Title-Leap of Faith
Author-GeekGoddess345
Summary-Mark and Roger misunderstand a few things about each other.
Pairing-Mark/ Roger
Rating-T
Feedback-Always appreciated. Reading everyone's reviews make me very happy.
Disclaimer-I own nothing. They belong to Jonathon Larson.
Author's Note-I was having trouble trying to figure out what the characters should do next, so I decide to have a flashback piece to show how the boys met. I also thought it would be a nice little bridge between chapters. I should have the next one up in a few days as well.
I also want to thank PrettyBoyFrontManLove for all the help in writing this.
Italics show whose point of view you're in.
Previously on Leap of Faith- "Things have been brewing between you two since the moment you guys met. I've just been waiting."
(For all you who skip the Author's notes I want to reiterate that this is a flashback.)
Roger"Hey dude, watch out," I say as some scrawny geek bumps into me in the park.
"Sorry," he mumbles before dropping down on the bench next to me. He looks kind of depressed.
"Hey kid, you got a smoke?" I ask as I sit next to him.
"What?" he asks as he looks up. Wow, he looks like he's only 17.
"Do you have any cigarettes?"
"I don't smoke," he replies as he pushes his boxy black-rimmed glasses up
"You're new in town right?"
"Yeah, I just got here this morning."
"Oh, where are you from?"
"Scarsdale." Well, this is a little awkward.
"Um…I'm Roger. Roger Davis." I say as I stick out my hand. He shakes it and smiles shyly.
"Mark Cohen."
"Nice to meet you, Mark."
"Nice to meet you too."
"Hey listen, since you're new here. Uh, do you have anywhere to go?"
"No, I wasn't exactly planning on coming to the city. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing."
"You know, my roommates and I have this loft a few streets over." Why do I care so much about this kid? Maybe he just reminds me of what it was like for me when I first came here.
"I don't know…I don't even know you."
"Hey it's okay, I don't bite. And my roommates are pretty cool. Well at least Collins is. He helped me out when I first got here."
"You sure it'll be okay?"
"Yeah, they're always bringing home strays, so I guess it's my turn."
"Thanks a lot," he says as he stands up and slings his bag over his shoulder.
"It's nothing, really." And off we go.
(The Loft)
"Hey look, Roger's got a follower." Benny says from the couch as we walk in.
"Fuck off."
"Don't be so touchy, I was just playing. So, introduce me to your new friend."
"Mark, this is Benny. Benny, Mark is going to be staying here for a while.
"And where is he going to sleep exactly?" He asks as he surveys our meager surroundings. "I'm already resigned to the couch."
"Um…I can just sleep on the floor." Mark offers shyly.
"It's okay, I'll just put another mattress down in my room. You can sleep on that if you want."
"Thanks."
"No problem. We can go put your stuff down in there before we forget," I say as he grabs his bag and follows me into the little room.
"It's not much," I say as he surveys everything, "but it's better than the streets."
"It's fine. Really."
"You can just put your stuff in the corner." He looks towards the open door a little and then sighs.
"I don't think Benny likes me."
"Benny doesn't like anyone. Collins should be back soon though. You'll like him." Of course, as soon as I say that we hear the loft door open.
"Speak of the devil," I say as Mark drops his stuff and walks out the door with me.
"You must be Mark, Benjamin here was just saying you were staying for a while."
"It's nice to meet you. Thank you very much for letting me stay with you," Mark says politely as he shakes Collins' hand.
"I'm just glad we finally have someone with manners here. So, where are you from?" Collins asks as he hops onto the table.
"Well, I'm from Scarsdale."
"Nice place."
"I guess so." And now for some uncomfortable silence.
"Hey Mark, how old are you?" Benny asks, suddenly interested.
"I'll uh…be 18 next month." I knew he was young.
"So what, you're a runaway or something?" He asks pointedly.
"I…I really don't want to talk about it right now. Do you think I could just lie down for a while? It's been a long day."
"Yeah, you can just use my bed for now," I offer. Poor kid.
"Thanks. Bye guys," he says awkwardly as he walks into my room.
"I'm gonna go out to that new Cat Scratch Club. You want to come, Roger?" Benny asks as he gathers his stuff and heads towards the door.
"Maybe next time. I don't want to leave him alone in case he wakes up."
"Suit yourself," he says before rolling his eyes and exiting.
"So…" Collins trails off suggestively.
"What?"
"The new guy, he's cute."
"Don't start. It's not like that."
"I'm just saying you could do worse than the cute little blonde sleeping in your bed."
"I'm not doing anything. I'm not gay Collins."
"But you can't deny you've got a soft spot for the boy," he says with a smug smile.
"There are no spots. Nothing. You don't know what you're talking about. I simply thought he needed somewhere to go. I didn't want to just leave him on the streets. Besides, you're always on me to help people. Then the moment I do you try to crucify me."
"Only because I'm always right."
"You wish," I say as I lightly punch him in the shoulder.
"So, are you going to start bringing more homeless blue-eyed boys back here? Or was this just a one-time thing?"
"Mark was just different, okay. He looked like he needed a friend and I just want to help him. That's all there is to it. I can't like him like that. It's not possible."
