Author's Notes: Well guys, I'm taking this story above and beyond. I didn't want it to become to boring (even though I didn't think it was). Because only a few of you are actually reviewing, I want to make it interesting for you. Thank you to those who continually read up on this story. I hope I'm not letting you down!

I OWN NOTHING.

Please read, review and enjoy!

Italics are thoughts and memories.

Chapter Eighteen

It had been about as hour that passed since the incident with Angel and Collins still felt horrible even though Angel had forgiven him. The professor rubbed his face trying to wipe away the stress that was beginning to come. Collins put his face in his hands, which hurt from Angel's fresh scratches. The one person that he loved with all his heart, he had hurt. He heard Mimi's message but didn't bother to call back, Angel would later. Suddenly his thoughts were broken by a frantic banging at the door.

Collins quickly got up. "Who is it!"

"Collins it's Mark open up!"

The professor stood there for just a moment not wanting to open the door, but he knew that he couldn't shut his friends out.

"Hey Mark." Collins said wearily as he opened the door. "What's going on man?"

Mark looked around; the place was a complete mess. "What the hell happened?"

"Nothing." Collins said quickly.

Mark came in the room, placing his bag on the couch.

Collins closed the door behind his friend and leaned against the door. "So what's going on man?"

The film maker looked up at Collins. "What the hell happened to your face Tom?"

Collins quickly looked away from his friend and went to the kitchen attempting to hide his face in the refrigerator. He called from inside. "Mark you want something!"

"No man I'm fine. What happened? Where's Angel?"

"I'm right here." Angel said coming in wearing a huge sweatshirt and pajamas. "Hey Markie."

The two were uncharacteristically quiet. Mark looked at both of them, who were trying to ignore the silence. "Guys, what the hell happened?"

"Mark I'm getting ready to make a scarf do you want me to make you one?" Angel asked trying to change the subject.

The film maker walked over to where Angel was sitting on the couch and sat next to him. "Sure you can make me one."

"What color do you want?"

"Black and white."

Angel looked up at Mark from his bag of yarn. "You already have black and white one, I'll make you a nice lime green one."

Mark shook his head. "Angel I can't walk around New York with a lime green scarf, people will think I'm-"

"Gay?" Angel chimed in. "Is that what you meant to say?"

"Yeah." Mark said sheepishly.

Angel brought out the lime green yarn and held it up to Mark's face. "I think it's a great color for you. See?"

"How about a nice dark green instead."

The street drummer huffed. "Fine, I'll make you a dark green one."

Mark smiled at Angel. But his smile quickly faded when Angel scratched his neck. There were marks that were becoming very dark bruises. "Angel, what happened? There are dark bruises on your neck."

Angel cleared his throat. "Oh you know how Collins gets…can't keep his lips off of me."

Hearing this, Collins went into the bedroom closing the door.

Angel looked behind him and looked back his face instantly saddened.

Mark gazed at his friend. "Angel, tell me something…anything. But I want to know why you guys are acting so fucking weird."

Angel looked away. "Nothing Mark really, Tom and I…we're just going through some stuff right now that's all."

"Did Collins do this to you?"

Angel began to cry into the yarn. "He didn't mean too, I was scratching him! He loves me! He'd...never…hurt…me!" Soon Angel couldn't control his sobs as Mark tried comforting him. "He knows how much I love him!" Mark was actually surprised that Angel would tell him while Collins was still in the house.

Hearing his sobs, Collins came out of the room walking over to Angel. "Baby don't cry." Collins cooed as he hugged Angel. Mark was really upset now. "Tom what the hell happened?"

"We….we fought Mark." Angel's sobs were even louder now. "We're okay I swear, it just really bad today. Shhh love, don't cry."

"Why did you fight? Don't cry Angel." Mark said as he ran into the bathroom grabbing a tissue box.

"Don't worry about it man, I promise we'll be alright." The film maker handed the tissue box to Collins. The professor took a tissue and wiped Angel's face. "Shhh babe, don't cry. We're okay I promise. Shhh."

Mark didn't know what to do. If Collins and Angel were fighting this badly, what the hell would happen to the rest of the group? Collins and Angel were the core, if they broke the whole group brakes.

