Thank you reviewers - you are making my day! If you keep reading, I'll keep writing...so much fun!
And I believe this is the chapter that you have all been waiting patiently for...
Chapter 6: Secret
Marco was now fully awake despite the fact that it was 7am on a Sunday morning. He stared up at his ceiling as he lay in bed thinking about the coming week. 'Drew is leaving for the weekend. Dylan is coming for the weekend. I'm dating Drew. Dylan is my friend…why am I even thinking about this? There is nothing to think about. Why am I feeling nervous?' And then the image of Drew disappearing from Sky because Marco was dancing with another guy surfaced. 'Oh yeah…Drew can be a little jealous…and Dylan…well, Dylan can be a little flirtatious…not that I really mind.'
"Marco – brunch with Craig before he leaves today?" Ellie called through his door.
"Coming, coming…hang on while I throw on some clothes."
The three friends sat down in their booth at Eggspectations as Marco recounted how his secret romance began with Drew – the dance with Steve, the 3 am visits, Drew's finally diminishing daytime nervousness, "but for all his nervousness," Marco laughed, "he is one great kisser and well –"
"What? Lovah…" Craig teased.
"Well, not quite yet…but we'll see," Marco answered sheepishly. "But my current problem is that Dylan's coming to visit for hockey this weekend."
"So?" Ellie looked confused.
"So - Drew's going home this weekend."
"So?...Dylan's your friend…you're allowed to spend time with your friend…I still speak to Ashley." Craig didn't understand what the big deal was.
"I know…I guess you're right…I'm just going to tell Drew not to worry…I'm being a bit silly, I guess. It's just been a really long time since I've seen Dylan...prom, actually. And neither of us were dating anyone then," Marco remembered their amazing ability to forget that they weren't actually still together at his prom…well, old habits die hard.
Marco knocked on Drew's door when they got back up to residence. "Drew?"
Drew opened the door, "Hey Marco. Come on in…I'm just doing our calc homework actually."
"So is that all you want me for…calc homework,eh?" Marco teased as he closed the door, wrapping his arms around Drew's waist.
"Definitely." Drew leaned down and kissed him.
"So Drew…there's something I need to tell you…and I don't want you to worry about it, okay?"
"Umm…okay," Drew sat down looking concerned.
"See – you already look worried," Marco laughed, "Anyways…I just wanted to tell you that Dylan is coming to Montreal for hockey this weekend."
"Oh…okay," Drew looked questioningly at Marco, "does telling me that I shouldn't be worried, mean that I should be?"
"No…but I just remembered how you left Sky when I was just dancing with Steve…who isn't exactly my type..."
"And Dylan," Drew finished his sentence, "obviously is…. Well," Drew shrugged non-chalantly, I think it's cool that you're friends with your ex…I mean, you're both with other people, right? I don't really feel like I did that night at Sky anymore…I mean, I've got what I wanted." Drew wrapped his arms around Marco this time, smiling flirtatiously.
"What?...Some damn good making out…"Marco laughed.
"Yeah," Drew agreed, "and great friendship and chemistry."
Marco smiled as he leaned in to kiss him.
Dan, Ellie and Marco walked Drew down the hill to his cab on Thursday afternoon. "See you on Monday…wish me luck with Katie," Drew smiled at his friends as he thought about finally coming out to someone back home.
Dan shook his hand and patted him on the back, "Good luck, my man…I bet it will go better than you expect."
"Definitely, Drew," Ellie agreed, "I mean just think about how great we all were," she teased.
"I mean who knows?" Marco added, "Maybe Katie even has other cute gay friends to introduce you to back home," he squeezed his hand.
"Right, Marco…wishful thinking," Drew shook his head.
"Well then…you'll just miss me more," Marco teased.
Drew looked around and determining that no one could see besides his present company, quickly kissed Marco on the lips, "Yup…Bye babe."
As Drew's cab drove away, Marco continued to walk down to the train station, where Dylan's hockey team would be arriving in half an hour. Marco watched in nervous anticipation as families, grandmas and grandpas, students, and professionals moseyed their way off the train up the stairs into the station…is this Dylan? Is that Dylan?...Finally, after what felt like a long time, Marco noticed blonde curls begin to appear around the corner. A big smile appeared on his face as Dylan's familiar blue eyes met his.
"Hey Marco."
Marco felt giddy, "Hey Dylan." He kept eye contact as the escalator slowly, slowly brought Dylan up to his level. They looked at each other for a moment before Dylan tentatively pulled Marco into a hug, "It's been a long time."
