Chapter Nine

Heroin

Oct. 8th 1990

Roslindale, Massachusetts

"I'm not feeling so good," Alison turned to Mary Sue "I think I drank a little too much," she laughed, her words slurring.

Mary Sue laughed with her and shook her head, not remembering if she'd ever seen Alison this drunk before. "You had a hard day. You deserve it."

"I did, didn't I?" she nodded, taking another drink and relaxing further into the chair, closing her eyes.

Mary Sue checked her watch. "What time did Rufus say he'd be here?"

"Mmmm…. Eleven o'clock I think," she tried to remember. "I think. He said his dad needed him to close the store tonight. So he had to take a later train home."

Mike took another drink from his beer eyeing Alison from across the room as he sat in his recliner. He had never really given her much thought. It annoyed him at times when she was around because it reminded him that Lily was gone. He took a deep breath, Lily again entering his mind. Looking out the window he saw a car pull up into his driveway. "Dusty's here."

"About damn time," she got up and went to the door. "He said he'd be here an hour ago."

Alison laughed and looked at her now empty glass. "Oh," she frowned getting up and stumbling a bit into the kitchen to get more.

Mike continued to watch her as she made her way into the kitchen. He grinned a little to himself looking at her legs. Getting up off the couch he followed her in. "Drinking an awful lot tonight Richards," he smiled at her.

Alison spun around. "Not that much," she rolled her eyes as she held onto the counter.

"Here," he pulled out a bottle of Vodka. "Let me make you a Mikey Special."

"A Mikey Special?" she was skeptical.

"Yeah." He poured a generous amount of vodka in a glass along with a tiny amount of juice. "It's a tradition here in my house. And I don't think you've been inducted yet."

"Is this some sort of secret Lincoln Hawk society?" she laughed.

He eyed her, "Sure is. You're Rufus's girl. You can join the club."

She took the glass from him looking at it. "I feels so s-special," she slurred.

Mike laughed inwardly. "The only thing about this is you have to down it all in one drink. It's the rules."

"This drink comes with rules now?" she swayed a bit to the side.

"Whoa there," he held onto her arm. "Here I'll do it with ya."

She held the glass to her lips and could smell the strongness of it. "I...I don't know Mike. I…I can't barely see straight now. And Rufus will be here soon."

"Oh come on Al," he held his glass up. "I'll take you up to the spare room after this and you can sleep it off before he gets here."

She eyed the glass again. What could it hurt she was already drunk and didn't really care. Her inhabitations left her hours ago. "Cheers Mike."

"Cheers Al," he smiled as he watched her swallow down her shot.

It burned her throat as it went down causing her to almost gag. "Mike that….that was awful," she sat the empty glass on the counter. "Why'd you make me do that?" she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"You're one of us now," he took her hand. "Come on lets get you in bed."

Alison made her way out of the kitchen and stumbled into the living room as Mike held onto her arm. Mary Sue looked up from the couch where she was making out with Dusty. "Where you two going?"

Mike rolled his eyed trying to seem annoyed. "I'm going to put her in the guest room. She needs to sleep this off before Rufus gets here. I'll be down in the minute," he started for the stairs.

"Take your time man," Dusty gave him a look before wrapping his arms back around Mary Sue.

Alison held onto the railing of the stairs as she tried to put her foot on the first step missing a few times. "What the…" she looked down her foot seeming to move back and forth.

"Come on," Mike put his arm around her waist lifting her a bit onto the steps. "We don't have all night."

"Miiiike," she sighed, her head falling a bit to the side. "Where we's goin'?"

"Upstairs," he breathed into her ear. "I have something that'll make you feel better."

"Mmm…" she nodded. "I think I need an aspirin."

"This is better than aspirin." He walked passed the guest bedroom and opened the door to his room. Walking in he turned on the lamp next to his bed. Alison walked in and started to look around.

"Is…is this your room?"

"Ah yeah," he lightly closed the door behind him. "I…I have a great view of Boston Common. I thought you'd liked to see," he pointed to his window.

"Oh, I love the common," Alison smiled. She walked toward the window tripping slightly and landing on the bed. "Oops," she laughed pushing herself off. "I just can not walk."

