Title: Something New

Rating: PG-13 for themes and language

Characters: In this chapter: Marco, Dylan, Marco's parents, Carlos, Paige

Pairings: Marco/Dylan, Spinner/Paige, Ellie/Sean, not sure of any others.

Disclaimer: Not a thing belongs to me. How I wish, though.

Author's Note: THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS! =D Ha, reviews make me feel special. So keep 'em coming! Also, I'm SO sorry it took me so long to update! I've just been so busy lately, it's not even funny.

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"Are you sure?" Dylan took his eyes off the road, and glanced furtively at Marco's worried expression. His breathing was deep yet even, and his eyes were fixated on an off-colored spot on the flooring of the car.

Marco took the question into consideration, wondering why he'd said that to Dylan. No! Of course I'm not ready! his brain screamed out, but he remained calm and collected on the outside. "Yes." There was a silence, and then Marco blurted out, "No!" Tears threatened to spill over, but Marco tried his best to hold them back.

"Marco, it's okay. I promise," Dylan told him concernedly, worried about the younger boy. He reached over and put a hand on Marco's quivering arm. Jumping slightly at the touch, Marco stared uncertainly at Dylan's hand. He'd never been so confused by such a simple gesture before.

"Relax," Dylan said with a smile, and Marco blushed at the fact that he'd been caught. "It's just a hand."

"I want to come out to my parents," Marco said seriously, and then hesitated. "But I don't know how."

"No one ever does," Dylan replied, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

"But you did."

"It wasn't easy." Dylan glanced in the mirror in the car, and then back at Marco. Both hands were on the steering wheel again, which Marco regretted. It had felt nice.

"I wish it was," Marco said mournfully. His gaze drifted back down to the stain on the floor. Respecting the stillness, Dylan continued to drive towards the movie theater. "I really don't want to tell Carlos," Marco admitted after a few seconds, which didn't at all surprise Dylan.

"You're going to have to sooner or later," Dylan wisely advised him, frowning slightly.

"I know," he moaned, his hand going to his dark hair. It was a bad habit of his; rumpling his hair just lightly when he was worried about something. "If I - if I were to come out to my parents, would you be with me when I did it?" he asked Dylan uncertainly. The question surprised Dylan greatly.

"Of course," he responded, smiling a little bit. "If you want me to. Besides, I know how to cool a parent off." Marco raised an eyebrow at his gloating statement. "No, really," Dylan continued jokingly, "I'm in the middle of writing a book: So your son is gay…." The two began laughing loudly together, and continued doing so until Dylan pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of the movie theater.

They got out of the car and walked in together, getting in line for tickets. Marco was standing behind Dylan, fumbling through his wallet to try and get enough money for the ticket, when, "Two tickets to Eurotrip, please."

Marco stared at Dylan. What was he doing?! Dylan saw Marco's expression, and he himself reddened slightly. "Hey, I may be buying the tickets, but you're so getting popcorn and drinks," he said quickly, with a good-natured grin. Marco relaxed greatly.

"Sounds fair to me," he nodded. They walked over to the concessions and Dylan proclaimed that he had a hankering for candy, rather than popcorn. Marco agreed, despite the ridiculous cost of a box of candy at the movie theaters. Dylan then took about five minutes to deliberate on which candy he wanted; he had to make sure to get something to good. Finally, he settled on gummy bears and they both got Pepsis.

"You are so picky," Marco informed him as the guy behind the counter handed Dylan his gummy bears.

"No, I just know what I like," he corrected him with a lopsided grin. Marco's heart gave an involuntary flutter. Dylan was so cute.

Inside the theater, Dylan took equally as long to decide where to sit. "See, if you sit in the front, you have to look up and your neck starts hurting after a while. And if you see in the back, you have to sort of squint and that just kills your eyes. But if you sit in the direct middle, well, everyone wants to sit there, so it's all crowded and you can never have privacy," he explained, and Marco smiled at the fact that he wanted privacy.

They finally selected two seats in between the front and the middle, and near the right side because Dylan also didn't like sitting in the middle of the row.

Marco chuckled quietly. "I didn't know you were so serious when you said you know what you like," he muttered. Dylan grinned at him, but before he could respond the lights dimmed and the previews began rolling.

About halfway through the movie, it happened. Marco's eyes were fixated on the screen; his sides hurt from laughing so hard. The movie was hilarious in a perverted kind of way, which was what guys liked. His arms were on their armrests, and the straw from his Pepsi was dangling out of his mouth. And then, he felt something touch his hand.

He looked down at his hand and surely enough, Dylan's own hand was resting on top of it. Marco's heart began thumping wildly; he was terrified that Dylan could hear it.

Dylan looked at Marco in the corner of his eye, wondering if his little gesture had been too much. Maybe Marco wasn't interested him at all. Maybe all he thought of him as was his gay mentor. Marco did look uncomfortable, but after only a few seconds of internal conflict, he smiled.

Feeling so relieved, Dylan left his hand there for the rest of the entire movie. Only when the credits were rolling did he remove it.

Neither boy knew what to say. This was strange to Dylan; he'd dated a couple of guys before, but this - this was different. This was special, and he knew it. It was still tender (Marco hadn't even come out to his own parents) but if nothing else, he was sure of it.

They walked back to the car in companionable silence. Marco wanted so badly to ask Dylan a question, but he couldn't quite get it out. It rolled to the tip of his tongue, burning a hole into his mouth. In the middle of putting his seatbelt on, the question rolled out easily. "Was this a date?" Replaying the question into his head, it sounded horrible no matter how many times he replayed it. He winced mentally, waiting for the embarrassment to dawn on him. Of course it wasn't, he thought.

But Dylan surprised him. He was also taken aback by the question; no doubt had he given it thoughtful consideration though. "Did you want it to be?"

"Uh… I guess so," Marco responded truthfully, his voice small and shaky.

"Then yeah," Dylan grinned. "I guess it was." Marco began grinning too.

"So… about coming out…" He said, blushing immensely. Dylan ruffled Marco's hair with a slight laugh, and pulled out of the parking way of the theater.

"Whenever you're ready; I'm here," he promised.

[Journal Entry 4]
Marco del Rossi


I'm here. That's what Dylan told me today after our date. Yes, our date, and no, I couldn't believe it either. We went and saw this movie, which was actually pretty funny. And then, out of nowhere, I felt his hand over mine. I tried my best to act like I didn't notice, but I could see Dylan was looking at me so I smiled. He smiled back, and then we held hands for the entire rest of the movie.

And then afterwards, back in his car, I don't know what possessed me to do it. I asked him if he thought it was a date. He asked me if I wanted it to be, and I said yes. I actually had the nerve to say yes! Well, anyway, after that he grinned and said that it was a date. My first date with a guy. Going on date's with Ellie was always cool and all, but this was different. I wouldn't say better, but definitely different. And even better, he invited me to come over Friday night and watch movies. Paige and Spin will be there too.

I've really thought about telling my parents, and I've decided the easiest and best thing to do is just to come out and tell them. (Come out… Haha.) This also means I'll have to tell Carlos, but eventually he'll get over it (I hope). Dylan's coming over to my house Friday right after school, and he's going to hope me tell them. (I specifically chose Friday because Carlos has soccer practice… does this make me a coward?)

I don't even care what anyone thinks anymore. I don't want to ruin anything with Dylan. So here I am.

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Pretty short chapter; my apologies! Anyway, pleasepleaseplease review. It makes me feel happy. And also, once again, sorry for the delay!

Review to make me happy.

Happiness = More chapters.