"Roger, what are you doing here? What happened to you?" Mr. Davis asked opening the door for Roger and Fiona.
"Dad, this is my girlfriend Fiona. Can we come in? Please?" he asked looking around outside.
"Sure. Sure Roger. It's nice to meet you Fiona. So, are you gonna tell me what happened to you, or not?" the older man asked opening the door wider.
"Dad, it's a long story." he told him limping into the house.
"I have time." he said looking over at his son as Fiona helped him to the couch in the living room.
"Where's mom?" he asked looking up at him as Fiona sat next to him.
"She's at bingo. She should be home soon." he said looking over at him sitting in his chair turning the television off. "So, what happened? Are you in trouble?" he asked looking over at him.
"Not exactly. Um... about 6 months ago, Collins brought Fee to the loft. She was a student of his and her fiance was after her. She saw him do something she shouldn't have seen, so he thought she would be safe at the loft with me and Mark. About a month later, we took a walk in the park and one of her ex fiance's goons saw us together. We got away from him, but we didn't leave the loft for a while. Keeping her there was the only thing I could do to make sure she was safe. But then, a few months later, we started leaving the loft and things were fine. We thought it was safe enough for her to enroll in school again. I even enrolled for a class. And things were great for a while. But then today I was jumped by a couple of guys and they beat me up trying to find out where Fee was, but I wouldn't tell them. I told them to go to hell. They must have heard a noise because they ran and left me in the alley on campus." he said looking over at him.
"Oh my God Roger. I'm so sorry. What are you gonna do?" he asked looking over at him.
"We're getting out of New York for a little while. At least until the coast is clear. We can't go back as long as Fee's life is still in danger." he said as Fiona put her arm around him.
"I'm so sorry Mr. Davis. I never wanted any of this to happen to him. I never wanted Roger to get hurt." she said looking up at Mr. Davis.
"It's not your fault little girl. That you need to let go of right now. I can see how you and my son feel about each other. There was nothing you could do." he said looking over at her. She could see where Roger got his kind eyes.
"I tried telling her dad, but she insists on blaming herself." Roger smiled looking down at Fiona.
"I tried to leave when they first saw us in the park, but Roger wouldn't let me. That's when he told me he had feelings for me. I couldn't leave him after that." she said looking down at her lap.
"I can tell he loves you very much Fiona. Roger would never let anything happen to you. And neither will we. You two can stay as long as you need to." he smiled looking over at him.
"We can only stay a couple of days at most. If we stay in one place too long, they'll find us. The last thing I want is to put you or Mrs. Davis in danger." she said looking over at him.
"We can take care of ourselves little girl. Do you two want anything to drink? I can get you a couple of beers." he offered looking over at them.
"No thanks dad. I really should stay alert." Roger said looking over at him.
"You're safe for tonight Roger. Have a beer. It sounds like you two have been through a horrible ordeal. You need to relax now." he smiled patting his sons knee before getting up to go to the kitchen.
"Thanks dad. I told you Baby. It's cool." he whispered kissing Fiona's head. "So what have you and mom been up to?" he asked as Mr. Davis returned with a few bottles of beer. He opened the bottles as he handed them out.
"Nothing much. I'm retiring in September. Your mother and I were thinking of doing some traveling." he smiled sitting in his chair.
"That's great dad. Where were you thinking of traveling to?" he asked looking over at him.
"Ireland. You know your mother has wanted to go there her whole life." he smiled taking a swig of his beer as the door opened.
"Jimmy, who's car is parked in front of the house?" a female voice asked entering the house.
"Hi mom." Roger smiled as Fiona helped him get up from the couch.
"Oh my God Roger, what happened to you? Who did this to you?" Mrs. Davis asked rushing over to her son before dropping her bag next to the couch.
"I'm fine mom. It looks worse than it is. Um... mom, this is my girlfriend Fiona. Fee, this is my mom." he smiled putting his arm around Fiona's waist.
"It's nice to meet you Fiona. Is someone gonna tell me what happened to my son, or do I have to guess?" she asked looking down at Mr. Davis.
