As Bizarre as It Gets

I mouthed the words twice before they finally came out: ''What happened?''

''Everything is gone wrong, Carly...''

''What is?!'' I was starting to painc.

''I-I'm at the old Spielhaus. Tonight is the German Grand Prix, you know... The contest that's held before the Eurovision...''

''Yeah, I know what that is. Go on.''

Tonight will turn into a complete disaster. Strify has laryngitis, he hasn't spoken in days. I have no idea how we're gonna pull this off...''

''Yu, calm down. Take a deep breath. Everything is gonna be ok. There are a lot worse things than laryngitis.''

''But this is the first big break we got and we're about to blow it,'' his voice began to crack. He was quiet for a while.

''Look... I can start packing now and call the bus station but I can't be there before morning.''

''Thank you,'' he sighed in relief.

''I'll see you at your place.''

''Ok. I'll be hiding under the bed.''

''Don't be so dramatic. You'll be fine,'' I reassured him and said goodbye.

My heart beat like a drum and a smile spread itself all over my pale face. I saw I was still holding a fistful of sleeping pills. Who needed sleeping pills while being high on love? I threw them into the air and started dancing around the bathroom.

I left a note to my parents saying I needed to go back to Berlin to be with my love because he needed me. That must have sounded crazy to them because I'd never told them about my relationship. On the other hand, now they could put two and two together and figure out why I'd been moping around for months.

The smile never left my face the entire bus ride. I was looking out the window admiring the beautiful view of the mighty Alps. And when the night fell and the other passangers fell asleep, I still listened to Lacrimas Profundere and looked out into the pitch black night. I felt my heart burn with impatience and excitement.

Some time around five in the morning, or so I believe, I got out of a cab right in front of their building.

I pressed the buzzer and the voice from the speaker shouted: ''Carly?!''

''Yes, it's me.''

Then I could hear the high-pitched humming sound of the lock. I pushed the door open and walked towards the elevator. It was out of order. Perfect. Now I had to climb all the way up. I only made it to the first floor when I heard somebody running towards me from upstairs. It was Yu.

Before I could even say hello, he pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.He eventually let me out of his grasp and studied my face like it was an extremely unusual sight he saw for the first time.

''You hair has grown,'' he noticed, running his fingers through my purple layered hair that fell on my shoulders.

Yeah. And you've cut off some of yours,'' I said and examined his strangely non-symetrical black hair, streaked with a few red strands.

''Are you mad at your hair or something?'' I teased.

''Or something,'' he teased back and took the backpack off of my shoulder. The two of us started climbing up the stairs holding hands.

''How did the Grand Prix go, anyway?''

''Oh, we blew it.''

We snuck into the apartment and into his room. Strify and Kiro were both asleep. I sat down on Yu's bed and rubbeded my neck. I'd thought those twelve hours on the bus would kill me. He sat behind me and rubbed my back with skillful movements.

''Damn, you're good at this,'' I moaned.

''That's not the only thing I'm good at,'' he whispered and kissed my neck.

His hands snaked around my body and settled on my breasts. He sucked on my neck as if he was actually trying to draw blood from it.

''Ok, slow down, Lestat,'' I said and skwirmed away from his grasp.

The look in his eyes told me he didn't notice the joke. He was looking at me the way starving beasts look at their prey.

''I feel hunger for you,'' he said in a deep voice and once again put his arms around me.

''I need you to promise me something,'' he continued.

''What is it?'' I asked.

The silence fell all around us. I hadn't even noticed how quiet and dark the room was until then.

''Promise what?'' I asked again.

''Promise me the last three months never happened,'' he said at last and put his head on my shoulder.

''What do you mean?''

''Tell me that you can forget everyting from that telephone call last December 'till today. Promise me that the whole time we were asleep and it was all a dream,'' his tone got somewhat desperate. He was starting to scare me.

''Yu... I promise.''

He sighed in relief and his hands slid away from my body like it was finally safe to let go of me.

