Electron Proton = Attraction

Author: degrassi

Type: Slash. M/M.

Pairing: Marco Del Rossi/Craig Manning.

Rating: PG-13.

Genre: Angst/Romance/Drama.

Characters: Are in tenth grade. Emma & Co. a year behind.

Notes Oh man, has it been a while. I want to thank everyone for demanding more, and for reviewing my story in general. I promise, PROMISE you all I will be continuing this. It's just that I've been REALLY busy, and stuck on certain ideas. A special thanks to orange flames. One of my noble reviewers. I loved your ideas, and I think I'm going to explore the latter.

Chapter: I decided I would not be slow anymore. I'm going to perform a time jump in this chapter. Mainly to make up for my absence. Here's what has happened thus far: Craig is beginning to come to terms with his confused feelings for his friend, Marco Del Rossi. There's a problem though. Several problems. 1.) His friends. 2.) Joey. 3.) Ashley. And 4.) Marco himself. Marco hasn't a clue. He merely thinks of Craig as another straight friend of his. One that wouldn't understand. Marco has been there for Craig at one of his roughest times… now, as time goes on… and after his crumbling relationship with Ashley, and his steamy, but devastating. His journal entries intensify, and his feelings heat up. But Craig's whole world is about to be thrown upside down when he's faced with a whole array of brand new problems, that only makes the mounting confusion… worse. I call this my "catching up" chapter.

Subplots: Flashbacks of past events, and more of Craig's past.

Confusion VS. Despair

It contained a lot.

Song lyrics, and teen angst…

It was his life.

---

The journal had been laying there, patiently waiting for its master to peel back its plain gray cover, and to brush past off-white papers, stained with memories. Yet, no new entry had came in a week. Craig usually sat with the pen in his hand, tapping his fingers anxiously against its outer surface, prodding his mind to open up.. so he could breathe new life into words. However, he hadn't found the energy to. Keeping a journal became a habit over the past few months. It gave him a place to vent. To express things inaudible to human ears... things that you could read over, and heave a sigh of relief. Taking time out of the busy school day, as figures passed in blurs of colours amid the hallways, Craig sit down against the front of his locker.. And cradled a gel-pen in his hand.

It had been so long. So long.

I don't like it.

There are so many things I do not like. Like seeing him smile… look timid, and sigh in sheer bliss when he sees his face. Then again, I believe I missed my chance… once and for all. After dealing with Ashley, and then with Manny, I figure my chances of ever establishing a stable relationship are pretty much non-existent. Then again, with another boy? I'm aware that there's this flame inside of me… like a heated chemical after being engulfed in flames from a Bunsen burner… and it grows hotter, and hotter every time I see him. I can't ignore it, as I wished I could with all the time that had passed.

But my awkwardness is only increasing, and I've begin to grow distant. My overall performance is lackluster, and Joey is beginning to worry. (Plus he's happy.. Happy.. Happy… with Caitlin … happier then I've ever seen him be.) I don't want to spoil things. But I can't tell him.. Could I? What makes me feel so helpless is I have nobody to turn to… not one person. Nobody would understand, and I risk ruining my reputation in this school.

I wonder if this is how he felt. Marco, I mean. When he himself had been struggling. How did he take that final step?

Now that he has… he has his eyes on his future, and there's nothing I can do about it. His future is a dazzling smile, sunny hair, and bright azure eyes. Me? Just a confused, troubled adolescent, who is slowly beginning to push himself back into the shadow in the corner… it's my persona... and it's easier to run away from most things, than to face them.

I admit, I am still afraid…

and immature---

His fingers tensed, and he had to abruptly stop writing.

What am I doing.

Craig thought grimly, face distorting into discontentment as he wondered where exactly he was, all of these months later. Ashley still did side-glance at him from time-to-time, but she merely focused onward giving off an aura of disappointment, hurt, and independence. He knew that it was rough for her, but she was slowly moving on. Her demeanour expressed it. As for Manny, there were times where dark eyes would meet his own, and she would purposely sway her hips as she walked by, to possibly gain a reaction from him. Though, to the dark-haired girl's displeasure, he never did give her one. She'd usually smirk a little, turn in disgust and float away brushing her hair over her shoulder as she did so.

He was beginning to think, that the reason why he couldn't manage a stable relationship, was because he wasn't meant to with the opposite sex. The thought caused him to cringe, and he eagerly begun to flip through his notebook.. Scrambling through the sloppy journal entries and proceeding to circle, underline and highlight every thought and every hidden puzzle piece that was linked to this one thought. Slamming it shut once more, he rose to his feet.

Heading down the bustling hallway, which had cleared exceedingly with the growth of the lunch hour, he reached out.. And pushed his way through double doors, pausing at a small familiar fit of laughter. He looked towards his left.

And was subconsciously horrified at what he saw.

The Italian was leaning up against the front of a locker, with his arms crossed over his chest, dark eyes shimmering with contentment and secret adoration. Parallel to him, a curly-topped blonde, who had a hand on his hip. He was smiling, and whispering something, which triggered a new burst of laughter from the other boy.

Craig couldn't help but stare.

Which did attract Marco's rich eyes for a brief moment. His optimistic laughter faded into one of concern, and he canted his head in perplexity, arching an eyebrow in his friend's direction.

"Yo!" He called, uncrossing an arm and waving it. "Craig, what's up?"

Dylan promptly turned around once Marco's attention was distracted, and soon both pairs of eyes were fixated on the adolescent. Craig merely forced himself to grin lightly, lips aching as they did so.

"Nothing." He said casually, freeing a hand to wave in the pair's direction. "I'm going to head down to the cafeteria." Craig begun to back up. "I'll see you guys later on."

Without relying on a proper reply, he turned on heel… and headed off with his head bowed, leaving the duo a little baffled.

--

He quickened his pace, turning sharply down narrow corners, and plummeting into thought once more. The words newly written in his notebook burnt his palms… and caused the skin to dampen with perspiration.

Whenever I see them together…

It was always the same, hollow feeling. Something that he couldn't quite analyze.

Suddenly, as he dashed down the hallway of the third floor, the doors quickly opened, and the taller brunette collided directly into a person that was emerging from the cafeteria. The books in the boy's arms tumbled to both of their feet, chemistry books laying open on their spines, difficult math equations staring back up at him.

"Dude, where's the fire, hot-shot?" Came an amused retort from the figure he had bumped into.

Craig looked up into the chuckling face of Spinner Mason, who was shaking his head, with his hands against his sides.

"Sorry man." He bent down, and begun to gather up his discarded books once more. I can't understand why he would laugh like that. He sounded so… thrilled. I had made him laugh before, but never like that.

In his frenzy, only his chemistry notebook and textbook had survived the impact, the secret notebook still lay at Spinner's feet once Craig stood up.

"Gotta go."

The brunette took off on his wild ambush once again, halls and corners whispering words of relief. Spinner gawked at him but merely shook his head. Gazing down at his feet, to the fallen notebook, the blonde bent down and picked it up.

"What an idiot. Leaving his stuff behind." Examining the cover curiously, he lazily shrugged.. And slipped it into his backpack, planning on returning it to Craig later on.

If he remembered, that is.