Mike rolled his eyes and opened his closet door. Pulling out a shoebox he opened the top and looked inside. He pushed around a few of the items and smiled. He brought the box out with him and closed the door. Turning around Alison was no where in sight.

"Alison?"

"Mmm…." Her voice came from the ground.

He rounded the bed and found her sitting on the ground leaning against the wall between the bed and the window. He sat down next to her and put the box between them. "Alison," he looked at her.

"Mmm…." She didn't move, her eyes closed. "I…I'm…sleepy."

"I have something to make you sleep easier," he opened the box.

Falling in and out of sleep she smiled softly. "That….that would….nice,"

Mike pulled a pair of scissors and a tiny balloon from the bottom of the box. He cut off the top where it tied, and pulled out a few small rocks of Heroin setting them on top of a cotton ball. He then pulled out a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and a spoon. He wiped down the spoon with the alcohol and then took another cotton ball and rubbed it on the crook of Alison's arm.

Alison woke suddenly from the coolness, yanking her arm back. "What….."

"Shh…" it's okay," Mike took her arm back. "It's just me."

"It's cold," she frowned, her eyes still closed.

"You'll feel warm soon," I promise. He picked the Heroin back up and placed the tiny rocks in the bottom of the spoon. Then he picked up a needle and injected some of water in the spoon as well. He set the spoon down watching it dissolve for a second. He pulled his tourniquet from the box and pulled Alison's sleeve a little higher and tied it tightly around her arm.

"Mmm…" she moaned "That hurts. Wha…what…. are you doing?" she opened her eyes.

"Nothing go back to sleep. Rufus is almost here," he told her.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Wake…wake me when…he…he get's here. I want to see him."

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes and tied off the tourniquet. He pulled a lighter from his pocket and picked up the spoon beginning to heat it from underneath. He watched as the Heroin started to dissolve faster. He took a stray piece of cotton and placed it in the bubbling liquid and watched as it puffed up.

He quickly picked up another needle and yanked off the cap with his teeth before spitting it out. He sat the spoon down, took the needle, and placed the tip inside the cotton and slowly pulled the plunger back sucking the heroin into the syringe.

He held the syringe up to the light and flick it a few times to get out the air bubbles. He looked at Alison for a few seconds before taking her arm and pulling it straight. He laid the needle flat against her skin and quickly jabbed it into her vein.

Alison's eyes quickly shot open and she looked down at her arm. "Owe!" she cried out. 'What…what are….Mike!"

"Hold the fuck still," he held tightly onto her wrist."

"Mike…." She wined trying to keep her eyes open. "Stop…"

He pulled the needle out looking for her vein again before jabbing it back in. He couldn't tell if he was in, but he started to pull back the syringe and watched her blood seep into the needle before he injected it back into her with the Heroin.

Alison started to drift in and out again. "Mike stop it hurts…please…I…I don't understand…"

"It'll feel good soon," he watched as the plunger went down. "Real good."

"I…I don't…I don't do this. Mike let go," she tried to take her arm back.

"Bitch stop!" he squeezed her wrist and pulled out the needle. "God you're so fucking annoying. I'm doing you a favor here."

"It burns," she touched her arm.

"Damn it," he looked at her arm, noticing he missed the vein the first time around.

"Mmmm…" she moaned as her head rolled to the side. "Rufus…."

He watched her for a few seconds and touched her cheek. "You're going to start to feel real good, Alison." He continued to watch her knowing it only took about 8 seconds for the body to feel the effects of Heroin.

She smiled as her eyes fluttered. "Is Rufus here…"

"Not yet," he got closer to her. He looked down at her chest and noticed her breathing started to pick up and a slight pink color filled her cheeks. He smiled realizing it was already affecting her.

"Alison…." He breathed into her ear.

"Mmm…" her eyes started to flutter, as Mikes voiced started to float around the room. "I…I feel warm."

"Yeah," his hand trailed up her leg and to her inner thigh. "You feel good?" he whispered before kissing her neck.

"Mike," her eyes started to close again. "Stop that," she tried lifting her arm but it felt so heavy she couldn't move it.

"Uh-huh," he kissed her as his other hand trailed under her skirt.

Rufus parked his car in front of Mike's house and quickly ran inside. As the door slammed Mary Sue and Dusty broke apart. "Uggg…" Dusty groaned.

