AN: Hey, y'all! Hee. Well, I'm just sitting here doing homework, and I was thinking I needed a break, so here's a chapter. Yay! I went to see Memoirs of a Geisha last night. Let me tell you: SO GOOD! Loved it, loved it, loved it. And the romance was slightly creepy, but cute all the same. I told a friend that it was awesome, and she asked "Rent awesome?" My answer to all who want to know, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being Rent, Memoirs is like a 9 and 1/2! Yup, that good. Anyone who wants to see a movie, go see that, because Family Stone is ok but not that great, and several friends have told me Rumor Has It was just plain bad, though I can't vouch for that myself. And new song stuff – Bethany Joy Lenz! You might know her from One Tree Hill. She's got killer pipes and awesome new music. Check her out either at her official fan or music site and listen!

Now, I've been a bad person. I've been in a C2 for like ever, and I never thanked the person who put me there. Jase Andrews, thank you very much! Also, I'm not sure if it was there before my last chapter, but I've been put on another C2 and I just noticed it. Misfit Writer, you totally rock! Not only do you review lots, you put me in a C2! Thank you very, very, very much! And while I'm doing this, a big thanks as well to all who put this story on their favorite or alert list. It's really nice to know that many people are interested. My final thanks goes to all those reviewers – you know I love ya. And the anons, which seem to multiply each chapter:

blank – It was lovely of you to leave a review, but it's easier for me if you could next time leave a name of some sorts. Thanks very much. Yeah. I think he's had so many friends get AIDS, he's learned to deal with it better. Well, Roger's in a lot of chapters, and will be in more. Not this one, but still. I'm glad to here it. Still, most of my chapters are written in one day, like this one. The problem is that I can't get to my computer for long stretches of time every once in a while. But you do seem very nice.

Always Rosalind – Yay! All good then. And trust me, I know what you mean. I so know what you mean.

Kacey – I'm happy to hear it. So true, so true. I always thought that Benny could go good again (and look! I made him good again), and time really is the only enemy. I will definitely keep it up – thanks for the encouragement! And I am definitely feeling much better, thank you.

dani – Hey, girl! Thank you very much.

Bohogirl – Hee. Yeah. Mimi gets more and more fun to write, and Benny's a very cool dude. And look – I'm updating right now!

Disclaimer: If you want to get any money off of me, you're too late. The doctor took it all with those meds. I promise, I will mislead no one. I don't own Rent!

To Spin a Tangled Yarn

"Abby?" Mimi waited a moment, then knocked again. "Abby, please come out."

The door finally opened a crack. "I don't want to, Meems," Abby whispered plaintively.

Mimi's heart hurt as she looked at her friend. It wasn't just Mark she was dealing with. Last night, she had really seemed to begin to understand that she had AIDS, and exactly what that meant for her. "Baby, I know. But you have to keep going." She paused, then made a decision. "Maybe I should tell you, well, I guess, how I got AIDS."

She didn't hear anything for a minute. Then the door opened further, and Abby made her way to the couch. She didn't say anything, which was probably easiest for Mimi. She hadn't told this story to anybody but Roger, who'd paraphrased it for the rest of their friends. And, of course, Angel. But both of them were easier to tell than who she was telling her story to now. Abby looked so lost, and couldn't help Mimi if the remembering got too hard. Mimi had to be the strong one now.

She fiddled with some duct tape, picking at it and smoothing it nervously. Taking a deep breath, she began.

"I didn't know much, when I left my house. I mean, I thought I did. I thought I was grown up. My papá, he was, um, he uh, he used to hit us. Me and my sisters, that is." She choked a little, then kept going. "My mom didn't really see much. She was always at work, paying for him and for us. Then he died when I was thirteen. And mamá, she married this new man. And I'd been raising myself, and now he wanted to do that. So I took it for about two years. Then I came to the City when I was sixteen.

"I thought it was the awesomest place I'd ever been." She grinned, remembering. "And I thought I had enough money to last me for a long time. I'd been taking dance lessons at this local place, you know, a lot of jazz, but some ballet and tap, too. I'd been paying for the lessons by working the desk. And I got extra money by working at this clothes store. So I thought I was all set. Mios Dio!" she added bitterly, shaking her head. "I was so stupid then.

"I auditioned a couple of places. I started renting an apartment with someone I met at one of them. I worked at this restaurant as a waitress, lying about my age, of course. I was so proud of myself. I was doing so good for myself. I kept thinking 'If only my papá could see me now. He used to tell me how worthless I was, and look how well I'm doing for myself.' I was making it in New York City. Nothing could go wrong.

