Mark rolled off of Mimi and back onto the cold pavement. He was sweating and out of breath, as was Mimi. They looked at each other and smiled. Mimi curled up close to him from under their blanket, resting her head on his shoulder. They were lying in an alley behind a small lot near Avenue C. It was where they had always done this in the past.

"That was bliss, Mark," said Mimi, fiddling with his fingers.

"It sure was," he said. Just then, Mimi's cell phone rang.

She answered. It was Roger. He whispered into the phone frantically, and it was clear someone was sobbing in the background. "What's going on?" she asked.

"It's Tony," he said. "He's gone. He left a note saying that he was leaving, and he's gone. You need to be here."

"Oh, God, that's horrible! We're on our way," she said before she could stop herself.

There was a pause. "Did you say 'we'?" he asked.

She laughed it off. "Yeah, sorry. The girls were passing out drinks earlier, shouldn't have taken it. I'll be there soon." She closed the phone.

She looked at Mark and breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close," he said, standing. "I guess I'll go then."

"I'm really sorry Mark. Maybe another time."

He shook his head. "I don't know, Mimi. I really don't feel good about this. Roger is my best friend. I don't think I can hurt him anymore."

Mimi looked at the ground. "Maybe this wasn't the best idea. I don't want to give you… you know. I don't want to infect you."

They stood in silence for a few moments. "You should go. Make sure Collins is okay, you know."

She nodded and they hugged. Mimi picked up her bag and left.

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"What the hell happened, Collins?" They were all sitting around the crying man in his apartment. Roger, Mimi, Maureen, and Joanne.

Collins took a deep breath and spoke. "I just came home and found the note. All his stuff is—gone." He continued to sob.

"This is so weird," said Joanne. "Where was he all day?"

"He had a doctor's appointment today," said Collins. "He should have just come home. Did he call any of you?"

They all shook their heads. "We should look for him," said Roger.

Collins stood up, shaking his head. "Where would we look? Where could he be? He doesn't have any family here."

"We could try my space," said Maureen, looking around at her friends. "I know some people there; we could at least ask if they've seen him."

Everyone nodded. Tent City seemed like as good a place as any to start looking. But there were a lot of people there; it would be hard to spot one person among them.

"Let's go," said Roger, standing up with the others.

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Mark hustled down 11th street, feeling disappointed. He had been ecstatic when Mimi called, why did Tony have to destroy everything? Why did tonight have to be the night he decided to run off?

He continued to walk until he reached Tent City. This is where he had always slept on the nights when he and Mimi had gotten together. Time to resume the tradition. He walked over to a far wall and lay down in between two tents, near a sleeping young man.

Mark did a double take when he saw the man. It couldn't be, he thought. But it was. It was Tony. Mark grabbed his shoulder and shook him awake. "Tony? Tony?"

He mumbled and whispered, "What?"

"Tony what the hell are you doing here?"

He lifted his head and looked at Mark. "Mark? What are you doing here?"

He ignored the question. "Collins is looking for you, man. Why did you run out? What's going on?"

Tony sat up and looked at Mark. "I'm dying."

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Mimi bit her nails as she walked along next to Roger. If she was correct, Mark would be at Tent City. It's where he always slept after their get-togethers. And if they ran into him, she didn't know what she'd say.

Roger interpreted her nail-biting for something else. "Don't worry, we'll find him, Meems."

She nodded. They approached the huge space, full of sleeping people. It was a large space, so they agreed to split up. Roger and Mimi searching one side, Joanne, Maureen, and Collins searching the other.

As the couple walked along the rows of tents and sleeping bags, Roger spotted something. He walked over to a large blue bag. Mark's camera bag. It rested in between two tents. There was no sign of Mark.

"What the fuck?" whispered Roger. He looked at Mimi.

Her face went red, and she was thankful it was dark. She shrugged her shoulders. "No idea."

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Mark and Tony walked along the various streets, looking in the various stores. It was very awkward. Tony explained to Mark that the reason he left was he didn't want Collins to watch him die.

"He would want to be with you," said Mark. "He was with Angel right up until the end and didn't complain once."

Tony stopped and looked at him. "It's not that, Mark. I know he could care for me. I just don't want to watch him agonizing. I couldn't take it." A tear rolled down his cheek.

Mark put a hand on his shoulder. "Listen. I want you to go to the Loft and wait there." He handed him the keys. "I'm gonna find the guys, and we're gonna talk this out, all of us." He smiled. "It'll be fine."

Tony sniffed and nodded. "Thanks Mark. That sounds good." He turned and walked in the direction from which they came.

But Mark did not know whether it would be fine. Because Collins wasn't prepared for this news, and Mark didn't know how he would react. Angel all over again.

AN: Yes, this fic will take place over one night, in case you didn't already realize that. And the Mark/Mimi thing will be addressed later, so please be patient. Also, there has been a lack of reviews for Chapter One, so please REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! REVIEW!!!!!!!!! REVIEW!!!!!!!!!