Chapter 2

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A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, they made my sick day. Chapters will get getting longer and longer as the story goes on and as stuff happens, but that was just like the hors d'oeuvres of the story. Why did I say that? Why am I still talking?

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Mark lay awake in bed the next morning, his arms wrapped tightly around Maureen as if he was afraid to let her go. He pulled her closer to him, and she sighed and stirred.

She's so perfect, he thought to himself. Maureen awoke and stretched.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Watching you sleep."

"Mmm, freak." She resettled herself against Mark's shoulder and shut her eyes again, hoping to fall back asleep.

"I was thinking," Mark started. "We should do something tonight. Just you and me… since we kind of ended up putting little smiley face stickers on Collins' essays last night," he laughed.

Maureen pause before replying and wrinkling her nose.

"Um…"

"Is that a yes?" Mark smiled. He poked her stomach gently, kissing the side of her head. Maureen forced a weak smile and took his hand in her own much smaller one.

"Maybe not tonight, Pookie," she told him. "I've gotta do something. But tomorrow, okay? Tomorrow, the whole day," she replied quickly, observing the affliction that crossed over his face.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, obviously hurt. "Sounds good." Mark did his best to put a smile on his face and sat up. "Go back to sleep. It's really early."

Maureen did as she was told and rolled over, curling up into a ball under the covers. Mark got out of bed slowly and took a long look at Maureen. He shook his head and exited his bedroom out into the open loft where there was a strong scent in the air. Mark wrinkled his nose and sniffed. That was a new smell.

"Good morning, Sunshine," Benjamin Coffin the Third called from the small kitchen. He turned around with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"I didn't know we had a coffee maker." Mark made his away over to the kitchen and pulled a mug out of the sink, making sure it was at least partially clean before filling it up with coffee.

"We didn't," Benny replied, sitting down at the island that separated the kitchen from the rest of the loft.

"Oh," Mark yawned. He sat down on the other side of the island across from Benny and took a gulp of his coffee.

"I figured me and Collins could use a pick-me-up in the mornings. And Maureen and Roger are always so cranky when they wake up. Coffee makes everyone feel better."

Mark gave Benny a funny look. "Oh." He ran his fingers through his slightly shaggy blonde hair and attempted to make conversation. "What'd you do last night?"

"Went out with Sean, this guy from work. We went to some club… the Cat Scratch I think. Actually, it's pretty close to here. You ever been?"

"No." Mark shut his eyes.

"Well, there was this girl there – a dancer – and she was so hot. Like, really gorgeous." Benny finished off the rest of his coffee and placed the mug in the sink. "I was going to go back tonight. Want to come with me? Or are you filming again?"

"No, yeah I'll go." Mark remembered that he no longer had plans for tonight, so he had nothing

to lose. He took another sip of his coffee. "I'll get Roger to come, too."

"Sure." Benny slipped his coat and gloves on and grabbed his keys. "Well, I'm off to work. See you around 8?"

"Yeah."

Benny shut the door behind him. Mark didn't really want to go out to Benny's club tonight. He wasn't one for that kind of thing. He figured as long as he wasn't spending time with Maureen he had nothing to lose. He left his half empty mug of coffee on the island and flopped down on the couch where he soon fell back asleep.

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"This better be good," Roger Davis complained, trying to rub feeling into his numb fingers. It was very cold out seeing as it was January, but Roger was just wearing his staple leather jacket.

"It will be. Just trust me, man," Benny replied as the three men walked briskly down the street. He stopped them in front of a slightly dilapidated building.

"This is it." The music playing inside could be faintly heard outside.

Mark grimaced. "Fantastic."

They entered the building to be greeted by loud music and a wall of smoke. There was a stage near the back where a blonde girl was dancing for a crowd of men who were obviously very, very drunk.

"An S&M club, Benny? Jeeze…" Mark rolled his eyes and took the beer that Benny handed him. They sat down at an empty table and Roger slouched over in his seat.

"Like you and Maureen don't get kinky," Benny laughed, taking a gulp of a beer that he had taken off a tray in passing. Mark blushed.

"Oh good God!" Roger slammed his head down on the table top, his hand wrapped around his own beer bottle. "You pulled me out of a date with April to hear about Mark's sex life? No, scratch that, Mark's sex life with quite possibly the most annoying person in the world? No thank you." He stood up to leave, but Benny pulled him back down.

"Just stay. I'm sure getting high can wait a little longer, okay? I swear. This chick is hot. Like, hot hot."

Just as Benny said that, the crowd up front roared and a beautiful Latina girl came out onto the stage beginning to dance. Also on the stage was a lawn chair.

"There she is! See?!"

"Yeah. We see, Benny." Mark rested his chin in his hand, thinking about Maureen and what she was doing.

"Isn't she gorgeous?" Benny's eyes were glued to the stage.

"Yeah, Benny. She's beautiful. Real sexy. She just looks like she's 16. And that's gross." Roger stood up. "I'm going to see April."

"…to get high." Mark said under his breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. See ya!" Mark replied brightly.

"Bye." Roger pushed Benny, who was practically drooling, and nodded at Mark who was off in his own world.

Roger pushed the heavy door open and stepped out onto the sidewalk. He shoved his hands into his pockets, fingering the plastic bag inside one of them. He smiled and walked quickly down the side streets until he found the subway station. He rose the train for what seemed like an eternity, and rushed off when it came to his stop. He practically ran down the streets until he came to a very short apartment building. He took two steps at a time up to the second floor to apartment 2C. The elevator would be too slow. He knocked gently on the door and opened it.

Sprawled on the couch flipping channels on the television, was a petite blonde woman of 24. April. She looked up at the sound of the door opening and smiled.

"Hey," she greeted. She flipped off the TV and sauntered over to Roger. "I thought you were having a boys night?"

"Yeah, well… it was a bust." He kicked off his shoes. April wrapped her arms around Roger's neck and kissed him. "I'd rather be here with you, anyway."

April pressed herself against him. "What do we do now?" she whispered, looking up at him.

"Well, we could do this…" Roger said quietly. He leaned down to April's level, which was a good foot lower than him and kissed April deeply and passionately. She pulled away.

"Or—"

"Or we could do this…" Roger reached into his pocket and pulled out the bag of white power. April grinned and snatched it away from him, pulling him into her bedroom.

"Or we could do both."

"I like your thinking."