Author's Note: Well, I'm back :) I'm still a little sore but good news is I'm able to write again (until the homework kicks in) so I hope you all like this chapter.
ElementalKitty: Hahaha I do aim to please :) I try to throw bits of humour in here now and again ;) Though I wish people would review more. I know this 'channel' isn't exactly one of the most popular anymore, but I see a bunch of stories with like 300 reviews and I'm like 'dang!' :P
"Marco," a deadly familiar voice entered the younger boy's ears.
Marco froze, fear paralyzing him momentarily. He turned around and saw his father standing a couple yards away from him, shock written all over his face. Mr. del Rossi, however was staring at him, face blank of all emotion. Marco's hand flew to his pocket where his phone was, gripping it tightly.
"Non c'è bisogno di panico, Marco (There's no need to panic, Marco)," Mr. del Rossi smiled at him, opening his arms as if to give him a hug as he walked cautiously towards him. "Ho cercato per voi fin dalla ... da quel giorno. Volevo chiedere scusa, Marco. I. .. ho reagito in maniera eccessiva. Non avrei mai dovuto ... hai picchiato così (I've been looking for you ever since...since that day. I wanted to apologize, Marco. I...I over-reacted. I should never have...have beaten you up like that)." Mr. del Rossi was now standing right in front of Marco.
Marco had never felt so conflicted. His heart wanted badly to believe him. To believe that his father loved him again, that he always did and just made a mistake. But Marco's instinct screamed danger. Especially since his father was speaking Italian. He never did that unless he was angry or confused. Marco looked unsurely at him.
"Per favore, Marco, mi dispiace tanto (Please, Marco, I am so sorry)." Marco decided to conpromise with his conflicting sides. While he stared back at his father, trying to hear him out, the hand gripping his phone started to dial Dylan's number; if Mr. del Rossi turned out to be deadly Dylan would know and hopefully call the police.
"Hello?" Marco heard Dylan answer loudly from his phone. "Marco?"
Mr. del Rossi's eyes glinted murderously at him as he heard Dylan's voice. "Come, non ti fidi di me? (What, you don't trust me?)" he roared, leaping forward and twisting Marco's arm painfully behind his back in one swift motion, causing him to drop his phone. It stayed on, however, as Marco cried out in pain, his arm throbbing.
"Marco!" Dylan shouted.
"Ti senti fortunato, frocio?(You feel lucky, faggot?)" Mr. del Rossi hissed, pushing Marco's arm up higher. "Davvero?(Do you?)"
Marco sat up gasping, clutching his chest where his heart was beating furiously. He quickly looked down at Dylan who, thank god, was still asleep. The Italian boy continued to take deep breaths, unnerved. He hadn't had a dream like last time in weeks. Why now? He wasn't going to see his father again...was he? Marco bit his lip worriedly. What if that dream comes true too, like the last one?
Lowering himself back down, he clutched Dylan closer to him, loving the feeling of security he got when he was in Dylan's arms. Surely this one won't come true too, right? Last time was just a coincidence, it happens to everyone sooner or later, Marco tried to console himself. Everyone, at least once in their life, predicts something that came true in their sleep, right?...True they're not usually as detailed or...disturbing...but it's all coincidental. What're the odds of it happening a second time, right?
One thing Marco was certain of, however, was that he would not tell Dylan or anyone else for that matter about it; he would just sound like a baby. Just thank God he didn't hear this time, Marco thought appreciatively.
The younger boy, shaking, tried to fall back asleep, but it was useless; he just kept feeling as if his father was hovering over him. Marco just rested his ear against Dylan's chest, hearing his heart beat strong and surely. It was the only thing stopping Marco from becoming hysterical. Hearing his heart beat reminded Marco of what was real, Dylan, and what was just a pure mixture of memory and a lively imagination, his father. Why can't I ever go twenty-four hours without something ruining my time with Dylan? Marco thought exasperately.
When Dylan's alarm bell went off, Dylan opened his eyes, feeling rested, and looked down at Marco, smiling. However, his smile slid off his face as he saw Marco, dark circles underneath his wide eyes, looking depressed and exhausted. The older boy was confused. Did I...maybe do something wrong? Dylan thought worriedly. Though that fear was put to rest as Marco looked up and smiled as warmly as he could at him.
Obviously it wasn't him that was the problem, but that meant something had happened over night while he was asleep and completely unaware. That bothered Dylan. A lot.
"Good morning Dylan," Marco looked blearily up at him, trying to sound cheerful.
