Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry about the late update. I needed to straighten a few things out a work since the last time I wrote. Apparently instead of getting laid off I'll be getting less hours, which is great for me since I can have more of a life in a week or two.

Thank you guys so much for reading and even more for the wonderful reviews. They mean a lot to me and make me very happy, honestly. Thank you and please enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter Sixteen:

Mark looked up from his position on the hospital bed when he heard the door to his room open. Mimi walked in, smiling at him warmly. And he buried his face in his pillow, not sure if he could handle talking to her, especially since he didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to explain himself. He didn't even know if Roger told her about what he had said.

"Hey Mark, how are you feeling?" Mimi asked, sitting down on the chair that was beside his bed.

"I don't know," Mark answered truthfully, his face still buried in his pillow.

"It's rude to do that, you know," the dancer said, trying to lighten the mood.

The filmmaker slowly looked up from his pillow and swallowed thickly before asking, softly, "How have you been?"

Mimi looked taken aback, "Mark, why are you asking me? You're the one who had the near death experience."

"I'm sorry I screwed things up between you and Roger. I know I was being stupid and selfish, but--"

"Shut up!" Mimi exclaimed, grabbing hold of Mark's hand, "Just…shut up, okay? You're alive. That's all that matters."

"But--"

"We'll figure things out when you're released in a day or two. Unlike Roger, I actually have some common sense."

Mark nodded before asking, "Where is Roger?"

Mimi bit her lip, her hold on Mark's hand tightening. Mark's brows furrowed in confusion. It looked as if Mimi didn't want to tell him something or was trying to work up a good lie.

"Mimi?"

"He's not here," the dancer finally answered.

"What do you mean?"

Mimi bit her lip, unable to stand the look of hurt in Mark's eyes, "Baby, he's not here…"

Mark's voice caught as he asked, "Was he here at all?"

"He was Mark," the dancer tried to explain, "It's just…"

"He couldn't stand to be in the same room with me if I was awake."

"No, no, don't say that. You know that's not true."

Mark shook his head and frantically tried to wipe away the tears that started to trail down his face. He knew he shouldn't have hoped for Roger to be there, not after all that he had said. But he couldn't help but hope because he thought their friendship was stronger than that, better than that.

"Oh, baby, come here," Mimi said, pulling the filmmaker to her and hugging him tight. It was the only thing she knew to do at a time like this.

"I cannot believe him!" Maureen fumed, pacing outside of Mark's room. She turned on the teens that were sitting in the chairs that lined the wall, "And you guys! None of you should be here right now! You have school and Mark does not need more stress!"

"Lady, calm down," Jason said, rolling his eyes, "We're not going to cause a disturbance. Just ask him if he wants to see us and if he doesn't then we'll just call him when he gets out of the hospital."

Maureen couldn't find the words she was looking for as she tried to digest what Jason had just said. Did a kid really just put her in her place?

"We may be young, but we're not stupid," Jess said, "Well, maybe a little stupid, but we know when to respect people's space. Mark tried to kill himself and we've had more than enough friends who tried the same thing. We know there's going to be a period when they don't want to see people or just plain feel withdrawn."

"They're smarter than they look," Collins said with a shake of his head.

"We're right here," Jason said, annoyed.

Collins smiled and said in a joking tone, "I'm sure you're used to that by now."

"Can someone please ask him if we can see him?" Adrian asked in a politer tone than Jason would have, "I know we're just kids and all, but we care about Mark too."

Before either Maureen or Collins could answer, Mimi walked out of Mark's room and gently closed the door. She turned to the others, a tired and troubling expression on her face.

"Is everything alright?" Collins asked, placing a hand on the dancer's shoulder.

Mimi wiped away the stray tears that had trailed down her face and shook her head, "Fucking Roger. Damn him for just leaving like that."

"What happened?" the professor asked, trying his best to comfort the younger woman.

"He blames himself for everything. God, he thinks Roger doesn't want to see him and he thinks he's a failure for not even being able to end his own life. He just... he doesn't think we want him around and Roger's not making this any better!"

Maureen made a sound of frustration, "Oh, I'm going to kill Roger!"

"Not if I get there first!" all eyes turned to Jason, who stood and walked out, immediately followed by his friends.

"That…didn't sound good," Maureen said as she looked to the others who seemed just as surprised as she was.

Joanne stuffed her hands in the pockets of her coat as she walked towards the loft. She knew that it was the only place Roger would go and she was going to get him to go back to the hospital come hell or high water. Having seen Mark, she knew that Roger not being there would not be the best thing especially since she had a feeling Roger was part of the problem and what would have to be the solution as well.

