You Must Love Me

Rating: PG-13 due to homosexuality

Chapter 2: I don't hate you, Marco

Summary for chapter 2: Marco comes out to his parents, and they don't take it well.

Marco woke up the next day feeling comfortable. He turned over so he was on his left side, only to find that Dylan wasn't laying beside him when he woke up. Where could Dylan be? Marco looked in the bathroom. No Dylan. Same results when he looked in the kitchen. And Dyl sure wasn't in the living room. Marco then noticed a Post-It note on the living room table. It was in Dylan's handwriting, and it read:

Marco,

Went to Tom's house to pick up my stereo that he borrowed. Will be back soon!

Love ya!

Dyl

Marco put the note down on the kitchen counter and decided to look for something to eat in the fridge. He then saw a box of chocolate chip granola bars on top of the fridge. "Alright!", Marco said to himself as he grabbed the box and took out two bars. He opened a wrapper on one of the bars and took a bite. As he chewed and swallowed the first bar one bite at a time, he thought of yesterday: the daydream, the sound of Dylan belching, the joke Marco played on Dyl, the whipped cream fight and the little talk the two had last night about their feelings. It made Marco feel happy. Just then he realized that he was halfway finished with the second granola bar of the two that he grabbed. "Man, do I eat fast!", Marco said to himself. He finished the rest of the bar and hurried to the bathroom to take a shower. "I must be happy because I just had my favorite kind of granola bar for breakfast," Marco said to himself with a big smile. As Marco undressed, he thought again about what he and Dylan talked about last night. Leaning back againt the wall, Marco felt his hand slowly slide down his tourso, just to his nabel. He then realized that the water was running, and Marco got in the shower quickly. The water was too hot. Marco jumped out of the shower faster than he could run. "Ouch", he screamed,"that frickin' hurt!"Marco turned the knobs to a good temperature and he got in and washed his hair, and then his body.

Twenty minutes later

Dylan walked in the door with his sister, Paige. "Marco, I'm back," he called. "Yeah, hold on," Marco called as he put his blowdryer away in his duffel bag. Marco walked out of the room, wearing his Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey, jeans and socks, of course. "Hey, baby, hi Paige," Marco greeted. "Hello," the Michalchuk brother and sister greeted back. "So, you guys are a couple now?" Paige asked. "I don't think that's any of your buisness!", Dyl said in a girly voice. "Oh, come on! You know I've been supporting this, Dyl! Besides, I know you are because Marco called you baby!" "I did not, Paige!" Marco playfully argued. "Uh, yeah you did!", Paige argued back jokingly.

"Where's the proof that I did?"

"I can repeat what you said!"

"Do it, then!"

"Okay, fine!", Paige said with a smile of attitude. "Hey baby, hi Paige! That's what you said to me and Dyl!"

"I know!", Marco admitted.

"Then why are you denying it?" Dylan asked.

"Because I just love to mess with Paige!" Marco said while poking Paige repeatedly with his hand. Paige giggled.

