Squee a new chapter I just thought of. Makes me kinda sad though… Okay. Very sad. Oh, and I was reading "Without You" earlier today and started crying when he was talking about his mom's memorial service. I was really crying… it was sad. Ah, I was thinking of you my loyal reviewers. I was actually in the middle of reading a story, and I said- I think I'll post the next chapter. :D And so here it is!

Disclaimer: As always- I don't own RENT.

--I'm Home--

-Collins' POV-

It's been two weeks since Angel moved back in with her parents. It's now Monday, the first Monday of our vacation. Angel hasn't talked to me since Friday after school, and I'm a little worried. Okay, really worried. I tried calling, but her mom answered and said "Angelo can't come to the phone right now, but I'll let him know you called."

So I'm sitting on the couch, staring at the telephone like a cheesy movie character. Please call… Phone, I dare you to start ringing. I double-dare you! Ring now! And… ring. Ring. Ring, dammit! I hate phones. They aren't good for anything except messing with.

(sound effect: ring ring)

"Hello?" I ask eagerly, hoping for Angel's voice to be on the other end.

"Collins?" Maureen's voice asks. Dammit!

"Hi Maureen. What's up?"

"Have you heard from Angel yet?"

"No. I was staring at the phone, willing it to ring when you called. I guess it worked. Just not exactly the person I wanted to call."

"Why don't you just go over to her house? Don't you live near her?"

"Oh yeah… but what if she isn't there?"

"Then you wasted ten minutes. I don't know! If you want to talk to her that much, just go over there!"

Okay. Seems logical. I want to see Angel, so I go to her house. Why the hell don't I ever think of these things? I put my shoes on and shout to my mom that I'm going out for a while. She never really asks where I'm going… Oh well. No time to worry about that right now- I need to make sure Angel is okay. I walk down the street quickly, desperately hoping that I can get to her house without running into anyone or being delayed by anything. Luckily I get there quickly, and I run up to the front door and ring the doorbell. Angel's mom answers the door.

"Hello? Oh, Tom! Angelo was going to call you today. He said you might be worried or something… Please come in. I'll get Angelo down here."

I walk into the house and sit down on the couch. Miguel walks into the room and when he sees me sitting there he immediately shouts in joy and jumps on me.

"Collins! Angel was really sad that he couldn't call you. Dad took the phone away when they were fighting a few days ago."

"They were fighting?"

"Yeah… it got pretty bad. But mom and dad and Angel all told me not to tell anyone, so you better not tattle on me."

"Don't worry… I won't." He gets up and scurries out of the room to do who knows what, and I'm left to my thoughts. Whatever thoughts I'm having are pushed out of my head when Angel comes into the room.

"Hey Collins." She says quietly, sitting down next to me. She looks kind of pale, but several bruises stand out on her face, neck and arms. "I know. I look like shit. Don't worry, though. I'm fine."

"Angel… You don't look or sound fine. What happened?" She sighs and looks down at the floor.

"Can we go somewhere else to talk? Like your house?"

"Sure. Of course." She stands up and goes upstairs, reappearing a moment later with a jacket and the scarf Mark gave her.

"Okay let's go."

-Angel's POV-

God exists and Thomas Collins is proof. He's changed my life so much, and now he's going to save me from my stupid mistakes. Thank you, God. Thank you.

We finally get to his house, and I sort of collapse on the couch. I have to move so Collins can sit down, though. But I put my head in his lap after he sits on one end of the couch. Somehow that just does it and I start crying, yet again. I've been doing that a lot lately. He does his best to calm me down, running his fingers through my hair and whispering sweet words to me. I'm able to stop crying after a few minutes.

"Sorry… I got your pants wet."

"It's okay, Ang. You needed to do that. It's okay… Now, tell me what happened." I take a deep breath before beginning.

-flashback- ((AN: I know, flashbacks are stupid. But I needed one))

I sit on the couch with a book after dinner Friday night. I decided not to change my clothes after school, just to piss my dad off. And he seemed mad. But so far no bombs or explosions. Just icy silence and stares. But then he comes into the room and the mood changes.

"Angelo. Go upstairs right now. You are grounded for the rest of the Christmas break. Don't even think about sneaking out, either."

"Dad, stop it. I'll do whatever I want, and you can't stop me." I stand up and look him in the eyes as I calmly say this. "So just leave me alone, and we'll be fine."

The next few moments are a blur, but I feel myself being slapped and then punched repeatedly. I try to run away… but there are hands stronger than mine grabbing my arms and throwing me onto the ground. A swift kick to the stomach and it's over- I lose consciousness.

When I wake up, I'm in bed and my mom is putting an icepack on my side. It's cold and I make a small noise to let her know I'm awake…

-end flashback-

"Your dad hit you?"

"Yeah." We sit in silence for a few minutes.

"You can't go back. I won't let you."

"I know. I don't want to go back. I want to stay with you."

