No one notices that all my shirts are long sleeves nowadays. Not even Joanne. I thought to myself as I finished drying off my hair and looked in the closet. I decided on a simple green long sleeve shirt and my black track pants. I pulled my clothes on and threw my curly hair back in a ponytail. Joanne doesn't notice anything anymore. She's too busy with work. I guess it's not a bad thing right now. I sighed and headed out of our bedroom in to the kitchen, which was annoyingly bright. I noticed something on the counter. Joanne left a note again. Without reading it I already knew what it says

Baby,

I'm working late tonight. Don't wait up. I'll make it up to you, I promise. We need some groceries. Don't forget to eat something.

Joanne

I crumpled up the note, threw it away, and grabbed a bottle of water and my oversized purse as I headed out the door. As I walked towards the grocery store, I decided to take a detour to Avenue A, for old time sake. Joanne wouldn't be back until late anyways. I passed the Space which my friends and I managed to save 2 years ago along with Tent City. Those were the days. We were all more or less happy and had great times but more importantly we were all together.

Nothing was the same after Angel died. Then when we lost Mimi and Roger, everything fell apart. As much as he hated to, Mark moved back to Scarsdale to be closer to his parents. We tried to talk him in to staying at the loft, or at least in the area, but he said he couldn't be here, not with the memory of Roger. Collins went to Philadelphia for a job. He still comes to visit every Christmas but it's just not the same.

So now it's just me and Joanne, or rather, it's just me. Joanne is always working late and when she's home she's working on a case all night. We hardly ever have time to ourselves anymore. When I try to talk to her about it, she says she doesn't have time and we'll talk later. We never do. That hurts every time. Am I not important to her anymore? She says I am, but it doesn't feel that way.

I walked past the building where Mark, Roger, and Mimi lived and where I used to live before I met Joanne. I just stood there, frozen. I looked up at Mimi's balcony where she was usually sitting on the railing smoking and one floor up at Mark and Roger's balcony where they used to throw down their keys from so we could all get in. Without realizing it, tears started rolling down my face.

"Mo?" A voice I recognized immediately asks cautiously. I turned around and sure enough there is the skinny blonde boy with glasses I knew so well.

"Mark? What are you doing here?" I said as I wiped away the tears. I went over to him and gave him a big hug

"I missed this place. Its been a while so I came down for the day to visit you and Jo and re-live some old memories. Are you okay?" He asked looking in to my eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just miss the way things were ya know?" I said as I put on a huge fake smile on my face, just the way the world is used to seeing me.

"Well, you wanna grab some lunch and catch up?" He asked. I can tell he's not entirely convinced by my happy face. Then again this is Mark we're talking about. He knows me better than anyone. Better than Joanne even. I've known Mark for 10 years. I met him the first day I moved to New York and we've been friends ever since.

"um… I uh… I gotta…" I noticed the look on Mark's face. It's a look he's given me before. I decided to go before he asked any questions "um…yeah. Sure." I said again with my huge smile. We decide on a small diner near my apartment instead of the Life. Neither one of us are ready to go to the Life again.