Wow. Thank you so much to all the reviewers. The reviews far exceeded my hopes...I only ask you all now to please keep reviewing if you're reading. I love them! Special mention to Kaitlinbell, luvluv, and Aspirer, for their thoughtful and detailed reviews.
Random responses to previous reviews - several people were amused/surprised that Ellie and/or Marco smoked pot. In my eyes, it was just kind of a thing to try, not a big deal to either of them. This is pretty consistent with what my experience of first year university was...
And for those reviewers (and there are many!) who keep asking about when Dylan will appear...hang in there...and keep reading.
A long awaited and long chapter 5 - enjoy!
Chapter 5: It's Raining Men
Marco stared down at the overdone bacon and slimy microwave scrambled eggs on his breakfast tray as he walked into the dining hall. "Tell me why I ordered the meal plan again?" Marco mused as he approached his friends.
"I know. Oily eggs and bacon versus froot loops – the healthy possibilities are endless," Drew laughed as he spooned the pink and green O's into his mouth, moving over to give Marco a place to sit. Marco smiled, noticing the shift.
"You walking to calc?" Drew asked him as they brought up their trays.
"Yeah," Marco smiled, glad that Drew appeared to be talking to him in daylight too.
"So I have some news," Drew looked at Marco, waiting for a response.
"News?...okay. What?"
"So I kind of told Dan that I might be gay."
"What?... Drew – that's so great. How'd it go?" Marco bubbled excitedly, "And wait…what do you mean by kind of told him that you might be?"
"Well…I'm still not very good at talking about it…But, well, he asked if I was interested in anyone on the floor when we were doing our chem lab last night."
"And?..." Marco prodded.
"And so…I told him that I was…and that I was maybe, kinda, sorta, seeing…you," Drew blushed, looking down at the sidewalk.
"Wow…You did? That's really…well really great."
"It is? …I wasn't sure…Well, anyways…I think he was really surprised. He just said wow and that he didn't know…but then, you know what he said?" Drew paused, "He thanked me for telling him and was like, that's cool because you're one of his favourite people…I can't believe it," Drew shook his head, smiling.
Marco squeezed Drew's arm as they walked into class, "I can, Drew…I really can."
Drew had finally agreed to a date. Well, a date other than a calculus "lesson" or a group dinner in the residence cafeteria. "You know this is an actual date, Drew," Marco had warned him, "so I might just try to like, hold your hand in the movie theatre or something…I hope you can handle it," Marco had teased.
Drew had just looked at him sheepishly, "Try me."
The two freshly showered, boy-scented students made their way down the McGill hill to the movie theatre. "I can't believe you convinced me to go see Hollywood Bollywood," Drew complained.
"Come on, Drew – those beautiful costumes, the music, all the glittering colour, so hot these days," Marco bubbled.
Drew looked at him, "You are so gay," he laughed.
"Uh..yeah," Marco gave him his 'duh' look, "and from what I can remember from last night, hunny …so are you." Marco smiled at him flirtatiously as they walked into the theatre.
"I guess so…" Drew still didn't seem totally convinced.
Marco loved the movie theatre date. Even though he and Drew had obviously wandered past the point of holding hands, there was still something exciting about being at the movies, hot guy beside him, trying to figure out when to hold his hand, making sure he's not uncomfortable. Drew looked at him expectantly as they sat down in the somewhat dim, but not yet dark theatre, playing the ads and trivia before the movie. Marco smiled at him, intertwining their fingers, "Is this okay?"
"Yeah," Drew smiled. Zoom, zoom, zoom…the Mazda commercial played on the screen.
"Marco!...and Drew." Suddenly Ellie's hands were on Marco's shoulders. Drew quickly grabbed his hand away, as he looked up to see a surprised Ellie and an amused Craig, staring down at them from the row behind, "I didn't know you guys were going to the movies tonight," Ellie gaped, " In fact, …I didn't know anything…at all…why am I always the last to know things?"
Marco looked down, laughing and shaking his head, wondering if Drew was holding up. Marco, to his surprise, found the whole situation hilarious. "It's okay, Drew…they're my best friends…so don't worry, okay?" Marco reassured him half heartedly, knowing very well there was no need to reassure. It was Craig and Ellie…they only go dancing in gay bars for goodness sakes. "And Ell…you're not the last to know…actually, you're almost the first."
