A/N: Hey everyone! Well here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
Want to thank all the people who gave me such awesome reviews! You guys helped me keep this story going! Well read up and enjoy!
Mark opened his eyes slowly. He had a slight hangover from the night before but it was nothing compared to what Roger was going to have when her woke up. Mark sat up in his bed and yawned. He decided to start making the morning coffee so Roger wouldn't have to. He walked out of his room and went into the kitchen. On the couch, Roger yawned loudly and opened his eyes. Mark smirked
" Sleep well." He asked loudly from the kitchen. Roger put his hands over his head in pain.
" You don't have to yell." He said in an annoyed voice. Mark laughed.
" I know but I wanted to see how bad your hangover was." Mark replied, grinning. Roger rolled his eyes and put his pillow over his head. A few minutes later, Mark came in with two cups of coffee and some pill bottles. " Here, take some Motrin and your AZT." Mark said handing him the bottles and one of the cups of coffee. Roger took them gratefully.
" Did you take me up here last night?" Roger asked, rubbing his temples.
" Yea, me and Jackie did. Well, I forgot my camera at the Life and had to go back but Jackie got you up here fine." Mark answered.
" Is she still sleeping?" Roger asked.
" Yea." Mark answered, taking a sip of his coffee, starting to read the morning paper.
Inside Roger's room, Jackie was just waking up. Her left eye was in so much pain and she wondered why. Then she realized she had forgotten about last night, when Roger hit her. She jumped out of bed and ran to the mirror that Roger had on his dresser. Jackie gasped at her face. Her eye was swollen to about twice its normal size. It was a deep shade of black and blue. She ran her finger over it and winced in pain.
" I can't let Roger or anyone see me." She said quietly. " I mean, its not like he meant to hit me. He was drunk." Jackie knew that if she didn't leave the apartment, someone would obviously notice. She changed into a clean set of clothes and brushed her hair. Slowly, she opened the door and saw Mark and Roger, both awake on the couch. She took a deep breath and put her hand over her eye. She walked faster to the door, hoping they wouldn't notice.
" Where are you going so early?" Roger asked. Jackie didn't stop.
" Um… I have to go…get something I forgot at the Life last night." She said quickly and ran out the door.
Roger and Mark looked at each other and shook their heads. Mark continued to read the paper while Roger rubbed his temples. A few seconds later, Collins came walking in with the spare keys in his mouth.
" Hey bums, how's it shaking?" Collins said with a smile. Roger gave him a look of agony. Collins laughed. " Major hangover?" he asked. Roger nodded and sunk back into the couch. " Well, you were picking a fight with a wall last night." Collins stated. Roger looked up quickly.
" I did?" He asked. Mark and Collins nodded.
" That's why me and Jackie took you home early. You were out of control man." Mark replied. Collins took a seat in one of the empty chairs.
" I just saw Jackie walking down the stairs. For some reason she was holding her face and looked scared out of her mind when she saw me." Collins said, seeing if the other two knew why. Roger gave Collins and Mark a confused look.
" Yea, she was holding her face when she walked out of here." Roger said with a curious look.
" It was more like sprinting if you asked me." Mark added. The three of them sat in silence for a while until Mimi came walking in. She was in her waitress outfit. She came in and took a seat on Roger's lap.
" Ugh, I'm so not looking forward to work today." Mimi said.
" How come? Hangover?" Mark asked.
" Bingo, buddy. But, I really need the money and since I don't feel like dancing tonight, I'd rather just waitress." She said yawning. She then leaned back onto Roger's body, her long curly hair in his face.
" Hey, Mimi?" Roger asked through her hair. " Did you happen to see Jackie walking out the building this morning?" Mimi sat up and looked at Roger.
" Yea, she said she forgot something at the Life and wanted to go get it. Why?" She asked.
" Did she happen to be holding her face?" Collins asked in a hard tone. Mimi turned around to look at Collins.
" Now that you mention it, she was holding her eye. She was in a big hurry too. It seemed that she didn't want me to look at her." Mimi said. Everyone stared at each other. Then Mimi stood up.
" Well, after I'm done work, you guys all meet up here. Were all going to need to be here when Jackie comes home tonight." Mimi said. Roger gave Mimi a look of confusion.
" How do you know shes coming home tonight?" He asked.
" Cause if she's hiding something, she wont want to be here anytime soon." Mimi said looking at everyone.
Jackie was in a nearby park on one of the swings. She was hanging there, smoking a cigarette to ease her stress. She saw two boys about her age come over in front of her
" Nice shiner. Where'd you get it?" The one boy with jet-black hair said, grinning. Jackie got up from her swing.
" How about I give you one to match it?" She said in a nasty voice, holding up her fist. The two boys faces fell and then they quickly walked away. Jackie slumped back into the swing and continuing to smoke as she swung lazily. There were many children at the park with their moms and dads. Some people looked at Jackie and gave her a looked of disgust. Jackie merely looked away from these for she knew she couldn't feel any worse then she did now. Running her finger through her hair, she got up and left the park. She decided to go to the nearby cemetery since she didn't want to go home. She walked in the cemetery and looked at all the gravestones. Many of them were people who died at a young age.
" AIDS, I suppose." Jackie thought. She continued thought the cold cemetery in silence. She was just walking up a hill, when she saw a gravestone that caught her attention. The name read Angel Dumott Schunard. Jackie stared at the gravestone for a moment before slowly walking up to it. She knew it was the Angel everyone told her about. She kneeled at the gravestone and said a small prayer that Roger once taught her. Roger told her this prayer would help them through their tough life with their parents. She thought it would be appropriate now. Quietly, she recited " Angel of God, my guardian dear. To whom God's love, commence me here. Ever this day, be at my side. To light, to guard, to rule, to guild." She finished the prayer and looked up at the gravestone. " I wish I could have met you Angel. I really need you now." She whispered as a light wind blew around her hair.
