Disclaimer: If I owned Degrassi, the show would revolve around Darco. And since Dylan's barely ever on it, much less it having a lot of Darco-based plots, I don't own it. Boo.

Flames: Are not welcome. No matter what you say about my story, I'll never change it. So don't bother.

Author's Note: Okay, so I hate this chapter. Like, I really hate it. But it had to be written to make way for certain sub plots within the story. Don't worry, Marco's issues aren't over with yet. Actually… that should make you worry, huh? Well, my point is, the story revolves around Marco's cutting. And, even though the last chapter should have been his final time, this story can't continue without it. So it wasn't his last time. I'm rambling now. The point is, this chapter sucks, but for Marco to cut again because of future events, it had to be written. Yes, that's it. I'm done now. xx

d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o

"Marco, something happened to your parents. Something bad."

That was the one moment that Marco wished he could take back in his life. He wished that Ellie hadn't told him that something had happened. Maybe if she didn't tell him, it wouldn't be real. He'd be able to go about his life like normal, and not have to deal with the prospect of someone hurting his family. He'd just be able to snuggle up to Dylan on the couch and watch some lame romantic comedy that he couldn't get enough of. But here he was, sitting in a chair at the police station, waiting for his life to make sense.

"Have they talked to you yet?" Dylan asked, walking over to Marco. He sat down next to his boyfriend and handed him some bottled water, that Marco gratefully took. When Marco shook his head, untwisting the cap, Dylan sighed, looking around. "You weren't even there. Why would they have to see you?"

"They found something," Marco said softly, before looking over at Dylan. "They haven't told me what yet." He took a big drink of his water before fastening the cap. He rubbed a hand across his face, looking stressed. "They won't even tell me anything. All I know is that their house was broken into. And now my dad's at the hospital with a concussion. They won't even let me go see him until they've talked to me!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure your dad's fine," Dylan said, placing a hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. He squeezed it tightly, before leaning over and planting a kiss on the younger man's cheek.

"Marco Del Rossi." An officer was looking out of a room, one that his mother was in. When he spotted Marco, he walked over to him, holding out a hand. "I'm Officer Jacobs. I'm in charge of the investigation."

Marco stood up, shaking the man's hand. Dylan stood up with him, looking worried. "Do you know who did it yet?"

"No, son, I'm afraid I don't. But we did find something that has us worried. If I could talk to you for a second, about that, your friend here could come along." The two didn't even bother to correct him as they followed the officer back to his office, where Marco's mother still was. He motioned for them to sit down.

Marco sat down in the chair next to his mother, Dylan standing behind him. There were other chairs, but something about the officer's tone had him worried. He wanted to be close to Marco right now. He felt he had to.

"Mr. Del Rossi, what's interesting about this is the perpetrators didn't steal anything. As far as we could tell, they came in, searched for something, and then your father came home. They took him by surprise, knocked him out, left a note, and were gone within minutes." He opened a drawer, pulling out a plastic evidence bag, setting it on his desk. Mrs. Del Rossi seemed to become more upset at this, and let out a sob.

"Ma, what's--"

"It's about you," Officer Jacobs said, before looking at Mrs. Del Rossi sympathetically.

Marco looked up at Dylan for a moment, before swallowing hard. He grabbed the letter, and read it over. When he was finished, he felt like he was going to be sick. No way. This couldn't be happening. This really couldn't be happening. Why would someone do this? Why would someone hate him so much? He read it over a few times more, before looking up at his boyfriend again, whose eyes were questioning. Marco handed him the letter before setting his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands. So much for being stress free. He looked up at the officer. "Do you have a rubber band, by any chance?"

Dylan watched the confused man hand Marco a rubber band from his desk, and quickly looked down at the letter. What he read both scared him and pissed him off.

Mr. and Mrs. Del Rossi,

If you think back, I'm sure that you will remember us just fine. Toronto University Freshman Orientation. You accompanied your son, Marco Del Rossi. He was excited to go there, to be apart of college life. But there are some people that don't enjoy having him there. Some people that have to deal with him day after day. Some people that don't want to see him around anymore.

We know about Marco. And if your family isn't careful, we'll really know him. Just before we kill him. Why? Because he's a fag and he doesn't deserve to live. We don't want to put up with him in our courses anymore. Get him out of Toronto or prepare to lose him.

"Marco, we're very concerned about your well-being," Officer Jacobs said, before Mrs. Del Rossi let out another sob. Marco scooted his chair closer to his mother's and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, trying to soothe her. "We want to assign someone to look after you until the perps are caught."

"You want to assign someone to be my babysitter?" Marco asked slowly, raising his eyebrows.

"Not babysitter, more of a bodyguard."

"Look, I know that letter is unsettling, but I have people around me that can protect me if something goes wrong," Marco said, sighing. "I don't want to have a police officer watching my every move."

"Marco, maybe it's not such a bad idea," Dylan said softly, looking down at his boyfriend.

