A/N: As of today, (March 11, 2007) I am busy…very busy. By the end of March, I should be stress-free, as we have April break, until I have to start finals and all that. I will continue to update as much as possible because, oddly, when I'm busy, I usually find more time to write. Lol. I'm a strange person, so I really hope you like this chapter, and it always helps me to write faster when I get some reviews! (Hint!)

Marco got up for school the next morning, pulling out from his drawer any random articles of clothing. He wasn't in the mood to worry about how he might have looked. After getting dressed, not feeling hungry, he decided to lie down for the rest of the time until Cathy came to pick him up.

Marco honestly didn't know how he felt. He was hurt, of course, in more ways than one, and he definitely didn't want to have to be around Dylan for a while, not knowing how he'd react to the boy. When Paige had walked him home the night before, she knew better than to ask him questions, and Marco didn't ask her anything either. It was silent, which left him free to have thoughts. Marco didn't like thoughts.

"Marco," said his mother, knocking on his bedroom door, "are you ready?"

Marco shut his eyes tightly, wondering for a moment if he could get away with faking an illness. In the end, he realized that would be an even worse decision because everyone would know why he wasn't there, and they could talk, and he wouldn't be there to hear them. Bad idea.

"Yeah," he replied, "I'm coming, ma." His mother walked away from the door, sitting herself down in the kitchen again to wait for him.

Marco pulled himself off his bed, ignoring the sick feeling he had in his stomach just thinking about how the day was going to turn out. He reached his hand out toward the doorknob, finding it quickly, and walking out to the kitchen.

"Mornin'," he said softly, rubbing at his tired eyes.

His mother looked at him oddly. "Have you been crying?" she asked, concerned.

"No," said Marco, leaning against the counter for support. "Is Cathy on her way?" he asked, changing the subject.

"You don't look so good," his mother said, walking over to feel his forehead. Marco turned his head away from her.

"I'm fine," he said, irritated. "I'm just tired."

Mrs. Del Rossi, though not entirely believing him, gave in. "Why don't you have some cereal of something?" she suggested.

Marco thought about rejecting the offer, but she would have probably definitely sent him back to bed if he refused. He nodded his head. "Sure, thanks."

Mrs. Del Rossi poured him a bowl of cheerios, figuring that if he couldn't have a nice cooked meal, he could at least avoid the sugary cereals. Marco smiled gratefully, accepting the bowl she put down in front of him, and eating a spoonful every once in a while.

Dylan was obviously going to want to talk to him when he got to school. He always did, but with what happened, it would probably be more urgent, but Marco didn't want an apology. He didn't want to speak to Dylan at all.

Did he really want to lose him, though? Dylan had made him smile more than he'd ever recalled someone else doing.

However, forgiveness was something Marco was used to doing, and that didn't mean he was going to give it right away. Dylan didn't deserve it, did he? He had told Marco he had some problems, though, and technically Mike was the one who…

Why was he thinking like that? Dylan may have been drunk, but he still had upset him greatly. Yes, he'd said he had problems, but he'd also said that he would never give Marco a reason not to trust him.

Marco played with his food some more, giving up on eating it. His mother would have to deal with his loss of appetite because eating it made him feel worse. Even from the kitchen, he heard Cathy's car pull into the driveway.

"Ma, I'm going," he said, pushing his bowl away. He kissed her cheek, and walked out the door.

Cathy dropped him off in the usual fashion, letting him be alone with Ellie as they walked together into English class.

"I heard," said Ellie, shaking her head.

Marco fought the urge to scream. "What is with this school?" he asked rhetorically. "How, exactly, did you 'hear'?"

"Well," said Ellie, not offended by his anger, knowing he didn't mean to hurt her feelings, "people just talk. I'm so sorry, Marco."

Marco waved his hand, brushing off her apology. "Doesn't matter." Though, it definitely did.

When Ellie left Marco at his locker that day to go to her own, Marco really wanted to cry out in protest, tell her that he couldn't be alone with Dylan. But she probably wouldn't have even understood, and she'd have considered him to be too afraid of nothing. Only he could make sense of the fears he had.

Marco heard Dylan's footsteps approaching, right on time, but Dylan didn't say anything to make his presence known, so for all Marco knew, it could have even been Ellie. The only clue he might have had was that he could hear Dylan's footsteps from much farther away.

