I know it sounds a little pathetic but the three reviews I got were more than I expected, so yay! Thanks in advance for anymore to come.

I'm not gonna lie, this chapter is sad, but it has to happen, so just bear with me here, things'll get better I promise. )

Here Goes- Chapter 3

Maureen's performance went by in a blur of colors and strange visual effects through Marks eyepiece. (And when I say strange visual effects, take into consideration that there was a small replica of a plastic horse, and Maureen…now use your imagination.) He had helped her patch up whatever had been wrong with the microphone she was using, and then she'd proceeded to beg him to film her show. Which as it turned out was not that difficult to do because Mark gave in rather easily. He was somewhat of a pushover, and she most certainly was not. The fact that he found himself attracted to her didn't help him in that situation either.

"Thank you all for coming!" Maureen shouted to the decent sized crowd of people in front of the stage. "Oh and don't forget two weeks from now will be my next performance, and trust me, you'll want to be there" she said just before she started blowing kisses at her audience. A few whistles, and shouts of blatant lust came from men who seemed interested, but she completely disregarded them, and turned away to start packing her equipment.
'Was it just a smudge on the eyepiece or did it look like she blew that kiss towards me?' Mark shrugged off the thought and then decided to offer her some help, because she seemed to be having some difficulty lifting a speaker. As he nudged his was through the slowly dispersing crowd he lifted his camera so that he could check the eyepiece. No smudge. Before he had the chance to look up, he had bumped into the front of the stage, and was standing directly in front of Maureen. "Hey um-" "Mark, uh Mark Cohen" he provided for her. "Alright Mark Cohen" she said mockingly as the speaker she was carrying began to slip from her grasp. "Help me out one more time?" she asked in almost a pout, which he found to be nearly irresistible. "Yeah sure, hold on let me get that for you." Mark climbed on stage, and with extreme care set his camera on a stool before taking the speaker from her hands.

He helped Maureen pack up all of her equipment, which took up the better part of an hour, making it nearly midnight when they finished. "Whew, how do you normally manage that all by yourself?" he asked her as he picked up his camera and sat down on the stool in its place. "I don't, I normally flirt with some buff guy from the crowd, you know, blow him a few kisses, then pout my lips and ask him to help. Works every time" she winked in his direction as she sat on the stool across from him. "Oh" he said with a tone of obvious upset. She hadn't meant any of it after all. 'That's what you get for being so stupid, you knew she was way too attractive for you' he scolded himself internally. Mark had never really thought of himself as being all that good looking. It wasn't as if he didn't have any good qualities, he just always thought of himself as being homely. But she was stunning, radiant almost. She had a strange confidence about her that made her almost appear as if she were glowing. "Hah, you know I was only kidding right? Geez Marky you've gotta lighten up" she smiled at him, then stood up and stretched. Mark's mood was considerably lightened for the rest of the night. He walked Maureen home, laughing along the way when she would stop in the middle of the street and start singing, or if she invited a bum or two to one of her shows. Whether she ruined Roger's night or not, Mark thought she was amazing.

It was nearing one o'clock in the morning, and back at the loft Roger and April were sitting and waiting for Collins to come back from his search for Mark. They had decided it was best that Roger stayed with April because she was still a bit unstable, while Collins went in search of their friend, who had been missing since he had last gone to Aprils.

"It's alright baby. Here take a hit" Roger said as he offered April a needle in an attempt to comfort her. Although she had calmed down a bit she still hadn't given anyone a reason as to why she was so distressed. Luckily for Roger her suffering took his mind off of the pervious nights misfortunes. "No, Roger I want to go back to my apartment, please I'm fine now, I'm fine" she lied to him as silent tear rolled down her cheek. "Just let me use the bathroom, then I'm gonna head back to my place" as she said this she untangled herself from his arms and walked toward the small bathroom of the loft. "If your going back then I'm going with you, I just want to make sure you're alright" he gave her a smile that was painful for him to make. He hated seeing her upset. She in return gave him a sad smile back, then nodded, and closed the door to the bathroom.

'Pain killers, pain killers, where are they, come on, I know Mark must've bought some after I took them last week. Roger would've used one this morning, and for God's sake Mark is like his mother- aha, here, Advil, just a few to numb the pain' she told herself as she grabbed twelve pills and shoved them in her coat pocket.

"Alright" she said as she opened the door to the bathroom having stolen the pills, and taken some time to compose herself, "Lets go." Roger and April made the 20 minute walk from the loft to her apartment, though it felt to them as if it had taken an hour. Once inside Roger almost immediately fell asleep next to April on the couch, from time to time muttering "It's alright baby" in his dreams. April slid off the couch careful not to wake him, which wasn't a difficult task, he was a heavy sleeper. She grabbed a piece of paper and a pen off of her kitchen counter, then quietly made her way to the bathroom. She scribbled a few words down and placed the paper on the bathroom sink. She turned on the hot water, which was really just lukewarm because she had used all the heated water that morning. She undressed and downed the twelve pills from her pocket, then slid into the tub. 'This is it. This is how I'll end up anyway, might as well get it over with' she thought as she took one last look through the open door out at Roger who was still fast asleep on the worn down old couch. She pushed the thought of him out of her mind, then grabbed her razor.

Roger woke with a start, beads of sweat rolling down his face. "Holy shit" he managed through panting breaths. "Whew….just a dream" he told himself as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, and fought to slow his breathing. He swung his feet over the side of the couch and into a freezing cold puddle of water. "What the-" as he followed the trail of water with his eyes back to the source, he let out a cry of anguish. He jumped from the couch, sprinted into the bathroom, and fell to the floor as he took hold of April's lifeless hand. As he fell, tears streaming down his face, a note fluttered off of the bathroom sink. "WE HAVE AIDS" was all it said.