Chapter 17 is amazingly... amazing. NOTE: I have been up for approximately 29 hours. –falls over- Miranda thinks I'm incapable of typing. :P Oh and yes, Angel has her ears pierced. Aaand… I fell asleep in the middle of the chapter. As I was typing. Mid-word.

Disclaimer: I don't own the RENT.
--The Halloween Birthday Party--

-Angel's POV-

Today is Halloween, and it's also the day of my birthday party! We're having it at Roger's house, because my house would be boring and stupid. So it's like… a Halloween birthday thing... Collins is going to be there, despite the "you're grounded for a month" thing, because he was such a good boy that they let him go early. We coordinated our costumes. And this is also a milestone because not only am I now 18 (a legal adult!), but Collins is actually going to drive to the party instead of me!

It's now 6:03, and Collins was supposed to be here around 5:45. He's going to pay for being late. Finally the doorbell rings.

"Whee Collins!" I run over and open the door.

"Wow." He hasn't seen my costume before now, and I can tell he's impressed. "And again, wow."

"Yep. I made the costume myself!" He reads the nametag pinned to my shirt.

"Nurse Angel." He says. "Nice."

"Well, Dr. Collins, we should get going, or we'll be late."

We arrive at Roger's house a little after 6:30. We're actually almost on time! We go into the house, since the door is open, and head down to the basement. Everyone is waiting for us to get there, I guess, since the music isn't as loud as it would normally be… and everyone starts cheering when we enter the room. Almost everyone is in costume- Joanne is in a suit (she's a lawyer), Maureen is a cat, and Mark is dressed as what I assume is a famous Hollywood director. Roger and April are dressed normally.

"Thomas Collins, PhD, has arrived- with his lovely assistant, Nurse Angel!" Collins shouts. Maureen hugs us both, and Roger, Joanne, Mark, and April do the same.

"So what exactly does PhD stand for?" Maureen asks. Collins is about to answer her, when Roger interrupts.

"I bet I know. It means… Public Humper of Drag-queens!" Everyone laughs at Roger's joke.

"Um… well okay. Not really… but I guess that's accurate." Collins grins. "Hey, what's up? The music is surprisingly quiet!" April runs over to the stereo to remedy the situation.

"That better? What do you think Angel?" I give April a thumbs-up sign.

"Perfect! Come on Collins, let's dance!"

Soon the basement of Roger's house is like a mini nightclub- loud music, beer, and lots of… well, to put it bluntly- dirty dancing. Somehow Mark ends up dancing with Roger again on one of the slow songs, until April notices and pulls them apart. Collins is definitely living up to his title of PhD, and I must admit it is hot. Mmm… a little too hot. I pull him aside, over to the couch in the corner of the basement. We collapse together and start a very long make-out session. I completely lose myself in those moments, in our kisses… until I hear laughing and cheering coming from our friends.

"Woohoo, go Collins and Angel!" Roger shouts, grabbing April's waist. "Oh… does everyone want cake now? Then we can do Angel's birthday presents!" I sigh. But I was having fun!

"Okay. Sounds good." Collins agrees with him, and they walk over to the collapsible table the cake and presents are on. I join them a moment later. We pass out pieces of cake- chocolate with raspberry icing, my favorite! We all eat happily and talk about random stuff. Mark puts himself in charge of handing presents to me. The first is from Roger.

"It's a new set of drumsticks!" I hug Roger. "Thank you! These'll be great for when I start my drum lessons next month." The next gift is from April and Maureen and Joanne together.

"Hope you like it, Ang." Maureen says as I tear the wrapping paper off of the box.

"Oh my god! It's the shoes!" I hold up the shoes- lime green with big heels. "I love them so much! Thank you thank you thank you!" They all receive hugs, and I'm still gushing over the shoes when Mark sets a small paper bag in front of me. I look up at him- he's blushing. That's adorable. I open the bag and pull out- "A scarf! It's so cute! Like yours, but red and white. Thank you, Marky! It's absolutely wonderful, and I'll be able to use it now that the weather's cooling off."

The final thing is from Collins. He presents me with a small box, neatly wrapped.