"And who…may I ask…did you tell before your best friends in the whole world?" Ellie questioned.
"Actually…I told Dan," Drew found his voice, "Look guys…Marco didn't say anything because I wasn't ready to…this whole dating guys thing…it's brand new for me."
"No worries, Drew," Craig patted him on the shoulder before jumping over the row to sit down on the other side of Marco, "we're just teasing Marco…and your secret is safe."
"Definitely," Ellie agreed, "but I can't promise that we won't tease Marco," Ellie added.
"Thanks, Ell," Marco rolled his eyes, smiling at her, "I know I can always count on you."
As the lights dimmed, Drew reached over and took back Marco's hand, "Your friends are cool."
"I know," Marco whispered, "and they're your friends too."
As the group walked back up to residence together, Craig suddenly realized that he and Ellie, so used to just chilling with Marco, may have crashed his date, "Guys…did we crash your date?...I just realized that we just assumed we should sit with you…I hope a double date was okay?"
"Yeah, definitely," Drew answered, "I mean a first double date was probably a bigger challenge for me than just a first date with Marco…I mean I'm only here for another two months and I've got to get in all the firsts I can right? Chances are that I'll have another chance to be alone with Marco."
"Did you know you were going to come out when you decided to come from small town Tennessee to Montreal for a semester?" Craig asked.
"Maybe subconsciously," Drew thought about it.
"Yeah," Marco interjected, "Drew decided that he would come to Montreal for a semester, come out to himself, date someone, come out to his friends…and then go back and do it all again in Tennessee next semester," Marco teased.
"Don't remind me, Marco," Drew sighed as they walked up the stairs to their floor.
"Okay Marco, so I want the scoop on how this whole thing happened, Mr. Del Rossi."
"Later, Ellie," Marco motioned his head towards the door to his room that he and Drew were about to enter.
"Oh…right. Right. Later," Ellie laughed at herself for being so clueless.
"Yeah…and I'm leaving tomorrow, Ms. Nash…and I think Marco has the right idea," Craig flirted as he grabbed her hand leading her down the hall back to her room.
The phone rang late that night after Drew had left Marco's room, and Marco was still feeling wired from the electricity of their kissing. It seemed to Marco that Drew's quiet intensity all got expressed in physicality. He loved it. He smiled to himself as he picked up the phone.
"Hey sexy."
"Hey Dylan…how's it going?...calling me at 11:30?"
"I know…I just got home from our game…and I missed you so I thought I'd call….And I haven't heard from you in a while so I assume all is going well with the strong, silent Yankee?"
"Well, yeah, pretty much…but I don't just call you when I need crush advice, ya know?...But I must admit that it's nice to have someone to crush on that's actually crushing back…and is within a 1 kilometre radius of me at all times... Drew's actually doing pretty well. He's come out to a few close friends on our floor, and he told me tonight that he's even thinking of coming out to his best friend when he goes home for American Thanksgiving in three weeks…which is definitely a good idea because he only has six weeks left for his exchange, and it would suck to go back to a place where no one knows. So I'm proud of him, and we're having a great time…Anyways, what's going on with you and your hockey guy? What did you say his name was…Troy?"
"Yeah,… Troy…Well, we're dating, I guess….He's hot. Definitely hot. Yeah,…it's fun. I'm happy…I'm just not… you know,…in love."
"Yeah…I know."
Marco's tactic had been something like this – "Look, Drew… Queer McGill is hosting its November Homohop next Saturday night…I'm helping to organize it… You're gonna come, right? I mean, I know it's kind of a public-y McGill place, but it's only us queer kids that will be there…And it's our last weekend before you go back for American Thanksgiving next weekend." It had worked. Drew agreed – half reluctantly and half excitedly.
"Marco sweetie," Steve hugged and kissed him as he and Drew walked into the party room turned homohop central, "and who is this handsome beauty you've brought with you?"
"Hey Steve…this is Drew. Drew, this is Steve…Yeah, Drew's the guy from residence-"
"Hey Steve," Drew introduced himself.
"Oh the cute Southern drawl," Steve teased, "He is cute."
"Steve," Marco sighed shaking his head as he and Drew walked over to the bar to get a drink.
"So that's the Steve-"
"That you were jealous of that night at Sky….yeah….that's him," Marco laughed, "love the guy, Drew…but now you probably see, not a threat."
