Author's Note: Here's chapter seven. The flashback may seem totally random, but it's there for a reason.
"Fine," said Marco, grabbing a pair of sweatpants from the drawer. "Sleep in here. I don't care," he said, hoping he sounded convincing.
Dylan shrugged. "I don't have any clothes with me," he said, as though he just noticed the fact.
Marco glared at him. "Sleep in your jeans," he said, annoyed.
Dylan smiled, seeing how angry Marco seemed to be. "That's not comfortable," he said, keeping himself from laughing.
"Dylan!" Marco shouted, throwing his hands in the air, tired of caring. "Sleep naked for all I care!" Marco changed into his bedclothes, pulling the blankets back to get in.
Dylan removed his jeans and his shirt, deciding to sleep in his boxers, making it his mission to piss Marco off as much as he possibly could. However, Marco was stubborn. He might murder him before he gave him a divorce, and that was a risk he was just going to have to take.
Dylan cautiously pulled up the blankets, lying down next to Marco, keeping a space between them. Though, the space wasn't enough for Marco because he moved farther away the moment Dylan got in. Dylan faced Marco's back, rolling his eyes. Just as they were getting settled, Rebecca's knock came at the door. Marco got up to open it.
"You locked it?" Dylan asked, smirking.
Marco raised an eyebrow. "Don't get any ideas. I always lock it. Besides," he said just before opening the door, "I thought you never wanted to see me again. Now…you're thinking about sex?"
Dylan suppressed a chuckle, putting a finger over his lips to remind Marco that Rebecca was outside the door. When he opened it, he was met with a very surprised looking girl.
"Hi," she said questioningly.
"Hey," said Dylan, sitting up curiously in bed.
"Why is he—"
"Long story," Marco interrupted, not willing to go into detail since he didn't really know the answer himself. "What's up?" he asked, not thinking.
"I wanted to say good-night!" she exclaimed, outraged that he didn't realize that.
"Oh," he laughed, crouching down. "Well, good-night," he said, kissing her cheek.
"Night, daddy," she smiled. "Good-night!" she said, looking at Dylan.
"Good-night, Rebecca," he said with a grin.
Marco hugged her tightly, and closed the door behind him, remembering not to lock it that time.
He got back into bed, turning immediately away from Dylan again. "Don't bother me," he warned. "Go to sleep."
Dylan shrugged, aware Marco couldn't see it. His job would never be accomplished if he was worried about bothering him.
"Does she do that every night?" he asked, referring to Rebecca's good-night.
"Yes," said Marco, turning off the light beside him.
" You work at Degrassi, right?" said Dylan, already knowing the answer.
"I know what you're trying to do," said Marco, "and it's not going to work."
Dylan could tell it was working, though. The tone of his voice gave away absolutely everything. He was exhausted, and Dylan was keeping him up.
"Okay," said Dylan, ignoring the obvious request, "how are your parents?" he asked, continuing on with his game.
Marco tried not to let it get to him. "They're very well," he said, gritting his teeth.
"How's Ellie?" he asked.
"You already saw her," Marco reminded, turning on the light, and turning to face him. He knew Dylan wasn't going to let him sleep that night.
"And…Paige?" Dylan asked. Marco almost jumped out of his skin. What would possess Dylan to ask such a ridiculous question? Did he think it was funny? But Dylan's face looked far from amused. He actually looked rather confused.
"What?" he asked.
Dylan blinked, and as quickly as Paige was brought up, she was dropped. "Do you ever miss how life used to be?" he asked.
"Umm," said Marco, still slightly confused about Dylan's interesting Paige question. "Yeah, of course," he said honestly.
"I always miss you," said Dylan, and for a moment, Marco wanted to believe he was drunk or something, but he was as sober as Marco. Dylan waited patiently for a response.
"Night," said Marco, turning the light back off, seeing his chance.
Dylan thought it'd be best to just leave it at that.
The next morning, Dylan found himself alone in bed. His first instinct was to assume Ryan had gone to work, but then he remembered he was at Marco's. He groaned, looking at the clock.
