Marco cautiously. He wasn't sure how he'd take this surprise.
"Don't you have to go to school at some point?" he asked, teasing him a bit.
"Nah, we get out earlier then you highschool dweebs," Dylan laughed.
Marco smacked him on the shoulder. "You used to be one too."
"The key words are 'used to.'" Dylan grinned.
The Italian rolled his eyes. "Oh whatever Michalchuk, I'm not that far behind you." He checked his watch. "We should get going before this highschool dweeb is late."
Chuckling, Dylan led the way to his car and opened the door for him. Marco's previous bad mood had miraculously evaporated as he blushed slightly and got inside. But as easy as the happiness came, a sudden wave of guilt hit him when his mind randomly jumped to Tim. His face tilted into a frown as he buckled his seatbelt and Dylan slid in next to him.
"What's the matter?" Dylan asked, his eyebrows scrunching together.
"Hmm? Oh, I...nothing," he murmured, looking away. He didn't exactly want to tell him that he was wondering about Tim when he clearly didn't like him so much.
"Marco," he responded, turning in his driver's seat to look straight at him. "The whole point of developing this trust thing is to tell each other what's bothering us. You can tell me, no matter what it is. I promise not to freak out or anything if that's what you're worrying about." He gave him a crooked smile.
The younger boy couldn't help it; he smiled back, albeit a bit nervously before glancing away again. "Okay, you're right. I'm just...I'm worrying about Tim." He bit his lip, missing the slight flicker of hurt and jealousy in Dylan's eyes. But it left as soon as it appeared. "I just...I don't know what to do with him. I'm not...completely sure about this," he waved his hands between him and Dylan. "But I don't want to lead him on if we do work it out. And I mean, I can't tell him that we're trying to get back together but he should just wait in the wings for me."
Dylan tentatively reached over to brush a stray hair from Marco's face, his fingers lingering on the Italian's cheek before speaking quietly, "I can't tell you what to do. That's for you to decide, but I want you to think about what you feel when you're with Tim, and what you feel when you're with me. And be completely honest with yourself, don't spare anyone's feelings. Because ultimately one of us will end up getting hurt, but we both, I'm sure, want you to be happy in the end. You don't have to make a decision today, or even this week. Think about it okay?"
He put the car in drive and pulled out of Marco's driveway, occassionally glancing at Marco from the corner of his eye. The dark haired blonde didn't say a word the entire trip until they reached Degrassi. "Thank you," he whispered before quickly planting a hasty kiss on Dylan's cheek and slipping out of the car.
Dylan watched him go, his face tingling from where Marco's lips had touched it, feeling truly astonished. It took him a good couple minutes to truly recognize what happened and let a wide grin stretch across his face as he drove away. Somehow, someway, Marco would realise that they were meant to be together.
"Hey Marc," Tim greeted, coming up to Marco's locker as he put his books away.
"O," The brown eyed boy, smirking slightly at him. At Tim's confused look, he explained, "You forgot the 'o' in Marco."
"Ah," he replied awkwardly, looking at his feet. Marco couldn't help but think that Dylan would have laughed or made some lame joke about it, not just act all weird. "So, um, did you want to talk about what's going on with you and Dylan?"
"Hm?" Marco asked, a bit too nervously. "What do you mean? Nothing's going on."
Tim gave Marco an appraising look. "So I'm supposed to think that there isn't something going on between you two? Did you see the way he was looking at you?"
For some reason that made Marco want to smile. "Um, not really Tim," he responded in a off-handed kind of way, grabbing the last of his books and shoving it into his backpack. "I have to go to class, but we can hang out later okay?" He gave him a quick peck on the cheek like he had with Dylan, seeing Tim turn bright red and a stupid grin form on his face. Got to keep things fair, he mused.
When had his Dylan's returning suddenly turn into a battle between Dylan and Tim? He groaned internally as he stepped into his homeroom, seeing Ellie sitting there waiting for him.
"So did you stop being stupid and take Dylan back yet?" Ellie inquired as soon as Marco sat down beside her.
"If thinking about whether I want to be in a relationship with someone is stupid, then I'm an idiot," he replied absent-mindly. His head was pounding.
"It is if you're in love with the damn person!" she cried, hitting him in the head.
"Ow! Ellie! I could've done without the physical abuse!"
