The relationship between Marco Del Rossi and Eric is known as Meric (Marco/Eric). It formed in the seventh season of Degrassi: The Next Generation. At first, Marco rejected Eric's advances due to his long-distance relationship with Dylan Michalchuk, but after breaking it off with Dylan, the two became a couple.
Relationship History
Overview
Eric became acquainted with Marco through his best friend Ellie Nash, with whom he worked at The Core. He quickly developed a crush on Marco, but Marco was still technically dating Dylan Michalchuk, and eager to make their long-distance relationship work. However, Marco decided to end things with Dylan when he saw that he was more emotionally invested in their relationship than Dylan was. Marco and Eric eventually begin dating. They managed to maintain a very stable relationship until Don't Stop Believin', when Eric noticed that Marco gave his friendship with Ellie priority over his relationship with him.
Season 7
In Standing In The Dark (2), Marco visited The Core to get a textbook from his best friend Ellie Nash and began chatting with Eric. Ellie told her boyfriend Jesse Stefanovic that Marco kept "holding onto a guy who treats him like crap," referring to his boyfriend Dylan Michalchuk, and she suggested that they set him up with Marco. Jesse advised her to mind her own business. In any event, he believed that since Marco was loyal to a fault, he would never let her set him up with Eric. Ellie said that this meant that they would just have to be sneaky. When Marco returned home that evening, he found that Ellie and Jesse had invited Eric over for pizza. Ellie awkwardly told Jesse that she wanted to show him "the thing" and they left them alone. Marco was irritated that they had set him up like that. When Eric said that he thought that there was something between them, Marco told him that there was: Dylan, his boyfriend. Eric got the message and promptly left.
The next morning, Marco was still annoyed at Ellie, saying, "Hey, youāre still in the doghouse, Nash." However, she got him to admit that he was attracted to Eric and he agreed to have a cup of coffee with him on the condition that Ellie promised to back off, which she did. Although his date with Eric was awkward, Marco told Dylan that they needed to talk when he rang him later that day and they broke up.
In Owner of a Lonely Heart, Marco runs into Eric, working at the campus club, and the two decide to go on another date. However, the two have little in common, and Marco describes the date as lame. After realizing how far he was letting to let himself fall, Marco decides to give it a shot with Eric.
In Don't Stop Believin', Ellie excitedly told Marco that Jesse had placed her name on the shortlist to become editor-in-chief for the next year. While she was certain that Eric would get the position, she was still glad as it meant that she had a good shot at becoming assistant editor. Marco then asked Ellie if she would be okay with the idea of living with her future boss as he was thinking about asking Eric to move in with them. Ellie said that she had no problem with it as she loved Eric.
At a jazz club that night, Marco invited Eric to live with them but admitted that part of the reason was that he and Ellie did not want to split up as they had been best friends since Grade 9. Eric, who said that Marco and Ellie were attached at the hip, told Marco that it was great that he had a nice straight girlfriend but he did not want to ruin their relationship by moving too fast.
Several hours later, Marco and Ellie almost had sex but managed to stop themselves. The next afternoon, they met Eric at The Core and Ellie once again invited him to live with them. He agreed, though he said to Marco that it might be awkward for him to have his boyfriend and his best friend living under the same roof. Over a webcam, Jesse announced that Ellie was the new editor-in-chief of The Core. Ellie was shocked and delighted while Eric was extremely upset. At Marco's insistence, Ellie discussed the situation. She reflected that it had not gone the way that they expected but that The Core would be nothing without Eric, offering him the assistant editorship. Eric then suggested that it had gone exactly the way that she expected and implied that she got the position because she had slept with Jesse. Ellie was extremely offended by this. After Eric stormed out, Marco followed him, saying to Ellie that he had to as he was his boyfriend.
Later that night at their house, Marco told Ellie that he had spent two hours talking Eric down off a ledge as he felt terrible about what he had said to her. Ellie then said, "It's a good thing that my best friend defended me. Oh, oh no wait, you totally didn't!" Marco told her that he could not always be her knight in shining armour as they were just friends, nothing more. Ellie said, "WHOA! Marco, we just kissed!" and that it was not a big deal but she eventually realised that she and Marco had grown too dependent on each other and they moved out.
Timeline
- Start Up: Owner of a Lonely Heart (711)
- Broke Up: Don't Stop Believin' (722)
- Reason: Ellie got the editor job that he deserved, and was angry at Marco who was friends with Ellie. He never found out that they almost had sex.
Rival Relationships
Trivia
- Eric never found out that Marco almost had sex with Ellie in Don't Stop Believin'.
- Marco's ex-boyfriend Dylan Michalchuk cheated on Marco with a guy named Eric. However, it was a different person.
- Marco's best friend, Ellie Nash, worked with Eric at The Core and became its editor-in-chief over Eric in 2007. She also dated Eric's friend Jesse Stefanovic.
- Eric made his final appearance in Don't Stop Believin', in which Marco made his final regular appearance.
