A/N:  Here is chapter two, this is so far a fun story to write, and I realize that it doesn't fit perfectly into the 'rules' of Rent, but just wait, because I have a plan to make it.  Hehe…  They don't belong to me, I just use them for amusement.  Thanks to Kait for NOTICING my overuse of the word notice and all my tense problems. 

April and I chatted all the way to Grand Central, and then all the way to Westport.  I told her about Michael and how he and I met.

          "I was borrowing a newspaper for the stand he worked at.

          "Borrowing?"

          "Well, I was just taking the Classifieds section, I needed a place to live.  I was going to give back the rest of the paper."

          "So what did he do?"

          "He took me in."  I shrugged, "He was that kind of person." She chuckled.  "What?"

          "You don't even realize that you are that kind of person too."

          "Well, yeah, I guess.  I must have learned it from him."

I paused for a moment, "What about you, what is Roger like?"

          "Oh he's… he is really sweet deep down. But when he…" She stopped and looked out the window, "He's just changed a lot lately."

          "How so?"

          "Look, no offense, I just don't want to talk about it ok?  This has already been the fucking worst day of my life."

          "I'm sorry."  I sat there awkwardly for a few seconds. 

          "This is our stop, come on."  She stood up and I followed her out the door of the train.

          "There they are."  She pointed to a table in the back corner of the room.  She plastered a big smile on her face and dragged me towards her friends.  "Hey guys!"

          "April! Where they hell have you been?"  A tall man in his early twenties stood up, looking out of place in the tuxedo he was wearing.  "You missed the whole fucking thing."

          "Roger, stop being an ass."  A smaller blonde, wearing a matching tuxedo spoke firmly.  I noticed how his command broke the other's rage.

          "I… I… had that job interview, remember?"

          "Yeah, I know, but how long do those things take?" 

          "I had to wait a long time, I'm sorry."  She went over to him, kissed his cheek and gave him a hug.  "I got here as fast as I could."

          He bent down and embraced her, "It's ok, babe, I was just worried."

          "Ahem."  I cleared my throat.  The table looked over to me for the first time.  "Hi. I'm Collins."

          "Oh, I'm sorry, Collins."  April left Roger's grip and came over to me, "Everyone, this is my old friend Tom Collins, we haven't seen each other in years.  We ran into each other on the subway and I invited him to come with me."

          "Hey, nice to meet you.  I'm Mark, and this is Maureen."  Mark stretched his arm to me.  

          "Same to you, Mark and Maureen."  I flashed my smile at them and Maureen smiled back, although she still remained silent.

          "Old friend?  From where?"  Roger inquired.

          "Collins! This is Roger, my boyfriend."  April spoke quickly and turned to him, "I told him all about you." 

          "Hey."  He muttered to me.  April stepped on her Tippie toes and whispered something into Roger's ear.  "Oh!  Oh! Ok."  He turned back to me "Hey man, good to meet you.  Sit down, can I buy you a drink?" 

          I grinned, "A Stoli Straight would be great."

          "Straight, huh?"  Roger chortled and then turned to April, "What about you, babe?"

          "A beer is fine, thanks."  She came around the table and sat next to me.  "Collins, I can't take it.  I don't know what to say!"

          "Honey, you are doing fine.  They all seem really nice."
          "Roger's wasted."

          "He didn't seem drunk to me."

          "Well he's not drunk… he's just wasted."

          "Oh," what she had just said to me clicked, "OH!  Do you want to go?"

          "No, I'm ok.  I'm used to it."  

          "Mark, let's dance."  Maureen's loud voice interrupted our whispering.  We both turned to them.

          "Maureen, you know I hate dancing."

          "Come on, this is a wedding!  Everyone is dancing!"

          "You go dance, I'll just hang out here."

          "Pookie!  Come on.  I don't know anyone out there."

          "Maybe later."

          "You said that ten minutes ago!"  Her voice was getting louder and shriller.
          "No, I didn't…"

          "Oh right, that was last night at the rehearsal dinner.  Or the night before at the club, or the…"

"Damn it Maureen, when are you going to get the clue I don't dance?"

April leaned into me, "Maureen's going to storm away and it is going to take Mark about thirty seconds to follow her, just watch."

          "Jesus, I don't know why I even bother with you!"  Maureen dramatically stood up, knocking her chair over.  "I'm going to find some rich hot guy and dance with him all night."  She stalked away from the table.  April and I watched Mark watch her leave and shake his head.  He then got up and followed her onto the dance floor.

