I had gotten my money out of my boot, and sorted it evenly. I would give both men in there one hundred dollars. My friend Mimi lived in this apartment, and her old boyfriend was now the owner of this place, and wasn't such a sweetie when it came to tolerance on rent. I figured they could use some money. I heard Collins, but I didn't know what he was saying. I knew he was near the door. He opened it for me, and I looked out into the room. It was huge, but empty and cold. I saw Collins out of the corner of my eye.

"Guys, this is Angel Dumott Schunard." He said, and I did a little spin into the room. I smirked, and looked at the two souls in the room. There was a blonde boy with glasses in the chair. He had an old fashion video camera in his hands. That must have been Mark. The other had long brown hair, sitting in sweats. Due to the gruffness of his being, and the property of duh, this must have been Roger. Collins sat down next to Mark, as if I was going to perform a ballet for them or something. Well, they did have a support pole. It would be very hard to get these boots off quickly-Angel. Shut up.

"Since when did you start dating girls Collins?" Mark asked, trying to whisper, but failed miserably. I couldn't help but giggle. Oh straight man bliss. Roger walked over to Mark and hit on the back of the head. Collins just groaned. "What?" He asked, and I just smiled, walking over to the three of them, and sat inbetween Collins and Mark. He looked at me closely, and caught close sight of my wig, and his eyes got all big. "Oh…" He said, and I laughed again.

"Oh, Angel, thanks for the food. You really didn't have to do that. If there's anyway we could repay you, just tell us." Roger told me, and sat next to Collins. I just shrugged, and took the two hundred dollars from my belt, and gave them a hundred each.

"Today for you darlings, tomorrow for me." I said simply, and Mark almost died, I'm pretty sure.

"But we certainly can't…"

"Of course you can sweetie, just put it in your pocket." I told him, and scruffed up his hair a bit.

"But how are you getting all this money? Not from the streets." Mark told me, and I smirked.

"That's where you're wrong." I told him, and stood up. I stood infront of them, like before, and smirked. "You see this morning I was 'working', you know, extra cash, that sort of thing, when a lady in a limousine drove up to me and told me this horrid story of her neighbor's dog. Se told me she hadn't slept in a year because of it's barking, so he asked me to drum until it shut up. Little did I know, it would jump to its death. So, she paid me a thousand dollars for getting rid of that Akita Evita." I told them, and then smirked. "That's when I found this little sweetheart moaning and groaning in the alleyway." I said, pointing to Collins, and Roger gave a laugh. "So, of course, I took the role of nurse, and bandaged those wounds right up, getting him back on his feet and over here." Mark gave me a look when I was finished.

"So, let me get this straight, you killed a dog for a thousand dollars, and then spent it on two…three strangers?" He asked me, and I nodded, walking back to my spot and sat down. "Wow, you're something." He said, and smiled.

"But I would only say two strangers." I corrected after Collins wrapped his arm around me. Roger lifted an eyebrow.

"Why only two?" He asked me, and looked at Mark.

"Well, I couldn't quite call Collins a stranger." I giggled, and Roger snorted. Mark looked at Collins.

"Really now?" Roger asked, and I could feel Collins get all hot. I looked at him, and playfully snuggled up to him. I heard Roger start laughing, and Mark whistle.

"Well, I guess you've changed a tad since we last saw you." Mark said, and laughed with Roger. Collins sighed, and rolled his eyes, and I felt them on me.

"You are in so much trouble." He said, and I just giggled. He knew I was playing. "Don't hold your breath guys, she's just being a tease." He told them, and I pouted.

"Oh, well, then fine, we won't think you're a god for scoring first night back." Roger smirked.

"Hey, come on, we've only known each other for a few hours." Collins said defensively.

"Oh, so then, maybe later on tonight." Roger instigated, and Collins groaned.

"No, that's not what I meant…"

"Oh, you you're just going to leave her hanging."

"No, Jesus Roger, would you shut up."

"Um, you're the bastard who can't make a girl happy."

"Roger!"

"Hey, I'm just saying…" But their bickering ended when the door opened. A man walked into the room, a piece of paper in his hand, Benny. Mimi's old boyfriend. I scowled, but he didn't see me, which was weird. Collins immediately stood up, and walked over to Benny, and hugged him.

"COLLINS!" Benny said happily, and hugged Collins tight.

"Oh man Benny! I've missed you!" He laughed, and let go. "Where the hell have you been?" He asked, referring to Benny's clothing.

"Hey, me and Alison are married now, and so I own this very building!" He said happily and proudly, and Collins looked at him in shock.

"Man Benny, congratulations big guy. Maybe I can finally get myself a place around here." He said, and Mark cleared his throat.

"Yeah, good friggin' luck with that." He said with poison in his voice. "Collins, you're now talking to Benjamin Coffin III of the Westport Greys, not Benny." He grumbled.

"The same man who shut off our power this evening." Roger added, and Benny looked at both of them.

"Guys, come on, you know I can't just GIVE things away, and I've got a deal to make with you…" His eyes landed on me. I was sitting there with my arms crossed, staring him down. He looked back at me. "Angel…?" He asked, and I stood up.

"That's right." I said, and walked over to him. He eyed me, and then looked at Roger and Mark.

