Note: I'm back, all! And I come bearing many a chapter! Sure I gotta type them allup but they will be coming quickly now. If anyone is still interested in seeing the dresses let me know, I know I missed some of you guys. Sorry about that! And as always thanks for the reviews, 110 wow. I feel the love. As always I don't own RENT or Lori although she's not mentioned in this chappy.
On Friday evening, Collins was on the move. In the kitchen, in the dining room, running all along as if he was playing the Super Bowl. But in all actuality he was preparing for dinner. Dinner that Angel would share with him and his parents. Collins had volunteered to take care of all of the food, hoping to impress both parties attending. Sadly, he didn't know much about cooking beyond cereal and macaroni and cheese. Still, Collins was determined to make a grand spaghetti dinner with a strawberry cake for dessert. Determination wasn't exactly enough though. The water boiled over, melting a small corner of the counter. The cake seemed to be going well until the middle mysteriously sunk in.
"At least the spaghetti sauce didn't turn black or something…" Collins mumbled to himself looking into the saucepan. It looked normal enough. Something he couldn't say for the cake.
Collins' mother came in quietly taking the pot of noodles with an oven mitt and bringing it into the dining room. She was taking a back seat, letting her son ruin dish after dish. All she would offer him was an encouraging smile, knowing that it was all he wanted. Collins had to do this own. His father didn't show any support at all. Instead he lay in the living room watching the television. Collins knew that his father was less than thrilled to have dinner with Angel. But his mother, thankfully, won that battle.
Collins jumped as the door bell rang. Wiping his hands on the apron around his waist, he called out to his father, "Hey Dad? Can you get that?" Collins threw the apron onto the counter noticing no response. There wasn't even a sound of movement. Collins jogged out to the living room noticing his father's stationary figure. The doorbell rang again as Collins opened it to reveal Angel. She was wearing a cream laced blouse with a burnt orange skirt. A large white flower tucked behind her ear, a deep contrast from the black of her bobbed wig. In her hands she held a few stalks of lavender.
"Hey there." She said with a smile. Collins pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.
"Hey there yourself." He replied seeing his father leave the room from the corner of his eye.
"Did you hear?" Angel whispered to him not noticing Mr. Collins' departure.
Collins nodded solemnly, "Joanne called me. She told me between sobs that she wanted to elope. Never heard someone cry so bad." He took Angel's hand and squeezed it.
"Yeah…Maureen stopped by. Although she doesn't want to show it…the girls awful broken." Angel sighed, "But she still doesn't think she did a teeny wienie thing wrong. And I understand her…she's not cheating but…"
"If I flirted on the scale she does…" Collins helped her along.
"I would be less then happy." Angel said quietly glancing down at the lavender. Collins tilted her head up and kissed her gently. Without words he made it clear that he could never flirt with someone else. Those loving words and motions were for Angel, and Angel alone.
"Don't worry…"Collins started, "We'll talk to them. We just…have to survive my father first."
Angel smirked swinging their intertwined hands back and forth, "And your cooking"
Collins gasped dramatically, "Your confidence in me Ms. Schunard is blinding." Angel laughed and pinched his butt in response. Just then Mrs. Collins came into the room. Both her and Angel blushed. Collins held back a chuckle, time always seemed to be fond of putting people into uncomfortable situations.
To save herself, Angel went up to Mrs. Collins with the lavender, "Hello Mrs. Collins. Thank you for inviting me tonight. I hope you still like lavender." The older woman took the flowers with a tiny smile.
"Of course. I'll get a vase for these. Tom, don't forget the French bread." Mrs. Collins said before heading up the stairs in search of a vase.
Collins chuckled walking towards the kitchen, reclaiming Angel's hand as he went, "I hope you didn't get those flowers from the neighbor's yawn again." She simply stuck her tongue out at him.
"Later, baby, later." Collins teased opening the oven and reaching inside for the pan.
"Mitt! Baby, oven mitt!" Angel reminded him.
