Chapter 10: Angel

Rachael's POV

I shivered and leaned against Mark. Snow fell to the ground, twirling in little crystal circles, some sticking to the window. Mark wrapped his arms around me more tightly and pulled a blanket over us. God Benny is such an ass, why can't he turn on the fucking heat? I felt so at home in Mark's arms, I laid against his chest and just listened to his heart beat.

Not much later, Roger came out of his bedroom, yawning and then sat down in the chair next to the couch. "Morning." I said sleepily, he replied with a hand wave as he finished his yawn.

He sighed looking out the window. "What is it Rog?" Mark asked, his voice calm but intrigued.

Roger stared at his guitar, "I'm just thinking about joining that band."

"Were they nice?" Mark asked.

Roger nodded, his face impassive, "They were." His eyes suddenly grew misty and he smiled softly, "They were all just so young, so inexperienced. I think it's gonna shock them a bit, being in the rock world. So naïve…"

Mark nodded, stroking my hair, "Have you ever considered that if you joined the band, you could kind of…guide them?" I said softly

Roger looked at me, and shook his head slowly surprised but really contemplating what I had said. "I'll think about it." He replied quietly.

I smiled up at Mark, he kissed my forehead when there was a knock on the door.

Collins voice rang in, "Come on you lazy asses, you better be up by now."

I smiled and getting up rather reluctantly went to open the door for him. I was greeted by his big bright smile, "Hey Rach. Y'all up for some breakfast?"

I turned to the boys and shrugged. They both nodded.

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We all sat down at the Life.

Collins turned to Roger, "Hey man, I don't want to pressure you, but the band really needs to know soon."

Roger nodded, "I'm getting closer to a decision, I'll tell you as soon as I decide."

The waiter came by, his shirt a flamboyantly bright pink. "What can I get you all?" He flashed a smile at Collins, obviously checking him out as well.

Collins smiled back politely and ordered, but didn't return any other glances. The waiter looked slightly put off as we ordered.

"Collins, I think someone has a crush on you…" I whispered in a sing song voice.

He blushed, "Yeah guess so."

"Not your type?" I asked as the waiter continued to try to and catch Collins' eye from across the room.

He shrugged before adding softly, "Too soon", not looking at me directly. I remembered what Roger had told me about Angel. But it had been 2 years, I didn't understand.

I reached out for his hand hesistantly, "Collins, it-it's ok you know, it's ok to try again."

He looked me in the eyes, his eyes sad, "Maybe…."

I smiled, gave his hand a squeeze, and repeated, "Its ok."

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Mark's POV

Roger and Collins said goodbye closing the door behind them, leaving Rachael and I in the hall.

I put my arms around her and kissed the top of the forehead. She was such an angel, such a good friend to Roger and Collins. As I held her close, I couldn't imagine life without her. I needed her here, like when she needed me to fall asleep, I needed her to breathe. She looked up at me with her beautiful eyes and planted a kiss on my lips. I deepened the kiss trying not to get lost in pleasure before parting. But we didn't have to part, I thought suddenly.

I stopped and pulled away, "What is it Mark?" she asked, her voice small and confused.

"Do you umm, maybe want to umm move in?" I asked hurriedly

She didn't even blink before responding, "Yes."

I kissed her again, my stomach in butterflies. She said yes, I had felt our relationship was serious, this just cemented that in my mind.

This time she was the one to pull away, seeing my eager face she giggled lightly, her laugh making my heart catch. "Can I move my stuff tomorrow?"

I nodded letting her in, Roger raised his eyebrow goofily, "Hello there…."

She laughed, "I decided to move in."

Roger ran over to Collins, "HA! I told you!"

"What the hell?" I asked, my hands on her waist as we walked over to them.

"We kinda bet on when you would finally ask her to move in." Collins explained.

Rachael giggled while I felt completely scandalized. "Thanks guys." I said, my tone sarcastic.

Rachael turned in my arms, her eyes bright, "Now don't worry about them, its only a game." One look in her eyes and it didn't seem as bad anymore.

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I rolled over, Rachael was on her side looking at me. "Morning." She said, her voice light and heavenly.

"Morning." I whispered back, giving her a soft kiss. She smiled into it and leaned into me, her bare skin on mine already intoxicating me.

Her smile grew wider as our lips parted, running her hand through her soft hair. "I was thinking after my class today we could all have lunch. It's been a while since we've seen Maureen and Joanne and Collins is home. You can even get some filming done while I work and we can just meet at the Life."

"Sounds good to me." I loved how she was so considerate of letting me have time to go film, I was working on getting this film spot at a new agency, and she had been really supportive. It meant so much to me.

Rachael's POV

With one last kiss, we both got out of bed. As I stood up to put on a shirt, the room suddenly turned sideways and fuzzy. I leaned against the wall, but head feeling foggy. What the hell was going on? Ugh, I felt like shit. Suddenly I felt Mark help me sit back down on the bed, "Rachael, what wrong? Are you ok?"

I shook my head, "I-I don't know, I just got up and I got really dizzy."

He held him close, stroking my hair as gradually my vision became regular. In his arms I felt safe again, I didn't like that feeling of not being in control. "Do you want me to call Gisele and tell her your sick?"

I shook my head, "I should go. It'll be fine."

"You sure?" He asked, his voice calm as he tried to mask his worry.

"Sure." I said, leaning into him more.

"If you got pneumonia from how cold this place is, I'm gonna kill Benny." I smiled at the protectiveness in his voice.

"I'm sure it's just a minor cold baby."

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I stumbled in the alley on the way to my classroom, leaning on the door. I closed my eyes, trying to keep my vision straight. I felt someone touch my shoulder. I jumped and opened my eyes to see Gisele's worried face.

"You ok Rach?"

I nodded, "I'll be fine. I caught something, I don't know what though. It's probably just a cold."

She followed me into the classroom as I set up, "What happened?"

"I was getting out of bed when it started I just got really dizzy. Now whenever I walk too much, my head spins a bit and my stomach is really aching."

Gisele frowned as I moved towards the back cabinet. "Rachael…"

"Yeah?" I asked, staring at the pencils to find the right ones.

"Did you ever think… that you might be pregnant?"

I almost dropped the pencils. Looking into her eyes, I said truthfully, "I- well, no, I hadn't though about it. But that- god. Gisele I might be pregnant." The truth hit me like bricks, "What am I going to do?"

She put her hand on my shoulder, "I don't know, take a test and work from there."

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I held the test, my hands trembling. After class I had ran to the pharmacy and then ran back to the loft. I checked the clock, I was supposed to be at the Life right now, but this couldn't wait. When the time had finally passed I looked at the little indicator, it was blue. This was the fifth test that had said the same thing. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I was pregnant. This couldn't be happening. I wanted kids with Mark, but I hadn't expected it to happen now. Cindy's words rang through my head, "…he's never gonna get there if he's worried about you getting knocked up". I had screwed up, what was I kidding? Mark didn't want kids with me, now he wasn't going to get this job if had to be worried about me. Oh god.

I heard a knock on the door. I opened it, trying to mask my worry, "Mark we need to-"

My heart stopped and I backed away from the door, fear flooding through my body. The younger Rachael inhabited me.

"Hello Rachael." His voice was mocking and haunting.

My ex stared back at me.