"Too long," Marco heard himself say as he buried his head in Dylan's warm winter jacket.
"Ummm…hello Marco hunny," Marco looked up to an unfamiliar face speaking to him. Well built, brown hair, brown eyes, sharp features…quite yummy if Marco did say so himself.
"Sorry, sorry Troy…Marco, this is Troy..Troy, Marco."
Oh…Troy. Right. Troy is on the hockey team, "Hey Troy."
Troy smiled playfully at him, "I have heard a lot about you, Marco."
"You have?" Marco sounded surprised and looked at Dylan who was looking unamusedly at Troy, "I mean…yeah. Dylan and I go way back." Marco tried to sound non-chalant, still wondering why Dylan's guy of the moment had heard a lot about him.
"So Troy…Marco and I have a lot of catching up to do. Can you tell Coach that I'll be back at the hotel in a couple of hours…Marco was saying there's a great campus café that we could go to," Dylan remembered their coffee plans. And he seemed to be getting rid of Troy. Okay.
"Okay hun…now don't do anything I wouldn't do," Troy seemed incredibly relaxed about his relationship with Dylan. Cool.
Marco took one of Dylan's bags as they walked together to the Alley café, chatting casually, occasionally stealing a glance at the other, making sure they were actually really in the same place.
"So what's your schedule this weekend?" Marco asked as they sat down at a corner table with their cappuccinos.
"Well, the tournament's tomorrow and Saturday, and the team goes back on Saturday night…but I'm staying until Sunday to talk to McGill's coach, and of course…to visit you."
"Oh. Okay. Cool…It's been a while since I've seen a hockey game," Marco laughed.
"You mean your hockey star ex-boyfriend didn't turn you into a true fan?" Dylan teased.
"So Troy seems fun…" Marco broached the topic, "He didn't seem too bothered by our little private coffee date."
"Yeah…he's great…And no. Troy is definitely not bothered. We're dating and having a good time, but we've both agreed that there are no strings…he thinks its funny that we used to be so serious," Dylan confessed, "So you can see…he's not exactly the boyfriend type."
"And you?" Marco wondered how Dylan thought of himself now.
"Me?...I can go either way," he chuckled, "as long as he's cute…And what about you and the Cajun hottie?"
"Well…I don't know…we're dating…I'd say there are some loose strings attached. I mean, I wouldn't feel right being with someone else…It would hurt him. And I like him…But he is leaving in three more weeks to go back to Tennessee, so I don't think either of us is really hearing wedding bells or anything," Marco laughed.
"Can I meet him?" Dylan asked.
"Well…I'd say yes, but he's away for American Thanksgiving…you'll have to settle for seeing a picture."
"So we're alone for the weekend, eh?" Dylan flirted.
"Yeah," Marco flirted back shyly, "just like old times."
Marco checked himself out in the mirror – tight white shirt, new square glasses, perfectly tight jeans, before he made his way down to watch Dylan's final hockey game on Saturday night. The rest of Dylan's team was leaving after the game, and Marco had promised to show him around Montreal for the evening. It always felt like a date with Dylan. He couldn't help it. There was just that chemistry. And what the hell, it was fun.
"Score!" Marco watched as Dylan shot the puck through McGill's net. A guilty smile crept over his face as the rest of the crowd groaned. It was okay, though. McGill still won the game.
"Later guys," Dylan turned to his teammates, and gave Troy's arm a tight squeeze, as he walked out of the changeroom to a very stylish and hot looking Marco smiling at him.
"Hey sexy," Dylan smiled, "You look good."
"Thanks," Marco blushed, pleased that his efforts were noticed, "You don't look so bad yourself….So what do you want to do tonight? I assumed you were staying up at res with me so I got a second mattress for the room. So yeah, there's this cool Thai restaurant on Crescent street, or we can go for Greek on Prince Arthur, or-"
"What about Sky?" Dylan asked.
"Sky?" Marco looked surprised, "You want to go clubbing…just us, I mean I didn't invite anyone else but I could call Ellie to come and-"
"Yes, I mean just us…it'll be fun. And of course I want to go clubbing. Check out the Montreal gay scene…I mean if I am going to transfer here next semester," Dylan waited for Marco to react, smiling to himself.
"What! You're transferring here...what? Where did this come from?" Marco was stunned.
