A/N: my usual note: in order to put these up, i have to abandon my spell check and hope for the best. so don't yell at me. Title is a not-so-obscure-anymore reference to the NIN song, which was originally toward the end. But i added it to the beginning for the introduction. Also, because i have seen nothing on the show about it, Marco has an older brother, who's in collage, and an older and younger sister. Hell, i didn't even know his last name until reading some fics, so bear with me here, people!
Summary: Marco's cousin has to stay with him for a few months. Unexpected friendships, bonds, and romances spring forward.
Disclaimer: I'm only going to put this once, because i can never remember to do this every chapter. I don't own Degrassi. I only own the characters that do not and will not appear in the show in any way, shape or form (ex: i own marcos' aunt, because she'll never be mentioned, but not his mother, because she has been before.) I'm going to try to put a song in every chapter. I don't own those, either.
Song o' the week" 'Closer' - Nine Inch Nails
Dedication: right now, to Marpha, for letting me use her name/nickname. Kate, for letting me use her name. Hannah, for letting me use the name of one of her mangas that had absolutely nothing to do with vampires, but i don't care, because it sounds cool. more to be added as the fic goes on.
--Introduction: Help Me--
Marco Del Rossi leaned closer to his mirror, frowning slightly, before sucking his lower lip into his mouth, making the spot of hair above his chin more accessible. No matter how many times he seemed to shave, that little patch of dark fuzz always seemed to return in under an hour.
He was just beginning to dab it with shaving cream when a knock sounded on his door. Irritaded, he wiped his chin and hands before flinging open a door, armed with an insult for whoever happened to intrude upon his 'private time.' He quickly swallowed his tongue, however, after laying eyes upon his mother.
She smiled gently at him, her eyes shining. "Honey," she began, her voice shaking a bit, "we have to talk."
Marco took a deep breath before nodding, then following his mother down the hall to his room. Something major had happened. Either a relative had died or gone to jail, someone had made a stupid mistake in their life, or, what Marco feared most, she figured out the sexual orientation of her youngest son.
She settled herself on the edge of his bed, patting the space beside her, inviting her son to sit by her. He shakily sat next to her, trying to keep his nervousness beaten down inside him, but the way his eyes couldn't focus on his mothers eyes, and the large, sweaty hand prints his palms left on his jeans gave him away.
After a long, uncomfortable pause, She spoke.
"I just got of the phone with Jo."
Marco stiffened, not quite sure if he should be relieved just yet. Josephine Del Rossi, his fathers younger sister, was the mother of the only other person in the world who knew that he was gay.
His mother sighed, not sure quite how to put this as gently as possible. She knew that Marco kept in close contact with his cousin, but was still not sure if she had let on about anything that had been happening over the past 5 years.
"Martha's going to be staying with us for a little while... until her mother can find a new house."
Marco let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He found himself smiling at the thought of hanging out with 'Marpha' (as he had dubbed her when they were 2) again. They had moved down to Chicago when they were 9, and that was the last time he had seen her in person. "Did Uncle Danny get another job transfer?" he inquired, finally meeting his mothers eyes. He was shocked to see a tear tumble down her cheek.
"No, sweety." She sighed again, not wanting to say what she had to say next. "He was just arrested. For domestic abuse."
Marco felt his legs get weak, and was glad he was already sitting, otherwise he would have collapsed. He had always thought his uncle was the most gentle man on the face of the earth. He had cringed at the thought of killing spiders, and had always insisted on using the same plastic Christmas tree so he didn't have to chop one down. How could a man like that even imagine lifting a hand to his wife? His tongue felt like sandpaper in his mouth as he tried to form words, but all he got out was a weak "How...?"
"I don't know honey," his mother's voice was strained and she tried not to cry. "All I know is that for the past five years he beat up both Jo and Martha, and he may have been..." --she cringed at the thought-- "...sexually abused Martha as well."
At that, she let out a long held sob. She couldn't even imagine all that her sister-in-law had had to endure, first with being a single parent, and then marrying such an abusive man, who forced her to move away from her friends and family, and had starved her daughter to the point of near death. She opened her arms to her son, who embraced her readily, allowing his own tears to be absorbed by the fabric on her shoulder.
___
**You let me violate you.**
**You let me desecrate you.**
**You let me penetrate you.**
**You let me complicate you.**
Martha Del Rossi artfully mixed her paints, trying desperately to make the perfect shade of red. She only had a few hours to finish this painting before she had to head for the airport. She hummed along to her favorite song of all time. Her friends had all been shocked that she still could listen to it when they found out what her step-father had done to her. But she didn't think about that anymore. It was just a song.