"Tom, I'm here for you." Collins looked up at his old friend grabbing his hand. "Thanks man."

Mark looked around. "First I'm going to start by cleaning up this mess."

The troubled couple held one another as they watch the pale film maker walk around putting things back in their proper places. Mark knew that he had been there enough to know where to put things back; it would be one less thing for Angel and Collins to think about.

Angel curled up into Collins' broad shoulders. "Tom, I hate it when we fight."

Collins looked back at Angel holding his lover tighter. "So do I Ang, so do I. I can't stand it."

"We're going to be okay though right?"

"I hope so love, but we do need to talk still. I…I just can't get past this whole David thing."

Angel began to cry once again, Collins limply holding him now. "Tom you know I love you."

"I know that Angel, but if we really are so deep in love then don't you think that there wouldn't be any room for anyone else?"

"It's so hard Tom to let him go, please understand that."

Collins was becoming angry again. "Then why did you tell me that you weren't in love with anyone else and that you wanted to give yourself to me again?" The professor stood up, anger coming over him once again. He was exhausted but it didn't matter, he wanted to get this over and done with once and for all.

Angel covered his face with his hands, sobbing as he was speaking. "I thought that I would be over David when I fell in love with you."

"So I was a diversion? To get you to stop being in love with him?"

"No Tom, it's not like that."

"Then what is it like Angel?"

Mark looked up from his place at the sink. He turned and quickly dried his hands off. He didn't want anymore fighting to happen, but whatever it was that they were talking about they both needed to talk regardless.

"Tom you don't understand…he proposed to me!"

Collins stopped pacing and looked at Angel. "Well I could see why you're so stuck on him; he could actually afford a ring. If I could afford a ring for you Angel, I would!"

Angel was getting angry now. "I know that Tom!"

Mark walked over to the couch. "Angel, don't yell just hear him out."

The street drummer snapped towards Mark. "I'm trying but he won't listen to me! It's like I'm talking to a fucking brick wall."

Collins began to talk to himself. "Hell, if I had the money I get us all the fuck out of here and go to fucking Santa Fe, but I can't! I will never be able to give you all that you need and you want I told you that."

"Tom I told you that I didn't care Tom, I could never get things that I wanted." Angel got up and went to hug his boyfriend. "But you are all I've ever wanted."

Collins pushed him away. "No…no I'm not. David was what you've wanted and since he's gone you'll have to take me…second best."

"Tom you're not second best! I told you that I fucking loved you and I do please stop denying me!"

"Guys, calm down." Mark said going around the couch and going up to them both.

"I told you that I would cover you didn't I? I love you Tom. You have completed me in ways that David never could."

Collins began to hit himself. "But you still think of him Angel. What is it that you want from him that I can't give? Sure, I can't buy you those shoes you want or those earrings you want…but I can love you…I do love you."

"I don't know why I still think of him..."

"You love him."

"Tom…"

"Do you still love him Angel answer me?"

"Not like you my love...not like you."

"ANSWER MY FUCKING QUESTION ANGEL!"

"Collins calm down!" Mark yelled getting in between them now.

"YES! ALRIGHT! YES! HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY IT TOM!"

Collins looked away, he was fuming now. "HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL WHEN YOU SAY THAT YOU LOVE SOMEONE ELSE?"

"HOW DO YOU THINK I FUCKING FEEL WHEN YOU RAPE ME!"

Mark looked at Angel and then to Collins. "What?"

Collins stood like a deer in headlights. Mark looked back at Collins. "Tom, what the fuck is he talking about?"

Angel was too angry to notice what he was doing. "Tell him Tom; tell him how you just raped me an hour ago and how you tried to make yourself feel better by giving me a fucking bath to wash your filth away!"

"Filth?" Collins said as he tried to push past Mark who was a barrier between the lovers. "Oh it's filth now?"

Angel looked at him.

"It wasn't filth the other night when you wanted it all over you."

Angel's eyes lit up in pure surprise and anger. He gritted his teeth as he said. "Tom, shut the fuck up right now."

Mark couldn't believe what was going on; he knew that what he was hearing he shouldn't have.

