Hey everyone :) I know this is on hiatus, but I haven't forgotten about it. I actually had something else written for chap. 10, but I really didn't like where it was going, and then my computer crashed and I ended up losing everything. So, I decided to start over! And now I have this. Yay! :D
I saw Rent for the first time, too, back in July. It was absolutely amazing. I wish I had been able to see it more times before it came off Broadway, but hey, what can you do?
Oh..I'm really not sure when this will be updated next. Today was my first day of school (guh.) and the beginning of my Senior year. I'm not sure how heavy the work load is going to be. :/ But I won't forget about this story, trust me!
Anwho, I present to you: Chapter 10! Read, review, and enjoy! :)
-EB91Note - All characters, and everything Rent belongs to Jonathan Larson, except for Annalise and the whacked out baby mama. They're mine. :)
It had been almost three weeks since Mark and Maureen's angry fight. Every night, Maureen followed her boyfriend's advice and slept on the couch. That is, when she was even home. Many nights she would leave all done up and in a huff, as if Mark and Roger really cared where she was going, and not show up for days at a time. If it bothered Mark, he did a good job not showing it. As February crept in, it brought with it oddly warm weather. The boys took advantage of the weird heat wave as much as they could – they opened windows, went out more, and sat on the fire escape, enjoying the change in weather.
Roger sat on the old beat-up couch, his legs propped up on the coffee table. He could feel the light breeze coming in through the big windows that lead out to the fire escape. Though he had his guitar propped up in his lap, his hands sat motionless as he leaned back, enjoying the breeze. Sounds of clapping, little giggles and quiet babbling traveled through the window, causing Roger to smile. Mark was out there, resting in an easy arm chair they swiped from an outdoor café set up during a rain storm earlier in the fall, Annalise resting in his lap.
"Whose toe-toes are these?" Mark asked quietly with a grin. He tugged lightly at her small toes, causing her to look up at him with wide, blue eyes. "Whose toe-toes does Daddy have?" He repeated the question, tickling the bottom of her feet. Instantly a smile broke out on her face, a sweet little baby cackle sounding its way through the air as she kicked her legs.
"Daddy has Annalise's toe-toes!" He laughed along with his daughter. She lifted her head, losing interest in Mark's anatomy lesson and gripped his pants, using them for leverage. Slowly and with great effort, Annalise managed to roll herself over, resting on her stomach. Excited at his daughter's new movement, a he drew a slow breath in, his grin reaching from ear to ear.
"Annalise! Oh my God! Good girl!" Mark clapped, picking her up and giving her a kiss on her forehead. "Roger! Come here!" Mark called over his shoulder, bouncing Annalise as she cackled with more laughter.
A few moments later Roger appeared at the windows. Resting his arms on the ledge, he leaned his head out, becoming level with Mark.
"What's up? I heard you clapping." Roger asked, reaching out and ruffling Annalise's soft, wispy hair. She smiled and reached up and grabbed hold of his fingers. He grinned as she smacked his hand with her small one, nearly hitting Mark in the head. Mark dodged her hand and looked up at Roger, all smiles.
"She rolled over! In my lap, she rolled over! All by herself!" He beamed, holding Annalise up a bit more. Clearly impressed, Roger raised his eyebrows.
"Really? She's never done that before." Roger observed, eyeing Mark's proud face.
"I know. I was just sitting here, talking to her and laughing, and she just stopped laughing, lifted her head up and rolled over! I mean, she was using my pants to grip, but still. She rolled over, all by herself!" He smiled, kissing Annalise on the temple. Annalise squealed with laughter and tugged at Roger's hand, putting his fingers in her mouth to suck on.
"Uh, uh, don't do that, Annalise." Roger said, frowning a bit as he removed his fingers from her death-like grip. She looked up at him, her big blue eyes clearly showing she didn't agree with his decision. "Supper will be soon, be patient."
Annalise couldn't disagree with him any more. Impatiently, she bounced her legs and slapped her hands against Mark's arm in protest, which was wrapped snuggly around her tiny body. "Ahhh!" she whined up to the rocker.
"What's wrong, honey? Do you want Roger to hold you?" Mark questioned his daughter, making sure she wasn't going to fall.
"No, she just wants a bottle, that's all. She knows we think she's cute, and she has us wrapped around her little finger!" Roger grinned, stepping out of the window and onto the fire escape. He kneeled down to be level with her and kissed her on the forehead.
"Aaajha!" she cried, grasping handfuls of his sandy-blond hair. Roger paused, enduring the pain his friend's daughter was causing him. He focused his eyes on Annalise's close face. She was smiling her gummy grin, a sparkle in her eyes. Did she just say what he thought she just said?
