"Happy almost monthsary." Rhea told Curt.

She sighed, neither seeing nor hearing any response from him. They were dancing, locked together and making mellow little circles along with the music. Curt had made reservations for them to hear a new band play at some high-end lounge. Normally, he would've preferred to loiter in a seedy-looking bar, but he wanted something special on this night. As Rhea noticed, however, he seemed to be troubled and restricting himself from enjoying what he had arranged.

Curt's eyes were still closed when Rhea looked at him again. His eyebrows evoked more emotion at that moment than his whole self during the show. The sickly sweet slowness of the song twanged on his soul, and he was reading the tragedy of the singer's life through the astringent pang of his voice. Rhea couldn't help but catch a sinking feeling. She kissed Curt's sealed eyelids and hugged him tighter.

"Let's go home." she whispered.

(----------)

Instead of taking a cab like they did on their way to the show, the pair walked home. They had no reason to hurry. Rhea hoped that the cool, crisp night air would wake Curt's spirit. Unaffected, he still had some sulk in his step. But Rhea was determined to change this, doing whatever was necessary to do so. She overtook Curt on the sidewalk.

"Curt, look at me!" she nearly screeched, trying to wear a high-pitched accent on her voice.

"Look, Curt!" Rhea tried again, now putting her hands on her hips. "I'm Mandy Slade." she continued, dipping her head from side to side exaggeratedly. "I'm sooo cool that I don't know which accent to use when!" And in saying this, she tried her best to shift in her diction.

A smile finally cracked on Curt's lips, which Rhea took as her personal token to link arms. So with limbs woven, the two walked on, with Rhea almost dragging Curt. Her arm's end of the chain tugged on Curt's resisting one.

(----------)

The amusement from her impression of Mandy had long faded, but Rhea was praying that it would carry on until they reached the apartment. Examining Curt's expression for the hundredth time, seemingly, she could see that it hadn't changed. It only looked clearer now, without the drowning haze of the lounge or the thickness of the night outside. That smile he gave was just a quick, and probably forced, intermission.

She did hear his conversation with Mandy—all of it. She didn't want to give Curt even an inkling about this, so she kept her mouth shut. It would only worsen his condition. Walking through the scenes in her head, Rhea figured that what Mandy said last was the most hurtful thing that Curt heard in a while.

Curt dropped on the sofa like a rain-drenched petal on the ground. He was breathless and seemed to be exhausted. This was perplexing again, seeing as how he walked fairly slowly with Rhea. To him, it was complicated in the least. His heart was tired, tired and aching for something he didn't know and didn't care to discover.

Reclining slightly, he concentrated what energy he had remaining on taking his shoes off. He didn't bother to bend down and remove them by hand, but let each foot push the shoe off the other. There was some difficulty in this, and he seriously considered picking one up and hurling it at the wall to relieve his frustration. Convincing himself not to, he unzipped his jacket, accidentally running his fingers over the area where Brian's pin had been. The jacket was old, but the holes that the pin made in the leather never healed. Without thinking, he took it and threw it against the floorboards.

The noise of the jacket as it slapped the floor was enough to get Rhea's attention. She almost dreaded to turn, knowing that she would be faced with the live gloom on Curt's face again.

Everything seemed fine; there was just a man sitting on the sofa and a jacket lying on the floor. But like every illusion, nothing will quiet your doubts until you find out what makes it. Rhea was going to find and cure Curt's sore spot, even if she had to bruise him in the process.

She walked over to where Curt sat. Curt stopped short of lifting his shirt off, but didn't look up to meet Rhea's sympathetic eyes. Rhea took Curt by the elbows and stood him up. She helped him out of the shirt, and then caught hold of his face with both of her hands so that he couldn't turn away. He continued to stare down, at the floor and at his feet, but not at the nearby jacket.

"Talk to me. What's wrong?" Rhea appealed to Curt.

Short silence ensued, and then…"Nothing."

"Something is the matter with you. Tell me. Did I do—?"

"You didn't do anything." Curt said, his words like nails hammering on solid wood. He turned away from Rhea.

Rhea's hands lingered on Curt's face, though his back now faced her. She slid them down his arms, the pleats of her fingers feeling his every muscle. They traveled further to his sides and settled on his waist. They coiled around Curt there, trapping him.

Resting the left side of her face on Curt's back, she kissed the track of his spine. Then shakily she murmured "I love you, no matter what." Curt gripped Rhea's right hand and slowly pried it off his stomach. Her left hand clung for dear life. Her free right hand moved to Curt's back. She took her pointer finger and used it like a paintbrush, inscribing a message on Curt's skin. She penned one letter at a time. L…O…V…E. She paused, realizing the end of Curt's struggle to break free and the beginning of hers to prevent herself from crying. M…E, she finished.

Curt faced Rhea as tears teetered on her eyes and gave her a rescuing kiss. One thing led to another and they ended up on the bed. Suddenly Curt was getting signals of anxiety, and this, mingled with copious variations of sadness sent him into reeling confusion. He was nervous because this was only going to be the second time he was going to make love to Rhea. He was scared. He was mixed up but he wanted to be made love to.

Actually, this was going to be the first time he was going to make love to her. The first time was just sex, plain and cold. This was going to be some sort of confirmation, like consummation after marriage. And, it was going to mean much more. Curt waited this long in the hopes of exactly that. He didn't want to just fuck her senseless right away. But, he didn't expect that it would happen at such a turbulent moment.

Outstretched on the sheets, Curt took a back seat on the love-making, fearing that his contributions would be mechanical in his presently damaged state. Rhea writhed on top of him. She kissed him everywhere passionately, wanting to nourish all the need in him.

(---------------)

Morning found the fate-challenged lovers asleep, with dried tears and quiet wishes of a better day than the last. Always the first riser, Rhea woke to have her usual time of studying Curt. She found all sorts of things just by looking at him, some that he surely wouldn't have told her.

On this instance, she was fixated on his left arm. She had seen them before, the holes where he injected his drugs, and like other times she trembled inside at the sight of them. This time, it looked like there were more. Wrapped in a curious combination of love and pity, she left hot kisses on his arm. She situated one on every gash, as if the heat from her lips would be enough to erase them.

Curt fell out of sleep and was startled to see what Rhea was doing to his arm. He didn't want to yank it away from her, but he wanted her to stop. He was ashamed more than anything.

"Rhea, stop. Pleaaase, stop." he begged with a teary, weary voice.

Rhea unfastened from Curt's arm and rose to the pillow where his head was nestled. She embraced him and closed her eyes, feeling secure in the comfort Curt's presence provided.

"I love every part of you." she whispered. "The broken parts, the whole. The strong and the weak."

"It's funny." Curt spoke. "After all the shit you have to swallow and all the needle-eyes you have to squeeze through, people expect you to emerge stronger and tougher. They can't see that you can turn out to be just as weak as when you started, maybe weaker."

Rhea didn't answer. She didn't know what to say. She felt bad for Curt and afraid for herself. The trepidation appeared to have transferred from him to her, only that with her, it couldn't find a way to express itself.

Note: So-em, more Curt/Rhea development in this chapter. The juicy bits and excessive drama will arrive soon! It will all come rushing in...