Collins' eyes opened softly, as he was awoken by a knock on the door. God forbid a hurricane came while Angel was sleeping. He could sleep through anything, and probably would have died during said hurricane. Collins sighed, and yawned lightly. He saw Angel's face first, sleeping, looking so sweet and innocent, when he knew that was one of the last things he was. The door knocked again, and Collins sighed. He let go of Angel's warmth, and sat up. He grabbed his underwear, and pulled them on, then his pants. He made sure his Angel was covered up warmly too, and walked over to the door. He opened it up, and there was his blonde friend, Mark, again. Mark took one look at him, and smirked, looking very amused.
"What?" Collins asked him, a bit aggravated since he had woken him up from his slumber and made him leave his Angel. Mark just shook his head and gave a faint snort. He pointed at Collins.
"Dude, you've got a hickey." Mark said, and laughed, bending down, holding his knees as he laughed. Collins rolled his eyes and sighed angrily.
"What did you come here for?" Collins asked, not very amused. Mark stood back up, still grinning, almost proudly.
"Ah…don't be such a grump…unless, did I interrupt something?" He asked, and peered behind Collins' shoulder.
"Yes, my sleep." Collins told him, and walked back so Mark could walk in. After Mark made his way into the loft, Collins shut the door. Collins walked to the couch, and bent next to Angel, and kissed his cheek sweetly, trying to wake him up, so Mark and him could talk. "Angel…sweetie…" He whispered to the sleeping boy on the couch. Angel wasn't going to move, and Collins had to accept that. He looked up at Mark. "Hope you don't mind." He shrugged and smirked lightly, and sat down at the edge of the couch. Mark sat in the chair next to the couch. "So, what did you want to talk about?" He asked. Mark shrugged.
"Nothing in particular." Mark told him. "Just too silent, so I thought I would come up here and see if everything was okay." He told Collins, and smiled. He looked at Angel, and could very well tell that he was only wearing that blanket. "But...I guess I can figure out that things are doing better." He said, and chuckled. Collins looked at Angel, and smiled softly, just thinking about him and what they just shared.
"Yeah, things are alright. I just let her have a nice cry session, and she was alright after that." He said, and looked at Mark, who raised an eyebrow at him. Collins rolled his eyes, and sighed. "Hey…she would never have sex when she was depressed." Collins told him, and laughed. Mark just laughed at him. Not just because what he said was funny, but because Mark was happy his friends were back. He just hoped that the other members of the gang were here. That way, he didn't feel like such an oddball. Mark picked up his camera, and turned it on.
"What are you doing buddy?" Collins asked him, wondering how this could be an appropriate time for that damned camera, but Mark just looked up at him, with a face that said 'DUH'. Collins just smirked. Mark didn't need a woman, he had his camera.
"I'm just trying to get as much peaceful Angel that I can get. Just trying something different." He told Collins. "Without the make-up and outfits. Just bare, content Angel."
"Hey…you know that kind of film is illegal nowadays." Collins told him, and laughed. Mark just chuckled.
"Hey, if one can't afford to buy said videos, one must just make them." Mark said, making Collins laugh. He looked around the apartment, and smiled.
"So, how have things been since I left?" Collins asked him, and Mark's upper lip twitched.
"Quiet...very quite. It was kind of surprising. We thought that it would be louder, because we thought we would see more of Angel, now that you weren't there to entertain her. But, she just slowly calmed down. Not in a very bad way, just in kind of a lonely way. Mimi's been fine, hanging around Angel mostly. But, as I told you, her and Roger have moved in together, Roger's downstairs, and I'm up in my own now. Maureen and Joanne visit a lot…but they usually aren't together. Not like that would surprise you. I'm glad, you know, it keeps me company, but Angel's usually always up there with me, making me lunch, talking. You know." Mark said, and looked back at Angel.
