AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, so I decided not to write out the play after all. It would take to dang long and I mean if you've seen "Over the Moon" (which I know you have because you're either RENThead or you just know the story well) you'll know what it would be like. A bunch of cute children playing Elsie the cow, the dish and the spoon etc.

Yay! Midterms are over and I have some more time to write.

Once again I DO NOT OWN RENT.

PLEASE READ, REVIEW AND ENJOY!

Italics are thoughts and memories.

Chapter Eleven

With Joanne

Joanne couldn't believe what had just happened. Did she actually say those things Maureen? Did Maureen actually say those things to her? Did they actually make Angel go to the point of crying?

This whole day gave Joanne another reason to drink. When Maureen would go out for auditions (so she says) at night and wouldn't come home for a while Joanne would bring herself to drink. She never told anyone, but she knew she eventually had to. The drinking was becoming a problem again. The lawyer knew that she wanted to get up to the community Theatre to at least see the second half of the show, but the alcohol bottles were calling her. It's been said that if you lived in a household of a parent that had an alcoholic problem, the child usually would become one as well. Even though Joanne's mother loved and took care of Joanne, she still drank causing lots of troubled times when she was a child. Joanne actually didn't even start to drink this heavily until college. All of the stresses of going to a top notch school, along with having a 4.0GPA, along with struggling with her sexuality took a very hard toll on Joanne's mental health. Late at night Joanne would curl up in her bed while her roommate was out and would drink until she completely passed out. Once she had an alcohol level so high that it was twice over the legal limit and she had to be hospitalized. Luckily, no one ever found out and the matter was over with within a few days. After a while, the heavy drinking went to a point where Joanne could control how much she drank and would be fine about it. But today, she didn't think would be that kind of a day. Still, she constantly reminded herself that the kids would want her there, especially Steven Jr. So Joanne drove past her favorite bar, and drove onto the way of the Theatre.

When she arrived, cars were filled up along the street and parking lot. After she finally found somewhere to park Joanne looked into the mirror and tried to fix herself up enough so that she wouldn't at least look like she went to hell and back. She got out of the car, and walked into the Theatre.

There were people all over the place. Parents, teachers and family members of all of the talented kids tussled about talking and laughing. As the lawyer weaved through the crowd, she smiled weakly and nodded occasionally at the people who had no idea that she and Maureen, two lesbians had created it.

Miss Abram turned around after one of the teachers pointed to Joanne. "Darlin'! Joanne my darlin'!"

Joanne smiled at Miss Abram's happiness to see her and waved weakly to her "Hi Miss Abram. How is the show coming?"

Miss Abram saw that something big had happened to the lawyer and her smile slowly disappeared "Oh Lord honey, what in the world happened? Is your friend all right?"

Joanne looked down at the floor, then back to the older woman "Yeah she's all right, but it's a long story Miss Abram. How is the show coming?"

Miss Abram took the hint, smiling once again "Oh my goodness darlin' they're LOVING IT! It's a success! They gave the children a standing ovation just after the first act ended. They're even talking about having the children do it again for the mayor! You and Miss Maureen should be so proud!"

The sound of Maureen's name made Joanne wince, bringing back all of those feelings from earlier "For the Mayor huh? Oh my goodness, I can't believe it. We are proud Miss Abram we are. I'm so glad it's going so well. The children have certainly worked hard."

Miss Abram looked around "There's that man again. He says he knows you and Miss Maureen."

Joanne looked over to see Benny looking for her, the expression that was plastered on him was priceless. "Benny! Over here!"

Benny spotted Joanne and weaved through the crowd "Wonderful show Joanne, looks insanely familiar."

The lawyer brought up a smile "Well you of all people should be enjoying it. You inspired Maureen and I to write it. Are you going to stay for the second act?"

Benny smirked "I wouldn't miss it for the world." With that he walked away, walking back over to his wife Alison who was looking for him.

Benny is never going to change.

Miss Abram looked down at her watch "Ten minutes to show time! Come on Miss Joanne, the children will want to see you."

