I Do: Chapter 3

First, I really want to apologize for the long wait on this. Hope it's worth it! I do not own Rent.

When Tom Collins awoke the next morning, he expected to find his Angel in his arms, sleeping in as always.

However, this morning, he found that his fiancé had already gotten out of bed, leaving a gap beside him. Collins smiled sleepily, slipping on his boxers. He opened the door to their bedroom, half expecting to see his lover putting on a pot of coffee, or eating a piece of toast…

…And was greeted by Mimi, Maureen, Joanne, and Angel, discussing the only thing that had been on the young transvestite's mind since the night before.

"Morning, baby!" Angel cried. Collins turned red, and scurried into the bedroom to get dressed. As soon as he came back in, the four of them were back to chatting excitedly.

"No, no, gold for the dresses!" Maureen exclaimed. "They'll be all shiny, and attract tons of attention!"

"RED!" Mimi cried. "C'mon, red is HOT!"

Angel grinned and nodded at both of them, scribbling all the ideas furiously on a napkin. Joanne was silent, and Collins couldn't help but wonder if she was fighting with Mo—again.

"We can't have both…" Angel interrupted his thinking, staring at the napkin now covered in her giant, messy script.

"Dresses already?" Tom asked finally, and Angel looked up.

"There you are! I was wondering where you got to!" She jumped up and skipped over to her man, planting a kiss on his lips.

"Mmm.." Collins replied. She smiled widely up at him, cupping his cheek.

"Red or gold?" She asked him, motioning to the other women. "We really can't decide! Maureen wants gold, Mimi wants red, Joanne hates dresses and I'm in the middle of it all!" Angel smiled brightly, and he knew she didn't mind being in the middle one bit.

"For you?" He asked, staring at the kitchen table, where the performance artist and the dancer were chattering loudly, and the lawyer was sending a death glare to Maureen.

"No! The bridesmaid dresses, silly!" Angel giggled. "What do you think?"

Collins smiled at her, overjoyed at her enthusiasm. However, the sensible part of his brain just wouldn't stop nagging him.

"Well…I don't know, Angel baby. We've got time to figure that out. I mean we don't even have a license yet-"

"Oh, pooh!" Angel smiled. "We'll get one, we'll figure it out. But I've gotta get working on these dresses!"

"Wait…" Collins couldn't help but smile. "You were gonna make them?"

"Of course! I make all my own clothes, hon."

Collins pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You're too good, you know that?"

"Thanks, dear…" She caught his lips with hers. "You're not too bad yourself, you know…"

"OH, IT WAS HARDLY FLIRTING!"

Collins and Angel were drawn out of their own little world by the familiar screaming of Maureen and Joanne. Mimi looked on helplessly as the two women stood face to face, swearing at each other.

"Right. How could you flirt, when your tongue was IN HER MOUTH!"

"You know, I don't have to deal with this!" Maureen screamed, grabbing her coat. "You think you can just, you can just control me, don't you? Fuck you!"

"Maureen!"

"There you go again! You can't just tell me what to do, like I'm some sorta dog, or something! I'm leaving!"

"Great! And you might as well find some other place to crash because you sure as hell aren't welcome at mine anymore!" Joanne hollered as the diva left the building.

The room was silent. Mimi, Angel and Collins watched as Joanne wiped the tears from her eyes, turning around to face them.

"I should go…"

"Wait, sweetie," Angel took her hand, leading her away from the door. "Do y'wanna talk about it…?"

Joanne put her head down, tears running down her face.

"You don't want to hear…"

"No, I do…" The young drag queen sat her down on the couch, putting her arm around the lawyer. "If you want to talk about it, we're here to listen."

"We're all here for you, Joanne," Mimi added, sitting down beside her.

Joanne sniffed, not facing anyone.

"She won't…" She looked down. "She won't marry me…"

Angel gave Mimi a sad look, then took Joanne's hand. "What?"

"She won't make a commitment. She won't be my wife. Hell, she won't even be my girlfriend!" She looked up finally, staring straight at Collins. "Look, I'm happy for you guys. Really, I am. It's just…I just wish I had what you have. With Maureen…I wish she loved me."

"Oh honey!" Angel cried, hugging her. "She does, you know she does! But you know Maureen…she'll settle down eventually, she will. And when she does…" She forced Joanne's eyes into hers. "She'll be lucky to have you. Honest."

Joanne tried to smile, but it came out as a sob. "That's a nice thought, Angel…"

"It's true!" Angel exclaimed. "I mean, who wouldn't be happy to have you? Your reliable, dependant, loyal, sweet, adorable…c'mon, hon, cheer up…"

"Angel's right!" Mimi cried, putting her arm around Joanne's other shoulder. "Maureen doesn't know what she's missing if she actually gives you up. I mean, look at you! You're smart successful, hot, you're a freaking steal!"

Joanne grinned. "Thanks…"

"She'll come around," Collins put in. Angel and Mimi nodded. "She's just…well, she's Mo. I've known her for years…but let me tell you, I've never seen her as happy as she is with you."

Joanne looked up. "But we're always fighting!"

"Believe it or not, but your fights are nothing compared to some of the others I've seen her get into. Yours are fairly tame. I mean, she hasn't thrown a plate at you, she hasn't started ugly rumors about you…"

Joanne's eyes widened. "A plate!"

Collins nodded. "It was a baaad fight. Just proves that you guys are stronger than that, right?"

