Chapter Twenty-Four: I Just Wanna Love You
Rex
I grabbed Jesse's arm and pulled. We both landed on the top of the stairs in a heap.
"Why'd you do that?" he asked angrily, shoving me off of him.
"You were about to fall down the stairs," I pointed out. "I was trying to help you."
"Yeah, well, you're the reason I was falling in the first place. And to tell you the truth, I'd rather have fallen than be looking at you right now." He stood up and started to walk away. I jumped up and grabbed his arm again.
"I know it's my fault, but just let me explain."
"What is there to explain? You really do love her. I won't keep you from her any longer, trust me."
Instead of letting him walk away, I dragged him by his arm into our room, shut the door, and locked it.
"I have to tell you Jesse. Or I'll regret it for the rest of my life," I told him.
"Fine. You have five minutes." He sat down on our bed, but then quickly jumped off of it and sat in a chair instead.
The story actually took me twenty minutes to tell, but Jesse stayed and listened. I told him everything: my fears about being beat up again, trying to change myself, really loving him all along…everything.
And then he told me that we couldn't be together. Even after the whole story.
"I love you so much Rex. That's why this is so hard," Jesse said, sighing and standing up from the chair.
"You're asking me to choose between you and my daughter?" I asked, taken aback.
"No. I'm asking you to let me go. You can't keep me on the side like this. I love you, but I won't be shoved aside anymore. Goodbye Rex." He kissed me softly before turning to leave.
"Wait!" I called after him. Slowly, he turned, facing me. We both had tears in our eyes. "I love you. I'm not confused, I never was. Can't you see that? I just felt like I had to try and fix myself. The sex with Lyssa meant nothing. I didn't even enjoy it. I…" tears spilled from my eyes, soaking my cheeks.
"I'm glad you're telling me this. I really am. I love you too. But this is still goodbye. No exceptions; no matter what." He choked back tears and left, closing the door with a soft click. I knew there was no going back. That click was the end of it all.
I threw myself onto the bed—the bed that used to be ours—and cried.
Rory
Fuck. This is my fault. I should have been able to protect Marco. Now I'm sitting in the hospital, completely useless. They won't tell me anything or let me see him because I'm not family.
I have a sprained ankle, and a fractured rib. That's all the damage besides some randomly placed cuts and bruises. All I know is that Marco was much worse off. He wasn't even conscious when the ambulance got there.
I paced back and forth in the room, hoping they would release me so I could figure out what to do. I was about to just get up and leave when I saw the doctor coming back with a police officer.
"I need to ask you a few questions about what happened to you and your friend," the woman, Officer Harlan, said.
"I really just want to know what happened to my friend," I said, pleading with her.
"Maybe we can arrange that. But first, we have to talk."
"Fine," I said, giving in. Anything to get to Marco.
Nate
Rory called the house a minute ago, frantically yelling for me to get everyone to the hospital. He said that Marco was hurt. I couldn't get anything else out of him because he was crying too hard.
I ran up the stairs and bumped into Jesse. He looked really upset. And I was just about to make his day worse.
"We have to go to the hospital," I said, grabbing onto his arm.
"Why?" he asked, pulling away from me.
"It's Marco. Something's wrong," I said. I saw the intense look of fear in his eyes.
Jesse
I instantly forgot about my bitterness towards Marco and my final break up with Rex. This can't be happening.
Nate explained what happened as we went to round up everyone else. As soon as we got to Thomas' room, he ran off to call Craig.
I got Thomas and Theresa to come with Nate and me. I decided to leave Rex behind, and I had no idea where Remy was. An unfamiliar car was parked in the driveway, so he was probably off with someone. I couldn't reach Andrew. He wasn't home, and wouldn't answer his phone.
The four of us sped off to the hospital to see if Marco would be okay.
Craig
"Who was that?" Caitlin asked me as I hung up the phone. We were sitting at the kitchen table. I'd just finished eating the dinner that she made me.
"It was Nate. He said that Marco's in the hospital," I said slowly. I wasn't sure of what to do.
"Is he okay?" she asked, concerned.
"I don't know." I bit my bottom lip. I hope he is.
"Should we go see him?" she asked. Joey was out with Angela for the night. He took her out to dinner and a movie to spend some quality time with her.
"We can't, he's in New York City," I explained.
"Oh. Well, don't worry about it, I'm sure he'll be fine," she assured me. "Who's Nate?" she asked.
I wasn't sure what to say. I knew that if I talked to Caitlin about anything, she wouldn't tell Joey if I asked her to keep it a secret.
