Sorry it took a while for the new chapter, I've been busy doing props crew for Rocky Horror (awsome show, one of my favorites now) AND Snow White (a litte... less awsome haha). Thanks mucho again to my beloved reviewers! So anyway, I'll shut up now and let ya'll read!
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Roger was at his guitar on the couch when Mimi and Angel opened the door.
"Hey, Mimi," he said, not looking up. He was testing out chords, which after a few moments, he began subconsciously putting together to sound suspiciously like Musetta's Waltz. Mimi smiled affectionately. He probably didn't even realize he was doing it.
"Rog, we have company," Mimi told him, grinning at Angel and squeezing her hand.
Roger looked up at them blankly. His eyebrows came together and he said, "Who the fuck are you?"
Angel smiled brightly and struck a pose with her hip thrust to the side and her hands in the air. Roger didn't get it. Now he was just giving Angel an even weirder look. She rolled her eyes fondly at Mimi, who went up behind Roger and smacked him upside the head.
"What are you, stupid or something? It's Angel!"
He looked between the two of them, then his face cracked into a smile. "Hey, Angel," he said before repositioning his fingers on the strings and beginning to experiment some more with chords and melodies.
After sifting through Roger's clothes, they found that Angel was too small to fit them.
"Honey, you are way too skinny," Mimi commented, pinching Angel's waist gently, showing the lack of weight. Angel just shrugged. She tried to think of a way to change the subject. She did not want to discuss how much weight she had lost over the last month, because she knew that it was more than was normal. She didn't want to worry anybody, though; Mimi was looking a little on the thin side as well. She had her own health to worry about, and Angel did not think that it was necessary to burden her.
But the concern in Mimi's eyes showed that she was not stupid—she knew what was happening. "Angel—"
"Mimi, don't."
"Angel, are you feeling okay?"
It sounded like something Paul from Life Support would say. But not how he would say it. When Mimi said it, her voice sounded scared and not at all reassuring.
"Okay enough," she whispered back.
"Angel, if you're sick—"
"I'm not that sick yet," Angel cut her off. "I have some time. I can feel it."
Mimi crossed her arms tightly over her chest as if she was cold. She walked back over to the closet to busy herself hanging Roger's jeans and shirts back up. But Angel saw how she was blinking tears from her eyes.
"Mimi—"
"I think I understand why Collins is so mad at you," she muttered.
"What!"
"You should not be spending what little time you have left worrying about some stupid childhood friend!" Her voice shook madly.
"Mimi, it's just one day—"
"Well it could be your last, you know!"
A moment of dark silence passed between them.
"Please don't say that," Angel whispered. "It scares me."
"Oh, Angel," Mimi said helplessly, sitting down on the unmade bed. "You know I don't…. You're not gonna die yet, but…. I mean…."
"Look, Mimi," she said gently, sitting down beside her. "Jason is going to be in town for a week. I'm seeing him just tonight. And I have to do this whole charade because I will probably never see him again, and I have to close off that part of my life." She smoothed a lock of Mimi's hair behind her ear. "Do you get where I'm coming from?"
"Not really," Mimi replied bluntly, wiping. "But I got your back, girl."
"And you don't know how much that means to me."
A silence passed between them. The sort that demands a change in the direction of conversation. Mimi did the honors. She laughed a little and said, "How the hell are we gonna pass you off as straight?"
"I have no idea," Angel said, jumping back into her previous panic about this particular dilemma. "It's been so long since I've faked it. I don't think I even remember how."
"Not by wearing high heels, that's for sure." Mimi nodded toward where Angel had left her shoes by the bedroom door. Angel laughed, then stopped abruptly when she realized that they were all she had without going back to the apartment and facing Collins. "Don't sweat it. You'll just have to wear Roger's, even if they don't fit."
"It won't make any difference." Angel felt on the verge of a sudden meltdown. What good would the right shoes do? It was going to take a hell of a lot more to convince Jason. It was all internal. How much could she do to change that? "Oh my God, what was I thinking? I can't pull this off! Oh damn it, I hate this! Why do I have to be such a… such a goddamned freak!"
