...Brian looked up from his magazine when a knock came at his door. He opened it to reveal a haggard Daniel leaning on the doorframe.
“Daniel!” Brian exclaimed in surprise “what are you doing here? I thought you’d gone back to the hotel.” the numb look on Daniel’s face worried Brian.
“Darren kicked me out. Can I stay here?” Daniel replied in a flat tone. Brian nodded and moved to the side so Daniel could come in.
“Take a seat,” the singer said, indicating the black couch where he had been reading “I’ll go get you something to drink.” Daniel walked woodenly over and sat down, staring at nothing. After a moment, Brian came back and handed Daniel a beer. The guitarist drank it almost mechanically, he was starting to scare Brian with his lack of emotion. He had to somehow break the stony mask Daniel had on his face.
“Want to tell me what happened? Why did Darren kick you out of the hotel?” Brian asked gently.
“He didn’t just kick me out of the hotel,” Daniel replied, his voice beginning to show some pain “he kicked me out of Savage Garden.” Brian was incredulous.
“What??” he almost shouted. “what happened tonight?”
Brokenly, Daniel began telling Brian about the terrible argument he and Darren had. Even though Daniel was obviously trying very hard to keep himself from falling apart with grief, it was equally obvious that it wasn’t working. Near the end of his story, Daniel’s eyes were shiny with unshed tears and the mask he had kept on his face was now a mask of misery.
“Brian, I don’t know what to do,” he finished, his voice betraying a deep soul-hurt and bewilderment “Savage Garden is my life, I can’t do anything else. I can’t.” The guitarist looked at Brian with such despair that Brian couldn’t help but take him in his arms. Daniel began sobbing in big, body-wracking gulps, burying his head in Brian’s chest, oblivious to the fact that Brian was so much smaller than him.
“How could he do this to me? How could he hurt me so easily, Darren, my best friend?” Daniel murmured, somewhat muffled by Brian’s black shirt “I can’t stand it. I don’t want it to hurt so much! MAKE IT GO AWAY!” he nearly wailed, sounding like a broken-hearted child.
Brian sat silent, thinking, while he stroked Daniel hair and held him. An idea came to him.
“You really want to stop hurting?” he asked quietly.
He felt Daniel nod.
“Well, me and my valuable friend can fix all the pain away.” Brian said. Daniel pulled away from his chest and looked at him in confusion. Brian smiled in reassurance, got up and walked off into another room of his apartment. He came back with a small duffel bag, which he opened and pulled out a little bag of white powder. He tossed it to Daniel, who just looked at it uncomprehendingly.
Then Brian sat back down and took something else out from the bag: it was a syringe. Brian watched Daniel’s eyes widen and he started shaking his head.
“Daniel,” Brian said patiently, gently “you said you wanted the pain to stop. This is the best way I know how. Trust me, you’ll be ok.” Daniel was still looking at him a little doubtfully. The singer had offered him a hit many times before, while they were out partying and getting hammered, but Daniel always declined, preferring to just get drunk.
Now Daniel was at war with himself, his common sense battling with his need to stop hurting.
“Come on Dan,” Brian said coaxingly “We can share it and forget everything together, you’ll love it.” Daniel sat perfectly still, desperately trying to think of another way. But he couldn’t. So, after a moment, he slowly nodded.
Brian grinned
“You wait right here while I get it all ready, won’t take but a sec.”
...Darren lay wide awake on his hotel bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t fall asleep; every time he closed his eyes, that horrible argument with Daniel would replay in his mind. He couldn’t forget that awful look of panic and despair he had seen on Daniel’s face for a split-second before the guitarist had fled like a frightened animal.
He’s probably gone to Brian to go lick his wounds. That tart will probably do anything he asked. Darren tried to feel contemptuous again but all he felt was worried. He’d heard some things about Brian. No one would ever say straight-out anything, but Darren had heard enough whispers to feel uneasy.
I never should have let him leave. Darren thought for the hundredth time. Silently he cursed himself for always being so impulsive, there were a lot of ways he could have handled tonight better. But he had been tired and irritable and when Daniel didn’t even apologize for coming home so late, Darren had just snapped.
But, of course, how was he supposed to know I had been waiting for him? Darren groaned inwardly. Yes, he could have handled things a lot better. Thanks to him, Daniel was probably wandering the streets or staying with Brian, drowning his sorrows with....
With what, Darren? Booze? You should be so lucky. Darren bit his lip and got up quickly, afraid of the scenarios his over-active mind was conjuring. Afraid for Daniel.
Darren quickly got dressed and left the hotel, getting into his car with only a vague idea of where he was going.
Oh, this is all my fault! How could I be so stupid?