A/N: Obviously that was not the end of the story…I still have a little bit to go. This chapter is not the end either. Hope you aren't disappointed! Thanks for the wonderful reviews!

Disclaimer: Jonathan Larson's…forever and always

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Roger's POV

"That wasn't so bad." The door opens in front of me, Mark slowly making his way in before me. I close it tight behind us, creeping up behind him.

"No, I guess not. Maureen reacted well. Joanne was in shock. I think overall…" My arms wrap around his waist, and my lips make contact with his neck.

"Shut up Mark. It was fine. Fine." I whisper along his earlobe, hearing him moan in return.

"I'm just glad they know. Now we don't have any secrets." My hands move up his chest, and he turns to face me. His blue eyes stare back at me, gleaming brightly in the daylight. Our lips connect lightly, his hands leaving me restless, as they are nowhere on my body. I reach out for his fingers, to pull them into mine, when I feel he's been trying the same thing. Our hands rub together slightly, skin on skin becoming my new obsession. "Roger." He tries to get me to stop, but I ignore him. The rough touch of his lips against mine is too intense for anyone to stop.

"What?" I ask annoyed, but still continuing to run my hands over his body.

"You didn't get enough at the restaurant?" He groans, my mouth lightly sucking on the nape of his neck, leaving small red marks as a souvenir.

"No…" I sigh, and finally let up. I pull him into the bedroom by his neck, dragging him onto the bed with me. I don't want to have sex; I want to be with him. I want to hang onto the moments. The moments I have.

"Mmmm…" He moans, as he nuzzles his face into my chest, making himself as comfortable as possible. My arms lie in between us, catching all the warmth combined from our bodies.

"Can we lie here forever?" I mumble drowsily, playing with his fingers in between mine. His hand is so much smaller than mine, smooth and tiny.

"If you want."

"I do."

"I do too." His hand loses energy, sneaking its way around me, and hugging me tight.

"How did I end up with you?" I ask, feeling his hair brush lightly against my face.

"I don't know. You got lucky I guess." He smiles up at me, and I kiss his forehead. I guess I did get lucky. Why is Mark with me? He could be with someone else easily. Okay, maybe not a lot of girls are into him, but why would he choose me? His best friend ex-junkie who is HIV positive and completely fucked up? Not to mention still grieving his girlfriend's suicide from almost two years ago. Mark could do a lot better than me, yet he still loves me.

"Am I attractive?" I ask, now completely doubting my looks and everything about myself. I look to Mark for helping me through every tough time. I just wish I could do the same for him.

"Are you kidding?" He scoffs, and I accept it as an answer. "I don't get why you are with me and not some hot dancer. I'm just this scrawny little…"

"Mark shut up. You're adorable." His big puppy dog eyes stare up at me, looking for a kiss. I give in, placing my mouth over his but pulling away quickly. "So are we going to lunch tomorrow with everyone?" I pick up his hand with mine again, playing softly with his fingers.

"I don't know. Do you wanna go?" The sun shines on his face perfectly, shadows accentuating his features.

"Kinda. It'll be weird to…in front of everyone." I set his hand down on the bed, still loosely attached to mine.

"Especially Mimi." He sighs.

"Oh shit! Mimi!" I gasp, and get off the bed before Mark can drag me back down. I have no idea how I totally forgot all about Mimi. For all I know she could be shooting up in her apartment and I'm not there to say anything about it. Mark's questions and comments coming from the bedroom are pushed out of my mind, as I keep Mimi my top priority. I owe it to her after these days of pure Mark and I.

I take the stairs two at a time, and I'm suddenly reminded that she might be getting ready for work. I don't even know what time it is, but the sun is setting. We spent a fucking long time at "lunch" with Maureen and Joanne. Of course Maureen needed every detail of how Mark and I got together, if we loved each other and what we saw in our future. She forced us to answer a lot of questions that we hadn't talked about yet. When I finally get to Mimi's door, I'm unable to move. The fear that she is shooting up overcomes me, shooting pains through my head and stomach. I lay my hand on the door lightly, then take a big breath in. I tap my hand gently against the cold metal, and immediately I'm greeted by Mimi's smiling face.

"Hey baby." She greets casually, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hey Mimi." I grab her for a hug, and notice she is leaving for work. I back up to see her entire outfit, fishnet stockings, black leather, lace and big boots raising her to a different height. She's almost parallel to me now. Her keys fumble in her hand nervously, and she tilts her head in confusion.

"I haven't seen ya in two days. You okay?" My mind runs over the past two days. Staying in bed with Mark, talking, kissing, cuddling, and completely forgetting that Mimi exists.

"Yea, I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't visit earlier. I just didn't think you'd wanna talk to me. You know after…" I look away, and feel her hand lay on my chest.

