A/N: I can't leave well enough alone, oh well. It's 4:30 A.M., it's storming, i'm alone in the house and I can't sleep. Chapter four takes place about a month after chapter three, Roger and Mark have found a place, Angel has a major mood swing, and Benny comes crawling back, well that's how I plan on this happy chappie working, anyway on with the story.
DISCLAIMER:Still not mine.
Angel and...
By Me(as always)
Mark tapped softly on the door to Angel's dressing room, not wanting to disturb him if he was still asleep. He heard a sleepy voice call for him to come in. When he entered he saw Angel sitting up in bed rubbing his eyes. Angel looked him.
"Hey, gorgeous, I didn't know you left," Angel said softly, with a little smile lighting his face.
"I didn't want to wake you, but I left you a note in case you woke up before I got back. I've got good news for you. Roger and I found a place, and it's not very far from here," Mark told his lover.
"That's great, baby. Give a little bit, and then I wanna go see it, if that's all right."
"That's fine, honey, take your time. Roger's still arguing with the lanlord over the lease, he'll probably be there all day."
Angel climbed out of bed and gave Mark a quick kiss, before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. While Angel was in the shower Mark rummaged through his closet, trying to think what his Angel would want to wear. Finally he found the perfect thing, a lilac skirt that would reach about mid-calf and a soft white sweater. On a second thought he returned to the closet and pulled out a pair of jeans, in case Angel wanted to wear pants, and also because it was really cold outside. He heard the water turn off, then Angel emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. He wrapped his arms around Angel and kissed him, Angel pushed him away, giggling and saying something about how if he didn't quit they'd never make it to look at the new apartment. Mark walked over to the bed and held up the jeans and the skirt for Angel to choose from, hoping he didn't get mad because the filmmaker was choosing his choice of clothing. Angel smiled at him and grabbed for the skirt, in the process he lost his towel. Mark held the skirt up over his head, making Angel have to jump for it. Instead of jumping for the skirt, Angel simply began tickling him. Mark dropped the skirt on Angel's head and fled for safety to the other side of the room, giggling the whole way.
"Chicken," Angel called to him as he turned look for the whatever shirt Mark had chosen. He noticed the sweater on the bed and thought to himself, damn, the boy knows how pick clothes. Angel picked up the sweater, which had been a Christmas gift from Mark and slipped it over his head, next he put on the skirt, then, turning to Mark,"What shoes have you picked, O wise clothing god?"
"I was supposed to find shoes, too?" Mark asked, vaguely resembling a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car.
Angel giggled and walked to his shoe rack, found a pair of comfy, white, low-heeled slip-ons. Turning to Mark he said,"I'm ready. How do I look?"
"Beautiful, as always,"he answered, walking across the room and hugging Angel.
They left the club, telling Bella they'd be back that evening, it was Angel's day off, so it didn't really matter what time they got back.
When they got to the building that held Mark and Roger's new apartment they were both extremely cold, and thinking of all kinds of interesting ways to warm themselves up. Upon entering they heard a familiar voice calling them, looking up they saw Roger at the top of a flight of stairs waving at them to come up. They climbed the stairs, and Roger sprinted up two more flights, like it was a game of follow-the-leader. Finally, Roger stopped climbing, it was good thing, too, considering they were on the top floor of the building. He pulled a key out his pocket and unlocked the door, he swung it wide open to allow Mark and Angel to enter first. It wasn't much to look at, but at least it was a place to call home, and it was heated, so that was cool.
"This is probably the ugliest apartment I have ever seen,"Angel said, the disgust in his voice was almost comical.
"That's what I love about you, honest almost to a fault,"Mark said, suppressing his laughter.
Angel felt a little awkward about the statement, not knowing if he should be insulted or flattered. He decided to ask,"Should I be insulted, or flattered?"
Mark shrugged,"I meant it as a compliment, but take it however you wish."
Angel decided to take it as a compliment and leaned his head on Mark's shoulder.
Two weeks later found Angel in a foul mood, Mark hadn't called or stopped by in almost a week, and Angel was getting worried. Did he get bored with me already, he thought, sitting on his bed, trying to keep the tears inside. Maybe he found someone better, this thought sent Angel over the edge, he burst into tears, clutching his pillow and sobbing until he thought he would break into pieces. He didn't notice the door open, or Mark walk in wearing a smile that immediately vanished when he saw Angel crying, he didn't notice the flowers that Mark was holding, or the card apologizing for not being around. He didn't notice anything until he felt the familiar touch of Mark's arms encircling him. Angel turned and sobbed into Mark's chest, until he realized that it was Mark, then he pushed the young filmmaker away.
"Angel, baby, what's wrong?"Mark asked.
