A/N: I'm so sorry for the lack of updating but I have been swamped in homework because of the last week of school. Thank you guys for the reviews and your patience!

Disclaimer: Jonathan Larson's.

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Roger's POV

Mark keeps his hand clinging to his neck as if some serial strangler is loose in our loft. Every so often I see him look down and smile softly, and it makes me feel proud. Proud that even after the chocolate, the film, and the fifty bucks in cash he received, that he is still beaming because of my pathetic gift.

After Collins' comment and Mark's reaction, I'm actually sort of glad I didn't give him my original gift. Yet. I'm still wondering if I should give it to him, or if that's a little too much. I guess I'll find out soon.

Mimi stares sadly at us on the couch, her arms across her chest, her leggings sliding up occasionally to her bony knees. I never really noticed how skinny she has become in the past few weeks. She's shaking somewhat, and sometimes I see her cough lightly into her fist. After Christmas I knew she didn't have much time, but it's only been a month and a half. I guess I wished for a year, even though I knew that was completely unreasonable. Those seconds that I thought she was actually dead, taken away forever, were probably the most lost I had felt in a long time. Now that feeling is starting to slowly resurface.

The look on Mimi's face is full of sorrow, like she is watching someone die on my couch. But all we are doing is sitting. Sitting and barely talking. But she continues to glare. She's almost burning me with her eyes.

I turn to Mark for a more comforting look, and all I get is one of thanks. He smiles gleefully at me, continuing to grip the necklace between his pale fingers. I smile back at him, and practically send myself into a fit of happiness. Why is pleasing Mark making me so damn giddy? It must be because I beat out all of the other meaningful presents with one that is a hundred years old and soaked in my own sweat. But that necklace means something to me. I bought it before everything happened. Before April. Before drugs. Before my band hit it "big". Before my life became so chaotic I could hardly keep track of the time. But not before I met Mark.

I don't really remember of much before I met Mark. Sure I remember my childhood, my parents, creating my band, but my most vivid past memories all have Mark in them. Meeting him, getting to know him, moving in with him, watching him buy his first real camera, and traveling through all of this emotional shit with him. Mark has been such a center in my life, it's hard to think of life without him. I just hope I won't ever have to live that life. But he'll have to live without me. He has other friends, friends he doesn't have to constantly care for. I have a feeling he will be better off without me.

I would have thought that Mimi being close to death would bring us closer together. I realized how much I love her, but something seems to be missing. Something that was there before is suddenly gone. She seems distant. Or maybe I'm the one who's distant. I just know that something's different.

"Mark, you're going to hurt yourself pulling on that thing." Joanne finally comments, and I can't help but smile when a frown appears on Mark's face. He blushes lightly, and I reach over to tap him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. They're just jealous." I assure him, and his blush gets deeper, as he stares down at my hand. I hadn't even noticed that it was still resting on his shoulder. I give him an apologetic look before removing my hand and pressing it to my thigh.

"So, when is everyone going to leave?" Mark asks impatiently, and I can tell he's getting anxious to sleep. He's been yawning all through the party. Last night he barely got any sleep as he stayed up until four drinking coffee and discussing stupid and pointless things with me. That's the first night we've done that in a while, and it felt good. It felt nice to be able to talk to him again, comfortably, after that long bout where there was always something going on. Nothing allowed us time to just sit and talk about nothing that important. And I'm glad to have it again.

"I don't know Marky. They've only been here for two hours." Maureen whines, after the party she organized so perfectly is being insulted. I can see her forehead wrinkle up in anger, as she slouches against Joanne who is seated next to her.

"I'm sorry Mo, I'm just tired. The party is great, thank you." He leans over to kiss her on the forehead, and she smirks innocently while burying her face into Joanne's shoulder. I've never seen her acting so embarrassed for attention. Maybe after all these years, that is still the affect Mark has on her. I certainly hope Joanne hasn't noticed that.

"You should probably get to sleep right after the party." Mimi comments, and I realize that she has slowly crept closer to the group sitting around Mark and I at the couch. I don't know how I didn't see her making her way over here. Everyone else seems sort of surprised, and Mark even jumps when she speaks, causing me to laugh loudly at his fear. He hits me on the chest lightly, and I wink lightheartedly at him.

"I will." He tells Mimi, and she nods, refusing to smile for some reason. Her eyes dart from Mark to me, me to Mark, to Mark's necklace, then back at me. I furrow my brow in confusion, and then attempt to smile at her as if I'm not a little irritated. All she does is advert her eyes from me, staring down at the floor beneath her shifting feet. We all sit in a silence, as if Mimi's presence has stopped our conversation completely. Then Collins notices everyone looking around awkwardly.

