A/N: OMG I have amazing news...My SCHOOL is putting on RENT!! Yeah, you probably guessed that I was the one who suggested it to the theater teacher. And auditions are, naturally, only in my grade cuz it's our grade's play. I'm trying out, that's one of the reasons I've been so busy. I'm auditioning for Mimi (cuz she's in my range and she's my favorite character who isn't a guy) and I'm really nervous. Wish me luck. My grade's small, so I have a pretty good chance, but there's a lot of girls who I think sing better than me...eep!

Okay, so I'm sorry this wasn't up earlier! I've been sooo busy. Homework. Schoolwork. Martial arts. Musical instruments. Theater. Et cetera. So this is super fluffy at the end. Hope you like it.

UPDATE: I got a few reviews pointing out that I had a lot of A/Ns. I am so dang sorry. It's a habit T.T I've removed most of them. Thanks to Ginger Glinda The Tangerine and GeekChic79 for that. Sorry!!

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Rent.

Perfect

Mimi was starting to worry. Roger hadn't been himself lately. No, not like he was sick. Just...odd. He was always off on his own. Playing guitar more. Roger went out a lot. And he always seemed to be on the phone, or at a gig. It was bizarre. Sometimes Mimi wondered if he was having an affair or something. But then, Roger would never do that. Right?

Whatever. Roger had always been a little odd. Only slightly reassured, Mimi climbed into bed. It was so cold, with Roger out on a gig and taking his warm feet with him. So Mimi climbed out of bed, pulled on a pair of socks, and went back to bed, the blanket of uncertainty surrounding her not helping to warm her.

When Roger awoke the next day, Mimi was gone for work. She always seemed to be able to slip out of bed without waking Roger. But then again, on April Fools Day a few years back, Maureen had put a full coat of makeup on Roger without waking him up. And a pair of Angel's stilettos. He was just a sound sleeper.

There was a note on her pillow.

Roger,

Gone shopping with Angel. You looked so peaceful, couldn't bear to wake you up. I'll be home around eight, I'm going to that interview for the dance school. Hope they give me the job. See you tonight! XOXO

All my love, Mimi

Roger rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. Damn! It was already almost noon! Then again, Roger had gotten home at one in the morning from his gig. But he had a day off today, since he had something...something to tell Mimi.

Roger crawled out from under the white duvet cover and got up to get ready...

Mimi trotted home after her shift, hopping occasionally around frozen puddles and snow drifts. It was cold as hell, and she shivered, pulled her leopard-print coat around her a bit tighter, and increased her pace. When she reached the apartment, Mimi fished the keys out of her pocket, opened the door to the 'lobby' that was more of a hall than anything, and headed up the stairs.

"Roger! I'm home!" Mimi called as she threw open the loft door.

There was silence. It was dark and cold in the loft.

But- Mimi was dismayed. I thought he didn't have a gig today...

Then she noticed a note, written in Roger's messy scrawl, on the dark walnut coffee table. Mimi picked it up, hoping for an explanation. She didn't get one- the note read:

Meems,

Ask Angel where she keeps her tablecloths.

Mimi was confused. Maybe Roger had gone to get a tablecloth for some bizarre reason. She decided to do as the note commanded. So the dancer grabbed the note and slid out the door, headed down a flight of stairs and knocked on the door of the Collins-Dumott-Schunard residence (a paper taped to the door proclaimed it was so). The door swung open as soon as she knocked, oddly enough.

"Mimi, chica!" It was Angel. "How are you? What's up?"

Mimi shrugged. "Have you seen Roger?"

Angel shook her head, black bangs flying.

Mimi held out the note. "I found this on the table in the loft."

Angel nodded. "Roger...a strange boy. Here." He led Mimi into the apartment, into the kitchen, and opened a drawer with a few tablecloths in it. And...another note! Mimi snatched it and read it.

Meems,

Check Mark's mailbox.

Angel raised an eyebrow. "First he commands you to barge into my house and look in my tablecloth drawer, and now you're raiding Marky's mail?"

Mimi shrugged again. "Well, I'm curious. How did this get in here?"

"I don't know. I'd tell you to ask Collins, chica, but he's not home. Maybe Collins let Roger in."

That was odd, Mimi thought. Hadn't Collins been off today? It was Sunday, for God's sake. "Oh, well." Mimi said. "Thanks anyway, Angel, for your help on this wild goose chase!" With that, the little Latina waved and ran down another flight of stairs and slid outside, holding the door open with her foot. Then she pushed up the top of the mailbox labeled MARK COHEN. It opened with a creak, and Mimi peered inside. There was another note, curled up in the box.

Meems,

Where are your boots? The ones you wore when I took you out to dinner on Wednesday.