Collins stopped, "Oh yeah." He mumbled grabbing a cow mitt from the counter and pulling out the bread. Looking down at the pan he grinned and said with triumph, "It's not burnt."
Angel hugged him from behind and pointed toward the edges, "Then what's that?" She smiled deeply.
Collins glanced at her and raised his arm making the cow mitt stand upright. Then he moved his hand making the cow say, "I made that one specially for you, little lady." The cow then kissed Angel on the cheek with a loud smack.
Angel pushed the mitt away, "I'm sorry Mr. Cow. I'm promised to another."
The cow gasped and hung his head, "But…but…" Collins made the cow mitt look up, "Ain't I sexy?"
Angel burst out laughing moving in front of him and taking off the oven mitt, "Not as sexy as my man." She giggled leaning in for a kiss. Collins took a step back.
"Sorry, I would love to but I have a dinner to serve." Collins explained picking up the pieces of bread and tossing them into a bowl. Shaking his hands between moving each piece, as they were still hot.
Angel sighed deeply going over to the saucepan, "Damn tease." She giggled a bit spooning the sauce into its own bowl, "Don't you know a girl can't resist a man with a talking cow mitt?"
"I'll make a note of it." They laughed together, Collins finally peeking Angel on the lips.
"Better?" He asked of her.
"Better." Angel confirmed picking up the sauce as Collins took the bread. They carefully walked out into the dining room. Both of Collins' parents were waiting patiently.
Angel put down the sauce and waved, "Hi Mr. Collins." He ignored her and reached for a piece of bread.
"Dear." Mrs. Collins warned her voice tense, "Angel said hello." The teens sat down their eyes on Mr. Collins.
Collins' father rolled his eyes and grumbled without looking at Angel, "Hello." That seemed to be enough for his wife. She passed the bowls of food around as well as her silence. They ate Collins' dinner without saying a word. Just the sound of chewing and slurping of noodles from Angel. As they finished the main course Angel's hand slipped down to her knee and then found Collins' hand under the table.
Collins smiled at her and nodded, he was gonna try, "Angel's applied to a fashion school in the city. It's a few minutes down the road from the main NYU campus."
Mrs. Collins seemed a bit relieved that someone spoke up, "You're interested in fashion?" She asked Angel personally.
"I am." Angel replied sitting up straighter in her chair, "I actually make all of my own clothes. This outfit as well."
"Really?" Collins' mother seemed authentically impressed, "That is quite a talent."
Collins squeezed Angel's hand, "She's a great drummer too." Angel blushed a bit. She hadn't made her drumming known to all. It was a simple pastime that kept her going and kept her calm in times of stress.
"Have you taken lessons?" Mrs. Collins asked, "Thomas tried the saxophone. But he didn't have the patience."
Angel shook her head and then shrugged, "I naturally pick up rhythms…" She shook her head at Collins, "Patience isn't your strong suit."
Collins chuckled agreeing with her statement, "Yeah…my Angel. She's got a lot of talents."
"Like ensnaring good boys?" Mr. Collins said glaring up at Angel. She paled while Collins' eyes grew wide.
"What are you-" Mrs. Collins started to say but her husband held his hand up cutting her off.
"No, Alice. I can't sit here and pretend like it's normal that my son is dating a cross-dresser." Collins' father stood up from the table and pointed at his son, "I will never forgive you for this."
Collins was about to defend himself when Angel leaped from her seat and said, "I know this may not be my business, but I must say this: In order to be forgiven someone must do something wrong. Tom has done nothing wrong. He's only being himself…and yes, he's dating a cross-dresser. But is it a crime to fall in love? And he may not fit into your…your…perfect suburbia family ideal. You must realize, there is no such this as a perfect or normal family. There never was and there never will be. We can't pretend to be something we're not. All of us." Angel quieted down. Collins watched her in amazement, falling in love with her all over again.
Mr. Collins nodded, "You're right…it's none of your damn business." He left the kitchen with his wife at his heels. Soon shouts could be heard from the upper level of the house.
Angel closed her eyes, "I'm sorry…I can't stand by…not when he treats you like that. I don't care what he says about me. It's nothing that I haven't heard before." Angel whispered to him. Collins stood up and took her hand gently.
