Growing Up Won't Bring Us Down

Marco woke up again in her room at noon. They had gotten back at ten, the appointment taking longer than she thought, and couldn’t force herself to sleep anymore. She walked out of her room yawning and rubbing her eyes with her fists. She happened to look up to see her father’s door open. Curiosity got the better of her and she poked her head in. His drawers were open and quite a bit of clothes were missing.

She turned on her heels and headed downstairs. At the bottom she saw a very packed duffel bag sitting by the door and a black, medium sized suitcase. She heard voices in the kitchen and decided to walk in there. Matt and Kell were sitting at the table with Johnny across from them. All three adults looked over as the teen walked in. “What’s going on?”

“I’m going to rehab,” Johnny replied, looking down at the cup of coffee in his hands. He had agreed with Emily the more he thought about it. He wouldn’t be any help to Marco as a drunk. She need someone to raise her who was able to take responsibility to care for her, something he never had himself. Marco frowned and took a few steps forward.

“How long are you going to be gone?”

“I don’t know. Emily said if I don’t think it’s doing me any good I can leave whenever I want. But the program she put me in lasts two months.” Tear pooled Marco’s eyes. She launched herself onto his lap, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Matt and Kell silently stood and left the room. Johnny hugged her back, cooing sweet nothings into her ear.

“I just got you back. I can’t let you leave for two months,” Marco cried softly. He smiled, kissing the top of her hair.

“I have to Marco. If I don’t I’m not going to be a good father. And don’t tell me that’s not true, I know it is.” Marco clung to him tighter, Johnny’s way of knowing she knew he was right. After a few more minutes he kissed her temple and stood. She still held onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist. He sighed and walked forward, holding her thighs to keep her up.

“Johnny, Tayler’s he - ” Kell cut off at the strange sight of Johnny carrying his adopted daughter. He sighed and shook his head.

“Come on Marco, I have to go.” Marco shook her head defiantly. Johnny sighed and looked pleadingly at Kell. She nodded, grabbing his bags and leading the way out. When they got outside Tayler and Matt were talking, leaning against Tayler’s Charger. They fell silent as Johnny walked forward.

“Marco, he’ll be back. You gotta let him go for now,” Matt said softly. Marco didn’t reply but held onto Johnny harder.

“Just grab her Matt,” Johnny whispered, no fight left in him. The singer obliged, grabbing the teen around the waist and prying her away from her father. Marco began to fight against the muscular arms but failed miserably.

“Don’t leave me Daddy!” Marco cried out as Johnny took his bags from Kell. His heart broke and he forced himself to not listen to his crying daughter. He placed his bags in the trunk before quickly walking to the passenger side. Tayler gave her goodbye before driving away from the house. Marco fell limp, crying her eyes out. She knew Johnny was going to be gone the whole time. Something in her gut let her know. Matt carried her inside as she turned to cling to him.

In the retreating car Johnny was oddly silent. Tayler had allow Pantera to lightly play into the vehicle. That was the only noise. Finally she pulled to a stop at a red light and looked over at her boyfriend. “Are you okay Johnny?”

“I’m fine. I have to do this for Marco,” he said sternly, continuing to look out the window. Tayler frowned and continued to the way of the rehab clinic Johnny had wrote the directions to. When they finally pulled to a stop outside the two-story, white building, Tayler slid the car into ‘park’. Johnny leaned across the console to give Tayler a kiss on the lips. “Thank-you Tay.”

“No problem. Just do me a favor and check in with Marco once in a while, okay? She’s broken about this all,” Tayler said softly.

“I know. They’ll take my cell phone, but I still get my two calls a day, if I chose to use them. One will be to her, one to you.”

“I couldn’t ask for it any other way,” Tayler spoke, smiling. The two of them shared one more kiss before Johnny climbed out and shut his door behind him. Tayler pressed the button to let the trunk swing open so Johnny could grab his things. He shut the back and waved before walking inside the building he would know as his home for the next two months.



Only twenty minutes later Marco could be found at pier. She sat at the very end, legs swinging over the edge of the dock. Matt had allowed her to go out since he knew she would go one way or another. Marco let out a sigh as she leaned forward, her arms crossed over the railing that went around the dock.

“Hey Marco.” Marco didn’t even turn around at the sound of the voice. The person sat next to her and copied her position. “What are you doing here?”

“Trying to get away from it all,” Marco replied simply. She let her eyes trail over to see the boy in her peripheral vision. “What are you doing here Danny?”

“I needed to get away from Lizzie and her friends,” Danny replied, his eyes trailing over to the teens on the beach below. Lizzie and a few of her girly, cheerleader friends were all playing around in their bikinis. In reality they weren’t like those stereotypical cheerleaders, but he still could only handle so much girl.

“Really? Thought you’d enjoy it being gay and all.” Danny let out a loud groan, tossing his hands over his head.

“I’m not gay! Why does everyone assume so?!”

“Have you seen your hair?” Danny opened his mouth to mock how stupid that sounded, but in some twisted way it made sense to him. He slouched over, a scowl on his face. “But really, you’re not gay?”

“No.” He suddenly thought of something and frowned. “Wait, I already told you what’s bugging me. What’s up with you? I only think it’s fair I know too.”

“My dad’s leaving for two months. He’s going to rehab for his drinking,” Marco explained, biting her lip to hold back her sobs. Danny instantly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. She clung to him, something she noticed she had being doing a lot today, and buried her face into his chest.

“It’s going to be okay Marco,” Danny said softly. After a few moments Marco pushed herself out of his arms, chuckling nervously to herself as she wiped at her eyes that still held unshed tears.

“I’m sorry. I must just seem like a crybaby.”

“No, I don’t blame you. My mom went away to rehab for six months for a heroin addiction. But I’ll tell you this.” Marco turned to look back at him as he paused. “My mother came back a much better person. She got her life back on track and turned everything around. Johnny will come back the same, I swear it.”

“I hope you’re right.” It lapsed into silence for a while as the two just stared at the ocean.

“Marco? I have something to confess.” Marco turned to him with curious stare. He took a deep breath before turning to meet her eyes. “I’ve liked you since the beginning of this year when Phoenix first introduced you to me and Lizzie. And as time went on, I only felt stronger and stronger for you. I just don’t know - ”

Marco didn’t let him finish and latched her lips onto his.