"Don't you dare 'baby' me!" he yelled. "You want to know what's wrong, fine I'll tell you. You didn't call or stop by for a week, and I began to think that maybe you...you..."Angel couldn't finish the statement and began crying all over again.
Mark realized what Angel was trying to say. He grabbed Angel's face, forcing him to look him in the eyes,"Baby, I love you, I would never intentionally hurt you. The fact that I did hurt you makes me want to beat the Hell out of myself."
Angel stopped crying, and looked at Mark in total amazement, "You said you love me," he whispered.
"Yes I did, and I mean it,"Mark told him.
"Oh, Markie, I love you,"Angel said wrapping his arms around Mark, and pressing kisses all over his face.
"I brought you something,"Mark said, finally, after Angel had stopped kissing. He stood up and retrieved the flowers he had dropped on the floor."I even wrote you a little note appologizing for not being around."
Angel accepted the flowers, and asked Mark if he wanted to go out for some dinner. Mark accepted and they went wandering around the East Village, until the found the Life Cafe.
"This looks like as good a place as any,"Angel said, and they went in.
After the Angel's breakdown Mark began to spend a lot more time with him. On Valentine's Day Mark was in for a major shock. That day he had been in Central Park filming couples and making a commentaries on each one, when he noticed a sad, scraggly-looking man sitting on a bench, staring at him. As soon as he man noticed that Mark was looking at him he turned away. Mark was walking by the man on the bench to go meet Angel, when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked at the hand, then at the man who had grabbed him.
"Benny?" he asked, shocked that this half-dead looking man could actually be his former roommate.
"Hi Mark. How are you? Still with your boyfriend?"
Mark almost slapped him, then realized that Benny was actually just curious. "I'm obviously better than you, and yes, Angel and I are still together. Benny, what happened to you?"
"My parents threw me out of the apartment when I told them that I threw you out, I didn't have anywhere to go,, so I've been living in the park."
"For how long?" Mark asked.
"Since right after New Year's," Benny answered.
"Jesus, Benny, you knew where I was. Why didn't you come to me? I would have helped you,"Mark was almost mad, he would have been if he hadn't been so worried about his friend.
"I thought you hated me, after the way I treated you. I hated myself after that. I threw away almost fifteen years of friendship, because I couldn't handle the fact that you found hapiness in the arms of a man, and not a woman. I was also a little jealous, I thought you were replacing me with him,"Benny confessed.
Mark hugged his friend, and told him the truth,"No, Benny, I didn't hate you, I was torn up that you would throw away our friendship because I fell for a guy. I want to help you, Benny. Come home with me. We'll straighten it out with Angel and Roger."
"Who's Roger?" Benny asked.
"My roommate, and a good friend. I met him the night you kicked me out," he explained the circumstances of meeting Roger.
Benny nodded in understanding. Mark looked at his watch, jumped up, telling Benny to stay where he was, he ran to the nearest payphone and called Angel.
"Hey, baby, it's Mark. I'm still at the Park, I ran into Benny. Baby, it's bad, he's been living in the park since New Year's. I'll be there as soon as I possibly can,"Mark said in a rush/
On the other end of the line Angel nodded and said,"Take your time, love, I'll meet you at the loft, okay? Bring Benny, so we can get all this straightened out."
"Okay, I love you, and thank you for being so understanding. I'll see you in a little, bye, baby," Mark said, and hung up the phone.
He jogged back to where Benny was patiently waiting for his return. He motioned for Benny to follow him, and started walking back to the loft. Benny followed him wordlessly. When they got there Angel was sittling on the steps waiting.
"Angel, this is Benny. Benny, that's Angel,"Mark introduced the two.
"I'm sorry for the way I behaved that night," was all that Benny said, staring at the ground.
Angel readily forgave him,"It's okay, I get screamed at a lot by homophobes, but you should be apologozing to Mark, not me."
"He already has, honey. I'm just worried about Roger's reaction,"Mark sighed.
"Roger's reaction to what?" asked a voice behind them.
"Hey, Roger,"Mark said."Promise you'll keep your temper under control and I'll tell you."
"This must be bad, you never ask me to control my temper. I promise I will."
"Roger, this is Benny,"Mark told him.
Roger screamed,"You stupid fuck!" and lunged for Benny.
"Temper, Roger,"Mark reminded him.
Roger took a step back, and glared at Benny, "All right, fine, I won't kill him, but there better be a damn good reason that he's here."
"Let's go upstairs, and I'll explain everything, okay?" Mark pleaded.
"All right, but it better be damn good,"Roger muttered.
They went upstairs, settled into what little furniture there was, Angel on Mark's lap, Benny, trying to sink into his chair, and Roger on the opposite end of the couch from Mark and Angel. Mark launched into his explanation of why Benny was there, followed by Benny's explanation of his actions. Roger agreed that Benny could stay there, and even went so far as to shake the man's hand for being brave enough to face all of them, and explain himself. For the moment, all was right with the world.