Sighing, Mimi headed back to the loft. Throwing open the loft door, she marched to her closet and swung the door open. The black stiletto boots sat on the floor right in front of her! Weird, Mimi thought. They were up on that shelf yesterday. She picked up the boots and, standing on her tiptoes, shoved them back onto the empty shelf. As she did so, there was a funny sort of crinkling noise.

Mimi pulled the boots back down and poked a hand into them, fishing out yet another note.

Meems,

You must be cold and tired. Why don't you get yourself some hot cocoa? I think Maureen and Joanne might have some.

Mimi was starting to get frustrated. What was the point of this? But it was cold, she was tired, and hot cocoa sounded really, really good. So up three more floors to Maureen and Joanne's. She knocked three times. Even from outside, Mimi could hear Maureen belt out, "Coooooomiiiiiing!"

Maureen pulled the door open. "Hi Meems! I was just making hot chocolate. Want some?"

Mimi raised an eyebrow and held out the note. "Are you in cahoots with Roger?"

Maureen shook her head. "I have no clue what you're talking about, girl. I've been wanting hot chocolate since this morning, Mimi. What is that guy up to this time? Oh, whatever. Come on it, Joanne's in the shower," she run-on-sentence'd.

Mimi slipped into the neat, warm one-bedroom apartment and plopped down at the couple's modern black-painted-wood-glass-and-chrome table. After explaining the whole ordeal to Maureen, she sighed. "Whoof. I've been running all over on Roger's little scavenger hunt. I'm pooped." She put her head down on the table.

"Oh...that stinks." Maureen. "Hey, Meems!" Mimi turned to the sound of Maureen's voice. "Think fast!" said the diva as she lobbed a box of Swiss Miss hot cocoa packets at the dancer. Mimi plucked the box neatly from the air and opened it.

Another note lay rolled up, on top of the packages.

Meems,

All done. Time to head home to the loft.

"What?!" Mimi ran her hands through her hair. "No reward? No money? Not even an XO or a flower? Come on, Roger..."

Maureen gave her an odd look. "What are you talking about?"

Mimi waved the note in the air. "I went through all that trouble, up and down and all over, and wasted a half an hour of my time, and he didn't even leave me a flower." Mimi lamented. "Aargh!" She banged a fist on the table.

"Oh..." Maureen said understandingly. "What is his problem? Well, have some cocoa, it'll make you feel better." She placed two mugs- one with a cow on it, the other with the Harvard logo- filled with steaming milk onto the table. (A/N: Guess which is Maureen's and which is Joanne's.)

"Thanks." Mimi poured a package of Swiss Miss into her cocoa, and stirred it with a spoon that Maureen gave to her. Then she took a swig of the hot, sweet, cocoa-y liquid and sighed contentedly. Then a thought started to needle her. "Mo?"

"Yeah?"

"How did this get in here?"

Maureen shrugged, then an Ah- ha! expression lit up her face. "Roger asked to borrow some rosemary today, and I guess that's why he was rummaging in my cupboards for so long. I was wondering if you guys were having a huge herb shortage, and he was stealing all our herbs or something."

Funny. Why would Roger want rosemary? Maybe to cook with...Mimi swallowed another sip of cocoa, then realized that it was almost nine o'clock. "Oh! Damn! I gotta go, it's late! Sorry for, like, overstaying my welcome."

Maureen winked at her. "It's fine. Go on up, Roger probably has an explanation for you."

"All right. If you say so, Mo. I guess I'll see you later." Mimi said. "Say hi to Joanne for me." So Mimi stood up, waved to Maureen, and slipped out the door and down the stairs to her apartment.

The first thing Mimi noticed when she opened the door was that no one was home. The second, the note lying on the coffee table.

Meems,

Thanks for staying with this. I hope it's ok.

Oh, great. That almost sounded like...Roger had bad news. Thoughts pounded through Mimi's mind. His HIV had progressed. He was no longer in love with her. He was having an affair. He had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. He was gay...!

Then Mimi noticed a single red rose, lying in the doorway. She went and picked it up, examining it for a sign, a note, anything. Mimi did not know what to think.

Then she saw a rose petal lying about a foot away. And another. And another! It was a...trail of rose petals?

Hm...The true romantic in Mimi was curious. So Mimi followed the trail, picking up the petals and the rose as she went.

Through the bathroom, around to the kitchen, to the dining and living rooms, through Mark's room, and finally toward Mimi and Roger's bedroom.

A faint glow emanated under the door. Maybe Roger had left the lights on. Damn! Every time he did that, Mimi told him he was killing the polar bears, but he sometimes forgot anyways. Speaking of, where was he?

Mimi pushed open the door with a sigh...then gasped.

There were candles everywhere. On the windowsill, on the table, on the nightstand, on the dresser. That was where the faint glow was from. The trail of rose petals stopped at the bed, where a bouquet of red roses lay atop the duvet.