"Trust me, I know." Collins chuckled. "Well, I hope things go back to normal. Well…in most ways." He said, and thought about Maureen and Joanne. Of course they were fighting, it's what they did. When they weren't fighting, things became scary for the group of friends. He was happy for Roger, finally moving on with Mimi. They truly did deserve each other. He knew, because Angel could never keep his mouth shut, and always talked to Collins about Mimi and how she felt about Roger. Personally, unless it was important, Collins didn't really care about how many times Roger and Mimi kissed. He honestly had that horrid heart of not caring about how many times they've snuggled and said 'I love you' today. Angel didn't really care that Collins didn't care. Angel always won fights. So, Collins knew. He had no choice.
Mark smiled happily at him. "We'll be fine. We could be doing better, but hey, no use of complaining. I've tried it, doesn't work." He said, and laughed. There was a sudden movement from the couch, and then a slight moan. Both men looked at sleeping beauty on the couch, as Angel stretched. He gave a cute little coo, and yawned, opening his eyes, and saw Mark, and jumping, screaming. He noticed he was naked, and jumped, screaming. He noticed Mark was getting it all on tape, and her jumped and screamed again. Collins looked at him; worried he was having a seizure.
"Well, good morning Angel." Collins said, and smirked. Angel looked at him, holding a blanket to cover himself up. Angel kicked Collins playfully.
"Glad we have company." Angel told him, and smirked, sitting up, blushing lightly.
"Sorry Angel." Mark smiled at her, stilling filming, chuckling lightly. Angel eyed his camera.
"What do you think you're doing with that?" He asked him, knowing that the lens was following him. He usually acted cute for the camera, but he was naked, and didn't approve right now. Collins cracked up.
"Baby, go get some clothes on and join us. We might have more company." He told her, and smiled. Angel sighed.
"Good Lord…" He mumbled, and wrapped the blanket around himself, walking to the bedroom. Collins chuckled at her.
"Well, we won't be seeing much of her for a bit." Collins smirked, and looked at Mark. "Now that she knows she has to look pretty for other people."
"And not just you?" Mark asked him.
"Naw, she would have just stayed naked." Collins told Mark, who made a face, and turned off his camera, and set it down.
"Thanks Collins…" He muttered, and there was a knock at the door. He smirked. "Well, good thing Angel left." Collins stood up, and walked over to the door, and opened it. There was a squeal at the door, and a woman flung at him. Her hair was big and curly, flowing down to her waist. She wore tight black pants, and a cut up t-shirt, under her jean jacket. She kissed Collins' cheek.
"Welcome home baby!" She said, and grinned happily. This was Maureen, Mark's old girlfriend, who dumped him so she could be a lesbian. Her lover, Joanne, was at the door. She smiled at Collins as Maureen jumped off him to see Mark. She was dressed in khaki pants, and a button up shirt, and of course, a black tie. Collins just nodded, not really wanting to be kissed by another woman, and Joanne returned it, not wanting to kiss a man. She eyed Maureen, who was already jabbering to Mark, and sighed.
"Welcome back Collins, it's been quiet without you. Although...I'm not really sure that's a bad thing." She added, and smiled at him. Collins chuckled lightly.
"I'll make sure I go again soon." He joked, and rubbed his jaw. "But, I'm taking Angel with me next time." He mumbled, and Joanne raised her eyebrow in confusion. He smiled, and shook his head. "I'll tell you all later." He told her.
"Alright, but hurry up, Mimi and Roger should be coming up. We were going to wait, but Maureen got antsy." She told him, and sighed, looking back at Maureen and a very red Mark.
"It's alright Joanne." Collins told her. "And…everything will be fine." He told her reassuringly. She sighed out heavily, as if she needed that.
"I know." She told him softly, and walked over to the couch, and sat. Maureen immediately latched on to her. Collins watched the scene, and went to shut the door, but the door stopped. A hand held it open, and it's owner smiled up at Collins. Those big brown eyes and happy smile could only be part of Angel's best friend in the world, Mimi. She smiled underneath that wild Spanish hair of hers, and Collins couldn't help his own smile. It was contagious.
"Hey Collins!" She said happily, and gave him a big hug. He returned the favor.
"Hey Mimi, how've you been?" He asked her happily.
"Great, what about you? NYU giving you any trouble?" She asked him, letting go, and hitting his arm playfully, and walked off to the others. Collins' eyes followed her, and he shook his head, and looked back at the door. Roger stood there, staring at him.