Mimi's jaw dropped. She could not believe what she had just heard. "Angel!" she exclaimed incredulously, putting her arms around her. "Don't you ever say anything like that again!" No so-called friend was worth this. Ever. Mimi would go along with what Angel wanted for now, but as soon as Angel had made her impression on Jason, Mimi would kick his ass for doing this to her best friend.
"I'm coming with you tonight," Mimi said decidedly. "I'll go as your girlfriend or something. I don't care. You're gonna need someone there, or you'll just fall right apart."
"I told him I wasn't seeing anybody," Angel told her miserably.
"We'll make up a story. Pretend we're a fight-y couple like Joanne and Maureen that break up all the time. It'll be fine."
Angel put her head on Mimi's shoulder and nodded, sighing. She was far too stressed to argue, and anyway, Mimi might be just the touch she needed to pull it off.
Andy had a girlfriend once. Eleventh grade. She was a quiet girl, very sweet and very shy. Jason set them up. Andy really did like her, as a friend that is. They moved very slow physically, because she was too embarrassed to make a move and goodness knows that the last thing Andy was interested in was getting action with her. Then one day, after they had been dating a month or two and had only ever held hands, the girl grabbed him around the waist and kissed him hard on the mouth. It sort of freaked Andy out and he jumped back.
"You really don't like me, do you?" the girl asked sadly.
Andy said that it wasn't her. She was great. He liked her, just….
"I didn't think so. I never thought so. I don't know why I even stayed with you this long when I knew…. Never mind."
"What did you know?"
"Well, I mean…." She blushed. "From the beginning I guess it was kind of obvious that you're not… into girls. Are you? It's not a big deal, and I promise not to tell anyone, okay?"
He nodded. He didn't tell her that it was more than not liking girls. It was more than liking boys. Whatever was wrong with him was horribly wrong. Because even gay guys didn't steal their sister's clothes, put together outfits that they wished they could wear, and look at them late at night and wish that they had the courage just to slip that skirt on for a millisecond. Even gay guys didn't feel like something was horribly out of sync between their body and mind. Didn't feel like God had made a mistake somewhere.
Didn't feel like some weird freak of nature.
"Roger, why are you such an ass-hole!"
Angel felt really uncomfortable with the screaming in the other room. Mimi had gone to check on Roger and tell him their plan, and for some reason he was jealous.
"Jealous that I am going on a fake date with a gay transvestite! That's amazing, Roger, a new level of insanity even for you!" Mimi had shouted. "I'm going. You can't stop me…. Let go of my FUCKING ARM! I'm going!"
She thrust her head into the bedroom. "Angel, grab your purse… er… or not. We're going. We'll be a little early but it's better than hanging out with Mr. I'm-Gonna-Be-a-Bastard!"
"Fine!" Roger shouted as they made their way to the door. "See if I care."
Mimi stormed off down the hall. Angel looked at Roger.
"I'm really sorry about all this, Rog," she said quickly, blowing him a kiss before trotting off after Mimi.
"He is being REDICULOUS!" Mimi raged as the descended the stairs.
Angel agreed. Roger was acting crazy, but… it was Roger. He always got ticked at the tiniest things. Things that really didn't matter at all. But it was his way of dealing with his disease. Maybe it wasn't the best way, but Angel knew never to take anything he said or did personally when he got like this.
But Angel had more pressing matters on her mind than Roger's misplaced temper. As soon as she and Mimi stepped outside into the sunlight, Mimi started walking at a crazy speed into the crowd. Angel hurried after her, and Mimi grabbed her hand so that she wouldn't fall behind. Mimi was really upset. Angel sighed. She could worry about Jason once they got to the Life Café. Right now, she needed to talk Mimi out of breaking up with Roger out of this.
Angel already had too much guilt on her conscious about Collins without having to be responsible for another Mimi/Roger blowout as well.
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Maria gets a prize for guessing that Mimi would go with Angel as girlfriend! Let's see... u get... um... a hug! Yay! Pretty please review, my dahlings!