"I'll always want to see you." Her teeth peek through the lipstick applied to her thick lips, showing me a smile I've secretly missed the past few days. "How's Mark?" She makes the conversation somewhat uncomfortable, but I know I'll have to get used to talking about Mark with Mimi.

"He's good. We told Maureen and Joanne yesterday."

"And how'd that go? Did Maureen flip?" She giggles. She knows Maureen way too well.

"Yea." I scoff, and grasp her hand in mine. "They were worried about you." Her eyes fill with sadness, and she breaks our contact. Her hands dig in the pockets of her leopard jacket, and her feet shuffle beneath her. "Should they be?" I lean my head down, trying to find her gaze again.

"No. No, I'm fine. Just a little tired. I'm not looking forward to work." Her smile is false, like she's hiding something. She's not high. I can see it. She's not acting like it, she doesn't look worn out. She looks like she has more energy than she ever did.

"All right. Do you want me to walk you there?" I offer, and she nods gently. I sling my arm around her waist, and she cuddles into my chest. My lips meet her cheek without thinking, almost as an impulse. She smiles up at me, and pecks me on the mouth. "Mimi…" I whisper, and she knows she's taken it too far.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything…"

"I know." I kiss her on the forehead, apologizing for everything. Guilt is drowning out my thoughts, hanging over my head every time I touch Mark. I may not acknowledge it all the time, but it's always there. "Do you want to come to lunch with everyone tomorrow? We haven't hung out in a while." I clear my throat, and she grips tightly to my waist.

"Yea. That'd be fun. I'll be there. Life?"

"Mhmm." I mumble as I see the lights of the Cat Scratch next to us. "Here we are." I turn her to face me, and peck her once again on the cheek. "Have a good day at work." She smiles lovingly up at me and chuckles.

"We sound like we're married." Her fingers play with the loop of my jacket, and I tip my head back with a laugh.

"Yea. Scary thought." We exchange smiles before I leave her to enter the building.

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The next day

"Mark are you ready?" I scream into his bedroom, after drying my hair with a rough and old towel.

"Yea. Are you?" I look myself up and down, watching drips of water cascade along my body.

"Uhh…not really." I laugh, and slip a shirt over my head. I'm not really too preoccupied with looking my best, I doubt anyone cares. Mark peeks his head in the door, scanning my body with his hungry eyes. "Can I help you?" I raise an eyebrow before heading to pull him into my body.

"No, I was just gonna say you look ready to me. I love your hair wet." He fluffs my un-brushed hair with his fingers, spraying water all over the mirror.

"I'll be ready in a sec. Just stop distracting me and I might be able to get something done." I add before making my way back to the bathroom to put on my pants. Mark stands still in the doorway, watching my every move with caution and care. "You like watching me?" I ask, picking up the brush between my fingers.

"I do, do you mind?"

"Not really." I flash a smile and run the brush through my hair. A drop of gel spreads across my palm, ready to be meshed into my hair. My hands are now greasy, and I rub them off on my jeans.

"So, what happened with Mimi yesterday?" He asks, and I stop in my tracks. Nothing happened, yet I still get nervous when Mimi is mentioned, as if she is off limits conversation wise.

"Nothing happened. I just asked her if she was all right and if she wanted to come today. She was fine."

"Is she coming?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?" I fix my hair until I find it perfect, and then walk over to Mark. He wraps his arms around my waist, and presses our hips together.

"No, I guess not. As long as she doesn't have a problem with…"

"She doesn't. Let's just not flaunt it in front of her." I smile, prompting him to kiss me gently. I feel his tongue brush against my lips, asking to get in, but I don't allow it. We are going to be late if he starts this. "Mark, we have to go. It's already quarter to noon. We would have time if I didn't have to drag you out of bed this morning." I run my hand smoothly over the pale skin on his cheek, and see a small blush appears.

"I didn't want to leave you. It's so warm in bed next to you." His fingertips lift my shirt up lightly, touching my skin only for a second, and forcing me to push him away.

"Mark, don't. You know what will happen if you touch me like that." I start to walk out the door to my jacket when he moves in towards me. The heat of his breath rains over my neck, making me yearn for his lips to make contact just slightly. Mark has that control over me. One touch and he makes me want to slam him into the wall passionately and never let him go.

"Why do you think I do it?" His lips finally touch my neck, dragging along my moist skin to fill me with pleasure.

"No. Mark. Mark…" I grasp onto the back of his neck, pulling him closer to me, yet mentally pushing him away. Blond hair digs into my face, smelling of coconut and soap. Then my mind becomes practical. We can't be late. "Mark, get your jacket on or I'm never having sex with you again." He backs away quickly, leaving me with a huge smile on my face.

