"What time do we have to be at my moms to start getting ready for Chrissy's wedding?" Roger asked as they entered the apartment.
"Can we not talk about your mother right now?" she said wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep kiss.
"If you insist." he said kissing her as he picked her up and carried her to the bed and began to make love to her.
"I love you Roger." she said laying in his arms.
"I love you too Sara. I am so happy to be here with you again." he said kissing her head.
"I used to think about when we were together again. I kept everything you ever gave me and put your pictures all around the apartment. Looking at you made me remember that I was loved." she said propping her chin on his chest.
"When I was going through withdrawal, I took out some of my old pictures of you and I used to think about what my life would have been like if I asked you to come with me. It's what got me through. I wanted to come back then, but I was just diagnosed with HIV and didn't want to bring that crap to you. You were the only pure thing in my life. The last thing I wanted was to drag you into this." Roger told her caressing her face.
"Roger you know I love you. I would do anything for you. You were always my life." she told him leaning up to kiss him.
"I know. And you were always mine." he said kissing her back.
"Roger, tell me about everyone." she told him laying back on his chest.
"Well, you already know about Mimi. Collins is really cool. He's like everyone's big brother. Which I needed more often than I realized. He's a teacher at a high school for kids with alternative lifestyles. Maureen is a pain in the ass. She was Mark's ex girlfriend, but she dumped him for a chic. Joanne, who's a lawyer. She's great. She's the level headed one out of all of us. She's who loaned me the money to rent the car and the tux and bought me a new suit. She hates me wearing denim all the time, but it's me." he said looking down at her as she played with his chest hair.
"And what about Angel?" she asked looking up at him.
"Angel was Collins boyfriend. He was amazing. He brought life into our family. He was great. I remember when I first met him. He was dressed in this Mrs. Claus thing and started singing and dancing around the loft. He tried to get me out of the house, but I was too stubborn then. Mimi's actually the one who got me thinking about leaving the loft and start living." he said smiling down at her.
"You're gonna miss everyone, aren't you?" she asked sitting up.
"Don't even think about it Boobie. I'm moving back here. I want to be with you up here. Not down there." he said sitting up as well.
"But Roger, I could use a change of scenery. And anyway your life is down there. Your friends and your music." she told him smiling at him.
"Sara, I love you for wanting to do that, but I want to move back up here. I want to be here with you. I missed it up here. Maybe I'll get back into skiing." he said leaning in to kiss her.
"Are you sure? Because I'll go. I just want to be with you. It doesn't matter where we are." she told him holding his hands.
"I know, but I don't think it's fair for you to sacrifice the life you built up here. I'm happy to be home." he told her taking her in his arms and laying down with her.
"OK. I just wanted to make sure." she said kissing him before laying on his chest. "I love you Roger." she said leaning up to kiss him.
"I love you too Sara. Good night." he said as they fell asleep in each other's arms.
"ROGER, WAIT! DON'T." she shouted waking Roger out of his sleep.
"Sara, wake up. I'm here." he said gently as he caressed her face.
"What... what happened? What's the matter?" she asked waking from her sleep.
"You yelled for me to wait. I'm right here Boobie." he told her caressing her hair.
"I'm sorry, I... I must have had a nightmare. I don't remember much. I mean, I remember being here with you and then all of a sudden you were walking away and I was calling out to you but you didn't answer." she told him wiping her eyes that were filling with tears.
"Boobie, I'm right here. I'm not going away again. I promise." he said taking her into his arms.
"I know. I guess a part of me is still scared of you leaving me again. I'll be OK." she said laying back in his arms.
"I know and that's my fault. I'm so sorry. I'll do what ever I can to make you feel secure that I'm not going anywhere." he told her caressing her head.
"I'm sorry Roger." she said holding him tight.
"It's not your fault Sara. It's mine. I'm never gonna do that to you again." he said kissing her head.
"I know. We should be getting back to sleep. We have to be at your moms at 11." she said looking up at him.
"Or we could stay up and do something fun." he suggested kissing her.
"Well that's an idea. I remember what a bear you were in the morning." she said laughing as she nuzzled his neck.
"Me? I'm not the one who bit Chrissy's head off for playing her radio too loud the morning after the prom." he said laughing.
"Well she was playing New Kids on the Block. Everyone knows that's not how I like to be woken up." she said kissing him deep.
"Me neither." he said laughing as they began to make love again.
"We should be getting ready to go Honey Bear." she said smiling up at him trying to get out of bed.
"Do I have to? This is probably the most comfortable bed I've been in in a long time." he told her holding her tight.
"I'm sorry, but yes. I have to get to your moms to help Chrissy get ready." she said leaning up to kiss him before getting out of bed.