"Well, I told you I'm meeting the McGill coach tomorrow…I mean McGill's a great team, and I think my family was getting tired of me being so far away from Toronto…and well, so was I. I miss my family, and friends, and," Dylan looked down at Marco, "sexy ex-boyfriends."
"Wow…that would just be awesome," Marco said out loud not to anyone in particular, "that's crazy that you would be here, kind of in my world."
"Yeah. It would be your turn to show me the ropes," Dylan flirted suggestively.
Marco playfully punched him in the arm as they walked into the bar, "You just can't resist bringing that up, can you?"
The energy at Sky was electric. The bar was particularly full, even for a Saturday night, and the music beat out crowd pleaser after crowd pleaser. Marco and Dylan looked good walking in together, and Marco enjoyed the eyes he could feel on the two of them.
"I think we're being checked out everywhere," Dylan noticed too.
"Yeah…hot, eligible students, who can blame them?" Marco laughed.
"Marco…You have gotten a bit of an ego," Dylan eyed him, "I'm impressed."
"Not exactly," Marco blushed, "but honestly, Dylan, being out at McGill, compared to being out at Degrassi…really, it's so easy. There are actually gay people…And if you're out, and comfortable and confident about it-"
"Then you're hot," Dylan understood.
"Yeah…I'm just so glad I'm not where I was three years ago, ya know?"
"Hey – I believe we started dating three years ago," Dylan feigned hurt.
Marco rolled his eyes, "You know that's not what I mean."
"Dylan Michalchuk – is that you?" Dylan and Marco turned around surprised to see Kendra, decked out in army pants and black boots, walking up to them.
"Kendra – hey! Great to see you," Dylan smiled.
"It is you… I didn't know you were in town," the girl beside her waited patiently, "Sorry – Dylan, this is my girlfriend, Sam. Sam – this is Dylan, another guy from the youth group in Toronto."
"Hey Sam," Dylan introduced himself and then looking playfully at Marco, "And Kendra, this is my boyfriend, Marco."
Marco gaped. Kendra looked confused, "Really?...What happened to the-"
Dylan laughed. Marco punched him. "It is not…Don't get the wrong idea, Kendra…Dylan's just flirting as usual. Yes, I'm still dating Drew."
Dylan put his arm around, Marco, "Yeah…too bad. But it's good to remember old times, isn't it?" He led Marco to the dance floor.
Marco was spinning pleasantly after a couple of drinks, getting lost in the trancy music. He couldn't help but watch the sexy athlete with the brilliant blue eyes watching him dance. Dylan was checking him out, eyes wandering up and down his body. He felt sexy…and sexual…and alive.
Something's comin' over….something's comin' over me…
Dylan's hand on his arm, breath in his ear, 'do you want another drink?' Sure he'd have another drink. 'To following your heart,' Dylan had said before toasting Marco's glass. What was that supposed to mean? Marco sipped his rye and ginger ale, body still swaying to the music. Marco's hand on Dylan's chest, 'Thanks for the drink.'
My baby's got a secret…
Drinks finished. Glasses on the corner table. Marco closed his eyes, soaking up the electric energy. Hands on his waist, pulling him closer. It was Dylan. Just checking. His arms around Dylan's neck. So hot, so familiar. Eye contact…beautiful eyes.
"You're really not the tentative grade 10 coming out of the closet anymore, are you?" Dylan felt Marco's body moving gracefully… confidently… to the music.
"You should know that already, Dylan." Their eyes never lost contact.
"I do." Dylan pulled him closer. Strong arms, defined muscles. Their legs were intertwined. Marco was turned on. Marco knew Dylan was turned on. They kept staring.
"Let's get out of here."
Dylan pulled Marco down on to Marco's bed, as Marco shut the door to his room. Marco lay on his back looking up at Dylan, whose fingers softly traced Marco's face. Marco was spinning – the alcohol, the energy. "Dylan – I can't…don't-"
"I know," Dylan whispered, "shhh…don't worry." Marco closed his eyes, as Dylan's fingers continued to tickle his face. Marco's hands found their way to Dylan's back, soft skin. They kicked off their jeans, lying in their boxers and t-shirts. Their heads lay on Marco's pillow, unfocused, tired eyes staring as their hands explored the familiar territory, soft backs, strong arms. "I just want to hold you," Dylan pulled Marco in to him, their bodies inches apart, breath mingling in the space between their faces. "I miss you, Marco," Marco thought he heard Dylan say before their breathing got deeper. Sleep took them over.