Angel's POV when Angel and Collins first meet and their first kiss. Fluffy, sugary sweetness.

It was just an ordinary night. I was playing my pickle tub. It was sort-of a way to relax. Even though there was no need for the money right now, I had made $1500 from a lady in a limousine that wanted me to kill her neighbors dog, I loved drumming, so I kept doing it. In the freezing cold. On Christmas Eve.

'10 more minutes' I told myself. Then I'll go back to my apartment.

Suddenly, I heard the moaning of someone who was hurt. I saw a man limping and holding his stomach. I stopped drumming and climbed down from my tree.

"You okay, honey?" I said.

"I'm afraid so." His voice made my heart flutter. I'd seen some men go running by a couple minutes ago. I had seen them before. They beat people up to get money. They beat me up once, before I realized it was much smarter to drum out of drag.

"They get any money?"

"No. Had none to get, but they purloined my coat. Well they missed a sleeve." He said, holding the wad of fabric up at the sky, angrily. I walked over to him and handed him a piece of cloth to clean the blood off his knee. "Thanks."

"Hey. It's Christmas Eve." I set my pickle tub down and sat on it. "I'm Angel." I said, trying to start up a conversation with this man that seemed to make my heart go wild.

"Angel…" He repeated, looking down at his knee. He looked down at me as I looked up at him. Our eyes met and (although it sounds so cliché) fireworks went off. "Indeed." He said, looking right at me. Some how, I could tell he was feeling the same way. "An Angel of the first degree. Friends call me Collins. Tom Collins." Collins. It was such a simple but amazing name. It seemed to fit him perfectly. He grabbed my hand and looked up at my tree. "Nice tree."

"Let's get a band-aid for your knee." I had learned from several other boyfriends that it was best to just tell them I had AIDS up-front. If I waited, then it would just get more complicated. And if they just ran away, then I wouldn't be wasting my time with someone I could never be with. "I'll change. There's a life-support meeting at 9:30. Yes, this body provides a comfortable home for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome." I looked at him to see if he would run. He actually did the exact opposite of that.

"As does mine." I could hardly contain my excitement.

"Oh!" I squealed! "We'll get along fine! Let's get you a coat, have a bite, make a night. I'm flush." I grabbed his hand and pulled him along with me

"My friends are waiting…" He said, almost disappointed. He looked into my eyes and blushed.

I said the only thing that came to my mind. "You're cute when you blush. The more the merrier." He looked like he was about to pull back. "And I do not take no."

He smiled and limped along with me, back to my apartment, which was only a short walk away.

When we got there, I told him to sit down on the couch while I went to get some band-aids and mercurochrome. I went back to where he was and rolled up his pants to above his knee.

"Thanks." He said quietly. "Y'know…for saving my life and everything."

"It's no big deal. But, you're welcome." I said. A flirty smile came on my face. "You're all better." He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. It was sweet and soft and amazing. It was the best kiss I'd ever had. He pulled away and looked down.

"Sorry. I…um…" I shut him up with another kiss, almost better than the last.

"Wow." I said. I stared into his eyes for a moment, then snapped back to reality. "I need to get changed." I went into the bedroom and put on my favorite outfit, with a Santa coat over it. I adjusted the wig on my head and carefully applied the make-up. Twenty minutes later, I looked in the mirror and was satisfied.

This was the final "test". Most people would run away once they realized I was a drag queen, but I had a strange sort of confidence that Collins wouldn't do that. Before I walked out of the bedroom, I shouted to Collins, "I'm just warning you now, this might be a little strange for you."

I took a step out of the bedroom and into the living room. Collins looked at me for a second, then said, "You look beautiful." He offered his arm to me. I took it.

"Where to now?" I said.

"The Life Café?"

"Okay!" And we ran off together.

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xoxo Ana