Author's Note: Sorry that this has taken so long. My week has been spent worrying about some things and doing some not so enjoyable reports. Here I am again :)
Marco dressed carefully for the party. He couldn't look too good because Corey might then accuse him of trying to impress other guys, but he wanted to look good enough. Corey was visiting his father before coming to pick him up, so he couldn't even ask him for advice on clothing. Actually, asking for advice would also seem like he cared too much.
He tried to calm down, deciding on a simple pair of hip-hugging jeans with a blue, not sloppy, but not so flashy that it would cause alarm, shirt. He was set. Hopefully, Corey would come on time.
Marco walked into the living room, seeing his parents next to each other, watching television. He stepped in front to let them know he needed a word. Marco's father looked confused, but turned the television off nonetheless, waiting for Marco to speak.
"I'm going to a party at Paige's house," he said.
"Oh," said his mother, looking pleased. "I'm glad you're going to spend time with your friends again!"
Marco hated to disappoint his mother, but knew he was about to. "Corey's picking me up," he said quickly, biting his lip. Marco could tell his mother wanted to say something, but couldn't with her husband right beside her. Marco's father nodded, finished with the conversation, and he turned the program he had been watching back on.
Mrs. Del Rossi pointed with her eyes to Marco's bedroom. Marco walked in first, and she followed. He sat down on the end of his bed, throwing his hands in the air, signaling he was ready for her to lay it on him.
"Marco, having a boyfriend is nice, but sometimes space is a good thing," she said carefully.
"Ma, we have enough space," said Marco. "He just likes to be around me quite frequently."
"But, Marco, he can't be the main focus of your life right now," she said sensibly. "Doesn't he ever want space?" she asked.
"Mom," said Marco in a voice that suggested a fake sense of calmness, "a guy wants to be around me. Hard to understand?" he asked. "Am I that horrible?"
"Marco, you know that's not what I mean. I also feel your personality is…somewhat different. Accusatory and overly sensitive sometimes. I don't want him to change you," she said, sounding concerned.
"Ma, he's not changing me," said Marco. "And I'm not accusing you of anything," he denied.
"Just a moment ago, you assumed I was saying you were horrible, and that a guy would never want be around you. Maybe the word is…paranoid?"
"I'm not," said Marco.
"Marco, I just think," she paused, looking out the window. "He's here," she said, not sounding too enthusiastic.
"Better not keep him waiting," said Marco, knowing Corey would never come to the door. Mrs. Del Rossi wanted to say something, but she didn't exactly know what. Corey adored her son, and that wasn't much of a crime. She convinced herself that she was the one being paranoid.
Marco walked out to the car, pulling on his jacket as he approached. "It's cold," he said, responding to Corey's look of disbelief.
Corey shook his head, smiling. "How can you be cold?" he asked.
Marco shrugged, closing the door after he sat down.
Marco and Corey arrived at the house, and after ringing the doorbell, he tried not to be nervous. These people were his friends, so he tried to convince himself that everything was fine.
Dylan answered the door, and Marco was surprised. "Dylan, you're home!" said Marco happily.
Dylan smiled back, having not seen Marco for about three months. "Just for the weekend, though," he said.
Marco shrugged, ignoring the fact that Corey was there with him, and leaned up to hug his friend. After a few moments, Dylan let him go.
"Hey, I thought you said you were going to come visit me at school," said Dylan, raising an eyebrow.
Marco shrugged, looking down, remembering Corey was standing next to him. Dylan turned to look at him for the first time.
He cleared his throat. "Hello, Corey," he said, feeling uncomfortable. Corey disregarded him, which was not entirely unexpected, so Dylan moved aside to let them through.
Corey immediately grabbed hold of Marco's hand. Marco sighed. He assumed Corey wasn't going to let him talk to Dylan that night. He watched Dylan go upstairs, probably to his bedroom, but Marco thought (and hoped) that he'd come back downstairs eventually. He also wondered if Dylan had known Marco was coming, and why he went back upstairs the second he realized Corey was going to be around. Perhaps it was just Marco's imagination working, but Dylan seemed to have been avoiding Marco even more than Marco had been avoiding him.
"Marco," said Paige, coming over to hug him as well. "Hey, Corey," she said with a smile, trying to be as polite as possible.
She knew Marco must have been having a hard time adjusting, so she decided that saying hello was quite enough for that moment.
"So," started Corey. Marco looked at him, confused. "Sit."
"There's no more room," said Marco. Corey patted his lap, suggesting he sit down. Marco, smiling, obliged.
"Now, explain to me," said Corey, "why you're friends with Dylan."
Marco bit his lip, trying to rid the memories of his crush on Dylan the previous year. He worried because he always felt as though Corey could read his guilty mind.
"I don't know. He's nice to me," said Marco.
Corey, however, wasn't done. "Do you find him attractive?" he asked.
"Well," said Marco, cursing himself. What was wrong with him? What hadn't he just said, 'no'? He knew how jealous Corey usually became. Though, since he said 'well', he was stuck.
