Author's Note: Chapter two.
At the end of the day, Marco waited outside of his math class, leaning against the doorway for his boyfriend to pick him up. He resisted the urge to check his watch, knowing that if Corey showed up while he was doing it, he'd probably be annoyed by the gesture.
Students walked out of the room he'd just been in, waving good-byes to him as they left to catch their buses. Marco smiled, trying not to be impatient with Corey. He'd show up when he was ready. Ellie was the last one to walk out of the class.
"Hey," she said, leaning on the wall next to him. "Corey driving you home?" she asked, pretty sure of the answer he was going to give.
Marco raised his eyebrow, turning to her. "So?" he asked. "It's easier, anyway. I never have to worry about missing my bus."
Ellie tried to smile slightly. "Yeah, speaking of which," she pointed down the hallway, gesturing to the door at the end of it, "I'm going to miss mine."
Marco nodded, sighing. Corey was taking quite a while. Apparently, Ellie wasn't quite done with him. "You and I are doing something this week," she said.
Marco rolled his eyes. "You and Paige have just decided the best way to get through to me is to order me around, hmm?" he said. "Go home, Ellie. Call your boyfriend or something."
Ellie turned her head to see Corey walking towards them. She turned back to Marco. "You've changed, Marco. You really have," she said, shaking her head, astonished.
Marco watched Ellie walk away, feeling slightly unhappy about it, but relieved that he wouldn't have to make up an excuse for why he couldn't hang out with her for a while. She was angry with him, so he assumed she wouldn't want to spend time with him after that conversation.
Corey broke into an immediate smile upon seeing his boyfriend. He took his hand, entwining their fingers. "Let's go," he said, inches away from Marco's lips.
Marco kissed him lovingly. "Okay," he replied.
Marco and Corey walked out to Corey's car together, hands swinging in the air. "So, how was the first day?" asked Corey while he started the car.
"It was okay, I suppose," answered Marco. "I mean, I missed being with you the whole day, of course," he added quickly.
Corey was obviously pleased with his answer. "So, you want to come over my house?" he asked.
"Wait, like now?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah," said Corey, already turning toward his own street.
"I…well, yeah, I guess," said Marco. Corey looked at him with his eyebrows raised. "Well, I just mean, you know, I should probably ask my par—okay," he finished, noticing they were pulling into his driveway.
"I just need to see you," said Corey, pouting. "I miss you, sweetie."
Corey pushed that extremely annoying piece of hair out of Marco's eyes, and Marco stared back into Corey's own. "My parents will be fine with it, I'm sure," he lied. Maybe his mother would understand. He needed to spend time with his boyfriend every once in a while. However, that argument would have been more convincing had he not used it every day during the summer.
"Come on," said Corey, leading him into the house.
"Is your mom at home?" Marco asked, walking in with Corey after he opened the front door.
"She's at work," he said, shrugging, and picking up an apple from the fruit bowl. "Come on," said Corey, leading him to his bedroom.
Marco smiled at the familiar room, sitting down next to Corey on the bed. "I bought you something," said Corey. "You know, for next week."
Marco's birthday. Corey bought him something for his birthday. He was so sweet. "I can't see it early?" asked Marco, leaning onto his shoulder.
"No," said Corey sternly, kissing the top of his head.
"So," said Marco, forgetting the subject entirely, "My friends need me to sit with them at lunch tomorrow," he brought it up cautiously.
"They need you?" he asked skeptically.
Marco nodded. "It's stupid, I know," he said hurriedly, "but I do only have a limited time with them lately…so, I thought I might."
"Because they need you?" asked Corey. "What if I need you too?"
"Well, I know you do, Core," said Marco, "but they—"
"—are more important to you?" he interrupted, not looking very happy. "Are they, Marco?" he asked, standing up.
"No, of course not," said Marco nervously. "Corey," he said gently, trying to calm him down, "you mean more to me than anything on earth."
"Then, why will you choose them over me?" he raised his voice slightly.
"I just…because they get worried, I guess."
Corey looked at him, his eyes narrowed. "Why would they have to be worried?" he asked. "What did you say to them? Is there something I should be worried about? Or is it me?"
"No, of course not," said Marco, standing up as well, giving himself the ability to take Corey's hand in his own. "They just get worried easily, you know, because they care about me."
Corey ripped his hand away violently, and Marco didn't like where the situation was going. He tried to back away nonchalantly, so that Corey didn't question him, but Corey only ended up moving closer.
"Are you insinuating that I don't care about you, Marco?" he asked, now dangerously near.
Marco breathed in deeply, pretending that Corey was a dog. He couldn't show that he was afraid. He swallowed the lump in his throat.
"I kn—know you do, Corey. I just…you know what, you're right. I don't need to hang out with them tomorrow," said Marco, hoping that would be the end.
However, Corey wasn't done. "You want to, though. Obviously, your friends hold some degree of importance to you. I gave up everything for you, but you won't for me," he said, shaking his head in anger.
"That's ridiculous," said Marco. He'd meant that it would be ridiculous to ever hold his friends as more important than Corey, but he knew, by the way his face got even angrier, how Corey had taken it.