It was only seven. When had Marco gotten up? Dylan pulled himself tiredly out from under the covers. When he walked into the living room, he stood in the doorway, watching Marco and Rebecca silently.
"I don't know what dis one is," said Rebecca, frustrated.
"You can figure it out," said Marco, his coffee cup in hand.
Marco was sitting on the floor with Rebecca in his lap. She had one of her favorite picture books in her arms. They were both too concentrated on the book and each other to notice a close-to-naked Dylan in the doorway.
"Put the first two letters together. G—r is what?" he asked.
"Grr," she giggled. Marco nodded.
Then, something extraordinary happened. Okay, maybe it wasn't a truly unexpected phenomenon, but it had been so long since Dylan had seen such a sight on his husband's face.
Marco's beautiful smile. Dylan became frozen in his spot, watching his niece sound out the word 'great' successfully.
"Great job," said Marco, hugging her lovingly. "High-five," he said proudly, holding his hand up for her to slap.
Then Marco, his face still full of joy, finally looked up at him. Dylan stared, watching the smile vanish completely. It hurt him that hearing Rebecca sound out a word made him ecstatic, but just seeing Dylan's face seemed to bring his day down. Dylan couldn't believe how he'd forgotten that look of pure happiness, and how it made his Italian features glow, and he wanted more than anything to be the cause of it. Damn, he was so screwed.
"Hello," Marco spoke softly, trying to appear calm in front of Rebecca. Dylan finally moved further into the room.
"Morning," said Dylan, trying to conceal the fact that he had been staring.
Rebecca got up from her position on Marco's lap, almost spilling his coffee in the process. She walked across the room to Dylan, and he looked down at her.
"Can I hug you?" she asked. "I prolly have already, but," she laughed, "is that okay?"
"Of course," said Dylan. She hugged his legs, but Dylan brought her up into his arms. How had he gone so long without being a part of her life?
"Yes," said Marco wearily into the phone, shaking the baby in his arms to calm her. Teething, from the very beginning, had been the most awful experience for Rebecca. "Paige is going to pick her up in a few hours, Ma…yes, I can handle it—"
"Marco," said Dylan from behind. Marco held up his pointer finger, telling him to wait until he was done.
"Marco," Dylan repeated more strongly, pretending Marco hadn't made any gesture whatsoever.
"Hold on," he told his mother, realizing Dylan evidently needed to speak with him at that moment.
"Yes?" he asked, trying not to sound too irritated, but with his mother's voice, niece's screaming, and Dylan's attempts to get his attention, it was becoming difficult.
"My sister was taken to the hospital about an hour ago," said Dylan. Marco rocked Rebecca subconsciously. Dylan spoke in a monotone, sounding as though it didn't affect him at all or he was simply in shock. Marco assumed it was the latter.
In Marco's concern, he dropped the phone, and came close to dropping the baby, but fortunately he didn't. "Well, let's go, Dyl," he said quickly, figuring his mother would have to understand.
Marco moved by him to get his jacket from the other room, but Dylan pushed him back gently.
"She's gone, Marco," he said, suddenly gripping Marco's hand tightly.
"Dylan…I…" he said, not knowing what else to say.
Dylan didn't cry, and Marco tried to stop himself from doing so. They just stood perfectly still, staring at each other blankly. Dylan's tight hold on Marco's hand was steadily increasing, but he ignored it. The baby just continued to cry.
Dylan suddenly realized that he had been holding Rebecca for a good five minutes straight, being flooded with the memory of that scary day, and he began to cry.
Marco rose from his position on the floor, walking over to where Dylan was standing. Realizing that Rebecca was probably feeling uncomfortable, he let go of her.
Marco smiled uneasily up at him. "Okay?" he asked, wiping some of Dylan's tears away.
Dylan painfully swallowed the lump in his throat, looking at the floor. All he knew was he'd waited a good long time to cry.
Author's Note: Okay, so please review. Last night, I got to see Sunglasses At Night even though I live in the United States!! Go me! (It was AMAZING. Marco and his dad had some good moments.) If anyone hasn't seen it, wants to, and doesn't know how, ask me for the link and directions, and I'll be happy to give :)