**Help me, I broke apart my insides.**
**Help me, I've got no soul to sell.**
**Help me, the only thing that works for me**
**Help me get away from myself.**
She soon found herself absorbed in her work, concentrating on making the tiny rivers of red fall down the young man's neck gracefully, yet realistically. Her other hand was automatically unwrapping a Twinkie. She was still working on gaining back the weight that her forced anorexia had caused her to lose. Danny had always found excuses for her to go without dinner, ranging from punishing her to saying they had eaten earlier, after her guitar lesson. She wasn't entirely surprised when he first started taking her food away. He had always said he couldn't stand fat women.
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**
**I want to feel you from the inside.**
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**
**My whole existence is flawed.**
**You bring me closer to God**
She ignored the splashes of paint that dotted her skin, just like she had ignored the bruises. Now, after weeks of counseling, she had learned to be, not proud, but unashamed of her 'battle scars.' She felt comfortable enough to leave the house in a t-shirt in shorts for the first time in years, ignoring the stares of the neighbors. She was no longer a novelty to them, no longer known as the 'Abused Girl,' as she had been after her step-father's arrest. She endured the rumors for a few weeks before finally, the hype dulled down, and people stopped whispering about her behind their backs.
**You can have my isolation.**
**You can have the hate that it brings.**
**You can have my absence of faith.**
**You can have my everything.**
She still wasn't sure who had made the call. All she knew was that she had fainted as her dad was removing his belt to punish her for complaining of the hunger. When she had woken up, she was shocked to find herself tucked in a hospital bed, rather then her own, where she usually found herself after her dizzy spells. She had been just over 50 pounds then, and according to the doctors, would not have survived the last beating if the police hadn't showed up. She didn't dare question it then, and it was still a touchy subject with her mother. She just had to learn to be thankful that he had finally been stopped.
**Help me tear down my reason.**
**Help me it's your sex I can smell.**
**Help me you make me perfect.**
**Help me become somebody else.**
She sighed and sat back on her heels, convinced that she was finished. She had been painting scenes for her friend Kate's story series 'Frost,' which was a huge hit among the student body at their highschool. The scene showed Frost, the protagonist vampire, after he had discovered that the man he had been stalking through the whole series and had finally attacked was actually the legendary coven master, Zachary, and could not understand how a vampire like himself could pass on as so mortal, so unchanged, untouched by the corruption of nightly killing. It had been a scene she had begged Kate to write in, wanting to paint it so badly that she would have anyway. She had always wanted to paint Zachary in detail, because all the characters were modeled after people they knew. Except Zachary. He was her own creation, and she couldn't be more proud of him.
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**
**I want to feel you from the inside.**
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**
**My whole existence is flawed.**
**You bring me closer to God**
She stood back after signing her work, and snapped a Polaroid of it, like all her paintings. She would have to leave it to Kate to finish for her, because she had to pack. She gave a happy sigh. Degrassi. Where she had grown up. Where all her family and childhood friends lived. Where Marco was. She looked the most forward to seeing Marco. They had talked every now and then online, and she had written some stories for him, but she still missed actually seeing him in person. She had so much to tell him. And she couldn't wait to play matchmaker, something she had promised to do as soon as they saw each other again. He had told her that he wanted a boyfriend before he officilly came out, just to make sure that he really was gay. Martha was confident she could arrange that. Though she was two weeks younger then her male cousin, she had had a lot more of experience with high school boys, and was somehow able to predict exactly how dates would come out. She had never been wrong, and her friends had all learned to trust her opinions about their dates. Setting up Marco would be a snap.
She stopped the CD player in mid-song, packing it away in her carry on. Most of the stuff in her room was already packed away, besides her painting supplies and a few books and CDS. She gave a genuine smile, one of the few she had used in the past 5 years, and busied herself packing, unable to wait to get to her new, though temporary, home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I bet you that i know what most of you are thinking... and you're alllll wrong. ^.^;; okay, maybe not all of you, but MOST of you are! Another thing i would just like to add. I find that if i re-read a chapter before posting it, it never gets up, so if there are any inconsistencies, please point them out. Also, i'm going to try to update every Sunday, so if i don't, just yell at me in an e-mail with the subject 'Degrassi Fic', and i'll get going. I have this whole thing outlined, except for the ending, and that's way off. I'll tell you in advance if i think i can't update, which will happen when i'm kicked out of the room with the phone jack when my brother comes home, and when that happens, i'll upload 2 new chapters... probably... Anyway, i hope you enjoyed, and i hope you review, but keep in mind that what's going to happen hasn't happened before in any of the fics i've seen. So no matter how familiar the plot may seem, there are going to be a lot of twists coming up!
