A/N- Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far. I'm really glad you guys liked it! I hope you like this chapter, too. And even if you didn't, let me know. Constructive criticism is great, too. It'll always help. So, READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!

-Kait

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I brought Izzy back to the loft. On the walk back from the park we learned that we had a lot in common with each other. She has a great personality, parallel to Mimi's, even. She has the ability to bring out a better side of me. It's starting to scare me, actually, because this is exactly how it all started out with Mimi and I. Her attitude towards life paired with her spunk left me in awe. I was drawn to Mimi, and in the short time I've known Izzy, I'm beginning to have the same feelings.

But I shouldn't, right? I still love Mimi. I can't do this to her, can I?

When we arrived, we attempted to race each other up the stairs, but halfway through we both got tired and collapsed on the landing in a fit of laughter.

"Damn! I thought I would win, too!" She shook with laughter, her chest heaving.

"Yeah, miss track star. Look who's talking, now!"

She laughed even harder. "Fuck you, Roger."

I flashed her a big smile as I laughed, one of the biggest smiles since Mimi's death. I stood up quickly and started up the next flight of stairs. "Come on, slowpoke!"

She groaned. "No…carry me?"

I laughed. "Carry you? No, get your ass up here by yourself," I said with a smile.

She sighed and made her way up the stairs, walking a bit faster than me. "You're gonna pay," she said through her teeth as she walked past me.

I laughed it off and met her at the loft's door. I slipped the key through the key hole and slid the heavy door open. "Mark? You home?"

No answer.

"Guess he's out filming or something. Oh, well. Make yourself comfortable. I'm just gonna check the messages and then I'll give you a tour, okay?"

"Sounds good," she said with a smile as she sat down on the ratty couch.

I pressed the 'play' button on the answering machine. BEEP!

Hey, bitches! It's Collins. I'm leaving around four this afternoon to come home for the summer. See if you can get the gang together tonight, okay? Alright, so I'll meet you guys the Life around 6:30 if I don't see you before then. Bye!

"Funny, I had a professor named Collins once. He was my favorite teacher, actually."

I gave her a funny look. "Really? Because he is a professor at Yale, you know. He taught at M.I.T. for a while back in '89."

This got a huge grin out of her. "Oh my god, Tom Collins, right? Professor Tom Collins?"

I laughed. "Yeah! Where exactly do you know him from?" I asked her this as I filled two glasses of water from the tap. I handed one to Izzy and took a big gulp of mine.

"Yale."

I spit my water out and it landed all over the coffee table. "You went to Yale?"

"Uh, yeah. Why, is that hard to believe?"

"Sort of. I mean, it's not that you're not smart enough or anything, it's just…if you went to Yale, why are you looking to live here?"

"Oh, my parents paid for Yale. They said that I needed to become a surgeon just like them and that I was supposed to marry another doctor, too. But I knew that wasn't what I wanted to do." I nodded. "They never saw each other and when they were together, all they did was fight. Not to mention that they were never home for me, their only daughter."

"I'm so sorry, Izzy. That must have been—"

"Wait," she stopped me. "It gets worse."

I shifted my position on the couch so I could look at her better. I could tell this wasn't going to be easy for her to talk about.

"When I was 15 my dad found out that he had a tumor resting on his optic nerve. And you'd think that since he was a doctor himself he would have noticed there was something wrong, but of course he didn't. He was too focused on his career to focus on his own health."

She paused to take a deep breath. "Since it was on his optic nerve, he was having problem with his eyesight and he was having seizures. And if he couldn't see or control the seizing, he couldn't perform surgeries. When he went to his oncologist and she said that the chances of him surviving the surgery were slim to none, so he decided to just give up his license." Izzy shook her head. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She reached up and took my hand into hers, squeezing it a bit as she let out a small smile.

"He ended up surviving for a year and a half with the tumor before he passed away. He had lost his eyesight completely about three months in. That's, uh, that's when he taught me to play the guitar. He said that music was one of the few things that you didn't need your sight for; that all you needed to do was feel the rhythm and go with it."

