Disclaimer: I don't own Rent. All characters you recognize belong to Jonathon Larson. And those you don't belong to me.
They finally reached The Life Café. They pushed two tables together and sat down. Collins sat at the head of the table with Kelly, Roger, Maureen and Joanne on his right and Mark, Benny, and Allison to his left. They ordered a round of beers, when the waiter came with their drinks Collins stood up.
"To the triumphant return of my partner in crime to Bohemia!" He shouted as he raised his glass.
Everyone raised their glasses and laughed.
"Thanks Collins." She said laughing.
"What does Collins mean by partner in crime?" Joanne asked laughing.
Before Kelly or Collins could answer Roger answered. "Well you see Jo, Kelly is the one who met Collins first. She was in one of his classes. I think it was the second day that she knew him, she invited him to live with us." He said laughing. "Now when you get these two drunk and starting to talk about philosophy, things happen. And usually those things are illegal." He laughed.
"Shut up Davis, you act like you never got arrested." Kelly said hitting him in the stomach.
"I never got arrested in another country though."
"You were arrested in another country?" Joanne asked shocked.
"Well Kelly wasn't arrested but she was with Collins when he was." Mark said.
"Ok let me tell the actual story because those two idiots won't get it right." She said pointing to Roger and Mark. "Collins got some upsetting news and really didn't want to be in New York, and I said that if I had the money I'd take him wherever he wanted to go. So Collins leaves and comes back with two plan tickets to Greece. Where he got the money I have no idea." She laughed. "So we hopped on a plan and went to Greece. Unfortunately the police there didn't like him streaking trough the Parthenon. So they arrested him. But Collins being the genius that he is got himself released the next day." She said smiling at Collins.
"Your damn right." He said smiling. "Do you remember how pissed Roger was? I thought that little white boy was gonna kick my ass." He said laughing.
"How would you feel if you girlfriend leaves a note saying she's in Greece and would call soon. Then two days later she calls saying Collins is in jail and that they would be home in two days?" He asked.
"I'd probably kill Maureen." Joanne laughed.
Mark sat their watching Kelly and Roger. He could see that there was still a lot of love between them. But he also saw how they tried to keep their distance, they didn't want to sit too close to each other or touch each other too much. But every now and then, they would slip up and he'd see that same spark that was there all those years ago.
Kelly stood up. "Who wants to come outside for a smoke break with me?" she asked
Collins and Roger both got up and went with her.
While they were outside Joanne turned to Maureen. "How long did they date?"
"They started dating when we were fifteen and she left when she was twenty one."
"Wow. That's a really long time." Joanne said. "I'll be right back I have to use the ladies room."
The four remaining people sat in silence until Allison finally spoke.
"I just can't believe that she came back. I mean after all these years she's back." She said taking a sip of beer.
"I know. What's it been 3 or 4 years?" Benny asked.
"Four years and 3 months." Mark said.
"So do you think that they'll get back together?" Maureen asked.
"It will take some time. Think about all the shit that happened before she left. Ellie, the drugs and April. I think it's going to take sometime before they can get past all the things that happened." He said looking down at his beer.
"It's been years since I thought about Ellie." Allison said as she wiped away a tear.
They all just sat there in silence until the rest of the group came back.
"Jesus what happened to you guys?" Kelly asked as she sat back down
"Just waiting for the life of the party to get back." Mark said filming her.
"Well she's back so how about we get something a little stronger than beer?" she said waving at the camera.
"So Kelly you said that you came back to New York for work. Did you get transferred back to the office out here?" Allison asked as they ordered a round of shots.
"Sort of. I'm helping them set up a gallery their opening, and once that is up and running I'll be there in the mornings and then be at the office in the afternoons." Kelly said as she took off her jacket.
"Tell the who you did a photo shoot for." Roger said as he nudged her elbow.
"Bruce Springsteen." She said smiling.
"Were you a completely crazy stalker fan girl?" Benny asked smiling.
"No! I don't know why everyone thinks that." Kelly said shaking her head.
Everyone laughed and continued drinking. Finally the waiter told them it was last call and they would have to finish their drinks and leave.
"Oh I have an idea!" Kelly exclaimed as she ordered a round of beers and shots for everyone. "Let's play the toasting game!"
"What's that?" Joanne asked
Kelly looked around the table and shook her head. "I can't believe that you guys didn't teach Joanne the toasting game!" she said shaking her head and turning to Joanne. "Everyone gets a shot and a beer. You make a toast and then do the shot, after everyone's done with their shots, everyone chugs their beer and the last one to finish pays the tab."
"Sounds like fun." Joanne said as the waiter came back with their drinks.
"Believe me it is. Ok Collins you go first and then we'll go around the table." Kelly said.
"Ok. To the old days!" He shouted as he did his shot.
"To coming back home!" Kelly said as she did hers.
