They looked in many places; the Café, the park, the restaurant…nothing. They were close to giving up when they decided to check the obvious place.

And as they made their way up to the loft, they heard the ever-annoying Musetta's Waltz…and that's when they knew.

The coward had hidden in the one place he knew they'd never check, thinking it too obvious.

Lisa didn't even bother waiting until she was at the door before she was yelling, "You bastard!" Benny sighed and trailed after her, huffing slightly as he climbed the last set of stairs.

The music instantly stopped and no other noises were heard.

"Don't you hide from me! I could probably smell the stench of coward and asshole off of you." Lisa screeched as she finally made it to the top floor.

Without so much as another word she was inside the loft and storming towards Roger. The rocker didn't have time to shield himself before she was pounding on him, her knuckles white from her fists clenching so hard. She punched him wherever she could and in her rage didn't give a shit that Roger was crying out in pain.

"You fucker! You cockroach! You asswipe! You sonuvabitch! I'm going to—"

Before she could finish her sentence however Benny was grabbing her around the waist and pulling her away. She clawed at him, hair flying as she screamed abuse as loud as she could. No matter what though, Benny did not let go and eventually (regrettably) Lisa began to calm.

"You…you left him Roger." Lisa hissed, shoving Benny's loose hands off of her when it was obvious she wouldn't try to beat Roger up for the next five minutes.

Roger didn't say a thing. Instead he picked up his guitar from where he had placed it (out of the way of the scuffle—he obviously knew Lisa meant business when she showed up) and strummed the strings gently.

"Say something Roger or I swear I will beat you to death." Lisa threatened.

"Lisa." Benny hissed, the look he gave her clearly indicating her threat wasn't cool.

"Why are you protecting me Benjamin? You were after all the lead in the whole 'let's take Roger down a peg' party." Roger commented dryly, his strumming no longer gentle.

"What?" Lisa asked impatiently, obviously pissed by being out of the loop.

"The reason I left was because Ben was being a dickwad." Roger said harshly, picking at the strings with his nails now.

Lisa didn't say anything, just looked between Benny and Roger several times.

That didn't last long.

"Are you saying," Lisa began with clenched teeth, looking like she was actually going to murder him, "You left your dying lover because you—you were told off by Benny?"

"You make it stupid when you say it like that." Roger grumbled, looking away.

With a cry of frustrated rage Lisa was rushing at him again, her fists poised in the air ready to strike down. Fortunately (or unfortunately in her case) Benny was quicker to grab her this time before she could cause any damage.

"YOU FUCKING DIPSHIT! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU—!" she started to scream, kicking as hard as she could.

"Lisa. LISA! STOP THIS!" Benny cried over her cries, losing his grip on her little by little.

"No! He deserves much worse—"

"You don't think I already know that?!" Roger shot back.

"LET ME FUCKING—"

"Stop it. Both of you." Benny cried, giving the two glares. Lisa huffed but surprisingly enough listened. Roger listened as well, but not before sagging slightly in defeat.

"This is crazy; Lisa, you have no right to hurt Roger. You may hate his guts but he is still your best friend's boyfriend, and even your friend," Benny began. Lisa grumbled but didn't say a word. "Roger, you're an asshole. But you can redeem that by going back to Mark."

"I can't." Roger said, pleading in his voice.

"Why not?"

"Because…I did this to him," Roger explained, his voice tight, "And that makes me a selfish bastard, wallowing in self pity, but it's true! And I can't fucking sit there and look at the mess I made." Tears began to gather in Roger's eyes but he made no move to wipe them away. It seemed that the tears were so constant that he didn't seem to know the difference anymore.

"You have to Rog. He loves you and has accepted you and he deserves your love and acceptance in return." Benny stated as Lisa grabbed the couch, trying to control her anger.

"I know that! I know! But…" Roger trailed off, rubbing his neck and looking away.

"But what asshole?" Lisa couldn't help but quip, earning a glare from Benny.

"Do you know what's it's like to hate yourself so profusely? To be loved for everything you are even though you know that you don't deserve it? I do. I've faced that hatred ever since Mark entered that damned hospital. And it's killing me." Roger hissed.

"It may be so but you forget honey bunches of oats; this isn't about you. This is about the mortality of the man you love. Get over yourself." Lisa added, less passionate but still so so angry.

Roger took a deep breath but didn't comment; instead he just ran his hand through his hair and looked away.

"Roger?"

Roger looked up at Ben, defeat in his eyes.

"You can't run away for ever. You have to deal." Benny whispered, grabbing Roger's shoulder gently and giving a squeeze. Lisa looked like she'd rather have her boyfriend doing anythinginstead of comforting him, but didn't say a word.

