AN: First off, THANK YOU REVEIWERS! I've gotten almost 30! Wow. Thank you!
Second, thanks to Twilightwicked5678 who beta'd this chapter.
Disclaimer: If I owned RENT would I be writing a fanfiction on it? Probably, but still!
X
The rest of the week passed quickly, with the friends seeing each other almost every day. Joanne slept over at Maureen's every night, going to work with Collins in the morning and leaving every evening with him. She didn't talk to her father at work and was happier than she had been in years. To Maureen's great excitement Joanne was the same size as her and she enjoyed finding clothes for her friend.
Finally Friday arrived. Collins was in the kitchen talking to his mom when he heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it" he sang as he walked to the door and opened it.
"Hi hon" Angel chirped, kissing Collins on the cheek "how've you been?"
"Like part of me has been missing, until now" he answered, kissing her on the lips.
"Charming aren't we? I've got a house to clean now sweetie." She replied. He sighed and led her into the house. Mrs. Collins was cooking something spicy.
"Hello dear" she said pleasantly.
"Hi Mrs. Collins. Mmm, that smells good. What would you like me to do first?"
Mrs. Collins smiled and said, "The sleepover is going to be in the basement so I think that's what needs the most work. And let's not forget the bathroom."
"Alrighty, I'll get right on it" Angel said enthusiastically.
"Thank you dear" Mrs. Collins graciously said "I cook, I don't clean"
"Well, I can't cook, but I'll clean!" Angel said, grabbing Collins' arm and dragging him down to the basement.
They cleaned the house in record time. Mrs. Collins was putting lunch on the table when a drenched Collins walked into the kitchen. Mrs. Collins hid a smile behind her hand and said, "What happened?"
"The washing machine hates me" he said sorrowfully.
"Really?" Mrs. Collins' eyebrows shot up "I thought it was nice"
"It's not." Then Angel walked in, laughing her head off.
"it… was… a fountain" she gasped "all… over. You should… have seen… his…face!"
"Thanks for being so supportive girls, really" Collins huffed. Angel laughed even harder, if possible.
"Why don't you go take a shower, my sopping wet son" Mrs. Collins said, putting her hand on Collins' soaked shoulder.
"Yes mama" he said, walking towards the bathroom. His mother shook her head and said to Angel
"What happened?"
"We were almost done, and there were a couple of towels to wash. I asked him to put them in the washing machine. Next thing I know he's standing there soaking wet. You should have seen his face!" Angel laughed again.
"I wish I had." Mrs. Collins replied "Did you say you were done with the house?"
"Yes. Is there something else you'd like me to do?"
"Would you mind going to pick up some snacks at the store?"
"Of course I don't. What do you need?"
"Here's the list" she said, handing it to her with a flourish "Can you drive?"
"Yes. I don't have a car though…"
"You guys can use mine. As long as I get it returned to me in the condition I gave it to you." Mrs. Collins narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Angel.
"I promise your car will be fine." Angel promised, throwing her arms up in the air, surrendering.
"I hope so, I hope so." Mrs. Collins shook her head.
"I know lovely ladies are talking about me, don't try to deny it" Collins said, waking in.
"Yeah right" Angel rolled her eyes.
"Guess what honey?" Mrs. Collins said sweetly.
"What?" Collins said nervously.
"You get to go to the store and pick up food for all of your crazy friends. Isn't that fun?"
Collins snorted and said "Sure mom, sure."
"Come honey. Off we go." Angel cheerily walked out the door. Collins grabbed two sandwiches, one for himself and one for Angel. Then Mrs. Collins handed the car keys to Collins and said
"don't total the car. And invite Maureen to go with you. Here's a fifty. I expect change. Have fun" she handed the money to him kissed her son on the cheek.
"Bye mom, we'll be back soon."
"Bye dear." She waved. Collins waved in return and walked out. He saw Angel leaning against the door frame. "Mom wants us to invite Maureen. Is that okay?"
"Of course. I love that crazy girl."
"She's been my best friend since she moved in almost ten years ago. I love her like a sister. "
"It shows."
"We'd better go invite her than. Ladies first" he gestured up the stairs. Angel raised an eyebrow and walked up the stairs. Collins followed her up and raised a hand. He knocked on the door. Maureen opened it and instantly jumped onto Collins, hugging him.
"Hey baby" she said.
"Hi Mo, I missed you too. Where's Joanne? You too have been joined at the hip recently."
"She's at her house. I miss her."
"Poor you." He said, rubbing her back.
"Poor me." She then looked over Collins' shoulder and seeing Angel she shouted,
"Angel!"
"Hi hon." Angel couldn't help but smile at Maureen's excitement.
"Angel! You're heeeeere!" Maureen jumped off of Collins and into Angel's waiting embrace.
