A/N: I do not own Angel or Collins or Rent. We all owe Rent to Jonathan Larson. May he rest in peace.
Forever and a Day
Chapter 3 [What You Own]
I put down my pencil and smiled as I reviewed the layout I had just made. It was a really rough draft, but I did think it looked pretty good. I leaned back in my chair and looked at the frame on the corner of the desk and smiled. I reached for the red frame in front of me and glanced at it. It was a picture of me and Angel kissing. I then looked at the clock on the other corner, and saw papers that needed grading. Greaat.
I sighed, picking them up and taking out the answer key from the drawer. By the time I had finally finished, it was late enough for me to make dinner. Right when I went to the kitchen though, the phone rang.
"Hello?" I answered quickly.
"Hey Collins!" Mark said cheerfully from the other end of the line.
"Oh hey man, what's up?" I said casually, plopping down on the nearest sofa I could find.
"You doing anything for dinner?" He asked.
"Nah, I'm alone, as usual. Why?" I said, putting my legs up on the table in front of me.
"What do you say about me, Roger and Benny coming over then? We could eat together." He suggested with a very Mark-y tone.
"Well sure, why not? What about Meems?" I asked, knowing Roger wouldn't go anywhere without her.
"Oh right. Well either she'll come too, or it'll just be me and Benny." He suddenly remembered and chuckled.
"Alright man. So I'll see you in a few?" I said with a grin, not caring about the fact that he couldn't see it.
"Yeah, I guess. See ya!" He said before hanging up.
And then I remembered. I needed to make food for at least three people now instead of one.
I rushed to the kitchen and realized there was barely anything party-worthy in the pantry. I sighed, pulling out the best thing I could find, which was a pack of macaroni and cheese. Well, it was better than nothing.
As I finished up the baked mac and cheese, the doorbell rang. I set the tray down on the counter and opened the door. As I expected, only Mark and Benny were there.
They came in, thankfully with some more food, and even a few drinks. I brought out a bottle of Stoli as well as we set everything on the table.
"So what made you guys wanna come all the way over here anyway?" I asked, popping open one of the bottles and pouring drinks for my two friends and myself.
"Well one, we thought you'd be lonely..." Mark said innocently when Benny cut in.
"And two, I'm pretty sure Roger and Mimi have... plans." He coughed. We laughed, immediately understanding what he meant.
We ate and drank until we had wiped out everything we brought, save for one last bottle of Stoli. It was obvious that Mark had a little too much to drink, while Benny and I were a bit intoxicated but still sane, even if we had more to drink than Mark. That boy really wasn't all that good at holding his liquor after all.
"Hey Collins, is it fun to be gay?" Mark slurred, dropping down on the sofa.
"Why? You considering it?" Benny teased as he sat next to the drunken geek.
"Well Collins seems to be having a better time than meee~" He hiccuped. I laughed before sitting down on the table in front of them.
"Mark, have you forgotten that I have AIDS, and the only person I've ever loved is dead?"
"No... But at least you were successful in love... And you've got moneyy." He sighed before dozing off.
I rolled my eyes and chuckled before standing up to clear the table. Angel hated it when I didn't clean up, after all.
Benny stood up and helped me with some of the dishes as we talked about a few… not-so-light topics.
"How've you been coping?" Benny asked me while he stowed the clean plates in the cabinet.
"I've been doing okay, I guess." I shrugged. "But I miss her a lot."
"I'm sure you do." He said sympathetically. "But have you ever considered trying again?" He said with plain curiosity.
I shook my head vehemently. "Never. No one will ever be as great as my Angel."
Benny nodded in understanding. "So what are you going to do?"
"Live my life for her. It's what she'd want me to do." I smiled.
"Anything in particular you wanna do though?" Benny asked. I wasn't surprised he was asking so much. I figured he just wanted to be updated since none of us were exactly on good terms with him for a little while.
I stowed the last of the plates away and smiled at him. "Actually..." I said, walking to my room, signaling for him to follow me. When we got there, I pulled out the floor draft I had made earlier from under the tests. Benny took the paper from me and examined it thoroughly with a smirk playing on his lips.
