Disclaimer: I don't own Collins, nor do I own Angel. They both are soul property of Jonathon Larson. I'm just borrowing them for a bit :)
Not Leaving
Collins came up from behind Angel and rested his head on her shoulder. "I love you baby," he curled up against her.
Angel relaxed into him, sighing. "What's the matter honey? Bad day at school?"
Collins nodded, pulling away from her. "Yeah… you could say that," Collins leaned against the cold, metal railing of their fire escape. "What'cha drinking?" Collins gestured to the warm mug in her hands. Angel was out of drag, just in her sweats and her red jacket.
"Honey green tea," she smiled and held it out to him. "Here, try it."
Collins placed his hands over hers, his big ones covering her small, dainty ones that were holding the mug. He brought the mug up to his lips and sipped it. "That's better than the herbal one," he smiled at his Angel. "What are you doing up here baby? It's cold, I don't want you to get sick."
She sighed and looked out into the city lights. Her expression darkened, her eyes filled with sadness. "That's just it Collins…. I am sick." She was avoiding his eyes, so he gently turned her jaw to face him. He saw tears slipping from her eyes.
"Angel… what…" Collins asked quietly. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a wadded ball of paper. As she slowly unfolded it, Collins bit his lip. "Oh no… Angelcake… the doctor's visit was today… wasn't it?" Tears falling faster now, Angel handed him the paper.
Collins cringed, fighting back his own tears now. He couldn't let her see him cry, he had to be strong for her. So he ripped it up. He tore through the T-cell chart and threw it over the fire escape and into the wind. "This doesn't matter Angel. It doesn't."
Angel sobbed into her hands. "But Collins…" she cried.
"NO BUTS ANGEL!" he was mad now. Mad at the world. Who were they to take her away from him? They couldn't. He wouldn't let them. "THIS IS A NUMBER! AND THIS NUMBER DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING ANGEL! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DIE! I WON'T LET YOU! I WON'T! YOU'RE GONNA GROW OLD WITH ME AND WE'LL GET MARRIED AND…" Collins broke down crying. He pulled Angel into a hug, squeezing her as if he were to let go, she would slip away. "It's okay Angel. I promise… I promise you're gonna be okay," Collins bit his lip, and wiped the tears from his eyes, trying to hold himself together.
"Collins… I'm sorry," Angel sobbed into his shoulder.
"No Angel!" Collins grabbed her shoulders firmly, looking her in the eye. "Never, ever say you're sorry again. This isn't your fault, you didn't want this to happen," Collins fought back his tears. He'd never seen her like this. His beautiful, confident Angel, crying scared, whimpering with fear in her eye.
"I can't leave you… not now…"
"Don't say that baby…" He kissed her passionately, wiping the tears from her face. "Because as far as I'm concerned, you're not leaving," he whispered into her ear.