Joanne nodded, looking thoughtful. "Still, how do you do it? You guys…you guys never fight!"

"Sure we do!" Angel assured her, rubbing her back. "We just don't let it get too out of hand." The lawyer nodded, obviously not too convinced. "All couples fight. Some more than others. It's natural! And, y'know, Maureen's gonna realize just how good she had it with you, and she's gonna come back."

"She just needs time," the dancer added. "Hey, if Roger were to ask me today, God knows I'm hardly ready! But it doesn't mean I don't love him."

Joanne nodded. "I guess that makes sense…" she said in a half-whisper, drying her eyes. "I better go…maybe…see if I can catch up to her…"

Angel nodded, kissing her cheek. "Everything will turn out in your favour, sweet. I promise."

Joanne sighed and sat up, grabbing her coat. She turned back, smiling.

"Thank you so much, guys…"

And with that, she was on her way.

"Wow," Mimi said, watching after her.

"I know," Angel agreed. "I feel so bad for her. But I really do think things will turn out for them, don't you?"

"It's Maureen and Joanne, of course it will," Collins agreed, taking Angel in his arms. "I mean, have they ever been in a fight for more than a day or so?"

"True," she agreed, sighing. "But still…"

"Shit!" Collins cried, breaking away.

"What?" Mimi exclaimed, alarmed.

"I'm gonna be late…I can't miss another day…"

Angel nodded sadly, kissing his cheek. "See you tonight?"

"Of course," Collins grinned. He ran to get washed, doing so in record time. He kissed Angel's lips and waved good bye to Mimi. "Have fun, ladies!"

"We will!" Angel chuckled, watching her love run out the door. As soon as the door was closed, she bounced back to Mimi. "Well, should we continue our planning, honey?"

The young woman shrugged, sighing. "Maureen'll kill us if we make any decisions without her consent."

"True," Angel replied thoughtfully. "And we should probably get Collins' opinion, too. I mean, I am sort of marrying him."

The dancer continued to stare into space, leaving the drummer to only wonder what might be on her mind.

"Earth to Mimi Marquez! You okay, honey?"

"Huh?" Mimi asked, looking up. "Oh, yeah…" She grinned. "Can I talk to you?"

"Sure!" Angel said cheerfully. "What's up?" Mimi sighed, staring at her hands. Angel took the hint. "Oh, sweetie, what did Roger do this time?"

"It's not him!" Mimi exclaimed, shaking her head. "Well…it sort of is. It's more you."

"Me?" the transvestite asked in surprise. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, not at all!" Mimi cried. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's just…I dunno!" She sighed. "Forget it, okay?"

"No, no, no, no, no," Angel said quickly, taking her hands. "Tell me. C'mon, chica, I'm your best friend! If you can't tell me…"

"It's just…Joanne's right. You guys don't fight. And as adorable as it is…" Mimi giggled as Angel blushed. "I just can't help wondering how you do it. I mean, things are great between me and Roger now. Better than ever. And now you guys…damn, girl, you're getting married! My Angel-chica's getting married! And it's no big surprise, either, cuz you guys have always had a really strong relationship. So I guess…" She grinned. "How do you guys spend, like, all the time together without hating each other? I mean, I love Roger a lot, but we both need our space!"

Angel furrowed her brow, thinking.

"Hmm…" she stared down at the old carpet with the ugly pattern. "I gotta tell you, hon, that's one question I have absolutely no idea how to answer. I mean…I'm not gonna tell you it's because we love each other desperately and can't stand to be away from each other, or anything, cuz it's just not true. I mean, we do!…It's just not the reason. You following, sweetie?" Mimi nodded. "I guess we're just…making the most of it. I mean…we…we know we don't have forever. So, I guess we're just trying to spend as much time together as we can. I mean, we don't want to be apart from each other…but it was clear from the beginning that that's how it was going to be. And honey, we do fight, really. But if we let that get in the way of things, we'd be shortening our time together. Does that help, dear?"

Mimi nodded, smiling.

"I think I get it…" she said slowly.

"And don't worry. Even though I know you don't feel it yet…" Angel smiled, taking both of her friend's hands. "I know, both you and Mo will come around, and when the time comes, you're gonna be a beautiful bride."

Mimi grinned, looking up.

"You really think so?"

"Honey, I know so! You're gonna be fab-u-lous!"

They burst into a fit of giggles, Mimi's smile larger than ever. "Thanks, girl."

They laughed for a few more minutes, until Angel perked up. "Oh! I almost forgot!"

"What?"

"I meant to ask you something! Mimi, I haven't been to many weddings myself…but every time a character on a soap gets married, they have a maid of honor. And since you're my oldest and best friend, I thought maybe…"

"Oh my God!" Mimi interrupted her. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah!" Angel smiled, bouncing in her seat excitedly. "So will you?"

"Do you even have to ask!" Mimi asked, her smile even larger if at all possible. "Of course!"

"Great!" Angel cried, hugging her best friend. "We made some progress today!"

They broke away, smiling in barely contained excitement.

"Now if only we could decide on the dress colors…"

If your wondering why this is so late, blame LJ. Between speedrent and theatricalmuse (which, by the way, has many, many Rent characters available…-hint, hint-) I've been totally busy. Oh, and blame the Rent bible, too. Also, did anyone else think it was totally OOC for Maureen to say yes to Joanne in the movie? I just can't see her being so willing to commit. Anyway, if chap. 4 gets out any slower than this chapter did, feel free to hurt me.