It was pretty late when Jackie finally decided to go home. The street lights were on and shining brightly in the night. She thought that maybe everyone would go to bed early since they had hangovers. She walked up the stairs of the building quietly, trying not to grab any attention. When she finally got to the door of the loft, she opened the door quietly. Jackie opened the door to see not only Roger but also everyone else awake on the couch. Jackie quickly held on to her face and made a fast attempt to the bedroom. Then Mark came out of nowhere and stood in the doorway.
" Hey Jackie. Why don't you sit down for awhile?" Mark asked.
" Um, well…. I. You see." Jackie stuttered. She turned around and headed for the fire escape. Then Mimi came up and blocked the way out the fire escape.
" Come sit for little. You've been out all day." Mimi said smiling. Jackie backed away.
"Well, I was just heading outside for a smoke, so ill just go out the door and…." She stammered heading toward the door. Roger and Collins both came up and blocked her way out the apartment. Jackie, still holding her face, saw that she was trapped inside.
" Ok Jackie. Now your going to take you hand off your face and show us what you have been hiding." Roger demanded. With a look of desperation, Jackie looked around the apartment looking for one last chance to get out. Seeing that everywhere was blocked, Jackie let out a deep breath. She slowly removed her hand and reveled the swollen bruise that laid upon her face. Both Roger and Collins gave a gasp as they saw Jackie's face. Mark and Mimi both came over for a better look. After a minute or so Mark broke the silence.
" What happened?" He asked, still in shock. Jackie's face hardened as she looked at the floor.
" I ran into a door." She said, stuffing her hands into her pockets.
" You ran into a door?" Roger asked raising his eyebrow. Jackie shrugged her shoulders.
" I didn't do it on purpose." She said stiffly.
" Why didn't you want anyone to see?" Collins asked.
" I don't know. I didn't think it was a big deal. Its just a bruise." Jackie answered, not making eye contact with anyone.
" Not a big deal? Jackie, it looks like you got hit in the face with a fucking bowling ball!" Roger screamed. Jackie shrugged her shoulders again. " Here, let me take a look at it." Roger said reaching for her face.
" No!" Jackie screamed as she leaped away from him. Roger had a confused look on his face.
" Jackie, let me look at it. It might be infected or something." Roger said, reaching for her face again.
" Stop!" Jackie said, as she went dodged Roger and ran over to Mimi. As she was hugging Mimi, she had a look of total fear on her face that no one had ever seen on Jackie. Collins and Mark looked at each other in total confusion. Roger was getting annoyed as he tired once more to get a hold of his sister.
" Get over here now!" he said grabbing her arm. Jackie tried to pull away with all her might. However, Roger had more muscle then her. Jackie tried desperately to get away from Roger's grasp. Collins, Mark and Mimi watched in astonishment. Jackie was scared out of her mind. Acting out of fear, she quickly turned around and punched Roger in the nose. Blood spattered out of Roger's nose as he released his grip from Jackie. Unfortunately, Roger quickly recovered and tackled his younger sister to the ground. Everyone gasped as they watched the two siblings fight on the ground with each other.
" Roger! Stop, your going to hurt her more!" Mimi screamed. But Roger ignored her and continued to wrestle with his younger sister. Mimi was just about to stop them from fighting, when Collins grabbed her shoulder.
" Let them settled it out themselves." He said sternly. Jackie tried everything possible to get away from Roger. Fear had taken over her body and caused her to be confused.
" Please! Let me go!" She cried. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. " Please don't hit me again!" Jackie screamed. Roger, who had finally pinned her down on the dirty floor, looked down at his sister. He breathed fast as bright red blood flowed down his face.
" What do you mean, " Don't hit me again?" He asked her. Jackie kept her eyes closed as her shook her head constantly. " Jackie!" He said shaking her. Jackie still kept her eyes closed, but she began to talk.
" It wasn't your fault! You were drunk!" she wailed. Roger's expression fell as her looked at his sister. He stood up and got off of her. Mark kneeled next to Jackie who was still crying. She then hugged him and cried into his jacket. Mark looked up at Mimi and Collins who both were still in astonishment. Roger was standing looking at his hands in shock. Mark got up and joined Collins and Mimi. Roger quickly kneeled down to Jackie. She looked up at his blood-covered face and saw tears glisten in his deep green eyes.
" I'm sorry." He whispered fiercely. Jackie didn't hesitate at all as she threw her arms around her brothers neck. She cried into his jacket as Roger stroked her hair. Tears welled up in the deep brown eyes of Mimi and Collins. Mark tears were already streaming down his pale face and onto the ground. Roger continued to stroke his sister's hair as tears ran down his face. In time, she had slowly stopped crying and fell into a deep sleep in Roger's arms. He picked her up and carried her to the couch. Mark and Collins said nothing as they headed towards the empty bedrooms. Mimi however, stayed behind and sat next to Roger on the couch.
" I did that to her Mimi. I caused her the pain." Roger whispered as her placed his face into his hands. " Just like my fucking parents!" Mimi was silent for a second before she responded.
" Roger, she forgave you. You can't dwell on the past. You just have to make a better future with her." Mimi said sincerely. She moved closer to him. " Love heals baby." She told him putting one hand on his shoulder. " Love heals." Roger looked up and smiled weekly at Mimi. Mimi hugged the still bloody Roger. Then they both laid back on the old couch and fell asleep in each other's arms, with Jackie lightly snoring next to them.
A/N" Ok, that was a big chapter. Sorry it took so long, I had to find the perfect way to put the fighting scene in there. I put a lot of work in this chapter, so I hope you like it. R&R!