"Hope you like it, Angel." I open the box carefully to find…

"Oh, honey- these are beautiful." Inside the box is a pair of small earrings. Diamond earrings. "Collins, how did you-" He shook his head.

"I'll tell you later, but you missed the other part." I look back into the box and see a small piece of folded paper. Written on the outside is 'do not read this out loud.'

It says: "This paper entitles Angel Dumott Schunard to one free favor (sexual or otherwise) from her adoring boyfriend Thomas Collins." I giggle hysterically, and he smiles at me, eyes twinkling. Everyone looks from me to him to the small piece of paper, wondering what's so funny.

"Collins, your sense of humor is amazing. Thank you. It's a wonderful gift." After a few minutes everyone goes back to dancing, drinking, smoking, or whatever they were doing. I take Collins' hand and lead him up the stairs and out the back door. "It's a lovely night," I comment. "The moon is really beautiful…"

"The moon's not the only beautiful thing out tonight." Collins whispers into my ear. He kisses me hard- and of course I kiss him back with equal passion. It's so quiet out here, except for the hum of traffic on a nearby street. We break the kiss when lack of oxygen starts to become a problem. Although, with kisses like that- who needs to breathe?

"Collins, how did you get those earrings?"

"They were my grandma's… she gave them to me just before she died. She told me to give them to my special someone. I always appreciated how she never specified, girl or boy… just my special person. And… I think that person is you, Angel."

"Honey, that's so sweet. And about that favor… how long is that good for?"

He laughs before answering. "As long as you want, babe."

We resume kissing, and it quickly becomes just a little more than kissing. 'Accidental' touches, grinding hips together…

"Collins, we shouldn't be doing this on Roger's back porch." I say while Collins is busy placing kisses on my cheeks, nose, and neck. He grins at me wickedly.

"So where should we be doing this?"

"Mmm… We could… borrow Roger's room for a little while…" I'm actually finding it difficult to form complete sentences. We manage to get up and go back into the house. We climb the stairs to Roger's bedroom and find it empty (thank goodness!). As soon as we are inside, I close and lock the door. "Just in case."

We lie on the bed together, starting our passionate kisses all over again. Collins shifts slightly and I notice two things- one: he's now kissing my neck, and two: he's determined to torture me. I don't think I can stand this- he's in such a position that I am unable to continue our previous forms of body contact, other than kisses.

"Collins- Tom- please-"

"No, Ang. I know what I'm doing." He smiles at me before kissing my nose gently.

I wonder briefly if Roger is going to mind that we're doing this in his bed... Ah, who cares.

-Collins' POV-

We go back downstairs to the basement, and Angel giggles. She still thinks it's funny that we were in Roger's room. I put my arm around her shoulder and she tries to snuggle into my side. She kind of… fails at that, since we're going down the stairs, and she almost falls. But I catch her, and we laugh about it.

"Collins! Angel! Where were you guys?" Mark and Roger ask as soon as we're down the stairs.

"Um… Bathroom?" "Kitchen?" We say at the same time. Roger rolls his eyes.

"For what, an hour? No, if you're going to lie at least make it a good lie."

"Erm…" Angel thinks carefully. "Well, actually- truth is, we were in your room." She starts giggling again, and I just roll my eyes.

"Really? Okay then…" Roger laughs. "At least you had fun!"

"Mhmm lots of fun." I say, kissing Angel's cheek. Mark laughs and whispers something to Roger, which makes him raise an eyebrow and shake his head. Mark looks disappointed, but shrugs and walks back to the dance area.

After the party I drive Angel home. We get back around eleven, so her parents won't be too mad. I walk her to the door, and I can't help but think that I love her and want to spend the rest of my life with her…

"Good night, Collins."

"Good night Angel… and happy birthday." We kiss gently, and she goes into the house. I look up into the sky. She was right- the moon is beautiful. But nowhere near as beautiful as my Angel.

-was eating chocolate-covered pretzels and watching a QE marathon- haha. Well… um… not much else to say. Please review! -runs away to get some strawberries and whipped cream- yummy!