Author's Note: Wish me luck on the rest of my tests :)

"So, basically, he's threatened to do serious damage to Marco if word gets out," said Dylan.

Paige, Ellie, Jimmy, Hazel, Ashley, Spinner, and Craig had all found out in some way what was going on with Marco. Paige and Dylan were the only ones who saw evidence first hand, however, and Ellie had long since forgiven Marco, knowing that he really couldn't control Corey's possessiveness.

"Who cares?" said Craig. "I mean, if we tell someone, we can get him away from Corey," he expanded on what sounded like a careless question. "He's already done damage."

"That's unintentional damage, though," said Paige. "I mean, hell, I'm as angry as anyone else about this, but all that stuff he's done hasn't been done for the sole reason of hurting Marco because he's always apologized." She took a deep breath, still finding it astonishing that this situation had been going on for so long without their knowledge. "Like, think about it, if he's doing it to spite Dylan, the pain will be so much worse for him."

Ellie shook her head, not coming up with anything intelligent to say. "Poor Marco," she mouthed.

"Seriously," said Jimmy, frowning.

Dylan sat down on the floor, putting his head between his knees. "I've made it worse."

"Don't say that, Dyl," said Paige, sighing. "It's not your fault."

"Does Marco know Corey called you?" asked Craig curiously

"No," said Dylan, still talking to his knees. "I've got to do something. I feel like something really bad is going to happen, and I—"

"Dylan, stop," said Ellie strongly. "The problem is that Corey isn't dumb. A stupid guy we could work with."

"Exactly," said Paige. "We need some sort of a plan."

"But the problem isn't just Corey," said Jimmy thoughtfully. "Marco doesn't want to get rid of him."

"Corey has done that to him, Jimmy," said Craig. "He's not in his right mind."

"So, we have nothing?" said Dylan pitifully.

"Nothing," they repeated.

Marco walked into his kitchen, surprised that his mother wasn't in there, and took a seat at the table.

"Marco!" Speak of the devil. He couldn't just have a few good moments in peace?

"Yes?" he groaned, raising his head from the tabletop.

"I can't find my cover-up," she said, walking in with a look of pure confusion. "I had it just this morning."

"How would I know where it is?" he asked, wondering how she'd come to the conclusion that he was the one who touched it…even though he was.

"No need to be rude," she said softly, opening her purse. "Well, I—"

"Mom," he thought it was as good as any time to tell her, "I lost my cell phone."

"You're kidding!" she said, cover-up conversation completely forgotten. "Oh, Marco…where?"

"You're kidding," he said. "If I knew where, we wouldn't be talking about it."

Marco's mother looked at him carefully, shaking her head. "I don't know why you've been so unkind lately, Marco. I don't appreciate it."

"Sorry," he muttered, not in the least big regretful for the way he was acting.

"You know," said his mother, glaring slightly, "I don't need your attitude." Marco had really never seen his mother angry.

"I'm not giving you an attitude!" he yelled, getting up from the chair. "I'm going downstairs—"

"You're grounded," she interrupted. "No phone, no computer, no Corey."

Marco paused mid-step in his way to the basement. "Ma…I—you can't do that."

"Yes, I can, Marco," she said firmly. "I don't like to punish you. You're usually so well behaved. Don't think of it like a punishment," she said, her voice softer, "I just need you away from Corey because I'm afraid he's the reason you're acting like this. Just a break, honey."

"He won't see it that way," Marco murmured, walking back to the staircase. "Ma, please."

"I can't negotiate this. I feel like you're becoming a different person," she said softly, wincing as he slammed the door.

"Corey won't be angry," Marco said to himself. "He won't be too angry," he corrected, pacing the basement floor, hoping his parents wouldn't come down. "He'll get over it."

Though Marco tried to convince himself that his grounding wouldn't make Corey furious, he knew, deep inside himself, that it really would. "What am I going to do?" he cried, leaning back against the wall.

His mother was quite right about one thing. He was changing. Marco never remembered talking to people the way he'd been lately, and he wasn't sure why he was doing it now. Sure, there were things that changed since he'd gotten together with Corey, but had he changed? Was he different?

"He's had sex with him?" Dylan asked, caught off guard by Paige's statement.

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Paige replied. Dylan shook his head, shocked. "Yeah, I don't even want to discuss that, Dylan."

