Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews! They're what make me keep writing. (That and the fact that I kind of want to find out what happens in my own story.) Oh, FYI, I'm having some issues with keeping the italics I type on the final document. Until I figurer that out, all italics or a character's thoughts will be signaled with –these-

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Five hours later, Roger and I crept up the rickety stairway to the loft, trying not to piss off any sleeping tenants. It was just the two of us. Collins had opted to have another cup of coffee with Steve (who had turned out to be a pretty cool guy), and Benny decided to stay with them. Probably as a chaperone.

As we paused on the landing so I could fish the front door key out of my pocket, Roger turned to look at me. "Thanks for tonight, Mark. It was really cool of you, Benny and Collins to spend a whole evening pretending to hang on my every word."

I grinned. "Don't get used to it. I've had about as much non-stop Roger as I can take."

He chuckled and pushed the door open. "Come on, admit it. You're jealous of my winning personality."

"Just keep telling yourself that, Rog."

The loft was warm, but almost pitch black. I stumbled into Roger as I entered, unable to see an inch in front of my face. "Thanks," I said as he steadied me. "Where's April?"

'Where' indeed. I didn't know why, but I was beginning to get that nervous, sinking feeling again. It was just too dark, too quiet. Probably just paranoia, but still…

There was a small silence as my roommate made his way towards his bedroom. Then, "Mark, I found her!" I followed to see light filtering out from under the bathroom door, invisible from our earlier viewpoint in the entryway. Roger smiled. "She's probably just taking a bath."

-Or shooting up- I stopped myself before the words slipped out. Roger and I were beginning to argue about that issue with increasing regularity; how I thought April would unwittingly be the death of him, and how he was "sick of me interfering with his personal life." Those "discussions" never ended well, and I didn't want to ruin a nice evening with a fight. Sighing unconsciously, I tapped on the bathroom door. "April! We're back, just to let you know!"

There was no reply.

Roger's green eyes met mine for a split second, then he raised a fist and knocked harder. "April! Are you okay?"

Silence.

"Screw this," he muttered and turned the doorknob.

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Sorry about the short chapter. Next one will be longer, I promise. Read and review please, and when I return from vacation, I'll update. Thanks!