"What?" Collins asked him, knowing Roger wasn't good at these warm fuzzy moments, but he was staring a bit too much.
"See Angel's already given you your welcome home present." Roger told him, and smirked, raising his eyebrows. At Collins' face, Roger pointed to his hickey, and just laughed, walking to the couch, and sat next to Mimi, wrapping an arm around her. Collins finally shut the door, and walked to another chair, next to Mark.
"Sorry, I would have some snacks or something out, but Angel just woke up, and we won't eat until she makes something." Collins told them, and Joanne looked at him confused.
"Just woke up? What's she sleeping for, it's only nine o'clock." Joanne asked him, and Mimi tapped her lightly, and humped the air, mocking an Angel and Collins sex routine. Maureen laughed at her, getting the joke immediately, and everyone else followed. Collins blushed.
"Yeah..." He said softly, and Mark punched his arm.
"Oh stop, it's not like it was unexpected of you." Mark told him. "You've been without her for a week…though, that Adam kid…" Mark said, and looked like he was having a seizure.
"HEY! We already established that NOTHING was going on there." Collins told him, and held his jaw again.
"Hey, tell us what happened." Joanne told him.
"Who's Adam?" Roger asked him.
"Well, I'll tell you. I was at NYU, and I met a kid named Adam. He is going to be my intern, so I have to show him around the place, have meetings about the class, all that stuff. So, a few days go by, and we get to know each other. He tells me he's new to New York, and doesn't have a place to stay. I offered for him to stay here. Guess I should have asked Angel first, because the first thing she does when she sees him is flips out on me. Luckily, that didn't last long. So, she went to our room to change, and Adam and I chat. I talk to him about Mark and his apartment, just bringing it up, since now I know Angel doesn't want him around. He was fine with it…until Angel came back out in her new outfit." Collins explained, and Mimi interrupted.
"The white one I picked out?" She asked him, and smiled. Collins just looked at her funny.
"Yeah…that one." Collins wasn't actually sure if that was the right outfit, he just didn't really care. He did love the outfit on his Angel, but the only thing he cared about was when she was wearing it. Though, he would later thank Mimi for her amazing find. "So, she comes out, and Adam gives this face of pure shock. So, I walk over to him, and we talk in the other room. Now, I'm assuming he's just uncomfortable with Angel dressing in woman's clothing, though I told him that she was a bit on the flamboyant side. Well, I sit down, and he looked at me, and told me about how gorgeous he thinks Angel looks, and I immediately try to steer the conversation in the other direction. But, he keeps asking me things about our relationship, trying to see if we're going to break up anytime soon, so I finally told him that he should get a head start on looking for apartments, and I left the room." Collins explained, and sighed.
"Adam has a crush on Angel?" Maureen asked him, and smirked. "Well, you're in quite the pickle. Did you know he was gay?"
"No." Collins told her and sighed. "If I did, I wouldn't have been so easily persuaded to let him stay." He answered Maureen and looked out the window. "So, Mark comes in, and Angel leaves to make some hot chocolate or whatever, and I tell Mark."
"I agreed to take Angel out of the house while, so that Adam and Collins could talk it over without being interrupted, but…" Mark said, and sighed.
"Angel caught onto it, but not in the way she should have. She had the idea that I was cheating on her with Adam. But, I didn't know that. So, I grabbed Adam's things, and like Mark offered, I put them in his room. Adam came back here, and he just started balling. I tried to comfort the kid, but before anything could get accomplished, Angel bursts in-"
"-And kicked Collins' ass." Mark said bluntly. Mimi gasped, and Roger's eyes went all big. Maureen's hands went straight to her mouth. Joanne reached over, and put her hand on Collins' shoulder, almost trying to hold in a laugh.
"Are you alright?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Collins told her, and gave Mark a look, and he shrugged. Roger was the first one to let out a laugh.
