Time passed yet Jeff still remained in a state of confusion over his strange encounter with the mysterious Latino beauty. He attempted to focus on his music but his mind kept wondering back to Mimi. Who was she? What did she want? Did the candle really go out on its own. The more he thought about it the more frustrated he became. An unexplainable feeling of anger and rage began to rise in his stomach, but before he allowed his emotions to take over he was interrupted by the sounds of a key turning in the door. He let of a sigh of relief at the sight of the long curly black locks of Matt's hair. Hopefully he would help keep Jeff's mind off Mimi for a while.

"Done being Amy's butt monkey all ready?" he asked. Matt just smiled at his younger brother.

"Nope. Didn't go yet."

"Why not?"

"I ran into Santa Claus down stairs and I just had to bring him back here."

"Santa?" Shannon laughed as he stepped into the loft carried a cardboard box. "White hair, ratty beard, pop belly? I'm way better looking then that old geezer."

"Jesus Shannon, what happened to your face?" Jeff blurted out.

"Hi to you too Jeff. Is that all I get after not seeing you for seven months? I see you still have left the house."

"I was waiting for you, love." He responded batting his eyes and placing his hands over his heart.

"Well I'm here now. I guess that means you will be joining us at the Life Café after Amy's show tonight."

"Yeah right!" laughed Matt "Good luck with that one Shan!"

"Well it was worth a try."

Jeff had to laugh. He always did like Shannon, he was a really great guy with a heart of gold. Even after he came out of the closet Jeff just saw him as the same old computer genius, teacher, and vagabond anarchist, who once ran naked through the Parthenon during a school sponsored trip to Greece. But after April died Jeff completely cut himself off from the outside world, including Shannon.

"What's in the box?" he asked referring to the provisions in Shannon's hands.

"I come baring the necessities for everyday life. I thought you might need em incase of another black out." He responded sorting through the box. "Food, water, some fire wood for your stove, and of course a carton of Marlboros. You can never be too prepared."

"Wow, MIT must pay well."

"Actually, they fired me. They didn't really agree with my theory of "Actual Reality". They said it undermined the authority of the school. But please don't shed a tear for this poor anarchist, cause I got an interview with New York University next week."

"Once again chaos trumpets over another degree earning institution." Matt joked.

"So then were did you get the money for this stuff?"

"I gave it to him" a voice called out from the hallway. Jeff's eyes grew wide at the sight of Angel sashaying into his home. Gorgeously done up in full Christmas drag, complete with a black wig that came down to his chin, striped stockings, and a very short Santa's little helper dress. His six inch, paten leather, stiletto heels made a clacking sound on the hard wood floor as he walked pass Jeff and over to Shannon.

"Gentlemen I'd like to introduce you to our generous benefactor on this Christmas Eve. Whose charity can only be surpassed by talent and beauty, Angel Dumott Schunard. Angel this Matt and Jeff Hardy, or as I like to call them The Hardy Boyz."

"Charmed." Angel smiled, doing a little curtsy.

"I got mugged after I talked to you on the phone. Angel was drumming on an empty bucket near by and was kind enough to help me out."

"Drumming? Are you a street performer or something?" Jeff asked.

"I prefer the term bohemian boulevard artist. Doesn't that roll off the tongue better?"

"Then where did you get the money for all of this?"

Angel responded to Jeff's question by pulling out wad of twenties from his cleavage.

"You earned this playing on the street?" Matt questioned. "You don't happen to give hand-jobs while you drum, do you?"

"No silly." Angel said "It was the strangest thing. I was performing on Avenue A earlier this morning when a limousine pulled up next to me and this very swanky high-class looking woman got out. She came up to me and said 'Darling I need your help, I haven't slept in a year. My neighbor's yappy dog keeps me up all night'. Well naturally I had no idea what this had to do with me so I allowed her to continue. She said this Akita, oddly enough named Evita, was so dumb that I could probably make it jump out of the window just by banging on my drums."