A smile lit up Mimi's face...but hey, where was Roger?

Just then, he stood up from where he had probably been crouching behind the bed. Mimi jumped.

"Meems!" Roger cried with a grin.

"AAH! Oh. Roger!" Mimi cried, also with a grin. "You did all of this?"

"Yup. How'd you like the scavenger hunt?"

Mimi rolled her eyes. "Obnoxiously fun. That's all I can say. So." She stepped forwards. "What's the occasion? Did I forget that today is Valentine's Day or something?"

Roger suddenly looked edgy. Nervous. "No...uh. Well, Meems. I..."

He turned around, straightened his t-shirt, and breathed deeply. Then he turned back around and pulled a small black satin box out of his pocket. He popped it open, revealing a beautiful gold ring with a small round diamond that shone in the candlelight set into the middle.

Mimi froze. Her mind went blank.

"Meems, from that day that you knocked on my door with that candle, I have loved you. And that's not gonna change 'til I die. We've had our rough patches, but there's never a rough patch that we won't be able to fix...You quit at the Cat Scratch for me, went clean from heroin for me. And this is the least I can do for you.

"So Maria Alicia Marquez. Will you marry me?" Roger looked into Mimi's beautiful chocolate-colored eyes, prayed silently to the lord for a 'yes'.

Mimi looked into Roger's sky-blue eyes, failed for words. For a second. Then she wrapped her arms around Roger's neck, and whispered into his ear.

"Yes, Roger Davis. I will marry you."

Roger's heart soared. Yes! Yes yes yes yes! She said yes! That's all that ran through his mind. He slipped the ring onto Mimi's finger. Then he kissed her. His Mimi, forever now.

It was blissful oblivion, just Mimi and Roger, Roger and Mimi, as she put one arm around his neck and ran the other through his beautiful blond hair. He wrapped his arms around her, and gently nudged her lower lip with his tongue.

She snaked one deft hand under Roger's shirt, and his hand found its way to the hem of Mimi's skirt when suddenly...

BANG BANG BANG.

Mimi jumped, breaking off the kiss. Roger groaned with annoyance, and ran for the door, Mimi following, then crashing onto the couch. Mimi felt like she was glowing from the inside. This was so amazingly wonderful! She loved Roger so much.

Throwing the door open, Roger sighed.

Maureen, Angel, Collins, Mark, and Joanne poured into the apartment.

"Mimi, chica! Felicidades!" (A/N: Translation: Congratulations)

"Nice going, Roger."

"Congratulations!"

"Man! Let's have a toast!"

"MIMI! COME ON! WE GOTTA GO SHOPPING AND WE GOT WEDDING PLANNING TO DO! FINALLY! THAT TOOK YOU A WHILE, ROGER! GEEZ!"

Mimi stared. "Wha? Are you guys psychic?"

Angel laughed, wrapping Mimi into a long-limbed hug. "Of course not, chica. Didn't you figure? Roger banged on my door this afternoon and begged for my help. Collins was home when you came to visit. He was hiding behind our bed. I needed an excuse for that note."

"You don't mean..." Mimi realized.

"Yes!" Maureen cried. "It was all a ruse!"

Mark popped out from behind Maureen, holding his video camera. "Smile for the camera! How do you feel about this, newlyweds?"

Roger thumped down on the couch beside Mimi and wrapped her in his arms. He felt so amazing. The girl he loved really loved him too. And they would be together, really truly together, forever. And it felt better than anything. Better than finishing his song, better than being high on heroin, better than anything he'd ever felt. He was just indescribably happy.

Mimi curled up in Roger's arms. She felt amazing. Roger really loved her this much! He'd gone through all this trouble. And it was real. More real than the passion she felt dancing. More real than a heroin rush (A/N: Is that the right terminology?) She felt that if she had to die right here and right now, she wouldn't really mind, because it was the happiest moment of her life.

The couple's eyes met, and they silently agreed on the word.

"Perfect," Mimi and Roger said in unison. "It's just perfect."

A/N: Did you like it? Hate it? Please review! Next chapter of Regret will be up ASAP.

Reviewers and favorite-ers get a flower from a Fanfic Roger. Romantic Roger gives you a perfect red rose after a candlelit dinner and a stroll under the stars. Angsty Roger gives you cranberry flowers amongst a bundle of reeds, and goes off and plays more Musetta's Waltz before you can thank him. Sexy Roger gives you Spanish Jasmine and hemp flowers, then kisses you before you can say anything.

That idea was taken from Lady Bracknell. Thanks, LB! Hope you don't mind. For the explanations of those flowers, search "language of flowers" on Google. But before you do that, REVIEW! :D And wish me luck in those auditions...