The majority of the characters found below are not of my creation, but of the genius Jonathon Larson. I love reviews, and I give quite a few out. To Jonathon Larson!

True to the saying, March entered bringing with it a mixture of snow and rain. Also with the weather came emotion inspired arguments.

Tuesday the 2nd, came rather sorely for Lorana. The night before her last ex-boyfriend had ate at the restaurant/bar where she worked. Seeing Lorana had sparked a great anger, and when her shift was over, he followed her out of the establishment.

"Lorana, it's been a long time."

"What do you want Sam?"

"For you to feel the hurt I felt when you left me." He punched her shoulder, hard. He then proceeded to beat her. She endured this with tears forming in her eyes.

When Sam had had enough, he threatened, "You tell anyone and you'll get worse." He then ran off.

"Shit Lorana, what the hell happened?" questioned Maureen looking at the bruises on her friend the next day.

"Nothing happened," Lorana lied.

"You're lying."

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"No, it's not okay, especially if someone beat you. You're bruises are about the size of a man's fist Lorana."

"Oh my God," Mimi said, shocked by Lorana's blackened eye. She set the groceries on the counter and returned to Lorana with some ice. "Here, put this on your eye." Then Mimi noticed the bluish greenish bruise on Lorana's shoulder, "Who did this to you?"

"No one," Lorana said firmly, lying once again.

"Does Marie know about this?" Mimi asked.

"Not yet. She was asleep when I got home, and she had class this morning, that's why I came here." She said this with no intention of Marie finding out.

Over the next few days, Lorana avoided Marie like the plague.

Marie sighed as Mark stroked her long hair. "What's wrong?" he asked her, continuing the stroking motion.

"Lorana, she keeps avoiding me."

"You haven't seen her yet?" Mimi said entering the room.

"No..."

"She has a lot of bruises, and a black eye."

"What!" screamed Marie, sitting up. "How'd it happen?"

"She won't say, but Maureen and I think someone beat her up, a male."

"Grrr..." growled Marie. She laid her head on Mark's thigh, and he resumed stroking her hair, hoping she'd calm down.

"Why the hell did you not tell me what happened?" Marie roared at Lorana, springing a surprise attack on her friend.

"Because I knew this is how you'd react."

"Who did it?"

"Not your business."

"It is so, if I got beat up, it'd be your business. Who did it?"

Her answer was a Lorana's bedroom door being closed loudly. A mumbled answer was given on the opposite side.

"No, I will not go away."

"Oh, yes you will, you have class in fifteen minutes."

"Curses, damn my classes. I'll be back."

After Lorana was sure that Marie was gone, she emerged from her room in her "work" clothes and set off for her job.

"Damnation! Where did she run to?" Marie glanced at the clock, "Right, it's 5pm; she started working at 4:30. Hmmm...but she gets off tonight at seven." Marie started making a mental list of the possibilities Lorana might go after work, as she was almost certain that Lorana wouldn't return home.

Seven came and Marie had positioned herself at the loft. Predictably, Lorana walked in around 7:10. Shit, she thought catching sight of Marie. "How did you know I would be here?"

"We've known each other for a long time."

Lorana turned and left. "What happened?" Mimi asked, a little clueless as to what had just occurred.

"I confronted her about the bruises and black eye."

It was Sunday, Marie didn't have class, and Lorana didn't work. Lorana woke around noon, having worked until closing at 4am. I've got to get a better job.

Marie kissed Mark goodbye when she heard her roommate grumbling in the other room trying to find the shirt she wanted.

"Aren't you supposed to be spending the day with Mark?" Lorana asked, emerging from her room to find Marie on the couch.

"Yeah, but unless you tell me the truth about what happened, we're going to have to wait."

"I'm going back to bed, this is a nightmare."

"Oh no you're not," Marie said, rushing to block Lorana's bedroom door.

"Mimi and Maureen are right, now move."

"So you were beat?" Marie asked, shocked at how quickly Lorana had cooperated.

"Yes, now move."

Marie dropped her arms a bit, but remained stock still in the doorway. "Who?"

"I'm handling it."

"Who?" Marie questioned once more. She hated repeating herself, but this was a special circumstance.

