I forgot the disclaimer in the last two chapters, so I figure that should be the first thing to do this time: I do not own RENT, Mark, Roger, or any of the other characters in either the musical or film. I do own my fic and my own characters: Reye and Lactose (there will be more later)

This chapter took me a while to write…mainly because I had most of it written right away, but I couldn't write the flashback right and I couldn't find the right way to end it. The right way to end it just came to me like 20 minutes ago, but I never was able to write the flashback…so I just wrote a summary of a flashback…how pathetic is that? Its in italics, so you know… but Mark's thoughts are also in italics so…uh well you shouldn't mix them up…and just imagine that Mark is thinking about the flashback…

Oh…they act kind of silly later…I hope its not too OOC. Always let me know how I do on characterization. Its really important to me to get characters right. and its also really important to me to get reviews, especially ones with constructive comments. I accept all flames and criticisms, btw.

Oh, and people, don't forget about our Challenge Central thing. We're extending the deadline to June 27. Its still up, and we would LOVE more entries. Please write for it! Its under my penname so check it out, por favor.

Ups and Downs

Mark managed to get out of the house without a direct confrontation with his best friend the next morning. He was bored shitless but really didn't feel like walking on eggshells the whole day with Roger, so he headed over to Maureen and Joanne's place. He would have preferred going anywhere else, but with Collins away, he realized he had no one else. I love the friends I have…but I seriously need more.

It was a few blocks to their place, but he didnt mind. He got around pretty quickly on his bicycle. Locking his bike to a meter, he went up to their apartment. They lived in much nicer place than he and Roger did, but Joanne could afford it, and her parents never hesitated to help them out when Joanne was desperate enough to lower herself to asking for it...which wasn't very often.

He knocked on the door and waited. I probably should have called or something first, I don't even know if they're home. After a few moments of knocking he heard a crash and then running steps, and the door swung open and Maureen appeared in front of him.

"Marky!" she exclaimed, hugging him instantly.

"Uh, hey Maureen." Mark answered from within her grip. He'd forgotten how long it'd been since he'd visited them and how Maureen gets when she misses people.

Joanne appeared out of nowhere, firmly pulling Maureen off him. "Honey, let the boy breathe." Shesaid sternly, eyeing Markwith suspicion.

"Hey Joanne." He said.

The lawyer slid between her partner and Mark. "Nice to see you Mark." she responded, sounding slightly less happy to see him than she said.

"So uh...what was that crash?" Mark asked, trying to ease the tension.

Maureen laughed. Joanne looked annoyed. "Oh, she knocked over a lamp in her excitement to answer the door."

"Well, Pookie, it shouldn't have been there. Somebody was going to knock it over eventually." Maureen reasoned.

"Mhm." Joanne muttered. "I'm going to go clean it up. Mark, make yourself comfortable..." she lookedbetween the two again before locking eyes with Maureen."But not too comfortable." She warned before attending to the lamp.

Maureen rolled her eyes before leading Mark over to the couch. "So what have you been up to?" she asked.

Mark shrugged, dodging the couch and sitting in a chair. He didn't want to upset Joanne more by sitting anywhere where Maureen had oppurunity to sit next to him. "Nothing too much. I've been filming a lot, but nothing really good. What about yourself? Any new protests planned?"

Maureen grinned. "Yeah, actually I'm thinking of creating a new performance about this horrid restaurant downtown that actually kills their chickens in front of the customers...its supposed to be some kind of gimic. I think its revolting."

"That is terrible." Mark agreed.

"Yeah, but supposedly legal. They're careful about it, and they seem to have found every health code loophole there is...but I'm still looking for something to catch them on." Joanne added as she came and sat next to Maureen.

Mark smiled. With him safely two feet away and Maureen wrapped up around her, Joanne lightened up considerably.

They talked for a while longer. Maureen planned out her next protest and bragged about how well her last one had gone. The last one had beenagainst the police who had tried to kick all the homeless out of the park. Mark had to admit that it had been really good. Other activists picketed or posted fliers, Maureen was the only person he knew who performed one-woman plays as a way of protest. Theatre was a way of expression for her, and when it had a cause behind it, it was an amazing thing to watch.