Children were again running about, laughing and shouting. Immediately the little girl that played Elsie the Cow came up to Joanne "Miss Joanne! Where were you? I didn't see you in the crowd!"

Joanne's heart sank, she knew she should have been here. "Oh honey, Miss Abram told me that you were excellent, just like I knew you would be. I didn't have to watch because I know you would have done a wonderful job whether I watched or not."

"Thanks Miss Joanne!" Extremely satisfied with those words, the little girl shuffled off

"Darlin' I need to go and see if my dishes and spoons are all shiny for the second act. I'll see you in a minute." With that Miss Abram ran off.

"Thanks Miss Abram!" she called out to her. Joanne looked around, tired and wanting a drink badly.

"Miss Joanne!"

The lawyer turned around "Steven!"

The two hugged. "Well hello there Benny the Bulldog. How are you? You ready to get those dishes and spoons to pay the rent?"

The little boy's smile grew wide "Yup! But I'm a little nervous."

Joanne held the boy on his shoulders "You have nothing to be nervous about. This is your stage, and you own it. Now go finish getting dressed. I'll be out there to watch you."

The little boy ran off carrying his bulldog head. She laughed as he waved to her with the paws he had for hands. The lawyer waved back and went to sit down on a bench.

For only a moment Joanne went deep into thought.

Fuck. I need a drink.

What would Joanne do now? She knew that Maureen would have to come back to the apartment to get her things. The whole group would be torn apart and that alone put more and more stress upon her shoulders. Surely Angel would try to get them back together again. Would it work? Could they make it work? Would Joanne want it to work? So many questions ran through her head that she thought it would explode. It wasn't until Miss Abram called places that she got up and walked to the side of the Theatre to catch a seat next to Steven Jr.'s dad.

The man saw her and smiled greatly "Hey there Joanne. How are ya?"

Joanne pained a smile "I'm doin' all-right Steven thanks. But I could be better."

"Yeah, can't we all? Oh hey how is your friend doing? Is she all right?"

Joanne thought back to Angel hysterically crying "Yeah, she'll be all right. Thank you again."

"Anytime, anytime."

Soon the lights began to fade and in darkness the Theatre became.

With Angel, Maureen, Collins, Mimi, Mark, Roger

The room was at an uncomfortable silence as no one moved from the positions they were in when the Maureen and Joanne were fighting.

Maureen breathed into Angel's chest and sighed heavily. "Angel, I am so sorry."

Angel looked down at Maureen "It's all right honey. We'll get through this."

Mimi took her head out of Roger's chest as he wiped her tears away "You okay babe?"

The dancer nodded and looked toward Angel "Ang, how are you feeling baby?"

Angel looked up at Mimi, still holding a weeping Maureen "I'm all right, just really tired."

Collins took that as a hint to kiss Angel's forehead "Do you want us to go babe?"

"I just want to lie down. Too much shit going on for me right now."

With that Mark got up from his chair and walked over to Angel's bed. "Come on Maureen. You can crash at the loft until we figured out what the hell to do."

Maureen took her face out of Angel's chest "Thanks Marky."

Angel looked up at Maureen's face which was smeared with eyeliner and mascara "Clean yourself up honey, you look like shit. Always leave looking fabulous. It's either fabulous or not at all."

Maureen weakly chuckled "Yes Miss Angel." She hugged the drag queen tightly whispering I love you into his ear, as he said it back.

Mark grabbed Angel's hand "We'll be back tomorrow to come see you. I talked to the nurse and she said that you'd be out of here by late tomorrow."

Angel smiled at Mark, he always gave him reassuring news "Thanks Marky. Take care of my girl. She's a handful."

Mark rolled his eyes "Yeah, don't I know it. Tom you coming?"

Collins' grip on Angel got tighter "I'll catch up to you guys later, I'm not leaving Ang here."

Mark knew that Collins would probably stay there all night with Angel. Collins was the loyal type and wouldn't leave anyone he truly loved. So with Angel there was no exception.

Mimi got off of Roger's lap and walked over to Angel who gave her a big hug "Te amo Mimi-Chica. I'll see you tomorrow, si?"

