Goodbye Ch. 6
Pairing: None, yet. Right now it's Mark/Roger friendship (or broken friendship, rather) May eventually turn into M/R slash.
Notes: PostRENT
Spoilers: If you've seen/know of what goes on in the stage production, you should be alright.
Warnings: Mention of suicide, drugs. But if you've seen Rent, I'm sure that's the least of your worries.
Disclaimer: Jonathan Larson came up from the grave and handed me the rights to Rent. At least, he did in my dreams. But until that joyful day comes to be in reality, I'm only borrowing the boho boys and having a bit of angsty fun with 'em.
In the previous chapter:
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"I may be wrong," Mark said, turning to Maureen as he closed the trunk "but isn't this the first time you two will have really been apart like this since you got together? Maybe it'll be good for you. Maybe you'll realize what a catch you've got with Joanne and you'll finally get up enough courage to give her that ring again…"
Before Maureen could say anything, Mark had hopped in the driver's seat and headed for the train station.
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Two Hours Later
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"Mark! Mark, honey! Over here!"
No sooner than ten seconds after Mark and Joanne had stepped off the train platform, Mrs. Cohen's shrill voice could be heard, moments before she appeared, almost like her voice alone was enough to make the crowd around her part like the Red Sea (1).
Mark groaned and flushed ten different shades of red before grabbing Joanne's hand (and to her credit, she only pulled back momentarily).
"Hey Mom," said Mark, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek "What're you doing here? I told you we'd just get a taxi or something."
"And have to wait another 30 minutes to see my baby boy and his girlfriend? I don't think so!"
At the mention of the word 'girlfriend' Mrs. Cohen must have realized that Joanne was standing there looking decidedly uncomfortable.
"Ooh, and speaking of girlfriend! This must be her!" Mrs. Cohen squealed, going to give a hug to Joanne, who was now giving Mark a death glare remarkably similar to the one she had given Maureen only a few hours ago.
"Hello dear! I'm Judy Cohen, Mark's mother!"
"Hi Mrs. Cohen," Joanne started, pulling slowly away from the woman, who, for nearing her 60's had a remarkably strong grip.
"Oh, please dear, call me Judy!"
"Mom," interrupted Mark "This is my, er, girlfriend…Joanne."
"Oh it's so nice to meet you Joanne. Mark's told me almost nothing about you." Said Mrs. Cohen, looking at her son accusingly.
"What a surprise" Joanne whispered under her breath.
"What was that dear?"
"Oh, nothing, I just said that that's not that much of a surprise. We like to keep our relationship a secret from a lot of people." Said Joanne, smiling sickeningly sweet at Mark.
"Oh, well at least I'm not the last to know then!" said Mrs. Cohen brightly.
'No, actually, you're only the second' thought Mark, laughing to himself, despite his situation.
"Come on now, the car is just outside and I'm sure you two are hungry!"
And with that, she pulled Joanne by the arm towards the station doors, leaving Mark behind to carry the luggage.
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45 Minutes Later
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"Well, if it weren't for all that traffic, we would have been here sooner, but here we are! Home sweet home" said Mrs. Cohen, pulling into the driveway in her Scarsdale home.
"You've got a lovely home Mrs. Cohen." Remarked Joanne, getting out of the car.
"Thank you dear and I've told you, call me Judy! It's an old house, but it does the job! We've lived here ever since our daughter Cindy was born. Perhaps after dinner I'll dig out some old photo albums. I've got plenty of Mark playing outside here in the front yard, sopping wet from playing in the front yard. He never was a very clean boy. I hope you've changed that!" Mrs. Cohen said, suddenly turning around to glare at Mark.
"Mom!" Mark said, definitely feeling a flush come back to his cheeks.
"Oh, I'd love to see pictures of Mark when he was younger!" said Joanne excitedly for Mrs. Cohen's benefit, but turned around and smirked at Mark.
"Mom, what's for dinner?" Mark said, in an attempt to get off the subject of embarrassing younger pictures of him.
"Oh, I made salmon with peas and corn, honey, I know it's your favorite." Said Mrs. Cohen unlocking the front door "Joanne, I hope you don't mind, although I'm sure you don't if you're with my Marky, but we only eat kosher."