"Well, what?" asked Corey. They spoke in low voices, so that the others around him (who weren't paying attention to them, anyway) wouldn't hear.
"No, I don't find him attractive," he lied.
"You're lying," said Corey. It was true that he was, but why did Corey have to see through everything? He had enough power over Marco. Did he also need to be a mind reader?
Marco swallowed carefully. "N-no, I'm not," he said slowly. Corey wouldn't do anything while other people were around. At least, Marco didn't think so. They barely ever were around other people.
Corey looked at him skeptically. "You can tell me, Marco," he said softly. "I won't get angry." Only thing was: it was a lie. He always said things like that, so that Marco would feel more comfortable, and he could lure him in.
Marco knew he was going to get angry, but he knew that if he didn't say anything, he was going to get a lot angrier. He considered saying 'no' again, but that wasn't really working for Corey.
"Yes," said Marco quietly, hoping he might not be heard.
"Yes, what?" he probed.
"I do find him…somewhat…attractive," he said, closing his eyes tightly, wishing he were back in his home.
Before either one of them could say anything else, Dylan came back down the stairs, smiling brightly at the two of the, and sitting on the chair on the other side of the room, conversing with Jimmy and Spinner about hockey.
"Why are you sitting with me?" asked Corey. "Go sit with Dylan," he suggested, and Marco saw his eyes flash with a mix of jealousy and anger. "You want to."
Marco shook his head immediately, fearing that flash in his boyfriend's eyes more than anything on earth.
"Then, he can just come over here," said Corey. "Dy—"
"Could somebody come fix this, please?" yelled Paige from inside of the kitchen. Dylan sighed.
"I'm guessing she means me," he said, laughing. Marco tried not to smile because Corey was already getting ideas.
Curious, many of the people in the living room, including Corey and Marco, went into the kitchen. The sink was apparently going out of control, and Dylan was asking her what the hell she had done.
Marco tried not to laugh when he saw that there was, indeed, a hole in the faucet, causing it to spray out everywhere. Dylan was doing his best to prevent it from going in all directions, but the amount of people who came in surprised him, so he let go.
"Dylan!" Paige shrieked, getting doused again with water. Marco, too, had to cover his face, deciding not to scream, however.
"Sorry," said Dylan, turning the sink off. "No one is allowed to use the sink until my dad figures out what's wrong with that."
"Sorry," said Dylan again, seeing how wet Marco had gotten.
"It's fine," he put his hand on his face, carelessly wiping water from it. He paused, covering his entire face with both hands for a moment.
"No," he whispered, shaking his head in his hands. He knew people were looking at him, confused, but when he looked up, he tried to keep his face covered. "Can I go to the bathroom?" he asked.
"Uh, sure, hon," said Paige.
Marco walked out of the kitchen, pulling his hands away from his face, and walking into the bathroom down the long hallway from the kitchen. He locked the door behind him. Paige had to have cover-up. He would have brought some with him, but he didn't assume he was going to be splashed with water.
He dried his face completely with a towel first, then opened the cabinet drawer under the sink, searching.
"Cover-up…where would you be?" he gave up trying to find it in the cabinet.
Marco then heard a soft knock on the door. "Marco," said Paige. "Marco, are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said. He heard her footsteps start to move away from the door.
"Paige, wait!" said Marco, loud enough that she could hear, but not so loud that the others might hear and worry.
"Yes?" she said immediately, making Marco assume she hadn't really moved.
Marco wasn't going to find cover-up anywhere without help, so if he walked out without it on, everyone would see and question, but if he got Paige in, she'd help, and only one person would be aware of the bruises.
He unlocked the door, and spoke in a whisper. "Do you have any cover-up?" he asked.
She pulled the door open completely, and had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. She nodded, pulling him into her room before anyone in the kitchen had time to notice.
"What happened?" she asked, once in the safety of her own bedroom. She knew people were going to come looking, but for the moment, she needed to help her friend out.
"I got bashed again like last year," he lied. Paige couldn't see through them the way Corey could.
"Really?" she asked. "That's terrible," she said, taking out the cover-up from her purse and applying some gently to each and every bruise. Marco wasn't even aware of how bad they'd gotten. It had become habit to put the make-up on every morning, ignoring each and every malformation of the body.
"Am I good?" he asked.
She nodded. "When did this happen?" she asked.
"Oh…um, a while ago," he said, shrugging.
"Some of these bruises and cuts are close to healing. Others…no," said Paige curiously.
"Are you a doctor or something?" said Marco. "Analyzing my cuts!"
Paige looked shocked at the obvious anger he was showing. "Sorry," she muttered. "When they start to heal, they hurt yellow…" she said softly.
"Mhmm," said Marco, looking away from her.
"Lately, everything one of us says you think is an accusation…"
Paige looked on the verge of tears when she saw another bruise on the side of his face that she had missed.
"I think you're lying to me…" she said, softer than ever before.
"I think I am too…" said Marco, looking down, ashamed.
Author's Note: Please review :) A little upset and frustrated right now :(