Chapter Sixteen: Parents Can Be Such A Drag: Part One

Andrew

"I love you," I murmured in his ear. It was the second time I said it.He showed no reaction the first time.

Marco's eyes widened as he stared at me.

"Why…" he trailed off.

"I see Rory with you. For the first time since I've known him, he's genuinely happy. And I don't want to ruin that. He's my brother, and I love him. But I love you Marco. I just wanted you to know that."

"I…"

But I didn't let him finish. I swooped in and pressed my lips to his.

"I have to go," Marco blurted out as soon as it was over.

"Marco, wait!" I called, chasing after him. I can't let him go again.

Jesse

"Rex! I know you're in there!" I called into Mrs. Skye's office. "I just need to talk to you! It won't take long!" I yelled.

No one came. I just know they're in there with their little baby, playing the happy little family that they really aren't.

"I will yell until everyone knows about you if you don't open this door!" I said, pounding on it. I heard the baby start to cry.

"Fine!" Rex yelled, pulling the door open. He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the room. Alyssa was there, sitting on her bed, with her bathrobe pulled tightly around her. She was holding their daughter, trying to stop her from crying.

"Nice to see you again," I whispered, trying not to cry.

"Hello Jesse. Look, I want to tell you that I'm sorry. I never wanted any of this to spin out of control. I just…I love Rex. I didn't mean to ever hurt you," she said.

"I know. It's not your fault. And I love Rex too. That's why I'm doing this." I turned to Rex, and held his hand in mine.

"What are you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"I'm…I'm…" I choked back tears, trying my best to keep it together. "I'm letting you go," I finally let out. I kissed him softly on the cheek, and turned to leave.

"Don't do this," he protested, grabbing my arm.

"You can't change my mind," I told him. "I've kept you from what you want for four years. I know that when we met, you just felt sorry for me. I told you my little sob story about my parents dying. And how my sister just gave me away, even after she had been the one who always protected me. I made you fall in love, and then you fell out of it," I explained.

"I never fell out of love…" he trailed off, wiping a tear from my cheek.

"But you've moved on. You have a baby to take care of. I can't let my jealousy get in the way of that. I love you too much to just destroy the relationship you should share with your daughter."

"But what about us?" he asked, on the verge of tears himself.

"There is no us."

Marco

This is too much for me to take in. Rory told me he loved me at the dance. I pretended not to hear him. I really was worried about Jesse, but I also didn't know what to say to Rory. So I walked away.

And then Andrew said it too.

I've been waiting to hear those words come out of his mouth. But it couldn't have been a worse time. Because I've fallen in love with Rory.

I'm such an idiot.

I rushed back to my room, not eager to let Andrew catch up with me. I opened the door and slammed it behind me.

"What're you running from?" a familiar voice asked from behind me. I spun around, and a huge smile broke out on my face.

"Ellie!" I walked up to her and gave her a huge hug. She wasn't alone. Jay was there too…and Emma and Spinner. Weird. Craig told me they were together, but I just never pictured it until now. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"We came to visit you. Heard there was a huge party and we thought we'd crash it. However, due to some angry chaperones, we hid out in here instead," Spinner explained.

"Doesn't he sound so much smarter?" Emma asked, throwing her arms around him and smiling. Her and I had never really hung out much, but I was glad to see her happy. They all looked so happy.

And seeing my old friends let me forget all about Andrew and Rory, and any other drama. For the time being at least.

We stayed up all night getting updates from each other. I told them about Rory being my boyfriend, and showed them pictures. I left out the happenings with Jesse and with Andrew.

Ellie assured me that Jay was different than he used to be, and that he was a good person. It was so great to see her happy. Emma and Spinner kept to themselves most of the night, except for when Spinner and I got to talking for a little while. He was happy too. And I was pretending to be happy through all of it.

Jesse never showed up, so I let Emma and Spinner take his bed. I gave mine up to Ellie and Jay, and took my pillow on the floor with me. It was four-thirty in the morning before we all went to sleep. Even though the next day was Saturday, we had a lot to prepare for. It was Parent's Day.

Craig

"Ugh, I hate going-back-to-school work!" I complained. It was the morning after the Halloween party. It's Saturday morning and here I am, doing homework. I have to catch up though. Nate and I skipped class so much that we were both behind on our assignments.

"What's wrong?" he asked me, wrapping his arms around my chest. I was sitting on his bed with an empty notebook page in front of me. "Anything I can do to help?"

"No," I said, grumpy. "I can't get this poem written," I confessed. "And you wouldn't be able to help. You'd only stop me from getting it done."

"Well, what seems to be the problem?" he asked, letting go and sitting down next to me, his legs tucked underneath him.

"I think it's my meds," I told him, looking up from the page. "They don't let me get as creative as I'd like."

"Did you take them this morning yet?" he asked me.

"Nope."

"Then don't take them at all. Just until you get the poem done, I mean. It couldn't do too much damage, could it?"

"Probably not. I'll give it a try."

Just then, a knock at the door interrupted us. I looked down at what I was wearing. Just one of my old t-shirts and a pair of boxers. Nate was just in his underwear, so he pulled on some pants and opened the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm looking for Craig," a familiar voice said. I looked up at the door.