"I'll tell you later Honey. Why don't you sit down? I was just telling Roger that we're going to Ireland." he smiled looking up at her. She looked down at him uncomfortably.
"Jimmy, can I speak to you in the kitchen please?" she asked leaving the room.
"I'll be right back." he smiled looking over at Roger and Fiona.
"Your mom's not gonna like me when she finds out how you got hurt." Fiona said as they sat on the couch.
"It'll be fine Fee. It's not your fault." he said looking down at her.
"I don't know Roger. She didn't look too happy when we wouldn't tell her what happened to you." she said looking up at him.
"Fee, it's OK. As soon as my dad tells her what happened, everything is gonna be OK." he smiled leaning over to kiss her as his parents re entered the room.
"Fiona sweetie, I'm so sorry for before. I saw Roger beat up like that and I got worried. I thought he was in trouble or something. You have to understand. He's my little boy." Mrs. Davis said looking down at Fiona.
"I understand Mrs. Davis. I never wanted anything to happen to him. You have no idea how horrible I feel about this." Fiona told her standing up from the couch.
"Sweetie, this is not your fault, OK? Roger would never let anything bad happen to you. I know he would rather it was him getting beat up, rather than you." she smiled taking the younger woman into her arms.
"Yeah well, I wish he hadn't gotten beat up for me." she told her starting to cry.
"Sweetie, it's OK. I know this has been a rough couple of months. It's OK now. We'll make sure nothing happens to you now." she said hugging the young woman.
"Fee, it's OK." Roger said standing up from the couch.
"No, it's not OK Roger. Nothing is OK about this. I love you and you got hurt. I'm sorry. Excuse me." she said looking up at him before leaving the room.
"Fee, wait." Roger called out gripping his ribs.
"Let her go son. This is a lot for a young woman to handle. She just needs time." Mr. Davis said looking over at him.
"Dad, you don't understand. When those guys took me, she told Mark that she was gonna go to this guy and tell him to let me go. She was willing to sacrifice her own life to save mine. I love her dad, I can't let her do that." he said looking over at him with tears in his eyes.
"Let me go talk to her, OK Roger? She'll be OK." Mrs. Davis smiled looking over at her son.
"Mom, just tell her I love her and there's nothing I won't do for her, OK?" he said looking down at her.
"I have a feeling she already knows, but I'll tell her." she smiled looking over at him before rushing up the stairs. When she got to the top of the stairs she noticed Fiona sitting on the floor in the hallway leaning against the wall. "Sweetie, are you OK?" she asked looking over at her.
"I didn't know which room was Roger's so, I just thought I'd sit out here." she cried looking over at her before wiping her eyes.
"We moved here after Roger left for the city. Technically, he doesn't have a room, but I've made that one his room just in case. Do you want to see it?" she asked looking down at her.
"Sure." she said before getting up.
"Now, he's never seen this room, but it looks just like his old room back in the Bronx, so I always hoped it would feel like home to him." she smiled putting the lights on in the bedroom. There was a full sized bed with heavy metal posters on the wall and a small stereo on the dresser. There were pictures of Roger hanging on the walls. Many pictures of him from early childhood leading up to high school. Even some of him singing in a band.
"This is a great room Mrs. Davis. The only pictures of Roger I've seen are the ones Mark and Collins have." she smiled looking around.
"Well, if you want to see baby pictures, you've come to the right place." she smiled putting her arm around Fiona's shoulder. "You know, he loves you very much. I've never seen my son look at any girl the way he looks at you." she said looking over at her.
"I love him too Mrs. Davis. The last thing I ever wanted was for him to get hurt because of me." she said looking over at her before going to the bed to sit down.
"It's not because of you sweetie. Roger takes care of the people he loves. You're a very lucky girl. If there's one person you want on your side, it's Roger." she smiled walking over to sit next to her on the bed.
"I am extremely lucky to have him Mrs. Davis, but why does loving me mean he has to get beat up and then have to look over his shoulder like a criminal? He never did anything wrong to anyone." she said looking over at her.
