Thank you to those of you who have reviewed and voted to keep this going. Here's the second chapter. Hope it continues to live up to your expectations. I do take suggestions and comments seriously so feel free to review and leave anything you might want to see happen.

Chapter Two

Reliving A History

Marco was replaying Dylan's earlier tirade while he finished cleaning up his kitchen. 'I'm sitting on the couch of the only person I ever loved.' Wow! He actually did love me. I thought after he decided to play straight, maybe I didn't mean that much to him.

Marco looked at the clock and sighed. The hands seemed frozen at 3:25. His phone rang, jarring him out of his daze.

"Hello?"

"Have you seen my brother?"

"So nice to hear from you at 3 in the morning. Now, what do I owe such an honor?"

"Don't fuck with me, Del Rossi. Have you seen Dylan?"

"If you tell me why you need him, I will tell you if I've seen him." Marco reasoned.

"He's in town for an expo. He's supposed to be at the hotel, however he left. Since I figured he still frequents gay bars and yours is the most popular, he'd show up there. His coach is freaking and called me. I told him he was with one of my girlfriends and was indisposed. So now, if you know where he is, please tell me." Paige begged.

Marco heard the desperation in her voice. It wasn't like Paige to beg for anything. There must be more to the story than she was telling, but he took pity on her anyway. "It's not nice to lie, Paige. Your brother is passed out in my bedroom. He did come in and had a few too many beers. I didn't want to turn him loose because I figured he'd never make it to the hotel under his own devices. And before you leap to any conclusions, he's alone in my bed. I'm in the kitchen."

"Thank you so much for looking out for him. I know right now you probably just want to drop kick him out the door but you didn't. I'll call Jim and tell him he's staying with my friend and I'll bring him back in the morning." Paige said on a relieved sigh.

"Do me a favor though, don't tell Spin he stayed with me." Marco said.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask why Spin freaks every time you have a guy over."

"I don't think you want to know…"

"If I'm going to marry the jackass, at least let me know what he's capable of…"

"Fine, but remember you asked for it. He got drunk and decided he didn't know if he was gay or straight. He shoved his tongue down my throat and his hands down my pants. He wanted to explore further but I tried to stop him. He plied me with more liquor until I consented. He explored, decided that it wasn't right and proposed to you. He doesn't want me but isn't sure if anyone else should have me either."

Paige gasped, "I see…"

"Sorry to blurt that out like that but you did ask and it's been a rough night." Marco said tiredly.

"What happened? Besides my brother showing up in your bar?"

"Yeah, I didn't tell him I technically own the bar. But I had two extremely hard finals followed by going to have a drink. Only to be picked up by your brother, who didn't know who I was when he approached me. Oh, and he's supposed to be straight. He wants to explain why he was an ass all those years ago but only questions my drinking habits. He does confess though that it takes a mental image of me to make him cum while fucking women and other men."

Paige tried to break in, "Umm…Marco?"

"Oh, no…wait it gets better. He comes back to the bar with me and gets drunk because he's watching me flirt with other guys and doesn't like it. I kiss him on my way back behind the bar, don't ask why because I haven't a clue. I bring him back here again because I don't trust he'll get back to the hotel safely. He proceeds to tell me that I'm the only person he's ever loved and he's regretted his last six years. Oh and he was crying." Marco took a breath, "This is when I decided the boy needed sleep. I gave him some aspirin and water and put him to bed."

The line was silent for a minute.

"Is it my turn to talk now?" asked Paige.

"Yep."

"Okay, well first off, you can't blame him for trying to pick you up. You were in a gay bar and are really good looking. You do look totally different than when we graduated. Second, he always goes after guys who resemble you. You are the only person he's ever loved that deeply. He's had crushes but when he had to leave you, it affected him for years. The kiss happened because it felt right. He got hammered because he was jealous of all the other attention you were receiving…it's kind of a wake up call to what he lost. He's crying because he's so not happy with the way everything has turned out. He screwed up royally." Paige retorted to Marco's tirade.

"Thanks Paige. Want me to call you when he can face daylight?" asked Marco.

Paige laughed, "Yeah. Don't torture him too much, though. He's a little vulnerable, hun."

Marco hung up the phone and leaned against his doorjamb. He looked at Dylan asleep in his bed and smiled. It had been so long, yet some days it felt like yesterday to Marco. There was a brief time when seeing Dylan in his bed wouldn't have caused a second thought for Marco, but now it seemed novel. Oddly, it still seemed right. He wouldn't admit it to anyone except himself, but he still loved the blonde. He chose guys who looked like him because he couldn't get attracted to anyone else. This man in his bed resided in a large portion of Marco's brain and he wasn't going anywhere.