"I can't believe you're already twenty-five Mark. It seems like just yesterday you were able to finally drink legally." His wide smile brightens the room, and Mark chuckles softly. It's true; we have all grown so fast. Even though I met Mark when he was twenty, he's changed so much since then. In a way he's found reality, realizing that life is not so perfect after all. It might have made him a little more cynical, but that's the Mark I've grown to appreciate. We've grown together, and I've never really noticed how much. Collins is a few years older, the wiser one in the group, telling us his numerous stories of what he did when he was our age. I can see change in him too, mostly because of Angel. Finding true love really made him into a more mature person, if that was even possible.

Maybe finding love in your life does change you substantially. I know falling in love with April and Mimi changed me a lot. With April, some of those changes were unnecessary, but forget regret. I still feel like I have more to learn. But what else is there?

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Mark's POV (five hours later)

Everyone is still crowded around, cracking jokes, talking about current events that no one really cares about. Most of the party is gone, leaving Joanne, Maureen, Collins, Mimi, Roger and I in a circle around the couch. I can still feel the necklace hitching into the skin on the back of my neck, the warmed up metal carefully hanging down the front of my shirt. Roger eyes it every few minutes, making sure it's still there. Like I would let it fall off.

For some reason this necklace means more to me than anything else I could have gotten. Maybe it's because Roger actually cared when he gave it to me, instead of just stuffing money in an envelope and writing my name on the front of it. It seems more sentimental than chocolate, alcohol or money. A present hasn't been this important to me since Roger helped me pay for my first real camera.

"Mark, you're nodding off." Joanne says, tapping me on the leg and causing me to spring up quickly from my seat. Roger laughs quietly, and I squint angrily in his direction.

"You should go to bed already Mark, I mean you did stay up late last night." Roger tells me, leaning his elbow against the couch then pressing his temple to his palm. I rub my eyes and think about last night. Talking, talking, laughing, drinking coffee, and talking. I don't regret not getting enough sleep.

"Why, what did you do last night?" Mimi asks curiously, her first real words in the past couple hours. Roger looks over to me with a giggle and I smack him across the arm.

"Yea, what did you two do last night?" Collins chuckles, but Mimi's frown grows. Her arms rest across her chest, her body tense and stiff. I can't tell what's wrong with her. She's been acting strangely for a while. There might be problems between her and Roger, I could tell whenever I brought her up last night. He would just avoid it, or say something briefly before changing the topic.

"We just talked the whole night. He wouldn't shut up." I set things straight, smiling innocently at Roger then glancing down at the necklace once again. For some reason I'm paranoid that it will disappear.

"Well you should get some sleep." Mimi suggests again, and I take a second to say goodnight before rising off of the couch. Obviously Mimi doesn't want me there. I have no clue why, or what I did, but I won't fight her about it. Roger frowns when I leave, tapping my foot lightly as a goodbye.

I head to the bathroom, splashing water on my face and drying it off carefully before placing my glasses back on. I stare into the mirror for a while, studying my eyes, my nose, my mouth. Suddenly the thought of a girlfriend comes to mind. Am I really unattractive? Maureen didn't think so, so why am I single now? I don't really care all that much that I'm without a companion, but I'm getting tired of pleasuring myself all the time. But there's a comfort that comes with sex that I also miss. Just the security, the love. I haven't had that intimacy in a while.

Roger is at the counter when I come back out, after having finally gotten up from the couch.

"Finally got up?" I ask with a smile, and he nods before taking a chug of his coffee.

"Yea, they were annoying me with their boring conversations. Plus I had to do something." He takes another drink, eyebrows raised and a curious smirk on his face.

"All right…Well goodnight. I'll see ya tomorrow." I wave slightly towards him and he swallows quickly.

"Yea, goodnight. Oh, and happy birthday." He leans against the counter and stares carefully at me.

"Thanks." I blush only a little for no reason whatsoever, or no reason I am aware of, then head towards my bedroom.

I go straight to bed, and throwing myself onto it. I relax my body, letting it sink into the mattress, then realize there is something occupying my pillow. I lift my head up and pick it up between my fingers, and recognize it to be a picture. The moonlight is bright, and I quickly move over to my window to get a better view of the picture. Light beams down on it, and I see a young Roger and I. We're smiling gleefully, as I hold my camera up for Collins to take the picture of. Roger's hair is blond and spiked, stubble growing across his face, and his old necklace resting against his neck. I look pretty much the same, but naïve, a light in my eyes that has long diminished.

I flip the picture over and see words, and tip it slowly to make out what it says. Roger's scribbling is in blue pen, and I smile when I see the inscription.

"Here's your real present. Thanks for those days. Happy Birthday. Love, Roger."

I read it over and over, trying to make a note of our faces, remembering how happy I was on that day, and how much I've changed internally.

I lie back down on the bed, slipping the picture under my pillow and gripping the necklace between my fingers. I think it's safe to say this is the best birthday I've ever had.

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Notes: I hope you liked it, and I'm sorry again for the wait. I promise it won't be so long next time. Review? I'll love you! XD Thanks guys!