"What was I thinking?" Ellie bemoaned as she stared listlessly at the ground sitting on the motionless swing. "Just walking out like that?" She frowned, staring straight ahead. Really, it boiled down to is that she got scared. She'd wanted Craig to kiss her, and then when he actually did? She freaked out. What was wrong with her?

She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the swing's chain. She needed to figure this out. She needed to talk to Craig, she decided, getting up off the swing. She needed to tell him that it was okay. That she thought they could actually…actually what exactly? What was she thinking? What did she want? UGH! This was so confusing!

She pulled out her cell phone, intending to call Craig, but quickly realized that she didn't know his number. She clenched her teeth, mad at herself. She'd called Ashley over there about a hundred times. How could she not know the number?

She took a deep breath. She had to calm down. Then she'd remember it. She smiled slightly as it finally came to mind. But even when it did, she couldn't dial it. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't just call him up and say…well…whatever it was she needed to say.

She should just go over there. And…and…talk to him about the kiss. Or…something. Yeah, that was what she would do. Finally coming to a decision, she closed her cell phone again, and slipped it back into her pocket, leaving it on in case Marco called.

Rounding the back of his house, she went straight to the garage and slipped in quietly, figuring that Craig would most likely be angry that she'd scorned him before. He probably wouldn't let her in if he knew she was coming. But it would all be okay once she explained that…she still wasn't sure exactly what she was going to say, actually.

When she opened the door, she saw Marco and Craig sitting together on the couch. Marco must have gotten Craig's call after all. She started to smile with relief when she froze, realizing that they were…kissing? No. No way. That couldn't be happening. Ellie stood there for a moment, frozen in total shock. Watching as the boy she thought she was just starting a relationship with intensely kissing her best friend. Her ex-boyfriend kissing who she'd hoped to be her future boyfriend.

She had to concentrate completely on not freaking out. Especially when Craig's eyes opened and he looked straight at her. She could see that he was about to say something, but she didn't want to hear it. She couldn't deal with this right now. Not again.

Craig's eyes widened as he saw Ellie watching him kiss Marco. He didn't want to hurt Marco, but when he saw the anguished look on Ellie's face, he knew he had to set things right. He just suddenly didn't know what right actually was. He meant it when he kissed Marco. At least he thought he did. It surprised him, but yet it didn't. He wasn't gay. He never really even considered, though, that he could be bi. But…there was just something about Marco that…he didn't know, but he didn't have time to really think about it, because Ellie was leaving. And he really liked her, too. Like really really liked her. He had to set things right with her. He quickly broke away from Marco and rushed after her.

Abruptly it all ended. And just like that not only was Craig not kissing Marco anymore, but he was bolting. For a few moments Marco couldn't breathe. He blinked rapidly, trying to keep himself from crying again. He shouldn't be so upset. He knew that this was wrong, that Craig wasn't really into it. But he'd kissed him anyway. (Pervert!) And it was clear from the way Craig had gone running off that he was completely freaked. Marco wasn't sure if he should go after him, talk to him, tell him that it was all going to be okay? How ironic. Just minutes ago, Marco had been the one needing to hear those same words.

Marco stared after Craig, deciding that he really just needed a few minutes. Marco wondered if maybe he should just leave. Make things easy. Let things cool off and then talk to Craig later, when they'd both had a chance to distance themselves from it. But he couldn't just leave Craig like that. Craig was probably very confused and would need to talk about it. Besides, Marco really didn't have any place else to go. He couldn't go home just yet. And he wasn't ready to face Ellie and her questions. She he'd wait here until Craig was ready to come back and talk about it.

He grabbed a pillow from the sofa and hugged it to his chest, trying to give himself a sense of comfort again. He wiped the new tears from his face and leaned back, closing his eyes.

Ellie was moving so fast that it took Craig nearly two blocks to catch up to her. "Ellie, wait!" he called after her. He finally caught up and passed her enough that he could turn around to face her. "Ellie, stop. Please. We need to talk."

