Author's Note: I took a couple days off from writing fanfiction due to a visit from a good friend who moved away several years ago, and, of course, studying for Biology. The exam is Wednesday. Ooooh my gosh, I'm so nervous. Also, please forgive me. In the last chapter, many people decided to point out that, since he was abused himself, Craig should probably have been more understanding of the situation. I'll make it up to you in this chapter.

After Marco let go of Dylan, he moved back slowly, never taking his eyes off the older boy. Marco was a planner. He generally liked to plan things out to the very end, but when it came to Dylan lately, his plan kind of took its own direction. Which is why Marco realized, a little too late, that he should have thought the whole launching himself at Dylan plan through a bit more.

"I—I don't—" Marco stammered, turning around to face his boyfriend. Corey didn't look too cheerful, and Marco didn't blame him.

"He—hey, Corey," said Marco, acting as though he and Corey were alone.

"Marco," he said strangely. "Marco, I think that maybe you and I should take a drive," he said.

The others said nothing, waiting anxiously for a reaction from Marco that could allow them to attack Corey. Marco tried to smile encouragingly at them.

"Okay," he said slowly. He wasn't stupid, but he didn't know what else to do at the time.

"No," said Ellie incredulously. "You are not going with him, Marco."

Mrs. Del Rossi walked downstairs to see what all the fuss was about, definitely not expecting to see her son bruised and beaten. She stopped at the end of the staircase in shock.

"Marco," she said softly, almost unable to speak. She walked over to where he was, enveloping him into a fierce hug. "Marco, what—who—how—" She didn't even know what to say.

"I—" Marco started.

"—Corey," Dylan interrupted, having had enough of the lies and cover-ups. Mrs. Del Rossi had never looked angrier in her life, for she knew exactly what Dylan meant.

Corey looked to Marco for help. "Marco, please, explain to them that I didn't do this to you. Dylan's," he turned to Mrs. Del Rossi, "corrupting him to hate me. I didn't hurt him."

"Marco," said Dylan, "tell your mother the truth."

Marco had definitely been corrupted, but not by Dylan. He was so confused that he wasn't even sure what the real truth was. He'd been in denial about the abuse for so long, constantly saying that Corey loved him. Hell, he still believed that Corey did it out of love.

"Marco," said Dylan again, taking his arm.

"The truth, Marco," said Corey, his eyes shining with pain and anger. He knew he could lose him forever, and it only just hit him.

Marco looked from Dylan back to Corey, and then at his mother. He knew she didn't need him to say it. With the amount of time it took him to speak, it had become pretty obvious to her.

"Are you going to say anything against Dylan's accusation, Marco?" asked Mrs. Del Rossi.

Marco just couldn't make himself speak. It was as though everything that had happened between Dylan, Corey, and himself was just crashing and burning before him, and he couldn't breathe. Corey would hurt him if he didn't or did say anything at this point. What was he to do?

He sat down on the couch in the tiny space between Ashley and Craig, holding onto Craig's arm helplessly. Craig looked down at him, confused.

"Marco, you okay?" he asked. "Don't freak out."

Marco was breathing quickly, hyperventilating, and refusing to let go of his concerned friend. "Get out of my house," said Mrs. Del Rossi angrily, pointing to the stairs. "Get out before I call the police."

Corey's eyes widened, looking at Marco again. He wanted to leave on her orders, but for some reason, his body wouldn't let him.

"Don't!" Marco screamed, when Corey had reluctantly started to walk up the stairs. Marco began to cry, feeling scared and hopeless. Craig tried to calm him, telling him it would be best to let Corey walk out, but Marco wouldn't hear of it. "Please don't leave me, Corey. Mom, Corey would never want to hurt me," he tried to defend him.

"Marco, he obviously has," she replied, unsure of what to do. She looked to Craig, wondering if he knew what he was doing, but he'd been able to take his breathing back to a safe level.

"No," Marco answered, letting his head fall into his hands. "No, no, no, no, no! I love him."

Dylan walked over to Marco's spot on the couch, kneeling down in front of him. He put his hand under Marco's chin, asking him to raise it. Marco looked at him, breaking Dylan's heart every time he saw him.

"Marco, please don't do this. You can't stay with him."

"I can forgive him if I want to," said Marco. "Why did you do this to me?"

"What?" asked Dylan, confounded. "You think I did this?"

"You made everything so much worse!" he cried, leaning most of his body on Craig for support.

Dylan looked at him, without understanding, and finally decided that if Marco was going to blame him, he wasn't going to be around to let it happen. His sister, her friends, and Marco's mother would take care of it from there on.

