Healing

Mark Cohen's sister has been missing for the last three years. She left one year after having showed up at his doorstep unannounced and looking for his help. Now she's back. Rachel Cohen is older and wiser and this time Mark's the one who needs her. He needs her more than he's willing to admit. Can he forgive her for running away and accept the help she's willing to give? More importantly, how does Mark's roommate Roger Davis fit into the story? Read it and find out ;)

Chapter 1

Mark Cohen walked over to his front door and opened it. He was ready to tell his roommate Roger off for running away on him again. He was tired of his shit and it was after midnight, he and John really needed their sleep.

"Roger what the f-" Mark froze when his eyes landed on the woman standing in front of him. He hadn't seen or heard from her in three years.

"Surprise?" she asked giving him a shy wave of her hand.

"Rachel, what are you doing here?"

She smiled and shrugged. He could only stare. She looked beautiful. Her strawberry blonde hair had grown out into long waves that hung past her shoulders, and her blue eyes looked brighter than he'd remembered them. Funny, he'd always thought she'd be in rough shape the next time he saw her again.

"Well aren't you going to let your little sister in, Marky?"

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts Mark said, "Yeah. Come in, come in."

She pounced on him the minute she was in the door, trapping him in a bear hug. He couldn't contain the laugh that erupted out of him. She'd always been so expressive.

"Whoa Rache, don't squeeze too hard."

She smiled. "Always a wimp."

"That's not- Rachel, what are you doing here?"

"What? A girl can't come and visit her big brother?" Her attempt at nonchalance fell flat when she saw the pointed look he was giving her. "Okay, I heard about John and I wanted to be here to help. I wanted to be here for you."

Her playfulness and banter had been cute, he'd missed her, and while it was sweet of her to come back in his time of need, he just couldn't let her get away with it. She needed to know she couldn't just waltz back into his life and pretend like nothing had ever happened.

"I haven't seen you in three years Rachel! You can't come here and expect everything to be okay. You disappeared one day without a word. Your willingness to help John and I doesn't erase that. I shouldn't have been punished for whatever happened between you and Roger."

He saw the tears in her eyes and he felt badly, but he had to get this out he couldn't let her get away with this; she was old enough to take responsibility for her actions now. No more babying her.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I was young and stupid and naïve, but Mark," she took his hands in hers, "I am so sorry. I should have called. I should have stayed in touch. I let my pride get in the way instead and I acted like a spoiled brat."

He didn't know what to say. He'd expected her to argue like she always did, to blame everyone else. Maybe she had grown up after all.

"I love you, Mark. You're my big brother, please let me help you. Let me be here for you. Forgive me."

He felt his eyes well up. How could he stay angry at his baby sister? Rachel had always been the sweet one. She'd always looked up to him and wanted his attention. That's why she'd shown up at his doorstep the first time. She had quit college and was afraid to tell their parents. She'd shown up looking for his help. She wanted to live like he did. Of course that hadn't been what she'd told him. She had shown up offering her help. You need someone to help you keep your filming organized. Let me be your intern. Trust me, you won't regret it. Even then she'd known he had a soft spot for her. Of course he had let her help him. Because he thought it was for college. Even after he found out she wasn't even in college anymore he let her stay on. She had hurt him when she left so abruptly three years ago and he'd realized that he needed her just as much as she'd needed him.

"No one would tell me where you were." He came back to reality and reliving the pain of losing her.

"I didn't tell anyone."

"Was it that bad? Roger never said…" he trailed off because Roger had said. He's told his side of the story though, not hers.

She shook her head, unwilling to talk about it. "Cindy said you'd had a falling out. I think that was my fault and I'm sorry."

"Cindy doesn't know what she's talking about." Their eldest sister had always been a gossip. Yes, he and Roger had stopped speaking after Rachel's disappearance, but they'd had a good talk a week later and he came to understand that the blame didn't fall solely on the rocker. "When did you speak with Cindy? Is that how you found out about John?"

"I bumped into her by accident. It was at a store, I wasn't looking for her. Anyway, I had to make her swear not to tell mom and dad she'd seen me. I'm sure she did anyway." Rachel rolled her eyes and Mark smiled. Their older sister was impossible. "She told me about John and I knew you needed family. I mean Roger's a good friend but…" They both knew Roger wasn't the best in a crisis. "So, can I stay?" she asked in a whisper.

"He still lives here you know." Better to tell her now before she found out on her own. "He took off about a week ago. I haven't seen him since. You know how he is. He's scared. But he'll be back, he always comes back." Roger could come back at any time without warning and he needed to know if she could handle him being there.

She nodded. "I'm here for you Mark."

He smiled ironically. "That's what you said the last time."

She slapped his shoulder. "Shut up."

He pulled her in for a hug. "I missed you, sis. Come on, you can stay in Collins old room."

"What happened to Collins? He didn't-" She covered her mouth in a panic.

Mark pulled her hand away. "Relax, he's fine. He moved out. He has an apartment closer to NYU now."

Rachel visibly relaxed. She'd gotten along well with her brother's roommate and was afraid to have lost someone else because of her stupidity. She let out a little squeal, picked her bag up and followed her older brother to her room.

Once she was settled Mark grabbed the doorknob to leave but she took his hand and held him back. "How is he?"

Mark looked down at his feet. "Okay. He's sleeping."

Rachel gave a gasp. "He's here? Why didn't you tell me? I've been making a ruckus."

He shrugged.

"Mark! When did he come home? I thought he was in the hospital."

"Today. He didn't want to be there anymore. We thought it best for him to be comfortable, be near me when…" He couldn't finish that sentence, not without falling apart and it was late, he needed to sleep.

Rachel hugged him again and he realized how much he needed the comfort. All this time he'd been dealing with this alone. Roger had taken off scared- as always, and he'd been left to carry the burden alone.

Stepping away from their embrace he said, "I'm tired. I'm going to go check on him and go to bed."

She nodded. "Okay, good night Marky."

He smiled at the endearment, gave her hand a squeeze and left.