--Alli ~^v^~
Summary: Marco's cousin has to stay with him for a few months. Unexpected friendships, bonds, and romances spring forward.
Disclaimer: I'm only going to put this once, because i can never remember to do this every chapter. I don't own Degrassi. I only own the characters that do not and will not appear in the show in any way, shape or form (ex: i own marcos' aunt, because she'll never be mentioned, but not his mother, because she has been before.) I'm going to try to put a song in every chapter. I don't own those, either.
Song o' the week" 'Closer' - Nine Inch Nails
Dedication: right now, to Marpha, for letting me use her name/nickname. Kate, for letting me use her name. Hannah, for letting me use the name of one of her mangas that had absolutely nothing to do with vampires, but i don't care, because it sounds cool. more to be added as the fic goes on.
--Introduction: Help Me--
Marco Del Rossi leaned closer to his mirror, frowning slightly, before sucking his lower lip into his mouth, making the spot of hair above his chin more accessible. No matter how many times he seemed to shave, that little patch of dark fuzz always seemed to return in under an hour.
He was just beginning to dab it with shaving cream when a knock sounded on his door. Irritaded, he wiped his chin and hands before flinging open a door, armed with an insult for whoever happened to intrude upon his 'private time.' He quickly swallowed his tongue, however, after laying eyes upon his mother.
She smiled gently at him, her eyes shining. "Honey," she began, her voice shaking a bit, "we have to talk."
Marco took a deep breath before nodding, then following his mother down the hall to his room. Something major had happened. Either a relative had died or gone to jail, someone had made a stupid mistake in their life, or, what Marco feared most, she figured out the sexual orientation of her youngest son.
She settled herself on the edge of his bed, patting the space beside her, inviting her son to sit by her. He shakily sat next to her, trying to keep his nervousness beaten down inside him, but the way his eyes couldn't focus on his mothers eyes, and the large, sweaty hand prints his palms left on his jeans gave him away.
After a long, uncomfortable pause, She spoke.
"I just got of the phone with Jo."
Marco stiffened, not quite sure if he should be relieved just yet. Josephine Del Rossi, his fathers younger sister, was the mother of the only other person in the world who knew that he was gay.
His mother sighed, not sure quite how to put this as gently as possible. She knew that Marco kept in close contact with his cousin, but was still not sure if she had let on about anything that had been happening over the past 5 years.
"Martha's going to be staying with us for a little while... until her mother can find a new house."
Marco let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He found himself smiling at the thought of hanging out with 'Marpha' (as he had dubbed her when they were 2) again. They had moved down to Chicago when they were 9, and that was the last time he had seen her in person. "Did Uncle Danny get another job transfer?" he inquired, finally meeting his mothers eyes. He was shocked to see a tear tumble down her cheek.
"No, sweety." She sighed again, not wanting to say what she had to say next. "He was just arrested. For domestic abuse."
Marco felt his legs get weak, and was glad he was already sitting, otherwise he would have collapsed. He had always thought his uncle was the most gentle man on the face of the earth. He had cringed at the thought of killing spiders, and had always insisted on using the same plastic Christmas tree so he didn't have to chop one down. How could a man like that even imagine lifting a hand to his wife? His tongue felt like sandpaper in his mouth as he tried to form words, but all he got out was a weak "How...?"
"I don't know honey," his mother's voice was strained and she tried not to cry. "All I know is that for the past five years he beat up both Jo and Martha, and he may have been..." --she cringed at the thought-- "...sexually abused Martha as well."
At that, she let out a long held sob. She couldn't even imagine all that her sister-in-law had had to endure, first with being a single parent, and then marrying such an abusive man, who forced her to move away from her friends and family, and had starved her daughter to the point of near death. She opened her arms to her son, who embraced her readily, allowing his own tears to be absorbed by the fabric on her shoulder.
___
**You let me violate you.**
**You let me desecrate you.**
**You let me penetrate you.**
**You let me complicate you.**
Martha Del Rossi artfully mixed her paints, trying desperately to make the perfect shade of red. She only had a few hours to finish this painting before she had to head for the airport. She hummed along to her favorite song of all time. Her friends had all been shocked that she still could listen to it when they found out what her step-father had done to her. But she didn't think about that anymore. It was just a song.
