The Secret Admirer |BL|

Chapter 6 - Dark Skies

| Do you know who it is yet? |

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The day of his father's funeral went by as it came –slow and sad. The sky was bright as it could get for a winter's day and it passed by very cheerlessly. Marcus's mother was still in the hospital under watch and she was not in any condition to go to her husband's funeral. But Marcus was there; his eyes never left the hallowed ground or the coffin. Even as people paid their last respects to the deceased and left Marcus stood by the descending coffin thinking of all the memories that he had of his father. In that moment in-time he wanted one wish to come true more than anything: to properly say 'goodbye' to his dearest father.

Marcus made sure that he went to the cemetery in the days that followed. Somehow he felt the need to. His father was the one parent he was most close to. Letting go of his father was harder than he had expected.

Evening had rolled in and he hadn't realized how long he'd been staring at his father's tombstone till rain started spitting from the dark skies; he felt relieved though. Speaking in a hushed tone as he hunched near where his father was buried, he felt his problems disappear. So he told his father's grave everything, all the things that he never said.

Someone cleared their throat from behind Marcus as he stood before his father's grave and stared into the darkling skies. Brushing the dead leaves off his coat he turned around. His eyes were filled with sadness as he stared at the person that was before him. It was his sister's fiancé's younger brother, Craig. They had been close ever since they were introduced three years ago. Sometimes it felt longer. Marcus always thought of Craig as the brother he never really had. Craig swung his arm around Marcus's shoulders and pulled him in tightly.

"I don't think I've ever seen you cry." Craig commented while looking up at the navy blue sky.

It was true. When Marcus touched the soft skin under his eyes he felt moisture. Marcus rarely cried. According to him, he wasn't the emotional type. The mellow-dramatic emotions such as crying wasn't apart of him. That was one of the reasons why he was so taken back at the effect his father's passing had on him. It was rather strange. His mother always told him that he had a heart of stone, but that wasn't true. His father however had told him once that Marcus had learned to block his emotions because he didn't want to seem weak. This however was agreeable. Marcus didn't like to seem weak.

Marcus rubbed his red tinted eyes and sighed out a single laugh of disbelief. He was embarrassed to say the least. Grown men didn't cry...

"Hey. It's okay. If my dad died I'd be devastated. I'd probably lock myself in my room and never come out." Craig said, his words made Marcus feel slightly better mainly because of the humorous tone he had. Marcus found himself smiling in the dark.

The cold wind was numbing and Marcus could barely feel his fingertips as they made their way down the hill from where his father was now resting. Temperature was dropping rapidly and the wind was picking up. He was taken by surprise when Craig's warm fingers weaved through Marcus' cold ones, holding Marcus' hand tightly. His hand flinched at the unanticipated touch. Marcus stopped in his tracks he gave Craig a perplexed looked that asked "What are you doing?"

In the dark Marcus could barely see Craig's face. The less than helpful dimly lit street lights made it difficult for him to anything. But he knew that Craig had ignored his questioning glare when he began to playfully tug on Marcus's arm and dragged him to the car.

"I can give you ride home." Craig said, ignoring the question all together. Marcus scrunched his brows together and watched Craig act as if nothing had happened. When they approached the car, Marcus knew something was wrong. His sister's fiancé's younger brother was holding his hand it didn't feel right and it didn't seem appropriate.