The water battered down, droplets racing along the green awning overhead, pooling noisily at the curb beneath our feet and rushing like a stream into the gutter.

My phone buzzed incessantly in my pocket.

Marco's blue eyes flickered back and forth--back and forth like the windshield wipers that cast sheets of water onto the cement.

"If Eliza wants to be mad, she can be mad at Peter," Marco said blankly, eyes moving rapidly, scanning the mad dash beneath the downpour. "He's the reason I smoke."

Newspapers became hats, plastic bags became bonnets and cardigans were make shift hoods as the water came down harder and faster, now, and what was supposed to be a 30% chance of a rain shower had transformed overnight into a heavy downpour.

My phone continued buzzing incessantly in my pocket.

Marco's eyes regarded me thoughtfully, as I fumbled with damp hands for my phone.

"I'm surprised Xander hasn't told you," he said.

I lifted my hand from my pocket. "About Peter?"

"I thought he told you everything," Marco nodded. "That's the impression I got."

"Who told you that lie?" I asked with a snort. "Xander keeps secrets from me just like the rest of you."

He still wouldn't tell me about Nikita.

But, there were those crystal blue eyes again, meeting mine with a careful calculation.

"He told you about his mom, right?"

"Yeah, but--"

"He trusts you."

Marco faced me.

"Like, a lot."

Marco turned his eyes back towards the rain.

"That garage is his refuge," he began again. "Everyone's got their shit, y'know--Tuck used to go to the gym and lift weights for hours," Marco sniffed, a small smile playing at his lips. "Then Rome got into tattoos," he grinned, "and then so did Tuck.

"I think Jamie really helped Jason," he nodded knowingly. "I mean, you should have seen how wound up he was--she really helped him relax."

But, what?

"You knew?"

Marco nodded. "Jason wasn't the one keeping secrets. The rest of us didn't tell for Jamie's sake. We all knew how Nikita can be.

"But Xander," he shook his head, "that garage is his life. When shit happens, there's only one place you can find him."

At that, I nodded knowingly. I don't think I would ever forget Christmas Eve for as long as I'd live.

"It's a release. It's..." Marco rubbed the back of his neck, "It's something to take your mind off the shit that fucks you up," and Marco, eyes on my expression, only grinned.

"But you knew that," he smiled.

My head whipped around to face him. "What do you mean?"

"I forgot," he said. "You two are tight, now."

I lifted my damp shoulder in a small shrug.

But Marco only turned away, chuckling softly to himself.

The squelch of car tires on wet asphalt melded like music with the soft clicks of unfolding umbrellas and squeaky boots.

"I'm sorry again," he said. "For last night. I really wish you didn't--"

"Marco," I said, "it's fine, really."

He didn't look my way.

"Okay?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I just--fuck, I just don't know, Thal." He shook his head. "It's just--not you."

"What?" I asked with blatant confusion. "What do you mean?"

Marco shrugged. "Forget it."

"Marco..." I sighed loudly, watching my breath and frustration mix in a white puff of air.

"So, that's why you smoke, huh?" I asked, not breaking my gaze from a young mother as she struggled to keep her baby sheltered beneath an umbrella. I gave him a pointed look. "Because nicotine is your release?"

Because none of you guys know how to voice your feelings?

Marco grinned, scratching his beard as he shook his head. "Peter's the reason I smoke, Thal. Thought I said that already."

I lifted my eyes to his. "You guys..." I paused. "I swear, half the time I can't tell when you're kidding or not."

Marco smiled, front teeth biting down on his bottom lip.

But, I turned away, missing the way that smile dropped into a grimace, all as I reached into my pocket and scrolled through my waiting texts.

AR - WHERE ARE YOU? I'M DYING HERE.

XO - Can you come by today?

EA - What's up? Are you busy???

AK - I'm thinking we need one more party before you leave me and I'm *sigh* alone in LA again. :(

AK - And it should be all of us, guys and girls, just like UCLA.