Ellie stopped, but couldn't make herself look at him. "About what? There is nothing to talk about, Craig," she spat out bitterly. "You have made that very clear. Go back to your boyfriend," she added as she turned to walk the other way. It didn't matter that she was heading the wrong direction. It only mattered that she get away from him.

Craig gaped at her for a moment. Boyfriend? He didn't…well…he really didn't know yet what he and Marco were. He wanted to tell her that he and Marco were only just friends, but 'just friends' don't kiss like that. And they certainly don't want to kiss like that again. Craig chewed his lip for a moment, trying to figure out what he could possibly say. He had to think. He didn't know what he wanted, but he knew he had to say something fast or she was going to be gone. And he wanted her. He started to reach out to grab her arm and stop her but…

He looked back at the garage where Marco was waiting for him. Probably freaking out over the way he'd just suddenly taken off like he had. He looked back at Ellie, who was already out of reach and moving fast. He was so frustrated he wanted to scream.

The problem wasn't that he didn't know what he wanted, he realized. It was that…he wanted them both.

He just needed to figure out how to decide. But right then, both of them were probably really upset with him, so which one should he try to fix things with first?

He suspected that fixing things with Marco would be easier. Plus Marco was always really good giving advice. Somehow, though, asking him for advice on how to fix things with Ellie right after they'd kissed didn't seem like such a good idea. It was even less likely that asking Ellie advice for fixing things with Marco would result in anything good.

He decided that he needed to give Ellie a little bit of time to cool off. He watched her hurrying away with a heavy heart, but resigned himself to the fact that there was nothing he could say at this moment to make her listen to him until she had a chance to calm down.

Craig headed back to the garage, and was relieved to see that Marco was still there. He sank back down on the sofa next to him, absently putting his hand on Marco's leg. He looked over at Marco and realized immediately that the other boy'd been crying again. Craig's heart sank as he realized what he'd done, running off like that without telling Marco why. He was such an idiot! Marco probably thought that he freaked out or something and was probably blaming himself. He had to set this right, too. "Marco…"

"It's okay," Marco said sadly. "I understand. You're not gay. It's okay. We can pretend that nothing happened…if you want." It wasn't what Marco wanted. Not at all. But more than anything else, he didn't want to lose one of his best friends.

That would certainly make things easier for Craig. If only that was what he wanted. "Marco…" he started again, absently patting the boy's leg. "I don't want to forget about it." Marco looked up, his expression a mixture of concern and hope. Craig leaned forward and kissed him quickly, assuring him that he meant it. But then came the hard part. "There's just one um…problem."

Marco's expression grew more concerned, but he gave Craig a reassuring smile, encouraging him to reveal the problem.

"You see it's...um...this summer, Ellie and I...well, we've been hanging out a lot. And...I sort of kissed her. Today." Marco's eyes widened and Craig could see that he was about to say something. But Craig continued before Marco could respond. "And...I really like her, Marco. I never meant to do anything to hurt her. Ever. And when I saw her in the doorway just now--"

Marco cut Craig off. "Ellie? Just now?" Realization dawned. Ellie saw them. She saw them kissing. And if Craig kissed her earlier that day, then she probably thought that they were getting together, and then to see Marco kissing Craig…? Ellie had to be feeling pretty terrible right about then. Marco had to go make sure she was okay. He had to make sure that she knew he'd never purposely do anything like this to hurt her. He hadn't known. And her friendship was one of the most important things in his life. He had to talk to her. Right away. He got up quickly. Startling Craig. "I'm going to Ellie's. I need to talk to her…make sure she's okay." He hesitated for a moment, looking down at Craig with a heavy heart. They couldn't be together if it meant losing Ellie's friendship. "I'll be back after." He leaned down and kissed Craig goodbye, afraid that it would be the last time he ever got to kiss the other boy. Then he turned and hurried from the garage, heading to Ellie's to straighten everything out.

Craig's jaw dropped a little at this turn of events. He stared at the empty doorway for a few moments, trying to figure out what he should do next. He let out a long frustrated sigh and flopped back on the sofa, feeling defeated.