6 –Have a Stormy Night
Ah, how I love storms. Of course, I don't love how they always seem to wake me up in the middle of the night, but still… Once I'm up I love listening to them. They are so full of passion and frustration. To me, they symbolize struggle. And today… well, today was one big struggle for both me and Marco. So, now I'm lying here in my bed listening to the storm… and thinking about Marco. Marco: Don't ask me how I got him to give me a second chance because I honestly have no idea. I really was starting to think that he would just stay with Tim –play it safe. So what if Tim is a little clingy… and stalkerish? Clingy and stalkerish has got to be better than cheating and jerk-like… Yes, Marco was right when he called me a jerk. I was a jerk to him. I complete and utterly idiotic jerk. And yet for some reason he kissed me anyway (jerk-ness and all), and now we're back together. This is why I'm not going to be a jerk to him anymore. He's giving me another chance. I can't be a jerk to him anymore. Hell, I might even take a page out of Tim's book and get a little clingier… I don't want to lose him again. I don't want to be an idiot again. I don't want to see any other people. All I want is to make sure Marco knows how much I love him.
And what better way to show my affection than to call him in the middle of the night, right?
"Huh?" a very groggy Marco says answering his cell phone. Marco pauses for a second –I assume that he's checking his caller ID. "Mmm, do you know what time it is Dyl?"
"It's 3 o'clock."
Marco yawns audibly. "And the emergency is what exactly?" Marco asks irritably.
"The storm was scaring me."
I can almost hear Marco roll his eyes at me. "You are such a liar."
I laugh a little. "Okay, okay, maybe the storm wasn't scaring me. It's just that, I haven't told you that I love you for almost six hours. I wanted to make sure you didn't forget."
Marco's tone of voice softens a little, "That's great babe, but –for future reference- you don't have to call me in the middle of the night to remind me." Marco pauses before adding, "And I love you, too."
"Do you mind if I stop by?" I ask on the spur of the moment, knowing full well what Marco's answer would be.
I can picture the look Marco is probably giving me right now: the are-you-completely-out-of-your-mind-what-if-my-parents-catch-you-here look. He is so cute. "Are you insane?" I laugh a little at how Marco says exactly what I thought he would; he is so predictable.
"Well, I was insane enough to let you go," I say trying my best to sweeten Marco up in the slight hope that he'll let me come over.
Marco sighs, "Don't try to sweeten me up, Dylan. It's not going to work." Wow, I guess I'm equally as predictable.
Marco is quiet for awhile and I'm almost sure that he's going to just tell me to go back to sleep. Marco was never one to take a chance. He has always been more of the one to plan, organize, check and recheck every last detail of his life –much like my little sister. Paige: I don't understand her sometimes. She just has to have a plan for everything in her life. Of course, she never fails to disregard her plans entirely when it comes to the love department. First with that creepy pedophile of a teacher and now? Now, she's with this Alex girl –who, btw, I don't trust in the least (I always have this strong urge to hide any valuables when she's around).
During the time I spend thinking, Marco makes a decision that completely catches me off guard. "I'll be over in ten. Meet me at the door."
I'm so surprised that by the time I register what Marco just said, he has already hung up on me. "O-kay," I say to my empty room. Maybe he's not that predictable after all.
I go downstairs and into the kitchen to make some coffee for when Marco gets here. If there's one thing he can't resist, it's coffee. Of course, he prefers lattes but I'm not going to break into a coffee shop at three in the morning to go get him one. Although… No. Still not a good idea. To prevent any more thoughts of Starbucks theft, I walk into the living room. I pace by the door for a second before I hear a moan... And another moan. Either my mind is playing very dirty tricks on me or… No, God no. I reach over to turn the lights on only to see Paige and Alex making out on the couch –Alex with her hands all over my baby sister.
"Do you two ever stop doing that?" I ask them –trying my hardest to ignore where Alex's hands have moved to.
Paige sits up (thank God), rolls her eyes and sighs all at once. "Doing what?" she asks playing dumb.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about… Plus, what are you doing up at this hour anyway?"
"I could ask you the same thing –but I'm not going to. I'm not mom just like you aren't dad. You're my brother. Could you act like it?" Paige is ranting. She only does that when she's annoyed.
I sigh. "I am acting like your brother. Your older brother. Now, could you two please just go back to bed," I say in slight desperation. I want my alone-time with Marco.
Paige rolls her eyes at me again, but actually does what I asked her to. She smiles and then grabs Alex's arm and leads her upstairs to her bedro- Oh no. Did I really just tell Paige to take Alex up to her room? No wonder she didn't put up a fight. I'm about to follow them upstairs when I hear a soft tapping on the door. I open it to see Marco standing there dripping wet. I try to suppress a laugh, but fail. The rain has practically turned Marco's hair into an afro. Marco glares at me and heads straight to the kitchen where he isn't at all surprised to see that I have a pot of coffee ready for him. (Okay, since when did I get so predictable?)
"Couldn't find an umbrella?" I ask, following Marco into the kitchen.
"Does it look like I could find an umbrella?" Marco says almost hysterically. He is so adorable.
I laugh a little and Marco frowns. "Aw, but you look cute. Like a lost little puppy coming in from the rain."
Marco sets down the (massive) cup of coffee that he had poured for himself to kiss me. "You know," he says in between kisses, "you should work on making better compliments –'lost little puppy' isn't exactly the most flattering thing to call me."
I fake indignation, "It is so a good compliment. Who doesn't like puppies?" Marco just laughs and grabs his coffee cup again. I pour myself a cup and we sit down at the table. We settle into a comfortable silence and I just stare at Marco drink his coffee. Did I mention how cute he is? And at the moment, he looks like he's practically going to have an orgasm. "I'm starting to think that you like that drink more than me," I say breaking the silence. "Should I be worried?"
Marco laughs, but distantly –like he has something else on his mind. "No, you don't have to worry… not about the drink anyway."
"What?" I ask –what's that supposed to mean?
"I think Tim really liked me," Marco says looking down into his now empty coffee cup.
I'm slightly relieved. "Liked. Past tense. It's okay," I say with a smile while taking Marco's hand in my own.
Marco looks back up at me. "No, it's not okay. Dylan, I used him. And then I broke his heart. I swore that I'd never do that, not after you…" he trails off.
"Not after I broke yours," I say finishing off his sentence for him.
Marco slowly nods. There's a clap of thunder. Then, Marco starts talking, "You broke my heart, Dylan. You ripped it out, froze it and dropped it off of a twenty story building. It hurt… And the worst part was that you didn't even care. I was in love with you. I loved you so much that I was going to graduate early just so I could be with you, and you didn't even love me enough to keep your hands off other guys for more than five minutes. That hurt… You cared more about 'having your freedom' than having me," by the time Marco finishes, he's crying.
I hold him. "You're wrong," I say barely above a whisper, "I did care… I never wanted to hurt you."
"You should have told me that then," Marco says bitterly. He walks out of the kitchen and back over towards the front door. "You should have told me that you cared, that you didn't mean to hurt me," Marco repeats.
"I know," I say. Marco turns the doorknob.
"And I should tell Tim," Marco says while opening the door and heading back out.
Note to reader: Sorry if this chapter sucked. I couldn't really figure out how to write like Dylan (so sorry if he's OOC), and it was really difficult to figure out how to end it. To be able to end it, I had to either (a) cop out and make it mostly about Palex or (b) make it slightly cheesy and rather abrupt. I chose (b).
Anyway, I pretty much just wanted to get this chapter finished because it was starting to bother me. The next chapter will be in Jay's POV and will take place right after High Fidelity Part 1 (and is already written; I just have to edit it a little).
