AN: Ugh! I have this annoying cough, and it's driving me INSANE! Stupid being sick. Hey, guess what? I got the solo at the end of Seasons of Love in my choir. Hee. Yay! I get to pretend I'm Tracie Thoms and hit the high note – which, considering my cough is so very, very hard. Eh, well. It's totally worth it. Fun! For all you going "What the crap is up with Abby?" the reveal is coming. In fact, within the next two chapters, I believe. Hopefully next chapter. So just hang on! It'll be here soon! Now to my shame: I like some of Lindsay Lohan's new stuff. I know! Very bad me. But I can't help it. "Black Hole" and "Beautiful Life" are just so good! "God won't talk to me/I guess she's pretty busy/I like to believe/She's listening/I'm starting to feel all my bruises/Imaginary and real – The low and the highs/And all those good-byes – I know it's good to be alive." Ignoring my random music likes and dislikes – Here's a new chapter! Remember, bus. And if a character gets hit, it will not come back to life to go the Spring Fling in a size 5 dress, unlike certain Queen Bees in certain Lindsay Lohan movies. It will die, and you will be sitting there going "Why did she kill insert name?" And I'll go, "Cuz you didn't review!" But thank you to all those who are reviewing. You really do rock my world. Anon stuff:

Lesley – Um, no. Collins and Dave are most definitely dating. Because they make out. A lot. Most friends don't do that. Mine don't, anyway. If yours do – well, I want your friends. Hee. Well, anyway, I'm happy that you like Dave. I am rather fond of him myself.

socogal – As much as you review, you are totally entitled to being conceited every once in a whiled. And yeah. Abby is SO not timid. More fun that way. I know! It's a good question, isn't it? But it's quite obvious why people freak out about disclaimers – most of us are Daves, meaning we don't have the money to get sued by a five year old, much less a major cooperation, and there's always the one in a billionth chance that someone will read the story, and they happen to be the kid of the secretary of the owner of Rent, or whatever. Though if they ever tried to sue me, good luck trying to get much. I'm what we like to refer to as broke. Let's review the list. Dorky Jewish boy, hot moody rocker, and stripy scarf. Happy Hanukah to you, and Merry Christmas to me!

Disclaimer: I don't know own these characters. I just put them in uncomfortable positions. Sit back and think about the double meaning of that for a while.

New Years Revelations

"5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1!"

Joanne pulled Maureen in for a deep kiss. When they broke apart, Joanne could see that Roger and Mimi, Dave and Collins, and Mark and Abby were doing the same. Poor Benny, she thought. He had no one, and was standing by awkwardly, holding Mark's camera. She dragged Maureen up to him, threw her arms around him in a huge hug, and cried, "Happy New Years, Benny!"

He snorted. "You're drunk, Joanne."

She shook her head as she stepped back. "Just a little buzzed."

Maureen giggled and kissed the top of Benny's head. "Ya know Pookie never ges drunk."

Benny and Joanne laughed at her. "Apparently you do, though." He nodded in Mark and Abby's direction (they were still making out quite avidly) and informed Joanne (since Maureen was now reduced to just playing with her own curly hair by stretching it out and laughing as it snapped back, muttering "Bouncy!") "He promised he'd take some of the night off from filming as long as I took over." He raised the camera and pointed it at Joanne. "So, Miss Jefferson, what is your New Years Resolution?"

She thought about it for a moment. "I think I want to make sure I really live one day at a time. I'm getting too caught up in my lawyer mindset of always looking ahead, and looking ahead is a bad thing when you've got friends you know won't be there for as long as you'd like them to. I gotta learn that there is no day but today."

Maureen stared at her. "Wow. Kill my buzz, why don't you?"

Joanne eyed her new wife. "Honeybear, you were never drunk. You've got an amazingly high alcohol tolerance. Plus you had like a beer and a half, which no where near enough to get even me drunk. Why did you pretend to be drunk?" she asked curiously.

Maureen turned a deep scarlet. She opened her mouth to answer, but was saved by Mimi and Roger stumbling up beside them. "New Year's Resolutions, huh?" inquired Mimi a little too loudly. "This year I resolve to ... hmm. What should I resolve, babe?" she asked Roger, who was grinning hugely.

"Well, this year I'm resolving to write at least five new songs. You should resolve to get into a dance company," he suggested.

Mimi considered it. "Ok. But I want you to get at least seven songs." Roger answered by kissing her again.

