DISCLAIMER: I do not own rent or any of it's characters sadly. D:
I stepped outside and breathed in deeply, but immediately regretted it. The polluted, New York air filled my lungs and I coughed heavily. I grabbed the railing on the balcony that I was standing on to steady myself. I felt an arm around my shoulder and a pat on my back. My coughing fit was done. I looked up the arm that was still around me and found my friend's, Mark's, face. I smiled at him. His ears turned a slight pink and he quickly removed his arm. It was obvious he had a crush on me. He grinned his cute, dorky smile at me. I giggled. His ears turned a darker shade of red and he walked back into our shared apartment.
Our apartment contained Mark and I, plus three of our other friends, Roger, Benny, and Collins. We had lived in our apartment since we moved out of our parents' houses. We had almost no money what-so-ever.
"Hey Maureen," Roger called to me, as I walked inside, "We're thinking about heading to the park. You in?"
"Totally." I said.
The park was about a block away from our apartment building. It was really just an old, abandoned play-set, but it was a nice place to just hang out since we didn't have a lot of money.
When we got to the park, I ran to the single swing that was off to the side from the rest of the playground. A bench sat nearby.
I hopped on the swing and leaned my body forward and back, slowly rocking. I looked to my left and saw the monkey bars, where Roger, Benny, and Collins were located. Roger was hanging on tightly to the middle bar, Benny behind him and Collins in front of him. The two on the ends were facing inwards. All three were kicking each other, trying to knock each other off their bar. But where was Mark?
I looked to my right and saw Mark alone on a bench, fiddling with his video camera. Mark loved film everything.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a deep breath.
"Hey Mark!" I called, "Come here and push me on the swing!"
"Alright." Mark said. He placed his camera inside his bag and laid his bag on the bench. He walked towards my swing. I looked down towards my feet, not wanting to meet his or my other friend's gazes.
I felt Mark's hands on my back and light push. I swung forward, back, and then there was another push, this one taking me higher into the air than before.
This went on for awhile, until I noticed a beetle had made its way onto my arm. I screamed and swatted wildly at the bug, my hands coming off the handles of the swing. Mark, hearing my scream and seeing my flailing arms, decided to stop the swing to see what was wrong. He grabbed only one of the handles. But he wasn't strong enough to stop the swing. I flew forward off the swing and Mark slipped and fell back.
"Ow," I moaned, as I got up off of my knees and hands. They were scraped badly.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Mark said, getting himself up from the ground. "Are you okay? Oh wow I'm so stupid . I should've known! Oh I'm so sorry. Can you make it back to the apartment?! I-I-I"
"Mark! I'm fine!" I laughed. He didn't look satisfied. He looked upset and on the verge of tears. I figured there was only one way to make him feel better and not so guilty.
I glanced towards the monkey bars. Roger, Collins, and Benny were staring at us, blank expressions on their faces. I had always cared what they thought, but I knew that had to stop if I was ever going to make Mark feel better.
I turned to Mark, who was still rambling, and put my finger to his lips. He looked down at my finger; his eyes were almost crossed. I let go slowly and he started to open his mouth to speak, but before he had a chance, I leaned in and kissed him.
When our lips touched, there was nothing nor no one I cared about. Except Mark. It felt like magic. It felt…right.
I pulled myself away from him and sighed contently.
"Better?" I asked. Mark awkwardly nodded and hurried to pick up his bag from the bench. I looked down and tucked a stray strand of my brunette hair behind my ear. Mark walked back towards home. It seemed Roger, Collins, and Benny had already left.
As Mark was walking away, I noticed something.
A new spring in his step. It was almost as if he was skipping. It was adorable. I smiled to myself as I realized that I had fallen in love with my dorky, pale-skinned friend. I caught up to Mark, flipped him around and kissed him again. We slowly pulled away and smiled at each other. We laced our fingers together and walked home as a new couple.
This was going to be the start of something great.
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