Rufus appeared in the doorway. "Hey," he brushed his hand through his disheveled hair looking around. 'What's goin on?"

"Not much," Dusty eyed him angrily.

"Al here?" he peeked into the kitchen.

"Shit," Dusty laughed. "She's wasted."

"What?" Rufus walked back into the living room. "Al?"

"She had a rough day," Mary Sue sat up. "She didn't think her audition went well."

"Oh shit," Rufus swore. "That was today. I told her I'd be there for her," he hit the side of the couch. "I forgot."

"She…she didn't seem mad," Mary Sue was honest. "She said you had to close at the hardware store. She understood."

"Course she did," he looked down feeling guilty. "Where is she?"

"Mike took her up to the guest room to sleep it off," Dusty told him. "You should have seen her, she couldn't even find the step!"

"Dustin!" Mary Sue hit him. "Shush!"

"Mike took her up there?" he frowned walking toward the steps.

"Yeah he said he was coming back down. I don't know where the hell he's at."

Rufus started to take the stairs two at a time. "Al," he called out.

Mikes hand stopped as he heard Rufus's voice at the top of the stairs. "Fuck," he pulled his hand out from under Alison's skirt and got up quickly walking into the bathroom. He closed the door and peeked into the conjoining room just as Rufus closed the door.

"Al," Rufus said again. He opened the last door on the right and looked into the room and didn't see her. He got an uneasy feeling and he turned around noticing a faint light coming from Mike's room.

He walked across the hall and didn't bother to knock before throwing open the door. His eyes quickly scanned the room before he heard a soft moan.

"Al?" He moved further in and that's when he saw her. She was on the floor leaning against the wall next to the window. "Oh my God, Alison," he rushed in quickly dropping to his knees. "Al?"

"Mmm… Rufus," she didn't open her eyes, a smiled playing on her lips.

"Al?" he swallowed looking down and that's when he noticed the scattered needles and cotton balls. "What the…"

"Rufus…." She said again.

He noticed Mikes box sitting next to her and freshly cut balloon of Heroin. "No way…" he shook his head looking and her. "Alison?"

"My…my arm burns Rufus…" she twitched a little as she tried to hold up her arm.

He looked at her arm noticing it was a funny color and realized it was still wrapped in the tourniquet. "What the hell?" he quickly untied it and rubbed her arm, trying to stimulate the blood flow. "Where's Mike at?" he grew angry. "Where is he?"

"I…I told him no," she tried to keep her eyes open. "No…"

"Dusty!" he yelled. "Suz! Help!"

He placed his hands on her cheeks, "Alison….wake up. Look at me."

Her eyes started to flutter, his voiced sounded so far away and everything felt so light and airy. "Rufus…."

"Did Mike do this to you?" he was furious. "Did he!"

His voice was suddenly loud and it frighten her. She opened her eyes and looked at him trying to process what he was saying. "He…he said he'd make me feel better…" she tried to remember. "He squeezed my arm tight…it hurt," she made a face, her forehead crinkling.

He bit his lip, anger washed over him as well as fright. He couldn't believe that Mike would do that to her. He knew Alison wasn't like that. He took advantage of her.

Suddenly both Mary Sue and Dusty burst into the room. "What? What is it?" Mary Sue asked.

"Where the fuck is Mike?" he turned around.

Dustin walked further into the room and noticed Alison passed out at his feet, needles and Heroin next to her. "What the….I didn't know Alison shot up."

"What?" Mary Sue's brow furled. 'She doesn't do that shit." She moved into the room and immediately saw her. "Oh my God, Alison."

"Mike fucking shot her up!" tears came to Rufus's eyes. "The damn tourniquet was still wrapped around her arm."

"What man?" Dusty frowned. "No."

"Where the hell is he?" Mary Sue looked around. "Mike!"

"I don't know," he didn't take his eyes off Alison. "I looked in all the rooms."

"Rufus…." Alison moaned. "It itches," she started to scratch her arm.

Dustin knelt down and took her arm. "He nicked a vein," he shook his head. "That shits gonna burn."

Rufus shook his head and lightly ran his finger over the injection.

"Alison…baby," he choked out, touching her cheek. "Honey, do you know where Mike went?"

