Disclaimer: I don't own, I RENT.

A/N: Okay, so this part was originally part of the last chapter, but I decided it was getting too long and split them up. This one, at least the beginning part of it, is Maureen/Collins friendship. Also, let me clear something up real quick; as Sofri pointed out, in chapter 2, I said that 'everyone' had chorus together except Mark, and then last chapter I said Mark and Angel and Mimi had chorus together. The 'everyone' I was referring to in chap. 2 was the boho group at that point, which was only Roger, Maureen, Collins, and Mark. Sorry if I confused people. Enjoy this chappie!


Maureen guided Joanne to her next class, Latin, and then wandered off to find Collins. He'd been acting weird since lunch and this was the perfect opportunity to talk to him about it. It took her about ten minutes to find the right room, and saw Collins inside, about to pour a strange red liquid from a test tube into a beaker of yellow mush.

She came up behind him and said loudly, "HI COLLINS!" He jumped in shock, causing the entire contents of the test tube to flow into the beaker.

Boom.

Collins turned to Maureen, wiping mud-colored goo out of his eyes. "Mo, NEVER sneak up on me again!"

She waved her hand dismissively. "I wasn't sneaking up. Anyways, Collins, I wanna talk to you." He sighed and turned back to his beakers, starting to clean up the experiment.

"What is it?" he asked, wiping down the counter.

Maureen went straight to the point. "You've been acting weird, to say the least, since lunch. What's up?"

Collins straightened slowly, turning to look at her with serious eyes. "Well… um…" His cheeks tinted pink slightly.

"Oh my god… you're in love, aren't you!" Maureen exclaimed loudly, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Shhhh!" Collins urged, "Don't announce it to the whole school… but yes, I met someone…"

"Who? Who?" she demanded, thinking around the new students that year. "Is it Mimi? Or… Joanne?" She'd had some odd feelings toward the latter herself, though she wouldn't admit it to anyone.

Collins flushed even more. "N-no, neither of them..."

"Well then WHO???" Maureen demanded, impatient for an answer.

Her friend studied her for a long moment before answering in one word; "Angel."

Maureen's eyes grew as big as saucers. "Ang… but… he's a… that means you're… you're gay?" Collins nodded, not meeting Maureen's eyes. There was a moment of silence as the drama queen processed this new information.

Then, out of nowhere, she started babbling excitedly, "That's so cool! Do Marky and Roger know? So you like Angel? Did you tell him? Does he like you back? Does he know you're gay? Is he gay?" The questions would have undoubtedly continued had Collins not clapped his hand over her mouth.

"Give me a chance to answer, will ya? No, yes, no, I don't know, yes, yes," he answered the questions in the order she'd asked them. "You can't tell anyone, alright?"

"Not even Marky?" she asked.

"Not even Mark. I'll tell them when I'm good and ready, okay?" He let out a sigh of relief as Maureen nodded sullenly. "Thanks, Mo."

She smiled and gave him a hug. "That's what friends are for." She pulled back then and perched on a stool, giving him a more serious look. "You really should tell Marky and Roger, though. You know they'll accept it, no trouble. They're like your brothers, Col."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I know… I'll tell them this afternoon, okay? We can all go over to my house like we used to do last year and get it all out there in the open.

Maureen nodded, and they headed off as the bell rang.

After school

Collins leaned against the wall outside of the school, watching all of the students flowing past and out to their cars or walking off down the street. The first of his friends to show up were Mark and Maureen, then Roger.

"Hey guys, can you come over to my house after we're done here?" he asked Mark and Roger. The songwriter shrugged, "Sure. My mom won't expect me home until supper time anyways."

Mark rubbed the back of his neck for a moment, then answered, "Sure, I'll just need to call my mom when we get there and let her know."

Just then, Mimi and Angel emerged from the crowd, followed soon after by Joanne. Once they were all gathered, Collins asked, "So, do you guys want to come over to my house a little later to study?" Mimi and Angel both automatically agreed to come, and Joanne said she wanted to but she'd have to ask her mom first.

They agreed to meet at Collins's house about half an hour later. Collins gave the three newcomers his address, and then they parted for the moment. Angel and Mimi walked off in one direction, Joanne headed to a waiting car, and the other four headed in the direction of Collins's house.

"Mom! I have some friends over!" he yelled as they came in the front door.

"That's fine honey. Have fun," her voice came out of the kitchen. Collins's dad was much more strict, but he worked all day and his son's friends were always long gone by the time he got home.

Collins led the way up to his room, which, as always, looked like it had been hit with a tornado. He kicked a pile of clothes aside and plopped onto the bed, Maureen looking at him expectantly.

"So, why did you tell the others not to come for half an hour?" Mark asked curiously, taking a seat in the desk chair and spinning it around to face Collins, Maureen settling on his lap. Roger plopped into the beanbag chair in the corner.

"Because I have something I need to tell you guys," he said, sitting on the edge of his lap. Roger and Mark looked confused, but waited for him to continue.

Collins took a deep breath, then quickly blurted it out, "I'm gay."

Utter silence.

"Okay then." Mark said matter-of-factly, peering around Maureen at his friend.

Collins looked from one to the other. "You guys are okay with that?"

Roger rolled his eyes. "Well, duh. We're your friends, Collins. We're not gonna abandon you just cause you like boys instead of girls."

Collins let a slow grin cross his face. "Thanks, you guys. It means a lot."

Roger cut in again before Mark could say anything. "Don't go getting all sappy on us, Collins," he protested jokingly, getting up to walk over and clap his friend on the shoulder in a brotherly way.

"So, you got a crush on any hot, muscley guys?" Roger asked jokingly.

"Yes he does!" Maureen chimed in.

Mark, ever the observant one, added his opinion. "It's Angel, isn't it?"

Everyone gaped at him for a moment. "Uh… yeah…" Collins affirmed, nodding slowly. "How did you know?"

Mark waved his hand, acting nonchalant. "Oh, just the fact that you can't seem to stop staring at him, and that everytime you talk to him you start blushing and stuttering."

Maureen grinned widely and kissed her boyfriend. "My Marky's so smart!" She turned to look at Roger with a mischievous glint in her eye. "You know, I've noticed Roger doing the same thing with Mimi…"

The songwriter flushed, protesting, "Maureen!" Then, in an attempt to change the subject, "Weren't we talking about Collins right now?"

Mark turned to Collins. "Right. So, do you know if he likes you back?"

The dark-skinned teen shrugged. "I'm not sure. He… well, he kissed my cheek in the nurse's office."

All three of the others "Awwed" simultaneously, then Roger frowned. "What were you guys doing in the nurse's office anyway?"

Collins's eyes flashed with anger as he remembered the earlier incident. "There were these three guys behind the school beating him up; called him some nasty names. I socked one of them in the side of the head and they ran pretty quick. I took Angel to the nurse cuz he had a pretty bad bruise on his cheek."

Roger's fists clenched in fury. "Who were the bastards who did it?"

His friend searched his memory, trying to recall the faces of the teens who'd been there. "Uh… Zack, Joe, and Camden. I think the one I hit was Zack."

"I'll make those fuckers pay…" Roger growled, pacing back and forth around the room. Collins stopped him, shaking his head. "Fine." The songwriter agreed grudgingly, "But if they do anything like that again…" he didn't need to finish the sentence.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Collins bounded to the window, peering out. "It's Angel and Mimi."

Roger and Collins both blushed.


I'm so mean… but again, this chappie was getting a bit long. Still very little MoJo, I'm sorry! It just didn't seem to fit in this chapter, though I got one little moment in there. Dunno if you saw it. The next one will come soon, promise!