The dancer kissed Angel on the cheek "Si."

Angel wiped a tear from Mimi's face "Mejores amigas para siempre?" (Translation: Best Friends Forever?)

Mimi lifted her head proudly "Siempre." (Translation: Forever.)

Roger looked over to Collins "We'll be back in the morning man."

After everyone had left Angel sighed heavily "Baby, what the hell is going on with us?"

Collins held Angel tightly "I don't know babe life I guess."

"Life. Yeah." Angel turned around to semi face his lover. "I love you Tom Collins."

"I love you too, my Angel."

As the two lovers shared a small, but sweet kiss Collins thought back to this morning.

"Ang, what was bothering you this morning?"

Fuck. He remembered. Collins always fucking remembers.

"I was thinking about some stupid shit from my past is all babe."

Collins grabbed the remote to the television and turned it off. "What part of your past Ang?"

"Babe, I'm really tired."

"Ang, what part of your past? Why don't you want to tell me?"

"I do want to tell you it's just that, I don't know. I want to leave it behind me."

"Ang if you left it behind you babe, you wouldn't have been thinking about it in the bathroom today."

Dammit, he did it again.

"Well I was thinking about my ex."

"David?"

"Yes."

"What made you think of him?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking about all the shit that he had did to me."

"You still haven't forgiven him have you?"

Angel looked away, his eyes filling with tears. "No I don't think so. I, I just still can't believe that he did that to me you know? After all we had been through."

Collins rubbed Angel's arm comfortingly.

"He was the love of my life and he just recklessly did something to hurt someone else. How could someone be so cruel and want to hurt another human being? It's just not worth it to me."

"Well babe, sometimes when people are hurt they feel like they have to hurt someone else so that, that person can know how they're feeling. Stupid? Yes. Selfish? Yes. But that's just how some people are and maybe David was like that."

Angel thought hard about what Collins said. Was David like that?

"No babe, David wasn't like that. He, he never acted that way with me."

"Yes Ang he might not have, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't feeling it. You know Ang, people have a tendency to act differently around you than they would with others."

"Why?"

"Because you're you. Because of your love for life and happiness. That causes people to act like they wouldn't normally act."

Once again Angel changed the subject from him and back to Collins. Which he still hadn't caught onto yet. Angel looked up at his lover "Do you act differently around Roger and Mark than you do with me?"

Collins looked down, at a loss for words. "Well umm, I mean it's the guys Ang."

Angel smirked "So."

The professor began to stutter "So, that means . . . "

"So you're telling me that you don't act like the sweet lovable teddy bear that I know and love?"

"Well . . . "

Angel said in his best man voice "So you act like 'I'm Mr. Big Tough Guy Collins. Merry Christmas Bitches!'"

Collins laughed out loud embarrassed "I kind of have a rep to keep up Ang. That's how it's always been."

Angel got a devilish look in his eye "So you wouldn't want me telling Mark or Roger how you moan like a teenager when I nibble on your ear?"

"Ang! Not so loud!"

Angel laughed "Ah ha! So you wouldn't want me to tell them how you call my name when we 'play' at night?"

"I do not call your name."

The drag queen sat up in his bed and turned around quickly "Liar! Yes you do. You say Angel oh Angel!"

Collins looked at the door as Angel continued to mimic Collins "Oh Angel! Yes Angel! Oh baby right there oh yeah Angel!"

"Angel stop that!"

"Oh yeah Angel!"

"Stop it!" Collins had had enough, soon he began to tickle Angel.

"No Collins stop it!" he tried to say as he was being tickled under his shoulders.

"Say you'll never say that again Angel! Say it" Collins said as he tickled Angel more fiercely.

Angel couldn't help it when Collins tickled him, "Ahhh! Okay, okay I won't say it any more." More laughter from Angel.

Collins had a devilish grin "Promise me Angel!"

"I promise Collins! I promise!" Angels' laughter could be heard all through the hall of the hospital.

"Good girl." And with thisCollins leaned over to kiss Angel who happily obliged.