"Oh come on back to bed, Boobie." he called out as she stood before him naked.
"If I do that, then we can't see if we can still do something else in the shower." she told him seductively as she grabbed a condom.
"Oh, you always did know how to get me out of bed." he said jumping out of the bed and following her to the bathroom.
"Well Roger, you have to remember, I'm the one you discovered that with." she said laughing.
"Yes you are." he told her laughing as they started the water and climbed into the shower.
"Let's see if you remember any of what we learned." she said wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss.
"It's been quite a while, but I'll try not to disappoint you." he said kissing her more passionately.
"You can never disappoint me." she said holding him close and they began to make love again this time in their shower.
"Now that we got that out of our system, we really have to be getting ready." he told her laughing as they stood under the hot water.
"Why don't you let me get ready first? I have all this hair to dry." she said laughing motioned towards her hair.
"Why didn't you ever cut it?" he asked as she began to wash her hair.
"Because you always liked my long hair. I remember how you could spend hours playing with it." she said smiling at him.
"Well I do, but whatever makes you happy, I'll be fine with." he said helping her wash her hair.
"I've grown to like it myself. Plus your hair is getting long too. I like it that way." she told him rinsing her hair.
"I was thinking of cutting it." he said as she looked at him.
"Not the punk look again?" she begged looking up at him.
"No. Oh God no. I'm 28. I'm too old to bleach my hair again. I was just thinking of cutting it a little shorter. Nothing drastic." he told her helping her clean her body.
"OK. Because you know I love you for you, but I wasn't crazy about the whole punk look." she told him laughing.
"I thought you liked it. Sex Pistols were your favorite band." he told her as she rinsed her body off.
"I know. But I like your hair better now." she said smiling at him.
"OK Boobie. I'll leave it." he said leaning down to kiss her before she got out of the shower.
"I love you Honey Bear" she said smiling at him.
"I love you too Boobie." he said as she exited the bathroom wrapped in a towel.
"Roger, do you have your guitar?" Sara asked as she towel dried her hair.
"Yeah, it's in the trunk of the car. Why?" he asked turning the shower off and wrapping himself in a towel before stepping out.
"Just wondering. I miss you playing for me. That's all." she said smiling at him.
"And I miss playing for you. Maybe after the wedding we could sneak into the Ski Bowl and I'll play for you." he said kissing her neck as he walked past her.
"You don't have to go that far. We have our own place. You can play for me here." she said smiling at him as she brushed her hair.
"I want to. I missed playing our song for you there." he said slipping into his boxers.
"Or maybe we can all go out to J&J's and you guys can climb on stage again. Nicky and Kelly still play sometimes." she said sticking her head out of the bathroom laughing.
"That's an idea." he said smiling at her as he slipped into a clean pair of jeans.
"OK then. That's what we'll do." she said smiling as she began to blow dry her hair.
"Boobie, we gotta go. Chris is gonna kill us." Roger called in as Sara turned off the blow drier.
"OK Honey Bear. I'll be there in a second." she said running the brush through her long hair again before leaving the bathroom.
"You look gorgeous. Now we have to go." he told her smiling at her.
"You don't look too bad yourself." she said wrapping her arms around his neck as he leaned down to kiss her.
"I put your dress in the car already. Let's go." he said hugging her before they left the apartment.
"Thank you." she said smiling at him.
"Anything for my girl." he said smiling as they got in the car.
"They live." Christina called out laughing as she, Mark and Mrs. Davis drank coffee in the living room.
"Very funny." Roger said holding his tux and Sara's dress in one arm and Sara in the other.
"We didn't expect you guys so early." Mark said laughing.
"It's 10 after 11. We figured we'd get bitched at for being late." Roger said hanging the hangers of the coat rack.
"Yeah, about that. We didn't need you guys until 11:30. We knew you two would be late." Mrs. Davis told them as they all laughed.
"Oh you all think you're so funny, don't you?" Roger said as Sara laughed into his chest.
"They kind of are, Honey Bear." she said holding the front of his t-shirt.
"OK fine. Where's the coffee, mom?" Roger asked walking into the kitchen.
"Didn't you have coffee at your place?" Mark asked from the couch.
"Shut up Cohen." Roger said as Mark laughed following him.
"What?" Mark said looking at him.
"Nothing. Sara and I were just up early." Roger said walking to the counter.
"Is everything OK?" Mark asked holding his coffee mug.
"Yeah, Sara just had a nightmare that I was gonna leave her again. I'm gonna have to do a lot to reassure her that I'm here to stay." he said looking over at him.
"Well Rog, it's only natural. She has been waiting for you for 9 years." Mark told him sympathetically.
"She volunteered to come down and live with us in the city." he told him looking down.
"And?" Mark asked leaning on the counter.