Joanne was working on a heavy case that was sure to bring in a good paycheck, and discussed it with Mark until Maureen got bored and started complaining, loudly. Frustrated, Joanne switched subjects.

"So where's Roger been hiding?" She asked.

Mark shrugged. "He's sleeping. The weather hasn't been great for him." He lied. He hated lying about Roger, it was as if he was protecting what was going on, protecting something he hated. But Roger didn't act the same way around Maureen and Joanne as he acted around Mark. Because of which, they didn't know that Roger and his friendship was slowly falling apart. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't want them to know either.

"Aw, that's too bad. He's okay, right?" Maureen asked, something close to actual concern in her voice, the sound of which making Mark inwardly cringe in guilt.

"Yeah, he's just really tired. It's the cold, that's all."

Deciding that he was tired of lying, Mark casually changed the subject away from Roger. After a while, they went out and Joanne treated them to lunch at the Life. After lunch, Joanne had to meet with a client and Maureen was struck by inspiration on what to do at her next protest and ran off tostart building a giant guillotine,so Mark decided to go out filming for a while. It wasn't too cold that day so he parked his bike in the park and walked for a while.

He got some decent footage of the general populace, a few good shots of some kids playing, but nothing really spectacular. He filmed pigeons for about twenty minutes, and caught a policeman picking his nose, and was about to throw down his camera in frustration when he noticedtwo young girls.

He wasn't sure why, but something about them intrigued him. They couldn't have been more than thirteen and they were sitting on the sidewalk outside of a corner store, passing a cigarette back and forth. The first girl was thin with cinnamon toned skin and tight curls. She was wearing a pair of pale blue jeans that were slightly tattered at the bottom and a baggy Doors T-shirt under a black trench coat. The second girl wasn't as skinny and had creamy, pale skin and dark blonde hair. She had on a pair of dark blue jeans and an oversized black sweatshirt. They weren't talking, just sitting there and smoking a single cigarette. He filmed them for a few minutes, while they smoked it down to the cherry and stubbed it out on the sidewalk. After that though, they were just sitting there, watching people go by, and he decided that it wasn't very interesting to watch watchers, so he moved on.

After a while he decided to go to the café. It was about a half hour earlier than when he had gone yesterday, but he figured it wouldn't make much of a difference. Going in he noticed that nobody was there except for the same two guys sitting in the far corner, playing cards. Reye wasn't out so he walked over to the counter and knocked on the surface. After a few seconds the same frizzy head appeared over the edge, and she climbed out with a grin.

"Heya Sweettooth! Whats going on?"

"Nothing really, I was just out filming-"

"You film?"

Mark lifted his camera to show her. "Yeah. I make documentaries"

Reye grinned. "That's awesome. Make any good ones?"

Mark shrugged, slightly smiling at her interest. "I made one called Today 4 U: Proof Positive….It won a local film festival and one theatre on the corner showed it three times. It was basically like a documentary about AIDS."

Reye looked excited. "That is fantastic! You have got to let me see it sometime."

Mark smiled wider. "Yeah, sure. Whenever you want."

"Okay, but first you've got to finish your story. You talk, I'll make your coffee." She finished sternly. Mark laughed and complied, sitting down on the stool as he picked up where he'd left off.

LINELINELINELINELINE

"Oh wow. I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for you two." Reye muttered, but he could tell she was trying not to laugh in case she wasn't supposed to.

"Laugh. I find it hilarious now. I mean, it scared the shit out of me then, and made it rather awkward for Roger, but it was pretty funny."

