In The Name Of Love

The moment I left Stephanie’s room, I heard a cry.

“Blake!”

It was Marco.

I ran.

While I may have come to terms with needing to talk to him, I wasn’t mentally prepared yet.

“Hold up!” he called.

I didn’t.

I ran into my room. Marco was close behind. I quickly pulled the door shut as Marco reached in.

“Ow!” Marco recoiled his gand from the door frame.

“Shit. Marco, are you okay?”

“It’s just my finger.” He replied with a slightly pained smile.

“It’s not broken or anything, is it?”

“No, it isn’t broken. It doesn’t hurt that bad, but it may bruise and swell later.”

I let out a sigh of relief. If I broke his finger, I couldn’t live with myself. Not to mention, I’m sure it would be misconstrued after the events of the day.

“Okay, well, you may as well come in. I’ll get you some ice for it.”

I stepped aside and let Marco in. When I said I needed space, Darcy probably thought she would spend the night with Jet, which meant I was alone with Marco.

“Go sit down while I fetch you the ice,” I instructed.

He wandered over and sat on my bed. Meanwhile, I went to the kitchen, found a large bowl, and filled it with ice from my fridge. I added a little bit of water and then brought it over to Marco.

“Put your pinky in.”

“Blake, Are you sure?” he looked reluctant.

“Yeah, just go slowly.”

He slowly lowered his hand into the water. He momentarily winced.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yes, I just wasn’t expecting that sensation.”

“But you’re good now.”

“Yep, it was just colder than I expected.”

I sighed out of relief. But while I was no longer worried about Marco’s finger, I now had to face the other thing that was eating away at me.

“Marco, I wanted to talk.”

“Sure, I also want to talk,” he replied, smiling.

“It’s about tonight.”

“About tonight?”

“About tonight.”

I sighed, unsure where to begin.

“It’s okay. It was an accident. I’m not upset. I could never be upset at you.”

“Huh?”

What was he on about? Then it clicked.

“Oh, the door. Yeah, no, I was talking about the final. About your performance.”

He tilted his head in confusion.

“What about it?”

“Marco, why did you do that? Was our relationship just a joke to you?” I asked him seriously.

I could feel the anxiety twisting in my chest. I didn’t know how to feel if he revealed this was all a game. I had loved him for so long, and I was under the impression he loved me as well. I don’t know how I would cope knowing it meant nothing to him.

“What? Where’s that coming from?” He asked, looking genuinely confused.

I sighed again.

“That photo of us in your performance.”

“What about it?”

“Did you do it to make fun of my feelings for you?”

“Blake, I have no idea what you are talking about. I did this because of my feelings for you. I didn’t want it to be a secret any more.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

“So you had me come along to your green room so you could spring that on me? Use me as a marketing tool? Is that what our relationship meant to you?”

I was on the verge of tears. No, scratch that. I was crying.

Marco gently lifted his hand to wipe my tears before responding.

“I didn’t know you were in the green room. Why were you there?”

My sadness turned to mild anger.

“Don’t play dumb, Valentina said you planned the photo. You planned to set me up.”

“I would never do that. I begged Valentina to allow me to include the photo in the performance. That was me, But I don’t know anything about the green room. Whatever happened must’ve been Valentina’s doing.”

My emotions continued to be a rollercoaster. Although everything Marco said made perfect sense to some degree, I was still upset that he hadn’t told me anything beforehand and that this had occurred. I turned back to being somewhat melancholic.

“Did you not think how I would feel? Seeing that photo, having all those eyes turn to me?”

“I’m sorry. I thought it would be romantic.”

“Romantic? Did you think the accusations that were hurled at me were romantic?”

I was angry again.

“I’m sorry, I’m a man of action. I thought it would be romantic. I wanted to show my love to the world. I wanted it to be a grand gesture.”

“It was grand alright.” I looked away, I could feel my cheeks warming up. “I guess it would be a lie to say I wasn’t a little happy.”

Now, I was just embarrassed.

“So you understand why I did it?” he asked.

I sighed.

“Marco, I have to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Do you really love me?”

“Of course! Blake, I love you. More than anything in the world.”

He leaned in and kissed me. As our lips touched, all the anxiety I felt seemed to melt away. After a moment of intimacy, Marco pulled back and gripped my shoulders.

“Blake, I have a question for you as well.” He commented, looking into my eyes.

“What?”

“Did you take out your anger about tonight by going after my finger?”

Did he think I did it deliberately?

“No, that was an accident, I swear. I didn’t mean to.”

Marco burst out laughing.

“It was a joke,” he replied through his laughter.

I pouted and turned my head away from him in frustration.

“Why do you tease me?” I asked.

“I just wanted to see your cute, flustered reaction,” he replied as he tapped me on the nose.

“Marco!” I said, flustered, playing into his game. “You’re so mean.”

“I’m mean because I love you. I will always love you.”

Yep, I was definitely rosy pink. But I didn’t care. At least now, we no longer had to hide our relationship. I don’t think we could even if we tried.

I latched onto Marco, giving him a big hug. I could feel his heartbeat slowly increase.

“I don’t want us ever to be apart again,” I muttered, not making eye contact with him.

He rested his hand on my head.

“I don’t either.”

─── ༻ ☼ ༺ ───

End of Chapter 38