As she neared the loft, she heard someone behind her shouting, "Jason! Slow your ass down and get back here!"

The lawyer couldn't help but turn around and see five teenagers running in her direction. She shook her head and stood her ground, waiting for the kids to get closer. This had better be good cause Jason looked pissed and she was in no mood to deal with a moody teenager. That was almost as bad as dealing with Roger.

"Where do you think you guys are going?" Joanne asked when the teens got close enough. She made sure to grab Jason by his arm so he didn't walk right pass her.

"Apparently, Jason is going to kick Roger's ass," Ryan said, "Even though he has no idea what the guy looks like."

"I know what he looks like!" Jason retorted, "Blonde hair, green eyes, leather jacket, typical rocker. There can't be more than one guy that looks like that in that building!"

"What building?" Jess asked.

"Mark's building. I might not know which level he lives on, but I sure as hell know where it is."

"Okay, you need to calm down," Joanne said with a sigh, "And you are not going to look for Roger cause I'm going to see him. And no, you can't see him cause you are angry and you'll make horrible mistakes."

Jason crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to kill him or anything."

"Right," the lawyer said, skeptical, "I'm going to do the talking. You guys stay behind me and don't say a thing."

The group walked into the building and climbed the stairs to the loft. Joanne knocked on the door and waited for a response. When she didn't get one, she knocked again, this time joined by Jason who not only knocked by kicked at the door as well, which really didn't seem like such a bad idea when they heard someone from the inside telling them to stop knocking.

"What the hell?" Roger asked as he pulled open the door. He gave Joanne a look, "What the hell are you doing with a posse of kids?"

"Can we come in?" the lawyer asked.

The musician gave a sigh, "Fine."

Once everyone was inside and the door closed, Joanne turned on Roger, "What in the world do you think you're doing, Roger?"

"What?"

"You just left the hospital without talking to Mark! You're his best friend Roger, how can you do that to him?"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it, alright?" the musician said with an irritated look, "I'll talk to him when he gets released. It'll be better for him anyway."

"You don't know that!" Joanne argued.

"Well you don't know either!"

"Leaving him there isn't doing him any good!" Jason's voice rose above the adults'.

Joanne and Roger both looked at Jason stunned.

"Who are these kids anyway?" Roger asked once he could speak again.

"Jason," the teen said, "We're the ones Mark had been filming before he went to the hospital and you! You have no idea how much leave him like that is hurting him!"

The musician looked rightfully offended, "You can't say shit like that! You have no idea--"

"He thinks you don't want him around you dumb fuck!" Jason shouted, "You're part of the reason why he tried to off himself and you're not even thinking about his feelings!"

Roger was shocked by the teen's reaction.

"He was right! You always run away when shit hits the fan! You can't even fight that instinct just this once for him! You have no fucking idea how much he loves you! All you can do is run the other way!"

"How…" Roger couldn't find the words, knowing that Joanne was standing right there to hear all of that.

"An idiot could have figured that out," Jason said, glaring a the musician, "Why are you so scared of his feelings anyway? All he wants is for you to be happy. Why else do you think he never told you how he felt?"

Roger shook his head, "Get out. I don't need some kid telling me this shit. You had no right exposing his feelings like that."

"And you have no right to step on them like you do, but you don't seem to give a fuck."

"Jason," Adrian warned as he pulled at the other boy's arm, "Let's just go."

With a shake of his head, Jason pulled out of Adrian's grasp and got right in Roger's face. He was a few inches shorter, but he was confident enough in himself that he wasn't scared of an ex-junkie. He raised his fist as if to hit the older man before slowly dropping it to his side and backing down.

"Let's go." Jason pulled open the door and the teens slowly drifted out of the loft. He turned and said one last thing before departing, "You're such an idiot."

Joanne stood a little stunned by the entire exchange. She had no idea that Mark had had such feelings for Roger or that Roger knew about them. Suddenly a lot was starting to make sense, especially with what had been happening recently. All she needed to do was piece it all together.

With a sigh, she decided that she really didn't have much to say to Roger anymore, "Go see him."

And she walked out, hoping that Roger would make the right choice.

Author's Note: Ha! I bet you didn't see that coming! Okay, I'll admit, Jason is very short tempered when it comes to people he cares about. And Jason knows where Mark lives because he had accompanied Mark home in one of the earlier chapters.

I hope you guys enjoyed that and please let me know what you think, it's be the best part of writing this! Hearing from you guys!