A/N: I have to say that I'm happy with the reviews that I get for this story. I don't get a lot, but what you guys have to say honestly keeps me going. So thanks a bunch for that! This is basically a back story to Kate and Roger, didn't know I was going to do that until after I started writing. Enjoy!

A/N2: Just thought I'd mention because I'm incredibly excited about it, Anthony Rapp's book comes out Tuesday. I've read reviews from people who own it already (they pre-ordered it or something) and they say that it's fantastic. (Plus Anthony mentions Adam a lot which will make me very happy...)

A/N3: You guys are fun to talk to lol. Anywho, my choir class is singing a RENT medley, including RENT, Seasons of Love, Without You, Will I and Finale B. Just thought I'd mention it because that's something else that I'm incredibly excited about.

Disclaimer: Ah...something I'm not excited about. Don't own. I own Kate. That's it. How sad it that?

Kate watched as the blonde man left the room, a look of anger on his face. She understood why he'd be so angry, so fearful about the situation. Maybe no one had ever picked up on his past before.

For Kate, maybe it was so easy to talk about it because she'd never known anything else. It was the norm for her. Everyday, when she'd come home from school or work or wherever she decided to go, her father would insist she'd done something wrong or if she'd done a chore, he'd insist she never did it well enough. So he'd beat her.

And she did what she could to ignore it. She'd think about something funny that someone said that day or she'd concentrate on school or she'd play with her hair. It sounds hard that she'd ignore being beaten...but it's what she did. It was her defense mechanism against the pain her father inflicted upon her.

Growing up, Kate never made a lot of friends. Her father (when he cared enough) never bought her top notch clothes or school supplies. But for some reason, it never bothered her. As a child, she loved her father. He tried his best for her. It didn't matter if she'd come home and hug him, and he'd push her away.

Daddy's just shy. She thought. He'll love me soon.

Yet, when she went to elementary school and heard the other kids talking about where their daddy's took them that weekend or what they bought the child or anything along those lines, Kate found herself feeling jealous. She never had a story to brag about.

Even when they spoke about their mothers, jealousy sprung up. Her mother died in childbirth. The older she got, the more certain Kate was that that was the reason why her father was so harsh and strict.

Another fact: The older she got, the more resentful Kate was of her father. At their quiet dinners, Kate felt the urge to scream out, "Look at me! I'm your daughter! Why won't you love me!"

Yet another fact: The older she got, the more her father would say, "You look so much like your mother..." before beating her.

She always assumed that was another reason for beating her. Taking out his pain on her. She figured that since her mother died and left her father with a child, he was devastated and angry at her.

Whatever the reason was, Kate was finally old enough to realize there was no excuse for what the man did. Hence the reason why, after one far too harsh beating, she left Queens for good to live with her cousin in the East Village.

Although, when Mark found out and mailed her the spare key, he never informed her that he had a roommate.

---

"What the fuck does she know..." Roger muttered to himself, slamming his door. Looking to his feet, he kept talking. "My father did nothing but love me." His voice cracked on the word 'love'.

Lying is easier when it's not about something so tragic.

As far as Roger was concerned, he never did anything to make his father the way he was. Angry. Bitter.

A bastard.

Roger shook the thought from his head. He was never a religious man, but the thought of going to hell did haunt him. And for some reason, he remembered the sin, "Thou shalt honour thy father and mother."

But what if they don't honor you?

Little things would set his father off. Dinner was burnt that night. They ran out of beer. Cigarettes missing.

One time Roger even remembered his father beating him because his favorite TV show was interrupted by a commercial. So when big things came along (His father finding out he smoked, seeing a report card of Rogers, finding Roger making out with his girlfriend), the beating was ten times more intense.

Roger constantly wondered why his mother did nothing but stand aside and watch it happen. She was aware of it. It wasn't hard to notice something like that in their small house. Either she was too afraid to do anything or just...didn't care.

It didn't matter. She could've done something. And when she didn't, Roger felt that he hated her just as much as his father.

When he met Mark after he moved to New York, he was a little distant. Mark was someone who actually cared about him. April was easier. She loved him in a different way.

But Mark cared for him and looked after him, always making sure he was safe. Maybe that's why Roger stuck with it.

He's the parent I never had.

As awkward as it was having a 'parent' for the first time in 20 years, he enjoyed it. When Roger was sick, Mark made him soup. When Roger was angry, Mark let him vent. When Roger was sad, Mark talked to him about it. Occasionally, he even comforted him when he cried.

But something that Mark didn't have that every parent should was intuition. Roger had to be clearly upset for Mark to pick up on it.

That's what scared Roger the most about this girl.

What's different with this girl?

How can she read my like a book?

A/N: Okay…scary. I wrote everything but 5 sentences in this chapter, saved it, came back and thought it was deleted. This was actually pretty long...amazing. Wasn't really fond of the ending, but I liked the chapter nonetheless. So...what about you guys? Like? Dislike?