"Joey!" I called, getting up and walking over to him.

"Hey Craig. I went to your room, and your roommate said you were here. How is everything?" he asked me.

"Great. I really like it here," I told him.

"I'm glad. Have you been, uh…?" he trailed off, unsure of whether or not to finish that sentence.

"Yes Joey, I just took it," I lied. "Hey Angie," I said, bending down to hug her.

"Craig I missed you!" she said, hugging me back.

"I missed you too kiddo. Where's the girlfriend?" I asked Joey, standing back up.

"She had to work. But she says to tell you hello. Anyway, who's this?" he asked, motioning towards Nate.

"Oh yeah. Joey, this is Nate. He's my…" I paused for just a second, "best friend. And Nate, this is my dad and my sister,"

Joey looked pleased to be referred to as my dad, and well…Nate looked…less than pleased. They shook hands before turning to me as if to say, 'what's next?'

Thomas

"What the hell is going on in here?" someone yelled, causing me to jump up in surprise. I saw a very angry man standing over me.

"Dad! I can explain!" Kate yelped, sitting up. The problem was; she couldn't explain. She didn't have any clothes on. She wrapped the sheet around her and dragged her dad into the hallway. I was left finding my own clothes.

I overheard their conversation and I nearly died.

"What do you think you're doing?" her dad yelled. The door was open a crack and I could just see him fuming.

"He's my boyfriend!" she yelled back. "We've been together for two months!"

"You've been doing this behind my back for two months?" he screamed. "How old is he?"

"Dad, don't," she said. I pulled my pants on and threw on my sweatshirt.

"He looks like he could be twenty. Or even older!" he yelled.

Twenty? Hmmm that could work for me.

"He's not that old Daddy!" Daddy? Who calls their father 'daddy' anymore? "He's only eighteen."

"Only eighteen? For Christ sakes Kate, you are FOURTEEN YEARS OLD DAMMIT! And you're sleeping with that kid! What is wrong with you? Is your sister doing this crap too?"

Fourteen? FOURTEEN?

What the fuck? She told me she was seventeen. Oh man, I have to get out of here.

As quickly as I could, I climbed out the window and down the fire escape. I had no idea where Lindsey was, but I wasn't about to stick around and find out.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!" I heard her dad yell out the window. I bolted around the corner as fast as I could.

Rory

"Marco? I need to talk to you," I said through the door. No one answered me, so I tried the door. It was unlocked.

I saw Marco, fast asleep on the floor, and four unknown people taking up the beds. They must be his friends from back home.

Careful not to wake anyone up, I lay down next to Marco and wrapped my arms around him. It's now or never.

"It's about time you showed up," Marco said, nuzzling into my neck. "I missed you last night."

"Well, I had a lot of thinking to do," I said, squirming around. I was way too nervous.

"About what?" he asked sleepily, kissing my neck.

"Uh…I don't really want to talk about it now with all your friends here…" I trailed off, grasping his hand. "Later, okay?"

"Sure, that's fine. But for now, we can fool around while they're still sleeping…" he looked up at me and grinned.

"Actually, I'm kinda tired," I lied. Doing that would make this harder.

"What's wrong Rory?" he asked, squeezing my hand.

"Nothing. I'm just stressed out because of Parent's Day." Another lie.

"My dad won't show. I know that much," he said, sighing.

"Sorry. I know this is harder on you than it is on me," I said, hugging him tightly and kissing him on the cheek.

I had been ready to break up with him as soon as I walked in. But now I'm not sure I can let go of him this easily. Maybe we can make this work.

"I love you Marco," I whispered in his ear. I felt him freeze. He didn't say a word. Maybe not.

Lindsey

Thomas stormed into our room, clearly out of breath. He saw Sarah and got really mad.

"Get that bitch out of here!" he yelled in between breaths.

"What's wrong with you?" I yelled back.

"I…just ran…all the way from their house!" he pointed at her. "I was being fucking chased by their dad. They're fucking fourteen dipshit!"

Whoa. Fourteen?

"You're not serious are you?" I asked. I looked down at Sarah. She wasn't looking at me. "Is that true?" I asked her. She didn't answer me, so I jumped out of bed.

"Lindsey…don't," she pleaded, starting to cry.

"You lied to me!" I yelled. "You knew you were too young for me. Your sister's too young for him too!"

"I love you Lindsey."

"This is fucking illegal!"

"You need to leave. NOW!" Thomas yelled at her. She looked to me for confirmation.

"You better go," I said through gritted teeth. She grabbed her bra off the ground and ran out crying. As soon as Thomas closed the door, someone knocked on it.

"We told you to leave Sarah!" he yelled, opening the door. "What part of that didn't you…" he stopped mid-sentence, staring.

"Um…" I said, unsure of who the man in the doorway was. It can't be Sarah and Kate's dad…can it? He looks too calm.

"Hey Dad," Thomas said. His voice was shaking. Thomas' dad stepped forward, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey there Tommy," he replied, smiling.

I instantly understood.

A/N: So, what do you think? Will Rory and Marco break up? Do you want them to? Next chapter will have a few surprises. Do you understand what happened at the end there? If not, you'll see later.