"Marco?" Dylan asked. "Did you sleep at all last night?"
"I did!" Marco insisted truthfully.
Dylan raised an eyebrow.
"Well...part...of the night," Marco uttered quietly.
"Why didn't you sleep, babe?" Dylan looked Marco in the eye seriously.
Marco yawned, stretched, got up, and tried to smile convincingly at Dylan. "Oh, you know, it was just one of those nights." No one could argue with that right?
Shrugging, Dylan let it go and smiled at Marco as the younger boy left to take a shower.
Marco, instead of turning the shower water to almost painfully hot like he was famous for, he let it stay cold. Taking a deep breath, Marco shoved his body into it and gasped, feeling a jolt go through him as the icy water hit his skin. Shivering, but awake now, Marco took as short a shower as he possibly could before wrapping himself in a towel and walked back into his and Dylan's room.
Dylan was dozing on his bed, looking so peaceful. Marco smiled softly at him before placing a hand on Dylan's shoulder and shook him gently. "Come on Dyl, get up."
"Holy mother of-!" Dylan shrieked, jumping up and away from Marco's hand. "Marco, you're freezing!"
Marco's stunned expression turned into a sheepish, apologetic one. "Sorry," he murmured, stepping back slightly as if afraid he'd make Dylan cold just by standing near him.
Dylan rolled his eyes and pulled the towel-covered-and-ice-cold Marco into a hug. "Don't be silly Marco, it's fine, you just...shocked me." He looked at Marco with amused eyes. "Why did you take a cold shower anyway? You usually take such a hot shower you burn people just by being in the same room as them," Dylan joked.
The younger boy grinned. "I was trying to wake myself up," he said evasively, giving him a coy smile.
Dylan beamed at him, chuckled and kissed him lightly. "Brrrrr," he fake shivered teasingly, pulling away and winking at Marco.
Marco rolled his eyes and pushed him back into his pillow. He got up and grabbed his clothes before going into the bathroom to get changed, feeling Dylan's charmed eyes follow him out.
"Good morning Marco," Tim said cautiously, not sure how the Italian boy would respond.
"Hey Tim," he greeted, smiling at him. Marco was determined to make their friendship work and forget about the fact that Tim...had a crush on him.
Relieved, Tim grinned. "And how was your morning, del Rossi?" He didn't want to know how his weekend with Dylan was.
He hesitated slightly, but only slightly, before he answered, "Pretty good Gerallde," Marco winked at him. He yawned widely, "Though I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Oh?" Tim said, slightly concerned. "Why not?"
Again he paused, a little more noticeably this time, before he said, "Oh, you know, it was just one of those nights."
"Ahhh," Tim smirked at him.
Marco shut his locker and smiled in parting, and turned to leave until Tim caught him on the shoulder. "Hey, uh, I was wondering..." Tim said cautiously, looking the Italian boy seriously in the eye. Come on, he already knows you like him. Stop being a freak and just ask him! "Do you wanna maybe hang out sometime? Like go see a movie or something?"
"Oh, um," Marco said, feeling a little uncomfortable. Is he asking...me out or something? "I don't know, Tim..."
"Oh, come on," Tim winked. "It's just going to be us friends hanging out."
Marco bit his lip. "But what about-"
"Dylan?" Tim finished his question for him. "Marco, you can't let Dylan control your life like that. Just do whatever you want to do, you don't need his permission or anything."
Marco was still looking at him unsurely until he suddenly lit up. "Hey! I have an idea.. Listen, you know I really want us to be friends right?"
Tim beamed at him.
"And it's really important to me if my friend and my boyfriend get along, so why don't the three of us hang out together?"
Tim's face fell and hardened slightly.
"Please?" Marco pleaded, giving Tim his puppy dog eyes and placing a hand on Tim's arm.
Gah, curse him and his persuasiveness, Tim thought unhappily in his head. Tim sighed and gave Marco a small smile. "Fine, sure Marco. We'll all hang out tonight."
Marco beamed radiantly at him. "Tim, you're the best!" And he started off to his homeroom excitedly, leaving Tim to stare after him.
Tim sighed again. How he was supposed to survive the night with Dylan glaring at him the entire time, he had no idea. But the only bright side was that Marco would be there, and surely he would keep that Michalchuk fellow under control. Dylan wouldn't dare try anything, because Marco would get furious with him. An idea suddenly struck Tim, and he grinned maliciously as he went off to his homeroom. Maybe, Tim thought wickedly. If I get Dylan jealous enough...without seeming like I'm trying to to Marco...maybe Dylan will try something and Marco will hate him! Okay, Tim realized this was pure wishful thinking, but he was determined to try.