Marco could feel him standing there for a while as he pulled out his books from the locker, staring blankly into it, hoping he was pulling out the right books because he didn't want to ask Dylan. Besides, it's not like he could trust whatever he said.

They stood there in silence for a while, Marco's locker still hanging open, still unsure of what to take out.

"Marco," Dylan started, "I don't…I really don't know what to--"

"Say?" Marco finished for him. " Saying nothing would be a suitable choice, thanks." He continued to stare into his locker, taking a few slow breaths to calm himself.

"Well," said Dylan, "if it makes you feel any better, I'm in a lot of trouble and have a terrible hangover."

"That really doesn't, Dylan," said Marco, still praying Ellie would walk over, and hoping she didn't think he wanted to actually talk to Dylan.

Marco could feel the tears behind his eyes from the memory of the previous night. The last thing he wanted was Dylan to see him cry.

"I know it probably doesn't help, but I'm really really sorry," said Dylan, leaning against the locker next to Marco's, wishing he could erase what had happened just as much as Marco did. "I barely even remember doing it, actually."

"Dylan, please leave, so Ellie can help me with picking out my books," said Marco desperately.

"I can help you," said Dylan, offering as he always did.

Marco shook his head. "No, you can't."

Dylan sighed, running his hand swiftly through his hair. "Look, I know you probably hate me right now and everything, but I can help you with your books."

Marco tried not to get angry. "Dylan," he said slowly, using hand gestures as though speaking as he would to a child, "I do not trust you."

"With your books?" Dylan even had the audacity to laugh. "What the hell would I do with them? Why would I--"

"I don't really know," Marco answered, cutting him off, "but who knows why you do or say anything?" he said coldly, crossing his arms, and waiting for his departure.

"I know I deserve it, but I--"

"Dylan," said Ellie, stepping up behind him. Dylan smiled uneasily down at her, a smile that she didn't return. "Dylan, he wants you to go."

Dylan nodded, waiting just a moment before leaving, a part of him wondering if Marco would change his mind. When he decided that obviously wasn't going to happen, he walked quietly away.

"Math book," said Marco softly, banging his head against his locker.

"Don't do that," she pulled him away, "and here," she said, handing him the math book. Marco nodded silently, holding his arm out to be taken to the cafeteria, but quickly withdrawing it. Ellie looked at him, confused.

"I want to…I know I can't, but I want to try," he motioned with his hands a little bit, finally finding the words. "I don't want you to hold onto me."

"Okay," said Ellie slowly, "do you know where you're going?" she asked. Marco shook his head.

"Not a clue, but after today, I'm going to pay more attention to how many steps which way, touching the walls, and all that. I really," he sighed, "need to be more independent because I'm…it's not that I don't trust you."

"No, I understand," said Ellie.

"I just…after with Dylan…I don't know," he laughed, "I'm weird."

"Walk slowly, and I'll just tell you when you're going in the wrong direction," said Ellie, pushing him carefully in front of her. Marco did his best to ease his mind, not worrying about how he looked or where he was going.

'Be independent,' he thought to himself. Marco knew he could do it with Ellie so close to him, but the unknown people around him freaked him out. What if someone were to push him? Would he be able to prevent himself from falling? If he kept thinking thoughts like that, he would never be able to walk without someone holding his hand tightly. He wasn't a little child. He could make it. Besides, depending on people seemed to only bring him trouble.

"We're almost there," said Ellie, opening the doors to the cafeteria. "Good job," she said.

"Don't," said Marco.

"Right…right, sorry. You hate compliments. Heaven forbid." Ellie smiled guiltily. "Are you going to buy something with me?" she asked.

"I'm not really hungry," said Marco, shaking his head, and taking a seat at the table. Though Ellie was worried about his not eating, she shrugged it off, figuring he wouldn't want to be bothered by her questions.

"Marco," said Paige, sitting down across from him, and Marco could perfectly picture the look she was giving him just by the way she said his name, "I am so sorry." She truly sounded it too. She put down her tray in front of her, ignoring the food for a moment to finish off her conversation.

"It's okay," said Marco, avoiding her gaze, fearing she would hear in his voice that he was obviously not serious.