"Fine, I'll sleep on the couch." With a sigh, Marie moved out of the way, knowing that it was best not to press the issue. "An ex-boyfriend," came from the other side of the now closed door.

When she heard snores issuing from the room, Marie rushed to the loft. Once she got there, she told Mimi, Maureen, and Joanne what she had discovered.

"She could sue," Joanne suggested.

"But if she won't say the name," Maureen said.

"I think that he threatened her about telling," Marie concluded.

"How many boyfriends has she had?"

"God only knows."

Lorana re-awoke a little after 3pm. When Marie wasn't to be found in their apartment, she guessed that her friend was with Mark.

Stiff from her old mattress, Lorana made herself some cappuccino.

Once that was finished, she pulled on her gray jacket, and headed for the loft.

She knocked on the door, it slid open with Roger on the other side. "Shit Lorana,"

"Save it, Roger. Is Marie here?"

"No, I think she and Mark went out filming."

"Right," Lorana said, remembering that Mark and Marie had made plans to do that.

Like she had done with Marie, Lorana had pointedly avoided the male members of the group, but mainly Roger.

"Why the hell are your arms covered in bruises?"

"Mimi or Maureen didn't tell you I was like this?"

"No..."

Lorana's confidence had grown a little with his last statement. "An ex-boyfriend beat me."

"Why?"

"I guess because I left him when I quit the show. I guess he finally found me."

Over the next week, Lorana endured the question "Who did it" from all but Angie and Collins. After all this harping, Lorana decided that it would hurt her a lot more in the long run if she didn't tell the name of her attacker.

She secretly took the day off work and headed over to Angie's. She walked the mile and a half to Angie's apartment complex, and climbed the 4 flights of stairs to Angie's apartment. She knocked, and waited patiently for an answer.

The door opened, "Hey, what's up Lorana?"

"Sam," she answered plainly.

"What?"

"Sam," Lorana repeated, tears glazing her eyes. "Sam is the name of the person who beat me."

"Oh, honey, come in and sit down, I'll go grab a kleenex box."

Lorana went in and sat on the couch, sniffling and trying to compose herself. Angie returned a moment later with a tissue box in hand. She pulled Lorana into a hug.

"Do you know that for a fact?"

"Unless during the year we were dating he used a false name, yes."

"Do you know his last name?"

"Drunett, Sam Drunett."

"Oh, honey, why are you telling me all this? Not that I don't mind, but you and Marie seem so much closer."

"You and Collins were the only ones who didn't pester me about it, and I wanted to tell a girl."

Meanwhile, Marie was Frenching with Mark on a park bench, disgusting the old lady walking by. Mark sensed that something was up.

"Something's wrong, what is it?" Mark asked, breaking the kiss.

"Lorana won't say who beat her. I'm scared for her safety."

Mark pulled her into a hug, kissed her, and told her everything would turn out fine.

Monday came, and while Lorana was at work, Angie went over to Marie's apartment.

"Hi," Marie said answering the door.

"Hi, I know who beat Lorana."

"How, never mind, who?"

"Lorana told me."

"Who was it?

"A Sam Drunett."

"Sam," Marie growled under her breath. Muttering something incoherent under her breath, Marie stalked off.

"Where are you going?"

"To find Sam."

Oh my, I hope she doesn't do anything she'll regret.

"Hey Angie," Lorana said later on when she returned home. Her bruises had healed considerably, and only a few small, dark patches showed where her black eye had been. "Marie here?"

"Uh, no..."

"Where is she?" asked Lorana concerned.

"I had to tell her, she went looking for Sam."

"Shit, that's why I never tell her these things."

"What do you think she's gonna do?"

"I'm not sure, but let's just say if she gets pissed enough, she's capable of murder."

"Oh crap,"

"As long as we can get to Sam before she does, we're fine."

"But how? We don't know where he is."

"You don't, I do. Come on, I'll show you."

"You know where he is?"

"No, but I know where he's staying. I'm not the complete idiot I'm made out to be."

Angie followed Lorana 11 blocks to a shabby run-down hotel.

"There's Marie." They sprinted after her, and found her mid punch in the upstairs lobby. Sam was about to receive the blow, "Sam move!" Lorana shouted.