"Listen to me Fiona, I know my son is HIV positive, but I love him anyway. He didn't always make the right decisions concerning his life, but I have a feeling you're the best thing that's ever happened to him. He does not regret being with you. Even though he got beat up, he doesn't blame you. Why don't you two stay here for a couple of days until you figure out where you're going to go next? It'll give you and Roger time to re group and for him to heal." she suggested looking over at her.
"OK Mrs. Davis. I see where Roger gets his talent for winning arguments." she laughed looking over at her.
"You have no idea sweetie. Jimmy doesn't even try anymore. It's sad really." she laughed hugging her.
"Thank you Mrs. Davis." she smiled hugging her back.
"Please, call me Dana." she smiled looking over at her.
"OK Thank you Dana." she smiled looking over at her.
"Come on sweetie. You look like you could use that beer that's sitting down stairs for you." she smiled as they got up from the bed and left the room.
"I really could. Thank you." she smiled turning off the light and following Mrs. Davis down the stairs.
"Are you OK Baby?" Roger asked standing up carefully.
"Yeah, I'm OK Roger. I'm sorry about before Mr. Davis. This has just been really rough on all of us." she said looking down at Mr. Davis who was sitting in his chair.
"I understand, but I will not have you calling me anything but Jimmy. I insist." he smiled looking over at her.
"OK Jimmy. Thank you. Um, Roger did you call Collins and Mark to let them know we were all right?" she asked looking over at Roger.
"Yeah, I just got off the phone with them. They said all has been quiet so far." he said looking over at her.
"I wish they would arrest him already. At least I'll feel a little better about leaving Mark and Collins there alone." she said going over to him.
"It'll happen Baby, don't worry about it." he said looking over at her.
"Um... I'm really tired. Would you mind if I just went up to bed?" she asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go up to bed myself. I'll go get the bags." he smiled leaning down to kiss her head.
"No Roger, you and Fiona go up to your room. Your dad and I will get your bags. I think you two should stay in as much as possible. Just in case." Mrs. Davis said looking over at them.
"Thanks mom." Roger smiled looking over at her before he and Fiona headed up the stairs towards his room. "Um... which one's mine?" he asked looking around.
"Over here." Fiona smiled leading him to his room.
"Are you sure you're OK Fee?" he asked as they entered the room.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Now I know where you get your kind heart from." she smiled looking over at him.
"What did you and my mom talk about?" he asked sitting on the bed.
"How much you love me and how you have no regrets about us. Even though you got beat up." she smiled sitting next to him looking around the bedroom at the pictures on the walls.
"I don't, you know. I could never regret us." he smiled reaching up carefully to caress her face.
"I know, me neither." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.
"Knock, knock. Is everyone decent?" Mrs. Davis asked knocking on the door.
"Yeah mom, come on in." Roger called out putting his arms around Fiona.
"You two make a beautiful couple." Mrs. Davis smiled looking over at them before she and Mr. Davis put the bags down in front of the dresser.
"Mom, you're not gonna be doing that the whole time we're here, are you?" Roger asked smiling up at his mother.
"I can't help it. You two do look beautiful together." she smiled looking down at them.
"Come on Dana. Let's let the kids get ready for bed. I'm sure it's been a long day." Mr. Davis said taking his wife's hand.
"OK. Good night you two. We'll see you in the morning." Mrs. Davis smiled looking down at them.
"Thanks mom." Roger smiled looking up at her.
"Good night Dana. Thank you for everything. Really." she smiled getting up to hug the older woman.
"Now you stop right there. I told you, we're gonna do everything we need to do to make sure you're safe." she smiled looking over at her.
"Thanks anyway." she smiled looking over at her before the older Davis' left the room.
"My mom really likes you." Roger smiled getting up from the bed carefully.
"I can tell. What did you do that they're trying to pawn you off on me?" she joked looking over at him laughing.
"You think you're funny, don't you?" he asked reaching out for her.
"Roger, be careful. Your ribs." she smiled looking over at him.
"Nothing is gonna stop me from hold my girl in my arms." he smiled kissing her head.
"I love you so much Roger." she smiled leaning up to kiss him.
"I love you so much too Fee. You have no idea." he smiled holding her in his arms.
"Yeah I do Baby. I know exactly how much you love me." she whispered looking up at him.