Title: Then & Now. (AKA Whitney Couldn't Really Think of a Title)
Author/Artist: cityskylines/Whitney.
Pairing: Mark Cohen and Nanette Himmelfarb.
Fandom: RENT.
Theme: 6. the space between dream and reality; 06:夢と現の間
Disclaimer: I don't own RENT, duhhh.

Notes: I didn't really want to start off my 30K run with this, because I wanted my first one to go into a little detail about Nanette and how I envision her, but instead you (if anybody is even reading this) get this. Not to mention there's not really anything that identifies Mark as Mark and it doesn't totally fit the theme. Despite that, I do like this and I'm happy with how it turned out.

With the rather pretentious thought that somebody might read this, if you find any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them. I proofread, but no one's perfect. :)

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Then & Now.

The only way Mark could describe it was torture, to just sit at the edge of his bed and watch Nanette as she slept, with her chest rising and falling and her tiny movements and, gosh, did he want to just reach out and brush her hair out of her face so he could see that, too.

And he knows he would if not for the fear of waking her and losing this moment.

He suddenly remembers a time like this not so long ago when he came home a little late from school, where he had stayed after to finish developing, to find her fast asleep on his bed, tangled in his sheets. He had sat down on the edge of the bed, much like he was now, and watched her for a few moments before poking her side to wake her up. She had immediately woken up, and glared at him when he smiled at her before making a somewhat off-handed comment about having a good dream. When he asked her about it, she blushed and looked away for a moment, and he imagined that she regretted saying anything.

"We were married. Had a little girl. A dog." Her tone had been nervous, like she didn't know how to put her dream into words. "We lived in some town that reminded me of here. I guess we were kind of the perfect family."

She had gone on to describe less important matters in the dream (He remembers wondering just how detailed her dreams were.) and he had become increasingly uncomfortable with the subject and felt a little relieved when she laughed it off in a way that had believed she thought this idea of getting married to each other was just as preposterous as she did.

At the time he couldn't even fathom dating her, let alone marrying and, God forbid, reproducing with her. But now ... now he sees the little girl with her auburn hair and his blue eyes, the golden retriever that slept at the foot of their bed, the white picket fence that's only purpose was to look wholesome and complete the image of a perfect family, because in the town they'd live in, there'd be no need for protection.

At the time he couldn't imagine it, but now he's almost convinced he wants it, and thinks maybe, just maybe, she does, too.

And it's this thought that makes him reach out a hand and sweep his fingers across her forehead, brushing the stray hair away. It's this thought that makes him act on impulse and bring his lips to her forehead before lying down beside her, far enough away that it doesn't mean everything but close enough that it means something.

At the time he never gave the idea a chance, and now he can't see it any other way.