He reached for my pencil and encircled a few things while writing notes next to them. "I think it would be better if you put the kitchen over here..." He started. After a few minutes of deliberating, he came up with a much better plan than my original.
"How do you know this kinda stuff?" I asked with a chuckle, looking over the new plan in admiration.
"I worked for the Greys, what do you think?" He laughed. I was really glad to see Benny back to his cheery self. I sure am glad Muffy found out about Mimi. If it weren't for that, Benny would still most likely be a rent-seeking jackass.
"True that." I finally answered, setting the paper down next to the picture frame.
Benny's eyes turned from the paper to the frame and he reached out to it, before stopping his hand midway. He looked at me and I nodded, so he picked it up carefully and examined it. He could only smile slightly before putting it back in place. "You really loved him, huh?"
I grinned, turning to the bedside table and glancing at the picture there. It was a picture of Angel, out of drag, smiling sweetly. There was also a message written at the bottom of it in permanent marker.
"I love you, Thomas B. Collins. I always will. Your Angel"
Benny noticed the picture as well and walked closer to read the message in red ink. He smiled and looked at me. Finally, I nodded as a response to his previous question. "And he loved you too." He said with a contented sigh.
"I don't know what I ever did to deserve him you know. I always just thought I was one hell of a lucky fuck to have been a part of his life." I shrugged, walking over as well and picking up the picture. I kissed it chastely and placed it back on the table before turning to Benny. He smiled a little, shifting a bit uncomfortably in his spot before looking back at me.
"Look, Collins, I just really want to say I'm sorry for all the shit I've done. Not just to you, to all of you. I know I've really been a prick and—"
"Relax man. You did what you had to as a Grey slave." I said teasingly. "But hey, for me, as long as you know that what you did sucked like hell, I'm okay. And considering that Mark and Roger let you back, I'm sure they forgive you too. Mimi I'm sure. Joanne and Maureen, well, I guess they do too. They were all cool during lunch after all." I shrugged.
"Do you think Angel would have forgiven me?" He said with an evident tone of worry and shame.
I glanced at the picture again and smiled. "Most definitely." I looked back at him and chuckled. "In fact, I'd think she'd be the one asking for your forgiveness too, considering she killed your dog." I said, picking up her drumsticks from beside her picture.
"Of course I'd forgive her. I'm actually thankful. That dog annoyed the hell out of me." Benny laughed, shaking his bald head.
Things were quiet for a few seconds, so I decided to break the silence with, "Well, I think we should go check on our little geek outside." He chuckled as we turned around, shocked to see a now-awake Mark Cohen looking at the restaurant plans on my table.
"Collins, how much is this gonna cost?" Mark asked with curiosity.
"Quite a lot, I'm guessing." I shrugged. "Not like I really care. I've always got the ATM." I laughed. "But then again, it wouldn't feel as great if I didn't seriously earn the money for it myself." I said, scratching the back of my head.
"So you're gonna honestly work to pay for this?" Mark asked, setting the paper back down on the table.
"Yeah. I'll earn the money honestly this time, that way it'll be something I can really be proud of." I explained simply.
"Well how about we help you then?" Mark offered, smiling with his eyes still half-lidded.
"Aw c'mon Mark, you guys should be using the money for yourselves instead." I insisted.
"No way Collins. You've helped us out how many times now, so I think it's about time for us to help you." He rebutted with a goofy grin.
I sighed. I knew there was no way to change his mind after all. "Alright fine… But just a little." I tried negotiating.
"Alright, fine. But I'm telling the girls about this too." Mark said, trying to reach more of a compromise.
"Fine, fine." I said shrugging.
"I'm helping too, whether you like it or not." Benny chuckled, walking over to Mark.
I shook my head and grinned before looking at my two ex-roommates who were both grinning back at me. "I guess I can't say no, can I?" I chuckled and slung my arms around their shoulders.
~To be continued~