"Oh, no, that's fine Mrs…er, Judy."
"Good. I'm just going to go in the kitchen and check on things. You two can go in the living room and make yourself comfortable. I'll join you in a few minutes." Mrs. Cohen said, pushing them towards the dark living room, while directing her self towards the kitchen.
"Hey, Mark?" said Joanne, turning to look at him while he went for the lightswitch
"Yeah?"
"What's kos…"
"SURPRISE!"
"Oh my god!" Mark practically screamed, looking around the now light living room at his various family members.
"Hahaha, sorry little brother," Said Mark's Sister Cindy, coming out from behind the couch to give her brother a hug "but you know we wouldn't have missed a chance to meet a girlfriend you'd actually bring home to mom!" she said, looking over at Joanne.
"Hey, I'm Cindy, Mark's older sister"
"Cindy…uh…everyone else…this is Joanne" said Mark, suddenly grabbing onto her hand again.
The next five minutes were spent with Mark introducing his 'girlfriend' to the family. Cindy's husband Joel, and their two twin boys, Daniel and Noah (who upon meeting her, promptly started calling Joanne 'Aunt Jo', making her blush.) There were also several of Mark's aunts and uncles present, along with his only living grandparent, Nana Liya, who was still going strong at age 93.
Then, Mrs. Cohen called everyone to dinner, and then the interrogation began…
"What do you do for a living Joanne?" asked Cindy.
"Uh, I'm a lawyer with a firm in New York…"
"How long have you two been dating?" Came from one aunt to Joanne and Mark's left
"Four months." Said Joanne, automatically, since that had been how long it had been since she and Maureen 'broke up' last.
"Got a ring outta him yet sweetie?" Said an aunt on their right and Joanne blushed.
"No, not yet."
Her response earned Mark a smack against the back of his head from his sister.
"Hey! What was that for!"
"What on earth are you waiting for? I like this girl!"
It was Mark's turn to blush, while Joanne looked 'accusingly' at him
"Yeah Mark, what're you waiting for?"
"I, uh, um…it's only been three…"
-cough- "Four" –cough-
"Er, it's only been four months! Don't you think it's a bit soon?" He finished pathetically.
"Mark, I'm hurt, really. I thought you said we were soul mates!" said Joanne, completely loving making Mark squirm.
"I…uh…I'm…I'm finished!GreatdinnermomthanksI'mgonnagogetourstufffromthecarandtakeitupstairs." Mark said, very quickly, and excused himself to go outside, leaving Joanne silently chuckling to herself…before she realized she was now alone in the room with what might as well be complete strangers.
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"Sweetie?" said Joanne, in that same sickeningly sweet voice she had used earlier, while unzipping her suitcase a few hours later.
"Uh, yeah?" said Mark, a little put off by her tone
"THAT WAS SO NOT NICE!" said Joanne, suddenly turning around and pointing an accusing finger at Mark.
"…and what do you mean by that hun?" said Mark, knowing exactly what she meant.
"Oh don't give me that! You know damn well what I mean! Leaving me alone with your family! I had no idea what to talk about, or even what to say around those people! The only upside to the past few hours was that picture of you when you were five, you know the one where it looks like you're trying to feel up that chick? Nanette? Yeah. That was pure gold." Joanne had started out angry, but the memory of that picture was just too much and she started cracking up.
"Oh my god you saw that? I wasn't…I mean…argh! Goodnight Joanne!" said Mark, giving up on an explanation and flopping onto one of the two twin beds that were now set up in Mark's old room ('Oooh! Airplanes, how masculine sweetheart!' Joanne had remarked upon entering the room and seeing the wallpaper border.
"Goodnight Marky" Joanne snickered as she climbed into the other bed and got comfortable for the night.
A/N: W00T! Go me. This is like a hugely long chapter compared to the others I've written so far! So be happy, be nice, and review! You have no idea how much I appreciate all of you that do! (Hey, that rhymed xD I'm a dork) I'd like to get up around 25 reviews before I'll post the next chapter, since y'all were so good about complying before (see what you get for entertaining me once? Oh, right, you get a nice new LONG chapter!). Remember, Roger will be showing up at any point now! And I know you all can't wait for that! So click the little review button, please?
(1) Biblical reference, if you didn't get it already.