"Yeah…I'm more clued in now. Just because the guy is gay-"
"Doesn't mean that he can compete with a cute Southern drawl, green eyes, runner's body," Marco flirted as he ran his hand along Drew's chest. Marco could see that Drew was taken aback by the flirtatious affection in such an open space, but after the initial surprise, Drew looked around and just smiled. No one was watching. The music pumped through the speakers.
It's raining men, Hallelujah! It's raining men, Amen.
Drew and Marco danced to the campy music, punctuated with Drew's pauses to watch Marco move – "Man you're cute," Drew heard himself say. The couple of drinks helped lessen Drew's cautiousness. Marco just kept dancing, loving the attention.
As the final song of the evening, Sarah MacLachlan's Possession started to play, Marco looked at Drew with a question in his eyes – are you ready to slow dance? The guy-guy and girl-girl couples wrapped around each other around them, as Drew looked at Marco with nervous desire. Seeing his eyes, Marco walked up to him and pulled him towards his body in a tight hug. Drew tightened his grip around Marco.
"This is the first time I've slow danced with a guy," Drew confessed.
Marco's eyes sparkled up at his, "I know, babe." Marco kept the eye contact as he felt their bodies press up against each other. Marco ran his fingers through Drew's soft blonde hair, gently moving his head closer to his own. The alcohol had diminished any resistance, it was dark, and Marco leaned upwards, taking a risk as he gently pressed his lips against Drew's.
And I would be the one to hold you down, kiss you so hard, I'll take your breath away…
Drew kissed Marco back passionately, opening their mouths, pulling Marco in and arching his back to kiss his neck, blowing Marco away. "Woh…I have got to get you back to my room," Marco whispered.
"Yeah," they laughed as they made their way out the door.
Marco had barely closed the door to his room, as Drew pulled him down on top of him, hands on his face, kissing him deeply. Marco heard himself moan under Drew's kisses, as he suddenly felt Drew's hands under his shirt, lifting it up over his head. Marco stopped and looked questioningly at Drew. Drew just nodded, his eyes filled with desire, as Marco's hands traveled under his shirt, massaging his chest. Marco lay down on top of him, feeling their bare torsos against each other, as he slowly began to kiss and bite his way down Drew's chest. He heard Drew moan.
"This is okay, right?" Marco stopped himself. Even though he had done this before, he got nervous…is this what Drew wants? Am I doing this right?
Drew looked down at Marco's tentative eyes, and laughed, "Yeah…how come you're the nervous one again?"
Now it was Marco's turn to laugh, "I know I'm lame…it's just that, man Drew, …for a closeted guy…you always seem to know exactly what to do with your body, how to move, the amount of pressure, the way to touch me…the physicality is intense," Marco looked down shyly, but then back up again at those green eyes staring.
"Wow…that's nice to hear coming from you…I've been told that before…that maybe I make up for words by physicality, as you call it…but with past girlfriends, I think it was pent up frustration and repressed sexuality…so I guess this is the real deal," Drew smiled.
"Yeah…and I think the theory still holds true…You are just incredibly sexy," Marco kissed him again, biting his neck. Drew moaned.
"I know that you don't necessarily realize it, Marco…but so are you."
When Marco and Drew were exhausted from kissing and late night conversation, they lay comfortably on Marco's bed, shirtless in each other's arms, falling in and out of light sleep. It was 3am and Drew reluctantly began to sit up, putting on his shirt.
"Hey-" Marco woke up, "You don't have to go…sleep here," Drew looked nervous, "Nobody's watching, Drew," Marco insisted as he pulled Drew back down. 'And more importantly,' Marco thought to himself, 'nobody cares.' It only took a minute for them both to fall asleep.
Marco next woke up to Drew's getting dressed at 6:30 am.
"What are you doing?" he whispered, "it's only 6:30."
"I know," Drew looked guilty, "but I just don't want to have to deal with anyone up…I'll see you at breakfast, kay?" Drew quickly kissed him as he quietly closed the door behind him.
'Oh Drew,' Marco laughed to himself, 'I am just so glad I'm not there anymore.' As he sat up, he noticed the red message button flashing on his answering machine. He must not have seen it when he was otherwise occupied getting back to his room last night. He pressed play as he climbed back into bed.
Beep... Hey Marco, it's Dylan…Some great news. I'm coming to Montreal for hockey next weekend on American Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see you, sexy. It's been way too long. Bye for now... Beep.