When Times Get Rough

Chapter Two

It had taken a long time for Marco to finally tell his father he was gay. It was hard to believe he'd only told him five months ago, and it was especially hard to believe that it had taken him four months to even acknowledge the fact that Marco was gay. For the longest time, Mr. Del Rossi had continued to ask Marco if he had found a girlfriend yet, if he was planning any dates…

Dylan was over again. Dylan was always over, whether it was to help Marco study at the kitchen table while his mom cooked and talked with them, or it was to kiss on Marco's living room couch while his parents weren't home, he was always there and the Mr. Del Rossi had come to accept Dylan as his son's best friend. Mrs. Del Rossi was a little more clever, though, and had seen the matter as something entirely different and much more accurate.

It was one of those times when Marco's parents had gone out to dinner for the night - and by 'for the night', they meant all night, and they wouldn't be returning until sometime around two in the morning. Marco had taken advantage of this fact and had called Dylan the day before, asking if he'd like to come over.

"My parents are going to be at some party or other tomorrow night," Marco said into his cell phone late Thursday afternoon. "You want to come over?" Marco could practically see the smile on Dylan's face.

"Of course. I'll be there around seven-thirty… is that okay?" Dylan said.

"That's fine. They should be out of here by then. I really wish my dad would just attempt to understand us, you know?" Marco said. "I mean, I totally get that he's surprised, but right now it's like I never even came out to him. He thinks we're just best friends. He loves you, I know he does, but… he loves you as my best friend. And that's not what you are. I mean, you are but…"

"I know," Dylan said, cutting off Marco's long string of phrases.

"You're my boyfriend."

"I know."

Dylan always knew what he meant, what he was feeling at a certain time. It might have been because Dylan was older and had already gone through what Marco was going through right now, but personally, Marco thought it was just because they understood each other.

They hung up shortly after that, with the promise of the following night fresh in Marco's head. School passed quickly the next day, his head filled with thoughts of Dylan and spending time with him. It would have been different if they'd been able to do this a lot, but they weren't. Marco's parents didn't go out too often, and Marco had never been to Dylan's dorm before, not because he hadn't been offered the chance, just because they'd never really gotten around to it.

Marco was sitting on the couch, flipping through the television channels, when the doorbell rang. He jumped up quickly and rushed to the door in under three seconds, but just stood there for a few extra moments, just so he didn't seem too eager. When he finally did open the door though, his breath caught in his throat.

Dylan didn't look much different than usual, but Marco thought he was amazing nonetheless. "Hey," he said, stepping up on his toes to kiss him lightly on the lips. "Come on in." Marco held the door open for Dylan as they walked inside, closing and locking it behind him.

They sat on the couch, making comfortable small talk about school, before Marco had had enough. He knew Dylan was just trying to be respectful of him, but Marco was perfectly fine with spending the evening making out.

"Dylan…" Dylan paused mid-sentence about some test or another. "Shut up."

Marco leaned forward and kissed Dylan softly, adjusting himself on the couch so that he was closer rather than farther away from his boyfriend. He brought his hands up to Dylan's face and caressed his cheek as Dylan leaned back, pulling Marco on top of him.

"I know you're just laying off because I'm younger than you are, and you don't want to scare me off," Marco pointed out, propping himself up with his elbows on either side of Dylan. "I'm seventeen and I'm not ridiculously fragile, you know."

Dylan smiled. "I know. I just don't want to lose you early on because of something stupid like how far we're going to go."

"It's been eight months, with various ups and downs. I don't want to have sex and I don't want to do anything more than making out, but really, Dylan," Marco said, running a hand through his lover's hair, "I'm not going to break the second you touch me."

Dylan visibly relaxed as he brought his arms around Marco's back and pulled him on top of him. "Glad to hear it." Then he dragged his fingers up Marco's back, and Marco shivered as Dylan pulled his face down, kissing him with just the right mix of roughness and playfulness.

They had been going at it for a while, their tongues slipping in and out of one another's mouths before it happened. At this point, Dylan had settled himself on top of Marco and was proceeding to lick and suck his neck heatedly. Marco groaned loudly and tugged at Dylan's hair, bringing him back up to kiss his forehead, his nose, both of his cheeks, over his eyelids, the curve of his jaw, and finally, finally his lips. They hardly noticed the sound of the key in the lock of the door, the turning of the handle, the switch of the hall light go on and the sound of footsteps on the hardwood floors until Mrs. Del Rossi cleared her throat loudly, and the two boys sprang apart.

"Ma! What are you - what are you doing home so early?" Marco asked, checking the clock. It was just after nine. "I thought you were going to be gone all night…" Dylan looked particularly uncomfortable, his lips turned bright red from all the kissing.