She smiled at him feeling such a rush of euphoria. "He said…said you were coming." She reached up to touch his hand on her cheek. "I missed you….I…I haven't seen you."

He watched her eyes cloud over as she stared at the wall not even seeing him. He had seen more people than he could count on Heroin, but a few times he was too, so he never paid attention to what people actually looked like. Seeing Alison like this, someone he cared a lot for, so out of it, while he was clean, scared the shit out of him.

He looked down picking up the spoon and noticed the amount of residue on it. It almost covered the entire base of the spoon. "Did he give this all to you? Alison?"

Dusty looked at the spoon. "Rufus that's a lot. He knows better. He know's you don't give a first timer that much," he shook his head.

"Mary Sue," Rufus's voice shook.

She knelt down next to him. "What?" she looked between him and Alison.

"I…I need you to watch her. Just…just for a bit."

"Where are you going?" she wondered. "I…I think she needs you."

"I need to find Mike," his voice was full of distain. "His car is still here, he couldn't have gotten far."

Mary Sue looked up at Dustin.

"I'll go with him," he nodded. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Sweetie come on," Rufus placed an arm under her legs and around her back as he picked her up. "Let's get you in a bed."

She laid her head against his chest. "Mmm…you smell good," she smiled. His scent was almost overpowering to her, it filled her entire being.

Rufus kicked open the door to the guest room and pulled back the covers laying her lightly on the bed. He looked up to Dusty and Mary Sue. "Can…can you give me a minute?"

"Yeah, sure man," he led Mary Sue out and closed the door behind him.

Rufus turned his attention back to Alison. "Baby I'm so sorry," he finally let a tear fall. "I promise I won't let him get away with this. I'll find him."

Alison opened her eyes and looked at Rufus. She was starting to make sense of the things he was saying to her. But everything just felt so heavy and the burning sensation in her arm was becoming worse. "Rufus my arm hurts…" tears started to form in her eyes. "Please make it go away."

He bit his lip knowing there wasn't anything he could do because the pain was coming from within the skin. He took her arm and kissed it. "I…I have to go away for a minute. Suz is gonna stay with you."

"Don't go," she frowned, her eyes starting to close again.

He leaned down kissing her cheek softly and whispering in her ear. "I love you Alison…I'll be back." He quickly pushed himself off the bed and wiped the tears from his eyes. That was the first time he had told her he loved her out loud. And she probably didn't even hear it. He took a deep breath and opened the door. He saw Mary Sue and Dusty standing in the hall. "Let's go."

"Be careful," Mary Sue looked at them.

"I want you to go in that room and lock the door. If he comes back don't open it. Don't let him ANYWHERE near her," Rufus pointed at her.

"I…I know," she nodded. "I won't let anything happen to her. I know what to do."

He took one last look at her lying on the bed and then started down the stairs taking three at a time. "Rufus, slow down, man."

"I'm going to find him and I'm going to kill him," Rufus opened the front door running outside. "Mike!"

"Hey, whoa, Rufus slow down. You have to think about what your doin'."

"What I'm doing!" he turned around. "He fucking shot her up with Heroin, Dustin! With lord knows how much. I don't even want to know if that needle was clean or not."

"He knows better than that."

"Oh does he," he laughed. "Then tell me why he would shoot a clean person up. Let alone Alison…while she was drunk and couldn't defend herself!"

Dustin sighed, "Dude I don't know," he shook his head. "That was fucked up."

Rufus started to walk down the road keeping his eyes on each side, looking for any sign of Mike. "Did he say he was going somewhere? Did he say anything to you?"

"No…I…I got here late and Alison and Mike were in the kitchen and…"

"Doing what?" Rufus turned to look at him.

"I don't know," he held his hand up. "Probably getting a drink or some food or something."

"I should have just told her I'd pick her up at her place," he shook his head. "This is my fault."

He started to look around. "This isn't your fault you didn't know Alison was going to get hammered."

"I feel like-MIKE!" Rufus took off behind a garage.

Mike was leaning beside his neighbors garage smoking a cigarette when he heard someone coming toward him.

"You son of a bitch!" Rufus came rushing toward him.

"Whoa man," Mike backed up. "What is wrong with you."

"Are you kidding me!" he got in his face. "What the hell did you do to Alison?"

"Hey," he held his hands up. "She wanted it."