"Well…that's…um…wow." Roger said, and laughed into his hand. A chick had just beaten up his friend. Well, sort of. Collins sighed, and sat back, just letting them go at them. Luckily for him, Angel walked into the room gracefully, grinning widely and happily. She had a warm glow to her that the others hadn't seen in a week. They were glad that she was happy again. She walked to the back of Collins' chair, and wrapped her arms around his neck to his chest, and kissed his cheek. Her lipstick didn't smudge, and good thing, because it was a light purple that Collins didn't really want on him.
"Well hello there." Angel said when she saw everyone else, and she sashayed over to the front of Collins, and sat on his lap gracefully, smiling happily.
"Well, hello yourself." Maureen smirked. "You're looking very happy all of a sudden." Angel made a proud face at her, and winked.
"Of course I am sweetie." Angel told her, and giggled. She wrapped her arms around Collins, who rested his hand on her thigh. She kissed him sweetly. "I've got my man back." She said in a husky voice. Her sudden motion got a lot of stares from the group around the lovers.
"Apparently...Collins didn't finish his story." Joanne said, and smirked. "Because, I could have sworn that he left off at Angel kicking his ass." Angel looked at her.
"What? Wait…no…Oh my God, Collins…" She whined, not wanting that little escapade to be talked about. She blushed, and hid her face into Collins' neck.
"Aw, come on Angel. It's okay." Mimi told her, and smiled. Collins looked at Angel, and kissed her little nose. He let out a little chuckled. She could be such a child sometimes.
"Well…so, what happened was, I finally told her that Adam and I weren't doing anything, and that he, actually was madly in love with her." Collins explained. Angel gave a muffled moan, holding Collins tighter, wanting him to stop. He wasn't about to give up without a fight. "So, yeah, Mark just sent Adam back down to his loft, and Angel and I made up. Actually, she did most of it. Since, I can never get a word in when it comes to these things." He said, and looked back at Angel, who was beat red. Collins feared for his safety, but knew she would at least wait until everyone left.
"You're a jerk." She mumbled into his shoulder, and Collins laughed.
"Stop that, no I'm not." Collins told her.
"Um…yeah, you are." Angel told him, with a bit of an attitude.
"You silly girl, I'm not a jerk. You love me." Collins told her.
"Doesn't mean you're not a jerk." She told him, just staring into his eyes.
"So…it's getting late." Roger mumbled, and stood up, knowing that Collins and Angel wouldn't stop fighting anytime soon. Angel looked up at him, and pouted.
"Are you gunna leave me?" She asked him, standing up and pouting.
"Angel…who do I look like, Collins?" Roger asked her, and shook his head to help Mimi up.
"No." Angel told him, biting her lip, twirling a strand of wig hair in her fingers. "You look kinda like Adam…" She said, and looked him up and down. Collins' eyes bugged out, and he grabbed Angel, who squealed, and giggled.
"Well, you guys should be off." Collins said, and smiled. Roger just smirked at him, and snorted.
"Are you kidding me?" Roger asked Collins. "You really…you do, don't you?" He asked, and laughed, taking Mimi's hand. "Do yourself a favor, and go to bed." He smirked, and walked to the door. Mimi and Angel shared a cute little kiss, and Collins looked at them. Angel looked at Collins, and rolled her eyes.
"Hey, now, straight boys are one thing sweetie…but girls? Uh-uh." Angel smirked at him, and grabbed Collins' butt firmly, and giggled.
"Even girls who like girls?" Maureen asked her, standing up. Angel nodded.
"Even them…" She said, and looked at Joanne, who also stood up. "But…I don't know, girls who dress like men are pretty hot." She giggled. Joanne laughed, and kissed Angel's cheek.
"Hey, I wear heals." Joanne told her.
"So do I honey." Angel told her, and winked. Maureen gave Angel and Collins one last hug. Collins and Joanne shook hands, and the two left. Roger and Mimi gave one last wave before leaving as well. Mark stood up, and took his camera, smiling at the couple. He was speechless, just looking at each other, as they held hands. Collins and his goofy grin, staring at Angel, who was looking right at Mark.
"Guess there's no room for a Jewish boy?" Mark asked her, and winked, walking to the door. Angel just giggled, and flashed him a silly look, that made Mark blush. He just shook his head, and left the couple behind, thinking, sadly assuming, that everything was alright from now on.