Well, there's one thing I know. Roger was wrong, sleeping at Maureen's was definitely better than sleeping on the street.
Of course, no other homeless people had tried to come on to him as of yet. However, someone had put a blanket around his shoulders while he slept. He had stayed awake most of the night, but sometime before the sun came up he had been unable to keep his eyes open anymore and had fallen asleep for an hour or so. When he woke up he found a thick gray blanket tucked around him, carefully concealing the camera that he clutched to his chest and protecting him just enough from the numbing cold. Mark had fingered the blanket when he woke up, feeling more touched by the simple gesture than he had felt in a long time. Sometimes it was hard to believe that someone in this city could still be so kind.
Now he was faced with a new dilemma. He couldn't stay on the street again; he refused. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay awake two nights in a row. He would either have to find Roger or go to a homeless shelter. Hell, he would get himself arrested before he would spend another night on the sidewalk. He'd even go to Maureen's.
"Mark?"
A voice interrupted Mark's sleepy musings and halfhearted efforts to regain feeling in his legs. He looked up drowsily to find Collins and Angel, arm in arm and in mid-stride, staring down at him in shock.
"Oh, uh.. hey guys," Mark stammered, struggling to his feet.
Collins grabbed his arm and helped him up, concern immediately evident in his face.
"Are you okay man? Don't tell me you slept on the street?"
"I'm fine," Mark insisted, straightening his coat on his shoulders. "And... well, yeah, I did. It's a really long story."
Mark could see the questions on Collins lips, but Angel silently laid a hand on his arm. Collins turned to look at her, but her eyes were on Mark's face. She looked at him for a long moment, and Mark had the feeling that she already knew what had happened.
"We were just on our way to breakfast," she said. "Come with us."
Mark wanted more than anything to go with Angel and Collins. Collins' warm, unconditional friendship and Angel's understanding nature were exactly what he needed to get himself back together after last night's emotional meltdown. But everything that had happened since Christmas Eve had made him a little fragile and more than a little insecure. It was so strange. That night had been one of the best of his recent life, and for no real reason other than that he felt like he belonged to a group that knew and cared for him. The day after he was more depressed than he had been since high school, and all because he felt the complete absence of what he had been thriving on the night before.
"Well, I.. wouldn't want to-"
"Oh, don't be silly," Angel said, hooking her other arm with his. "You must be starving, and you and I didn't get to talk enough last night."
Mark smiled. "Thanks."
They began to walk away arm in arm until Mark stopped abruptly.
"Wait, just a second," he said and trotted back to where the blanket the stranger had left him lay on the street. He picked it up and folded it carefully before catching up to Collins and Angel, who were watching him curiously. He only smiled and they continued to walk. When Mark saw a homeless woman sitting on the sidewalk with only a piece of a cardboard box protecting her from the wind, he bent down and silently handed her the blanket before walking away.
*
Two hours and three cups of coffee later, Mark could feel his feet again and had gotten a handle on his renegade emotions. The bitter tragedy of last night had been completely calmed and pushed away by Collins and Angel's company. Mark couldn't feel lonely with them; they both cared too much.
They had only just met last night, but Mark had never seen two people who seemed so completely in love before. It was really astounding, and he found it almost comforting. His parents hadn't loved each other like that; Roger and April hadn't either. Seeing the way that Angel and Collins instinctively cared for each other and remembering the stranger who had given him the blanket last night had completely renewed his faith in the human heart.
The three of them spent the rest of the day together doing nothing special, but the nothingness healed Mark. He hadn't realized before just how deeply he had missed Collins while he was away.
Mark and Collins had met soon after Mark graduated from Brown and moved to New York. He was really the first friend Mark made here. He had been sitting outside a café drinking a cup coffee when Collins came tearing around a street corner and ducked into an alleyway. Two Chinese men and a police officer soon followed, and they glanced up and down the street feverishly. They two Chinese men babbled wildly, pointing and gesturing with faces red from exertion. The police officer tried to quiet them as he approached Mark, obviously winded from the chase. He had asked Mark if he had seen a man run by, and Mark automatically pointed him in the wrong direction without realizing exactly why he had done it. When they were gone, Collins emerged from the alley and thanked him as he clapped Mark on the shoulder with his free hand. In the other he held a pair of wire cutters.
