Just to let you guys know (if anyone's confused) that this is a post-rent fic… but Angel's not dead! YAY for Angel! Well, happy reading!
--Kait
Disclaimer: Wish I did, but I don't own 'em. That honor goes to Jonathan Larson.
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As they emerged from the bathroom, clad in, well, nothing, a knock on the door echoed throughout the loft.
"Oh boys, open up! It's Angel and Collins!" our favorite drag queen screamed to the boys on the other side of the door.
"Uhh… hold on. We'll, uh, be there in a second," Mark told her, stuttering over his own words.
"Haha. I bet I know what they were doing," Collins whispered to his Angel before he took another drag on his joint. Angel jokingly slapped his arm with a smile when she registered what he said.
Roger slid open the door and was greeted with an overbearing hug by Collins. "Hey man!" Collins said, "Get any action last night?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know, Thomas" Roger said with a smirk. Collins got his answer while Roger had a flashback of the previous night. Best night of my life, he thought.
Just then, a smiling Mark emerged from his bedroom, clad in his favorite red and blue sweater and a pair of blue jeans. It feels nice not to be wearing leather, especially when its hot pink, he thought to himself. "Aww, Mark. What happened to those gorgeous leather pants you were wearing yesterday? They looked so good on you! What, you don't trust my fashion sense? Because if that's true, I think I'd die on the spot, hun," Angel pouted.
Collins glared at Mark, signaling that he'd better say something beneficial. Mark smiled at Collins, mutely telling him that he would, all while, of course, making sure that Angel didn't catch him.
Way to ruin my happy moment away from the leather pants, Ang "Oh, you know, they're in my room somewhere. And of course I trust your fashion sense, Angel. Don't ever doubt that," Mark hesitantly reassured her. Roger looked up from his spot on the couch and laughed upon hearing him say this. He choked a little on his beer, well, his second beer to be exact.
"Roger! It's only 11:45am! You're deciding to get drunk now?" Mark whined. Roger shrugged, not exactly caring what time it was. Any time's a good time to get drunk, he thought.
"Hey, guys? Just to forewarn you, we kind of told Maureen and Joanne about you two," Collins confessed, obviously feeling remorseful for breaking the news before the happy couple got the chance to.
"You did what?" Mark asked, not fully trusting what he'd just heard. Roger, still gulping down his beers, remained oblivious to the whole situation.
"Calm down, honey! It's just Mo and Jo! It's not like we told random strangers. They're happy for you two. And think of it this way, Mark; at least it's true and we didn't go around spreading a lie about you. Only God knows what Maureen would have done if we lied to her. She's such a drama queen" Angel told him as she put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm the troubled filmmaker down.
"Okay, guys. I guess it's alright. I just hope they don't make a big deal about this. But then again, it is Maureen," he joked, telling Angel that he was okay with what they'd done.
As Mark finished speaking, the phone rang, and like always, they screened. He wished he had his camera in his hands. He felt empty without it. But now that he was with Roger, that feeling of emptiness and loneliness was filled.
SPEAK! "Hey guys, it's Joanne. Pick up the phone; I know you're there…" Joanne said in a sing-song voice over the answering machine.
Roger picked up the phone. "Hey Jo…Oh, thanks…Nope…Wait, what? You're sorry? For what?" Roger was confused. Joanne had just congratulated him and Mark, and then apologized. When he asked why, she just told him to wait and then hung up.
"What did Joanne want?" Mark asked. Collins and Angel were too busy to notice what had just happened. While Roger was talking to Joanne, they began making out on the couch. Mark was more than happy to get up and walk over to Roger's side.
"Oh, she congratulated us and then apologized," Roger told him.
"Oh, well that was nice of---wait! She apologized? Why?" Mark inquired.
Roger shrugged, not knowing what to tell him other than that she had said to wait. Roger smiled at him and gave him a kiss, fully intending to go back to his beers when he was finished. But even before their lips parted, the door burst open, presenting Maureen in all her glory.
"AHHH! MARK! ROGER! CONGRATULATIONS! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO!" she shouted, startling the four of them. Roger and Mark's eyes bugged out of their heads upon hearing Maureen. So this is what Joanne was warning us about, they both thought without the other knowing. On the contrary, Collins and Angel weren't shocked enough to stop their make-out session.
Maureen ran over to the boys to give them hugs. As soon as she reached them, Mark slipped away, heading straight for the beers Roger had conveniently left on the table. Roger will understand why I left later. Actually, he probably wont remember, Mark joked to himself upon realizing that there were 4 empty beer bottles spewed on the small table. He laughed as he watched Roger, who looked like a deer in the headlights as Maureen ran towards him, being attacked by the melodramatic brunette. "Thank God for these…" he read the label aloud, "…Handcrafted Beers."