A/N: (does the Oh-my-god-reviews-I'm-so-happy-dance) I love you guys! See how fast I can update if you keep feeding me reviews like that??? Keep 'em coming, please! Especially with this sub-plot I'm trying to weave in here, tell me how you like it! Enjoy the chapter and have fun with the action figures!

Chapter 10

Leni was asleep. She had cried for two hours straight, tears subsiding only for a few moments before they would gather in her eyes again. Roger had held her, until she had finally drifted off to sleep. He had carried her to her bedroom, laid her down on the mattress and pulled off her shoes.

Then he joined the others in the living room again. Mimi sat on the couch, head in her hands, and Mark stood off to the side, hands twitching nervously, longing for a camera to fiddle with and to hide behind.

Roger flopped down onto the couch next to Mimi and sighed deeply. "Fuck!"

The other two couldn't help but agree.

"I'm gonna go upstairs," Mark announced, "and call the others, tell them what happened… maybe Leni wants to talk to them herself, but perhaps Maureen will throw one of her crying fits when she first finds out, and I don't want Leni to see that right now. She doesn't need more drama."

Roger nodded and the filmmaker headed out the door.

"I should probably…" Roger began, but didn't finish the sentence. He didn't know what to do.

"She's going to need you very much," Mimi told him. He cast her a questioning glance. "Do you mind at all?" he asked. "Me and Leni, I mean."
The dancer shifted for a moment, then she shrugged and shook her head at the same time. "Not really. I hoped you'd move on and find somebody who'd be good for you. I know I'm moving on."

The silence was deafening.

"You know I still love you," the musician finally said. "Shit, how do I even know I want to be with Leni? I don't want to stay with her because I got her sick, I want to be with her because I want to. And right now, I'm not sure about that."

Mimi got up, picked up the coffee mugs and carried them over to the sink.

Roger could tell from her clenched jaw that she was angry at him. She cast a quick look at the closed door to Leni's bedroom and then motioned for Roger to join her in the hallway. With a sigh, he followed her out of the apartment and closed the door behind him.

"Let's make this real simple, Roger," Mimi said firmly, "I don't want you back. And I'm sure you don't want me back, either. Leni needs you to be there for her! I don't care whether or not you get back together with her or whether you just want to be her friend right now, but if you turn from her now, you might as well kill her."

Roger held up his hands defensively.

"I wasn't going to disappear off the face of the earth," he snapped back, "I'm just… this isn't easy for me. Fuck, I can't even deal with myself, and now I'm supposed to be responsible for a little girl, too?"

Mimi raised her eyebrows. "You slept with that 'little girl', so you might want to pick a term that makes you sound less like a paedophile!"

Roger looked at her with an expression of heartfelt disgust and agreed, "You're right, that is really sick. Ew. But she seemed really young earlier."

"She's as old as I am. Twenty-one. But she comes from this really sheltered background. They learn about HIV in school and that's it. It never gets close to them." She gave her ex-boyfriend a playful little shove. "You were a little much for her, you know. This whole 'brooding rock star'-deal blew her away."

Roger grinned and, picking up on her teasing, tossed his hair arrogantly. "What can I say," he chirruped, "I'm irresistible." Then he grew sombre again. "I'm sorry for… just now, Meems. I dunno. Seeing you like that again, out of the blue… was a little strange. And I've not been thinking straight these past couple of days."

"I believe you," Mimi told him, "and it's fine, as long as you realise that you and me are over and that you need to get your feelings for Leni straightened out." She stretched. A few joints in her back popped. "I'm gonna head upstairs and shove some dinner down Mark's throat. You coming?"
Roger recognized the test. "Naw," he said with a wink, "I think I better stay with my girl until she wakes up. Don't want her to be alone."

Mark had left the loft door open for Roger, so Mimi could just walk in without knocking.

Mark had finished making phone calls, and was now sitting on the window seat, camera in hand and capturing the first moments of sunset.

"And pan to the rooftop across the street," he narrated, unaware of Mimi's presence, "behind which the sun is settling on another bad day in Alphabet City. Leni has been diagnosed with HIV. She's terrified and I hope to God that Roger knows how to take care of her. If he doesn't, I know who he'll run to." He sighed and turned the camera in his hands so it was pointing at himself. "Pan around to Mark Cohen, the emotion-sponge. Just soaking up everything around him and not letting anything out. Fuck! I'm gonna explode one of these days!"

He sighed once more, and stopped the camera. Suddenly, he noticed Mimi and flinched. "You heard?"

"Every word!"

The dancer rushed over to him and knelt on the floor next to him. She took the camera out of his hands and placed it on the ground, grabbed Mark's hands and squeezed them. "For once, Mark Cohen," she implored him, "just tell me how you feel."

He stared down into her big, chocolate-coloured eyes and felt something inside him break.

"I feel…," he said softly, "I'm jealous of Roger. I hate having to see him hurt himself. I feel sorry for Leni. I'm glad I'm over Maureen and I'm… I'm in love with someone I can't have."

He saw the question flicker in his eyes, quickly replaced by understanding.

"Oh," she said softly, "but why can't you have her?"

