"Roger, do you remember this?" Mark asked sitting on the couch as he handed a picture to Roger who was sitting on the arm chair playing with the ring on his right hand. It was the ring he was to wear after he and Amanda took their vows.
"The Halloween dance. I can't believe she talked me into dressing up as Sid and Nancy with her." Roger laughed despite the tears that filled his eyes.
"She had a way of getting you to do a lot of things you never thought you'd do." Mark told him happily passing him more pictures.
"Well I loved her, Mark. There was nothing I wouldn't do for her." Roger said crying as he looked at all of the old pictures of him and Mandy.
"So quit drinking, for her. She never wanted you miserable like this. You can't keep doing this to yourself." Mark told him as Roger caressed the picture.
"I don't know how to live without her. I'm not good at this without her." Roger said holding the pictures close to him.
"Roger, this isn't the way. You can't keep doing this." Mark told him quietly looking over at him.
"Mark, I don't know how." Roger told him crying.
"So help me do what I promised my sister I would the night she died. The night we saw her on that table in the hospital." Mark looked at him.
"I replay that night in my head every minute of every day. I was gonna marry her that night, but then she got into a car accident and I lost her. I lost the love of my life. I was gonna spend the rest of my life making her happy and now I don't know what to do with my life." he cried looking over at him.
"Let me help you. I don't want to lose you too." he looked at him.
"Thanks Mark." Roger cried more as he looked at the pictures again.
"No problem. I made a whole lot of promises to my sister that I intend to keep." Mark told him as Collins and Benny entered the loft.
"What did we miss?" Benny asked cautiously seeing Roger crying.
"I'm fine. Really. Collins, do you want to see me and Mandy dressed as Sid and Nancy?" Roger asked wiping his eyes.
"I'd love to." Collin said smiling as he went over to Roger to look at the pictures. "Even in punk she was beautiful." Collins said laughing as he looked at them so happy.
"Yeah, she was the most beautiful girl in the world. I told her I loved her for the first time that night." Roger told him staring at the picture.
"Really? That's sweet." he said smiling at him.
"She was so happy that night." Mark said smiling at him.
"You two look happy." Collins said looking over Roger's shoulder.
"We were." Roger said smiling. "Thanks Mark." Roger said leaning over to pat Mark on the back.
"We were her 2 favorite guys, remember?" Mark said smiled.
"All eyes were on them that night." Benny smiled remembering his high school days.
"Margaret and the bitch squad were seething when they came in, but they didn't care. No one else mattered. They danced all night." Mark smiled at him.
"The bitch squad?" Collins asked confused.
"That's what Mandy called the cheerleaders." Roger smiled at him.
"They danced to every slow dance as if no one else was there." Benny laughed looking over at them.
"You guys were there? Why don't I remember that?" Roger joked as the others laughed.
"Do you see what I had to deal with?" Mark laughed looking over at Collins.
"At least it wasn't boring." Roger smiled at him, staring down at the pile of pictures he was holding.
"It definitely wasn't that." Mark looked over at him.
It's Friday night and Roger seems better. He hasn't had a drink in 3 days and Mark, Benny and Collins are proud of him.
"Mark, do you want to come to the show?" Roger asked knocking on Mark's bedroom door.
"Nah, I can't. I have a huge final coming up and I really need to study." Mark said looking up from his book.
"OK. I'll see you later." Roger told him smiling. His hair was cropped very short and bleached blond and he was wearing eye liner and a yellow sleeveless shirt.
"OK, Have a great show." Mark told him smiling.
"Thanks." Roger said before leaving the loft. That night at the club he met a pretty redhead. Her name was April. He didn't get home until 4 in the morning.
"Where the hell have you been? I've been waiting up for you." Mark asked worried.
"I was just hanging out with this girl I met after the show." Roger said quietly.
"Roger, that's great. Who is she? Do you like her?" Mark asked smiling at him.
"I… I think I might. Um… her name is April. She's this redhead I've had my eye on for a while. But I've been afraid to talk to her." Roger told him smirking.
"Good for you Roger. I'm glad you met someone." Mark said pouring himself some water.
"I feel weird though. I mean, I still love Mandy but is it bad that I like April too?" Roger asked following him into the kitchen.
"No Roger, it's not. The only thing Mandy ever wanted was for you to be happy. Don't feel bad for moving on. It's been almost 3 years. I think you've honored her memory." Mark said as Roger looked down.