The friendship had been instantaneous, and they lived together for several years before Collins accepted a teaching position at MIT in 1994. Of all of his friends, Mark felt like he had more in common with Collins than anyone else. They used to stay up until all hours of the night, talking about Nietzsche or films or debating whether a society based on Randian philosophy could ever work or not. They came from similar backgrounds and were both rather quiet people, intellectuals and natural caretakers. Mark had sorely missed Collins unconditional support and understanding, especially when Roger was diagnosed.
So when Angel insisted that Mark stay with her until Benny reopened their building, Mark agreed and was wholly grateful.
"Wait," Mark said as Angel unlocked the door to her apartment. "You and Mimi already know each other?"
"Yeah, we've been friends for years," she replied, opening the door. "Just make yourself at home!"
Mark smiled, entranced, as he stepped into Angel's apartment. It was tiny but very warm. There were flowers everywhere, growing in painted pots on the windowsill and sitting in vases and glasses of water. None of them were dying from neglect like Maureen's little garden; they were all obviously well-taken care of. The room was alive with them. Books and photographs spilled from shelves to inhabit tables and corners on the floor. There wasn't nearly enough room, but everything seemed to have its place. There was artwork all over the walls, and the vibrant reds and blues and greens joined the flowers in creating a strange, beautiful little world. It was perfect that Angel should live here.
Her hands rested lightly on Mark's shoulders as she told him to take off his coat. She patted his shoulder for a second before turning to hang Mark's coat and scarf in the closet.
"Thank you Angel," he murmured. He carefully placed his camera on a table.
"You're welcome, honey," she said softly, kissing his cheek. Mark knew implicitly that she understood exactly what he had wanted to say.
"But yeah," she said, picking up the thread of the conversation again as she ushered Collins and Mark to the small sitting area that she called her living room. "I met Mimi when she was just a kid. She was fifteen and had been living here for a few weeks when she tried to help me out with someone I was having a little disagreement with. She's a sweet girl. Tough too, but I sort of took her under my wing."
"Do you know where she's staying?" Mark asked. He needed to know where Roger was. He missed him already and was an admitted worrier. Taking care of Roger had been his responsibility for the last year, and old habits die hard.
"Sure. She called me last night to let me know. They're staying with our friend Kristin," Angel said.
"Good," Mark murmured.
"Well kids, I'm hungry," Collins said, standing. "What sounds good to everybody?"
Angel followed Collins to the door, and Mark stayed on the couch watching them. Collins shouldered into his new jacket, and Angel took his hands in hers. They just stared at each other silently for a long moment before murmuring something to the other. Collins leaned down to kiss Angel softly, and Mark watched with a smile. He felt like he hadn't stopped smiling all day.
When Collins was gone, Angel turned back to him with a grin and a sort of glow in her face. She sat in a chair opposite Mark and took his hands in her own. Most of Mark had never really learned how to be touched, but for whatever reason it was easy and natural with Angel.
"You have some great friends," she said.
Mark laughed. "Yeah, I know."
"Mimi told me that Roger was looking for you," she continued.
Mark nodded, understanding what must have happened. Before they had parted on Christmas Eve, Roger had agreed to call him at Maureen's and let him know where he was staying. Roger must have found out from Maureen that he had left.
"He was?" Mark asked. The fact that Roger cared enough to look for him made his chest seem to swell.
She smiled. "You know, it only took me a minute to realize how much he loves you. You do know that, don't you Mark?"
"Yeah, I know."
"Good, don't ever forget it," she said, her felty brown eyes more knowledgeable than they should have been. Somehow Angel had looked into his soul and seen everything that was there, all that loneliness and hurt and insecurity that he had been feeling was laying exposed in front of her. It was the most vulnerable he had ever felt, but at the same time he knew his feelings were safe with her. It was strange that he could trust someone so fully after so little time.
"Do you want to tell me what happened with Maureen?"
Yes, I do. I so want to connect with you; I don't want to be alone back here forever.
Mark only nodded. "Do you know about me and Maureen?"
"Only that you two broke up a few weeks ago and that she's with Joanne now."
