Disclaimer: RENT belongs to Jonathan Larson. I'm just playing with the characters.

MARK

Once Roger stopped crying, I led him into my room and told him to lie down. He asked, so I stayed until he fell asleep. Roger slept with a pillow clutched to his chest, curled around the pillow, his thumb in his mouth. I smiled. He looks like a baby. Hard to believe he'll be twenty-one in… when?

I remembered Roger mentioning his birthday was sometime in June... I stumbled into the kitchen. I needed a subtle way of finding out when his birthday is. A way that doesn't involve me asking him up front, obviously.

Roger's clothes were balled up in the bathtub, soaking wet. It was a stretch, but the only option I had at the moment. I checked the pockets and found, at the end of a chain, Roger's wallet.

It was brown, leather, and the kind that only has one fold, not three. I glanced over my shoulder, then flipped it open. Public library card (adorable!), a picture of a slinky grey cat, and… jackpot! His driver's license.

New York Driver License, Class C… Roger Gabriel Davis, an address, Sex: M, Hair: blonde (hardly), WT:-- really! He's heavy for such a skinny thing, but then he does have nice muscles. Eyes: Green, DOB: 06--15--69

1969? That didn't seem right. It was 1987. If Roger was born in 1969, he would only be turning… I calculated mentally. He would be turning eighteen, which made him--

"17?" I whimpered. "Holy shit, I am a pedophile! B-but Roger said he was 20... he said..." I rubbed my face furiously, trying to fight off a sudden wave of anger, to no avail. Before I could register my own actions, I had stormed into my room, swiped my pillow from his arms and brought it down, repeatedly, onto a sleeping Roger.

"You liar! You fucking liar!"

Roger rolled off the opposite side of the bed. He raised his hands, palms towards me. "Mark, I can explain!"

An enraged cry escaped my throat and I chucked the pillow at him, automatically fumbling for something harder to throw at him. "Fuck you!" The thought that I had made me nauseous. I grabbed the tea cup I'd placed on the side table and threw it.

The teacup shattered against Roger's chest. "Mark, please!"

"You fucking lied to me. You lied! You're just a kid!" I threw a second pillow. A nearby shoe. His pants. His wallet, his ID.

The shoe and pants he caught, but then his hands were full. He dropped the shoe and start to pull on his pants, hindered by the heaviness of the soaked denim. The wallet and ID hit him. "I know, I... I-- I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you, but I'm not--"

I stood there, shaking, finally out of things to throw. "You're sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it!" I watched him pull on his pants and with a sudden dread, I realized I couldn't bear him go. Even if he lied, even if he's underage, even if I lo--

If he was packing up and leaving, it was going to be because I kicked him out. "Fuck you, Roger! Get out! Get out right now! I don't want to see you…" My voice faltered and I was glad I was still so pissed, or I'd be crying.

"No... Mark, please don't, please let me explain..."

"I took several deep breaths, trying to calm myself. "What is there to explain?" I managed.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry." It came as a whisper. "I love you."

I blinked back tears and felt that familiar surge of rage take over. A part of me wanted to give Roger a chance to deny this. Say it's all some big mistake. That the people at the DMV are a bunch of retards. That he really is who he's said he is all along.

But the majority of me wanted to hurt him, tear him down and watch him suffer. "If you truly loved me," I told him coldly, "you wouldn't have done this to me."

"It's... it's... it's not that I don't love you. It's because I was being selfish. I thought... you would never need to know, never... it didn't matter."

"You're right. This isn't about you loving me. This is about you wanting me to love you. You selfish fuck. I've had enough of what you want. I want you to get out." I took steps closer to the door and looked at him expectantly.

Roger looked at me as he left, briefly, and tried to speak. Then he shook his head and left. I was glad he did.

I could not have endured another second.

TO BE CONTINUED!

There was another part to this chapter, but it needs tweaking. Hopefully it'll be up soon, though!

Reviews would be great! Please?