Disclaimer: I do not own RENT, it all belongs to Jonathan.
Chapter 4
Roger emerged from his room a moment later wearing a pair of jeans and a button down shirt. Crystal eyed him for a moment and said "You sure clean up nice."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Roger said giving her a playful shove.
Crystal walked out of the apartment first, followed by Roger who locked the door behind them. After what seemed to have been a never ending staircase, they finally arrived on the roof. Crystal looked down below and watched the cityscape.
"This view is amazing, no wonder you like it so much up here," she said.
"Yeah, it's just a place where I can clear my head and find peace once in a while," he said.
"So, who was those girls in the pictures?" asked Crystal.
"This is a very complicated story, but I'll explain it the best way I can. The girl with the red hair was my girlfriend named April. Before I met her, I was just hooking up with groupies here. She was my first actual girlfriend in New York, "said Roger.
"What made her so special?" said Crystal.
"I don't know really, it's hard to put into words. The way we met was very cliché. I saw her in a crowded room when I was playing a gig, and she had these eyes that grabbed you and wouldn't let go, you know what I mean?" he said.
"Yeah, I do," she said, looking at his.
"Anyway, she wasn't exactly the dream girl I though she would be, but I fell for her hard. I'd do anything for her. I think that's why I got into smack; I didn't want her to do it alone. I also wanted to know what it felt like and why she loved it so much. I wanted to be a part of her world, to have something we could share," he said.
Crystal nodded and he continued. "Well, eventually things turned horrible. April found out she was HIV positive, so that basically meant I was too. I didn't know until I found her in the bathtub with her wrists slit and a note saying "We've got AIDS"."
Crystal looked at Roger and could see that he was hurting.
"I'm sorry I'm making you do this, you can stop if you want," she said.
"No, this needs to be talked about. Besides, I'm not about to wimp out of a deal and you look pretty intimidating," he said with a smile. She laughed and he kept going.
"After that, I became extremely depressed and withdrawn. My only purpose in life at that point was to write a song before I died, but I wasn't living. I hurt a lot of people, I could only think about my pain. I gave up heroin because I saw what it did to me and April. The withdrawal was torture. I could have killed anyone that came in the way of my next hit. I could have killed myself to stop feeling the pain, but I did it. And my friends never quit," he said.
"And what about that other girl, Mimi was her name? Is she the one you brought up in Life Support?" Crystal asked.
"Yeah. I met Mimi in a little more unconventional way. She was a dancer at the Cat Scratch Club and had a great personality, strong and wild. She pretended to need me to light her candle so she could meet me. She was a heroin addict too, but I wasn't at that time. That was a big source of our problems and made me reluctant to get involved with her. I also didn't know she was HIV positive and I was afraid to tell her," Roger said.
"How did you find out?" she said.
"My AZT beeper went off and she recognized the sound and showed me hers. Our relationship had its ups and downs, especially with my jealousy issues with her and Benny because they had history together," he said.
"Who's Benny?" she asked.
"Our prick landlord who used to be one of our roommates as well as Collins," he said.
"So, what happened to Collins and Benny?" she said.
"Collins died two months after Mimi and Benny lives with his yuppie wife somewhere. Collin's boyfriend Angel, who was a cross dresser, died the year before. She was the first to go and it hurt us deeply," he said.
"What happened to the group after that?"
"Well, I ran to Santa Fe. I claimed I was looking for inspiration, but I really couldn't face my problems. Collins moved out to find work and Mark worked for Buzzline but was miserable because he wanted to make his own movie, which he did and it's amazing. Mimi dropped out of rehab and went missing for weeks. Finally Maureen and Joanne found her almost dead in the park. I was so afraid; I thought I was never going to get my moment to tell her how I felt. I never should have left. She survived but only for a month more, and then I lost her," he said with tears in his eyes.
"She's the one you wrote that song for," said Crystal.
"You read it?" he asked.
"Yeah, it was amazing, the way you speak about her I know she's the girl it was about," she said.
"I'm glad you like it, it's the one thing I'm proud of," he said.
"I'm sure there's more you can be proud of yourself for. I mean, look what you're doing for me. And I didn't have to get on my knees for a thank-you," she said.
"Not everyone is out to take advantage of you, remember that," he said.
After talking a little bit more about the past with Maureen, Joanne, Mark, and the infamous protest, Roger said "It's getting late we should go meet them they're probably worried."
"Yea, I'm starving, and I wouldn't pass up a chance to see the infamous café where the table dance went down," Crystal said with a smile.
They walked downstairs and out of the complex. The snow was still falling and it made Roger think of his and Mimi's first encounter as lovers. Pushing the thought out of his mind, he walked with Crystal to the Life Café.
A/N: Thank you again for all the reviews they are really helping me!