A/N:So, love it? Hate it? Want more? This isn't finished yet, though.
DISCLAIMER:Still not mine.
Angel and...
By Me(as always)
Mark tapped softly on the door to Angel's dressing room, not wanting to disturb him if he was still asleep. He heard a sleepy voice call for him to come in. When he entered he saw Angel sitting up in bed rubbing his eyes. Angel looked him.
"Hey, gorgeous, I didn't know you left," Angel said softly, with a little smile lighting his face.
"I didn't want to wake you, but I left you a note in case you woke up before I got back. I've got good news for you. Roger and I found a place, and it's not very far from here," Mark told his lover.
"That's great, baby. Give a little bit, and then I wanna go see it, if that's all right."
"That's fine, honey, take your time. Roger's still arguing with the lanlord over the lease, he'll probably be there all day."
Angel climbed out of bed and gave Mark a quick kiss, before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. While Angel was in the shower Mark rummaged through his closet, trying to think what his Angel would want to wear. Finally he found the perfect thing, a lilac skirt that would reach about mid-calf and a soft white sweater. On a second thought he returned to the closet and pulled out a pair of jeans, in case Angel wanted to wear pants, and also because it was really cold outside. He heard the water turn off, then Angel emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel. He wrapped his arms around Angel and kissed him, Angel pushed him away, giggling and saying something about how if he didn't quit they'd never make it to look at the new apartment. Mark walked over to the bed and held up the jeans and the skirt for Angel to choose from, hoping he didn't get mad because the filmmaker was choosing his choice of clothing. Angel smiled at him and grabbed for the skirt, in the process he lost his towel. Mark held the skirt up over his head, making Angel have to jump for it. Instead of jumping for the skirt, Angel simply began tickling him. Mark dropped the skirt on Angel's head and fled for safety to the other side of the room, giggling the whole way.
"Chicken," Angel called to him as he turned look for the whatever shirt Mark had chosen. He noticed the sweater on the bed and thought to himself, damn, the boy knows how pick clothes. Angel picked up the sweater, which had been a Christmas gift from Mark and slipped it over his head, next he put on the skirt, then, turning to Mark,"What shoes have you picked, O wise clothing god?"
"I was supposed to find shoes, too?" Mark asked, vaguely resembling a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car.
Angel giggled and walked to his shoe rack, found a pair of comfy, white, low-heeled slip-ons. Turning to Mark he said,"I'm ready. How do I look?"
"Beautiful, as always,"he answered, walking across the room and hugging Angel.
They left the club, telling Bella they'd be back that evening, it was Angel's day off, so it didn't really matter what time they got back.
When they got to the building that held Mark and Roger's new apartment they were both extremely cold, and thinking of all kinds of interesting ways to warm themselves up. Upon entering they heard a familiar voice calling them, looking up they saw Roger at the top of a flight of stairs waving at them to come up. They climbed the stairs, and Roger sprinted up two more flights, like it was a game of follow-the-leader. Finally, Roger stopped climbing, it was good thing, too, considering they were on the top floor of the building. He pulled a key out his pocket and unlocked the door, he swung it wide open to allow Mark and Angel to enter first. It wasn't much to look at, but at least it was a place to call home, and it was heated, so that was cool.
"This is probably the ugliest apartment I have ever seen,"Angel said, the disgust in his voice was almost comical.
"That's what I love about you, honest almost to a fault,"Mark said, suppressing his laughter.
Angel felt a little awkward about the statement, not knowing if he should be insulted or flattered. He decided to ask,"Should I be insulted, or flattered?"
Mark shrugged,"I meant it as a compliment, but take it however you wish."
Angel decided to take it as a compliment and leaned his head on Mark's shoulder.
Two weeks later found Angel in a foul mood, Mark hadn't called or stopped by in almost a week, and Angel was getting worried. Did he get bored with me already, he thought, sitting on his bed, trying to keep the tears inside. Maybe he found someone better, this thought sent Angel over the edge, he burst into tears, clutching his pillow and sobbing until he thought he would break into pieces. He didn't notice the door open, or Mark walk in wearing a smile that immediately vanished when he saw Angel crying, he didn't notice the flowers that Mark was holding, or the card apologizing for not being around. He didn't notice anything until he felt the familiar touch of Mark's arms encircling him. Angel turned and sobbed into Mark's chest, until he realized that it was Mark, then he pushed the young filmmaker away.
"Angel, baby, what's wrong?"Mark asked.
"Don't you dare 'baby' me!" he yelled. "You want to know what's wrong, fine I'll tell you. You didn't call or stop by for a week, and I began to think that maybe you...you..."Angel couldn't finish the statement and began crying all over again.