When the bell rang, Marco hurriedly went off to find Dylan before he left for lunch.
Dylan was placing books away when he looked up suddenly and saw a grinning and slightly cautious Marco heading towards him. Surprised, but delighted, Dylan smiled at his boyfriend widely. "Hey, Marco," he greeted happily. "What're you doing down here?"
"Hey Dyl, listen I need to ask you something," Marco began quickly. "Okay, I-I know Tim isn't exactly your favourite person but I really want us all to be friends and I was hoping we could all hang out tonight so you guys can get to know each other but I understand if you don't want to go and you don't have to if you don't want to!" Marco had somehow said that all in one breath.
Dylan had his eyebrows knitted in confusion as he tried to catch up with all of Marco's words, but realization dawned on him as he figured it out.
Marco continued anxiously, speaking almost impossibly fast, "Because Tim came up to me this morning and he really wanted to hang out but I said I didn't know because it just sounded weird and he said to just come but then I said we should all hang out that way Tim would get what he wants and it wouldn't be awkward for me or anything and you'll be there but I completely understand if you don't want to because I know you don't like him but it would really be awesome if we all became friends and there wasn't any more hostility or anything but-"
Dylan placed a finger on Marco's lips, ceasing his babbling. He gave Marco an amused smile. "Only you could talk that fast, del Rossi," Dylan chuckled. Marco blushed, slightly embarrassed, and Dylan smiled wider. God I love it when he blushes. Dylan swooned in his mind, forgetting momentarily about the disturbing fact that Tim had tried to ask out his Marco. He looks so incredibly adorable. But now Tim cam swirling back into his thoughts, and he got angry. That stupid little shit. He's at it again. When is he ever going to give it a rest?
Outwardly, Dylan said, smiling convincingly, "But somehow I think I understood it. We can all hang out tonight, Marco. It's alright as long...as long as I'm there with you, because I'm not comfortable with you hanging out alone with him. He...might try something, but if it's the three of us then it's okay, babe."
Marco, who had braced himself for Dylan's 'hell no,' looked surprisedly up at him. Dylan looked back at him with amused and warm eyes, and Marco grinned sunnily. He hugged Dylan tightly, whispered a 'thank you' into his chest, and took off down the hallway, not wanting to delay either of them for any longer.
Dylan looked after him before he, too, turned and left.
"Marco! Dylan!" Paige called up as she heard the door bell ring. She knew Tim was going to hang out with them tonight, and she also knew Dylan wasn't too happy about it. His only consolation was that Marco had made sure that if he and Tim were hanging out, then Dylan would be there too.
Paige didn't blame Marco or anything for having Dylan feel like this; he was too incredibly naïve to possibly know what was really going on. However, she did feel resentment towards Tim, who was well aware of the fact that Marco belonged to Dylan. But he just wouldn't leave them alone!
"Hey, uh, Paige?" Tim greeted, unsure if that really was her name.
"Yeah, hey Tim," she replied. "Marco! Dylan!" she shouted again.
"Yeah, hold on Paige!" Marco yelled down to her. He was waiting in their room for Dylan to come out of the bathroom. He was wearing a light blue shirt underneath a white collared one, a jean jacket that was buttoned up, dark jeans, and a beige hat.
A little bored, Marco picked up his guitar and began playing Dylan's song, humming along. Dylan suddenly opened the door, and Marco stopped and smiled at him. He was wearing a simple light grey sweater with light jeans.
Dylan walked over to him, swooped down and planted a kiss on Marco's cheek. "That's my favourite song, you know," he told him sincerely.
"It better be, Michalchuk," Marco teased, pulling Dylan up with him.
Dylan winked at him before he took his hand and descended the stairs. Tim was wearing a black leather jacket and dark jeans.
He completely ignored Dylan and looked at Marco with admiration. Wow...he...just...wow, Tim's mind stammered.
Marco was starting to feel uncomfortable by Tim's gawking, and Dylan could see that. Squeezing Marco's hand, Dylan glowered at Tim and said, "Should we go then?"
"Oh, um, yeah," Tim got out. Instead of seeing a movie, as Dylan and Marco had seen one the other night, they were going to go ice skating on the still frozen lake that the couple had been to before.
Tim's eyes twinkled at Marco as he held up his skates. "Ready to skate?"