"Dylan--"

"We can't be around you all the time. You have class and work. Maybe having someone around to be there when we can't be is what we need." When Marco gave Dylan a look, Dylan shrugged. "Marco, there are people out there who want to kill you. They raided your parents' house because of you. Your father is in the hospital. I don't want you to end up there, too."

Marco looked down at the ground and started snapping the rubber band that was now on his wrist. He rubbed his face, sighing, before looking back at the officer. "Okay. If Dylan thinks it's a good idea, and if it'll make Ma feel better… then okay. Let's do it."

d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o d a r c o

"I feel like I'm being stalked," Marco said as he sat in The Dot the next night, across from Dylan at a table. Ellie and Craig had joined them, along with Jimmy. Even with all his friends around, the police officer didn't think it was wise to leave him. She was sitting in a booth against the wall, looking around and glancing at the group every so often.

"Hey, at least it's better than being dead," Jimmy said pointedly.

"Yeah, but, man, it's still creepy," Craig said, before looking behind him at the police officer. She chose that moment to look at the group, and gave him the most creepy, hard look. It sent a shiver down his spine.

"We've learned not to look at her," Ellie said, nodding as she patted her boyfriend on the back.

"She was waiting outside the bathroom this morning while I took a shower!" Marco whispered, with an incredulous look.

Ellie grinned. "There goes fun time with Dylan," she said, winking at Marco.

"Ellie!" Marco said, his face going red before burying it in his hands.

"Aw, c'mon, we don't want to hear about that," Craig said, looking disgusted. "I mean, really. Gross."

"Hey, where's Spinner and Paige?" Jimmy asked, looking a bit confused. "Paige said they didn't have anything to do today. I thought that was code for 'yeah, sure, we'll hang out with you guys so I can have a break from putting up with Spinner myself.'"

"Dylan's not exactly happy with them at the moment," Ellie said, glancing at Marco for a second, before looking back at Jimmy. "I asked that same question last night when I realized Paige wasn't home. Though, Marco, you never told me why Dylan kicked them out."

"You kicked them out?" Craig said, his eyes going wide as he raised his eyebrows at Dylan.

"He had a good reason," Marco said, sticking up for his boyfriend. "Just not one that we're going to share." He looked over at Ellie pointedly.

"Okay, okay, fine," Ellie said, raising her hands up in surrender. "I'll just get it out of you later."

"Uh oh. Drama alert," Craig said, looking over at the door. Everyone else's eyes followed his own, where Paige and Spinner were standing.

"Dylan, I know you're angry, but we're sorry," Paige said quickly as she walked over to the table. She grabbed a chair and sat down next to the hockey player, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout. "As your little sitter, I took it upon myself to stop you from making a big mistake. I thought that if you got jealous then you'd realize how important Marco is to you. But I shouldn't have done that. And I'm sorry."

Dylan rolled his eyes. Paige was his baby sitter. It wasn't like he could just stay mad at her forever. It was impossible. "It's fine. But he," he looked over at Spinner, who was still standing at the door awkwardly, "better keep his mouth away from Marco's before I use him as a hockey puck."

As Spinner made his way over to the table slowly, Craig spit out the soda he was drinking… all over Paige's shirt. While she looked ready to smack him, Craig looked over at Spinner quickly, his eyes wide. Ellie and Jimmy looked just as shock. "You kissed Marco?!"

"Twice," Paige said, smirking slightly. "The first was pretty hot, if I do say so myself. They really got into it. Full on make out session. Well, it was hot until Dylan threw Spinner across the room, at least."

"Hey, you made me kiss him," Spinner said, looking over at Paige.

"Not like that I didn't," Paige said, getting up from her seat. "Besides, I said one kiss. Not one make out session and one 'interrupt Marco while he's pouring his heart and soul out to you' attack kiss. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go home and change. Try to keep your soda in your mouth more often, Craig." She quickly left, looking disgustedly down at her wet shirt.

"You guys seriously made out?" Ellie asked, looking back and forth between Marco and Spinner. Both Spinner and Marco looked like they were about to die.

"Can we go now?" Marco asked in a pathetic voice, looking up at Dylan with miserable eyes.

"Yeah, we can." Dylan stood up from the table, Marco following suit. As they started towards the door, Dylan's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the screen, before pressing 'ignore.'

"Who was that?" Marco asked as they stepped outside.

"Just my friend from Switzerland," Dylan said, shrugging, acting like it was no big deal. "I'll call him back later."

"Oh. Okay," Marco said, sticking his hands in his pockets as he looked behind him. Of course. The officer was now leaving The Dot. Could he die now?

Dylan looked down at Marco's hands and sighed inwardly. He knew that whenever they were pocketed, Marco didn't want to hold hands, and that usually meant that Dylan did something wrong. He put an arm around Marco's shoulders, right before the younger boy pulled away from him. "Marco, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Marco said, shrugging as he looked up at Dylan. "Let's just get home. I'm beat."

"Alright," Dylan said softly. He looked up at the stars for a moment, before looking back at Marco. Just wait until he knew who was really calling Dylan.