''I'm gonna take a shower and then we'll catch a few hours of sleep. How does that appeal to you?'' I asked.

''It sounds perfect.''

Yu kissed me on the cheek, got out of his jeans and t-shirt and crawled into his bed.

I took the spare underwear and an oversize KoRn t-shirt from my backpack and went towards the bathroom.

The hot water washed away all the dust, dirt, worries, sorrows and insecurities off of me. I slid down the cold tiles and sat in the tub, hugging my knees. My head fell on the edge of the tub and my eyes were closing. I wasn't willing to risk falling asleep so I quickly got out of the tub and put a towell around myself.

In a matter of minutes I was back in Yu's room. He'd fallen asleep so I carefully snuck into his bed, trying not to wake him. I burried my face into the pillow, taking in the scent of the familiar perfume and fell sleep tugging at my consciousness.

The perfect silence was interrupted by a caugh coming from behind the wall. Seconds later there was another one. And another one. And another one. I went out of the room.

A pot. Sugar. Milk. I put all of that on the kitchen counter and lit the stove. I put sugar into the pot and stirred until the sugar melted. I poured the milk on top of that and the sugar formed into a solid substance. It took some more stirring for the sugar to melt completely. I poured the milk into a mug, filling the kitchen with the sweet scent of caramel. I took the mug and went to knock on Strify's door.

He opened the door and looked at me through his blonde fringe. It took him a second to react.

''Carly!'' he said a little louder than was appropriate for that time of night. Or morning.

In the dim light that came from his room I could see a wide smile on his face. He moved away from the door so I coud step in and I handed him the steaming mug. He looked a little confused but obviously interested in the hot sweet drink.

''Yu told me about you laryngitis. Drink that and it will at least stop that tickling feeling in your throat,'' I explained.

''Are you sure?''

''I have a singer in the family.''

Strify was obviously uncomfortable. He sat on his bed next to me and held the cup in both his hands, looking at it with down cast eyes. He was wearing a silky blue pijama that glistened under the light of the bedside lamp.

''I'm sorry I'm keeping you awake,'' he croaked. His voice was in a pretty bad state.

''That's ok. Don't talk if it hurts.''

''Fuck that. I'm so glad you're here. When did you arrive?'' he croaked again.

''Around five, I think. Yu called me yesterday from the old Spielhaus and I hopped on the first bus to Berlin.''

''Wow. He is one lucky guy if you forgave him for all the girls.''

My stomach tied itself into that well-known knot.

''What girls?'' I asked as calmly as I could.

Strify gave me a frightened look. He'd said too much and he couldn't take it back.

''Oh, gods,'' I said and burried my face in my hands.

''I'm so sorry... I thought you knew,'' he said and put his hand on my shoulder.

''He had thought I'd cheated on him so he fucked everything that had tits,'' I concluded.

Strify was silent. We sat like that for a while. He took a sip of milk.

''This is awesome,'' he commented.

''Thanx,'' I said and felt a dismal smile form on my face.

''He was very unhappy without you. He couldn't cope with the way the two of you split up and he dealt with it in his own way. But two weeks ago we did a magazine interview and the journalist asked us about girls. Yu said: 'I'm in love, she is a writer and her name is Carly Graves.' My jaw dropped.''

The things he said were sinking in for some time. All the words he'd said were rampantly flying through my head like a flock of rabid bats.

''Carly?'' Strify snapped me back to reality.

''I... I'm just... I can't go back there right now,'' I said and it sounded to me like my own voice was coming from a great distance.

''Then don't,'' he replied and got into his bed. He was looking at me questioningly until I lay down next to him.

We said goodnight and I turned my back to him, looking intensly into the dark. Morning was approaching.

It hurt me so much to know about Yu's women. I tried to reason with myself but my heart wouldn't listen. The overwhelming pain was mixing with the feeling of pure bliss knowing that he loved me. The tears fell silently from my eyes and onto Strify's pillow. He scooted closer and put his arm around my waist. I closed my eyes waiting for the sleep to take over me.