Reye agreed, finally permitting herself to laugh. Mark smiled. He had just told her how him and Roger had met:

Collins had introduced Mark to Roger the night Mark moved into the loft. That night had also happened to be a night that Roger had dedicated to drinking. He had only had a buzz when he met Mark, so he had acted normal, and agreed to share his room with the filmmaker. Then Roger had gone out with his band buddies. He came home completely trashed and accidentally collapsed in Mark's bed instead of his own; totally unaware that Mark was already sleeping there. Mark didn't completely wake up, so he accepted the sudden shift in the mattress and went back to sleep. Come morning, Roger had forgotten absolutely everything about the night before, including meeting Mark. Mark had woken up first and found himself practically spooned up against the sleeping musician with Roger's arms wrapped around him, and then Roger kissed his neck. That of course made him freak out, and start yelling while trying to shove the musician off him. This woke up Roger. Since Roger had no idea who Mark was, the result had been pretty interesting. Basically, they both quickly exited the bed and while Mark was demanding what the hell Roger was doing, Roger was demanding Mark to tell him who the fuck he was. Then the yelling switched to Mark accusing Roger of trying to molest him and Roger accusing Mark of trying to steal from him. Then Roger slammed Mark against a wall, Mark punched Roger, they scuffled for a couple minutes and then Roger dragged Mark out of his room and towards the loft door. On the way there, he ran into Collins who managed to calm them both down enough to explain to Roger who Mark was. Once they realized it was a misunderstanding, it worked out, although they weren't exactly close the first couple weeks and Roger felt awkward about it, especially concerning how Mark had thought he had tried to "molest" him. (A/N: sorry I just summarized that all, I didn't want to actually write the scene, Mark told Reye the whole story in detail, I just summed it up…I'm lazy, I know, sorry)

Reye was still laughing when Lactose came in again. She looked up, slowing her laughter so she could greet the purple headed girl. "Heya Lactose."

"Hey Reye. Hi Mark."

Mark smiled at her. He didn't fail to notice how Reye called them both by their nicknames, but Lydia called him by his real name. "Hey Lydia." He was glad he remembered her name; he usually wasn't great with those.

"You're really early today, Lactose. Sweettooth here was telling me his life story. You just had to come during a good part, didn't you?" Reye's tone let Lydia know she wasn't actually upset with her.

"Sorry, Reye, but I needed my coffee early today."

At the sound of her voice, Reye's tone changed immediately. "Bad day?"

"Bad isn't a good enough word for it."

Mark sensed it was his time to leave and, finishing his coffee, stood. Poor girl, seems like bad things happen to her a lot. He turned to them. "I need to be going now."

They both looked up at him. "Same time tomorrow, Sweettooth?"

He smiled. "Sure, I'll see you then, Reye. Nice seeing you again, Lydia."

"You too. See you later."

Mark, still in a great mood from talking to Reye and the memory of meeting his roommate, rode straight to the loft. The fact that Roger wasn't how he used to be was slightly pushed to the back of his mind. He stood his bike up against the wall, and, going into the living room area, found Roger laying on the couch, starring up at the ceiling. He didn't acknowledge Mark's arrival. Mark shrugged and went over to the fridge, searching rather vainly for something to eat.

"Did you eat, Roger?" he asked, facing away from the musician.

"Does it look like there's anything here to eat?" Roger's voice snapped from the couch.

Mark looked around the fridge, and then pantry, and sighed as he realized he had to agree. "Okay, good point. You take your AZT?"

"None of your fucking business." The snarl from the next room came.

Mark started, looking over at Roger in slight surprise. "Excuse me?"

Roger sat up and glared at him. "You heard me. For God's sake, get off my fucking case, Cohen. You are not my goddamn mother, stop acting like it."

A slight flash of hurt struck Mark before he shot it down, ignoring it as he sighed, "Okay, sorry, Roger." He turned back to the kitchen, hoping Roger would let the argument drop there. The silence that followed let him know that it was over. He wasn't exactly sure what made him do it, it was probably worry, but after a quick glance to make sure his roommate wasn't looking, Mark got out that month's bottle of AZT and counted the pills. A frown formed over his lips when he realized that Roger hadn't taken any that day.

