Please

Comfort

"Here comes the whore."

Rhys shook his head while Kate sing-songed. Marco's head flicked up at the giggling, a questioning look on his face. When he saw the looks they were giving him he grimaced a little. Marco passed the two on the couch and went straight to his room. Kate's curiosity piqued when he didn't respond and gave Rhys an excited glance. Rhys raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything, much more interested in his bowl of cereal.

"What happened to you? Did she beat you up for teasing her this time?" Kate chuckled.

"Not exactly." Marco's voice was low, uninterested.

Kate wasn't about to let that go. Concern had her jumping to her feet, ignoring as Rhys tried to tell her to wait. She made her way down the hallway and stood in Marco's doorway.

"Ok, you can't expect me not to be curious." She crossed her arms.

Marco was lying on his back, his legs hanging over the bed. He didn't look at her, one hand rubbing his face. Kate's worry grew when she saw how agitated he was.

"Baby what's going on?" She plopped down on the corner of the bed beside him.

Marco just groaned, sounding exhausted. Kate frowned.

"What did she say to you?" Kate was wracking her brain for every possible scenario between her oldest friend and Marco. "I know she can be harsh, but it's her way of trying to keep it together..."

"She wasn't harsh." Marco murmured.

"Then what?"

Marco didn't say anything. Kate shuffled closer and gently touched his forehead with the back of her hand. It was a habitual, motherly urge, but Marco sighed and seemed to relax under it. She stroked his hair back and listened to him sigh again.

"How can I be attracted to two totally different women?" He asked eventually.

"I don't know," Kate admitted with a sigh. "You and Rhys are pretty different... well... maybe not as different as me and Jo..." She laughed then, briefly.

"I just-" Marco sighed again. "She was so different tonight. I thought she would get mad at me or just shut me out again but it was like... it was like she was scared of me."

Kate paused at that. She'd never known Jo to be afraid of anyone, she was usually the one who stood up to people for her when they were young. There was only one thing Jo was that scared of that Kate was aware of. Her eyes slowly narrowed and she grabbed a fistful of Marco's hair.

"Ah- what the fuck?" Marco winced and was trying to peel her fingers away.

"You had sex with my best friend." Kate tilted her head, eying him curiously.

"First of all, OW. Second of all, you know I like her. I'm not looking for something casual with her. I care about her." Marco was glaring at Kate, though a flash of a smile revealed that she'd distracted him from whatever spiral he was beginning to fall into a moment ago.

Kate hummed thoughtfully, releasing his hair and crawling closer. Marco shifted a little as she settled on her stomach so that she was lying with her face just above his. She smiled sweetly, making him raise an eyebrow.

"You're sexy when you act all serious." She traced a finger down his cheek.

"Oh?"

"Mmhmm." Kate's smile grew when Marco started to roll closer.

"And when I'm not?"

Kate tapped her lip, feigning contemplation. "Mildly good looking."

"Uh huh." Marco sat up quickly and turned, flattening himself on top of Kate who shrieked and then giggled breathlessly. "Tell me I'm sexy." He demanded in a Cookie Monster voice.

Kate giggled louder but it was muffled by the fact that her face was squished into the quilt. Marco laughed when she started squeaking and rolled off her. She was still trying to get her breath back, hiccuping from the laughter, when he kissed her.

Marco sighed again and lay on top of her, though this time she was lying on her back and he wrapped his arms around her middle. Kate combed his hair with her fingers and he fell asleep in minutes.

~