AK - Collin said that you Misch and Xander are leaving first.

AK - Before the weekend is over, we need to find our last turn up of the break.

I selected my brother's text first.

Sorry, I typed. I met up with a friend at the store. Be home soon. <3

And I added an extra kissy face for good measure.

Hopefully, I thought, he wouldn't be too angry if I was lying.

"He had this car..."

My head snapped up, attention back on Marco.

"Who? Who did?"

"Peter," he replied, jaw clenched, eyes locked on the parking lot before us. "For his sixteenth birthday, his grandpa gave him a car--I'll never forget it--a 1970 Shelby Mustang Cobra."

My jaw hit the wet pavement. "Shut up!" I exclaimed. "Holy--Those are legitimate American classics."

Marco laughed softly, stroking his beard. "I forgot," he said, eyes never wavering from the lot, "Xander said you were a little grease monkey."

"Sheesh," I whispered, as I found myself blushing. "He's just going around, telling people all about my life, huh?"

I don't think Marco heard me; he was too intently focused on the downpour.

"Anyway," I said, clearing my throat, "that sounds awesome. I would've gone crazy if I got a classic for my sixteenth birthday."

Marco only shook his head. "You sound just like Pete," he sniffed. "He couldn't wait to drive that heap o' junk."

"No, not junk," I squeaked. "A classic."

"No, it was junk," Marco replied without humor. "It was a piece of shit; a whole heap of shit. The doors got stuck, the windows didn't roll down, the radio didn't work...Pete only wanted it 'cause it was his dads, y'know?"

"Oh."

"Yeah," Marco nodded. "But he wanted to drive that shit anyway, and nobody could tell him otherwise."

"Oh."

"And when I say 'nobody,' I mean nobody, Thal. We had to talk him into letting Xander's dad fix it up for him."

I never fixed the car.

"But, nobody did," I asked. "Did they?"

A BMW took a fast corner, splashing water upon the curb.

"If we won the championship, he said--he said he was gonna go for a joyride around the city. He said he didn't care. The car started fine when it was cranked up, but there were so many fuckin' problems...

"We skipped sixth period to go with him. Xander and I were the only ones who knew that he'd driven it. He drove it to school, Thalia. He drove it to school and said it was running fine and there was a full tank of gas and he was ready to go."

A small smile tugged at his lips.

"We drove all day. Every time Xander and I said we'd had enough, Pete'd keep going. He said he was going to drive that fuckin' bucket 'til the gas ran out," Marco's eyes briefly met mine. "He kept saying he was kidding, but," he turned away, "we drove for hours--he really fucking wasn't."

I turned to the lot, watching the rainy day unfold before my eyes and Marco's words unravel in my ears.

"The car stalled on the freeway.

"It was the scariest fucking shit of my life," he continued, softer. "It was dark as hell, and the last little drops of gas we had left he used to pull over.

"We sat there calling people to come pick us up. Pete wanted a tow, but Xander and I were ready to get the hell off the freeway and get our asses home."

Marco's voice dropped.

"It was so dark."

I could hear my saliva in my ears, swallowing loudly against the rain.

"And those lights, those car lights," he continued, "They were fucking everywhere--cars were going 60 and 70, and we were sitting there in the middle of it, and then..."

Marco's hand was over his eyes, and then it squeezed the bridge of his nose, before he exhaled loudly, fingers gripping at the stubble on either cheek.

"I saw this car coming," he said, eyes glassy as they locked with mine. "I was in the backseat," he said, "and I saw it coming, and I--" he chuckled softly, sadly before he let out a little whine, "I started yelling, screaming like a little bitch for Xander to get out, so he could let me out, and I was out of the car running when I realized that only Xander was with me...

"And Thalia," he whimpered, "I realized too late that Peter's fucking door was stuck, because that fucking piece of shit car hadn't been fixed, and he was yelling, trying to get out through Xander's side--through the passenger door and Thalia it was just..."

