Chapter Five

Benny reacted perfectly well to Collins' news. He thought it was a 'wonderful opportunity' and Collins would 'make a great career out of it'. That was such a Benny thing to say. I had noticed Benny was becoming more and more polite and proper and, well...boring. The closer he got to the Greys, the less fun he was.

I'm sure Roger would have reacted strongly, had he not been high. Of course, at the time, I didn't know he was high. I knew April was on drugs. It became obvious after a while. But it took me longer than it should have to learn that Roger was too. I suppose I didn't see it because I didn't want it to be true. But I couldn't ignore it for long.

Roger and I were the only two ever left at the loft any more, now that Collins had school to prepare for, and Maureen was 'protesting'(she hadn't found much to protest yet)

One evening, when April was out "with her friends"(most likely buying drugs)Roger came slumping over to me as I was preparing to turn in for the night.

"Hey Mark?"

"Yeah?"

"There's this new club downtown, the Cat Scratch. You wanna go check it out?"I stared at Roger for a moment.

"Wow. This is how sad I've become. My girlfriend is gone so much I have to go clubbing with my roommate,"I commented. Roger laughed.

"No. With your best friend,"he corrected. "Come on. You need to have some fun."I sighed.

"Okay, fine. I'll come with you,"I assured him. Roger grinned.

"Great. And wear something nice. I wanna make people jealous."I frowned as Roger ran out the door, a little frightened by how similar he sounded to another roommate of mine...

The Cat Scratch was a small, dirty, flashy club located directly in the middle of the worst part of town. It was all guys watching girls, which was certainly an improvement on the places Maureen had been dragging me lately. I had noticed her taste was getting a little strange...

Roger and I looked around for a little bit, and then sat at the bar for a while. There was some kind of dance show going on that we could see a little bit of. All I could see clearly were a bunch of girls tied up, and one handcuffed. I thought it was disgusting. Roger could tell.

"You're not having fun, are you?"he asked, watching as I played with the rim of my glass.

"Sure I am,"I lied.

"Don't lie to me, Cohen. Come on. We'll leave."Roger put down money for the drinks and took my hand, leading me out of the club.

"Roger, stop holding my hand! People are gonna think we're a couple!"I joked as he dragged me along. Roger turned around, grinning.

"You know you'd like that,"he teased. I laughed.

"You're a creep. I'm just barely legal!"I scolded. Roger laughed too, as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"That's what makes you even more fun,"he said. "Come on. Let's go to a gay bar and convince them we're a couple for some free entertainment."

I thought he was kidding. Key word: thought.

I always looked up to Roger. That's why I listened to him whenever he went off on one of his crazy rants, and went along with all his absurd plans and whims. He was like an older brother to me. He taught me the things I need to know to survive in the city. I admired him. He was like an idol to me, a role model. Which is probably why it hurt me the most when I learned the truth.

It was the end of July. Maureen was out working on her new protest, Collins was visiting the MIT campus for the weekend, and Benny was off with, you guessed it, Alison(who had come to be known as Muffy to those of us in the loft)

Roger and I were home alone, something that didn't happen too often any more. He was usually with April. But he was in the bathroom, and I was heading over to the lot to help Maureen set up for her latest performance–I mean, protest.

"Hey Roger, I'm heading out!"I called. When there was no reply, I tried again. "Roger! I'm heading out, okay?"Still nothing. I frowned, concerned. "Roger...?"I walked over to the bathroom and pushed the door open.

I immediately wished I hadn't.

There was Roger, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, belt around his arm, needle in his skin. My jaw completely dropped, and I was speechless as I stared at Roger. His head shot up, and he immediately pulled the needle out of his arm.

"Fuck!"he muttered, trying to hide it. It was a little late.

"Oh God..."I uttered out of shock.

"Mark, I..."he began, but I had already turned from the bathroom, disgusted. I slammed my camera down in anger as I headed for the door. Roger jumped in front of me.

"Mark, it's not what it looks like!"he insisted.

