Sorry...a little short, but I'm busy with school and stuff. Hope y'all like it anyway!
Slowly, the days begin to get warmer as we creep into February. Mimi and Roger are sticking together for once, they seem to be learning to compromise. Mimi is still weak when it comes to some stuff, but she's getting better. Angel ain't so good though. She's a little sick and Collins absolutely refuses to leave her side. They spend all their time curled up on the couch in the Loft. We've just managed to convince Roger to move into Mimi's apartment permanently, so then Angel can have his room until she's better. Open on the friends helping Roger move out, and Angel move in.
Mark gave a heavy sigh as he uncovered another box of Roger's mix tapes. Although Roger's bedroom was about the size of a box, he managed to cram a whole load of junk into it. The two were sitting on his bed and sorting through the junk. Deciding what could be thrown out, what would go with Roger to Mimi's, and what would stay in the Loft.
"Are any of these tapes actually any good?" Mark asked, brushing dusk off another box and sorting through it. Roger shrugged his shoulders in a non-committal answer.
"I recorded them about a year ago...back when I had a band..." he almost slipped into a daydream but kept his concentration, not expanding on his short answer. Mark picked a bulky tape player off one of the top shelves and put a random tape in. It was labelled with a date, when Mark read it, he realised in was from just over a year before. Roger jerked his head up when he heard the sound of guitars tuning up, and the low buzzing of the old tape player. He didn't complain about Mark playing it, just sat there with a half smile on his face, listening intently. There was the sound of Roger practising the first couple of chords, and warming his voice up a little. The other band members talking about going out that night. Then Roger was hushing them up, reminding them that they were recording. He cleared his throat. Then there was a sound of a girl asking them which song they were doing.
"Turn it off Mark," Roger said suddenly, snapping them back to the present. Mark obliged, reaching over and pulling the plug on the tape player. He turned and looked at Roger anxiously.
"Are you-" He was cut off before he could barely begin checking up on his friend.
"Why did I even think of keeping these stupid tapes?" Roger asked loudly, picking one up and throwing it harshly back into it's box. "None of them are any good!" He raised his voice and continued throwing the tapes back into the empty cardboard boxes. Mark stood up and backed against the wall, shocked by Roger's sudden temper. "Why did I even do it in the first place? It was all a waste of time...everything is!" Roger grabbed his jacket off the bed and pulled in on hurriedly, he couldn't think. "I'm going out. If Mimi asks for me, tell her I'll be back later," he mumbled a goodbye to Mark and stormed out of the apartment, slamming his bedroom door so hard that it almost came clean off the hinges.
Roger walked along the back alleys of buildings, shaking his head. Now, thanks to that tape, all he could hear was that girls voice. Playing over and over, like a stuck record. It was like a throbbing pain, hearing that voice. He had thought for a moment that she was in the room beside him, making him forget that she was never coming back.
Mark stood there for a moment, stunned. He had known, the moment he heard April's voice on the tape, that Roger would be upset. But he couldn't have predicted that he would have reacted quite so badly. It took a moment for Mark to come to his senses and actually move from his spot against the wall. He shook his head, dazed, and began to pack away the boxes. He wondered whether Roger was serious about throwing away the tapes of not, he decided to keep them and just hide them in his room or something. Maybe one day they would be important to him. Hell, they were important to him now. Mark picked up the last of the boxes and exited the bedroom, checking that Roger hadn't broken the door on his way out.
"Mark, what the hell just happened?" Mark turned to see Collins looking at him, thoroughly confused. Angel was turned over on the couch, presumably asleep.
"Is she asleep?" Mark asked, before answering his question. Collins nodded and Mark explained Roger's behaviour. "I put on one of the tapes from Roger's room. Recording of his old band...didn't even get to the start of the song," Mark bowed his head for a moment before continuing. "April was on there, just talking...but still...she was there." Collins didn't say anything for a moment, just raised his hand to his mouth in shock.
"Shit..." He mumbled finally. Mark gave a short nod of agreement.
"Who's April?" asked Angel, having been woken up by the two of them talking. She looked a few shades paler than normal, and had to cough and clear her throat a couple of times before talking, and she still sounded hoarse. But the biggest difference between when she was ill and well was the lack of make up, wig or glamorous clothing. It was almost like she was a completely different person. It was like the difference between looking at a child and an adult. "Who's April?" Angel repeated when no one offered her an answer. Collins looked at the floor before answering. It was a touchy subject.
"Roger's ex..." he said, not wanting to tell the whole story. Angel sensed the tension in the air and knew there was much more to it than that.
"Bad relationship?" She asked. Mark raised his eyebrows.
"You could say that." Collins could tell that Angel was starting to get annoyed with the lack of explanation, so took it upon himself to explain.
"Roger met her when he was with his band, over a year ago. They had the whole true love thing going on. We really thought that those two would be together forever. But no. One day, Roger comes home after being out with his friends and finds a note from April, just saying 'We've got AIDS'. Then he finds that she's killed herself." There was an empty silence before Collins could carry on. "Anyway, it was enough to throw him into depression for about a year, he only started to come out of it when he met Mimi." Collins took a deep breath and sat down on the end of the couch, telling that story always seemed to exhaust him. There was a horrible silence for a moment. Angel took a minute just to understand what she had just heard. All of Roger's behaviour actually made sense now.
"Wow...that's just...oh..." She couldn't seem to be able to piece a sentence together. She took a deep breath to say something meaningful, but all that came out was, "oh man...poor Roger."