A.N.:

Hey guys. Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who left a review. I'm really glad you like the story. I'm still in the process of writing it but hopefully I will be able to update at least once a week. As some of you might have noticed already, I'm not a native speaker. There might be some grammar errors and some stuff that might sound a little of because of that. Hope you like the update. On with the story.

It had been a week since that very strange message from Stephanie and so far Doug and Stu were still hoping and waiting for the joke - or whatever else it was Phil was playing at - to clear and for them to hear from their friend. But there had been nothing, not so much as a peep and by now Doug and Stu were no longer angry, they were plain worried. They had kept to Stephanie's request and had not called again but it was getting ridiculous. A person didn't just drop out of your life without warning and without a word of goodbye. You didn't do that, especially not to friends you had known since childhood. They deserved better than that.

Explaining the whole situation to Alan had been another trying challenge. They had finally decided to take the trip early the next morning and go to the baptism alone. Alan had been truly upset when it only had been the two of them arriving in Mexico. He had wanted to blow off the whole ceremony and it had taken a lot of convincing from Stu and Doug and even more head butting from Cassie for him to agree to go through with the baptism anyway.

They hadn't said a single word about Phil for the rest of the weekend and the two friends knew that Alan was mad with Phil. He had every right to be. This whole vanishing act was stupid and wrong and quite frankly insulting. And it was especially hard on Alan who had always looked up to Phil. He felt betrayed and there was nothing Doug or Stu could say or do to make that feeling go away.

The trigger for them coming together again to try and piece together what the hell was going on here had been a call from Alan. Apparently he had sent a letter to Phil's house the evening after the baptism ceremony. He had driven all the way to the American border so that it would arrive in LA quicker. It probably had been full of hateful words, but obviously they had never reached Phil. The letter had been returned to sender - unopened and unread. That had been the moment for Doug to decided, that this went to far. Phil could shut himself out of their lives, but he had no right to insult or humiliate them. And not answering calls, not explaining himself and sending back letters, meant for him to read, was just plain wrong.

Stu had voted for another round of phone calls, but Doug had disagreed. He was sure they wouldn't get an answer, neither from Steph nor from Phil. But there were other ways to find out about them. Other ways to put the ball back in their court and wait what would happen. So Doug had come up with the idea of calling Phil's workplace. Surely the school could help them with a message. That was what they had met for this afternoon and Doug was on the phone right now.

"Los Angeles Harrison All Boys Academy, Administration Office, my name ist Cindy, how may I help you?"
"Hi there Cindy, my name is Doug. Look, I know this is a rather odd request and I know it's the middle of classes but I need to reach one of your teachers. It's sort of an emergency."

"I could have one of the kids on administrative work duty get a message through if you like."

"That would be great. Just... just have it say that Doug called and that it's really important that he calls me back. The message is meant for Phil Wenneck."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line and Dough felled goosebumps prickle up and done his spine. He was taken aback when the young woman from the Administration Office spoke again, sounding sincerely apologetic and just a little bit nervous.

"Oh I'm sorry. But Mr. Wenneck is on sick leave. You wouldn't be able to reach him here and were not allowed to give out private information."

"That... that's okay. But surely he'll be back soon? Maybe I can try again next week?"

"I'm sorry, but that won't work either."

"What does that mean?"

"His sick leave has been marked as indefinite. I couldn't tell you when he will be back to work. Once again, I'm sorry."

"No, that's okay Cindy. Thanks for your help."

Doug ended the call but just couldn't bring up the courage to turn around and face his friend. He had no idea what to make of this call, but that unsettling sick feeling in his gut had returned with a vengeance. He licked his dry lips, realizing only now that he had been holding his breath and breathed in deeply before turning around to Stu.

"Something is seriously wrong. And I don't care what Stephanie said or what she wants and I don't care that Phil obviously decided to ignore us. We are going over there. And we are not leaving until we know what the hell is wrong with him!"

"Doug you're scaring me. What did that woman from the school tell you?"

"She told me that Phil is on sick leave. Indefinitely."

Stu took just a moment to digest the news before he grabbed his jacket.

"Let's go."

The next fifteen minutes - a drive they had done so many times before - felt like the longest of Doug's life and he had been in a couple of fucked up situations that had been seriously bad. Situations in which he had been threatened with a gun, had backed in the sun on the rooftop of a hotel with no water or shade. He had lived through some pretty serious trouble and most of it due to some stupid decision his friends had made. But this was way scarier than anything he had ever experienced before. In all these situations he had always known that his friends would come through for him, that he could count on them. But this was different. There was something going very wrong and right now he had no idea how to handle it - whatever 'it' was. They just had to take it one step at a time.

