After Mimi dies, Roger packs up and leaves. Again. The night before he goes, he says something to Mark about California. Somewhere so far and so removed from Mimi, Mark supposes, that Roger figures he won't be able to help but forget about her.
Mark understands, and he hates seeing Roger this way, so he does what good friends do. Encourages. Supports. Even when he has to keep himself from telling Roger to stay. Instead he asks, "Are you coming back?"
Roger shakes his head, shrugging. "I don't know. I'll call."
And just like last time, that's it. And just like last time, Roger doesn't call. Mark's not really sure he trusts himself to keep from saying things that are better left unsaid. It wouldn't be fair to dump all of that on Roger, not when he's trying to sort everything out.
But really, that's irrelevant. Roger's gone for weeks, and then months, and he hasn't called once. Mark's even taken to actually answering the phone, just in case it's Roger who's been hanging up when the answering machine comes on.
When Roger finally does call in early September, Mark looks down at his fingernails, the edges ragged from his chewing on them all the time, and says, "Hey, Rog."
"Mark. Um. Have you ... replaced me yet? Gotten another roommate?"
He didn't bother looking for another roommate. He's got enough money to cover everything, albeit just barely, and he's not sure he'd feel comfortable with someone new here. He's sure it would feel even less like home than it already does. He's nervous as hell, of course, sometimes wondering if he's going to wake up to the sound of windows being smashed and people coming in to kill him and take whatever he's got. "No."
"Would it be okay ... can I come back?" Roger sounds nervous too, and Mark can feel himself becoming annoyed until Roger adds, "I'm sorry. I did it again, didn't I?"
"What?"
"Tried to ignore everything. Ran from it. I'm sorry."
Mark doesn't respond to that, just says, "Yeah. Come back."
"It'll take a few days. The bus and everything." Mark nods, despite the knowledge that Roger isn't there to see it.
"Okay. Call me when you get to the city."
"I will." They're bad at saying goodbye, so there's a long silence on the line, until Roger says, "I'll see you in a few days, then," and hangs up abruptly.
Somehow Mark scarcely believes Roger's really coming back, or that they even had that conversation until the sound of the door opening wakes him up, and he jolts awake and nearly falls off the couch. He's not sure whether he was expecting Roger or some stranger coming to rob the place. But it's Roger with his guitar case and his bag and his hair sun-bleached, and he's smiling and already moving toward Mark. They're unable to say anything, just like last time, so they don't bother and just hold onto each other, and just like last time Mark realizes how unfamiliar the smile on his face feels.