Heaven comes to he who waits

Untitled Part 9

"Just try apologizing to him" Manny and Curt went back and forth about what to do with Roland. It was partly Curt's fault for the argument yesterday 

"Me? Apologize? You've got the wrong mate" Curt rolled his eyes and slumped down on Ian's couch. The three of them decided to get together and spend the night at Ian's place

"Oh Curt? There's something I need to talk to you about. Manny and I both saw you smoking yesterday, and talking to someone through the fence. Would you care to explain?" Ian was sitting on the floor across from the couch, shuffling some playing cards

Curt didn't say anything for a while. He just sat up with a glazed look on his face. "The person I've been talking to? You know him. We all do" 

"That doesn't tell us who it is" Manny butted in the conversation 

"I don't have to tell you. I've been talking to him for a long time now, he helps me with a lot" Curt shrugged, still looking off into the distance 

"We're worried about you" Ian said after a while. He couldn't take the silence 

"Don't be. The one you should be worried about is Roland" Curt went back to his normal self and scrunched his nose up when he said Roland's name 

"We are worried about him. We're worried about both of you. We need your help with Roland, though. He's in quite a situation" Ian shook his head and sighed to himself 

"What's his problem this time?" Curt nonchalantly looked over at Ian 

"In case you haven't noticed, Roland's in love" Manny whispered, when Ian looked to him to help him out

Curt turned and looked in Manny's direction. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Roland in love? Roland didn't love. "What?" 

"You heard me. Our very own Roland's in L. O. V. E." Manny enunciated on the letters 

Curt couldn't make a complete sentence. A small oh escaped from his lips. A new feeling inside of him started to swirl around, causing him to lose his breath. His stomach started to ache in a weird way. 

"I um. I should go" Curt forced himself to stand up, even though he felt like he was going to pass out. He couldn't even focus right now, all kinds of emotions were surrounding him 

"Are you okay?" Manny put a hand out to Curt, and Curt just smiled weakly at him 

"I'm fine. It's late, and sorry Ian. I prefer my bed to a couch" Curt snickered and waved to them both. He didn't give either of them a chance to try and stop him 

~

Once home, Curt locked all his doors and windows. The moment he knew he was alone, the only thing he could think about was Roland, the one person he truly loved, was in love. And not with him. Curt barely made it to his bedroom. He didn't have the strength to do anything and he was starting to feel physically sick. Why not just add to the misery? 

Curt always had a stash of alcohol under his bed. In case of emergency. Well, tonight was an emergency and he needed something to help him cope. The boys didn't like Curt drinking alone because he's the crazy drunk type. He does things he doesn't remember, or things he regrets once he sobers up 

He didn't care. He needed this. Whatever happened, happened. 

~ 

"Manny, wake up" Ian tapped Manny until Manny's eyes slowly opened and focused on him 

"You better have a good reason for waking me up. It's like 7 in the morning" Manny groaned and covered his eyes with his arm 

"It's 2 in the afternoon" Ian crossed his arms, staring down at his friend who passed out on the couch 

Manny sprang up into sitting position, and looked around. "Really? It feels so early. Have you been by the studio?" Manny yawned and stretched his arms 

"Yes, and nobody has shown up. Paul doesn't come in on the weekends. Roland's at home, he called me earlier and told me he had a really bad headache. I've heard nothing from Curt. I was going to go and check on him, and wanted to bring you" Ian relayed the information to Manny, who seemed to only process the end of what he said 

"Yeah yeah sure, I'll go with you" He swatted at Ian and held a hand out, waiting for Ian to help him get up. Once he was on his feet, he yawned and stretched again 

"Alright, let's head out" Ian nodded towards the door, and they both left the house 

On the way to Curt's house, Manny took that time to try and clean himself up as best as he could. He fixed his hair, splashed water on his face from a water bottle, and stuck a piece of gum in his mouth 

They finally arrived, and noticed that Curt's car was still here. He must be home then. Manny knocked a few times but there was absolutely no sign of Curt. Ian reached into his pocket and pulled out his spare key to Curt's house. Ian had the spare, just in case of a situation. Much like this one 

"Curt?" Ian called out when the front door was open and he walked in. There was no answer. So him and Manny checked downstairs for him, but they didn't find him 

Manny pointed to the stairs and they both went up and split up. Manny checked the guest bedroom and the bathroom, and Ian went to the master bedroom and bathroom. Ian opened the door of Curt's master bedroom. His bed was made and it seemed like Curt hadn't even come in. He proceeded to the bathroom but before he got there, Manny came up from behind and startled him 

"I didn't find him" Manny whispered, and Ian turned around quickly and sighed when he saw it was just Manny. 

Ian turned back around and opened the bathroom door. There he was. Curt was sitting in the bathtub with his eyes wide, staring right through them. He was shivering, and they both noticed he was soaking wet 

"The hell?" Manny whispered as he started to slowly approach Curt. Curt just continued to stare, as if neither of them were there 

"Curt?" Manny stopped right in front of him and knelt down in front of him. Still, he didn't move his eyes and he continued to pant and shiver. Manny looked over his shoulder at Ian 

"Curt? Can you hear me?" Ian also came closer to Curt. He stood next to Manny, and they both looked at him, waiting for an answer. But they got none 

"Curt" Manny called out again. Nothing. 

"What's wrong with him?" Manny looked up at Ian, who was studying Curt, trying to figure that out for himself 

"I have no idea. He might be sick" Ian tried to think of every possible idea

"I'm going to call Roland. He might know what to do" Manny stood up, and left the room quickly. He went downstairs and used the phone in the kitchen to call Roland 

Ian shook Curt, snapped at him, waved his hands in front of his face. But Curt still stared directly in front him, shaking and breathing heavily. Moments later, Manny rejoined them 

"Roland's on his way" He let Ian know 

"What are we supposed to do? I'm kind of freaking out here" Ian ran his fingers through his hair, looking down at Curt 

"We wait for Roland. We'll figure this out" Manny put a hand on Ian's shoulder, and they both just looked down at their helpless friend