I said I was only going to jump 6 years, but I'm jumping ahead 9 years now. So it's 2007. I just wanted to be able to write for the kids, or rather teens, now.
Disclaimer: I don't own RENT. But it's nice to dream. ;-)
"Cuando nos conocimos, no podiamos creer que fueramos tan similares. No es una casualidad enorme que habiendo tantos colores de tinte, los dos trajeramos, rubio cenizo caoba?" Angel sang as she danced around her kitchen with her now 17 year old daughter.
"Tengo un novio metrosexual, usa extensiones, no se deja de peinar, en todos los espejos se tiene que mirar. Va al gimnasio hasta en navidad," Maddie sang back while putting the final sheet of cookies in the oven.
"Metro, metro, metrosexual, Metro, metro, metrosexual," their voices intertwined as Collins walked into their Pennsylvania home. He smiled as he smelled the fresh cookies and heard his Angel sing. He wondered into the kitchen to see Angel, who was out of drag, and Maddie dancing around like fools. She looked up to see her husband standing there and ran over to him, kissing his cheek. Maddie just turned the radio down and rolled her eyes.
"Hey, dad! Roger called. Mark too. I'm going out with Jonathan on Friday and the school called."
She tried to run out of the room, but an arm stopped her.
"Jonathan?" Collins asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes Dad," she sighed. "Before you do a background check I met him during last year's musical." Her father had a blank look on his face. "You've met him already. He's kind of tall, his hair is really bushy and curly, and he wants to be a composer." Still blank. "He took one of your classes last summer." Recognition finally crossed his face.
Angel smiled up at Collins, then at Maddie. "It's okay, honey. He's just getting old."
Their daughter snickered as she left the room. Then a door slammed.
"Tony?" Angel called from the kitchen. The 15-year-old just stomped up the stairs to his room with no answer. Maddie called to her parents that she would see what's up.
"Hey, Tony? Are you okay?" she asked as she entered her brother's room. He had his face buried in his pillow. She heard a muffled 'go away' but still sat down on the ground by his head.
"Can you please talk to me?" she asked, stroking his mess of inky black curls.
He slowly turned his head to reveal several cuts, bruises, and a nasty black eye. She sighed and pulled him up into a sitting position before leaving the room to get some ice and mercurochrome. She reentered his room and started cleaning him up.
"Who was it this time?" she asked as she worked on cleaning a large gash on his lip.
"Carl," Tony spat. He grimaced when pain spread like fire and the taste of the antiseptic flooded his mouth. However, he continued. "He insulted Mom and Dad, and then he called me a fag."
"Oh, so you lost it?" He nodded. "You know you have to control that, right?" Another nod. Maddie finished cleaning the final cut and started to clean up.
"Maddie? Can I tell you something?" Tony asked just before she left his room.
"Sure, Tone. What's up?"
"Mads," he looked up at her, "I'm gay."
She started laughing. "Did you think I wouldn't accept you?" He just shrugged. "Have you met our family? Honey, you had no chance!"
"That's not all. I like to dress in girls clothes."
She hugged him and he returned it. "Is that why I can't find my green sweater?"
He giggled and nodded.
"I wonder if they're okay up there," Angel thought out loud as she pulled the last batch of cookies from the oven. Collins was sitting on the counter not too far away eating his fourth cookie. By eating, I mean playing.
"I am a delicious cookie. Fear me!" he spoke in falsetto. "Yeah, well I am Super Scarfy! I eat you!" He shoved the whole cookie in his mouth. Angel just stared with an eyebrow almost touching her hairline and giggled at his Mark impression.
He just smiled and then changed the subject. "Want to go up to the city and see our old and decrepit friends?"
"Sweetie, you know you're older than all of them, so calling them old and decrepit is really an insult to yourself. But, yeah. I miss talking to Mimi," she pouted.
"You talk to her every day!" he exclaimed, hopping off the counter. Collins went over and wrapped his arms around Angel's small frame.
"But it's not the same," she fake whined. She squirmed around to face her husband. "What do you want for dinner?"
"Angelcake," he replied with a mischievous glint in his eye. She smiled up and kissed him.
"No dessert before dinner," she matched his tone of mischief.
He pouted. But before he could get his somewhat dirty comment out there was the sound of a throat being cleared. They turned to see Maddie with Tony in the doorway.
"Tony has something he wants to tell you," she said. The girl nudged her brother forward.
"Mom, Dad," he began, "I'm gay and like to dress in girl's clothes. I just hope you're going to accept me." He felt stupid adding the last part, but you never know.
Angel broke away from Collins' embrace and hugged her son.
"Oh, honey! It's okay. Of course we're going to accept you!" she felt a few tears soak into her shoulder before feeling Collins wrap his arms around them too.
"Yeah, son. Have you met our friends?" he chuckled.
There was a flash. The three turned to see Maddie with a camera in hand.
"You'll thank me later." She smiled smugly before bouncing out of the room.
Later in the city
Roger and Mimi were anxiously awaiting the mail that day, because it had the results of their three children's HIV test results.
"Mom calm down, everything's going to be fine," Kurt tried to calm his nervous mother down.
"Yeah, Daddy, we're going to be okay. We've been negative for 17 years now," Kurt's twin, Ali, added.
"Honestly, we're not so worried about you two anymore," Mimi hinted as nine-year-old Izzie came bounding into the room.
"Mommy! Can we go shopping?" the little girl asked.
"In a little bit. Okay, Iz? Why don't you go play DDR with Kurt?" the mother suggested. She immediately jumped up and pulled her brother into the other room.
There was shuffling sound as that day's mail fell through the slot in the door of the townhouse.
Roger dashed to the small pile and pulled out the three most important documents.
"I'll open mine," Ali said, taking the letter from her father.
"I'll take Izzie's," Mimi said.
"I guess I will open Kurt's," Roger mumbled.
The three opened the letters in silence.
"Negative," Ali sighed with a smile.
"Negative," Roger replied, equally happy.
The next was barely a whisper. "Positive."
It broke my heart doing that, but I can promise that it gets better. And I'm really sorry if I don't update very often. School is draining my creativity and time. Anyway can you please, please, please review?