"Oh really? Then what is it, Roger? Huh? Are you gonna tell me that I didn't just catch you shooting up in our bathroom?"I spat. I was pissed. Really pissed.

"I...I just...April got me hooked. I can't stop...I've only been on it...for a month...or..."He was too high to finish his thoughts. I was surprised he was even trying to put up a fight.

"A month, Roger! You've been hiding this from us for a month?"I bellowed.

"Mark...please! I don't mean...please, don't! Don't!"He wasn't even making sense any more. I shook my head disgustedly at him, and pushed pass him as I ran for the door.

"Mark! No!"he called frantically. But I was already down the stairs.

When I got back, Roger was gone. I called Collins and left a message telling him there was a problem, and I called Benny and Maureen's mobile phones and told them to come home.

Benny arrived first and I explained the situation to him. He wasn't as angry as I thought he would be. He was concerned, and upset, but certainly not as angry as I had been. Then again, he hadn't witnessed it.

"So, what are we gonna do?"I asked Benny, as the two of us sat in the empty loft.

"We'll talk to him,"Benny said logically. "When Collins gets back, we'll have an intervention. You, me, Collins and Maureen."

"It's all because of April,"I sighed. I was disappointed. I had trusted her to take care of Roger. Now she was killing him.

"Then we'll leave her out of this,"Benny replied. "Maybe we can convince him she's not good for him..."

"He loves April. He would never leave her,"I stated.

Unknown to us, April would not be around much longer.

So Collins, Maureen, Benny and I all got together with Roger about a week later, and told him our thoughts. As you can imagine, he did not react well.

"So you just expect me to stop?"he demanded. He wasn't high when we talked to him, and he apparently hadn't had a hit in a while, because he was a mess. "It's not that easy!"

"We know, Roger. And we'll help you,"Collins assured him calmly.

"I don't want your fucking help!"Roger hollered. "I'm fine! I'm not hurting anyone!"

"You're hurting yourself, Roger!"I stated firmly.

"Well what the fuck do you care?"Roger spat. He jumped up, grabbing his jacket.

"Roger, where are you going?"Collins demanded, standing up as well.

"I'm going out. Try and stop me."And Roger was out the door. The rest of us sighed.

"This is a lost cause,"Benny sighed.

"Shut up,"Maureen snapped, slapping his arm.

"So that's it? We're just gonna give up?"I demanded, leaping to my feet.

"No, Mark. We'll keep trying. That's all we can do,"Collins sighed. I sat down again, putting my head in my hands.

"Oh God...this is fucked up,"I muttered.

"It's okay, baby,"Maureen assured me, patting my back. "Roger will be fine. I've known him forever, he'll bounce back."I smiled. Maureen always knew how to make me feel just a little bit better.

"Well, if this is all, then I'll see you three later,"Benny said, standing up.

"Whoa, you're not sleeping here?"Collins asked, surprised. I wasn't. Benny never slept at the loft any more. However, I was surprised at how calmly he was taking all of this.

"No. I'm staying in Westport for the weekend,"Benny replied. "I'll catch you later."And Benny was gone too.

"Ass hole,"Maureen grumbled. "He's different now. Not like he was in high school. He's changed, and he's an ass!"Collins offered a sympathetic smile to me, as I rolled my eyes.

"Kinda makes you glad you're leaving, huh?"I asked him.

"Man...what am I gonna do without you guys while I'm a MIT next year?"he asked.

"What are we gonna do without you?"I corrected, as we shared a small laugh. But Collins answered in all seriousness.

"You'll take care of 'em, Mark."

A/N: I would first like to say, sorry there was a delay in updating! My computer wouldn't let me download files yesterday.

So there's the extent of our Mark/Roger. Well, actually, there's LOTS more serious Mark/Roger friendship coming(you can guess what's coming next...)But friendship is really all it is. So, sorry to disappoint any Mark/Roger fans! And also my Mark/Maureen fans, who I promised would see more Mark/Maureen in this chapter. Keep sending me your feedback. There are three chapters left, and I'll try to get them up ASAP!