Title: Nightblindness

Author: Callie Characters: Mandy Slade, Curt Wild, Arthur Stuart, + some cameos, etc Genre: Angst/Drama Rating: R for language

Disclaimer: characters belong to Toddie Haynes and his cohorts, I just happen to adore them!

Summary: Begins with the infamous studio scene, and progresses following the forgotten relationship between Curt Wild and Mandy Slade. Chronicles scenes from the film (like the Death of Glitter concert and all the way to 1984) as well as some original sequences written for clarification purposes.

Feedback: please write me a review! Tell me how you liked it!!

Notes: I wrote this because I don't think enough attention is given to the delicate relationship between Mandy and Curt. Their friendship seems to link to an awful lot! Also, the only times I ever see Curt/Mandy pairings, it's total smut and that upsets me! I included many scenes from the movie so people don't get /too/ lost, but a lot of it is my own, I promise! Just wanted to get that out =P



Nightblindness By Callie

chapter I

Painted eyes stared intently at the scene before them. Some of the spectators chuckled, others looked away, as Curt Wild let his mad rage take a hold of him. The recording booth was a whirlwind of broken glass, and the dented music stand in the deranged singer's hands was ready in waiting to do even more damage. He screamed and screamed, but not a sound escaped the booth. The only noise to be heard was Jerry Divine scolding his young protégé for an experiment gone horribly wrong. "I think your time's worth a great deal more than this," he shot at Brian, flipping a switch on the soundboard so that Curt's cries rang throughout the room.

Curt threw down the mauled music stand and searched for something else with which to cause damage, settling for a wooden chair. When all around him was dented and destroyed, he paced back and forth across the room, kicking anything in his path. Brian looked at the ground and breathed deeply. "Perhaps it's time for another little break. What do you say, fellas?" he choked out through a weak smile, straining to fight back his tears. "Give us a stretch?"

One by one, his band mates and technicians filtered out of the room until only Brian and his wife Mandy were left behind. Mandy lingered for a moment, staring at Brian as she clutched her fur coat in her arms. She couldn't reach him now. How could he be so close, yet so far away? Slowly, she turned and left the room. Glancing quickly behind her, she noticed her husband pound his fists against the glass, no longer able to suppress the sadness and anger inside of him. Mandy knew that this was the beginning of the end.

She rode home that night alone. The big white building seemed ghostly in the moonlight, and this wasn't the first time she felt as though she didn't belong. No, she'd felt like this ever since Brian and Curt had first met, like she was being pushed out of the picture. And what Brian did, everyone followed, and commenced to force her even farther out of the loop. She wandered down the hallway, possessed by a loneliness she'd felt for so long. She'd lost so much over the years: her innocence, her integrity, her- self. And it was all for Brian. But where was Brian now?

Mandy sat at her vanity table, instinctively brushing the platinum feathers of her hair. She stared at her reflection, painfully realizing that she no longer recognized herself. As a single teardrop fell from her eye, she began to hear shouting from down the hall. Unable to stop herself, she rose from her table to investigate. The shouts grew louder as she neared Brian and Curt's room at the end of the hallway. She reached the room and pressed her ear against the door:

"Jerry is right, Curt. I spend all of my time trying to help you, but if you keep wasting it all as you have been-"

"Fucking hell, Brian, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

"Don't you dare speak to me that way! I saved you, I helped you when you had no where else to go."

"I never said I needed your help."

"That's a lie, Curt. You needed everything"

"And what the hell would you know about telling the truth? You're the fucking lie, Maxwell."

There was a long pause, and Mandy heard the sound of something shattering against the wall. Inside the room, a pile of broken porcelain lay scattered at Curt's feet, and a streak of blood pierced his rough complexion. Fire in his eyes, Curt punched the wall and crossed the room to retrieve his coat. "Fuck you, Brian," he mumbled, "you're a fucking sellout." Stopping mere inches from Brian's face, Curt stared into his cold eyes. "You think you're a fucking God?"

"No." Brian's voice was eerily steady. Curt shook his head and turned away, rushing out of the room. Mandy jumped back as he thrust the door open, and they stared at each other for a moment. In that instance, Mandy realized that Curt was not the one at fault. Silently, they apologized with glances and teardrops for years of misunderstanding, and Curt disappeared down the corridor.

But something inside her told Mandy that she was about to make one of the biggest mistakes of her life by letting him get away. She raced down the hallway after him, running into Brian's army of groupies making love outside their rooms. "Curt!" she called as she reached the rear door and saw him struggling with the lock that always stuck. For the first time in half a decade, she had let her natural American accent seep into her speech.

Curt walked slowly towards her and she dropped her head to the floor. He placed a strong hand on her neck and let it run down her shoulder and arm. "People are very fond of giving away what they need most themselves," he whispered, then pulled the door open and stalked into the cold English night.

A window opened on the third floor as he marched around the corner. "Piss off then! Go on!" Brian screamed as he held the pane in place above his head. "Back to your wolves! Your junkie twerps! Your bloody shock treatment! And fuck you too!" But Curt had vanished. Mandy followed the shouts up to Brian's window, and stared dumbly as his drowning eyes stared off in the distance, still following his angst-filled lover. His chin quivered as he jerked his head quickly in the direction his wife down below, and his brow wrinkled in furious embarrassment as he slammed the window shut. It was at that moment that Mandy realized she had never seen him cry.