Thank-you for the reviews! I love that you are all following this story and keeping up with it. It makes me so happy! Your thoughts keep my muse happy and writing. Keep reviewing and let me know how you feel about this chapter. Thank-you to Notamarshmallowanymore for keeping me in check when it comes to Tess.

Chapter 10

Mark wasn't home. Roger walked in, called out his name and even walked into his room. There was no sign of Mark in the apartment. His room was empty, the bed still unmade and the window left open. Walking back into the living room Roger saw rolls of film had been left all over the table. "Figures" Roger said to himself as he lifted one of the strips and put it down again. Roger shrugged, he'd see him the next day, they'd talk then. He noticed something on the table just before he turned away, a film case with the name "TESS" written on it in bold letters. He saw that Mark had left the film in the camera, and that the projector was still set up so he decided to watch.

He didn't like what he saw. Mark was interviewing Tess, she was sitting on the sidewalk wearing the same ripped up jeans and tank top she'd shown up at their apartment in. Her hair was a mess, hanging limply around her head it looked as if it hadn't been washed in weeks. Her eyes were glazed over and she looked tired and weary. It hurt him to see how thin she was; the way her clavicles jutted out made her look sick. She had her arms wrapped around herself, he knew what she was covering up. He had to cover his mouth when Mark closed up on her face. Her left eye was bruised and she had small cuts on the side of her face. That asshole! He promised himself that if he ever saw the son of a bitch that had done this to her he would make him pay. She had a smile on her face though, and she seemed happy to be talking to Mark. She stood up suddenly and walked over to him, for a minute all he could see was her shirt and a lot of shaking from the camera, she was trying to take it from him. She must have won out because now it was Mark who was being interviewed. He smiled shyly and tried to wave her away but she wouldn't stop filming him. Then they were both standing next to each other as someone else filmed them, it was Ray, the man who'd taken care of her and helped her when they'd last fought. Roger couldn't quite believe that Mark had let someone else take the camera. Tess leant her head on his shoulder and continued smiling that brilliant smile of hers as Mark wrapped his arm around her waist. She was happy. Even then when she had been beaten down God knows how many times a week, and was dependent on drugs to keep her going, she still had moments of happiness and Mark had given them to her. He wasn't jealous now. Not anymore. He was thankful because Mark had brought her to him and she was the best thing he had in his life.

His roommate found him asleep on the couch the next morning.

"Roger, Rog, wake up." Mark shook his shoulder and laughed when he mumbled out Tess' name.

Roger opened his eyes and saw Mark's bespectacled blue eyes looking down at him. Giving a little jump and rubbing his eyes he said, "Mark, what are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." He looked up at the screen and seeing Tess' face he gave a nod. "Never mind, I see you found my Tess films."

"You really made her happy. I should thank you for that. She was really miserable there."

Mark shrugged; he didn't feel comfortable taking credit for things. "She was lonely. I felt badly for her and wanted to help."

Roger stood up and slapped him on the shoulder. "You were just what she needed. Thanks for that, and for bringing her here."

"Yeah, well-"

"Where were you last night?"

Mark shrugged. "Out filming."

"Why didn't you meet us out?"

"I wanted to get this done. I couldn't put if off any longer."

Roger nodded his head. "Of course." The sarcasm in his voice was hard to ignore.

Mark thought about saying something then changed his mind. He didn't want to argue, not today, they'd done enough of that already.

Completely out of the blue Roger said, "Tess told me she loves me." This was more important than calling Mark out on his avoidance…again. He needed feedback.

Mark's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected her to tell him. "Oh? How do you feel about her?"

Roger shrugged. "I like her. A lot. But love's a big deal you know? I'm not ready for that."

"You're not ready or you're scared?"

"Don't start that shit again Mark."

Mark took a step back. "Alright, alright, it's just something to think about." He turned to go to his room but Roger called after him.

"How often did he beat her up?" Mark raised his eyebrows and Roger elaborated. "In one of your interviews, her face is bruised and cut up. How often did she look like that? Why didn't you do something about it sooner?"

"Not too much at first. Toward the end, before she moved here, it was happening a lot. That's when I told her to come by. I had to be careful Roger, she was heavy into drugs and I couldn't bring her here with that stuff around."

"I know. I just wish, I wish I could've stopped it from ever happening." He looked down at his feet, afraid to let Mark see him vulnerable.

"Me too." He took a step toward his friend. "Roger, if you love her don't be afraid to tell her. Don't make the same mistake again. You know life's too short to play games."

"You know I'll fuck things up Mark. Then she'll wish we'd never met."

Mark rolled his eyes. "You won't fuck up, Rog."

"I already have! Twice !"

"Okay, you did. You just had to get it out of your system. Now you're done. Look, I'm not telling you to tell her right this second, I'm just telling you not to wait forever because you don't have forever and neither does she."

"Neither do you." Roger mumbled.

"What?"

"Being gay, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with it. I don't care who you date or fall in love with and I guarantee that no one else will either. So don't make so much out of it okay? Just let yourself be happy." Roger moved toward him and gave him a slap on the back. "Think about it. I'm going to go find my girl now."

Roger walked out and Mark was left staring at the door and wondering when it was that Roger had become the one to give out advice.