She took another deep breath. "So, that's why playing the guitar is so important to me. It's one of the last things my dad taught me, besides telling me to live like there's no tomorrow." I smiled, remembering how Mimi and Angel lived by the same philosophy.

"But I don't think that was your original question, now, was it?"

I shook my head, coming out of my day dream. "What?"

"What was your first question? You know, the one before I spilled my guts to you," she said with a smile.

"Oh, I asked why you wanted to live here of all places if you go to Yale?"

"Used to go to Yale. I kind of switched my major behind my mother's back from pre-med like she wanted to something that was more interesting, more practical."

"And thatwould be…?"

"Computer science."

"Ah, so that's how you were graced by Collins' presence. And since you didn't tell her you were switching majors she cut you off."

"Exactly. You're very smart, Roger," Izzy said with a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, shut up." I threw a pillow at her. She threw one back at me, causing a full fledged pillow fight.

I abruptly stood up. "Wait, I realized I never showed you around the place."

Izzy sat up from her spot on the floor, pillow in hand. "Oh, yeah. Well, I'm guessing this is the living room." She pointed to the left. "And that's the kitchen."

"You know, Izzy, you're very smart," I said, mocking her previous tone. I received a nice big smack on the ass from her pillow.

We both laughed and I helped her up from the floor. I gave her the tour of the rest of the loft, not that there was much left to show her.

"So, do you want to live here or not?"

"Yeah, I do. But what about this Mark guy. Wouldn't he want to meet me before I move in?"

"Nah, he'll be fine with it." I hope.

"Really?"

"Really."

She ran over to me and gave me a huge hug. "Thank you so much, Roger!" She took my hand. "Let's go get my stuff! C'mon!"

"Wait a second, will ya? I have to write a note for Mark."

I grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and scribbled him a note.

Mark-

Found a new roommate. Going to get her stuff and bring it over here. Call Maureen and Joanne and tell them to meet us at the Life at 6:30. Collins is coming home. Be back soon.

-Roger

"Ready?"

"Yeah." I grabbed my keys and locked the door before heading down the stairs with Izzy.

"Where do you live, exactly?"

"At the Hilton."

"Hilton!"

"Yeah, the Hilton. Is that a problem?"

"Well, no. It's just…I don't get it. Why would you want to move into a dump like the loft when you can obviously afford to stay at the Hilton?"

She laughed. "Mother dearest forgot to take back her Visa when she cut off my tuition. So I decided I better milk it for all it's worth and live lavishly, I guess, before she figures out that I still have her credit card."

I laughed. "Sounds like something I would do."

She smiled. "It's a long walk, though, so we could just take a cab and give the tab to mother dearest."

"Sounds like a plan." I waved my arm to the taxi cab coming our way. He stopped and we piled in.

"The Hilton Hotel on West 42nd street, please," Izzy said. The driver grunted and merged into traffic.

We arrived in front of the Hilton Hotel about 15 minutes later. Izzy paid the driver using her mother's credit card and we were on our way.

We packed up all of her clothes and belongings into her suitcases and had the staff bring them down to the lobby.

By the time we got back to the loft it was 6:15. Mark left a note saying he had left around 6 and that he'd see us there.

"Shit. We've got to head down to the Life."

"The Life?"

"Yeah. The Life Café. You'll meet Mark, Maureen, Joanne, and you'll get to see Collins again."

Izzy nodded. "Where should I put these?"

"Oh, let's put them in your room." We took her suitcases to the spare bedroom, which was now the home of Izzy West. It wasn't much, but it was better than living on the streets. At least we had heat for the winter. The stick came out of Benny's ass the day he divorced Alison. We still didn't like him that much, but he was a much better person without Muffy.

I grabbed her by the hand and dragged her out of the loft, down the stairs, and to the Life. We opened the door and were greeted by my friends, hopefully Izzy's friends in the near future.

I had a feeling Izzy was going to be around us for a long time.

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A/N: Hope you liked it! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!