"I'm ridiculous?" he asked, his hand shaking. "Am I insane too, Marco? Please, hurt me some more…"
"That's not what I meant," said Marco. "When I called you insane the other day, you know I didn't mean it! I was upset. Corey, please relax."
"I'm relaxed!" he shouted, taking a step closer every time Marco took a step back.
"No, you're not," said Marco shakily, feeling stupider by the moment. Why was he still talking? He stopped moving, and prepared himself for the blow. Sometimes, it wasn't actually that bad if he didn't think too much about it, but it wasn't one of those times. Marco had to bite his lip to stop himself from loudly crying out in pain.
"Don't talk back to me," Corey warned, his hand still high in the air, and Marco wondered for a moment if he was going to be hit again, but Corey lowered his arm.
"I'm sorry," Marco whispered, looking anywhere but at him.
Corey took a moment to answer. The two boys were standing two inches from each other, searching for something to say or do until Corey put his hand on Marco's cheek, which caught him by surprise, causing him to flinch. Corey immediately pulled his hand away.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked innocently, and for a moment, Marco was tempted to believe that Corey wasn't the one who hit him.
Marco shook his head quickly. Corey didn't really mean it, he was sure. He'd just overreacted because of his need to be around Marco. He needed Marco, and Marco was stupid to have brought up the lunch idea.
"No, Corey," he didn't need to make him feel guilty, "you didn't hurt me. I do have to get home really badly, though. My mom needs me for—"
"Okay, I'll take you," said Corey. It was much easier to get him to agree after he'd caused some amount of pain on Marco. Maybe it was to prove he wasn't a horrible person, but Marco knew when to ask what. Normally.
"Thanks," said Marco, grabbing his bag from off the floor, and letting Corey's arm take its usual position around his waist again while they walked out to the car.
There was not much conversation on the way back to Marco's house. Marco spent most of the time thinking, and Corey pretty much left him to it. When they pulled into the driveway, Corey gave him a kiss good-bye, telling him he loved him.
"I love you too, Core," he replied, walking back into his house. Corey didn't pull out until he was sure Marco had closed the door shut. He cared like that, Marco reminded himself.
"Marco?" said his mother, walking out of the kitchen, a look of worry gracing her features. "Marco, where were you?" she asked.
"I…" he looked down at the floor, deciding, whenever possible, not to lie to his parents. "I was with Corey."
"And you didn't call?" she asked. "You could have called. I was worried," she said, putting her hand over her heart, and Marco felt bad.
"I'm sorry, ma," he said honestly.
She nodded, forgiving him quickly. Curse of the family. "Paige called," she said, "just a few minutes ago. I told her to call your cell phone, but she said she'd just wait for you to get home."
"All right," said Marco, pulling his phone out of his pocket while he walked to his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
"Hello," she answered after two rings.
"Hey, it's Marco," he replied, laying down on his bed. "You called?"
"Yeah, I didn't want to bother you on your cell if you were with…your boyfriend," she said, trying to keep herself together. "So, I'm having a party tomorrow to celebrate the first week of school being over. Okay, so we only have two days this week, but whatever," she laughed. "I want you to come."
"Oh," said Marco, ashamed at himself for not coming up with an excuse before calling her. He should have known he was going to be invited to something. "Yeah, sure, but…can I bring Corey?" he asked, knowing that he'd have some trouble asking Corey for permission to go, but it would be easier if his boyfriend knew he could attend as well.
"Yeah," Paige said, rolling her eyes, "sure." She knew he wouldn't come if she offended Corey in some way. "Six tomorrow night," she said.
"Okay," he said, glad to have something to look forward to, even if there was the slight chance Corey told him he didn't want him going. "Uh, Paige, I have another call, so—"
"Oh, sure," said Paige, "I'm using my brother's cell without his permission anyway, so I have to go too."
Marco forced a laugh. He knew who was calling him. "Bye, Paige," he said softly, a part of him not wanting her to hang up. He loved talking to Corey, but it brought him one step closer to finding out that he wasn't going to be allowed to go to Paige's party. He really did want to see his friends again, even if he denied it to himself many times a day.
He answered the other call, not surprised when he heard Corey's voice. "Miss me?" Marco asked.
"So much," Corey answered seriously. "You have to come over my house one of these days when my mom is around. She misses you too," he laughed.
"I'm sure," said Marco. He took a deep breath, and spoke quickly, needing to get it out as soon as possible. "Paige is having a party tomorrow, and I'd really like to go, and I'd love for you to come with me. Please?" he said so quickly that he wasn't even sure if his boyfriend had comprehended.
"Oh," he said, surprised. "Yeah, sure," said Corey.
Marco smiled. "Really?" he said, sounding equally surprised. "Thank you so much!"
Corey laughed at the enthusiasm. "No problem, baby. Who is going to be there?" he asked.
"Oh, I don't know," said Marco, which wasn't a complete lie. He had assumptions of some people who were going to show up, like Ellie, but he wasn't about to tell Corey that. After all, he'd finally gotten permission to go somewhere. He wasn't going to ruin it.
Author's Note: Please review :)