"No del Rossi, you need a good slap upside the head!" she nearly shrieked. "I'm not about to let you just throw away the one person you are so obviously in love with. I've seen it happen to so many people and I will not let it happen to my best friend."
Marco crossed his arms defensively. "You're starting to act like Paige," he retorted, a little satisfied at the fire that erupted in her eyes.
"I am not Paige," she hissed, sounding like he had greatly insulted her. "But I stand by what I said. You love him, and you know you do. You're just too dense to realise it, and too naïve to see how in love with you Dylan is." She threw her arms up exasperately. "I mean, really Marco! People are extremely lucky to find someone who loves them so much, and you're trying to throw it away! It's irritating!" Marco had no idea why Ellie was so interested in the topic, but he just stared shockingly at her. "Do you honestly think you'd ever be as happy with Tim as you were with Dylan? Because I sure as Hell don't."
Marco rubbed his eyes, suddenly exhausted again. "It's not that simple Ellie, so can we please just talk about something else?"
But luckily for the both of them, the bell rang and everyone got up to go to their next class. The dark haired boy wondered briefly if they'd ever have a conversation that wasn't about Dylan again before he grabbed his things and walked Ellie to her next class.
Only to find Paige waiting for him when Ellie left.
Will these constant bombardments ever end? Marco thought, annoyed. He felt like he was being babysat. If it wasn't Ellie on his case about Dylan, it was Paige. If it was Paige, it was Tim. And if it wasn't Tim, it was Dylan himself. The past few days felt like an eternity to Marco because he hadn't spend a single minute alone since Dylan arrived. "Paige if you're here to nag me about Dylan, don't bother. I just got a lecture from El for like the billionth time in a row," he ranted.
She looked slightly put off. "I wasn't going to bother you about my brother, Marco," she huffed. The brown eyed boy gave her an appreciative smile. "I was going to bother you about Tim."
The smile vanished. "That's basically the same thing Paige!" he moaned. "I think I've gotten enough talking-tos to last me a lifetime, so I definitely don't this one."
"Well, do you like Tim or not?" she questioned him regardless. "I mean, I don't think it's fair to Dylan for him to waste his time on someone who doesn't like him back."
"I don't know Paige!" he nearly shouted. In a much calmer voice, seeing the look on his friend's face, he repeated, "I don't know okay? I'm pretty sure I love Dylan, but it's just going to take me some time to trust him again, and I don't know if I can. And I don't want to tell Tim no if I can't, so can we drop it? You guys are giving me a headache."
"Fine," she sighed, not looking particularly satisfied.
"Thank you," he breathed, and for the first moment in a while, his mind went completely blank and happily so.
Dylan didn't know what to do all day. His parents had already left for work, Paige and Marco were at school, so he was completely alone. He knew that getting Marco back wouldn't be easy or happen over night, but he just wished...it didn't feel so damn long.
Maybe I could orchestrate something? he thought. Dylan knew exams were coming up, and he also knew that Marco would be beyond freaked about them. And he knew that being Marco in this distrustful state, would not volunteer any plans.
The blue eyed boy got an idea.
He grabbed his phone and hurriedly dialed Paige's cell. If she saw his number on the screen she'd come up with whatever excuse she could to be able to answer it. She wanted Marco and him to get back together almost as much as he did. Almost.
"Dyl?" she answered in a hushed tone.
"Hey baby sister that I love so very much and who is the best sibling anyone could ever ask for," he greeted, making his voice as sweet as possible. "And who loves her big brother so much that she would do anything for him?"
He could almost see her eyes roll. "What do you want me to do?"
"Invite Marco over to study for exams," he commanded. "Then, after a little bit, leave so we can, um, be alone."
"So you want me to drag Marco over to our house, then mysteriously disappear with only you for company?" she sounded amused. "Seems a little too coincidental for Marco to not pick up on it hon. And trust me, he will dutifully kick out butts afterwards."
"You've seen him during exam time right?" Dylan stated. "You know how stressed he gets over them. He barely remembered to eat, let alone notice what's going on around him."
"True," she commended him. "I'll do it."
"Awesome, thanks," he grinned as he hung up. Now all he had to do was wait.
"Right, so the nanny's talking about how she had to raise Juliet from when she was a baby and how she couldn't believe how quickly she's grown," Marco tried to explain to Paige. Their first exam apparently was predetermined as English, so they were studying Romeo and Juliet, which had been a major topic, like crazy. He tried to ignore the fact that Dylan was sitting on the couch, breezing through television shows like he didn't even notice they were there just in the kitchen. It was their house, but Marco would rather not have such a distraction sitting so close.