"Don't be silly…" Collins rubbed her hand with his thumb, "It's my idiotic father's fault…not yours. Never could be yours. And what you just did…makes me love you more."
Angel put her arms around Collins' waist, "I love you too." He pulled her into a tight hug. And there they stood for a minutes simply enjoying the closeness.
Collins leaned over and mumbled into Angel's ear, "I made a cake that sunk in the middle…want try it?"
Angel smiled deeply, "I gotta admit, dinner was pretty good. I'm proud."
Collins snorted taking her hand and going towards the kitchen, "Hold on to that comment until you try the cake."
They sat down at the kitchen table with the cake, two spoons, and a plastic container of icing. Angel scooped up a piece of cake and then dipped in into the icing. As she placed it in her mouth she winced. Not at the taste, but at the growing noise from above. Screams were now slams and crashes. "Are they…always…" Angel whispered glancing up at the ceiling.
"Yeah." Collins answered sinking his finger into the icing, "You get used to it."
Angel nodded her eyes still pointed up, "My house is always loud but…"
"Happy loud." Collins mumbled licking his finger clean.
Angel watched him for a moment and then said, "What are we going to do about Prom? Now that Mo and Jo aren't together."
Collins shrugged a deeper frown on his face, "I guess I'll still bring Joanne. But they will have to play nice. Both of them."
Angel chewed on her cake, it being a bit more elastic than it should have been, "Mark told me that Lydia and Robbie are going together…and up for king and queen."
Collins smirked, ripping off a piece of cake and dipping it in the icing, "Frankly, they deserve each other. And we'll see about the Prom court." He popped the cake in his mouth, "Hm…gummy."
Angel's eyes went wide, "What are you planning Thomas B. Collins?" She asked him a hand automatically going to her hip.
"Why would you say that baby?" Collins tried to appear innocent.
"You are planning something." Angel replied shaking her head, "Lord, help us all." Collins was about to answer when the screams got suddenly louder. His parents were coming down the stairs. Something was banging on every single step as they charged down. It sounded like…a suitcase. Then the door was slammed and his father's Mustang was turned on. The sound of it driving away was broken when Mrs. Collins entered the kitchen. She was looking wary bit at the same time, liberated.
"Mom…."Collins said worried. His parents had always fought but his father never ran off before.
"Tom, honey." Mrs. Collins held Collins' hand, "You're father and I are getting a divorce."
Collins' face dropped in shock. His brain was moving a thousand miles a minute, but he gathered his thoughts to say, "This…did this…happen today? Right now?"
Mrs. Collins sighed letting go his hand, which fell to his side, "I suppose. Technically, it was in the making since our wedding day. It was bound to happen sooner or later." Collins got up and hugged his mother trying to offer her comfort. She patted his back as if he was an acquaintance and said, "He's gone to live with your Uncle John for a while. And I have to head up to see Helen." She pulled away from Collins and looked to Angel, "Helen's my cousin, and a divorce lawyer. She's been giving me her card for years." Mrs. Collins explained so Angel would be able to follow the happenings. Angel nodded keeping an eye on her boyfriend, trying to gauge his reaction to the news.
"Will you be okay on your own for a few days?" Mrs. Collins asked him.
"Yeah…" Collins said still trying to absorb all of what was going on around him, "Take all the time you need."
Mrs. Collins smiled weakly, "I'm sorry Angel."
"Oh not at all." Angel said waving her hand.
"Alright then. I need to call Helen now." She stared at her son for a few minutes before saying, "Good job with dinner, baby." Without waiting for a response she left the room.
Angel went up to Collins placing her hand on his cheek, "Are you ok?" She asked him deeply concerned, "How do you feel?"
Collins took her hand from his face kissing it tenderly, "Relieved." He admitted, releasing tears of mixed joy and pain, Angel was there to wipe them all away.
Post: Um, don't got much to say haha. Next Chapter: A giant leap and a song by the band Lamb. Yay good music.