"Mo" Collins said "We're going to the store. Do you want to come?"
"Does Mark cry if you hide his camera? Of course I want to come!" she said, hitting Collins' shoulder.
"Great. I'll drive." He said. Maureen paled and left to ask her parents if she could go. Collins put an arm around Angel's waist and led her down stairs.
--xXxXx--
"NEVER AGAIN" Angel shouted clutching her armrests so hard that he knuckles turned white. "I'm driving on the way home."
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Maureen shouted from the backseat "You were on two wheels back there!"
"My point exactly" Angel said, peeling her fingers off the armrests.
"You don't like my superior driving skills?" Collins pouted.
"NO" she shouted. Collins rolled his eyes and led the way into the supermarket.
"Okay, why don't we do produce first" Angel said, looking at the list.
"Okay!" Maureen said excitedly grabbing a cart and riding it down the isle.
The three friends found most of the items on the list without trouble. Maureen only made three pyramids of fruit tumble down and ran over about four people. That was a record for her. Then the friends walked together over to the frozen fruit aisle and stood facing the long rows of freezers.
"Strawberries" Angel said reading from the list.
"Got it" Collins said, tossing the package into the cart.
"Blueberries"
"Got it!" Maureen said, tossing them into the cart.
"Chickories" Angel said.
"What?" Collins said, staring at her.
"Sorry, your mom's handwriting is hard to read." Angel flicked the paper a couple of times and said
"Cherries. I think"
"Got them" Collins said placing them in the cart.
"We're done!" Angel said happily, leading the way to the register.
--xXxXx--
"I'm driving" Angel said, grabbing the car keys after they had loaded up the minivan.
"But Angel…" Collins pleaded.
"No buts. I want to arrive at the house alive."
"Fine" he huffed, sliding into the passenger seat.
"Are you legal?" he asked as Maureen crawled into the backseat.
"Yes. I'm seventeen. My sist- brother made sure I got my license when I turned sixteen" Angel said, revving the car.
"What about your parents?"
"What about them?"
"Wouldn't they make sure you got your license?"
"They left me and my brother alone when I was ten." Angel said in a monotone, "I've still got no clue where they are, and my brother is now in college. He comes home every so often and pays the rent for our tiny apartment. I barely go home anyways because I spend almost all of my time at Mimi's." she shrugged and continued driving.
"Poor Angel" Maureen said, patting her shoulder.
"Poor Angel" Collins agreed, kissing her on the cheek.
"Thanks guys. You're the best." Angel said with feeling. She grabbed Collins' hand and refused to let go the entire ride back.
--xXxXx--
The friends unpacked the groceries and were helping Mrs. Collins make a seafood soup when someone rang the doorbell. "It's open" Maureen called. They heard the door open and a couple of seconds later Mimi, with Roger in tow, walked through the kitchen door. Collins introduced his mother to Mimi. Suddenly Mimi shouted,
"I made GUACAMOLE!" She smiled widely and held up the container.
"Yummy!" Angel replied.
"And Roger brought chips" Mimi gestured toward her boyfriend who held up the bag of tortilla chips.
"Great guys" Mrs. Collins said "Collins, why don't you show your friends where they can sleep and find them pillows and blankets, and- well, you know what to do" she made small circles in the air with her hand, to illustrate the point.
"'Kay mom." Collins said "Maureen, why don't you take everyone down to the basement. I'll get the miscellaneous sleeping supplies."
"'Kay baby" Maureen replied, taking Mimi's hand and leading her down to the basement.
Angel shrugged at Roger and they followed the girls down to the basement.
They had finally figured out the sleeping arrangements when both Maureen's cell phone and Collins' house phone rang. Maureen dived in the direction of her purse and Collins raced upstairs. Maureen fumbled with the phone and finally said,
"Hello?"
"Hi Mo, it's Joanne. Would you mind picking me up again? I'm so sorry, my bike has a flat tire and I can't borrow my sisters."
"I guess I could." She said "Or I'll ask someone who can drive to drive us over to you."
"If any of you guys could pick me up, I'd be eternally grateful."
"Great. I'll go ask" Maureen hung up the phone and made her way upstairs. Collins was just getting off the phone.
"Mark needs to be picked up Mom" he said to Mrs. Collins.
"And so does Joanne" Maureen added "Do you mind if we borrow the car?"
"I'll only mind if someone besides Angel drives." Mrs. Collins said with a sigh. By this time Angel, Mimi, and Roger had made their way to the kitchen table.
"I'm driving somewhere?" A confused Angel asked.
"Yup. To Mark's and Joanne's" Collins said.
"Okay. Load it up!" Angel said with a smile. The friends piled up into the seven seat minivan and drove to Marks house. They picked him up and he slid into the empty seat next to Roger. Mimi and Maureen were giggling in the very back and Angel and Collins were seated up front. Then Maureen climbed up front and directed Angel to Joanne's house. Joanne was sitting up front and had her head between her hands.