"Hold on a second." Matt interrupted "This woman wanted you to kill her neighbor's dog?"

"Yeah, and she offered my a thousand dollar to do it. So I made my way up town and set up my buckets right in front of the building. Sure enough, with in minutes of starting I looked up to see Evita's big puppy eyes staring down at me from the 23rd story of the building, barking and yelping away like a mad man. Next thing I know that damn dog just jumped out of that window, like she was Thelma & Louise, and swan dove into the courtyard of the Gracie Mews."

"Wow. That's a little fucked up Angel." Jeff said.

"I know. I felt kind of guilty about keeping the money. That's why I decided that I will use it for good and not for evil. So when I saw poor Shannon moaning and groaning on the cold concrete I had to do something."

"And boy am I glad you did." Shannon responded.

"Well it's just like my mother always taught me. 'Today for you, tomorrow for me'."

"Joy to the world the lord has come..." a voice sang from the hallway. The four friends looked up to see Shane barge into the loft.

"Shit I knew I should have locked that door." Matt groaned.

"Nice to see you too Matt, old buddy. I would have knocked but... Hey!" Shane yelled looking out the window to see a homeless man rested on the side of his truck. He lifted the plate-glass and popped his head out. "Hey you bum! Yeah you! Get your unemployed ass off that Range Rover!"

"You know, it's exactly that attitude towards the homeless that Amy is protesting against."

"Amy is protesting losing her performance space, not my attitude."

Matt looked on in disappointment as Shane continued to ramble on about Amy's ulterior motive to discredit his "good name". It made Matt sick to see what had become of his former friend. It seemed that ever since he married Alison Grey, of the Westport Greys, his perception of good and evil had become greatly distorted. He use to have a heart and he use to have ideals that he pursued without trying to benefit himself. But now all he seemed to care about was turning the lot next door, which he had purchased from his father-in-law, into a cyber-studio.

"and the owner of that lot has the right to do with it as he pleases. But that's not why I'm here."

"We don't have the rent Shane. We're broke." Jeff interrupted.

"I figured as much, which is why I've decided to make you an offer. That lot next door that Amy's been trying so hard to protect will become the home of Cyber-arts, A state of the art, digital, virtual interactive studio, whether she likes it or not. This is what I have been working for my whole life, and I will not let some bleeding heart hippie destroy it. So this is what I am going to do. I will forego your rent and even put it in print that you two can stay here for free if you convince Amy to cancel her protest tonight."

"Why not just get an injunction or call the cops?" Matt asked

"I did, and they're on stand by. But my investors would rather I handle this quietly."

"You can't quietly wipe out an entire tent city lot then watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' on TV!" Jeff yelled. Shane's lack of compassion for anyone but himself was really beginning to irritate him.

"You want to produce films? You want to write songs? You need somewhere to do it. I don't get you guys; this is what we use to dream about. A totally accessible studio that'll let use do our work and get paid. We can have apartments on the top floor and the money from their rent will keep the studio open. Take some time to think about it before you completely write me off. It's either this or you pack up your shit and get out." Shane said before he turned towards the door and left. The other remained in a state of disbelief at his comments.

"Wow" Angel finally said "that boy could use some serious Prozac."

"Or maybe just a group hug." Shannon added "Which reminds me, Angel and I are going to stop by a support group meeting before the show tonight. You guys are welcome to come along."

"Yeah, LIFE is a group that helps people who have been affected by HIV and AIDS. You don't have to stay for the whole thing."

"I'll stop by later. First I got a protest to save." Matt answered.

"What about you Jeff?"

"I think you'll find I'm not much company to have around." He replied as he walked into his room and shut the door.

"I'm sorry about Jeff."

"It's okay, he'll be along later. I'm sure he has other things on his mind right now."

Angel couldn't have been more on target. Jeff did have many things on his mind, Shane, Amy, April, but mostly Mimi. He wasn't ready for this. He had to make sure she didn't become part of his life. No matter what.