Startled by the shout, Marie froze, and turned on the ball of her foot.

Upon seeing Lorana, Marie was even more startled. "After all he did to you; I can't believe that you're protecting him." She threw a side-ways punch to Sam who had made the mistake of standing within reach of Marie.

"Marie, go home. I told you I was handling this."

"But," Marie started.

"I said GO!"

Reluctantly, Marie left, knowing that staying would only piss Lorana off. Angie followed.

Lorana woke up the next morning, stiff, sore, and in an unfamiliar room. She didn't remember ever coming into this room last night, in fact the last thing she could remember was Marie and Angie leaving her alone with Sam in the upstairs lobby of a run-down hotel.

Panicked she bolted into the sitting position. Sam wasn't there, but Mark, Marie and Angie were.

"Lay back down," Angie coaxed.

Lorana did as she was told, her head now pounding. "Where am I?"

"Hospital," answered Mark, a hand on Marie's back.

"Why?"

"Sam attempted to suffocate you after Angie and I left. We heard a thud, and I wanted to make sure you were alright. Angie instinctively called the police."

"Hey Hon, glad to see you're awake," Maureen said entering the room.

"I'll go tell the doctor," Mark said, leaving the girls alone to talk.

"I hate hospitals," Lorana said.

"Well, they're better than the morgue," Marie pointed out.

"What was going on when you got to the upstairs lobby?"

"Sam was kneeling over you, trying to kill you, and you had already passed out from lack of air. Why do I get the feeling this wasn't the first time he had beaten you?"

"It wasn't. Remember the time you came to visit me, and I had a bruise on my arm?"

"You told me that was from a fall backstage."

"No, it was from Sam."

"Why didn't you let me beat the shit out of him, again?"

"Because you tend to get carried away. I didn't want you to go to jail."

The next day, Lorana was allowed to leave the hospital. Benny had once again covered the hospital bill; he had even paid for Lorana's pain pills.

Lorana returned to her apartment and with Marie at class, she settled down to watch TV. Discovering that nothing but soap operas were on, she clicked the TV off, and grabbed a near-by book.

She had just started chapter 5 when a knock on the door interrupted her trance.

"Coming, who is it?"

"Oh come on Lorana, I forgot my key."

"How was class?" asked Lorana opening the door.

"Incredibly boring, and your afternoon?"

"I read four chapters of a book."

"Do you feel up to going out for dinner?"

"Sure, in fact let's leave now, I'm starving."

"Didn't you eat lunch?"

"No," Lorana said sheepishly.

Marie sighed, typical.

"So are we gonna leave yet?"

"No, unless you want to go to the loft."

"Sounds good to me. I'm gonna go get ready."

After they had both changed, they headed out the door, pulling on jackets as they went.

"I think I'm gonna start running again," Lorana said randomly as they walked.

"I'll stick with walking."

"How are things between you and Mark going?"

"Lately, you've been interrupting unintentionally."

"Okay, besides my interruptions?"

"Good, really good."

"Had sex yet?"

"Like I would tell you."

"I'll just take that as a yes."

Marie sighed, knowing that there was no point in arguing.

They were a flight away from the loft, when they saw Mark, Roger, and Mimi heading down the stairs.

"Hey guys, where're you going?"

"Hi Marie, Maureen and Joanne's."

"Oh, sure, don't say hi to me. You guys go ahead and make ogled puppy love eyes at each other, just ignore me."

This statement earned Lorana a good slap on her shoulder. "Ow, there's a bruise there," she said rubbing her shoulder tenderly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot."

"And you were so eager to beat the shit out of him."

Mark stepped between their small argument and kissed Marie.

"So why were you heading to Maureen and Joanne's?"

"What about Maureen and Joanne?"
"We were just heading to your place, Joanne," Mark said.
"Okay, well, we can go ahead to the Life as soon as Maureen gets out here. Where are Roger and Mimi?"
"Right here," Roger said pulling on his shirt.

"Well, did you two have fun?"

"Shut-up Lorana," Roger ordered.

"If I must."

Okay, well there's chap. 5. Please review, I don't want to keep writing if people think it sucks. I hate when people lie and say they like it, when they truly think it's a piece of shit. My love to my readers!

-Diva Actress