"I told her no. I want to move back here Mark." Roger told him reaching for the coffee.
"But if she wants to..." Mark started before being cut off.
"No Mark. She put her life on hold because of me for 9 years. I don't want her to have to sacrifice everything she built up here for herself just to follow me." he told him grabbing 2 coffee mugs from the cabinet.
"So is it as great as it was in high school?" he asked sitting at the breakfast bar.
"Better. I mean, Mark, I have never been happier. Remind me to do something really great for Mimi when we get down there to pick up my stuff." she said pouring 2 cups of coffee.
"Will do." he said smiling at him.
"So how did you sleep?" Roger asked making his and Sara's coffee.
"Great. Probably better than I had in a long time." he answered smiling.
"Yeah, you should get a new bed. Ours suck." Roger said laughing as Sara came in.
"Is the coffee ready?" she asked smiling at them.
"Yeah Boobie. I made yours." Roger told her handing her her mug.
"Thank you Honey Bear." she said laughing as she took her mug.
"Sara, we have to start getting ready." Christina said coming into the kitchen.
"Sorry Chris. Gotta go Honey Bear. Maid of honor duty calls." she said leaning up to kiss Roger and smiling at Mark before following Christina up the stairs.
"Roger, do you have to take a shower?" Mrs. Davis asked coming into the kitchen.
"Why, doesn't my hair look OK?" he said running his fingers through his hair looking in the microwave.
"Yes Roger, your hair looks fine. I was just asking. Geez, I liked it better when it was shorter. You are so high maintenance now. How Sara's gonna be able to put up with you, I don't know." Mrs. Davis told him laughing.
"I'm not that bad mom." he said smiling at her.
"Yes you are Roger." Mark said as he and Mrs. Davis laughed.
"Very funny, you two. You two are having fun picking on me, aren't you?" Roger said picking up his coffee mug.
"Yeah, you can say that." Mark said as Roger playfully punched him.
"I have to start getting ready." Mrs. Davis said laughing before leaning up to kiss her son on the cheek. "Roger Matthew, I'm so happy to have you home." she said smiling at him.
"Me too mom." he said hugging her before she went upstairs.
"So, did you talk to Maureen, Joanne, Collins and Mimi yet?" Mark asked drinking his coffee.
"I called them last night when me and Sara got home." he told him finishing his coffee and putting the mug in the sink.
"And?" Mark asked curiously.
"Mimi was so happy, she screamed into the phone and just had to talk to Sara. They were on the phone for almost an hour." Roger said laughing.
"And what about the others?" Mark asked looking up at him.
"They were happy too. You know them. Everyone talked to Sara and they all liked her." Roger said smiling at him leaning on the counter.
"Why wouldn't they? Sara's great. And I love how you are when you're with her." Mark told him smiling.
"I love being with her. Mark, I missed her so much. I just don't ever want to leave her again, you know?" Roger said quietly as he leaned closer to Mark.
"Why would you leave her again, Rog?" Mark asked looking at him.
"My disease, remember?" he asked standing up straight.
"Roger, everything's gonna be fine. You're healthy now and as long as you keep taking care of yourself, you will be for a while." Mark said looking up at him.
"I know, I just want to be around and with Sara for longer than I have. No matter how long that is." Roger said as Sara appeared in the doorway.
"Roger. I love you, right?" she asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, I know Boobie and I love you." he said going over to her.
"So stop worrying so much. We have as long as we have. I know this time when you leave me, it will be out of your control." she said quietly as tears formed in her eyes.
"I just wasted so much time Boobie." he told her taking her in his arms.
"Don't worry about that now. We love each other more than anything in the world and we're here now." she said holding him tighter.
"I know. I'm sorry Boobie." he said kissing her head.
"That's OK Honey Bear. Just stop worrying about everything. Everything's working out for us now." she said looking up at him.
"Sara, where are you?" Christina yelled from upstairs.
"I better go, I just came down for my dress." she said leaning up to kiss him before going back into the living room for her dress.
"I love you Sara." he said smiling at her from the doorway.
"I love you too Roger." she said smiling as she ran up the stairs.
"Are you gonna stop worrying now?" Mark asked smiling at him.
"Yeah, I am. Sorry." Roger said smiling back at him.
"She's a good woman Rog. She loves you for the real you. Not the brooding rock star you were in the city." Mark said looking at him.
"She helped me find out who the real me was. I was such a jerk in school. The remember the day I asked her out, it was at the Fourth of July fireworks at the Ski Bowl when I was 14 and, I don't know. My life just seemed to make sense. We were best friends all through school, but asking her out changed me. I looked at her one day and just had to ask her out. Lucky for me she said yes." he told him smiling remembering the day he asked her out.