"I, well, there was… there was a change of plans," Mrs. Del Rossi said.

It was then that Marco noticed the expression on his father's face. It had started as horror and disgust, then realization, then back to horror and disgust.

"Get out," Mr. Del Rossi said. At first, Marco thought he was referring to himself, and made to get up, but not before Dylan climbed off of him, grabbed his coat, and hurried out of the house. Marco closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair.

"You just threw my boyfriend out," Marco said flatly. "What the heck did you do that for?"

Mrs. Del Rossi rubbed her temples, then grabbed onto her husband's arm. "You cannot keep pretending, this is what Marco is, who he is… Marco is gay."

Marco was so thankful for his mom at that moment, but he kept his mouth closed and watch the scene fold out in front of him. His dad's eyes were wide with some form of disappointment and shock. Mrs. Del Rossi was crying, not heavily, just a small fountain of tears leaking out of her eyes. She didn't make any noise.

"I told you, Pa. You wouldn't listen," Marco said, standing up. He walked over to his parents and his mother put her arm around him. "I'm gay," he repeated, in case his father hadn't fully processed what his mom had previously said. "And nothing is going to change that. Dylan isn't my best friend, he's my boyfriend. I care about him."

That night hadn't been any big revelation, there hadn't been any talks until midnight with everyone crying. It was Marco, in his confidence, explaining to his dad who he was and how he wasn't going to change, just because his dad didn't believe him. Mr. Del Rossi hadn't said much, but Marco had a feeling that he understood now.

---

His final month at Degrassi CS was hectic but fun. Marco spent time with all of his friends, hanging out at The Dot and counting down the days until University would start on September 1st. He and Dylan were inseparable, their arms around each other constantly, kissing at random times and holding hands wherever they went. Marco had always been sort of nervous around Dylan, never wanting to show affection for fear that Dylan wouldn't respond positively, but now it was as if that had all melted away. Marco felt comfortable with himself and around Dylan, and Dylan didn't appear to mind the sudden change of pace in Marco's attitude towards PDA, in fact, he welcomed it.

Finals passed with ease, as Marco was confident in himself and in his study preparations that he did just fine on them. Before he knew it he was sitting on the steps to the school with Spinner and Paige, waiting for Dylan and talking about the future.

"At least we'll all be together," Paige said, staring up at the school that had been their home for seven years.

"That's one way of looking at it," Marco said. "But think of all the people we're leaving behind."

"Don't get so deep, man. College is fifteen minutes away, it's no big deal," Spinner said. "We can visit whenever, even though I'm not sure it's a great idea. I've spent way too long here for my own good." Spinner eyed his former school with a somewhat apathetic expression.

Dylan pulled up in his convertible just then, taking the pressure off finding a topic of conversation or a retort to Spinner's previous comment, and Marco opened the door to the passenger seat and hopped inside, kissing Dylan quickly.

Spinner and Paige jumped into the back of the car as well, and the four drove around for a while, preferring to let the car stereo handle the lack of conversation. The only thing Marco could think about was going to college in two months. Going to college, possibly rooming with Dylan… it was something he had only dreamed of, and now it was finally happening. He'd met someone he was slowly but surely falling for, and he didn't even have to worry about college separation.

He turned to look at Dylan, whose eyes were half on the rode, but kept flickering over to him. Marco smiled, and Dylan smiled in return. Marco noticed that Dylan was driving one-handed, and he inched his hand over to grasp the free hand, lacing their fingers and squeezing Dylan's hand affectionately.

His best friends, his boyfriend, college, everything. He hadn't felt this free in a long time.

Author's Notes: This chapter was written mostly to clarify how Marco's dad came to be tolerant of Marco and Dylan's relationship. I'll say it again, because I cannot emphasize it enough - Marco's dad does not beat him. Not in this story, anyway. I don't have anything against fics that do use corporal punishment with their characters, but that's none of my business. This story has nothing to do with that, it's all an emotional conquest between Marco and his dad - not a physical one.

I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. I have a vague idea of what I want to happen in future chapters, I'm just not sure the chronology of the events. I'm trying to update as frequently as possible, but Queer as Folk is sort of taking up all my time as of late. Ah, the wonderful world of hot, gay men.

Also - THIS STORY IS NOW AN AU. Canada has just recently shown the episode Eye of the Tiger, which contains information that contradicts a lot of things in my story. Seeing as this was written before I saw the episode, and the entire story takes place after it all happened, it doesn't conflict with the regular Degrassi storyline. I obviously won't be giving any spoilers for those of you that haven't seen Eye of the Tiger yet, but believe me, there is no way I could pull off what I wrote, even if it is just a little part of it, to match the episode.

Again, thanks for reading. Reviews are great. No reviews, no updates.

-Rachael Marie