"Knock, knock!" Benny announced as he slid open the loft door. The sound of Muzetta's Waltz floated out of Roger's room while Mark sat on the couch watching the news. When he saw Benny, he got up, and the two embraced.
"Hey stranger, what brings you by here? Wait, let me guess; the rent." Benny nodded. "Hold on a second." Mark dug around the junk drawer to find the check book.
"How's he doing?" asked Benny as he looked at Roger's half open door. He could just make out his jean clad legs. Mark began filling out the check.
"He's almost back to normal, which is a huge relief." He handed Benny the check.
"Thanks. I can imagine how much of a relief this is. Here's something for you." Benny handed Mark a hundred dollars. "Go get some groceries, you guys probably need it."
"Oh no, I can't Benny, I'm sorry," replied Mark.
"Yes you can. Here's the money, I'll stay here with Roger, so go down to the Food Emporium and get some food!"
"No, I can't leave Roger; he flips out if he doesn't know where I am at all times."
"So tell him where you're going. Go Mark!" Mark took the money from Benny, and went to tell Roger that he was going out.
"Hey baby," Mark said as he sat on the edge of the bed. Roger looked up from his guitar, and gave his boyfriend a small smile. Mark took the rocker's hand, and gently ran his thumb over the back.
"Hey yourself," replied Roger.
"Benny gave me a hundred dollars, so I'm going to run down to the Food Emporium. I'll be back in about an hour." Mark leaned over, and kissed Roger quickly. "Benny will be here while I'm gone, okay?" Mark took Roger's face in his free hand.
"Yeah," he said.
"Do you want anything? Chips, popcorn, cookies maybe?" Roger shook his head.
"I'm fine. I'll see you in an hour." Mark gave him another kiss. "I love you Mark."
"I love you took, Roger."
Benny sat in the front room of the loft working while Mark was gone. Exactly one hour after the filmmaker had left, Roger came out of his room, and began to pace. For five minutes he paced in the kitchen, muttering under his breath. Suddenly, he bolted for the door.
"Shit!" Benny exclaimed as he threw his work off his lap, and ran after Roger. He tackled the rocker just as he got past the door to the loft, and pinned his arms to the ground. "Where are you going, Roger?"
"Mark said that he'd be back in an hour. It's been over an hour, and he's not back yet. Somebody mugged him, and I have to find him." Benny got up, and pulled Roger to his feet.
"Mark's running a little late, that's all. When he said an hour, he was guessing." Benny guided Roger inside. "Why don't you sit by the window? That way, you can see him when he gets home." Roger nodded, and walked towards the window seat. He sat down, and drew his knees to his chest. Sighing, Benny went back to his work.
Not even two minutes later, Roger jumped up, and ran to his room; slamming the door behind him. Benny got up to ask his friend what was wrong. When he tried to open the door, he found that something heavy was in front of it.
"Roger? Are you okay?" he called through the crack he had managed the make between the door and doorframe by putting all his weight on the door.
"Get lost Benny," snapped Roger.
"Come one, what's wrong? I told you that Mark will be back any minute now."
"I said, get lost!" a sudden force slammed the bedroom door shut, indicating that the heavy object was Roger.
"Come on, what's wrong?"
"Like I'm really going to tell a yuppie scum like you what's wrong, so fuck off!" Benny rolled his eyes, and went back to work. He wasn't going to fight with Roger.
Twenty minutes later, Mark stumbled into the loft holding three heavy bags filled with groceries.
"Hey, how'd it go?" he asked as he went to the kitchen to unpack. Benny got up to help.
"About half an hour ago, Roger tried to go find you. I told him to wait for you by the window, but after a few minutes, he locked himself in his room." Mark sighed.
"Okay, thanks man. I'll go talk to him." Benny clapped Mark on the shoulder.
"Anytime. I'll see you both later." Benny grabbed his work, and waved over his shoulder before leaving.
Mark finished putting away the groceries, grabbed the bag of Kit-Kats he bought for Roger, and went to go check on his boyfriend. Roger was curled up in a ball in the center of his bed with his back to the door. Mark sat down next to him, and gently rubbed his upper arm.
"Roger, Roger sweetie, I'm home," he said quietly. Roger moaned, and rolled onto his back. "Come on, I got you something." Roger's eyes fluttered open, causing Mark to smile. "I knew that that would get your attention." Mark plopped the bag of candy on Roger's stomach. "Here."
"You bought me a bag of candy? Thanks Marky," Roger said sleepily. He opened the bag, and produced a piece of chocolate. "You want one?" Mark shook his head, and lay down on his back.
"No, I'm fine." Roger climbed on top of him.
"Come on, please?" Roger pouted, causing a giant grin to spread across Mark's face; Roger was back. Roger dangled a piece of chocolate in Mark's face. "You know you want some."
"What I want is to know why you flipped out, and locked yourself in your room." Sighing, Roger rolled off of Mark, and lay down next to him. Mark propped himself up on his elbow, and face his lover.
"I was waiting for you to come home," Roger started; he sounded…different to Mark than even thirty seconds earlier. "I was sitting next to the window, when I saw him come out of an alley."
"Who?"
"My dealer. He looked up at me, smiled, and held up a baggie full of smack. He saw me; he was trying to get me back." Mark sat up, and held Roger close to him.
"Shh, shh, it's okay baby. There's no way he could have seen you. We live five stories up, and our windows are filthy." Roger pulled away.
"You don't believe me?" he demanded, clearly hurt by Mark's doubt.
"No, no, no, I do
believe you. I also believe that you're tired." Roger lay down
with his back to Mark. "Do you want to talk about anything else?"
Roger shook his head. Mark leaned over, and softly kissed his
cheek. "Promise me that you'll let me know when you're ready
to talk."
"I promise," mumbled Roger before drifting off to
sleep.
A/N: One more chapter left! No sequel. I have a list of stories to write. I'm working on a four chapter High School Musical fic, then it's back to do a Rent one. I'm going to alternate between those 2 until I get through my list. Check out Off-Set please (oh, and no dissing it. If you don't like it, don't review!) Much love!
Tina101