"Oh you don't want Mark to hear that Angel? How fucking nasty you act when it's just you and I."

Angel clenched his fists. "I said shut the fuck up Tom!"

Before Mark could register what was going on, Collins and Angel began to fight once more. Mark surprised himself with his strength as he grabbed Angel getting him out of the way of Collins' lunges toward him. Angel finally yanked himself out of Mark's grip running towards the bedroom. Collins continued yelling at Angel; spit flying from his mouth in rage. Angel fumbled around under the bed looking for it. He checked his side of the bed almost going fully underneath the bed. It wasn't there. Finally he checked Collins' side of the bed and found it. He grabbed it, tears streaming down his eyes as he sweats profusely. Angel heard every word Collins was saying. The young man lifted the object and pointed it at Collins. Mark saw the object and screamed. "NO ANGEL! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING! NO!"

The pain surged into Collins' body like a bolt of lightning. The sound was deafening. Collins' grabbed his stomach, blood everywhere. Mark caught his old friend as he fell, not being able to stand any longer. Collins began to foam at the mouth as Mark held him. Soon the film maker frantically ran to the phone screaming at the operator. "MY FRIEND HAS BEEN SHOT! PLEASE HURRY! OH MY FUCKING GOD PLEASE HURRY!"

Angel stood there tears never failing to come down. He was gone, his mind was completely gone. He still held the gun up even as he stared at his lover fighting for his life. Mark ran over to Angel screaming at him. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO ANGEL!"

Soon Mark grabbed a towel from the closet grabbing the gun from Angel's tight grip; the film maker balled it up and threw it into his book bag. He left Angel standing there and ran back to Collins holding his head up. The professor began to spit out blood trying to talk but to no avail. Mark could feel his friend slipping away from him by the second. "Come on man stay with me, stay with me Tom. Don't leave us, please oh my fucking God don't leave us. Don't leave me."

The sound of the paramedics broke Angel away from the trace he was in enough to look towards the door as the paramedics came in and began to take Collins away. Blood spilled out of Collins as Mark frantically told them that he had AIDS. Right after Mark had run out the door with Collins, Angel stood in the apartment alone. Soon enough the police came and began to question Angel, but he couldn't answer a single question. It wasn't until the police officers went inside Mark's bag that he had realized what Mark had done for him. The officers came up the Angel asking if he was a Mark Cohen, which he shook his head. Angel looked at the men tears falling out of his eyes, as he wiped his eyes Angel looked down at his right hand which had black spots on it. One of the officers saw the spots and motioned the other man to place hand cuffs on Angel. The street drummer finally realized that they were trying to arrest him and began to fight the officers. Angel obviously had no energy left because the officers easily held him as they read him his Miranda rights.

"…Mark Cohen you have the right to remain silent…anything that you can and will be used against in a court of law…"

In an instant Angel Dumott Schunard was about to loose everything that ever meant something to him in his life. Things that he thought that he would be able to keep forever was about to be taken away because of anger: his lover, his friends, his freedom and most of all…his dignity. What would happen to him? What would happen to Collins? How could two lovers that felt the way Collins and Angel did end up like his? As Angel was placed in the back of the police car, neighbors and people looking around the scene of the crime stared at Angel trying to remember who he was. The street drummer managed to look past all of the people and recognized a young girl in a coat that looked like Maureen's coat. She nervously stood there looking around for someone, and finally a man in his 30's came up to her immediately yelling at her. She seemed to be pleading to the man but he was having none of it, he pointed at her and screamed at her before finally walking away throwing a few dollars at her feet. The young woman fell to her knees crying and Angel began to cry as well. It was that girl that Maureen had brought into the hospital room yesterday, no one but Maureen knew who she was.

Angel thought to his lover close to death in the ambulance, Mark trying to keep him here. Knowing her man, he would probably give up knowing that Angel loved someone else. Collins wouldn't do that would he? Would he give up his life because of jealousy? Nothing was clear to Angel anymore. Even when he tried to escape the problems in his life, they always come back ten times stronger and hit Angel with a force that constantly threatened to take Angel's spirit away from him. But he knew that his life was more changed than ever now. Nothing, will ever be the same ever again.