Marco grinned, "I'm ready to fail at it."
Dylan and Tim both laughed, and the elder boy tugged Marco out the door.
Dylan unlocked the door and got in the driver's seat as Tim got in the back. Tim patted the seat next to him invitingly, and Dylan tensed, looking at Marco. The Italian boy smiled apologetically at Tim before he slid into the front passenger seat next to Dylan. The older boy looked triumphantly into the rearview mirror, but Marco's unintentional rejection didn't even faze Tim. The whole ride there Tim sat on the edge of his seat so he'd be between Marco's head and Dylan's. He cracked jokes to Marco the whole way, and Dylan forced a smile on his face. On the inside, however, he was seething.
When they got to the river, Marco got his and Dylan's skates out of the back. Suddenly, in one swift movement, Dylan scooped Marco up and ran wildly to the river bank. Marco gave a shout of surprise at first but started giggling as Dylan ran, laughing himself.
Tim angrily stared at Dylan's back as he got his own skates and ran too. "Don't drop him," Tim said loudly.
Dylan gave him a sharp look as he stopped before putting on a strained smile. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I've never dropped Marco once," Dylan nuzzled his face into Marco's hair. Marco blushed but looked happy.
Tim cleared his throat, barely able to suppress yet another harsh look in Dylan's direction. He sat as Dylan put Marco down, all three of them quickly lacing their skates. Both Dylan and Tim simultaneously hopped onto the ice and held out their hand for Marco. The two glared at each other before looking expectantly at Marco. The Italian boy looked at them perpexingly before just shaking his head and taking both hands.
Marco was extremely wobbly on the ice, and instantly clung to Dylan, who was closer, for support. Over Marco's head, Dylan smirked smugly at Tim, who scowled back. Everything wasn't exactly going as planned. Marco seemed to be having more fun with Dylan than him...and he began to feel like a third wheel.
No, I'm not just going to give up, Tim thought determindly.
He skated over to them and grabbed Marco above the elbow. "Need help?" he asked, fluttering his eyelashes. Tim all but yanked Marco from Dylan's grasp and towed him away slightly, smiling. Marco was surprised, but he was too concentrated on trying to balance to really think clearly.
He towed Marco around for a bit, letting him get a feel for it, before he said cheerfully, "Okay, I'm going to let you go."
"What?" Marco panicked, holding on to Tim harder. Dylan, meanwhile was watching him. He supposed he should be the bigger person and allow Marco to have some innocent fun with Tim. However, if he tried anything...
"Don't worry, Marco. I'll be right here," Tim said soothingly.
Marco looked at him doubtfully, but nodded.
Tim slowly let go of Marco, and the Italian boy instantly threw his arms out to his side for balance.
Marco laughed giddily as he stood upright, grinning.
Tim smiled widely back and encouraged, "Great Marco! Okay, now push off with your feet...yeah from the side...slowly, baby steps..."
Carefully, Marco pushed off, taking almost unnoticeably small strides, but he was moving at least. And staying on his feet.
Marco was beaming brilliantly, the sun shining on his dark hair.
Dylan felt jealousy start to rage through him. He wanted to be the one to teach Marco how to skate, not this guy. True, he had taken Marco out on the ice before, but then it was mostly Dylan towing him around.
Suddenly Marco started to wobble, and Dylan tensed, ready to shoot towards him if he fell. And then...he did, but Tim caught him in his arms and helped him back up, holding him longer then was neccessary.
Dylan skated towards them as fast as he could, stopping and looking at Marco. "You okay?"
But Marco was grinning. "Yeah!"
Dylan chuckled. Taking Marco's hands he towed him away from Tim now. "You wanna keep trying?"
Marco nodded vigorously. Staring down at him feet and holding on to Dylan's warm hands, Marco started pushing off more strongly and with larger strides.
The older boy looked down at him proud and amused eyes. Marco's face was priceless; he looked like a little kid on Christmas morning.
The younger boy looked up at him ecstatically. I'm actually skating! Marco cheered in his head. It was pretty bad skating, but oh well. You can't win them all.
Tim skated over to them, stopping just in front of Dylan, spraying him with snow.
"Gah," Dylan cried, shielding his face and in result letting go of Marco.
"Dyl!" Marco screamed, starting to wobble dangerously at the surprise.
Tim grabbed the Italian boy's waist and shoulder in an attempt to stop him from falling, however he kept his hands there even when Marco was upright and steady. Tim glared at Dylan accusingly, but Marco was still grinning. The Italian boy reached over and brushed snow off Dylan's shoulders.