"That's cool Rog. I know I've never seen you happier." Mark said getting up from the stool.
"I've never been happier than I was with her." Roger said smiling at him.
"Come on, we better start getting ready. We don't want your sister to be late for her own wedding." Mark said smiling up at him as they went upstairs.
"Thanks Mark. For everything. You're a really good friend." Roger said looking back at him.
"No problem Rog. You're my best friend. I'd do anything for you." Mark said as Roger went into his room and Mark went into the guest room to get dressed.
"Mark, is Roger OK?" Sara asked standing in the hallway outside Christina's bedroom door hearing Roger go into his room.
"Yeah, he's fine. He just gets hit with a lot of regret about the mistakes he's made in his life and he just needs to get it out." Mark said quietly as he approached Sara.
"Thank you Mark. I can see what a good friend you are to him. I know how hard this is for you and I'm sorry he's leaving you to move back with me." Sara said with tears in her eyes as he reached out to hug her.
"He's my best friend Sara. He loves you and you love him. As long as you make him happy, I'm happy for you two." Mark said looking down at her.
"I do love him Mark. You can't imagine how much I love him." Sara said pulling away to look into Mark's blue eyes.
"I'm beginning to get a really good picture." he said smiling at her before kissing her forehead.
"Thanks Mark." she said smiling before going back into Christina's room. He couldn't believe Roger was actually going to leave the city to stay up there to be with Sara. He's never known Roger to want to leave the city to move back home, but that just proved how much Roger really loved Sara. Roger deserved someone who loved him for who he really was. Not just the image he projected when he performed and Sara did. She loved him for the person he was before he came to the East Village. He needed that. Some one to bring out who he used to be. Prior to the drugs and the HIV.
"Roger Matthew, are you ready yet?" Mrs. Davis asked knocking on Roger's bedroom door.
"Yeah, kind of. I can't get this damn thing tied. Now I remember why I wanted to wear jeans and a t-shirt to my wedding." Roger said opening the door struggling with his bow tie.
"Roger Matthew Davis, you are not wearing jeans and a t-shirt to your wedding. You will wear a tuxedo like the gentleman I raised you to be." Mrs. Davis scolded as she helped her son with his tie.
"Can you stop using my middle name please? I'm not 12. And you're freaking Mark out." Roger said trying to loosen the bow tie his mother just tied.
"Well stop acting like a 12 year old and I'll stop yelling at you like one. You are doing this for your sister and when you get married, you will be doing it for Sara. Just like when you went to the prom. Now stop fussing with it and let me see how you look." she said slapping his hand away from his tie as she stepped back.
"What will he be doing for Sara?" Sara asked coming out of Christina's room wearing her baby blue maid of honor dress.
"Boobie, you look beautiful." Roger said to his girlfriend forgetting the question.
"Thank you Baby. You don't look too bad yourself. I always loved the way you looked in a tuxedo. Now what will you be doing for me?" she said going over to kiss him.
"Wearing a tuxedo at our wedding." he told her leaning down to kiss her again.
"Damn right you are." she said smiling up at him.
"I know. But you always said I didn't have to wear one of these." he said still struggling with is tie.
"I was 19, Roger. I just wanted to get married in town hall. Now I want the whole town to be at our wedding. So they see I wasn't crazy all these years for waiting for you." she said fixing his tie to perfection.
"You are definitely crazy, but I love you anyway." he said leaning down to kiss her.
"Really? You two are at it again? What am I gonna do with you two. We have to go. I don't want to leave Kelly waiting." Christina said coming out of her room.
"Oh Chris, you look beautiful." Roger said seeing his sister in her wedding dress for the first time. "Dad would be really proud of you."
"Really?" she said looking down at herself.
"Yeah, really. Kelly is a very lucky man." Roger said walking to her to kiss her head.
"Thank you Roger. OK can we go?" Christina said playing with her veil.
"Mark are you ready?" Roger called out from the hallway.
"Yeah, I'm ready. I just had to grab some extra reels of film. I have a feeling I'm not gonna want to miss a minute of this wedding." he said putting his bag on his shoulder. "You look great Chrissy." he said smiling at her.
"Thanks Mark. We should be getting going." she said as they went downstairs to leave the house.
"Good idea. We don't want to keep your groom waiting." Mrs. Davis said observing her children being happy. She was just sad her husband couldn't be there to see it. He worried about Roger so much. He died when Roger was 17 and worried that Roger would never find his way. He always knew Roger and Sara would wind up together. They had been best friends since kindergarten and just knew Roger would marry her one day. It's had been a bumpy road for him. For both of the kids, but their lives were finally coming together. Christina was about to marry her best friends and in a month so would Roger. She was proud of both of her kids and knew he would be too.