"No, it's not," she said immediately, as she had already been prepared for his exact answer. "It is not okay. I don't know how I can make up for what happened, but--"

"You didn't do it," he reminded her, wondering if any of the others at the table (excluding Spinner) had been at the party. Had they witnessed it or were they simply confused out of their minds?

"But I--"

"It wasn't your fault," said Marco, his tone saying that he wanted the conversation to end at that moment. Paige hadn't done anything wrong, and he would not accept her feeling she needed to apologize for her brother's deeds.

Paige sighed. "If you say so," she said softly, opening her water bottle.

After Paige's short interrogation was over, Marco was pretty much left to think by himself for a while until one of the table members decided to show up late.

"Do you hate me?" Spinner asked bluntly.

"I don't hate anyone," Marco answered, slightly glad that Spinner was feeling guilty even though he knew Spinner hadn't done anything wrong at the party.

"Are you mad, then?" he asked, not satisfied with any vague answers.

"I have more important things to worry about. Being angry with you occupies too much needed time," said Marco. "Dylan; however, is a different story."

Spinner nodded in agreement, finally taking his seat. "Must have hurt," he said. Marco knew he meant it in a much simpler way than it really hurt.

"More than physically," said Marco, wishing he could force himself to stop worrying so much about it. He and Dylan had only a few days together. The short thing they had couldn't have ended…did it?

Dylan was his dream boy. Unfortunately, dreams don't always come true, and perfection isn't real. Finding out that the boy you love…love? Where had that even come from? Finding out that the boy you are interested in more than anyone else has flaws really puts you down. This just happened to be a very large flaw.

It wasn't really the drinking problem that hurt so badly. Marco could deal with that. The push was painful because it could have been so much worse, but the main problem was Dylan didn't understand. Dylan didn't understand that the moment he pushed him one step two far, literally, Marco hadn't just lost his trust in him, but also in anyone else who was slowly gaining it including Ellie and Cathy. Dylan ruined it for them as well.

Marco remembered that Giulio, on one of his sober days, had once explained to him that after a night of drinking, he always wished he hadn't, and promised himself he wouldn't again. Apparently, though, it never worked. But Marco tried not to put Dylan and Giulio in the same category. Ever.

When it came down to that; however, Marco had forgiven Giulio when he didn't deserve it a bit. Because of Giulio, his sight was gone forever. He lost many nights of sleep because of him, had to lock the doors and windows twice because of him, but he still forgave him. So…why couldn't he forgive Dylan the same way?

Because Dylan was different. Forgiving Giulio hadn't actually taken a lot of his strength because after he'd done it, he was free from the pain and the anger. He didn't want to be around him, didn't have to be around him, so after forgiving him, he could move on with his life, but with Dylan…he wasn't going to be running away. It would be harder and, some might say, stupid. Well, even more stupid than forgiving Giulio.

Because Dylan made him happy. When he was around Dylan, (before he hurt him) everything awful in his life just seemed to disappear. He could be himself, (some of the time) not worrying about anything else. When he was with Dylan, he sometimes even forgot that Dylan had the advantage of sight. Almost.

Because Dylan made him feel loved. Oddly, it was true. He hadn't even realized it, not believing in any of that love at first sight, or in Marco's case, first sound, but that's because it wasn't. He and Dylan, crazy as it is, had fallen for each other in such a short period of time. At least, Marco had. No matter how Dylan felt for him, though, Marco hadn't cared at the time because since their friendship began, he'd made Marco feel like he mattered deeply to someone.

Because he loved Dylan as well. It was definitely a strange feeling to get used to and admit, but he did in every way. Maybe it was too soon to know, but even after he'd been pushed down…once again, literally, he'd still felt the strange urge to hug Dylan, and to tell him it was all okay.

That's why Dylan wouldn't get it easy. He was too important to Marco. So, that statement may seem a bit strange…

Marco was too afraid to give out his trust, but he trusted Dylan because he felt that he could put that powerful feeling into him, but Dylan betrayed that only a short time later. Marco had pretty much given up hope on Giulio and he ever being good friends again, but just 'getting along' wasn't going to work for Dylan and Marco. He needed to trust him completely, so that he could stand with him on the roof of a tall building, knowing that Dylan could easily push him off, as he wouldn't see him coming, and feel safe.