Mark began to relate to Angel what had happened at Maureen's. At some point she moved to sit beside Mark on the couch and put her arm around his shoulders. Mark leaned back into her, feeling warmer and safer than he had felt in a long time as he explained Maureen's break up with Joanne, the flowers, the way that Maureen had kissed him and asked him to stay, and the way that he had walked out. When he was through, they just sat there for a long time, not saying anything. Mark closed his eyes. He could almost feel the love and strength flowing from Angel into himself. For a brief moment, he felt confused, the line between fantasy and reality blurring in his head. Angel really was an angel, sent down from God - whatever that was - to help his struggling little family. Mark hadn't prayed since he was a small child, but in that moment - with Angel's arms around him and all seeming right in the world despite everything - he sent his heartfelt thanks to heaven.
"Wow," he whispered, opening his eyes.
"Yeah," she said softly. She kissed Mark on the cheek and stood. This time, instead of emptying, Mark kept the warmth and reassurance she had given him.
"We need to find you some blankets," she said, turning to search through the closet. "You can stay here as long as you need to. I really love having people around." She turned to look at Mark. "You're going to be okay, you know that?"
He smiled again. "Yeah."
"To risk sounding like a greeting card, everything will work out just like it's supposed to. It always does. Just wait, Benny will let you back into your building, Mimi will positively force Roger into happiness again, Maureen will become a star, and you will make beautiful films and fall madly in love with the perfect person."
"Like you have."
She smiled devilishly and plopped back into a chair near Mark. "He is perfect, isn't he?"
Mark wished that he had his camera out then, wished he could capture this love on film. The look in Angel's eyes was positively radiant, and it should never, ever be lost.
"I've never seen love like what you two seem to have," Mark said. "It's so... pure. It's beautiful to watch."
"You'll have this Mark," she said, laying a hand on his knee. "I can see it. It might take awhile, but when it happens for you it will happen."
"I don't know," he said with a smile. Suddenly nothing seemed to be as serious or as painful as it had been before. "I'm pretty stupid about girls."
"That's what makes you so endearing."
"Why do I feel like you know me so well?" he asked suddenly, sitting up. "Like there's nothing I could hide from you, even if I wanted to?"
"I don't know," she said. "Is that okay with you?"
"It's wonderful!" he burst involuntarily. "I barely even know you Angel, but I think I must love you already."
Surprised with his own candor, Mark simply waited for her response, not entirely sure what it would be. She stood and drew him into a hug, gently running her hands over his shoulders.
"I think I love you too Mark," she said. "I don't know how anyone could help it."
It was then that Collins returned with Chinese food and a rental video in tow. The three of them moved to Angel's bedroom, which was just as tiny and charming as the rest of the apartment. Collins sat on the bed and Mark settled himself into a chair as Angel slipped the video into the VCR. Noting Mark's surprised look, she shrugged.
"I had a good week a few months ago, and I'm a movie junkie," she said.
The movie was good, some foreign film Mark had never even heard of. He tried to watch it, to admire the interesting camera work and visual symbolism, but his eyes kept drifting back to Collins and Angel. They were cuddled up together on Angel's bed, her head resting on his chest and his fingers twined with hers. Mark smiled and snuck out of the room just long enough to retrieve his camera. All of the footage he had filmed in the last few months had been flat and dead, completely uninspired, but he knew already that this wouldn't be. This would preserve one of the truest, purest things he had ever seen, and he knew it would be beautiful.
After a few minutes he put the camera down and tried to turn his attention back to the movie, but he kept nodding off. He finally gave up the struggle and stood.
"I'm exhausted guys, I'm going to go to bed," he said.
Collins stood and embraced him. They talked quietly for a minute about how good it was to see the other and how much the other had been missed. They made plans for the next day.
Angel stood as well and kissed Mark's cheeks before slipping something into his hand. He looked down. It was her address book.
"Kristin Holden," she said softly. "Goodnight Mark. I'm glad we got to talk."
"Me too," he said. "Thank you so much, for everything."
"My pleasure," she said, returning to her position in Collins arms on the bed. "Sleep sweet honey!"
"Love you, Mark."
He smiled. "Love you guys too."
Mark returned to the living room and fell onto the couch. What a day. He kicked off his shoes wearily and dropped his glasses onto a table before pulling a blanket up to his chin and falling immediately to sleep.
***
Basically, I started getting depressed because I was only writing and reading fics where Mark was miserable so I decided to write one where he gets to be happy for awhile. And if he was going to be happy, this would be the week I think. What can I say? I have a weakness for the guy; I like to see him smiling. :) More soon!