A sound of the door opening startled Angel and Collins. It was a nurse whom both Angel and Collins never seen before. They watched her to see how she was going to react to them. The nurse looked up at them "Mr. Schunard you are just way too loud in here dear. We're gonna have to quiet down a little bit alright?"

Collins and Angel both looked down sheepishly "Sorry."

"That's all right. How are you feeling dear? Do you need anything?"

Angel looked at the nurse and smiled "Nope. I"m good. Do you know when I'm going to get out of here?"

The nurse checked the machines and looked at Angel's head "On my paper it says tomorrow afternoon around 4pm. But for right now, you need to rest."

The nurse noticed Collins "Hi how are you? I'm Sandra."

The professor held out his hand "Very nice to meet you. Tom Collins."

Angel smiled at Collins, he loved to hear him say his name.

"Well Mr. Collins it was very nice to meet you and Mr. Schunard-" The drag queen quickly cut her off "Angel, call me Angel."

"Angel, you need to let the sandman take you. You'd be surprised at what going to sleep at 7:30 can do for you."

Angel saluted to her "Yes mam."

The nurse smiled at the two "Behave yourselves."

Angel looked at Collins who looked at the ground shyly "We will."

With that the nurse left the room. Angel grinned at Collins "Baby, you are so shy."

Collins felt his cheeks grow warm "Yeah I know. I can't help it."

Angel pulled his lover's arm closer around him "Well I think you're sexy when you act like that."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah." Angel poked his lips out for a kiss. "Very sexy."

With Maureen, Mark, Roger & Mimi

Roger walked around the loft with a coffee cup in his hand talking to Mark "Wonderful fucking day huh?"

Mark looked up from his camera "Shhh Roger. Maureen's sleeping."

Roger shook his head. Mark was back to his old Maureen's sleeping shit again.

"Whatever man. Goodnight."

Mark looked up at him "Night. Take your AZT."

Roger rolled his eyes as he popped the pill into his mouth.

"Tell Mimi to take hers too."

"I got it." Roger snapped.

Mark looked over to the sleeping Maureen, her face stained with tears. He walked over to her, moving the hair out of her face. He stopped to look at how beautiful she still was. He hadn't because he was still trying to get over the performance artist and again he failed miserably. Mark sighed.

"You still love her don't you?" Mimi came in wearing one of Roger's huge shirts.

Mark got up quickly, clearing his throat "Um what? I thought you were asleep Meems."

Mimi walked over to the film maker and kissed him on the cheek "It's okay babe, you don't have to hide it. Love isn't something you can easily hide."

Mark sighed again and looked down at Maureen who stirred for only a second "But it's not me who she loves."

Mimi hugged Mark "Sweety, all things happen for a reason. Maybe she just wasn't right for you like you thought."

Yeah, but then I'm the one who is alone. With no one.

Mark tried to hold back the emotion in his voice "Yeah maybe so Meems. Well goodnight."

Mimi looked up at Mark "Night Marky. Get some sleep okay?"

"I will."

Mimi walked over to Roger's door and closed it softly.

Mark walked over to his projector and dusted it off with an old rag.

Just you and me buddy.

"Mark?" Maureen's voice was tired and stressed.

Mark turned around "Maureen? You feeling all right?"

He walked over to her and put his arm around her. Maureen nodded, wiping her face "I'm really sorry again for all the shit that I cause Mark I really am."

Mark looked down at the floor. He didn't know what to say.

"I guess I just don't realize how much we all affect one another. Every choice we make can utterly affect everyone else. Sometimes I love the fact that we all love one another so much, but sometimes I wish that it was only me that I was affecting. I'm just so sorry Mark."

"It's all right Maureen. We'll get through this, together. You know Angel isn't going to let us tear apart like this. We'll all be fine."

Maureen missed Mark's optimism "Yeah, I know we will. But I just don't know how it's going to be with me and Jo not together anymore. I know we fight a lot but Mark, I really think that this is it."

Mark looked out into the dimly lit living room of their loft "Yeah, what is going to happen?"