Rufus couldn't take it any longer and punched him squarely in the jaw. "If I see you anywhere near her again I swear to God I'll kill you!"

Mike touched his jaw feeling the taste of blood in his mouth. "I was doing your ass a favor," he eyed him.

"A favor," he was disgusted. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"We all know that you've tried to get in her pants and she won't let you," he grinned. "I was just making it easier for you. I was loosening her up, she was gettin' there. She let me touch her…"

That was Rufus's undoing, he rushed Mike to the ground and started punching him in the face. "You sick bastard! You better not have touched her!" He continued to pummel him. Mike quickly regained his wits and pushed Rufus off of him and punched him in the gut. "Come on!" He pushed Rufus into the ground, before punching him in the stomach again.

Rufus flipped them over in a fit of rage and started to punch Mike repeatedly in his side.

"Rufus!" Dustin pulled Rufus off of Mike. "It's not worth it man. Get off of him!"

Rufus punched him once more before letting up. "You're done!" he told him. "You're out of the band. You're done!"

"What!" he hunched over, trying to breathe. "You can't kick me out of the band. Who you gonna get huh? Their ain't no drummers around here."

"I don't care," he shook his head.

"Dusty! Come on!" Mike looked up at him.

Dusty looked down at him. "That was pretty fucked up man."

Mike looked at them both as he wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. "You're going to regret this," he pointed at Rufus. "You and that bitch of yours."

Rufus was about to jump on Mike again when he felt himself being pulled back by Dustin. "Rufus, stop, you made your point," he held onto his arm. "He's just doing it to get a rise out of you."

Rufus looked down at Mike and saw him smirking. "If I see you around her…I swear to God," he pointed at him.

Mike slowly got up and started to walk away. "Yeah, you said that already."

Rufus's jaw clenched as he watched him. "Let's get back to the house. I need to get Alison out of there before he gets back."

Dustin followed Rufus back down the street towards Mike's house. "You know I think you did the right thing about kicking Mike out. I mean, shit if he did that to Suz," he shook his head. "Besides Aaron hate's him anyways, he won't care he's gone."

"I should never have let him join in the first place," he shook his head. "I heard he was like this."

Dustin and Rufus made their way back up the driveway and into the house. They jogged up the stairs and as Rufus made his way down the hall he could hear Alison crying out. He hurried up and knocked on the door. "Suz open up it's me."

She quickly opened the door and took in his disheveled appearance. "She' s starting to come down," she told him. "Her arm is on fire and she has a couple track marks."

He sighed, "I'm going to take her home. Katie is gone for the weekend I'll take care of her there."

Mary Sue wrapped her arms around herself. "She's really out of it Rufus," she shook her head. "She really wasn't making any sense. She's gonna fall hard when it wears off."

He knelt down next to her. "I'm sure the alcohol didn't help it much," he shook his head. "Alison," he pulled the covers down. "Come on I'm gonna take you home. Can you stand?"

She looked over at him and he noticed her blood shot eyes staring blankly at him. "Rufus," her voice was raspy.

"Yeah, it's me," he tried to smile. "Come on I'm gonna take you home." He pulled her from the bed helping her stand. "Home?" he looked at her.

She leaned on him her eyes not making contact with anything. "I want to go home," she agreed.

He wrapped his arm around her back keeping her steady. "I'll take you. Let's go," he started down the stairs.

She slowly walked down the stairs and stopped by the door. Her arm started to itch again and it felt raw from scratching it, making it hurt more. She started to come down off her high a bit and things started to become more lucid to her and the pain really started to irritate her. "Why does my arm itch so much?" she turned to Rufus.

He looked at her not knowing what she remembered. "Let's…lets get you home and we can talk about it," he took her hand and let her outside. "I know it's hard but try not to itch it, it'll only make it worse. He opened his car door and helped her in then jogged around to the other side and quickly got in and started up the car.

She held her head in her hand and looked at him. "Rufus I think that I drank too much. I really….I…I feel weird. Everything is so…so heavy and slow."

"I know honey," he sighed, looking down the road. He didn't even know what to say to her when they got back to her place. She was going to be furious when she found out what Mike did to her. He also knew that she was probably going to be scared as well.

He drove into her apartment complex and parked the car in Katies spot. "How you feeling?" he turned to her.

