A/N Well it's been a really long time since I posted anything so I don't know if any of my old followers are even still around. I hope so! But we were part of the old school group! Anyway, recently I got some reviews of a few of my older pieces and it sort of inspired me to start back up on a few things again. This one is more of a little warm up piece to try and get me back into the writing grove. It's just something that was created around one line of dialog that I had come up with. That happens with a lot of my short pieces like this. I get a hold of one line that is just too perfect, and then I end up having to write something around that. So anyway, here goes. I've got plans for a few more pieces, some of which had been started awhile ago. So we'll see what happens. At any rate. Enjoy this piece. This is the first chapter of what will at least be two chapters.

Going Home Again – It's Just Never the Same

By Kelby

"Make a left right there." Roger pointed. "That's my street."

"Which house is it?"

"The red one on the left. And that's Mark's house next to it."

"So you guys were really right next door to each other."

"Yup. Since I was like five." Roger shook his head as she pulled the car into the drive and turned it off.

"Awe. That's so cute." She said with a grin.

Roger rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, thanks for driving me out here Joanne. We really appreciate it."

Joanne pulled her door open and climbed out. "It's no problem Roger. Besides I get to see where it all began." She grinned. "Little Roger and Marky."

"Great. I knew there'd be a catch." He laughed as they walked up the drive way.

"What all is your mom sending back again?"

"The big thing is the microwave. And Mark's mom is sending us back with an A/C unit. That's why we never could have done this without a car. She also said something about dishes, pots and pans. Probably a bunch of other stuff by the time her and Mark's mom got done. And if we're really lucky there'll be food going back with us too."

"Well we'll squeeze it all in." She smiled as Roger opened the front door and she followed him into the house.

"Hey Mom! Joanne got done early so she could drive me out after all." Roger called out as he followed the sound of voices coming from the kitchen.

Joanne followed Roger through his old house. She couldn't help but grin at the old pictures of a much younger Roger and his sister spread throughout the house.

"HOLY SHIT!" Roger yelled.

"Oh my god!"

Mark opened the door to the loft and found Mimi, Maureen and Collins sitting at the table. "Hey. What's going on?" He asked as he sat his camera down on the counter.

"Hey!" Mimi grinned up at him from her seat. "Good news! Joanne finished early so she ended up being able to take Roger to Scarsdale after all."

"That's good." He said looking into the fridge before throwing himself down into a chair. "Hopefully one of our mothers pitied us some and is sending him back with food."

"What's the matter with you?" Collins asked him.

"I don't know." Mark sighed, leaning back in towards the table. "I'm tired. I'm hungry. I'm frustrated. And what's the point of a microwave if we don't have anything to put in it?"

"Oh, Marky didn't have a good day." Collins teased.

"Poor Marky." Maureen joined in.

"Oh spare me. I just went shopping. There's food. Just not what you want to eat. Here," Mimi said reaching into the cupboard and pulling out a bag of chips, "have a snack. We're going to go eat once Roger and Joanne get back."

Collins reached for a few chips and popped them into his mouth. "So how did you get out of going to Scarsdale anyway?"

"Better question – how did you convince Roger to go alone?" Maureen laughed, chomping down on a chip.

Mark made a face. He hated when she did that. The way Maureen ate chips always sort of grossed him out. He pulled the chip bag away from her. "I don't know. Desperation I guess. Roger really wants that microwave and A/C unit. Plus his father wasn't going to be home."

"Actually I think he would have gone anyway." Mimi told them taking a chip herself. "They all seem to be getting along fairly well right now. For, well, Roger and his family."

Mark nodded. "Yeah things seem to be going pretty well there. Much better than at my house right now." He sighed. "Hence the reason I'm here and not there."

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Maureen asked, chomping on another chip.

Mark tried not to watch her eat them so he got up and got himself a soda from the fridge. "I don't know. My dad has just been starting back in on me again. The thing about getting a 'real job' and all. How me and Roger are old enough to stop screwing around and work for a living and all. You know. It just gets annoying. It'd just be nice to be appreciated for what I do you know? Plus my mom is out of town for the day so there was no way I was going up there."

