AN: Thanks to emotional-static for reviewing, and a shout-out to constant review buddy BohemianCane! Luv ya!

Okay, the first section that pops up, I meant to have in the last chapter (that's way I mention something about Dave's HIV). So, just read that part really quickly, and get on with the rest of this thing.

Dave stumbled in the apartment. Tara sighed. "David, were you drinking again with Collins?"

"No," he said, in a dazed manner.

"Well, what the hell happened to you? Did you get mugged or something?" He shook his head. "Dave, what's wrong?"

"I've got AIDS."

* * *

"David, what have I told you about this sort of thing?" Tara pushed a large strand of hair back. "I've told you, hell, even Mom warned you about this sort of thing." Dave hugged his knees and buried his face in them. "You knew the dangers. And you didn't ask Collins? What the hell were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot." He started rocking back and forth.

"No, David, that's the thing. You cannot forget these kinds of things. You're gay. Gays get AIDS. And don't say I'm being prejudiced because I know damn well that Mimi and Roger both have it." Dave shut his mouth. "You cannot forget that. And what if something happens with you and Collins?"

"He's not dying!"

Tara looked at her brother. It was like he was eight all over again, crying about some kid knocking him off his bike. "God damn it, Dave, I never said that!" And then she snapped. "You know what your problem is? You want Mom to, to hold you in h-her l-l-lap and say that it's gonna be okay. Well, you've gotta get out of that, okay, David? Mom's dead. She died six years ago. She's not coming back. And you know what? I am so sick and tired of being her for you. Yeah, I loved Mom, too. But I'm not her." Tara started towards the door. "Dave. Grow up."

He started crying.

* * *

"What do you mean, Benny wants to move back in?"

Roger took her hand. "Well, according to him, he's got nowhere left."

"He's the fuckin' landlord. Why in God's name-"

"-would he move back in?" they both finished. Mimi began putting on her fishnets.

"He won't tell us."

"I will not share an apartment with that asshole, Roger Davis. And you can tell him that yourself." She got up and threw the door open. "I'm late for work."

Roger came out of their room. "So what's the easier way to kick out Benny?"

Mimi walked down the hallway. Benny moving back in? Over her dead ass.

That's when she noticed Tara sitting on the stairwell. "Ta, chica? Are you okay?" Tara looked up at with puffy eyes, and barely shook her head. "I'm not," she whispered.

* * *

"You okay, Collins?" Roger slid his fingers back and forth over the guitar strings.

The usually talkative professor looked up from the book he was trying to read. "You ever wonder if murderers ever feel a guilty conscience?"

Roger stared at him. "You been smokin' weed? Cause, uh, truth be told, it really never crossed my mind."

Collins looked out the window. "Me and Dave- we-we did it."

"You're shittin' me, aren't you?" Collins shook his head. "Jesus Christ," Roger whispered.

* * *

Tara opened the door to her apartment. "Dave?" He was probably in his room. "Dave? Can I, uh, talk to you?" Still no answer.

She paused outside his bedroom door. "Listen, Dave, I'm sorry about what I said. I really wish I could say that I didn't mean at least half of them, but-Look, you've really gotta get on your own. Mom's not gonna be there every single time your get a cut. Dave?" She couldn't even hear him crying. Now she was really getting scared. "David?"

Tara budged his door open. No sign of him there. "David?!" She began checking the rooms. He wasn't anywhere.

"Dave, where the hell are you?" She threw open the door to the bathroom. On the floor, a small, red waterfall tumbled over the bathtub. "Oh shit, David!"

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. You two had sex, and he didn't even ask you about being HIV-positive.' Roger knocked back his beer. "I'm sorry, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Wanna know something even dumber?"

"Shoot, my man."

"Wouldn't let me tell him."

"Oh, now, you're shittin' me."

"Who's shittin' who?" Mark locked the door.

"Where were you?" Collins asked.

"Looking for a job."

His friends stared at him. "Roger, you gotta share him for my shit list."

"He's all yours. What in the hell possessed you to get a job?!" Mark even thinking about a career outside of filmmaking was near impossible. Roger would believe it when Hell froze over.

"Well, I don't think that-"

"Can someone help me? Please?"

The three men turned their heads to the door. "That's Tara, isn't it?" Collins asked.

"Yeah, I wonder what's going on?" Even though he wasn't speaking with her, Mark wasn't low enough to completely ignore her.

"Please!"

Roger decided to actually do something and ran out the door. "What's going on?"

Tara was shaking. "It's-it's Dave. Please. You've gotta help me. I- I- c-c-c-can't g-g-g-g-go ne-near him."

"Shit." Roger ran down the stairwell. "There's towels by the sink!" Tara called after him. "Oh, God."

"What's going on?" Tara stared at him. "D-d-d-Dave tried to-, he…" Mark realized what had happened. "I'll get an ambulance."

The paramedics arrived about a twenty minutes later. "Is he gonna be okay?" Tara asked, hovering the men carrying David downstairs.

"Don't know, ma'am. We'll contact you."

"No wait. Let me go with him. I'm his sister." The meds looked at each and shrugged. She turned to the others. "They're going to Mt. Sinai. Okay?"

Collins nodded. "We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thank you." She gave him a hug, and then left.

* * *

"Hey babe, why's the house so quiet?" Mimi took off her jacket and flung into a corner. "Where is everyone?"

Roger looked up at her. "The hospital."

"Shit. Collins isn't-"

"It's not Collins."

It wasn't Collins? That was the only major reason she could think of why someone needed to go there. "Then, what's going on?"

"You know Tara's brother Dave?" She nodded. "They- I don't know. She found him in the tub." He stopped right there. Just like April.

The look in her boyfriend's eyes spoke it all for Mimi. "He didn't." But she knew it was true.

PS: Yes, Dave pulls an April! But don't worry, David Wendko isn't going away for a while. BUT…how does this episode affect our fave film-maker and Tara? How does Collins feel? (And for any of you Roger, Mimi, and Maureen fans, don't worry. I've got a long way to go.) So, to get the next installment, REVIEW!