"I…I know." Roger whispered gruffly, looking down at his hands.

"Come back to the hospital."

~~~~~~~~~::~~~~~~~~~

The trio entered the hospital an hour later. Lisa and Benny were quite proud of themselves and even smiling, despite the sour predicament they were in. Roger entered with his shoulders slumped, his hands in his pockets, not saying a word and not even looking up as they entered. He so obviously didn't want to do this, but the couple walking beside him arm-in-arm would kill him if he dared made a dash for it.

So instead he took deep breaths and prayed to a God he never believed in. He just…he couldn't leave the hospital without his boyfriend. He simply couldn't. Honestly, he knew if he couldn't they'd be leaving the hospital in two body bags. He couldn't see it any other way.

They made their way up to Mark's room, silent and quick as they did so. But by the time they had made it to their friend's room, they have slowed considerably and any sunny dispositions they had before were gone.

Reality was too near beside the hospital room 221.

Despite the pain Lisa was quick to enter the room. She slightly squealed when she noticed her friend was mostly awake, staring into space in his hospital bed.

"Hey darling!" she cried as she sat in the chair beside him. She smiled brightly at him, despite the sudden need she had to cry. She had already cried enough she knew; crying and freaking out more would just upset Mark. So she grinned and bared it while she gently reached over and petted Mark's hair.

Benny meanwhile had entered behind Lisa, his smile looking much more forced when he followed Lisa's lead. "Hey Mark; how you feeling man?"

"…Tired…the drugs…but my dreams suck, so…" Mark muttered, obviously fighting to stay awake. He didn't smile back, but the couple knew that he had every right not to.

"It's okay sweetheart; we'll talk to the doctor for you."

"No…the drugs takes the pain away…I'll be fine…Rog?" Mark whispered, his eyes looking over the two. He was obviously looking for a face that wasn't there.

Lisa turned to the doorway where Roger was cowering, looking like he'd rather be hiding under a rock at the moment then facing reality.

"He's at the door; come on in Roger!" Lisa waved Roger over, giving a comforting smile. Or, a smile that was supposed to look comforting. In reality, it was fierce. It was a 'get-your-ass-over-here-or-I-will-kill-you-with-Mar k-in-the-room-or-not' smile.

So with as much courage as he could spare and a deep breath, Roger entered the room with a small smile. "Hey," he grumbled, coming into Mark's view.

Mark smiled brilliantly for a second, and in that second it was like he was his healthy and happy self again, but then he studied Roger and frowned. His smile faltered and he obviously didn't like what he saw in Roger.

Roger felt immediate guilt, but he didn't feel ashamed. He could barely stand how he felt, but it was whom he was and he refused to hate himself.

"You…ran didn't you? Lisa and Ben…had to drag you back?" Mark slurred, looking at Roger with such disappointment but also acceptance. As if he knew that Roger would pull this shit. That made Roger a little unnerved and even more guilty.

"He did, but it's all taken care of." Lisa smiled brightly, but her teeth were clenched way too hard. She obviously wasn't pleased.

"Don't…want him here if he…doesn't want to."

"Wh-what?" Lisa asked, her smile faltering.

"He…doesn't have to be here." Mark whispered, looking resolute but also so, so upset at the fact.

"I…Baby, he should be here! He has no choice! He knew what he was getting into with you." Lisa argued, giving up the façade of being chipper and bright. Now she looked both furious and confused, occasionally looking over and glaring at Roger.

"I knew…too. It's okay…"

Roger was torn. He wanted so desperately to leave, but…Mark had practically given his permission to get the hell out of town. He could barely resist the urge. In fact, he couldn't.

He nodded quickly to Benny and Lisa and zipped out the door, reminding Benny of Flash.

"I…I…" Lisa looked scandalized. She could barely believe it. The nerve…!

"He's not leaving for too long." Ben nodded wisely. He knew Roger; in the day he was one of his best friends. He would be too guilty and too in love with the man to actually leave. At least not for too long. He was confident in that aspect.

"I hope so…" Lisa grumbled, grabbing Mark's hand comfortingly and looking away from the empty doorway. She tensed and prepared herself to have to hold her Marcus close as he wept over the stupid rocker…only to see his eyes closed and his breaths even. Asleep. Figures. The only indicator that Roger leaving was painful for the filmmaker was the lone tear that had fallen before he passed out.

"Oh baby…" she whispered, wiping the tear away.

"Lisa…we should go and get some sleep. I'm sure Roger will be here when Mark wakes up."

"…You better hope so." Lisa whispered vehemently. Normally she wouldn't dare leave, but…she was exhausted. And sleeping in a stiff hospital chair wasn't all that appealing. So, she let Ben lead her out of the room…holding her close as she shook.