Marco shook his head and turned around to turn off the lights in his living room and kitchen. When the house was dark and the door was locked, Marco returned to his room. He changed into a pair of pajama pants and carefully slid in bed next to Dylan. He could feel Dylan's warmth, even though they weren't touching.

Marco turned away from Dylan and sighed lightly, it was going to be a long night.

Dylan naturally scooted closer to Marco and held him tightly. His body still fit with Marco's perfectly and it just seemed natural.

Marco shifted slightly and looked to see if Dylan was indeed asleep. He was completely dead to world. This had been pure instinct on his part. Marco reshifted his position and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Marco woke up with the feeling that something was wrong. He realized that it was because someone was sharing his bed. He never brought anyone home and he never stayed the night anywhere.

Then the previous evening came blaring back at him and he remembered everything. Dylan, admissions, drinking, kiss, bar, hell, the bar…Marco sat up and put his head in his hands. He had to go do inventory. He peeked at the clock on his table and saw it only read 8:45. He had a few hours before Mike and Luke would even be coherent enough to do inventory.

Marco felt movement behind him and turned to look at Dylan in the morning light. He felt an odd stirring, like love mixed with lust, surfacing again as he stared down at Dylan's blonde curls shining in the sunlight.

Marco jumped up off the bed and went to take a shower. He had to do something besides sit in bed and stare at Dylan.

Dylan was awoken to the sound of a shower running. He was slightly confused about where he was and why he had a headache. Who was in the shower? This isn't my room…this doesn't look like a hotel. Where am I? Dylan sat there for a few minutes before memories started flowing back on him like a river.

"Oh shit." He remembered Marco, and drinking, and a kiss, and confessing, and Marco. At the last thought, Marco emerged from the bathroom wearing only a low slung towel.

Marco stopped in the doorway and looked at Dylan where he sat on the bed, "Good morning."

"I haven't decided if it's good or not yet. Got anymore aspirin?"

Marco motioned to the table next to Dylan, "I already got you covered on that. Coffee should start brewing…" Marco waited a second, "Now!" as he heard the pot turn on.

"Oh God, I've got to call Paige. She needs to cover for me. If they find out I spent the night with a guy, I'm going to be in deep trouble." Dylan exclaimed.

Marco laughed, "I spoke to her around 3 this morning. I don't know why she thought I'd know where you are but she called anyway. But then again, I work in the most popular gay bar in Toronto."

Dylan groaned, "Why are you so nice to me? I was an ass."

Marco shrugged, "You needed me, I helped. Saving your ass seems to be one of the things I'm good at, and old habits die hard."

Dylan smirked, "You always were a smart ass."

"Funny thing, I was serious. I couldn't let you do something stupid last night and I figured if you were with me, I could control it." Marco stated simply.

Dylan noticed Marco hadn't made any moves to get dressed. He was getting distracting wearing the towel and his heart on his arm like that. Marco turned his back to Dylan to look in his closet and Dylan noticed something. "Is that? You got a tattoo?"

Marco looked over his shoulder, "Yeah, I guess I did. That's about two years old now. The other one is four years old, I got it right after I turned 18."

"So, you have two tattoos?"

"Technically, I have four. I combined three different tattoos to make up the first one."

"Can I see it?"

Marco turned and looked at Dylan for a few minutes. "Oh, what the hell?" Marco walked back toward Dylan and whipped off his towel.

It took Dylan a second to zero in on the tattoo on Marco's right hip. He looked at the tattoo and then up at Marco and then back at the tattoo, "Care to explain it?"

Marco picked his towel up off the floor but didn't replace it around his waist. Instead, he walked to his dresser and started dressing. When he had on a pair of boxer briefs and jeans he turned to face Dylan again. "I was extremely hurt when I got this one. The hockey puck reminds me of you, the bee is a symbol of a fear I've dealt with and the shredded heart is there to remind me that those prior images caused the latter."

"What about the one on your back?"

"The cross represents my faith. The Celtic design spanning to my shoulders represents eternity. Everything is interlocked, related and nothing ever ends. We just keep going in one form or another."

Marco slid his shirt down over his abs, effectively shielding his tattoo from view.

"Go take a shower. Here, these should about fit you. I'll go make breakfast and call Paige." Marco commanded as he laid some clothes on the bed.

Dylan looked at him, "Why are you calling Paige?"
"Because you're supposed to be sleeping with one of her GIRL friends and she's returning you to your coach." Marco stated as he left the room.

"Why can't we hang out as friends today?" asked Dylan from the bedroom door.

Marco laughed, "Surely you jest. We aren't friends Dylan. We're two strangers who met in a bar. We just happen to share a common and very distant past." Marco said tensely. He picked up his phone and dialed Paige's number.