"I'm okay," she turned to look at him.

He unbuckled his seatbelt and hers as well before getting out of the car and getting her. "Do you have your keys?"

She looked at him a moment before handing him her purse. "Somewhere…in there," she leaned against the wall."

He fished her keys from the bottom of her purse and opened the door. He turned on her lights and then sat her purse on the table and locked the door. "Come on lets get you to bed," he led her into her room.

She walked into her room and sat on the bed. "Will you stay until I at least fall…asleep," she laid her head against the headboard.

"Move over," he sat on the bed. "I'm going to stay here tonight."

"Stay?" she looked at him.

'That okay?"

She laid back and snuggled into his arms. "Yeah…"

He pulled the covers up over them and drew her into his arms. "Just try and get some sleep okay?"

"Mmm," she yawned. "I'm so tired," she shivered.

He rubbed her arms, knowing her body temp was going to drop as the Heroin wore off.

She turned in his arms to look at him and then kissed him softly. "I'm glad you're here," she kissed him again.

He kissed her back. "I'm glad I'm here too," he smiled brushing the hair from her face. He looked at her for a moment and she looked like the normal Alison. The one that he knew, the one that always smiled, and knew how to drive him crazy, or say the perfect thing. "Damn it," he whispered, dreading the morning."

It was around three in the morning when Rufus was woken up to Alison pushing back the covers and running to the bathroom. "Al," he jumped up. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to be sick!" she cried, as she dropped to her knees in front of the toilet and started to throw up. "Oh God."

Rufus sighed and knelt down beside her holding her hair back. "Just get it out," he rubbed her back.

She continued to throw up until her throat burned from the acid. Her eyes filled with tears as she tried to breathe. Swallowing a few times she started to gag from the dry heaves. Rufus quickly got up and opened her medicine cabinet and pulled out a glass filling it with water. "Drink this," he handed it to her. "Slowly," he cautioned.

She breathed heavy and leaned against the tub and took the glass, slowly drinking the water. "Ugh…." She swallowed. "Oh that was awful. Oh."

"Yeah that didn't look like too much fun," he cleaned around the toilet and flushed it. "You okay?"

"Don't ever….ever let me drink again," she closed her eyes. "Ever."

"Okay," he chuckled, sitting down next to her against the tub. "He didn't know if she was having effects from the Heroin or the alcohol, knowing both would make her sick to her stomach.

"Rufus?" she leaned her head upon his shoulder.

"Yeah."

"What happened tonight?" she asked, her voice low and almost child like. 'What happened at Mikes?"

He sighed and looked down. He felt so guilty for what had happened. If he would have just been there. Hell, if he would have remembered her damn audition, none of this would of happened. "Do…do you remember anything?"

She looked up thinking about it for a moment. "I just…everything is so hazy," she shook her head. "I remember watching MTV with Dusty and Suz…and Mike. We were drinking and then….I…I was waiting for you…Mike he…he took me up stairs," she nodded. "I remember looking out at the Common. And my…my arm," she looked down and as soon as she saw her arm she gasped.

Her forearm was all bruised and swollen. She saw nail marks up and down the inside of her arm and dry blood caked along the scratches. "Rufus…" she looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears.

He looked down at her and he had never seen such terror in someone's eyes before. It shook him right to his core. "Honey….I'm….I'm so sorry."

"What happened," she lightly touched her arm fingering the trail of dried blood.

He took her hands and took a deep breath as he looked her in the eyes. He knew there was no easy way to do this. "I want you to listen to me okay?" he squeezed her hand. "You are going to be fine."

"Rufus," her brow wrinkled. "You're scaring me."

He bit his lip, "When Mike took you up into his room…he…he shot you up with some Heroin."

"What…." she whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she looked from Rufus to her arm. 'What…"

"Baby I'm so sorry," he pulled her into his arms. "It's my fault. I didn't get there in time. I should have been there," he breathed. "I should have been there."

She pushed herself out of his arms, slowly standing up, holding onto the wall for support. "Heroin…" she dragged her fingers through her hair. "Oh my God…oh my God!"

Rufus stood up and took her by the arms. "Look at me," he held her chin. "You are going to be fine. You shouldn't have anymore effects from it. You're okay."