"JO!" Maureen shouted, climbing out of the window and running to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine" Joanne sniffed "just… just…" she paused and took a deep breath, then continued "hurting."
"Where?" Maureen said worriedly.
"Nowhere" she said, standing up and saying "Who's driving?"
"Angel is"
"Is she in drag?"
"Yes"
Joanne paled and whispered "we'd better go, quickly! My parents are homophobes so if they see her…" She tore off towards the car, grabbing a backpack and pulling Maureen along. They clambered into the car, sitting next to Mimi in the back. Mimi took one look at Joanne's face and said,
"Oh, Chica" she wrapped her arms around Joanne, pulling her close "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'll be fine" Joanne was touched at the concern showed by her friends.
"We don't want you to be just fine." Mark said, turning in his seat so he faced his friends "We want you to be great."
"Better than great" Roger continued "We want you to be… Greaterful"
"Greaterful?" Maureen said skeptically.
"It could be a word."
"In an alternate universe, maybe." She said, rolling her eyes.
"No fighting" Angel warned "Don't make me go back there."
"We're being perfect, honestly Angel" Roger called.
"I hope so" she replied. A couple of minutes later she pulled up to the house.
"We're here" she sang as she stepped out the door. The friends jumped out of the car and raced into the duplex. Mrs. Collins was putting the last bowl of soup on the table when the group walked noisily inside.
"Hi guys. Eat up." She said, hugging Mark and Joanne hello. The friend ate, no, wolfed down the spicy, creamy soup. Once they were done they pushed their empty bowls in front of them.
"I'll do dishes" Angel said, gathering up the bowls.
"See guys" Mrs. Collins said, addressing the group "that's what you do after you're done. Thank you Angel."
"You're welcome Mrs. Collins, thank you for having us." Angel said, blushing.
"I'll help too" Joanne said, getting up.
"Thank you too Joanne" Mrs. Collins said, walking to her room and retiring for the night. Joanne blushed in reply.
"Hey guys?" Collins suddenly said "I just realized, we won't have enough blankets for all of us. Mo, can you go up to your house and find us a couple more blankets?"
"That won't be necessary" Angel said "Mark can have blanket. I'll just share with you honey" she daringly kissed Collins on the lips. "If that's okay with you"
"That's fine" he said, putting his arms around her waist.
"Go Angel! Go Collins!" Maureen and Mimi shouted together, throwing their arms up in the air and making them swish side to side. "And Jo can share my blanket" Maureen continued, putting her arms down, "If it's okay with you"
"It's fine" Joanne said, drying the big soup pot.
"Movie time!" Collins shouted "What shall we watch my good friends?"
"Something with romance" Maureen said.
"I second that" said Angel.
"Action" Roger said lazily.
"Humor" Mark put in.
"How about some 'I love Lucy'?" Collins said, walking downstairs to the basement. "Or some good old fashioned 'Twilight zone'?" he continued, squatting down by the TV. He pulled some old VHS collections out and laid them on the floor. Mimi and Maureen picked out two, one 'Lucy' and one 'Twilight Zone'.
The friends assembled themselves on the floor and Collins popped the 'Lucy' in. The friends then spent the next half hour laughing and snorting. When it was over Collins popped the 'Zone' in.
Angel, Mimi, Joanne, and Roger all clutched each other for dear life after about five minutes. Maureen and Mark were laughing and Collins kept making bunny ears with his fingers and letting the shadows hop across the screen. That just freaked the scared friends even more. Maureen and Collins spent the remaining ten minutes making shadow puppets on the screen. When it was finally over there was a group sigh.
"What now?" Maureen said.
"Games of course" Collins said "I'll go get the beer."
"WHAT?!" Joanne and Angel shouted.
"I was joking" Collins said, rolling his eyes "How about root beer?"
"Sounds good" Mark said. The friends agreed and Collins went to the mini fridge and took out a seven bottles of the fizzy, dark amber goodness.
"YUM!" Maureen said.
"Dang it." Roger said "We're letting Maureen have sugar. Oh no…" Maureen took another swing and laughed in reply.
"How about 'Truth or Dare'?" Mimi said…
AN: What do you think? Click the review button... it calls to you. And it has free cookies... Just a matter of personal opinion, do you think I should have the gang play truth or dare? Or has the idea been used so many times it's not going to be funny and my fic will be more a cliché than it already is. Please leave your response in a review :) There will be more fluff in the next chapter, because my beta wants more! I listen to her... most of the time. Oh, and I wrote a new story. It's in the Wicked section and it's called Sisters Forever? Go read because it's nice! Then afterwards you can review :) Goodnight! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...