"And why is this important?" Paige grumbled, closing her textbook in a peeved manner.
"I have no idea," he groaned. "All I know is that Ms. Kwan spent a good week talking about her."
"Well Ms. Kwan is psycho," she retorted. "And looks way too into stupid little features."
"She's an English teacher, I think that's required," he smiled crookedly. He stretched, yawning, "Come on, let's finish this so we'll be done. There's not much left..."
"Only the rest of the play," she muttered. Her phone suddenly rang, causing a look of relief to cross her face as if she were saying, Thank God. "Hello?"
While Paige talked, his eyes roamed over to where Dylan sat as if they had a mind of their own. He was struck once again by how gorgeous he was. Dylan had god-like features. Golden hair, crystal blue eyes, and the physique of an Olympian. Honestly, he had no idea what someone like that saw in a scrawny midget like him.
"What?" Paige suddenly gasped, standing upright. Both Marco and Dylan whipped their heads towards her in worry. "How did...yes, of course, I'll be there right away."
"What happened?" Dylan demanded, standing up and coming over to them.
"Her Dad was in a car crash!" she exclaimed, running to the front door. "He's in the hospital!"
Marco's mouth gaped open. "Oh my God, is he okay?"
"Do you need a ride?" Dylan asked seriously, already reaching for his coat.
"No, Hazel and her Mom are coming to pick me up," she responded quickly, seeming in a panic as she rushed out the door.
Dylan ran a hand through his hair, letting all the air in his lungs leak out. He wasn't expecting something like this to happen.
"Poor Hazel," Marco whispered sadly, staring at the door Paige had just vacated. Both Dylan and Marco knew Hazel very well. She was a sweet and talkitive girl.
"I know," Dylan said quietly, going to sit on the couch again and let this sink in. He didn't even realise that he was alone with Marco until the Italian sat down beside him. Despite this not being how he had imagined it, the two were alone. He glanced at the disgarded textbooks on the kitchen and asked, "Are you done studying?"
"Yeah," Marco replied, seemingly distraught. "I don't think I could really focus on anything now."
The blonde nodded, grabbing the controller and turning on the television. "Then how about we do something that requires very little focus?" He gave a half-hearted smile which Marco returned.
"Sure."
They settled back into the couch, their knees almost touching. Both took notice, but neither of them really cared to move away. Dylan picked a random movie since Marco declared that he had no preference, but fifteen minutes into it both were completely lost and utterly bored.
The two boys exchanged bewildered looks after one of the main characters randomly burst into tears while kissing her supposed boyfriend. "Nice pick Michalchuk," Marco teased, pushing his shoulder.
Dylan continued to look bemused. "I have no idea what is going on. Did she just...start crying?" At Marco's nod, he went further. "Okay...why...?"
The Italian threw his arms up in the air, "If I knew I'd tell you Dyl. I'm about as confused as you are."
Dylan grinned. "And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one."
"Oh whatever," Marco elbowed him, smiling. "When it comes to soap operas that become movies, I'm about as dumb as you are."
"Ohhh now you're going to get it!" Dylan exclaimed, grabbing Marco into a headlock and playfully ruffled his hair.
"Hey!" Marco laughed, trying to pull away. "No fair, I wasn't ready!"
"All's fair in love and war del Rossi," Dylan chuckled, finally releasing him. Marco mock glared at the blonde from underneath his tussled hair, to which Dylan only straightened Marco's collar affectionately and smiled innocently down at him.
Marco looked into Dylan's eyes and felt the rest of the world around him slip away. This was a unique trait that only Dylan possessed. He made the dark haired boy feel like he was incredibly loved and protected, though his mind screamed at him to feel otherwise.
But suddenly, Marco's phone rang loudly from his pocket, disturbing their peaceful moment. They both jumped and the younger boy glanced down to see who it was. The screen read, Tim. Marco looked back up at Dylan and found the blue eyed boy looking at the name with unfathomable eyes, and just as Marco was about to answer it, Dylan's gentle hands snaked in and pressed the ignore button. When Marco gave him a questionable look, Dylan simply smiled softly again and repeated, "All's fair in love and war," and kissed his forehead.
Ahh! :) Liked it? Hated it? Meh? Please review and let me know! :D haha