"I always thought Marco was entirely willing to, but now," said Craig, "I don't know."

"Marco's a very easy target to pressure," said Paige softly.

"We've been discussing the same things over and over again," said Ashley, finally joining into the conversation. "Does anyone have a real plan?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Ash, we're trying."

"I got it!" exclaimed Spinner, causing every head to turn towards him eagerly. "We get Marco from his house, and bring him here."

"He'd still go to school, and Corey would drive him home after," said Hazel. "It's pretty hard to understand, but Marco really does, in a weird sort of way, love him…and fear him at the same time."

"So, no kidnapping?" asked Spinner, crestfallen. "I mean, we could tell him he's coming home with us, and not allowed to be with Corey."

"Do what Corey does to him?" said Dylan, raising an eyebrow.

"Good point," Spinner replied, giving up on the idea.

"But we could go over to Corey's house," Ellie suggested. "I know where he lives."

"And beat the hell out of him?" asked Dylan. "I mean, I'm totally up for that, but what's it going to do?"

Ellie shrugged. "Teach him a lesson, perhaps."

"Maybe we should just go over to talk to Marco," said Ashley. "It may not do anything, but at least he'll know that we know what's going on, and that we intend to stop it."

Dylan nodded. "I could go for that."

"I really don't want him having guests over," said Mrs. Del Rossi, though she had to admit that she was pleasantly surprised Corey wasn't with the large group at her door. "He's been grounded."

"Marco? Grounded?" asked Paige. "Never thought I'd see the day…"

"Look, Mrs. Del Rossi, I'm really sorry, but it's very important. We need to talk to him about Corey," said Dylan, catching a glimpse of Marco coming out of the basement doorway. He looked at them, confused.

"Important?" questioned his mother.

"Mrs. Del Rossi, he…" Paige stopped short, noticing Marco coming towards them. Marco would never forgive her if she told her about his abuse. Never.

"He?" she prompted, waiting for Paige to go on.

"He—he, meaning Marco, is uh…behind you, hey," she said nervously.

"Hi," said Marco. "What are you all doing here?" he asked, avoiding Dylan's eyes. He had a boyfriend. He had a boyfriend. He had a boyfriend.

"Marco, we're here to talk to you about Corey," said Dylan while everyone else nodded. Mrs. Del Rossi looked at them sympathetically.

"Just for a bit," she said, walking away from the doorway.

"Okay, ma," said Marco, not looking happy about it. "Come in," he offered, leading them to the basement.

Dylan, being the first one, traveled extremely closely behind Marco, vaguely wondering when he had become so thin.

Marco sat down on the couch, his friends following quite uncomfortably. "So, lecture me," he said, rolling his eyes. "I've heard it."

"Marco, we don't want to bore you; we really want to help you," said Dylan. "We miss how you used to be."

"Why does everyone think I'm changing? I'm no different!"

"Marco," said Paige, "I want you to go into the bathroom," she pointed to the one behind her, "and wash your face off. Then, you come out here, and we'll talk."

Marco sighed, thinking it wasn't necessary, but obliging, hoping it would make their departure come sooner.

"In fact, anywhere you have cover-up on," she added when he closed the door, realizing he'd probably caused even more marks that weren't on his face.

Ellie sighed, looking from Paige to Dylan to Craig, and finally to the floor. "I don't want to see this."

"No one does, El," said Paige empathetically, leaning over to pat her knee. It was strange that they had been getting along, but Marco mattered so much to both of them for there to be much fighting.

The bathroom door opened, and all of them turned to Marco. He was trying, unsuccessfully, to get the attention off of him. He walked over to the middle of the room, standing before him all.

Most of his friends had to hold back gasps and, in Paige's case, tears. Marco stood in front of them, his beaten face clearly visible without all the make-up. His lip looked as if it had been cut, but healed many times. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see their eyes traveling down the rest of his battered body.

"Marco," said Dylan, standing up. He put his arms around the younger boy, forgetting about everyone else who was watching. "Marco, look at you," he said slowly. "Just—just look at what he does to you."

Marco stayed securely in Dylan's arms, his head buried in his chest. He wasn't crying, just breathing as he tried to ignore their eyes. He didn't want to look. He didn't want to see. He knew what was there.

