Disclaimer: No, not mine. *sniffle* I wish… except Liz. Liz is mine. Except for her glasses.
A/N: DIE, evil writer's block, DIE! This is NOT a M/R slash, I swear. It's not going to be, no matter how much I like M/R slashes… *hides* the Fluffiness Monster is after me!! I can't get away from the fluffiness! Sorry for the short chapter… I apologize for this chapter. I thoroughly dislike it. With a passion. It sucks… It's a product of boredom and writer's block, not a good combo.
Chapter 4: We Cannot Ignore
Mark sat patiently on the dilapidated plaid couch, staring at the door, waiting for Roger's daily visit. A month. It'd been a month. It was Christmas Eve, and Hanukkah had come and gone. His friends had once again forgotten he was Jewish, but they'd never remembered in the first place, even when they'd all lived together and Mark's mom would call and leave "Happy Hanukkah" messages. Not that Mark cared which holiday they celebrated, he wasn't expecting any presents anyway. He had gotten everyone else presents though. A month. A month since he'd felt entirely hopeless. A month since he'd last cut. His eyes shifted to his arm and he pulled up the sleeve of his sweater. Fine white lines found their way down his hand, fading more everyday, but never leaving. He'd told Roger. Roger had confiscated his razor blades. Mark still felt like he needed to sometimes, usually at least once a day. It was hard at first, so fucking hard. But his pain had lessened a little, day by day. He returned his gaze to the door. Roger's late! Mark thought, He must have forgotten. Or he's not coming. At that moment, the door opened and Roger paraded in, wearing one of his rare, yet infamous Cheshire cat grins that only occurred when he was plotting something.
"Hey, Rog. Why're you grinning like that?" Mark asked suspiciously.
"You'll see." Roger nodded wisely, "Whatcha got to eat?" Mark laughed bitterly.
"Food? Are you kidding? All I've got is some Ramen and some non-name brand Captain Crunch-like cereal. Why?" At this point glanced vaguely around the room. Or really, directly at the door.
"No reason, just hungry." He glanced at the door again, "It's Christmas, you know."
"I know. Even though I don't celebrate it," Mark replied.
"Oh…Yeah…I…I knew that." The grin faded a little.
"That's alright… I have to celebrate some holiday. It might as well be Christmas. Roger began walking towards the door.
"I got you a present." He said as the door burst open to reveal Collins, Angel, Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, Benny, and who was the other girl? Everyone greeted him with hugs, and a kiss from Maureen, which resulted a glare from Joanne. Collins introduced the new girl.
"Mark, this is a friend of mine from MIT, Liz. Liz, this is my friend and former roommate, Mark Cohen." Collins grinned at Mark, and Mark looked at the girl in front of him.
"Hey! You've got my glasses!" He said to her and grinned. She grinned back, and they began an evening of general merriment and large amounts of alcohol that Collins "borrowed" from the Food Emporium.