Instinctively, I grabbed for Marco's hand.

"It happened so fast," he said, placing pressure into my palm. "There were lights and then there was this crash--Pete's car, that fuckin' car was up, over the cement divider in the center of the goddamn freeway and the sound--that fuckin' sound and those lights--"

Marco's grip on my hand tightened.

"Your dad saw it," he continued, and I looked up at Marco to see that his eyes were shut, squeezed so tightly it was as if he couldn't open them. "He'd been driving Aaron home and he saw the whole thing. He saw us running and yelling towards Peter but that car was so fucked, and he ran to us asking for help, and I'll never forget that Xander just kept screaming over and over, "Our friend's in the car! Our friend's in that car!"

"I know Aaron," Marco sighed, slowly opening his eyes, "because he called 911 when your dad helped us get Pete's door open. He was breathing, and he was breathing when the paramedics came but shit--"

I turned away, squeezing Marco's hand like a pulse.

"Fuckin' shit--It's like...I couldn't recognize him--fuck."

I didn't have to look; I heard his body shaking, breath ragged to my side.

I didn't have to look at him to know that he was crying.

"He died in the hospital," he continued after a while. "He died and everybody got to see him--all of us."

Marco cursed, wiping away any evidence of the tears that pooled in his eyelids.

"That was the last time we were all together--all of us fucking fucked up 'cause his mom and his sister were crying and we...that was the last time we were all together."

The honking horns and downpour of rain suddenly became background noise to the heartbeat thudding in my ears.

"It's funny, 'cause he was always the practical one," Marco said. "He was Mr. Mom--the voice of reason."

I met Marco's eyes with my own. "Nikita said that, too."

"Yeah," Marco narrowed his eyes. "Because we can see how high-strung she can be."

At that, I grinned.

"He, Nikita and Xander had known each other longer than I'd known them. They all went to--"

"Pre-K together," I finished with a nod. "I know."

"Look at you, Little Thalia," Marco said, grinning again, for which I was glad. "Knowing things."

I squeezed Marco's hand one final time. "I do try."

Marco snorted, turning away.

As silence settled between us, I quickly sent my second message off to April.

TR - YAAAASSSSSSSS

"Thanks."

"Marco," I sighed, re-locking my phone, "you've really got to stop saying that to me."

He regarded me thoughtfully. "Why?"

"Because!" I exclaimed. "You're my friend. Friends are there for each other."

"I mean, yeah, but..." Marco shook his head. "Thanks for--" He dropped his head. "If you didn't know, you're only the second person who I've told that story to, and--" He ran his hands across his face. "Thanks for all your stupid shit efforts of trying to get us all together and hug it out and talk about our feelings--"

"Wow," I laughed, "Thanks."

"I don't mean it like that," he gripped his lip with his teeth, biting back a small smile.

Then, he surprised me by grabbing my hand, again.

"Marco--"

"What I'm trying to say," he said, staring intently at me with those crystal blue eyes, "is thanks for giving a shit."

"Marco," I repeated, despite the warmth that spread from his words, "you're my friend. I'd do anything for you guys."

"Anything?"

"Oh jeez--"

He regarded me thoughtfully, chuckling to himself.

I lifted an eyebrow beneath his gaze. "What?"

"D'you have anyplace to be?" He asked. "Like, right now?"

"Umm--"

"I wanna show you something," he said, lifting both of his thick eyebrows. "You up for it?"

I thought of my brother lying with a headache in the darkness.

He could wait a little longer, right?

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'm up for it."

"C'mon," he said, raising his arm to shield me from the rain. "I'm taking you on a little Westchester adventure."

-~*~-

!!!

Cat's out of the bag, huh? And I apologize for the sadness, but I would love x 1000 to hear your reactions to this chapter.

Excited for where Marco's about to take Thalia? Hopefully, Aaron won't be too mad at her for holding onto his Advil, right?

Lawlz.

Vote/Comment! Love ya'll. <3