Tess was making her way up the stairs just as Roger made it to her floor. "I was just coming up to see Mark."

"Oh?" He took her hand and gave it a kiss. "I was just coming down to see you."

She smiled. "That's sweet but-"

"I know." He wasn't mad; he understood why she needed to talk to Mark. Maybe she'd get more answers from him than he had. "I'll go get us some breakfast. How's that sound?"

She leaned into him and kissed him, reluctantly pulling away when she felt him pulling her in closer. "That sounds great," she said ignoring his protesting groan.

"Go." He knew this was a losing battle.

She smiled at him. "I'll see you soon." She gave a little wave as she skipped up the stairs toward he and Mark's apartment.

The door was slightly ajar but she knocked on it anyway. "Mark? Are you decent?" She knew he was, Roger had just been up there.

"Come in, Tess." He had a smile on his face. He knew she was teasing because of what had happened the last time she'd barged in. She walked in and returned his smile, her hands on her hips.

"Think you're funny don't you?" he asked.

"Yes, I do." She ducked her head and slapped his hand away when he tried to ruffle the hair at the top of her head. "But seriously, Mark. We need to have a talk. Where were you last night? Why didn't you meet us like you said you would?"

He shrugged. Tess rolled her eyes, when would these men learn to communicate? "What were you doing?"

"I went through my reels, then I went out and filmed some more."

"Mark, we need to talk. You can't keep doing this."

"This? What's this? What am I doing?" He looked everywhere but at her. He knew what was coming, how could he not, she'd been hanging out with Roger for the better part of a year. He was bound to rub off on her.

"Hiding. Avoiding. Why didn't you come out last night? What's going on? Why haven't you told me anything more about you and Kevin?"

Mark rolled his eyes. "Look Tess, I know this is Roger talking- not you. Just please drop it okay? I'm not in the mood to be analyzed right now."

"Mark." She walked up to him and took his hands in hers. "Come on, it's me. Let me in. Tell me what's going on."

Realizing she wasn't going to quit, Mark walked over to the window and sat down. "He doesn't want to be with me unless I come out. He doesn't want to be my 'little secret'." Mark held his fingers up in mock quotation.

"Well, how does that make you feel?" She walked over and sat next to him, pushing him to the side in the process.

"See? This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Being psychoanalyzed."

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Come on, Marky."

"Marky! You don't ever call me Marky."

"What? I think it's cute and endearing." He gave her a death glare. "Okay, okay, Mark. Do you like Kevin, I mean really like him. Do you see yourself having a future with him or is this more of an experimentation thing?"

"Tess." It came out as a wine and that made him upset because he really didn't want to be a whiner.

"You have to stop hiding. I see what you're doing. You're denying emotion and do you know where that's going to leave you?"

"Don't." He knew damn well where he was going to end up.

"Alone. You have to start living for yourself. I think it's great that you take care of everyone. I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for you, but you can take care of yourself too. We're not all going to be here forever and eventually you're going to run out of people to distract yourself with."

His eyes were teary. How did she know exactly what he was afraid of? She was so intuitive. "Call him, Mark. Really think about it first. If you realize that this is someone you want to pursue a future with, forget about us for a minute and call him. You deserve to be happy too. Stop feeling guilty about not being sick."

His eyes widened. "I don't-"

"Yes, you do. It's not a bad thing, I know how you feel. You don't think you have a right to a future of your own because me, Collins and Roger don't have one. Guess what though? You do, so hurry up and get it before it's too late."

Mark nodded and hugged her. "You're great you know that?"

She shrugged. "It's a gift. We're not done talking yet mister. There's the matter of a certain someone's belongings we need to talk about. Why didn't you tell me they were Mimi's?"

"That wasn't for me to tell. Roger hadn't told you about her yet."

"Okay, I get it but-"she pounded her fists on the seat and shook her hair in frustration. "Damn it you're right! I can't be mad at you, you were being a good friend. How do I tell Roger about it though?"

"You haven't said anything?" He raised his eyebrow.

"When was I supposed to do that? While we were making up? I didn't want to start another fight."

"But he told you about her and you still didn't tell him that her stuff was still there when you moved in? That was your perfect opportunity. Where did you end up putting them anyway?"

"In the basement. I know that's when I should have told him but I didn't and now I'm screwed."

"At least you still have it. Look, obviously Roger's very sensitive about this kind of stuff and as much as he likes to pretend he's a tough guy, it's going to hurt him to know her stuff's still here. The best way to do this is by telling him as soon as you see him. Stop avoiding it 'cause the longer you wait, the worse it'll be."

"I hate you, Mark Cohen. Why are you always right?"

Mark was about to answer when Maureen barged into the apartment. "Guess who I just bumped into? Kevin Jones. We have some things to talk about Marky now don't we?"

Taking this intrusion as her cue to leave, Tess stood up and gave Mark an apologetic look. She knew this was not something he was ready to talk about. "Thanks for the talk Mark. Remember what I said. Think about it."

"You think about what I said too."

He hugged her and smiled when she whispered, "good luck," in his ear.

Once she was out the door Mark turned to face Maureen. "I'm gay Maureen. Ironic isn't it?"