"So instead you sent Roger in to be slaughtered." Maureen laughed with a mouthful of chips.

"Yeah well, he owes me a few trips like this anyway. He'll survive. I just didn't feel like dealing with my dad. Plus if I don't make some more money soon, I'll have to go get that 'real job' and all. I won't be able to afford film and everything. Forget living expenses and food."

They weren't sitting there talking much longer before the loft door violently flew open and Roger stormed in.

"Hey Baby!" Mimi exclaimed excitedly before realizing something was definitely not right. Roger blew past them all, went straight to the fridge and grabbed a beer. He popped it open and began to chug it down. Joanne silently followed him in the door a moment later. "Roger what's wrong?" Mimi asked walking over to him.

"Did you get into a fight with your dad again?" Mark asked turning in his chair to face him. "You guys have been getting along so well. What did you fight about?"

Roger finished his beer. "No!" He yelled as he slammed the empty can down on the counter and shook his head still in a state of somewhat disbelief. "We didn't get into a fight! We got there and … and … Oh god!" A slightly disgusted look crossed his face, he gave a small shudder and stormed out of the kitchen and into his room.

"What happened Pookie?" Maureen asked as she walked over to Joanne was still standing in the doorway.

Joanne shook her head. "He really needs to tell you. I'm not…" she put her hands up, "you just need to have him tell you."

They all looked toward the bedroom where they could hear Roger stomping about and throwing a fit. "What's he doing in there?" Maureen asked.

"Probably trying to poke out his mind's eye." Joanne told them with just the slightest of smirks that only Collins' caught.

A moment later the bedroom door flew open again and Roger stormed out. "I can't believe them!" He ranted as he threw himself down in a chair but only for a moment before jumping back up and pacing a little circle. "It's just so… so… they just… oh my god!" He shook his head again before covering his face with his hands.

"And they call me a drama queen!" Maureen whispered to the group before getting shushed by her girlfriend and Collins as well as nasty look from Mark.

Cautiously Mimi walked over to where he was leaning against the counter. "Roger what happened? If you didn't get into a fight with your father then what? You mother?"

"No." Roger said in a somewhat defeated tone as he moved back over to the table. He grabbed the folding chair next to Mark, flipped it around before throwing himself back down into it.

"Well what happened then?" Mark asked him.

Roger was pressing the palms of his hands into his forehead trying to make his headache go away. He looked up at Mark. "Okay. So things have been going good with my parents right? So we were going to go up there today. Then Joanne can't take me so I called and said we weren't coming. Well then Joanne could take me so I called back and left my mom a message. Obviously she didn't get it because they sure as hell weren't expecting me to come walking in when I did!"

A small grin of realization started to spread on Collins face. He glanced over at Joanne and could tell she was fighting between laughter and pity herself.

Everyone waited for Roger to continue. "We heard them in them in the kitchen, so Joanne and I just go walking into the kitchen and there they were!" He slapped both of his hands down on the table before hopping up again. "He's got my mom the counter and they're just going at it!"

"Ewww! Man I'm never eating at your mom's house again!" Collins joked as the other laughed along.

Mark tried hard not to laugh. He could see how upset Roger was. And the fact he knew Roger's parents as well as he did the thought of the whole thing was somewhat disturbing. But the grin he was fighting to keep in was winning. It finally burst forth onto his face with a laugh he was trying hard to stifle. "You mean you walked in on your parents? Having sex? In the kitchen?"

A look of fury had settled onto Roger's face as everyone from his girlfriend to his best friend started laughing . "No!" Roger yelled as he flung himself down into the chair next to Mark again. "No jackass!" He said to Mark. " I walked in on our parents having sex in my kitchen!"

Realization hit Mark as a look of utter disbelief and disgust came across his face. "Oh my god!" He jumped up and away from Roger. "You mean?"

"Uh huh." Roger said resting his face back into the palms of his hands.

"Your mom?"

"Uh huh."

"And, and my dad?"

"Uh huh."

"In your kitchen?"

"Yup! Just going at it!" Roger said with a shudder.

"But, but, that's so… when we're so.. and they're so.. and we've been so.. for so long…" Mark babbled as he shook his head trying to dislodge the mental image that had settled into his brain.