"I'll always love her, Mark. You do know that, right?" Roger said shoving his hands in his pockets.
"I know. I just want you to be happy." Mark said smiling up at him.
"Thanks Mark. That means a lot coming from you." Roger told him going into his room.
A few weeks later, Roger and April have been spending a lot of time together. Everyone is worried about him because he doesn't seem like himself. Mark hasn't seen much of him.
"Roger, what the hell is wrong with you?" Mark asked yelling at him standing over his bed as Benny and Collins stood in the doorway.
"Mark, what the hell?" Roger asked groggy and strung out.
"It's 3 in the afternoon. Are you drinking again?" Mark asked as Roger pulled the blanket over his head.
"I'm not drinking again, Mark. Me and April just had a late night." Roger said looking up at Mark.
"Yeah shooting up." Benny said under his breath.
"Shut the fuck up, Benny. You don't know shit." Roger yelled getting up out of bed. He was still wearing his clothes from the night before. His hair was sticking up in all directions.
"I do know. I saw your track marks the other day." Benny said as Roger came after him before Collins stepped in front of him.
"You didn't see shit, asshole." Roger yelled being held back by Collins.
"Track marks? Shooting up? Roger what the hell is going on with you? You stopped drinking to shoot heroin? What the hell is April doing to you?" Mark yelled as Roger calmed down.
"Mark, I'm fine. I'm not a junkie." Roger told him quietly.
"Roger, you gotta stop. Mandy wouldn't want this." Mark said as Roger got angry.
"You know what, Mark? Mandy's not here. She left me and I'm still here. So now I have April." Roger said going into his room and slamming the door.
"She didn't leave you, she died." Mark yelled to the closed door of Roger's bedroom.
"Well she's still gone, isn't she? Roger yelled from inside his bedroom.
"That should have worked." Collins said turning to Mark.
"I guess the Mandy card is played out." Benny said as Mark started towards his room.
"Yeah well we wanted him to move on, so he's moving on." Mark said quietly closing his bedroom door.
"What are we gonna do with him?" Collins asked sitting on the couch.
"I don't know. But I have a feeling he's gonna fight us." Benny said sitting next to him.
"Yeah and I have a feeling Mark's not gonna give up so easily." Collins said with his head in his hands.
"Yeah well, I'm about to. I can't watch him use my friends death as an excuse to self destruct." Benny said pacing around the loft as Roger stormed out of his room.
"Where the hell are you going?" Collins asked looking up at him.
"I'm getting out of here. You guys can't respect my privacy, so I'm gone." he told him violently putting his leather jacket on.
"Where are you gonna go? To shoot up with April?" Benny said angrily.
"What of it? Everyone wanted me to move on and now that I am, you throw Mandy in my face. You know it wasn't easy losing her, but I'm moving on with April. So what if I do a little heroin every once in a while. I'm fine, guys." Roger said standing by the door.
"But Roger, what about diseases? HIV, Hepatitis? You need to think about that." Collins asked approaching him.
"We got tested, Collins. We're waiting for the results. Don't worry about it. I just need to get out of here for a little while. Take care of Mark." Roger said running out of the loft.
"At least he's getting tested." Collins said facing Benny.
"Yeah at least. Maybe he'll kill himself so he could finally be with Mandy." Benny said looking around the loft catching Mark out of the corner of his eye.
"Benny, how can you say that? You've been best friends with him your whole lives." Mark said with tears in his eyes.
"Mark, he's been tortured since he lost Mandy and the baby. First the depression, then the drinking, now drugs. He was the happiest when he and Mandy were together. Maybe we should just let him kill himself." Benny said as Mark looked at him in disbelief.
"How can you say that? I promised Mandy I'd take care of him and I owe it to my sister to get him off the drugs and make sure he makes it big as a rock star. It's what she wanted." Mark said crying as Collins comforted him.
"I know, but Mark I don't think this is about your sister anymore. I think Roger is just out here under the sex, drugs and rock and roll spell." Collins said holding Mark.
"It's always about Mandy. They were connected. They were made for each other, Collins. You never saw them. Roger was so different with her." Mark said looking up at him.
"I know Mark. You just need to let this run it's course." Collins told him.
"I can't do that, Collins. I owe him. He made the last 2 years of my sisters life the greatest of her life." Mark told him sniffling.
"I know, Mark. I know." Collins told him patting his head.
"I have to help him. For my sister, I have to." he told him wiping his eyes.