With a sigh he returned the pills to the bottle and shut it. He'd wait a while before pushing the issue again. He checked the kitchen another time, but there really wasn't much food to speak of. He ended up finding a dusty, unlabeled can in the far corner. He grinned when he realized it was the Mystery Can.

Roger and him and discovered it a couple months back, and it was a long running joke between the two: what was in the Mystery Can, who would dare to open the Mystery Can, was there even food in the Mystery Can?... And the main reason it was still there was because it was more fun not knowing what was in it, and once they opened it…the mystery would be over.

He grabbed it and walked out to the couch, hoping the old joke would cheer Roger up. "So uh…you hungry?"

Roger snorted. "Of course I'm fucking hungry. I haven't eaten anything all day." He snapped.

Mark didn't give up. "Hungry enough to finally find out what's in the Mystery Can?" he asked playfully.

Roger was silent for a moment before looking up at Mark, his face softening. "We still have the Mystery Can?" he asked, his tone lighter.

"Of course. Remember, last time we decided that we were not ready to open it. Think we're ready now?"

A trace of a grin touched Roger's face. "Open the Mystery Can? …You think we should?"

Mark grinned. "I think it all depends on how hungry we are."

Roger thought for a moment. "I don't know…it's the Mystery Can… I really don't think God meant for us to open it."

Mark shrugged. "Well…I'm hungry. I'm going to go open it. Maybe there's food inside." He said, walking back to the kitchen.

Roger jumped off the couch. "Hey, wait for me! I'm not missing out on this."

Mark stuck the can in the middle of the table and got out the can opener. He put it beside the can, and both men stared at it for a few moments. "You open it." Mark said, pushing the can opener to Roger.

"Nuh uh, man. That thing has been in our cupboard for years, probably. Whatevers in it is probably alive by now… You do it."

Mark took a deep breath. "We are now going to open the Mystery Can, left here ages ago by the almighty…uh, Collins probably…Oh man, I have got to film this." Roger rolled his eyes as Mark ran and got his camera, winding it up.

"So I guess that means I have to do it?" Roger asked.

"Yep…or I could just set my camera up… hold on." Mark set his camera up beside the table so it could get in the can, Roger and himself.

"Okay, seven forty two, eastern standard time. Today, is a day for the history books. This unlabeled can, marked by the gods as the Mystery Can, was left here, ages ago,by the almighty Collins…we think. Today, we are finally ready to open it. What could be inside?"

"I'm thinking its dog food." Roger muttered.

"Now why would Collins leave us dog food?"

Roger shrugged. "We're still not even sure if Collins was the one who left it…it could have just…magically appeared in our cupboard… Besides, I wouldn't put it past Collins sometimes; when he gets high he has a really strange sense of humor."

Mark thought a moment. "True… remember that one time he bought me lipstick?"

Roger snorted laughter. "Yeah! Bright red lipstick on top of that! You actually put it on, too!"

Mark's face reddened. "Only because you said you'd give me five bucks! Which you never paid me." he argued defensively.

Roger laughed harder. "Oh yeah…" then he smirked. "But come on, Cohen, you know you knew I didn't have five bucks. I didn't have fifty cents to my name. You just wanted an excuse to wear it!"

Mark's face turned redder. "I did not!"

"You know you have an inner drag queen, Marky. Just admit it."

"I have an inner drag queen? Okay, who's the one who wore more eyeliner than both of his girlfriends combined?"

Roger's smile dropped and Mark knew he shouldn't have mentioned the girls. Roger never handled the subject of Mimi well and even referencing April was becoming a touchy thing again.

He didn't yell at Mark though, he just looked down at the can. "Grow up, eyeliner is more for boys now anyways…Eat your fucking dog food alone, Cohen, I'm not hungry anymore." He said quietly and brushed past Mark. The sound of his door slamming let Mark know he went into his room.

Mark picked up his camera and turned it on himself. "Well…I fucked that up."

LINELINELINELINE

What'd you think? Let me know in a review, please! I really need constructivism, btw. Hope they weren't too OOC, I wanted to make an almost good day for them, because relationships dont fall apart all at once. Please review!