Mark realized what Angel was trying to say. He grabbed Angel's face, forcing him to look him in the eyes,"Baby, I love you, I would never intentionally hurt you. The fact that I did hurt you makes me want to beat the Hell out of myself."
Angel stopped crying, and looked at Mark in total amazement, "You said you love me," he whispered.
"Yes I did, and I mean it,"Mark told him.
"Oh, Markie, I love you,"Angel said wrapping his arms around Mark, and pressing kisses all over his face.
"I brought you something,"Mark said, finally, after Angel had stopped kissing. He stood up and retrieved the flowers he had dropped on the floor."I even wrote you a little note appologizing for not being around."
Angel accepted the flowers, and asked Mark if he wanted to go out for some dinner. Mark accepted and they went wandering around the East Village, until the found the Life Cafe.
"This looks like as good a place as any,"Angel said, and they went in.
After the Angel's breakdown Mark began to spend a lot more time with him. On Valentine's Day Mark was in for a major shock. That day he had been in Central Park filming couples and making a commentaries on each one, when he noticed a sad, scraggly-looking man sitting on a bench, staring at him. As soon as he man noticed that Mark was looking at him he turned away. Mark was walking by the man on the bench to go meet Angel, when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked at the hand, then at the man who had grabbed him.
"Benny?" he asked, shocked that this half-dead looking man could actually be his former roommate.
"Hi Mark. How are you? Still with your boyfriend?"
Mark almost slapped him, then realized that Benny was actually just curious. "I'm obviously better than you, and yes, Angel and I are still together. Benny, what happened to you?"
"My parents threw me out of the apartment when I told them that I threw you out, I didn't have anywhere to go,, so I've been living in the park."
"For how long?" Mark asked.
"Since right after New Year's," Benny answered.
"Jesus, Benny, you knew where I was. Why didn't you come to me? I would have helped you,"Mark was almost mad, he would have been if he hadn't been so worried about his friend.
"I thought you hated me, after the way I treated you. I hated myself after that. I threw away almost fifteen years of friendship, because I couldn't handle the fact that you found hapiness in the arms of a man, and not a woman. I was also a little jealous, I thought you were replacing me with him,"Benny confessed.
Mark hugged his friend, and told him the truth,"No, Benny, I didn't hate you, I was torn up that you would throw away our friendship because I fell for a guy. I want to help you, Benny. Come home with me. We'll straighten it out with Angel and Roger."
"Who's Roger?" Benny asked.
"My roommate, and a good friend. I met him the night you kicked me out," he explained the circumstances of meeting Roger.
Benny nodded in understanding. Mark looked at his watch, jumped up, telling Benny to stay where he was, he ran to the nearest payphone and called Angel.
"Hey, baby, it's Mark. I'm still at the Park, I ran into Benny. Baby, it's bad, he's been living in the park since New Year's. I'll be there as soon as I possibly can,"Mark said in a rush/
On the other end of the line Angel nodded and said,"Take your time, love, I'll meet you at the loft, okay? Bring Benny, so we can get all this straightened out."
"Okay, I love you, and thank you for being so understanding. I'll see you in a little, bye, baby," Mark said, and hung up the phone.
He jogged back to where Benny was patiently waiting for his return. He motioned for Benny to follow him, and started walking back to the loft. Benny followed him wordlessly. When they got there Angel was sittling on the steps waiting.
"Angel, this is Benny. Benny, that's Angel,"Mark introduced the two.
"I'm sorry for the way I behaved that night," was all that Benny said, staring at the ground.
Angel readily forgave him,"It's okay, I get screamed at a lot by homophobes, but you should be apologozing to Mark, not me."
"He already has, honey. I'm just worried about Roger's reaction,"Mark sighed.
"Roger's reaction to what?" asked a voice behind them.
"Hey, Roger,"Mark said."Promise you'll keep your temper under control and I'll tell you."
"This must be bad, you never ask me to control my temper. I promise I will."
"Roger, this is Benny,"Mark told him.
Roger screamed,"You stupid fuck!" and lunged for Benny.
"Temper, Roger,"Mark reminded him.
Roger took a step back, and glared at Benny, "All right, fine, I won't kill him, but there better be a damn good reason that he's here."
"Let's go upstairs, and I'll explain everything, okay?" Mark pleaded.
"All right, but it better be damn good,"Roger muttered.
They went upstairs, settled into what little furniture there was, Angel on Mark's lap, Benny, trying to sink into his chair, and Roger on the opposite end of the couch from Mark and Angel. Mark launched into his explanation of why Benny was there, followed by Benny's explanation of his actions. Roger agreed that Benny could stay there, and even went so far as to shake the man's hand for being brave enough to face all of them, and explain himself. For the moment, all was right with the world.
A/N:So, love it? Hate it? Want more? This isn't finished yet, though.
