Roger didn't startle easily; it was just something he had never had a problem with. However, this was the first time he'd been around when a raging Joanne burst into the loft with looks that could kill. Needless to say he dropped the candle he'd been holding.

"Where's Mark?" growled the lawyer as she threw off her coat. "I need to talk to him."

Raising an eyebrow, he nodded in the direction of their rooms. "In there I think, he's looking for the other candles." The loft had lost power yet again and the two had been in the process of trying to at least gather candles before the sun set.

Without another word to him Joanne stormed into the room, slamming the door shut behind her. All Roger could do was shake his head and wonder what Maureen did this time.

Thirty minutes later Roger was settled on the couch trying to work out a tune on the Fender. He had tried listening to Mark and Joanne for a bit but the conversation was too disjointed to follow, although if it was because he wasn't hearing properly or Joanne was going off on different tangents was beyond him. When the door opened again Roger was relieved to see that Joanne no longer appeared homicidal and from what he could tell, Mark sustained no damage.

"Everything ok?" He asked, setting the guitar across his lap.

Joanne sighed. "No, not really. How're you?" She sat across from Roger on one of their beat up armchairs and watched as Mark flopped down beside his roommate.

Roger shrugged, "Um...all right, I guess. What happened?"

Joanne shook her head, "I don't wanna talk about it. Mark, you can tell him if you want."

The filmmaker nodded. "Sure." Pulling Roger close he whispered something quickly into the his ear, at first only getting an eyebrow raise from the guitarist but eventually earning a look of flat-out shock.

For a moment Roger didn't say anything; he just looked at Joanne and shook his head. "So let me get this straight," he began. "You walked in on Maureen and another woman?"

Joanne nodded.

"And they were kissing?"

She nodded again.

"And the girl had her hands up Maureen's shirt?"

Another nod.

"And it was Mimi?"

Joanne held her head in her hands.

While Roger had his discussion with Joanne, Mark had taken to setting up the candles around the loft. "We've only got eighteen left." He informed the other two when he returned to the couch. "Didn't we start out with like forty or something?"

Roger shrugged. "No clue, I don't take it upon myself to count candles."

"Shut up."

"How do you two do it?" Joanne interrupted. "How do you two put up with each other the way you do but still manage to stay faithful?"

Both boys couldn't help but laugh. "It comes from years of knowing and lusting over each other," Mark answered, "while being forced to watch as we both hooked up with other people. And then the suicide, drugs and withdrawal, and finally waiting until one of us grew the balls to actually make a move."

Joanne cracked a smile. "Yeah, I'd imagine that sort of thing would bind you two for life." Her eyes wandered to the window, gazing out at the city as the stars began to show and the nightlife was slowly coming alive. "You know, I used to tell her that I could see stars in her eyes? She'd kiss me every time I said it."

Mark sighed. "Go talk to her, Joanne," he encouraged. "You know it probably didn't mean a thing anyway; it is Mimi. Do you -really- think Maureen has plans to start dating her?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. If I did I wouldn't be here right now."