"Dum dum da da dum dum."

Roger sat on the torn, tattered couch in the loft, tensely strumming away on his guitar while Mark was busy in his bedroom, dressing himself for his date. He and Caroline had being going out for the last three months and today was the anniversary of those three months, so naturally he had to look good. Roger giggled to himself as he heard his friend humming.

"Hey Mark? You done in there?" he yelled suddenly.

Mark's voice came through his door. "Yup, almost. Lemme just get the buttons done on this shirt." Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!!" said Roger. He placed his guitar on the side, hopped off the couch and answered the door. There stood a young, pretty brunette girl of about 22, wearing a brown skirt, yellow top and a crushed, brown wrap around her shoulders, smiling excitedly.

"Hey Roger," she said warmly.

Roger smiled that cool, confident smile of his. "Hey Caroline." She gave him a quick hug and kiss as a greeting and slowly walked into the living room.

"Is Mark ready yet??" she asked.

"Roger!! Tell her I'll be there soon!! I just gotta finish shaving!!" yelled Mark as he suddenly darted from the bedroom to the bathroom. Roger looked sheepishly at Caroline, who smiled shyly. Roger brought her a glass of cordial, the only good thing in their fridge, and the two of them sat quietly on the couches while they waited.

"So," began Roger as he picked his guitar up and settled it in his lap. "How's the New Age store going?"

"Oh great. Great," said Caroline as she slowly sipped her cordial. "We just hired a new fortune teller, so……that should, you know, pick up more business for the store."

"MMmmm. Sounds good." The rock star shifted his weight on the couch, as he tightened the strings on his guitar. "So, where you guys headed off to today?"

Caroline suddenly sat up, her grin spreading across her face and her eyes bright and animated. "There's this really amazing craft fair going on near Central Park, and I was really eager to check it out, so I thought I'd take Mark along too. They've got this Ukranian lady who makes like, these hand-made beads that actually have these tinier beads inside, and then she glazes them with…………"

Roger watched her as she babbled on about some kind of Russian jewellery, his own eyes suddenly glazing over. He tried his best to keep from yawning as she went on and on and on. It's not that he didn't like Caroline; she was a really sweet, good-natured girl and she did like Mark. In any other given circumstance, Roger would have loved Mark to date her. But not in this scenario. If Roger didn't have such a huge crush on Mark for the last three years, he wouldn't have minded her. If Roger didn't have wet dreams about Mark every single night, he wouldn't have minded her. And if Roger didn't sometimes linger outside Mark's door while he slept just to listen to him breathing and watch his chest rise and fall as he did so, he would not have minded her. In fact, he probably would have picked her out for Mark himself. He really did like Caroline. He just had to find a way to make Mark his without causing too much of a mess between them.

Caroline was still going on about the craft fair when she was suddenly interrupted by a door slamming open. "Ok, I'm done!!!" exclaimed Mark as he stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a black, button-down shirt and khaki pants, and his face clean shaven. His girlfriend smiled when she saw him.

"Hey Markie!! You look so adorable!!" she squealed. Mark blushed slightly, then pulled her close and kissed her warmly.

Roger cringed internally as he watched them. Why he'd wanna date a woman who sounds so much like Maureen is beyond me, he thought to himself. She picked up glass to finish her cordial, but in her excitement, accidentally spilled some onto her wrap.

"Oh no!! This is my favourite wrap!!" she whimpered, reluctantly pulling it off her shoulders and examining the sticky, green stain.

"Hey, don't worry, Carra. It'll dry up," said the young Jew, trying to reassure her.

"But then it'll become all sticky!!"

"Here, I'll clean it for you," offered Roger. He took the wrap from her, went to the bathroom, washed the stain out as much as he could, and came back out. He wrung it dry and shook it a few times. "There. It's a hot day outside, so it should dry very quickly."

Caroline smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks Roger," she said, taking the wrap from him. She and Mark said goodbye to him and then left the loft. Once they left, Roger plopped himself back on the couch, a slow smile spreading across his face. If his plan worked, Mark should be coming home alone tonight.

Six o'clock rolled by, and Mark stomped into the loft, slamming the door behind him. He planted his butt onto the couch and sat there quietly, his arms folded in front of him and his face in a scowl. Wow, he's actually early, thought Roger, who was in the kitchen making canned tomato soup on the hotplate. Leaving the hotplate on low, he wandered into the living room and sat next to Mark.

"Hey. Had a good date?" he asked.

Mark didn't move a muscle. "No. We broke up," he replied mutely.

"What?!? But, why??" asked Roger, feigning shock.

"I smelt some other man's cologne on her. And when I asked her about it, she acted all innocent and said he didn't know anything about it. She thought I was stupid!!"

Roger sighed and pulled his friend close to him, then grinned wickedly. "I told you she was a lot like Maureen, didn't I??" Mark nodded slowly, a few tears slowly collecting in his eyes. "C'mon, you did the right thing. Who needs a slut like her, anyway?? At least she didn't leave you for another woman," he added with a chuckle.

Mark sobbed quietly as he hugged his friend back. "But I really liked her, Rog. Why does this always happen to me??" he whimpered.

"Because these women don't know how to make you happy," said Roger, gently rubbing his back. "At least, not in the way I can," he whispered. Mark suddenly pulled away and stared at Roger in disbelief. Roger moved closer and closer to Mark, his warm breath tickling Mark's skin, and pressed his lips softly against his best friend's. Mark froze for a few seconds, trying to process what was going on, and then found his arms slowly wrapping themselves around the rock star's shoulders and pulling him just a tiny bit closer while he responded to the kiss. Roger wrapped his arms around the smaller man's waist and held him warmly. He gently brushed his tongue against Mark's lips, which slowly parted and allowed Roger's tongue to make contact with his own, producing a loud, excited moan from Mark's throat. Roger smiled into the kiss and leisurely caressed Mark's tongue with his own. He cupped the back of Mark's head with his strong hand as he moaned softly himself.

When they finally broke apart to replenish their oxygen supply, Mark gazed at Roger, his cheeks bright red and his eyes sparkling as he tried to catch his breath. "You really think you can make me happy?" he whispered.

"Of course I can," whispered Roger back as he gently ran his thumb across Mark's warm, wet lips. Mark's lip quivered as he stared into Roger's eyes.

"Well then, I'll hold you to that," he mumbled, a shy smile spreading slowly across his pale face. Roger smiled back. Little did the Jew realise that while Roger washed Caroline's wrap in the bathroom, he 'accidentally' spilled the last remnants of his own cologne on it then disposed of the bottle later on. Poor, sweet Caroline. I do hope she understands, he thought to himself.

THE END!!

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