All Marco felt; however, was fear.

"Marco," said Ashley, taking him out of his thoughts, "are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," he answered immediately, tapping his fingers on the table, desperately waiting for the day, or at least, the period, to end.

As soon as the thought had occurred, the bell rang, sounding loudly to let everyone know it was time for their next classes. Marco sighed, not sure if he was ready to survive another period. He grabbed his books from off of the table, and followed Ellie.

Marco had to get a way to tell time besides by looking at the clock because it obviously did him no good. He felt a lot better in class when he knew how long was left. After all, he hadn't thought about anything in class that day other than Dylan. Unfortunately, he didn't think Mr. Armstrong was testing them on that particular subject any time soon.

Finally, the bell for the last period rang, and Marco was free to go home. He knew he was going to have confrontations at his locker with a certain someone, but Ellie promised to be as quick as she possibly could.

"Marco!" Oh, well, speak of the devil. Dylan had managed to be quick just as Ellie said she was going to be. Obviously, he knew Marco was planning on running away from him.

"Please…let me talk. I ran here. Don't I get a minute to speak?" Dylan asked, sounding desperate.

Marco shrugged. "I can't stop you from speaking," he replied, focusing on his locker.

"Math book is thicker," he mumbled to himself, putting it in his bag.

"Well, there's no point in talking if you're not going to listen," said Dylan, practically whining. Marco wouldn't have been surprised if he began to stamp his foot in irritation.

"Glad you got the point," said Marco. Once again, he held back tears. He didn't like treating people the way he was treating Dylan, but he sort of felt it was necessary.

"Marco…" Where was Ellie?

"Dylan…" said Marco, only slightly mocking him, determined not to give in.

Dylan sighed, and Marco could almost picture the look on his face, trying to imagine what his actual face looked like to begin with.

"I never drink," said Dylan. "I stopped."

Marco almost laughed. "Well, you could have fooled me."

"I mean," Dylan sounded frustrated, putting his hand on his forehead, "I haven't…in so long, and yesterday, I did, but I won't anymore."

"Then, why would you last night?" Marco asked. "I mean, if you were planning on never doing it again, I don't get why--"

"I'm sorry," said Dylan. "I am so sorry."

"Let me ask you something," said Marco, taking a deep breath. "Did you think to yourself, 'I haven't done this in forever, so tonight, it would be completely okay to get myself wasted'? Is that what you thought?"

"No," said Dylan slowly.

"Did you think, 'Marco will appreciate this'? Did you think about me at all, Dylan?" he asked.

"No," said Dylan, "but, I don't really know what I was thinking, actually."

"I have a strong feeling that you weren't thinking, Dylan, and that's kind of my point."

"Can I apologize again?" he asked, really not knowing what else to do.

"Hey," said Ellie, arriving slightly later than Marco would have hoped, but not so that he was unpleased with her arrival.

"No," said Marco, answering Dylan's question instead of greeting his friend. "I really don't need you to waste anymore of my time."

Ellie smiled, showing her approval. She walked alongside him, practicing their new way of walking, without her arm attached to his.

"Marco, wait," said Dylan, taking hold of his arm lightly.

"Don't touch me!" Marco screamed, unsure of where it had come from. He was well aware of the many people staring after he had lost control, Ellie being one of them. He could always feel it.

Dylan quickly withdrew his arm, shocked, to say the least. Marco didn't think he'd ever screamed so loud or forcefully in his life, and the power of it made any passer by think that Marco was being murdered.

If any of the students were worried about missing buses or worrying parents, they didn't show it because they all stood to watch the outcome of whatever was happening before their eyes.

Marco was ashamed to see that his hands were shaking causing him to drop his bag, and he knew that he was crying, but it somehow felt worse than anger at Dylan. He knew he had been slightly afraid around him, but his own reaction proved that he was plainly terrified.

"Please," Marco found himself begging, instead of screaming, angry with himself for letting the fear overpower his anger. "Please…just leave me alone."

Ellie shot a horribly dirty look at Dylan, who didn't utter a word, and she helped Marco walk, without any objection, to Cathy's awaiting car outside.

A/N: Please review. I need the reviews to keep me going through the week and to make the next chapter come up faster.