We sit in silence yet again, until a door opens and closes somewhere in the house. His mom comes into the room soon afterwards.

"Angel! I was wondering when you would come and visit again. How are you?" I sit up and try to smile as I wipe my eyes.

"Not that good, actually. I… need to stay here again. I should never have gone back…"

"Oh, sweetie, what happened?" She rushes across the room to inspect the bruises on my arms. "Did someone hurt you?"

"Yeah…"

"Her dad." Collins speaks up. He puts his arm around me and squeezes my shoulder gently. "And I wouldn't let her go back again, even if she wanted to."

"Poor baby… well you can stay here as long as you want. Would you two like something to eat? How about popcorn, and you can watch a movie."

I'm really glad to be home.

-Collins' POV-

I can't believe Angel's dad would do that. I just can't believe it. It's horrible! She is never going back to that house, unless I'm with her. She deserves so much better than that. And why would her mom not stand up for her?

Nothing makes sense, except us lying together on the couch once again. We can be simple and true in these moments. We can be ourselves and not worry about judgment or fear or hatred.

Sadly, all perfect moments must end.

(sound effect: doorbell rings)

"Tom, let me answer the door." My mom walks into the room to the front door. "Hello?" Surprise, surprise- Angel's dad.

"Is Angelo here? He ran off when he's supposed to be grounded. I figured he would come here."

"Yes, Angel is here. And we heard about what you did, and I think that Angel should stay here."

"He is my son, and I will raise him however I want. He still belongs with his family. And I will not let him continue to live here."

"I think you'd be lucky if we don't report what you did to the police. You know, abuse is a crime."

"I will get him back. You can't stop me." He pushes my mom aside and steps into the room. Angel clings to my arm and tries to look somewhat confident. "Angelo- get up. You're coming home."

"I… I am home. And I'm not leaving." She says quietly. For a moment it looks like her dad is going to grab her and possibly drag her out of the house, but he reconsiders it and instead leaves quickly. My mom shuts the door behind him and turns towards us.

"Angel, that was very brave of you to stand up to him. And don't worry- you can stay here as long as you want."

We spend the rest of the day together, and when my dad gets home he agrees that Angel can stay with us again. And despite the slight sadness of the previous events, we dance around the living room to oldies music on the radio. Angel ends up back in the guest room, now officially her room.

"Psst! Ang! Wake up!" I whisper urgently, shaking her shoulder gently. "Angel, darling, I need you to wake up now." She makes a small noise and rolls over.

"Hi Collins. Why are you waking me up? Is it morning?"

"Not really… it's about 2 AM. We're sneaking out of the house to get some of your stuff."

"Thomas Collins that is possibly the dumbest idea you have ever had. Ever."

And even if we both realize how stupid it is… we do it anyway. Within fifteen minutes we're walking down the street in the moonlight, singing more of those stupid oldies songs. But as we near our final destination, the singing stops and a feeling of anticipation and slight dread settles around us. We sneak across the yard to the front door, and Angel grabs the spare key hidden under a rock near the door.

"Ready?" she whispers.

"Oh, just hurry up. We aren't ready and never will be." We unlock the door and try to be silent as we go up the stairs and into Angel's room. Everything goes perfectly and soon we have a majority of her stuff packed into a duffel bag- the same one she used last time.

"This is going too well…" She says as we go back down the stairs. "I can't believe it went that well…"

We hear the sound of a door opening upstairs and the hall light turns on.

"Shit!" I say in a hushed voice. We both run for the front door, not caring how loud our footsteps are. Suddenly there are more footsteps on the stairs and Angel's dad appears a moment later. "Come on, let's get out of here!" I say, not bothering to be quiet anymore.

"What the hell- Get out! Right now!" Angel's dad walks across the room, and Angel herself seems unable to move. She looks completely terrified as he raises his hand and smacks her, leaving a red mark on her still-pale skin. She stumbles backwards and I catch her and help her stay upright. Her father looks at me angrily, and before he can do anything else to her, I step in front of Angel.

"Don't you touch her ever again. We're leaving. Angel- go outside. I'm right behind you." She dashes out the front door and I slowly back up until I'm standing outside. I close the door, and we both run as fast as we can- like our lives depend on it. We don't stop running until we get back to my house.

"Holy shit! Collins that was possibly the scariest thing ever." She leans against the side of the house, panting slightly. "And you were amazing."

"Why thank you! You know, you should try a little harder to defend yourself."

"I know… It's just that I get so scared sometimes, and my brain stops functioning."

We go inside and climb the stairs, going into Angel's room and shutting the door. She starts unpacking stuff from the bag while I sit down on the bed. When she's done she flops down next to me.

"Well, now what? Are we just going to go to sleep? Can I stay in here?" I ask, and Angel just groans and rolls over.

"Sure Collins. You can stay- as long as you promise to shut up and go to sleep."

I have writers block. I am angry at how sucky some of my ideas are. RAWR. So anyway… Your reviews give me the will to keep writing!