"Oh my God Roger. What happened to you?" Mark asked as they entered the loft. Roger was limping and doubled over in pain as Collins helped him.
"Jake's guys. They hit me on the back of the head with something and when I came to, I was in an alley across campus. They were hitting me asking me where Fee was, but I wouldn't tell them. I told them to go to hell. I would never tell them where she was." he groaned sitting in the couch gently.
"Now can we get out of here?" she yelled looking down at him. She was crying.
"Fee, calm down. Everything is gonna be OK." he said sitting back still gripping his stomach.
"Roger, you have 2 broken ribs, 25 stitches in your face and head. How is everything gonna be OK?" she asked pacing around the loft.
"The cops are gonna get these guys." he said looking up at her.
"How do you know? Roger, look what they did to you. I can't believe I let this happen. I can't believe I let you convince me to stay. They could have killed you." she yelled at him as Mark got up to go to her.
"It's OK Fee. Calm down." he said putting his arm around her, knowing how much Roger wanted to do it, but couldn't.
"I wish everyone would stop telling me to calm down. I came here to be safe and now look. 6 months later they find Roger at the school and work him over trying to find me. This is serious." she yelled running to her room and slamming the door.
"I have to go talk to her." Roger said struggling to get up when Collins pushed him back down by his shoulder.
"No, you stay here and rest. I'll go. I don't think it's such a good idea for her to talk to you anyway. Not looking like that." he said getting up to go to Fiona's room.
"I can't let her think this is her fault. I can't." he said looking up at Mark.
"How could she not think it's her fault? You got grabbed and beat up outside one of her classes. They've obviously been tailing you guys for a while. Maybe you should take her to your parents house for a few weeks. At least until the cops can get their case together and pick the guys responsible for this up." he said looking over at him.
"Yeah, maybe. I can't let them get to her Mark. I can't. I swore to her that I wouldn't let anything happen to her and I gotta do anything I have to do to make sure I keep that promise." he said looking over at him.
"Babygirl, are you OK?" Collins asked knocking on Fiona's bedroom door.
"Go away Collins. I don't want to talk to anyone right now." she yelled as he opened the door. She was standing at the foot of her bed throwing clothes into her bags.
"Fiona, what are you doing?" he asked rushing into her room.
"I have to get out of here. They could have killed Roger and they will next time if he still doesn't tell them where I am. I can't let them do that. I love him too much to lose him this way. If I'm gone, they'll leave him alone." she cried not even folding her clothes.
"You know that's not gonna happen. He's not gonna quit looking for you. Maybe you and Roger should get out of town for a while. At least until the cops find them and build a case against them." he suggested looking over at her.
"I can't disrupt Roger's life anymore than I already have. He loves me and he got beaten to a bloody pulp because of it. I can't do this to him anymore. He's got HIV, he shouldn't have to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder." she cried looking over at him.
"I would do anything for you Fee. Please, don't leave me, OK?" Roger asked leaning in the doorway.
"I don't want to leave you Roger. You know I don't. But what am I supposed to do? They jumped you and beat you so badly. I can't have you putting your life on the line for me. And don't try to tell me that your life is not in danger because today is proof it is." she yelled looking over at him.
"I was thinking. Maybe we can go stay with my parents for a little while. At least until the dust settles." he suggested limping into he room.
"Roger, your parents only live in Yonkers. How are we gonna hide out in Yonkers?" she asked looking over at him.
"It's not the city Fee. Jake won't look for you outside the city. There's too much ground to cover." he said looking over at her.
"Yeah, we thought I'd be safe here too, but they were in Thompkin Square Park, weren't they?" she yelled looking over at him.
"So where do you wanna go? We'll go anywhere you'll feel safe." he asked losing his footing as Collins rushed to get him.
"I don't know Roger." she cried running to his side.
"I'll do anything for you Fee. Just don't leave me, OK? Please. I love you." he groaned as Collins sat him on Fiona's bed.
"I don't want to leave you Roger. I love you too. I just can't do this to you anymore. You can't keep protecting me at the expense of your own life. Next time, they'll kill you." she cried sitting next to him.
"So let's go somewhere. Somewhere far away from the city." he said looking down at her.
"OK. Let's get out of the city. I'll do anything so they don't hurt you like this again." she cried wrapping her arms around him gently.
"We're gonna be OK Baby. They're gonna get Jake and his guys and everything is gonna be OK." he whispered wrapping his arms around her even though it hurt his ribs.
"Maybe we can visit your parents before we go away. I'd like to meet the people responsible for raising the love of my life." she smiled looking up at him.
"OK Baby. Anything you want. Why don't you fix your clothes and I'll have Mark and Collins help me pack. We can leave as soon as we're done." he suggested as Collins looked over at him.
"Roger, are you sure it's such a good idea? You leaving in your condition? And without enough meds." he asked looking down at him.
"I have a few refills left on my meds and they can be filled anywhere." he said looking up at him. "It'll be OK Collins. We'll take care of each other." he smiled looking down at Fiona.
"Don't worry Collins. We'll be fine." Fiona said looking up at him.
"OK Babygirl. I'm gonna go score you guys a car." he said leaving the room. "Do you have a license Babygirl?" he asked looking over at her.
"Yeah sweetie. I do. Roger can't very well drive in his condition." she said reaching up to caress Roger's head.
"I love you so much Fee. I'll do anything for you. You know that, right?" he asked looking into her blue eyes. They were bloodshot from crying.
"Of course I do Roger. I just hate that they did this to you because of me." she said looking up at him.
"I'm fine Baby. You have to believe that." he said looking down at her.
"You will be fine now. I'm gonna take care of you. I promise." she said looking down at him.
"We're gonna take care of each other Baby." he said leaning down to kiss her gently, careful not to hurt his lip, which was swollen.
"Make sure you call every few days, OK Babygirl. I wanna make sure you guys are OK. We'll tell you when the coast is clear." Collins said standing outside the car as they were parked down the block from the loft.
"OK Collins. We will. Thank you so much for everything. We'll be back. I promise. I just need to make sure it's safe for me and Roger." she said looking up at him from the drivers side.
"Roger, just be careful, OK? Don't go out unless you have to. You never know if he's got people scouting the country looking for you guys." Mark said looking down at Roger, who was sitting in the passenger seat.
"Don't worry Mark. We'll be careful. Just tell the band, I'm sorry. Don't give them any details, just tell them me and Fee needed to get out of town for a while. Charlie can front the band until I get back." he said looking up at him.
"OK Roger. No problem." he said looking down at him as Fiona started the car. Collins had rented it in his name. It couldn't be traced to Fiona or Roger.
"We'll be fine guys. We'll call you when we get to Roger's parents house." Fiona said looking up at them.
"Be careful Babygirl, OK?" Collins said taking her hand.
"We will sweetie. Thank you again for the car and... you know. Everything else." she smiled looking over at Roger before looking up at him again.
"No problem Fee. Just take care of our boy, OK?" he smiled leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"I will." she smiled putting the car into gear and pulling away.
"Do you think they'll be OK?" Mark asked looking over at Collins as he walked to the sidewalk.
"Yeah, I do. They have each other. What more could they need?"' he asked looking over at him as they drove out of sight.