A/N: 'Carol of the Bells' is my favorite Christmas carol and RENT is my favorite everything so I combined the two. I don't own either. However…I would like to borrow Angel for a second. I promise I'll give her back… ;)
Oh…and I'm sorry for the odd spacing I use. It's just the way I like to write.
December 1
9:00 PM
Eastern Standard Time…
Silence…..
"I'm bored," Maureen announced suddenly, staring up at the ceiling of the loft. She stifled a yawn. Joanne gave her girlfriend a surprised look. "Couldn't you, of all people, find a way to entertain yourself?" Maureen let her girlfriend's words sink in, then turned slowly to face the lawyer, a sly smile gracing her lips. "Why,yes! I believe I can…" She leaned in to kiss her partner. Joanne smirked mischievously. She suddenly sprang up from the couch,letting poor Maureen do a face plant into the cushions. Maureen let out a muffled whine, she shot herself into an upright position,pouting.
"Pookieee!"
"Yes,honeybear?"
More pouting.
Still smiling, Joanne sighed,sitting back down on the couch. She wrapped an arm around Maureen. "We'll save that part for later,I promise." These words restored a smile back to Maureen's face. Benny, Mimi and Roger were watching this whole ordeal with amusement. Mark rolled his eyes. Angel and Collins had fallen asleep on the opposite sofa, Angel was leaning her head on Collins' chest and Collins had his arms wrapped around her protectively. "This is how boring we are…we put them to sleep!" Maureen motioned to the slumbering couple before poking Angel in the side. " Hey,don't! I was just about to film them…" Mark protested. His plea,however fell upon deaf ears. When Angel started to stir Maureen began poking Collins. Mimi consoled the filmmaker. "Don't worry,Mark. You'll get plenty of sickeningly cute moments between Angel-chica and Collins to film. It's insane." The two grinned at each other knowingly.
Angel slowly opened her eyes. "Oh, 'morning, Maureen." She smiled sleepily at her. The performance artist grinned,giving Collins one last hard poke. "Uuuuh…whatthehell…?" Collins slurred. She turned her attention back to Angel "Hey,Ang…can you or Collins think of anything fun for us to do? I'm going stir crazy here!" Angel bit her lip,thinking. She burried her face into Collins' warm chest. "Um…just give me a second,honey…"
"What about you? You're an anarchist..." Maureen prodded Collins. He squinted at her, his brain still foggy with sleep.
"What the hell are you talking about??"
Maureen sighed.
"Why don't we all go to the Life?" Mimi suggested. Maureen shrugged. "Yeah…but we always do that. I want to do something new…."
"I have an idea…" Angel piped up,she had made her way to the window,staring out at the snowy,sparkling New York night. She turned back to face the group, an excited grin gracing her features. Her eyes dancing. "Why don't we go caroling?"
More silence….
"THAT'S FUCKING BRILLIANT!!!" Maureen shrieked, bouncing over to a startled Angel,hugging her. Angel laughed,hugging her back. Mimi smiled, slipping out of Roger's lap and going over to join them by the window. "That's a great idea,Chica! I'm in!" Collins chuckled, proud of his girl. He pushed himself off the sofa and walked over to the girls,wrapping an arm around Angel. "Ain't she amazing?" Angel blushed, stretching up, she gave him a soft kiss on the lips. The four of them looked at the rest of the group.
Benny rubbed the back of his neck,sighing "I'm in if you guys are," Mimi pleaded to her boyfriend. "Come on Rog, you can sing. Besides it'll do you good to get out of the house." She pointed out. Roger rolled his eyes before grumbling something. "What?" Mimi asked. "I said "Ok"." Roger said,a smidgen louder.
Joanne and Mark were staring at the rest of them like deer caught in headlights. Joanne was paling slightly. Mark was having the opposite reaction…he was blushing like a rotten strawberry. Maureen smiled sweetly. "Please,pookie?"
"No." Joanne stated firmly.
Maureen put on her famous pout. "Why not? I know you can sing! I hear you in the shower all the time in the morning! I'm not really asleep,you know!" Joanne blushed,horrified. "Maureen…" "Pleeease?! You owe me,you know. Kissing a couch is no substitute for you!" Joanne sighed,feeling guilty now. Wordlessly she walked over to her girlfriend. "Does that mean yes?" Maureen's eyes widened. Joanne nodded,she couldn't help but smile,however, as she got tackled in a hug.. "YAY!" Maureen cheered. Now they gazed at Mark. Mark folded his arms across his chest. "You guys…I don't sing…I can't sing! Not in front of people!" "You'll be singing with us,honey. It'll be fun!" Angel comforted him. Mark shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Can't I just film it?" "No," Maureen said simply. "But I'm Jewish…" "There's always the Chanukah Song!" Maureen cracked. He was giving in. "Please,Marky…" Angel pouted."For us?"
Mark grunted. "Fine!" before stalking over to the group. "YESSS!!!" Mimi pumped a fist into the air. "Well, it looks like you got what you wanted,Mo! Uh…Maureen?" Mimi turned to look at thin air. "Where the hell did she go?"
Maureen's footsteps and laughter echoed in the stairwell. "Hurry the hell up,you guys!"
"I'm gonna puke…I don't think I can do this…" Mark whined. He eyed the apartment warily. "Come on! Yes you can!" Maureen grabbed her ex by the scarf and dragged him up the stairs with the rest of the group,cutting off his protests ( and not to mention,his oxygen). She eagerly pressed the doorbell several times. "Maureen!" Joanne grabbed her girlfriend's wrist and lowered her arm. "We don't want to piss them off!" "Who is it?" an irritated voice croaked through the door. "We're carolers,Ma'am…we want to sing to you!" Maureen grinned. Mark and Joanne traded amused glances. Surprisingly enough, the heavy wooden door opened a crack and a wrinkled,stoney face of an elderly woman appeared. She seemed to be hardened,fearful,and wary by a lifetime spent in New York. Her eyes widened slightly as she eyed the bohemians. When she caught a glance of the beautiful drag queen,however, she began to shut the door. But when they opened their mouths and started to sing the old woman froze in her tracks. The bohemians were singing 'Carol of the Bells'. Maureen and Joanne paired up on the soprano part, Angel and Mimi shared the alto role, Mark and Roger were the tenors,and Collins and Benny took on the bass vocals.
While they were singing she had unconsciously relaxed her grip on the doorknob,slowly easing the door open. She stared in silence at the young people for quite sometime before finally smiling warmly. "That was beautiful," she said softly,clearly touched. The group grinned at one another."Would you like to come in for some hot chocolate,egg nog,or cookies or something? Anything?" Angel smiled politely. "No thank you,honey. We don't want to be any trouble." The elderly woman thought for a second. "Are you sure? You look cold." Angel laughed. "Yes. Thank you anyways,hon." "Well, I can't let you kids go empty handed…here…" she snatched her purse up from a nearby table, fished through it and pulled out a wad of dollar bills and thrust them into Angel's hand before the drummer could protest. The others gaped and Angel looked up at her,shocked. "Keep it. You could use it more than I can." "Thank you so much!" Angel breathed,overjoyed. Before she knew what she was doing she leaned forward and embraced the woman in an affectionate hug. The woman hesitated for a split second,then hugged Angel back. "You're welcome. Happy holidays." With that the older woman stepped back and softly shut the door.
The friends stood around in a silent shock before Angel broke the silence. "Look,you guys!" She squealed,holding out the fan of dollar bills for them to see. Maureen snatched the money from Angel's hand and waved it in Joanne and Mark's faces with a self satisfied smirk. "You see? What did I tell you? We're rich! Now…on to the next house!"
THE END!
