A/N: Sorry about the update delay, and the replacing. Fanfic being stupid. Grr. Thank you for reviews.

Disclaimer: If I owned RENT, omg I would be so rich and NOT writing fanfic

Mark stumbled in the door fifteen minutes later, looking vaguely happy. He stood quietly inside the door. Roger was already there, working on a new song on his guitar. He was playing a few chords and pausing occasionally to write in a notebook or scribble something out. He was frowning but not unhappily. Just because he was concentrating. Mark turned on his camera and zoomed in on him. Roger was so focused he didn't even notice. Mark smiled to himself. All of a sudden, Roger's face exploded into a grin. Mark knew he had got something he liked down. It might not even be a whole song, but if Roger liked it that much, it was damn good. Roger turned around and saw Mark, who flipped off the camera.

"Oh, my god. The mighty have fallen. Happy footage? From you? I thought after the first documentary, you were ruined."

"I know, great, huh?"

Roger shook his head. "Great? It's a miracle. Wow. So, when did this happen? No, why did this happen?"

At this point, the apartment door opened to reveal Mimi. She walked over to the couch and flopped down.

"Hey. What do you mean, Why did what happen?"

Roger sat down next to her and put his arm around her. And announced "Mark is possibly the victim of an out of control camera." Mimi looked confused. Roger elaborated. "Footage. Good stuff, too. Happy stuff."

Mimi shrieked. "Oh my god, Mark, that's great. Why?"

Mark blushed furiously. "No reason. Really"

Mimi laughed. "Yeah right. What's her name?"

Mark's jaw dropped. He was completely shocked. How did she know?

"There's no girl. I'm serious."

"Please, Mark, this is how you used to be when you talked about Maureen. Hey, is it Maureen? Did you finally get the hell over her?" Roger inquired.

"No, it's not Maureen, but I think he's definitely over her. It's different than when he talked about her. Hmm." Mimi looked intensely at Mark, who got up and stepped away from the couch, as if to distance himself from the subject from the subject. (Impromptu A/N: There should be a ton of music in here, but my songwriting skills are like oh my god, wow, that's a song? No. So, it's just a story, not a musical.)

"Guys, it's not Maureen. I promise you."

"But it is a girl." Mimi said. She looked at Roger. "Where did he go?"

Roger thought for a minute. "Uhhh, he was on the streets for about an hour with thecamera, plus probably the subway both ways."

Now it was Mimi's turn to think. "Hmm. Not a lot to go on. The streets? Which ones?"

"I wasn't on the streets, I just rode the subway for half an hour, then got another one back to the apartment. And maybe I just had . . . an . . . epiphany." Mark interjected angrily. An epiphany? Mimi at least would see through that one.

And she did. "An epiphany? Yeah right."

"Just tell us. It'll be easier for everyone." Roger added, sounding bored.

Mark sighed and fell into an armchair with a groan. "Fine." he said. "Fine. I'll tell you. But it'll only take half a minute. It's not like I fell into a romance novel or anything." He took a deep breath. "Okay, so I was on the subway home, and this girl got on. And she-"

"Wait." Mimi said. "What was she wearing?" Roger gave her an exasperated look. "I'm kidding." she assured him. "Keep going."

"So, she sat down next to me. And we started talking. And then she got off."

Mimi thought. "Do you know her name?"

Mark sighed. "Norah."

"That's it?" Roger asked. "Did she just come up and say 'Hi, I'm Norah' and walk way? Cuz, that's not talking."

"No we were talking about being clumsy cuz she fell onto my lap, then about my camera and my film, then she got up to leave and I kinda asked her what was her name and she said Norah, and she worked at the Life Café, and than she left. The end." Mark said all this in a rush.

"Okay, stalker." Roger said. "I'm surprised she'd tell you after you just asked out of the blue."

"No, no," Mimi said. "She'd probably like that. Girls like it when guys say something that shows they're interested in them right out of the blue, it's cute."

Mark pondered this. "Okay. So now what?"

"You go to the Life Café." Mimi told him. "But not today. Probably not tomorrow either. Maybe the day after that. Yeah, go then, Friday. (Another A/N: It's Wednesday)

"I can't." Mark said.

Mimi and Roger looked at him. "Huh?" they asked.

"I can't." he said. "I can't go in."

Mimi sighed. "Mark, it's just a café. You can go in whenever you want. We do eat there a lot. In fact, I wonder why we haven't seen her there."

"Maybe she just got the job." Roger pointed out.

"Eve if she's worked there all her life, I can't go in."

"Why the hell not?" Roger asked.

Mark hesitated, and sank into his armchair. "Cuz she'll be there."

"Um, kind of the point." Mimi told him.

"I know, but it'll feel weird." Mark said.

"Oh, god, just do it. Friday. Go to the café and talk to her. And I'll lend you some cash so you can actually order something this time." Mimi told him. "After all, it's just a café. It's just getting dinner. She might not even be there."

Mark nodded, feeling sick. But he told himself, I can do this. It's just a café, after all.