"He's a…friend…" I said finally. Then I looked away from her; the first sign that she knew I wasn't telling her the full truth.
"Okay…" she trailed off. "Craig, is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"If I tell you something, will you promise not to talk to Joey about it?" I asked her.
"As long as it's not something that endangers you or someone else, then that's fine," she replied.
"Well…um…you see…ah, I don't know how to say this."
"It's okay. You can just come out and say it," she said, placing a reassuring hand on my arm.
"I'm in love with you Caitlin," I blurted out. Wow, that was really odd.
We sat in silence for about thirty seconds or so. It seemed like a lot longer than that.
"Craig…" she said. "I know you're just trying to shock me, and that's not really the truth. Although that was one awkward moment there," she pointed out.
"Yeah, you know me too well. Actually, I'm sort of…I guess…in love…with…a…boy," I finally got it out.
"Is this that Nate boy?" she asked, completely calm. She acted like she wasn't surprised.
"Why aren't you more surprised about this?" I asked. "Do I look gay or something?"
"No Craig, it's not like that. These things happen. It's normal for you to have feelings for a boy. Some people are gay and that's the way it is," she explained.
"I know, but I feel like I can't be this way. Like it's wrong," I confessed. "I feel guilty after I…"
"After you what?" she asked.
"Never mind…" I trailed off. I had been about to say after I have sex with Nate, but I'm really not going to go there with Caitlin.
"Why do you feel guilty after you do whatever it is that you do?" she asked. I'm sure she knew what I meant.
"Because of Manny. Because I do still love her. How is that even possible?" I asked.
"Well Craig, some people are bisexual."
"I don't think I am. I mean, I love being with Manny and Nate. But…being with Nate is just a little more…enjoyable. I don't have to worry about certain things. And I guess because it's new," I told her. This was the most I'd ever talked to anyone about any of it. I'd never even spoken a word of this to Nate.
"Well, just because you have some things you don't have to worry about, I hope you're using protection Craig. Because things can still happen…" I interrupted her before she got any farther.
"I know. This is just getting a little weird. But how do I know who to choose? I don't want to hurt Manny again, after everything I've put her through, but I also don't want to hurt Nate because I don't think he could really take it."
"All you can do is follow your heart," Caitlin said, squeezing my hand. "But I'm sure you already knew that."
It hit me before either of us knew what was happening. I pulled my hand away from her and flew up from my chair.
"How can I follow my heart when I'm so confused?" I yelled, grabbing my plate and dropping it in the sink. It broke into three big pieces. "Shit!" I yelled.
"Craig, I'm worried about you," Caitlin said, remaining calm and resting a hand on my shoulder.
"I haven't…" I trailed off, putting a hand up to my forehead and closing my eyes. I suddenly had a headache. She instantly knew what I meant and grabbed my meds off the counter.
"You know Joey won't let you go back there if he finds out," she said.
"What if I don't want to go back?" I asked, swallowing the pills.
Remy
I'd seen Thomas, Theresa…that bitch…Nate, and Jesse rush out of the house. Kelly and I both ducked down in the car until they were gone. Now we'd been sitting there in silence for over a half hour. I wasn't sure why he was there and he wasn't saying.
He moved his hand over to my leg, and slowly started rubbing it. I smacked it away and started to go for the door handle, but he clicked the button and locked it. Glaring at him, I crossed my arms over my chest and looked out the window to my right.
Then he reached his hand over again and I felt him grab onto my crotch and start massaging it. I almost let him get the best of me but then I finally grabbed his hand and lifted it up. I slapped him in the face right then, and that just pissed him off.
I'd never seen this side of him before. Sure, he was into rough sex, but this was different. He was really angry. He grabbed my head in both of his hands and turned it so I was facing him. Then, instead of hitting me or yelling at me like I expected him to, he leaned in quickly and kissed me hard, forcing his tongue into my mouth. I wrenched my head out of his grip and pulled away, getting more upset by the minute.
"What, I'm not good enough for you now that you're not with that little whore anymore?" He asked, practically spitting it at me.
"No, that's not it at all," I said honestly. "I'm just pissed that you told her about us."
"How does it even make a difference? You never see her except for on holiday breaks. You don't even have sex with her as much as we do," he pointed out.
"That's not the point!" I yelled, frustrated. "She's been my girlfriend since we were thirteen. That's almost five years!"
"So what? She obviously wasn't satisfying you in any way, or you would have never come to me."
"I was just trying to have some fun. Besides, you're married, Kelly! How can you do this to your wife? And, furthermore, how is it that my girlfriend gets to know about this, and breaks up with me, while you still cheat on your wife and she doesn't even have a clue?" I argued. That's what really pissed me off.