"If I'm who you want to blame, then fine," said Dylan, hurt. When Marco saw him leave the basement, he felt even worse.

Marco didn't know what to do anymore. "I love you," he whimpered from the couch, looking at Corey. "I love you so much, Corey," he said weakly.

"I want you to get out," said Mrs. Del Rossi calmly. "I don't know what to do at this moment, but please just leave."

Corey knew better than to argue with Marco's mother, but gave Marco a look that clearly stated he was to call him after everything was over. No excuses. Marco sighed. No matter what he did, it was never going to be 'over'.

Corey walked upstairs, gallantly, of course. The only sound was Marco's slightly ragged breathing.

"Dylan's obviously upset, Marco," said Mrs. Del Rossi, trying to find something helpful to say.

Marco didn't know how to respond. In all honesty, he didn't understand why Dylan, of all people, needed to be discussed.

"How could I have been so blind?" she asked, taking a seat on the bottom of the staircase. "This is my fault."

"It's not your fault," said Marco. "I told you who's fault this was."

"Marco, how can you believe that this was Dylan's fault?" asked Ashley, laying her hand on his leg. "He did nothing except try to help you."

"Exactly," said Marco, rubbing his eyes. "If he hadn't tried to help, Corey wouldn't have been so angry with me for liking him."

"Marco, why do you always protect him?" asked Spinner. "It's like, you go to any lengths to not get Corey into trouble."

"When all he ever does is put you in it," added Paige.

Craig soothingly rubbed Marco's bruised wrist, talking more to him than anyone else. "He just doesn't want to let Corey go."

"He does love me, though," said Marco, looking directly at Craig.

Craig nodded, turning back to the rest. "He's just not thinking very logically at the moment," he said.

"Marco, I don't want him here anymore," said Mrs. Del Rossi sternly, still feeling slightly guilty for all that had happened.

"You're not skipping lunch anymore to be with him," said Craig, paying close attention to Marco's flat stomach.

"You're not skipping any food again," Ellie added.

"You come home with one of us everyday," said Paige, "and of course, we'll bring him back here," she added, looking toward his mother.

"You're pretty much our responsibility until we can be sure your need to be with him is…umm done, or at least, under control," said Ashley.

"If you tell me I shouldn't let Corey control me, why should I let my friends baby-sit me?" asked Marco, frustrated.

"Because we love you," said Ellie. "Soon we will help you realize, Corey doesn't love you, Marco. He never did."

"He does," said Marco. "You can pull me away from him, never let him over here, but I refuse to take back my statement that he loves me," he said stubbornly.

"Okay," Ellie agreed. "That's fine for now."

"Oh, and your phone should definitely be on you at all times," said Paige. "You know, we trust you, but—"

"About that…" Marco started. "I don't exactly have a phone anymore," he said, seeing their confused looks.

"I broke it," he said timidly.

"I thought you lost it," said his mother, growing tired of the lies.

"Corey broke it," he said, knowing that he'd already screwed the story up enough for her to become suspicious.

"I'm going home," said Paige, "and you should come with me."

"Grounding can be paused?" Marco asked, standing up with Paige.

"Just go," she said, ushering him out of the basement. Marco could tell she was glad to see him leave with Paige.

"Al—all right," he stuttered, walking outside with Paige.

"You all walked here?" he asked, turning to her.

She nodded. "Yes, we did," she said distantly. "Marco, please don't blame him for this," she said. "He really didn't cause any of this, and I know you know that."

Marco shrugged. "Could we not talk about him?" he asked.

"Oh, sure," she said, annoyed. "We have to talk about him because otherwise, how are you going to apologize to him if you're not actually sorry?"

"Oh, is that what I'm doing?" he asked, rolling his eyes, walking further away from her. "I don't see why."

"You're being stupid," said Paige, "which is really sad because you're the smartest person I know, Marco."

She put her hand on Marco's shoulder, slowing him down a bit. "Hon, he could be at his own school, in his own dorm, doing his own, probably overdue, work."

"But?"

"He's not," she said. "He's not because he knows that you're more important to him than pretty much anything. Dylan would do whatever it takes to make you happy, but all you're doing is avoiding him, staying with someone who makes you so unhappy that you're afraid to even realize it!"

Marco looked down, starting up a fast pace again. "When is he going back to school?" he asked.

Paige rushed to keep up with him. "Well, he won't until you're better, or at least, trying to be."

Marco sighed. "I'll talk to him, okay?"

Author's Note: Please review! It'll make me so happy since my test is in…two hours.