"Jesus. Don't threaten me like that." He laughs, and goes to the door with me right behind him.

The Life Café shows up again, almost identical to yesterday afternoon. Although this time I don't have to let go of Mark's hand before we go in. I grasp it tightly, rubbing my thumb over the top of it. Everyone is already seated at a relatively small table when we enter, and I wonder how the hell Mark and I will fit. Mimi is there next to Collins, her jacket hanging loosely over her small, bony figure. My hands begin to shake violently, from fear, from anxiety, and from just seeing her. Mark squeezes my hands tightly, and pulls me into his body as we make our way to the table. When I sit down, he wraps his arms around my neck, and I'm able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's all right." He whispers in my ear, and places himself next to me. The look in his eyes is so loving, so patient; I don't understand how he deals with me. How does he put up with all this shit? Mimi, the drugs, me constantly pushing him away, he stays through all of it.

"Awww…" Maureen whines as she sees Mark touch me intimately, and I roll my eyes at her. She's never going to get used to us being a couple. I look over to see Mark blushing, and kiss him quickly on the cheek, forcing the red to rampage across face.

"We've been waiting for you guys. What do you want to eat?" Collins asks, pressing the menu against my hand, not even giving me one second to think.

"Uhh…I'll just have coffee." Mark answers, and everyone glances over to him.

"Roger, now that you two are together you should be the one convincing him to eat more." Joanne comments, and I rub Mark gently on the thigh. He shoots me an annoyed look, and I lean into his face.

"Marky, you should eat something. Get everyone off your back." I tell him, and he sighs loudly so everyone knows they are pushing him too far.

"Fine…I'll share fries with Roger."

"Who said I'm getting fr…" Mark's elbow rams into my stomach roughly, and I immediately lightly smack his thigh in return.

"I said you are." He finishes my thought, and scoots his chair closer to me. I turn to lean my head on his shoulder, when I notice Mimi shrugged out of sight. She's still sitting among us, but has managed to fly under the radar. Every once and a while she smiles at jokes made, or coughs lightly, but no one pays any attention. Some friends she has.

"Mimi, what's new with you?" Maureen finally asks, also noticing Mimi's absence in our conversations.

"Uhh…well…I…not much." Bringing her hand up to her mouth, she hacks into it very lightly, but I can tell it's still a violent cough. She's trying to hide her sickness.

"Meems are you okay? You look sick." Collins asks. It seems like everyone is reading my mind. Mark and I keep our hands locked together, but try to avoid making it visible to anyone. We did come out as a couple, but with Mimi here it wouldn't be polite to parade it.

"I…" Mimi looks down at the table, running her finger over the design before meeting all of our eyes one at a time. I see a faint smile spread across her lips as she reaches me, and I feel some big news coming. "No, I'm not. I just went to the hospital yesterday. After a long time with no visits, and they said…" Tears now spill rapidly down her cheeks, stopping her mid sentence. Maureen lays a hand on her back; trying to do anything she can to comfort her. Mark sends me a look of worry, in fear that we caused her grief. Even if we weren't the cause, I'm sure we didn't help matters.

"Shhh…it's okay sweetie. Take your time." Maureen consoles, and Mimi takes another gasp of breath into her lungs.

"They said that my T Cells are low. I have to come in permanently next time I feel shitty. They said I only have two months at the most." Her lip quivers, and before I know it, tears are filling everyone's eyes. All I see when I look around are faces of sorrow. My head spins, not being able to take in the information, but I try to remain calm. I almost lost Mimi once, I don't know if I can do it again. Having Mark might keep me sane and together, but I'm bound to loose control eventually.

"Mimi. We're all here for you. Just know that. We all love you." Collins says lovingly, before kissing Mimi lightly on the cheek. He is the only one who can cope with this at the moment. He's the only one who can keep his cool at a tragic time.

"Thank you." She whispers, picking up her napkin to wipe the tears on her cheek away. She looks over to me, for some kind of reaction, but I'm unable to give her one. I'm just in a state of shock. I knew it was happening, and yet, I was in no way prepared. I guess I have to make my peace with it. I need to be a good friend, not to shut myself out like I always do.

"Mimi…I…" I stutter, not knowing exactly what I could say that hasn't already been said. Mark rubs my back gently, trying to soothe me. He understands me. Even when I don't understand myself. He doesn't get jealous like I would. He doesn't give up on me like I would. He's so fucking strong sometimes I can't stand it.

"I know, Roger. You don't have to…" She sighs, and I can't help but let a little smile come to my mouth. I guess everyone knows me better than myself.

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Notes: Wanna kill me? I understand. I really don't want to do this to Mimi, but it is honestly what I believe would happen. I'm not just trying to kill her off and get her out of the way. Promise. Review and tell me how much you hate me! XDD