"That's where you're wrong," he stated. "She does know."
"And she's okay with this?" I asked. That's just sick.
"No, actually, we're separated. I left her just for you," he said, calming down. He leaned in to kiss me, much more slowly than last time, but I still pulled away.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this," I said.
"Well, just because it turned out the way you didn't expect doesn't mean that you have to do this to me. We can be together now Remy. Don't you get that? I'm doing this for you," he said, almost begging.
"I'm sorry Kelly, but I won't do this with you. I don't want to be with someone that tears down everything I've made of myself in less than a week. You purposely ruined things between Theresa and me. After we graduated, we were going to move in together and put everything about our stupid boarding schools behind us. Now we won't be doing that. And I have nothing."
"But you have me. After you graduate, we don't have to see each other secretly. We can be together, out in the open. We can move in together."
"I don't want that. Let me out of this car," I said. But he wouldn't. He tried to hold my hand and change my mind, but I wouldn't even let him talk. "Let me out now!" I yelled. Instead, he tried to kiss me again, his lips colliding with my cheek. I pulled the lock up and opened the door before he could stop me.
"You'll regret this!" he yelled as I slammed the door.
Thomas
"Are you okay?" Theresa asked, sitting down next to me. I'd been spacing out for the last hour, but I wasn't thinking about Marco. I felt bad that my mind wasn't focused on him; I'd always liked the kid. I only stopped talking to him because I've been friends with Jesse for much longer. No, I couldn't think about Marco; I could only think about my dad. And what he did. The only thing that seemed to get my mind off of it was Theresa.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"It must be hard, having a friend in the hospital like this. I know I haven't met him, but I'm sure he'll pull through," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Thanks. You're helping me feel better already," I said truthfully.
"I bet I can make you feel even better," she said, grinning. Before I could say a thing, she grabbed my hand and led me off from the waiting room. Looking into windows, she finally found an empty room. We went inside, and she locked the door. It was a small room, with a single bed in it. It was probably a place for ER doctors to sleep between shifts or something.
I sat down on the end of the bed, pulling her into my lap. We kissed for a few minutes, until I reached up under her shirt and tugged hard at her bra clasp, breaking it instead of actually taking it off. I tossed it aside and cupped my hand around one of her breasts, and, at the same time, rolled over and shifted positions so that I was hovering over her.
She reached up and pulled at my belt, then slowly took it off, teasing me the whole way. When that was off, I quickly pulled my pants down and took my shirt off, throwing the bunch of clothes onto the ground. I proceeded to take all of her clothes off too, and soon we were laying there, me in my boxers and her in her underwear.
I let her get on top of me and followed her lead. She slipped off her underwear, flinging it somewhere over my head. Teasing me once more, she took off my boxers as slowly as she could while I grazed my hands over her hips and down over her butt. She finally got my boxers off to reveal that I was already hard and ready for her.
Without thinking about protection, Theresa mounted me, and began bouncing up and down, slowly at first, but going faster all the time. We rolled again, and I was on top of her once more, thrusting my hips into hers while kissing her neck. I moaned into her hair and she screamed out my name before I let it go and then collapsed on top of her.
Andrew
This can't be happening. I just checked all of my voicemails. I had three from Rory and one from Nate. They all wanted to know where I was because Marco was in the hospital. It happened just like this with Alex. And he didn't make it.
I don't think I can go through all of it again. I can't see Marco like that.
I rushed home and went straight into my bathroom, grabbing the razor out of the medicine cabinet.
Dragging it across my arm, I cried out in pain and collapsed onto the floor. I haven't done this since I've been with Marco, but I can't stop now.
And if he doesn't make it through this, I don't know what I'll do.
A/N: So I guess you could say that Craig is kinda like Rex…where he is gay but he doesn't think it's right for him to be, so he feels like he's gotta change himself. On the other hand, he does still like/love Manny or w/e so he could be bi lol. :shrugs: You'll see what happens in the next few chapters. Sorry the other characters POVs were pretty short and Craig's was longer…I just needed to put that stuff in there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that this is the only chapter that I've had without Marco's POV. I take that back…he may have not had a POV in chapter 14. Yeah, sorry about the graphic Thomas/Theresa scene. The title of the chapter comes from the lyrics for Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You" so I guess he owns that. I just randomly thought about it after I wrote the chapter. I'm sorry it took so long for me to update but I've just been really busy with school. And I haven't finished writing chapter 25 yet...I'll try to get it up by the weekend. I'd write it tonight, but I have an essay to write. Damn school!