Just then the phone rang. Dylan answered it. "Is Marco there?", the woman on the other line asked. "Yeah, hold on, I'll get him for you," Dylan repilied. He handed Marco the phone. "Hello?" "Marco, we need you over here for an hour or so because we need to talk to you and Dylan, if he wants to come in." "How come, mama?" Marco asked his mother. "It's about your 'not dating anyone' for a year. If you want to talk to us alone, then that's fine, too." Marco tried not to cry in front of Dyl and Paige. He hadn't told his parents he was gay or had a boyfriend yet. Marco started to shake. "Do you want me over now?", Marco asked, still fighting back the tears. "Whenever you can today. Ten minutes from now would be fine," said Marco's mom,"and you can go back over to Dylan's if you wish to." "Okay, I'll be there," Marco said. They both hung up and Marco looked into Dylan's eyes. "I need you to drive me to my house," Marco started sadly. "Why, is everything okay?", Dylan asked, putting his arm on Marco's shoulder. "I just,", Marco started, and he couldn't hold the tears back any longer, "no. My mom and dad need to talk to me. They need to know why I haven't dated girls in a year, and they need to know why I keep turning down every set-up offer on every girl they give me." Dylan looked into Marco's tear-filled eyes. "You haven't told your parents yet?", Dyl asked. "No," Marco admitted to his boyfriend, "ever since I discovered I was gay, I was afraid to admit it to my parents. I was afraid they'd hate for it, I was terrified of them kicking me out or killing me for it." "Marco, they're your parents," Dylan reminded the younger Italian boy, "they would never hate you. They would never kill you either. I know it!" "What I'm really worried about is how my dad's gonna react. He's a total homophobie . I'm worried he'll never speak to me again!", Marco almost yelled with tears streaming down his face. Dylan didn't know what to say. "Come here, Marco," Dylan said softly as he put his arms around Marco. Marco cried hard into the older teen's arms. He was really worried about his parents reactions. Dylan pulled away slightly from Marco and wiped his tears away. "Everything's gonna be fine," Dyl reassured his boyfriend. Marco stopped crying a few minutes later. He went into the bathroom after Paige came out and washed his face so it wouldn't look puffy and red when he went to talk to his parents. Dylan grabbed the car keys and drove Marco to his house. Paige said she would wait in the apartment. During most of the drive there was silence. Marco thought carefully about every question his mama and papa would ask and how he was going to answer them. Before the two knew it, they were at Marco's house, and Marco felt even more sick then he did earlier. "Good luck, Marco," Dylan said to Marco, "and don't lie to them." "I won't," Marco reassured Dylan.

Marco knocked on the door and his mother answered. "Hi, mama," Marco greeted his mother nervously. "Hi, sweetie," Mrs. Del Rossi greeted back. Marco walked into the living room where his father was sitting on the couch reading. "Hey, Marco!", his dad greeted to him. "Hi, papa," Marco said to his dad. Marco sat down across from his parent's in his papa's blue recliner. His parents sat side by side in the red loveseat across from Marco. The questions began.

"So, Marco, why haven't you had a girlfriend in a year?", Marco's dad asked.

"I dunno, I just haven't, I guess," Marco lied.

"There has to be a reason, Marco. What happened to Ms. Nash? She was one cutie," said Mrs. Del Rossi.

"We're still good friends, but we couldn't work things out."

"Why?", Mr. Del Rossi questioned, and it was stressing Marco out.

"We just couldn't, pa."

"But why do you turn the other girls down that we try to set you up with?", Mrs. Del Rossi asked her son.

"I don't know," Marco said, choking up a little.

"We can try to set you up with Julia from church if it would make you feel any better, Marc", Mr. Del Rossi told Marco.

"It wouldn't, papa. I'm sorry, but it wouldn't at all." Marco said, trying to hold back the tears as he did at Dylan's place.

"Why? Is it a problem that I want to know who you are with or want to be with?", Marco's papa asked angriliy.

"Yes, in a way it is!", Marco yelled across the room. He was crying now.

"Frank, calm down," Mrs. Del Rossi said to her husband, trying to calm him down.

After a few minutes, Mr. Del Rossi was calmed down and he tried to figure out what was going on with his son, whom he loved.

"Marco, what is the prob-"

"Papa, mama, I'm sorry to say this and I love you both, but I have to do this. I'm gay."