"When's the last time you ate, Marco?" Hazel asked, voicing what most of them had been thinking about.

Marco shrugged. He honestly didn't know. Dylan let go of him, to let Marco have his space, but Marco clung to him, still not speaking a word. Dylan gently rubbed his back, hoping to calm him in any way he could.

"He's…" Marco started, pulling his face away from Dylan's chest for his speech to be understood. "He's going to call tonight," he whispered, "and he's going to be really mad at me because I got in trouble."

Dylan knew he was speaking to him only, and it broke his heart to hear him speaking so weakly. "Don't worry," said Dylan soothingly.

"I'm so confused," said Marco, once again putting his face against Dylan's chest, finally letting himself cry. "I love him so much, I do. I just…I don't know," he said, swallowing painfully.

"Marco, he's out of his freaking mind," said Spinner from the couch behind them. "He's a psycho."

"He is my boyfriend, Spinner," said Marco. "I don't appreciate that."

"How can you defend that monster?" asked Craig, enraged. It was so hard for them to understand Marco's situation. Marco simply held on tightly to Dylan, hoping that he could make all of the bad things disappear by holding him.

"All right, guys, just don't question him right now," said Dylan. "Listen," he said, lifting Marco's head to face him, "I don't want it to have to go so far, Marco, but I will go to any lengths to get him away from you. If you cooperate with us, it'll be much easier."

Marco looked down at his feet, trying to prevent himself from wanting to cry again. "You love me," he said, not asked, remembering the conversation that had made him smile stupidly for so long.

The others looked quite surprised. "I do," said Dylan, kissing the top of his head. Marco stepped away.

"No, no, it's wrong," he said. "It's wrong. Corey—he'll—"

"Corey won't do anything to you if you stay with us, Marco," said Ashley, smiling supportively. "It'll be okay."

"No, no, I love him. He needs me," said Marco fearfully, backing away.

"Marco," said Dylan, taking his hand. "Marco, he controls you."

"He loves me," he said. "He—he just wants me to be with him," said Marco, not sounding entirely convinced.

"Marco, if you're worried about him hurting you…" Ellie started, "we won't let that happen."

"Someone who loved you wouldn't let this happen," said Dylan. "Is he aware that you're starving yourself?"

"I'm not!" Marco denied. "Why does everyone always have to be in my business!"

"Marco, we're not. We ju—"

"Don't get upset," said Dylan. "I was uh…doing some research," he looked back at Paige who had spoken up, "defensiveness is very common in this situation. He's trying to make us feel badly."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Dylan," warned Marco. "You know I hate that."

"And you know I hate when your mood changes like," he snapped his fingers, "that."

The others watched this scene carefully, unsure of what they were supposed to do.

"It's getting really late," said Marco. "You all should probably go."

"See, if I left you this helpless, that'd make me just like Corey, so I'll stay until tomorrow if I have to," said Dylan, making Marco raise his eyebrows skeptically. "All I want to do is make everything better for you."

Marco closed his eyes suddenly. "Corey's here," he whispered. "I hear him speaking with my mom. Please don't tell him they're down here," he begged, talking to himself. A moment later, they all heard his footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Apparently, I've got to go because you're grounded, and I've been sent down here to tell you all the same thing," he said, not sounding pleased. "What, exactly, did you do?"

"Was rude…" he said quietly.

"I see," said Corey. "Why is your face all…"

"Bruised?" Hazel threw in. "You should know."

Corey looked at Marco, and he could tell he'd never been in more trouble with his boyfriend before. No one was supposed to know about the bruises. No one ever did. Until now.

"Aden, I really don't want to hear from you at the moment," he said, moving in closer to Marco. "Why would you tell them, Marco?" he whispered, resting his hand on his bruised cheek.

"I'm sorry," said Marco, even though he hadn't told them anything in the first place. "I didn't mean to. I didn't think."

Marco's friends couldn't believe he was taking the blame for it. "It's your fault it came out, Corey," said Paige, getting up from her seat. Dylan had to hold her back before she basically threw herself at him.

Marco, forgetting all about Corey's presence for a moment, walked closer to Dylan, hugging him tightly. Corey looked stunned.

"You know…just to…you mean…well, a lot."

Dylan didn't really understand what he meant at that moment, but he'd risked a lot by doing it.

Author's Note: Yeah, please review. :)