"Hey Paige."
"Yeah, he's up and no worse for the wear."

"Let him take a shower and then he'll be ready for you. An hour."

"Okay, see you then."

Marco was staring at Dylan while talking to Paige.

"Go take your shower. Paige'll be here soon."

Dylan returned twenty minutes later, dressed in the clothes Marco had handed him earlier. Surprisingly, they fit well. "So, which boyfriend left these?"

"They're mine. I still like my play clothes to be loose and comfortable. I get enough of the skin tight stuff at work."

"I'll make sure to get them back to you then."

"It's okay. Just make sure that Paige gets them, she'll return them."

"So, you don't want to see me again?" asked Dylan.

Marco shook his head, "Dylan, under different circumstances, I'd say yes but considering I'm well known here, I don't think it would be wise to be seen with me. It would be rather tarnishing to your image."

"So, we can hang out here and see what happens…" Dylan said rather suggestively.

Marco looked at him. He definitely had nerve to even suggest it. "Do you want to know why you shouldn't even be in my apartment? Why you shouldn't be seen with me? And why everyone knows my name and that I'm gay? I own, not just bartend at, but OWN the most popular gay bar in Toronto, hell maybe even Canada. Can you even fathom the ramifications of even knowing me? Your PR guy would be doing damage control for over a year. Hell, it might get so bad that you may have to get married to a GIRL."

Dylan reached over and pulled Marco to him. He kissed him once, hard and demanding.

Marco reached back to smack him but Dylan caught his arm.

"Don't hit me. I wanted you to stop yelling at me and that was the only way to get you to shut up. Besides, you were always so cute when you were mad and frustrated."

Marco dropped his hand, "Fine but not seeing me again would be beneficial to you. It'll save my sanity as well. Where the bloody hell is your sister?"

Dylan smiled, "Trying to get rid of me, I see. Oh well, you know Paige, she'll be late to her own funeral. As for my reputation, I can explain you. We were friends in high school."

"Yeah and then give the license to dig into your past, when we were openly dating. Prom pictures, graduation photos, snapshots, hell, there's even a picture of us kissing in your Grade 12 yearbook. Are you really sure you want to open that can of worms?" inquired Marco.

"Where do you get some of the phrases? And for someone who isn't my friend, you're sure looking out for me."

"You didn't hear Luke's accent. He's from a little town in Georgia. He's really fun at parties, his hick comes out. It's hysterical. We may not be the best of friends but I do still care. I don't want to see you do anything stupid and ruin your career."

Dylan laughed as the door opened.

Paige walked in as if she owned the place. She saw her brother and Marco sitting at the kitchen table, it made quite the cozy scene. "Having fun giving people heart attacks, big brother?"

Dylan beamed a smile at her, "Yep."

Paige walked over and poured herself a cup of coffee, "So you ready to return to the straight life?"

"Why do you feel the need to constantly return me?" inquired Dylan curiously.

"Because, dear brother, this is the life you chose to lead. And yet, you are constantly straying from it every chance you get. I like Jim and I don't think it's fair that he have to clean up your mess every time you act like an idiot and pull these stupid stunts. So, I've taken it upon myself to save your ass before he has to do some major damage control…again." With that said, Paige smacked Dylan on the back of the head.

"Okay, that hurt. I did have way too much to drink last night." Dylan said, rubbing the back of his head.

Marco had moved to lean against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest, "Yeah, he's a real light weight."

Paige laughed. Dylan glared at him, "Well, I can't help it if my bartender kept serving me."

"The bartender didn't know your limits and figured with your size you'd be able to handle ten beers and be coherent. I misjudged," Marco retorted.

Paige was enjoying the interaction immensely. It reminded her of old times.

"Well, as much as I enjoy your company Paige, I have to go. I've got inventory in half an hour. I need to start shifting things before Luke and Mike stumble in."

Paige laughed, "Yeah, Luke isn't fond of daylight hours. Better go start the coffee over there. Throw in a chocolate croissant and he'll be extremely happy."

Dylan threw his sister a quizzical look as the three headed for the door, "How do you know Luke so well?"

"Hun, he's gay. I've helped Marco out on occasion."

"You bartend?"

"Yeah, I'm a different person, hun. You've no idea what I do when you aren't here."

"I think we need to talk. Any tattoos or piercings?"

"Yes, I got a tattoo last year and I've had my belly button pierced since high school."

Marco parted from the siblings at the bar entrance. "Paige, you helping on Sunday? I've got that private lesbian party at 8:30 before opening to the public at 11."

"Sure, the lesbians seem to love me."

Marco watched as the blonde duo headed toward Paige's car.

He walked into the empty bar and smiled. This was his and it was very profitable for him.

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