"Rufus it…it scares me," she let her tears fall. "It's…heroin. It's not like it's pot." She looked back at her arm and noticed two injection sites. "He…he used a needle Rufus. Was it even clean? Was it?"

He swallowed, "I…I don't know."

She turned around and started to cry harder. She had never been so scared in her life. Such a myriad of emotions started to cross her mind and she didn't know which one to grab onto first.

"Al, Mike really does know better," he said. "He's not going to use dirty needles. He's been using for a long time. He knows."

"He knows better!" she whipped around. "He knows better! He injected me with heroin Rufus! He knows I don't do that! He knows it!" she continued to cry. "I hate him…I hate him. I knew I shouldn't trust him," she started to pace the bathroom. "I knew something was going to….."

"I know…I know," he couldn't take it any longer and pulled her back into his arms. "And he's gone. He's gone. You don't have to see him any more. He's gone."

"What?" she looked up at him.

"I kicked him out of the band. He's not in it anymore," he looked at her. "He's out."

"Who's going to be your drummer?" she looked at him. "You have gigs. What are you going to do?"

He shook his head. It was so like Alison to be concern for someone else, even when she was going through something herself. "Don't worry about it," he shrugged. "Mike's not the only drummer out there. I have people in mind. Remember Justin? He always said he wanted to come back."

She swallowed hard and nodded. "So I'll…I'll be okay," she looked at him. "I…I don't know anything about Heroin…or what it does. I don't know…"

"Come on." He wrapped his arm around her and grabbed a waste paper basket before leading her back into her room. He fixed the covers on the bed. "Climb in."

She did as she was told and scooted to the other side. Rufus got in bed and pulled the covers over them before turning to Alison. He touched a strand of her blonde hair. "It's gonna be in your system for a few days, but you won't feel anything. Not like tonight. You're active, have a fast metabolism, I'd say probably forty-eight hours."

"Okay," she bit her lip, feeling slightly relived.

"Let's just hope you don't need a drug test for anything," he rolled his eyes.

"Why?"

"It can stay in your hair for up to three months," he frowned.

"Really," she was surprised.

"Yeah."

"Rufus?"

"Mmm?"

"You don't…you don't use Heroin, do you?" she wondered.

"Just like two times," he was honest. "For awhile, we did other things. Me and Dusty. Suz did too."

"But you don't anymore."

"Suz and I don't," he shook his head. "I don't think Dusty does it much. It was just hard not to once we started. It's always there you know. That and Coke. You saw it."

She reached for his hand. "Don't do it," she interlaced their fingers, looking at them. "Just…don't do it."

"I won't," he shook his head. "You don't have to worry about that."

"Good," she laid back, trying to relax a bit. She looked down at her arm and noticed for the first time it stung a little. "My arm is it…is it suppose to sting?"

Rufus took her arm and looked at it. "I think he missed a vein," he lightly touched it. "That's what's causing it to burn. Just…just try not to touch it."

"Is that bad," she worried.

"No," he shook his head. "You just want to get the Heroin in the vein because it travels through your body faster. It gives you a better high."

"Oh," she frowned, disgusted at the thought.

He lightly rubbed her arm. "Come on, let's get some sleep. I don't want you worrying about it. You're fine and I promise I won't let anything like that happen again."

She nodded, and curled up on her side, looking at the wall.

Rufus slowly brought his hand around her waist not sure if she wanted to be touched. He felt her fingers intertwine with his. "Night Al."

***Heroin is an opiate drug. Heroin can be injected, snorted/sniffed, or smoked—routes of administration that rapidly deliver the drug to the brain. After the injection of heroin euphoria is felt. This can take place within eight seconds after the injection. The euphoria felt after the injection of the heroin comes with dry mouth, warm flushing on the skin and the feeling that your extremities (feet and hands) are heavy. After the initial "rush" wears off, one's state fluctuates between drowsy and alert. This is called being "on the nod." In this state, judgment is clouded, and the feeling of heaviness in the extremities may persist. This leads to a surreal experience that some users find attractive.***

I hope everyone enjoyed their week! Please leave some feedback and let me know what you think of the chapters thus far.

*Coming up*

Alison and Rufus take a step forward in their relationship

Lily returns

Rosewood

Trent, Layne, Perry