"To Bruce Springsteen!" Roger shouted, which earned him a smack on the back of his head from Kelly.
"OW!" he said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Serves you right, smartass." Kelly said turning to Maureen. "Ok Mo, it's your turn."
"To The Life Café and it's wonderful staff!" Maureen shouted as she glared at the manager. Everyone burst out laughing.
"To the tango!" Joanne laughed as she shared a smile with Mark.
"To friendship." Allison shouted.
"To the loft!" Benny shouted.
"To Kelly, one of my best friends in the whole world!" Mark said as he did his shot. Kelly smiled at him and leaned over the table to give him a hug. She had tears in her eyes.
"Ok now you know the rules, last on to finish pays the tab." She said wiping her eyes and picking up her glass.
"Cheers!" she said as she raised her glass.
"Cheers!" everyone else shouted.
They started drinking. Collins finished first followed by Roger, Kelly, Maureen, Allison and Joanne. Finally it was down to Benny and Mark.
"Come on Mark!" Roger shouted
Mark slammed down his glass a second before Benny.
"God Damn." Benny yelled as he pulled out his wallet.
"I guess it really was like old times, Benny you suck at this game." Kelly laughed as the walked out the door.
"Whatever." Benny said as he hugged her goodbye.
Everyone said their goodbyes. Maureen, Joanne, Benny and Allison headed off in one direction while Collins, Mark, Roger and Kelly headed back to the loft.
The group walked into the loft laughing.
"Well I'm gonna head off to bed guys, goodnight." Kelly said as she walked into her bedroom and shut the door.
"Night" the boys all called after her.
"I think I'm gonna head off to bed to." Mark said getting up.
"Night Mark." Roger said.
"Night Cracker." Collins laughed as Mark flipped him off and shut his bedroom door. Roger and Collins sat in silence for a few minutes on the couch. Finally Collins spoke up.
"So how are you holding up?" He asked.
"I'm fine Collins, why wouldn't I be?" Roger responded.
"I don't know. I mean Kelly, the girl you were in love with since you were fifteen, shows up after four years without as much as a phone call. It must have been a shock."
"Well obviously. But we talked about some things, patched up a few things. Hopefully we can be friends again." He said getting up and going into the kitchen.
"Friends, huh? You don't want it to be anything more than that?" Collins asked as he followed him into the kitchen.
Roger sighed. "I don't know. Yeah I guess I want something more." He paused. "Maybe, I really don't know. It's a little too soon to be thinking about that. She just came back and even though we talked there are still a lot of things that we need to talk about. And I'm not the same person I was four years ago and neither is she. So we need to get to know each other again before we could even think about us being together again." Roger said opening a beer.
"So what did you guys talk about?" Collins asked as they went back into the living room. Roger sat down on one of the armchairs as Collins laid down on the couch.
"Ellie, the drugs, and April."
"Did you tell her about you being positive?" Collins asked sitting up.
"Yeah. Not really the way I wanted to tell her. I ended up getting mad and yelling it at her. Collins, you should have seen the look on her face. It looked like someone punched her." Roger said as he put his face in his hands.
"Well of course she is going to be upset Roger. Think about it. She's lost one of her good friends to this disease plus I have it too. Now she finds out you have it. That's going to be hard for her to deal with." Collins said patting his back.
"Yeah. I feel horrible. I mean do you remember when Steven died?" Roger froze after he said that. He looked over at Collins, who had tears streaming down his face. "Shit, Collins I'm so sorry."
"It's ok Roger." Collins said wiping the tears away. "I've accepted his death." He paused. "So what else did you talk about?" He said trying to change the subject.
"I told her about Mimi and Angel. And then we went to bed."
Collins nodded. "Well you two need to finish that talk. You can't move own until you've completely put the past behind you if you don't you'll only end up hurting yourselves again. And I don't think that either of you can handle that again."
"Yeah I know. We will, don't worry. I don't want to go through that again." Roger said as he got up. "Well it's been a long day; I think that I am going to go to bed. Night Collins." He said as he hugged Collins.
"Night man." Collins said as Roger walked to his room. After Roger shut his door Collins looked up at the celling.
"Hey baby. How are you? Everything is a little crazy right now. Remember that Kelly girl I used to talk about? Well she came back. I can't believe she's back, I honestly thought she would never face us again. Well I guess she didn't want to face Roger. You and Mimi keep an eye out for us ok? Love you. Tell Mimi I love her too. Goodnight baby." Collins whispered as he fell asleep.
A/N: And chapter 6 is done! I hoped you like it. Coming up your going to see what Kelly's relationship is like with everyone else and her and Roger are going to be sorting through their relationship. It's going to take a little bit of time, once again they have a lot of issues. Please review and leave suggestions. I love your input. And a special thanks to Renthead621 and Serendipity Kat for reviewing. You guys are awesome!
Until next time, Lots of love
BohemianGirl06