**Help me, I broke apart my insides.**
**Help me, I've got no soul to sell.**
**Help me, the only thing that works for me**
**Help me get away from myself.**
She soon found herself absorbed in her work, concentrating on making the tiny rivers of red fall down the young man's neck gracefully, yet realistically. Her other hand was automatically unwrapping a Twinkie. She was still working on gaining back the weight that her forced anorexia had caused her to lose. Danny had always found excuses for her to go without dinner, ranging from punishing her to saying they had eaten earlier, after her guitar lesson. She wasn't entirely surprised when he first started taking her food away. He had always said he couldn't stand fat women.
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**
**I want to feel you from the inside.**
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**
**My whole existence is flawed.**
**You bring me closer to God**
She ignored the splashes of paint that dotted her skin, just like she had ignored the bruises. Now, after weeks of counseling, she had learned to be, not proud, but unashamed of her 'battle scars.' She felt comfortable enough to leave the house in a t-shirt in shorts for the first time in years, ignoring the stares of the neighbors. She was no longer a novelty to them, no longer known as the 'Abused Girl,' as she had been after her step-father's arrest. She endured the rumors for a few weeks before finally, the hype dulled down, and people stopped whispering about her behind their backs.
**You can have my isolation.**
**You can have the hate that it brings.**
**You can have my absence of faith.**
**You can have my everything.**
She still wasn't sure who had made the call. All she knew was that she had fainted as her dad was removing his belt to punish her for complaining of the hunger. When she had woken up, she was shocked to find herself tucked in a hospital bed, rather then her own, where she usually found herself after her dizzy spells. She had been just over 50 pounds then, and according to the doctors, would not have survived the last beating if the police hadn't showed up. She didn't dare question it then, and it was still a touchy subject with her mother. She just had to learn to be thankful that he had finally been stopped.
**Help me tear down my reason.**
**Help me it's your sex I can smell.**
**Help me you make me perfect.**
**Help me become somebody else.**
She sighed and sat back on her heels, convinced that she was finished. She had been painting scenes for her friend Kate's story series 'Frost,' which was a huge hit among the student body at their highschool. The scene showed Frost, the protagonist vampire, after he had discovered that the man he had been stalking through the whole series and had finally attacked was actually the legendary coven master, Zachary, and could not understand how a vampire like himself could pass on as so mortal, so unchanged, untouched by the corruption of nightly killing. It had been a scene she had begged Kate to write in, wanting to paint it so badly that she would have anyway. She had always wanted to paint Zachary in detail, because all the characters were modeled after people they knew. Except Zachary. He was her own creation, and she couldn't be more proud of him.
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**
**I want to feel you from the inside.**
**I want to fuck you like an animal.**
**My whole existence is flawed.**
**You bring me closer to God**
She stood back after signing her work, and snapped a Polaroid of it, like all her paintings. She would have to leave it to Kate to finish for her, because she had to pack. She gave a happy sigh. Degrassi. Where she had grown up. Where all her family and childhood friends lived. Where Marco was. She looked the most forward to seeing Marco. They had talked every now and then online, and she had written some stories for him, but she still missed actually seeing him in person. She had so much to tell him. And she couldn't wait to play matchmaker, something she had promised to do as soon as they saw each other again. He had told her that he wanted a boyfriend before he officilly came out, just to make sure that he really was gay. Martha was confident she could arrange that. Though she was two weeks younger then her male cousin, she had had a lot more of experience with high school boys, and was somehow able to predict exactly how dates would come out. She had never been wrong, and her friends had all learned to trust her opinions about their dates. Setting up Marco would be a snap.
She stopped the CD player in mid-song, packing it away in her carry on. Most of the stuff in her room was already packed away, besides her painting supplies and a few books and CDS. She gave a genuine smile, one of the few she had used in the past 5 years, and busied herself packing, unable to wait to get to her new, though temporary, home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I bet you that i know what most of you are thinking... and you're alllll wrong. ^.^;; okay, maybe not all of you, but MOST of you are! Another thing i would just like to add. I find that if i re-read a chapter before posting it, it never gets up, so if there are any inconsistencies, please point them out. Also, i'm going to try to update every Sunday, so if i don't, just yell at me in an e-mail with the subject 'Degrassi Fic', and i'll get going. I have this whole thing outlined, except for the ending, and that's way off. I'll tell you in advance if i think i can't update, which will happen when i'm kicked out of the room with the phone jack when my brother comes home, and when that happens, i'll upload 2 new chapters... probably... Anyway, i hope you enjoyed, and i hope you review, but keep in mind that what's going to happen hasn't happened before in any of the fics i've seen. So no matter how familiar the plot may seem, there are going to be a lot of twists coming up!
--Alli ~^v^~