Lucky chapter 13. Yay! Well I don't own Rent or the characters. I only own Jesse and Gwen. Enjoy! AND REVIEW!

Collins sat silently on the couch, wondering where Maureen and Joanne were. Roger sat in his leather chair, with Mimi on his lap. They whispered to each other occasionally, Mimi giggled softly and kissed Roger's forehead. Collins looked at the wall, a blank expression on his face. He sighed loudly and glanced at Mimi and Roger, who smiled comfortingly.

"Cooollllllinnnnnssss!" Came a yell. "Throw down the keys!" It was Maureen.

Collins jumped up and ran to the window. He climbed out onto the fire escape and looked down to see Maureen, waving enthusiastically. He threw the keys down and she caught them. He didn't see whether or not they had Jesse, but by how happy Maureen looked, he guessed they found him. He quickly walked to the door and slid it open. Maureen ran up the stairs and screamed excitedly when she saw Tom. She hugged him tightly. Joanne came up after her and hugged Collins as well. They walked in and shut the door, leaving Collins outside the apartment. He turned around to open the door back up, but a voice stopped him.

"Tom…" The familiar voice said softly.

Collins turned around quickly, Jesse stood a couple steps down, and he smiled weakly before he walked up the last couple steps.

"Jesse…I'm sorry…" Collins said softly, to be sure no one inside the apartment could hear the conversation.

Jesse shook his head. "You really shouldn't be…" He looked down and sighed. "I shouldn't be so touchy…"

"Touchy? I'd be touchy if someone asked me if I was gay and I was straight." He laughed nervously. "Don't worry about it."

"Tom I should be apologizing." Jesse stepped closer to Tom. "I…"

"What?" Collins asked quietly.

"I'm gay." Jesse whispered. "I was so touchy because no one knows. I didn't want everyone to think of me differently." He sighed. "I really liked you and I didn't want them to think I was a rebound from Angel."

"Rebound?" Collins laughed. "Rebounds are when a relationship ended badly. I loved Angel, and I still do. So you could never be a rebound…" He smiled. "Jesse…one question though, how come you never told anyone you were gay?"

"I couldn't tell my parents for obvious reasons. After Angel left, I was afraid to come to terms with my sexuality, afraid it would make me suffer like Angel did…I was selfish…and I regret it everyday…" Jesse leaned against the wall and covered his face. "If I had only come out of the closet before Angel…I may have prevented him getting kicked out of the house…"

Collins grabbed his shoulder. "Jesse listen to me. You can't regret everything…it happened for a reason. If Angel hadn't come out, I wouldn't have ever met her, and we wouldn't be talking right now." He said sternly. Jesse looked at him, his eyes damp with tears.

"Why do you care so much about me? I'm not Angel and you're still so nice…" Jesse said quietly.

"I don't know…there's something about you…" Collins smiled. "I just really like you."

"I really like you too."

"Come on…let's go in and hang out with everyone." Collins put his arm around Jesse and swung open the door. They walked in together, smiling.

Everyone looked at them, but said nothing about Jesse and Collins holding each other. Mimi jumped off Roger's lap when she saw Jesse. She ran over and hugged him.

"Hi Jesse!" She squealed. "I missed you man!"

Roger rolled his eyes and folded his arms. "I'm goin' to bed." He got up and walked to his room. "See you guys in the morning." He walked in and shut the door.

Mimi frowned and sighed loudly. "He can be a real jerk sometimes." She mumbled, walking back over to the couch and sitting down.

Maureen and Joanne were seated on another couch, holding each other affectionately. "So are you guy's hungry?" Maureen asked. "I'm starving."

"Yeah…let's order some pizza." Collins said walking over to the phone. "We can have a mini party!"

"Why?" Mimi asked.

"Just because." Collins said, grinning at Jesse.