Marco looked at his parents. "Marco, sweetie, why didn't you tell us this sooner?" Mrs.Del Rossi said as she began to cry. Before Marco could answer, he felt somone hit him in the back of the head hard. "How could you do this to us?", Mr. Del Rossi yelled to his son. "Making your mother highly upset, you little -" "Pa, I said I was sorry, okay? I didn't mean to make mama cry, but this is who I am. Why can't you accept that?", Marco said. "Because! You know how upset I am over this?", Marco's papa yelled. "Frank, please! This is who Marco is, so just accept it!", Mrs. Del Rossi screamed. "I don't think I can handle the embarrassment, Angelina!" "Pa, it'll just be -" "You shut up! I don't wanna hear another word from you!" "Marco," Angelina( Marco's mother) began, "you might wanna pack more clothes. Take your money, your cell phone-pack more things." Mrs. Del Rossi gave Marco a kiss on the cheek. "I'm so sorry, mama," Marco sobbed, "but I couldn't keep it a secret forever. I love you and papa to much to do that." Angelina nodded at her son as she watched him run upstairs. Marco grabbed a week's worth of clothing and put it in another duffel bag, along with his wallet, his cell phone and three pairs of shoes. He came down the stairs and looked at his angry father sadly. His father hadn't calmed down a bit since his son came out to him and his wife five minutes ago. "Get out! Get out of my house! I want you gone now!", Frank (Marco's papa) ordered. Marco ran out of the house, opened the passenger door to Dylan's car, threw his duffel into the backseat and sat in the passenger's side next to Dylan. "How'd it go?", Dyl asked Marco. "How do you think it went?", Marco asked Dylan tearfully as he slammed the car door. "Not so well," Dyl said softly as he pulled out of the Del Rossi driveway. "Well, no sh-",Marco started to say but he was cut off by Dylan. "Look, it happened to me too, alright? I told my parents last year and my dad kicked me out for two days. I didn't know where to go, so I went to my uncle's house across the street. My dad came over two days later and found me, and he wanted me to come home. We talked for an hour and worked things out betwen us and my mom too. I can't exactly guaruntee that your dad will be over this 100%, but he'll forgive you. I know it." "But my dad said he just wanted me out of the house, he didn't say how long he wanted me gone," Marco sobbed. "My dad didn't either," Dyl started to say, "how did your mom react?" "She cried," Marco said quickly. "My mom did the same thing," Dyl told Marco. "I knew this was gonna happen, I knew it! I knew they were gonna kick me out! I was right!" Marco yelled as tears were streaming down his face. "Marco, calm down! We're home,"Dylan almost yelled. Marco grabbed his duffel bag from the back of Dylan's convertible and he ran up the stairs to Dylan's apartment. Since Paige also said that she'd have the door unlocked, Marco opened the door and ran inside. He threw his duffel bag into Dylan's room, ran into the bathroom and closed the door. He didn't lock it because he wanted Dylan to be in there with him. "What happened?", Paige asked Dylan. "His parents didn't take it well...Marco's parents," Dyl informed Paige. "Marco's in the bathroom," Paige told Dylan. Dylan knocked on the bathroom door. "Marco, can I come in?", Dyl asked. "Please do," Marco told Dylan. Dyl came in and sat next to his boyfriend. "Marco," Dylan began softly, looking into those chocolate brown eyes of Marco's, "it's okay. Your parents love you no matter what. I know that." "You must really hate me," Marco said sadly to his boyfriend. "Hate you?", Dylan said in such disbelief, "I don't hate you, Marco. Even if we call each other names, cuss each other out or fight, I will never hate you, ever! You are my lover and my best friend. Everytime I see you, I want to melt so bad. I will never hate you! I promise you that. I love you way too much to hate you!" Dylan tightly put his arms around Marco after he finished, and because Marco was so touched by Dylan's words, he cried hard in his lovers arms, almost soaking the shirt. "Shhhhhh," Dylan whispered in Marco's ear, "it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay. It's okay, Marco." Dylan rubbed Marco's back to make him feel better. But even though he was a little calmed down thanks to Dylan, Marco had a feeling that things were gonna get worse.

A/N: How was it? Please R&R! I got inspired by some fanfics I read for this chapter and chapter 1 so I put what I read into my own words to make it unique. I used Frank and Angelina as Marco's parent's names because I didn't know what their real names were, so I guessed. Look for chapter 3! Suggestions welcome 2!