"Alright, alright. Enough you two," chuckled Benny. He zoomed in on Dave and Collins. "You know you are the only people ever to dress up on Halloween?"

"Hey!" exclaimed Maureen. "I wore a cat suit once!"

Joanne rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Baby, that was more dressing down. That thing was a second skin!"

Dave ignored them. "We are trendsetters! You'll see – soon everybody'll be doing it."

"So what are you supposed to be exactly?" asked Benny, moving back so the camera could take in their full appearance.

Collins laughed. "I'm Robin Hood, but without the tights."

Dave leaned on him, giving the camera a seductive look. "And I'm one his very Merry Men."

"So Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman – but switched." Benny laughed. Joanne loved seeing him happy. Even though they'd always called Benny their enemy, she could always see how much her friends missed him. They were all glad to have him back, even Roger (though he still wouldn't leave Mimi alone with him) and Joanne had been getting to know him. He was a lot like her, and she liked him a lot. She hated that everyone else in their group was paired when he was going through a divorce. It was good to see him laugh. But really, it was even better to see Mark happy, she decided as he came stumbling up to them, laughing, clutching Abby, her lip gloss smeared all over his face.

"Ok, I want my camera back," he told Benny, holding out his hand.

Benny shook his head. "You said you'd take some time off. And I'm doing a great job! I asked everyone about their resolutions just like you told me to."

"I took some time off. Now I want my camera back," insisted Mark stubbornly

Mimi turned to Abby. "It must be so sad to have to compete with that camera all the time. That is Mark's true love over there," she told her sadly pointing at the object in question.

Abby grinned wickedly. "Oh, it's alright. I have plenty of ways of making him pay attention to me." She demonstrated by kissing Mark again. She was right; he soon had her pushed up against a wall, all thoughts of his camera quite obviously gone from his mind.

"Aren't they cute?" Maureen whispered in Joanne's ear.

Joanne couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, they are." She kissed Maureen lightly on the lips. "But don't think I've forgotten about the drunk thing. Why were you pretending to be out of it when you weren't?"

Maureen's face fell. "I thought it might be easier to tell you what I had to if you thought I was drunk. Like, you'd be easier on me."

Joanne felt the blood rush from her face. "No, Maureen. You couldn't have. We've only been married for a week ..."

Maureen's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously. "No, baby! You know it's only you! It's just ..." she stopped, biting her lip and looking extremely nervous. Which wasn't helping Joanne's nerves at all.

"Come on, Mo. Just say it!" Dave advised her from nearby. Looking around, Maureen seemed to realize just how many people were listening to their conversation (including Mark, who had reclaimed his camera and had it trained on them). She grabbed Joanne's hand and led her into a nearby alley.

"Ok, baby. Now I don't want you to freak out or anything." Maureen stopped talking, and started fidgeting with her shirt.

"Come on, honeybear. Tell me what's going on." Joanne put her hands on Maureen's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.

Maureen took a deep breath. "I want a baby."

Joanne blinked. "You ... what?"

"I want us to have a baby. You know, adopt. Since we obviously can't have one on our own," Maureen joked weakly.

"You. Want to have a baby. You are the commitment-phobic one. And don't you realize we've only been married a week? We aren't ready. I mean, I may be ready, but you ... you are definitely not ready." Joanne was a little floored.

Maureen's face clouded. "How can you say I'm not ready? I'm the one who suggested it! I want a kid!"

"You want to be spontaneous!" Joanne fired back. "It took you a nearly a year after our engagement for you to come back to me, and another six months before we could set a date ..."

"But I was the one who wanted it on Christmas!" Maureen pointed out loudly.

"Of next year! If you hadn't been so set on Christmas Eve, God knows when we would've gotten married. It is so hard for you to make a commitment! How can I know you really want a baby?" Joanne looked at her sadly. "I want a child. But I want you more. How do I know a kid won't drive you away?"

Maureen put her hands on Joanne's hips. "Nothing's going to make me leave you, Pookie," she told her with a giggle.

Joanne's face hardened as she realized that Maureen really wasn't taking this seriously. She wanted a kid so badly, but she wasn't going to have one with someone who just wanted to do it for adventure. "I don't know right now, Maureen. I just ... I don't know." She pulled away, and stepped out into the cold alone.

AN: Ooo – drama! But their wedding went down without a hitch. Those two can't be happy forever, now can they? But if you think that's drama, wait until ... well I can't tell you, can I? You'll just have to wait and see. (laughs in maniacal manner) Love? Hate? Please review!