"Looks like you two settled in with a nice hussy drag bitch." Benny said, and looked back at me. I reared back, narrowing my eyes. Oh no he did not. It took three men to keep me from lunging at Benny, and finally just Collins grabbed me.

"Angel, go sit down on the couch." He said softly to me, but I kept my eyes on Benny. I walked back to the couch, and fixed my hair.

"Oh…" Benny muttered, realizing what he said earlier was dumb, considering I wasn't friends with Mark and Roger just yet, I was with Collins. Collins looked at Benny, now looking kind of pissed. Call me selfish, but I liked that. He was being protective of me.

"What did you come here for Benny?" Collins asked him, and Roger and Mark answered with Benny.

"The rent." They all said, and I smirked. No duh.

"You're wasting your time." Mark told him.

"We are broke, and you know that." Roger told him.

"There is a little deal I've made up so that you won't have to pay." Benny told them.

"Here we go!" Roger said, angrily, and sat down next to me.

"Well, since I own this building, I decided that I want to use the unused part to create a cyber stud…"

"Yeah, we know." Mark interrupted.

"So, I figured that if you two not only wanted to live here for free, AND be able to work in a studio of our own, all you would have to do is convince Maureen to cancel her protest tonight." Benny said, and Collins looked at both Roger and Mark. Mark just stared at Benny.

"And how do you supposed I do that?" Mark asked Benny.

"Well, I figure that a boyfriend would have some say over his girlfriend's life." Benny told him, and Mark backed down. Roger snorted.

"Yeah, so, Mark doesn't." Collins turned around at Roger's comment.

"What?" He asked, and Roger smirked with pride.

"Maureen dumped him." Roger said, and my heart sunk. Poor Mark. Collins and Benny both looked at Mark in shock.

"Maureen dumped you?" Collins asked him, frowning.

"It gets better, wait!" Roger said, laughing. Mark groaned, and blushed, covering his face in his hands, and sat back down in the chair. "Maureen dumped him, because she was cheating on him." Collins made a face.

"She was cheating on you? Who was he?"

"JOANNE!" Roger said, and cracked up. It took a whole two seconds for me to get it, and when I did, I hand to bite my hand to keep from laughing. Benny chuckled, trying to keep it in. Collins stared at the purple Mark.

"Damn." Collins muttered.

"Yeah, so…can we not talk about that?" Mark asked awkwardly. Benny slowly stopped chuckling.

"Well, keep thinking on my offer, and if you don't comply, start packing." He said, and walked out the door, shutting it. I stared at the door.

"One of these days, I'm just gunna spill a whole pound of Prozac in that boy's tea." I huffed. "Then we'll really see who the psycho bitch is." Mark sighed, and looked at the window. Collins followed Mark's eyes, and saw how dark it was.

"Oh, crap, hey, before it gets any later, Angel and I were going to go to a Life Support meeting tonight. You can come if you want." Collins said, and directed the last part to Roger.

"It's not that long of a meeting, just an hour." I said, and looked at Roger.

"Well, I've got to save a protest. I'll swing by after." Mark said, and Collins looked up.

"Don't you mean end one?" He asked.

"No, save. I don't want to talk about it." Mark said, picking up his camera, and putting a scarf around his neck. "I'll see you guys soon, nice meeting you Angel."

"You too." I said, and smiled, waving at him. I turned to Roger next to me. "What about you Roger? You gunna join us?" Roger just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, because that'll make for a happy trip." He muttered.

"Roger, don't be such an ass." Mark said harshly, and Roger just scowled. I frowned, looking from either man.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see to it to come. It's not as bad as you think." I told him softly, and stood up as Mark left. Collins stood up with me.

"We'll hopefully see BOTH of you there." He said, and gave Roger's shin a kick. I giggled, and Collins began out the door, and I could help but wave at the two left, and skip over to Collins, who was tugging my hand. He was pulling me out the door, and shut it behind us. I had just enough strength to take my pickle tub. I looked at him, and took my arm from his hand.

"What's gotten into your ass?" I asked him, wondering why he was so anxious to leave. He turned to face me.

"Well, you apparently." Collins looked at me, and I rolled my eyes. Oh don't tell me he's a sour puss.

"Come on Collins." I said, and took a step closer to him. "Don't be like that, you know I was just kidding, and they did too." I said, and he sighed.

"I know, I know, but please, it's just…to those guys, I'm just they old gay black friend." Collins told me, and took my hands. "And this isn't something they're used to." He said, looking into my eyes. "It's not something I'm used to either." He said, and looked from my eyes to his own. I frowned, feeling very guilty. I didn't know he was so shy. He seemed fine around me, but I guess not with his friends, which is weird, because they seem very...well, neither of them looked fit to be shy around. I looked up at his face still, even if he wasn't looking at me.

"Oh, Collins, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." I told him softly. "I didn't know that's how it was between you guys. Don't worry sweetie," I told him, and lifted his chin so he faced me. "I'll be nice and humble." I told him, and he smiled.

"Thank you Angel." He told me, flashing me a gorgeous smile. Dammit boy, stop that, or I'll break my promise about being humble.

"Around them." I added quickly, and tore off for the stairs before he could add another word.

"Hey!" I heard him call out. "Don't make me catch you again!" He shouted, and I turned to face him, my hands gripping the railing of the stairs, and I rocked, looking like I was going to charge after him.

"You don't need to." I said, and ran back down the stairs from him.