          "Fun couple."  I note.

          "Yeah, it is a mating ritual with those two.  They fight and then they fuck.  I really wish the apartment had thicker walls."

          "Heh, I bet."  I spotted Roger walking towards us, trying to balance three drinks.  "Hey, man, let me help you with that."  I took my glass from him and he handed April her beer and sat down.

          "I can't believe Benny is married.  "

          "Yeah, I know."  April stroked his arm tenderly.  "It doesn't mean you guys aren't friends anymore, though."

          "Yeah, I know."  I took that moment to look at Roger closely, and finally observe the void look in his eyes.  "Where are Mark and his princess?"

          "Dance floor." 

He nodded, "You didn't want to dance, did you?"

          "No, of course not."  Roger didn't notice the sad tone in her voice.  "Look, I have to use the Ladies Room, will you boys be ok alone?"

          "Of course."  I smiled at her, as she walked away.  "Are you ok?"

          "I'm fine.  No worries."

          Roger and I sat there silently for a few moments.  I shuffled in my chair and nursed my drink. Roger's beer was already near finished.  "So Roger, what do you do?"

          "Do?  Oh, I'm in a band."

          "Really, great, what kind of music?"

          "Oh, punk rock, hard core.  The Well Hungarians, do you know us?"

          "No, I don't, sorry."

          "We play around the city a lot."

          "Oh, well I just moved to New York last week."

          "Well how do you know April then?"

          "Huh?"

          "April grew up in Greenwich Village.  How do you know her?"

          "Oh, uh…" Damn, for someone fucked up, he sure paid a lot of attention to details, "Our father's were friends."

          He looked at me sternly, "April doesn't know who her father was.  He took off before she was even born."

          "Oh, uh…"

          "What the hell is going on?"

          "We… just met actually on the subway, and we started talking and she asked me to come along."

          "You mean you picked up my girlfriend on a subway?"

          "No… I'm not… I'm not interested in April like that."

          "How the hell are you interested in her then?"  Suddenly April reappeared at the table.  "I asked you a question, Tom."

          "What's going on here?"

          "Well, your old friend, Tom here, just admitted that you guys have known each other only a few hours.  Care to explain?"

          "We just started talking and he mentioned he didn't have any plans for today and I was telling him about the wedding and the free food and invited him along.  I didn't want you to think…"

          "This is fucking great.  Is he the reason why you missed the whole fucking ceremony?"  Roger's voice was getting louder and people at the other tables had begun to notice. 

          "What is going on here?"  A very nice looking, black man, also wearing a matching tux, approached us.  "You told me you would behave tonight,"  he said in a hushed whisper.  "The Goddamned Mayor of New York City is just a few tables away."

          I turned to where he gestured and for the first time, noticed faces of men I had only seen on TV before.  What kind of wedding was this?

          "I'm sorry."  Roger exhaled while sitting down and folding his arms.

          "Hey, Benny.  Congratulations."  April smiled at him and he embraced her.

          "Hey Beautiful, I'm so glad you could make it."
          "I brought a new friend of mine, I didn't think it would matter."

          "No, no, of course not."  He stretched out his hand to me.  "I'm Benjamin Coffin the Third."

          "Thomas Collins.  Friends call me Collins.  Congratulations."

          "Thanks.  It has been a long day."  I held up my drink to him and he took it and swung it back, "I needed that."

          "You looked like you needed that."

          "Benjamin!"  A voice broke through the crowd and I determined it came from the gorgeous blonde in the wedding gown.  "Time to cut the cake!"

          "I got to go.  Nice to meet you Collins."  He put his hand on Roger's shoulder, "You, behave."

          Roger nodded and finished his beer.  "Hey man, I'm sorry.  I just get jealous, sometimes.  You would too if your girl looked like her, huh?"  He grabbed April and pulled her playfully onto his lap.  "You looked stunning, baby."

          April's cheeks turned crimson as she adjusted herself on Roger's lap.  I could tell how in love she was with him.  I could also tell this wasn't the best thing for her.  "You look pretty damn hot in this tux, yourself, Davis."

          He began kissing the back of her neck.  She giggled and pulled away, nodding towards me.  "Oh, uh… maybe I'll go find your friends and dance with them."

          "Yeah man, dance with Mark.  Maybe you can get him to finally come out of he closet," Roger said.  April giggled into his shoulder. 

          "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."  I got up and left the two of them in their strange world and looked for Mark and Maureen, wondering to myself how exactly did I end up here.