This time Doug didn't bother to find a parking spot. He parked right behind the minivan, blocking the other cars exit to the street and barely had enough patience to wait on Stu to follow him to the front door. His friend seemed just as determined as he was himself. They walked up to the door, rang the doorbell, rang it again after a couple of moments and by the time Doug had his finger on the button for the third time, the door was unceremoniously ripped open and Stephanie was standing in front of them.

"Jesus! Are you guys crazy?! Stop mistaking our goddamn doorbell for an alarm clock!"

Stu blinked, blinked again and shared a quick look with Doug. He was taken aback by the way Stephanie looked. He had never known her to be anything but perfect. A good dresser, beautiful hair, a nice touch for make up. But right now she was in a pair of sweat pants and a sweatshirt that was not hers but Phil's. Her hair looked disheveled, there was not a smudge of make up on her face to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She looked awful - there was no other way to put it and Doug put it in exactly that words.

"Holy shit, Steph... What happened to you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a mess."

"Well thanks a lot Doug. I appreciate you coming all the way out here and taking a friend with you to tell me how awful I look. I can't thank you enough. Now will you please leave?!"

"No."

It took Stu quite a lot of courage to tell Stephanie - especially one that was so angry and sarcastic - off. He had been in a long term relationship with a woman who always talked to him like this and the memory would never be a fond one. But this wasn't about him and it wasn't about Stephanie. Stu crossed his arms and engaged in a staring contest with her he hoped he could win.

"We didn't come her to insult you and you know that. We're here for Phil."

"I told you Phil wants nothing to do with you anymore!"

"And I don't believe that. Phil's a grown up guy and I have never ever seen him back out of certainly wouldn't send you to tell us off. He would have done that himself. I just don't think you're telling us the truth."

"I don't give a damn what you think."

"Fine. And quite frankly I don't give a damn what you want. We're coming in, period."

Stephanie was about to protest but didn't even get out the words before she was unceremoniously shoved aside. Stu gave her an apologizing look but couldn't bring himself to actually say the words. He was with Doug on this one. They did the right thing coming here, confronting their childhood friend. It was the only decent thing to do. Doug had stopped in the hallway, hands on his hips.

"Phil?!"

"Jesus, Doug! Be quiet! You're waking him up!"

She bit down hard on her lip the second she realized that she had given away that Phil was here. Stu didn't hesitate. He had been in this house often enough to know where the bedroom was. He knew it was rude and a total invasion of privacy but this stupid cat and mouse game with Phil hiding behind his wife had gone on for long enough now. Behind them Steph was shouting and then quickly following them up the stairs but not quick enough to stop Stu from opening the bedroom door.

The sight overwhelmed him. Being more precise it wasn't exactly what he could see. The shades were drawn and there was only a dim light illuminating the near vicinity of the bedroom window. It was the smell that shook him to the core... There was an unmistakable odor of stale air, of sweat and an even sweeter stench of vomit. All in all it smelt very distinctively of sickness. Despite everything his instinct screamed at him, Stu took a step closer to the king-size bed the couple shared.

The dim light made it impossible to get a good look at Phil but even so Stu could have a good look at the prone form of his friend lying in bed. Even on the worst hungover mornings in Vegas or Bangkok he had never seen Phil look like this. His complexion was pasty, not white but almost ashen and a fine sheet of sweat was covering his face. He looked unmistakably sick and the bucket next to the bed - that Stu did not take a closer look at - was testimony enough of his illness... Stu took a step back, swallowed hard and left the room, carefully closing the door behind him. In the hallway Stephanie stood with tears in her eyes, her hands balled to fists, her whole body trembling, using every ounce of self restraint she had to keep her voice down, hissing at them instead of yelling.

"Are you happy now?! Are you done invading our privacy? Have you seen everything you came here for? Has your curiousity been satisfied?! I told you not to come here! I told you to leave him alone! But no! You don't have the slightest amount of decency on you and just respect and abide by our wishes. You had to come anyway! How dare you!?"

Doug finally stopped Stephanie's angry rambling by putting both of his hands up in the air in a gesture of retreat. They had never meant to hurt her or fight with her and they certainly hadn't meant to invade Phil's privacy like this. But they were his friends and they had always looked out for one another. This situation was no different and that was what Steph had to understand.

"Steph, please... We were just worried. We still are. Now more than ever! What on earth is wrong with him?"

For a moment she hesitated and Doug could perfectly see that internal struggle going on as she tried to decide if she wanted to be mad and angry some more or if she wanted to trust in the genuine worry and concern that was etched into both Dougs' and Stus' voices and faces. She decided for the later, for the right thing, sighed, sniffed and ran a hand through her disheveled hair.

"Come back down and I'll make us some coffee. A hot drink and a seat will help with what I have to tell you. At least a tiny bit."