There's Only Now, There's Only Here Chapter 9: Living A Nightmare, a rent fanfic

CHAPTER NINE
(chapter title – Living A Nightmare)

"Okay, Miss Sara – it's your first day of school. How do you feel?" Mark asked his new daughter a week later. They were standing outside Fairview Elementary – today was Sara and Jennifer's first day of fourth grade (for Sara) and fifth grade (for Jennifer). Tiffany and Christopher went to a different school, so it was hard for Sara and Jennifer to be without their other friends.

"I'm fine, dad. No need to worry." Sara told him, a smile on her face. Roger and Mark hugged their daughters one last time before heading to work – Roger to the recording studio and Mark to Buzz Line. The two of them had been committed that weekend.

"I have first lunch, what about you?" Jennifer inquired as she and Sara walked into the building.

"Second lunch." Sara frowned, looking at her schedule. The bell rang for them to go to their first period classes – Jennifer had Mr. Clayton for Homeroom while Sara had Mrs. Martin for Speech. Sara stepped into the speech classroom and looked around the room before sitting at a desk with her name on it.

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Meanwhile, at the recording studio, Roger was singing some new songs that were to be recorded for his new Christmas album that was coming out that winter. As he sang, he thought about the melody, rhythm and lyrics to the twelve songs he was working on.

"Great job, Roger." The sound technician, Kaitlin, told him, as Roger stopped to take a break. She was the only one in the recording studio that called him by his first name.

"Thanks, Kaitlin." He smiled at her as he got water from the cooler.

"You and your 'partner', Mark, got committed this weekend, right?" she asked him, her hazel eyes burning into his green ones.

"Yeah. It was a beautiful commitment ceremony at City Hall. Mark and I were there, of course, along with Jennifer and Sara – our daughters." Roger told her, taking a sip of his water.

"How's your daughter doing anyway?" she wanted to know.

"She's fine – today's her first day of school. She goes to that new elementary school on the west side."

"Well, what a small world! My daughter, Ally, goes there, too! She's in fourth grade."

"So's Sara."

"I'm sure that they will become the best of friends." Kaitlin smiled at him before going back to the sound booth. Roger finished his water and stepped back into the recording room.

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By the time he was driving to pick Jennifer and Sara up at school, he had 'The Christmas Song' stuck in his head. That was the song that needed the most work. The other ones were perfect just the way they were.

Pulling up to the school yard, he spotted Jennifer sitting with a group of people while Sara sat by herself on a bench not too far away from where Jennifer was sitting.

"Jennifer! Sara! Let's go!" Roger called, rolling down the window. Jennifer waved to the group of people she was sitting with while Sara climbed in the front seat.

"How was school, sweetie?" Roger asked. Sara shrugged her shoulders as Jennifer climbed in the backseat and sat behind Roger.

"Jenny, how was school?" Roger inquired.

"Great! I made a ton of new friends." Jennifer told him as they drove back to the loft.

"Where's dad?" Sara asked. Mark had promised to take her out filming once she got home from school.

"He's still at work, honey, but he should be home soon." Roger told her.

"Hey dad, is it okay if I go over to my friend Sonia's house?" Jennifer asked.

"Sure, as long as it's okay with Mark." Roger said, looking in the rearview mirror.

"So, Sara, what's life like in the fourth grade?" Roger wanted to know.

"It's fun – my drama and music teachers are really nice. I don't like my math teacher, though. Some boy called me 'Daughter of a Dyke.'…"

"Wait, what?" Roger asked.

"I was with her when he said it. He had brown hair, blue eyes and skinny as a railroad spike." Jennifer piped up.

"Did you girls do anything about it?" Roger asked.

"I told the principal, but she didn't believe me." Sara told him, tears coming to her eyes. Roger sighed as he put the car in park and turned off the ignition. Sara opened the door and grabbed her Orlando Bloom backpack and ran up the stairs to the loft. Musetta, her month-old Black Lab puppy, whined and scratched at the door. Sara smiled as she waited for Jennifer and her dad to come so that she could open the door and take Musetta out before Mark got home.

"I'm coming, sweetie." Roger said, opening the loft door for Sara. Instantly, Musetta jumped up and ran around the loft, barking. Sara laughed and snapped her purple leash to Musetta's collar. Roger had gone to check messages while Jennifer went to her room to get started on her homework.

"Hi, this is Tina Fenderline, principal at Greenfield Middle School. I'm calling regarding Christopher Collins – he got into a fight with another student at school. He's in detention and needs to be picked up as soon as possible. He's also suspended for a week…"

Same old shit Roger thought to himself, fast forwarding the message.

"Mr. Roger Cohen-Davis? This is John Clarence from Manhattan Hospital. I'm calling to say that your significant other, Mark, was brought here as a result from an accident. We're not exactly sure what happened, but there's too much damage done to him to tell for sure. I'm sorry to say that we were unable to restore him and he passed away."

Shit. Oh fucking shit. He felt tears run down his cheeks as Sara came back in with Musetta. She was hanging Musetta's leash up on one of the hooks near the door when she saw her dad go to his knees and yell out. She ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck.

"What happened, daddy?" Sara asked.

"Go. Get. Jennifer." Roger managed to choke out. Sara nodded and went to her best friend's room.

"Yeah, dad?" Jennifer emerged from her bedroom. Roger felt his stomach muscles tighten as he fought back tears.

"M-Mark…" he didn't know what to say. "Y-your d-d-dad d-d-died, I-I'm s-s-sorry."

"You're just making that up." Jennifer told him.

"No, I'm not. Listen to the message." Roger replayed the message for her to hear.

"My dad's at work. There's no way that he could've been killed. I hate you!" without another word, Jennifer ran to her room and slammed the door. Roger turned his attention to Sara, who had always been close to Mark.

"D-dad c-c-can't b-b-be g-g-g-gone c-c-c-can h-he d-d-d-daddy?" Sara wanted to know. She had tears streaming down her cheeks and was trying so hard to fight them.

"He's gone, sweetie. I'm sorry." Roger managed to choke out between sobs.

"He was supposed to take me filming." Sara sobbed. Roger nodded and led her over to the couch. Instantly, Sara climbed onto Roger's lap and cried her eyes out. Roger just held her, stroking her hair and rubbing her back. He couldn't believe that his beloved Mark was gone from him forever. Just like April, Angel, Mimi, Katie and Collins, he would never be able to see them again.

A/N: i really didn't want to kill off Mark, but I wanted Jennifer and Roger to "bond". So, please don't kill me! I'm sorry!