"Because," he answered, still clinging to the pretension that he was talking about someone else, "I'm not her type. She dated… someone a lot like my best friend and I don't fit into that category."

"Maybe," Mimi argued, careful not to let Mark break away from her gaze, "she's moved on from that. Maybe she doesn't go for the bad boys anymore, but wants someone she can rely on? Someone who was always there for her when she needed him? Someone…" she smiled a little, "someone she never really thanked for being there for her at a tough time when her bad boy-boyfriend left her."

Mark felt the oddest sensation in his chest, as if his heart was expanding a little, taking its own deep breath of relief. He place a hand on either side of Mimi's face and drew her close and then his lips were touching hers, a feather-light kiss, just a tiny touch. She responded immediately, her lips moving with his, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders. He drew her closer, gently probing her mouth with his tongue and when a low moan escaped her throat, all coherent thought seemed to leave him and it was all about kissing her.

Mimi… kissing Mimi…

Memories, mental pictures of her and Roger hit him like a sledgehammer. Memories of them hugging, kissing, of her sitting on his lap, both looking just so goofy happy…

He broke the kiss and let go of her. The pain of falling for her had been less intense when he had seen her and Roger happy, his best friend and the girl he cared about. So what about now? He had seen them a couple of days ago, hugging like there was no tomorrow. Wouldn't Roger want her back? Wouldn't she eventually choose the cool rock singer, no matter how unreliable and moody he was? Which girl wouldn't choose Roger over his scrawny sidekick, who hid behind his camera and who hadn't even been able to keep Maureen interested in his gender?

"I'm sorry…" he said and got to his feet, "I can't do this!"

Mimi stood up as well, embarrassed and hurt. "I thought it's what you wanted?" she asked, confused.

But Mark's moment of open honesty had passed and his emotional shield was back up the moment his hands held his beloved camera again.

"I can't do this," he repeated, not meeting her eyes. "Goodnight, Mimi!"

Roger was sitting on the couch in Leni's and Mimi's apartment, dozing off now and again. He was really tired, but he was hesitant about just going into Leni's room and sleeping in one bed with her.

Do I want to be with her?

His mind kept posing that question, over and over again. Finally, he imagined what the situation would have been like if she hadn't lied, if her story had been true from the beginning. He would still be with her, no question about that. Mimi would have come back anyway, but it wouldn't have shaken him up quite so badly.

What's keeping me from her?
Doubt. Uncertainty about whether or not he could trust her now.

He groaned and leaned back on the couch, his eyelids drooping.

He was jolted awake a moment later, however, when Mimi stormed into the apartment. She barely glanced at him before growling, "I hate men!" and disappearing into her bedroom.

Roger stared after her, perplexed. As far as he knew, he hadn't screwed up anything else, so her rage must have been directed at another human being of the male gender, probably Mark.

A tiny portion of his sleep-fogged brain was wondering what in the world his friend might have done to bring the 'unholy wrath of Mimi' down upon him, but a larger part was just insisting on finding a more comfortable place to sleep than this couch.

His mind made up, he padded over to Leni's bedroom door and opened it gently. To his surprise, she wasn't even asleep.

She sat upright on her bed, her eyes wide open and her tightly hunched form shivering sporadically. It wasn't cold in the room.

"What is it, Leni?" Roger asked gently. He sat down on the mattress beside her.

"I woke up," she replied, her voice scratchy from crying, "and I just can't go back to sleep. I'm so… so fucking scared…" she pressed her left hand against her mouth tightly.

"Hey!" He reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

She nodded and folded her blanket back for him.

A slightly wicked thought crossed Roger's mind. "I'm not sleeping in my clothes," he announced, and promptly proceeded to pull his shirt over his head. He took his time with it, too, and then proceeded to make quite a show out of unbuttoning his plaid pants and slipping out of them, taking the socks along with them.
Leni watched quietly, although he could see her eyes bulging ever so slightly. He finished off his little show by pulling off his undershirt, twirling it over his head and sending it zooming through the air to land on a lampshade.

Leni burst out laughing, and Roger joined her a moment later. He crawled unto the mattress with her and tugged at her blouse.

"You're still dressed," he admonished her gently and was rewarded with a cocky, if slightly shaky, smile. "And you object to that?" she asked.

He kissed her cheek, trailed his lips down her neck and back up to her lips before replying, "Very much so."

She giggled and let him help her out of her pants and blouse, but then reached for her nightgown and pulled it on. They both knew it was not the right moment to go any further.
Finally, they had settled under the blankets comfortably, with Roger's arms securely around her. He waited until the rhythm of her breathing told him she was asleep before drifting off himself, feeling a sense of accomplishment at having calmed her down.

I think I finally understand why Mark gets such a kick out of being there for others.

He didn't know, of course, that while Leni might be sleeping soundly in his arms, Mimi and Mark were both very much awake and neither of them found the peace of mind to settle down for the night.

… to be continued

I just had to include that little Roger-strip-scene. Yummy. Ok, reviewers for this chapter receive a Collins action figure, accessories including beanie, leather coat and anarchistic ideas! (and of course lots of love for mini-Angel)