Dylan just stared pointedly at where Tim's hands were, and Tim just winked smugly at him. The older boy growled slightly, and Marco looked up at him confused. That was when he finally saw that neither Tim nor Dylan seemed to be happy with the company.
Marco sighed. His head hung down a little and started of towards the river bank, doing his best not to fall. Dylan and Tim looked after him, feeling ashamed of themselves. They hadn't meant to make Marco unhappy. Quite the opposite actually.
Marco sat down and unlaced his skates, ignoring the two when they joined him silently. He was both angry at himself for making them have to hang out when the obviously despised each other and not noticing it, and upset at them for not even trying to be friends.
Being done before either of them, he got up and started towards Dylan's car, too busy being lost in his own misery to notice the way Dylan and Tim's eyes were filled with remorse.
They both wished they could be friends just to make Marco happy...or at least not make it so conspicuous that they would sooner chop off their arms.
Marco leaned up against the car and waited for Dylan to unlock it, averting his gaze from them. They drove back in an awkward silence. The only time someone spoke was when Tim told Dylan where his house was.
As Tim got out, he looked back at Marco wistfully and said, "I'm sorry Marco. I'll see you tomorrow?"
Marco just nodded, not looking at him.
When they got to Dylan's house, they walked up the stairs and got into bed. Hesitantly, Dylan wrapped his arms around Marco's waist, his hands on his stomach, and pulled him closer. He was relieved when Marco didn't fight it, but Dylan was still worried.
"I'm sorry Marco, I shouldn't have-" Dylan tried to say.
"No, Dyl, it was my fault," Marco whispered back sadly. "I shouldn't have made you guys hang out when it was obvious you didn't like each other."
Dylan's arms tightened around him. "We shouldn't have fought, but we just...can't really see eye to eye. I'm sorry, we were being really childish."
Marco turned around and stared, fixated on the older boy's shirt. He started fiddling and twirling it as he spoke, "I just...really wanted everything to work out that I didn't see that you guys weren't happy. I'm s-"
Dylan cut in, "No, Marco don't be sorry. It's not your fault."
Marco cuddled up closer to Dylan and closed his eyes, exhausted.
At least until he remembered his nightmare.
The younger boy's eyes flew open, his face against Dylan's broad chest. Dylan's breathing had begun to even out as he fell towards sleep, not noticing how odd it was that Marco's had quickened.
No, no, no, no I can't sleep! Marco cried in his head. I can't...have the same nightmare...what if...what if I...I don't sleep and nothing happens? What if the reason these things happen is because I dream them? If I don't dream...then maybe they won't come true! In Marco's exhausted brain, this all made sense. I'll just...never sleep...how hard could it be? Probably not too bad since there's so many insomniacs now-a-days.
It turned out to be very hard, however, as Marco was extremely tired and...bored. Dylan was asleep, Paige was asleep, the world was asleep. He couldn't just lie in bed and be tempted to fall unconscious. He needed to do something that was both time-consuming and quiet. Unfortunately, that ruled out Marco's guitar.
Sighing, Marco wriggled out of Dylan's arms, hoping desperately that he wouldn't wake up his boyfriend.
"Mmph!" Dylan grunted in sleepy disappointment. He wasn't conscious enough to really register that Marco had crawled out of bed, but he did feel the lack of another person safe in his arms. He knew he was gone, without really knowing that he knew. Confusing, yes, but that's what happens when you're in a limbo between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Marco froze in fright at first, before he saw that Dylan simply shuffled the blankets a little and started snoring. He then began to force back a fit of giggles at the sight of Dylan lying sprawled out on the bed, his mouth lolling open. Is that what he really looks like in his sleep without me there? Marco laughed in his head.
Marco slid all the way out of bed and stood there in the dark, slightly puzzled. Ummm...okay I'm out...but what do I do now?
He started chewing on his cheek subconsciously, trying to figure out what he could do for the next eight hours. I can't play my guitar...it's not like I can leave the house...what can I do? Marco thought. It'll have to be something in this room...I don't want to wake up anyone by stomping throughout the hallways...
Marco began quietly tip-toeing and searching slowly through the black room, doing his best not to make much noise. Marco finally just settled on a piece of paper and a pencil.
He looked at the blank sheet skeptically. He'd never really drawn before...except when he was five, but that didn't really count as it was mostly scribbles of bean-shaped dogs and square houses. No, he'd never really drawn and tried to make it realistic. Where was he supposed to begin? What was he even going to draw?