"I'd been here for a year when things went wrong. Me and my roommate still didn't have dancing gigs, and the restaurant we worked at shut down. Then my roommate, her name was," Mimi swallowed a little, "it was Tammy. Well, Tammy one day about three weeks after we were laid off, comes to me and tells me about how she found the best place for us to work. And so we went and auditioned, and we got in. That's how I started working at the Cat Scratch Club.

"I still was happy with myself. I was still doing ok, I thought. Then Tammy found smack." A little tear fell down Mimi's cheek. Abby didn't make any comment (she'd been sitting there, wide-eyed, the entire time) and Mimi brushed it off angrily. "I wasn't really sure about it at first. It seemed too much like papá and beer to me. But she kept telling me how good it felt. And all the dancers were taking it. So I tried it. And I felt so free when I did it." She was shaking slightly now. "I didn't feel so horrible with all the men looking at me. I thought our apartment was nicer. I always felt so happy. I didn't mind the cost, or the crashes. Not as long as I had it.

"It was like that for about two months. Then Tammy died." Mimi's voice trembled, but she kept going. "She overdosed. And I kept shooting up," she added with self-hatred evident in every line of her body. "I couldn't deal with it. I didn't want to think about it. So I stayed high. And then one the dancers who did drugs too, she told me she had AIDS, and I'd better get checked too. So I got tested. And I was HIV+.

"I lied to the Club, of course. Brought back another dancer's test. And I kept getting high. But the manager would complain. He'd ask if I was eating. I looked too skinny, he said, too pale. What was going on with me?"

"See, I hadn't told anyone. I didn't know who to tell. I was the lead dancer most of the time now; any of the other girl's'd've sold me out. Then," she giggled a little, but it was watery, "I was in this park, and I saw this skinhead bothering somebody, calling her a fag and shoving her around. I charged right up to them, and I was all ready with the little knife I carried, 'cause of the men in the club, you know? I started yelling at him, and then she just turned and smiled at me. What she said," Mimi grinned, "I will never forget. 'Forget him honey. I'm more of a man than he'll ever be, and more of woman than he'd ever get.' And that's how I met Angel.

"We talked for a while after that. She was the first person I told about the AIDS. And she took me to Life Support. It's this place for people like us," she told Abby, putting her hand on top of her friends. "And it gave me this new perspective on everything. I mean, I didn't stop shooting up. It took Roger, and Roger leaving me, to do that. But Life Support helped me. It helped me and Angel and Collins and Roger. I think it'll help you too."

Wordlessly, Abby reached over to Mimi and pulled her into a hug. "Meems. God Meems, I'm so sorry," she murmured in a choked whisper, tears falling down her face as she rocked Mimi.

"It's ok now, hon," Mimi assured her, laughing a little even though a few of her own tears fell onto Abby's hair. She pulled back and gently took Abby's chin in her hand. "But you'll come with me, right? Just give it a try."

Abby opened her mouth to reply, but a pounding on the front door stopped her from saying anything. "Abby! Abby, let me in!" Dave's voice, Mimi discovered, could take on a decidedly screechy effect when he wanted it to. "Abby, sweetie, come on, let me – oh," he stopped short, as Mimi opened the door with a grimace. He rushed over to Abby, leaving Mimi and Collins in the doorway, the former annoyed and the later perplexedly amused. Dave reached down and gave Abby a huge hug for a minute, then let go. "Alright. Let's go." He grabbed her hand and catapulted her off the sofa.

Abby didn't protest, looking too tired, but Mimi did. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" she asking him, glaring, with her hands on her hips as she stood in the doorway, blocking his exit.

"Life Support," Dave informed her as if it were obvious. His timing is either really good or really scary, Mimi thought, amazed. "Let's go you two." With that, he pushed past her and Collins, dragging Abby along, and headed down the stairs.

Collins and Mimi stared after him for a minute. Finally, Collins remarked mildly, "He's been doing that a lot today."

Not sure what he meant, Mimi decided to bypass that comment. "I was thinking taking her in a week or so. Is she ready now?"

Collins seemed to mull it over for a minute, then nodded. "She's known about it for over a month. The girl's got to come to grips with sooner or later." He looked down at Mimi. "Don't you remember what it was like when you found out? I'd rather go sooner, if it were me."

Mimi hesitated. Then she nodded. "You're right as always," she smirked, "Professor." Then she started down the stairs, throwing a "Hurry up," over her shoulders.

She heard him mutter, "I'm getting too old for this," and giggled. Yeah, this was hard to go through still. But she knew they'd get through it. They always did.

AN: DRAMA! Hee. Well, I hope you liked it. I wanted to tell everyone's story, so here's the first. More to come, and hopefully soon. Love? Hate? Review!