"For now at least."
"He's a kid, Collins."
"You're barely 2 years older than him. You're basically a kid yourself."
"Shut up."
"One of these days, Roger, one of these days you're going to realize I'm right." Let's hope not.
Mark
"Where am I?" I ask as I wake up in an unfamiliar place. This isn't my bed, and this isn't my lamp. Oh wait, Roger. I'm in his bed. Okay, first I need to find my glasses. That's better. I guess I should see where everybody is.
"Look who's finally up." Collins says as I stumble sleepily out of the room and rub at my eyes.
"What time is it?" I ask as I look around.
"About 11 pm." Roger says as he comes in through the window.
"Thanks."
"I would have woken you up sooner, but I figured you were pretty tired."
"Yeah, I haven't slept a lot lately."
"I'm sorry," he says as he runs his hand through his hair, "Are you hungry? We have some food this week."
"Sure, that would be great." I answer graciously. We stand there in silence for a while until Collins clears his throat loudly.
"Well, I've got some places to go so I'm going to leave you two alone," he says before grabbing his stuff and leaving.
"Hey, where'd Benny go?" I ask as I look around.
"He went off to some strip club. I guess it's just us then," he says as he as he grabs a bag of Captain Crunch out of the cabinet.
"That's dinner?" I ask as I point to the almost empty bag.
"That's basically breakfast, lunch, and dinner," he says as he pours two bowls and hands one to me. "We ran out of milk a few days ago, sorry."
"That's okay. I like my cereal dry anyway," I say as Roger too jumps on the table like Collins did earlier. I guess they're not big on chairs around here.
"You can sit if you want," he offers as I look around for a place to eat.
"Thanks," I say as I try unsuccessfully to get on the table. After a few failed attempts, I finally make it.
"So, you're one of those clumsy people," he says with a smile.
"Yeah. Although I'm a pretty good dancer."
"Really?" he asks, interested
"My mom thought it would be a good idea. She always wanted me to be Fred Astaire. I on the other hand wanted to be Woody Allen."
"You're a filmmaker?"
"Sort of, what about you? What do you do?"
"I'm a struggling musician. And Collins is a philosopher and anarchist. Neither of which are high-paying jobs."
"It's not always about the money though, sometimes it's just about the art," I say as I munch on some cereal.
"You're right. That's what I've always said."
"Cool."
"Can I ask you something?" Roger asks after a few beats.
"Sure."
"Why did you run away?"
"I guess I just couldn't take it anymore. Everyone was always looking down on me. 'Poor Mark, he'll never live up to Cindy.' Or 'It's okay he'll grow out of this director thing eventually.' They never really accepted me."
"That sucks."
"Basically."
"So why didn't you wait until graduation?"
"I was going to originally, but I became upset and couldn't make myself stay anymore. I didn't even tell anyone where I was going."
"Do you want to call your family or anything?"
"Not right now, I'd rather have them worry for a while. I know it sounds bad, but I just want them to feel bad about what happened." Oh shit, I think I said too much.
"What did happen? What aren't you telling me?" He asks as he turns towards me. Maybe I could tell him. Maybe he'll understand.
"My dad drinks a lot." I start. At Roger's nod I take a deep breath and continue.
"When he's not drunk he's a good guy, but those times are few and far between."
"He did something to you?" He asks sadly.
"He…he was always ashamed of me. He wanted his son to be an athlete, not a filmmaker. Most of the time he made fun of me. He was always calling me a 'faggot' or a 'fairy'. Those were his favorites.
"Are you…you know…gay?" What?
"No. I just never had many girlfriends."
"Oh." I wonder what that was about.
"So anyway, he was always just verbally abusive towards me. He never resorted to physical violence. At least not until a few days ago. He came home early, and already pretty drunk, that day. I just happened to be studying with my friend Josh in my room when he stormed in. He said he wasn't going to have any homos in his house and then he pushed me into the wall. But then he wouldn't stop… I fell to the ground and he started kicking me. Thankfully my mom came home right at that moment. She pushed him away from me, and in the time it took her to calm down, I was already out the door. I hitchhiked here and the rest you already know." I can't believe I'm telling him this. I barely even know him.
"Are you okay?" he asks as he looks for any telltale bruises.
"They're on my arms and chest. Places easily covered." I answer as he looks at me sadly.
"No one should have to deal with something like that."
"It's all right. At least you came along. If you hadn't I might be freezing on the streets right now."
"It just seemed like the right thing to do. I was in the same position as you when I first got here. It was tough."
"Jeez, it's cold in here." I say after we sit quietly for a while just eating our cereal.
"The landlord likes to turn off the heat when we can't pay," he says as I run my hands up and down my arms, "Hold on, I think I have something you can use," he says as he hops off the table. I hear what sounds like clothes being thrown around for a few minutes and then he comes out looking victorious.
"My mom gave me this scarf when I was about 15. It's a little faded, but it's still good." He hands me the white and blue striped scarf and I quickly wrap it around my neck.
"Thanks"
"No problem." And then of course, more silence. But at least now it's a comfortable silence. I think I might actually like it here.