The Italian boy was tempted to draw Dylan, but he was afraid he'd mess his features up. No, he wasn't going to even think about capturing his physique until he became really good at it. Whoa, wait...I don't even know if I'm going to like it.
Marco layed himself down on the hard wood floor, resting on his stomach and placing the paper on the floor. Twiddling the pencil between his fingers, Marco tiredly thought of something he could doodle.
A tree I guess...hmph. Marco thought unmotivatingly. He began brushing his pencil gently across the page. He started drawing a tree in the background, until he grumpily noticed that he drew it too small. Instead of crumpling it up, he just decided on drawing a couple more trees to accompany it, making it look more full. It needs...grass, the younger boy thought, and began creating a pathway with grass along its edges.
When he was done, he held it up to the moonlight glowing through and looked at it critically. Eh, it's alright, Marco nodded to himself. It's definitely better then I thought it would be. He was actually a little proud of it. Sure, it wouldn't win him any awards, but for a first shot it was pretty good.
Marco looked at the clock and was surprised to see that he had burned almost an hour and a half doing that. He raised an eyebrow in surprise and delight. Hmm... It seemed he had found his distraction.
Marco quickly glanced at the clock and panickly saw that Dylan's alarm was about to go off in two minutes. Tossing his fifth sheet on paper behind his duffel bag, Marco blearily slinked under the covers and ever so gently placed Dylan's arms around him like they were when he fell asleep.
The alarm went off then and Marco quickly shut his eyes, pretending to just wake up while he cringed on the inside; he hated the sound of Dylan's alarm.
Dylan opened his eyes sleepily, giving Marco a small smile. The younger boy groaned and buried his face into Dylan's chest, convincingly looking like he wanted to sleep some more. Which, all together, wasn't completely untrue. Marco did want to sleep, what he didn't want was to dream about his father.
Dylan ran his fingers through Marco's hair, whispering, "Wake up, honey."
Marco bit back the urge to cry, 'I'm already awake! I never even went to sleep!'
Instead, he smiled tiredly up at him and murmured, "Alright, alright, I'm up," and yawned.
Dylan ruffled the younger boy's hair and sat up, stretching. Marco hopped out of bed, so over-tired that he doubted he'd ever be able to sleep again, and went to the shower. He, for the second time in his entire life, turned the shower to freezing cold.
Bracing himself, he hopped in and gave a loud gasp as the ice water hit his skin, water colder this time then before. Marco as fast as he possibly could, scrubbed shampoo and conditioner into his hair and scrubbed his body with soap, teeth chattering.
Marco wrapped a towel around his waist, and another around his shoulders when he got out of the shower. Trying to still his shivering, Marco crept into their room. Dylan was lounging on his bed, trying to catch a few more minutes of sleep before he noticed his obviously cold boyfriend.
He raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Why did you take another cold shower? I thought you loved your blisteringly hot showers?"
"Oh yuh-you n-know, it w-wakes me up f-faster," Marco stuttered as Dylan got up and walked over to him.
"I'll say," Dylan said, touching Marco's slightly quivering hands. "You're going to get hypothermia if you keep this up." Dylan pulled him into a warm hug, wincing slightly at the iciness of Marco's skin but refusing to let go.
"N-n-naw, I'm f-fine," Marco almost bit his tongue as he forced those words through his teeth.
Dylan gave him a look.
Marco pulled away and went to grab his clothes. He hurried back into the bathroom, got dressed, brushed his teeth and blow dried his hair. Feeling warmer, Marco walked back into the bedroom and found Dylan dozing on the bed again. Smirking, Marco nudged the older boy awake again and said, "Go. Take your shower."
Dylan peeked up at him and smiled. "Ah, finally able to talk normally again?"
Marco lightly smacked Dylan's shoulder. "Get!" He shooed Dylan out of bed.
"At least I don't have to worry about you taking all the hot water this time," Dylan muttered. The elder boy grinned and ducked as Marco threw a pillow at his head.
Alone in their room, Marco looked longingly at the bed. He shook his head hard, trying to clear it, but that only resulted in the room spinning around him and a more foggy brain. Better get used to it, Marco thought tiredly. Cause this is how it's going to be for a little while.
Haha so hint double hint for anyone who reads this (even if you've already reviewed one of my chapters!) reviews help my motivation to keep updating so I think it goes without saying to do so ASAP :)
I'll give you cookies :)