This is set in the Rent New York Theater Workshop universe. Lyrics can be found at ( www . bennytour . com / nytw / nytwlyrics1 . htm ). Just remove the spaces.
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Mark and Roger sat in their Brooklyn apartment, Mark on their battered couch and Roger on their table. It was nice to not be hounded by their ex-friend Benny for the rent anymore. But there was still something to be missed about the Alphabet City.
Roger strummed a few notes on the Fender while Mark turned his camera over in his hands, looking thoughtful.
Roger had managed to get Dave to give him his job back. Mark still had to force him to go to work, though, to keep him from getting fired again. The filmmaker would always wonder what it was that kept Roger in the apartment. Mark was outside most of the time, filming just about everything he saw. They had no form of entertainment in the apartment. No, Roger just sat there plucking out part of "Musetta's Waltz." Badly, for that matter. They both know how it was supposed to go, but Roger could never seem to get it right with few enough times to keep him from getting frustrated.
Still hadn't managed to find his right brain, it seemed.
Mimi was out of the picture, now. She would have been all the way back in Alphabet City if she hadn't left. It had been rather abrupt, but she had at least sent Roger a brief letter explaining that she was returning home. It had bothered Roger, but he couldn't be too upset. After all, the distance between them had been hard enough on the relationship. And then there had been the guy that Mimi had met at the club... Roger had always suspected that Mimi had actually run off with what's-his-face instead of going home like she'd said. He never actually said it, but Mark could tell. Mark just understood things like that.
Although they still had the car that April had left Roger, they never drove it. They never had the money to keep the tags current. And both of them secretly doubted that it ran anymore.
"What are you thinking about?" Roger asked. Mark nearly dropped his camera. It had been so quiet before Roger had spoken...when had the other man stopped playing his guitar, anyway?
"What do you mean?" Mark asked, looking at Roger.
"You're thinking about something," Roger said. He scowled a little. "God, don't tell me it's Maureen again."
"No!" Mark exclaimed, though his face heated a little. He had tried to get over Maureen. Really, he had. And at least he wasn't calling her all the time anymore. Or coming onto her. Or insisting that her "I like girls" bit was just a phase and that she'd come back to him. He'd stopped that, but he still liked her. At least she'd stopped hating him.
"Well, what are you thinking about, then?" Roger asked, setting the Fender aside.
"Christmas," Mark said abruptly.
"Christmas?" Roger asked, a little confused. Sure, it was December. But Christmas was still a couple of weeks away.
"Yeah," Mark said, leaning back on the couch and looking at the ceiling. No top story apartment this time. No illegal wood burning stove this time around.
"Why Christmas?"
Mark shrugged. "So much happened to us on Christmas these past three years. How can I not think about Christmas?"
Roger nodded a little. Mark did have a point.
Christmas three years ago...
"I still remember the look on Benny's face when his Range Rover got towed," Mark said with a laugh. "He was so pissed."
"I still say we should buy one," Roger said, grinning slightly.
"And I think we should buy two," Mark replied.
"Served the bastard right," Roger mumbled. Mark nodded in agreement.
Christmas two years ago...
"Does..." Mark started quietly. "Does Christmas make you think about her?" He didn't have to say who 'she' was.
Roger thought for a moment. Mimi had danced into his life three years ago... Two years ago, he'd been given a second chance with Mimi. It had really seemed like they were meant to be. Things didn't really turn out that way, did they?
"No, not really," Roger confessed, sliding off the table and walking across the room to sit on the couch beside Mark.
Roger didn't think of Mimi anymore when he thought of Christmas. No, instead he thought of...
Christmas last year...
"Do you ever regret it?" Roger asked quietly, reaching across Mark's lap to take the filmmaker's hand in his. He fingered the simple ring the other man wore. He wore a similar one on his own finger, but he honestly thought it looked better on Mark.
"What's there to regret?" Mark replied, smiling as he leaned closer to press a kiss to Roger's lips.
As the kiss broke, a beeper in the kitchen went off. "AZT break," Mark said softly.
"Yeah," Roger muttered. He stood up and held a hand out to Mark. The filmmaker took it, and Roger helped him to his feet.
"Home for Christmas?" Roger asked casually as they both made their way into the kitchen.
"Yeah, this year," Mark replied, smiling a little to himself. He opened the pill bottle as Roger ran water in two chipped mugs.
"Oh?" Roger asked, hiding his disappointment as he slid one mug over to Mark, then held his hand out to accept his pill. Mark dropped it into his hand, then picked up the mug.
"Yeah," Mark said. He grinned; Roger could pretend all he wanted, but Mark could always tell how he was really feeling. "I am home, Rog. Didn't you know that?" He popped his own pill into his mouth and downed the water.
Roger couldn't help but smile. "Oh yeah," he said, taking his own pill.
"Now come on," Mark said, setting his empty mug aside as he reached for his partner's hand. "You've got to play that new song of yours for me."
"New song?" Roger asked innocently as he reset the beeper.
"Yeah, new song," Mark repeated. He grinned and tugged Roger toward the table. "The one you work on when you think I'm not listening at the door."
"Oh, that song," Roger said, letting himself be led.
"Yeah, that song," Mark replied, crawling onto the table. He picked up Roger's fender and held it out to him.
"It's not finished yet," Roger said, taking the guitar as he climbed onto the table as well.
"I know," Mark said, swinging his feet a little. "I still want to hear it."
Roger smiled gently at Mark. "I love you," he said.
Mark smiled back. He knew Roger loved him, but he still loved to hear it. "I love you, too."
They shared a brief but passionate kiss before breaking apart, and Mark watched contentedly as Roger started to pluck out the song he'd been working so hard on for the past month.
It was moments like these that he knew he didn't need his camera for. Because as Roger started to sing, Mark knew that this was one of those moments he'd never forget. It would forever flicker in the 3D IMAX of his mind. That was sort of poetic, mostly pathetic, but it didn't matter. Because he had Roger, and that was all that really mattered.