"What did she just say?" Roger asked, untangling the baby's hands from his hair. She seemed to find this comical and reached for more hair with one hand as soon as he accomplished separating the other hand from his head. After a few more tries, Mark reached over and held onto her free hand as Roger untangled the other. "I don't know. I didn't really hear her." Mark shrugged, hugging his squirming daughter.
Annalise moaned, trying to get her hand out of Mark's grip. As Roger stood up, Mark released her hand, both going back to slapping his arm in protest. "Aaajha!!" she cried again, louder and more confident this time, and looked up at Roger. "Aaajha! Aaajha!"
Roger blinked, a smile slowly setting on his face. "She's saying my name!" He pulled up another swiped lawn chair and sat down next to Mark, leaning his elbows on his knees to get more comfortable.
"She's not saying your name, Roger." Mark frowned, trying to hold her hands still. She slapped away at his arm, using it as her own personal drum set.
"How can you say that? She's clearly saying my name! Annie, can you say, 'Roger' again for me?"
"Aaajha!" Annalise squealed, dodging Marks' hands and grasping her ear and the shoulder snaps on her onesie.
"Aha! I told you she was saying my name!" Roger exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Yeah! Good Annalise!" He looked up at Mark and faltered at the look on his face. He looked shocked, but Roger couldn't miss the slight look of disappointment that were etched into his eyes.
An awkward silence settled between the two of them. Annalise was imitating Roger and Mark's clapping, putting her little hands together but not making much noise at all. Mark looked away and hugged his daughter closer, giving her a light kiss on the temple, emitting another bout of giggles from her.
"Her first word. Wow." Mark sighed, a slight smile creeping onto his face. "Two big accomplishments in one day: her first roll-over and first word. What's next, going to scale Mount Everest, huh?" He chuckled softly, cuddling Annalise close to him.
"Nah, she still has to learn to crawl first." Roger added, letting Annalise grab hold of his hand again. "I can't believe she said my name. And for her first word? Man." He grinned, taking off one of his rings and letting Annalise play with it.
"I know. I was hoping it'd be something more along the lines of 'Dada' or 'Daddy', but why stick to the cutesy nicknames if you can just go straight for the real, harder names?" Mark all but sighed, not even trying to hide the disappointment. He usually didn't show his emotions this easily, but it hurt him. Annalise gripped Roger's ring, observing it before putting it into her mouth.
"Mark, don't let it get to you. I mean, it kind of makes sense that it's her first word if you think of it." Roger said softly. Mark pulled the ring out of her mouth, not wanting her to choke on it, but still let her still hold onto it.
"I just thought she'd say something to me, you know? And what do you mean, it makes sense?" Mark sighed, casting his eyes down. He laid Annalise down, belly-up, in his folded lap and was now rubbing little circles on her tummy. She was still engrossed by Roger's ring, her large, blue eyes never leaving the strange, shiny metal band that she held in her hands.
"Well, you're always talking to me, saying my name. She always hears it and picks it up. You haven't been using 'Dada' or 'Daddy' as much as you use my name, so it's only natural for her to pick 'Roger' up."
Mark didn't look up at Roger. As true as he knew that was, it still stung. His daughter could associate words with his friend, but not her own father? It just didn't seem right. Mark promised he would use 'Dada' or 'Daddy' as much as he could around her, and probably even encourage Roger to do so as well.
"Hey, I'm going to head in for a bit, see if we need anything from the store for dinner." Roger said quietly, getting up and moving his chair back to its original position on the other side of the fire escape. He eyed Mark carefully. He was still playing with his daughter, tickling her feet and rubbing her little belly. Annalise just looked up at him and kicked her legs, squirming around in his lap.
'You are so lucky.' Roger thought, looking down at his friend's daughter; his little bundle of joy. Knocked out of his reverie by a small gurgle, he smiled and leaned down to take his ring back.
"You need anything from the store while I'm there?" As if we could afford it. Mark scrunched his forehead in thought, trying to think of anything. Finally, he looked up at Roger and shook his head.
"We have enough diapers to last a while, enough formula, and pretty much every toy I can think of." Mark shrugged. "Actually, I was thinking of asking Jo to see if she'll help out with a rocking chair I've been eyeing, but I haven't seen her lately."
"Yeah." Roger nodded in agreement. A rocking chair would be pretty nice. "You want to come then?"
"Nah. I think I'll stay here, maybe give Annalise her bottle." Mark shrugged. Roger nodded, leaving the loft in search of dinner, leaving Mark to his thoughts and to feed his baby.
"Daddy hasn't seen Auntie Joanne in a while, has he?" He asked down at Annalise. She just looked up to him, a crease starting to form on her forehead. She started whining, which soon turned into crying.
"I know, I know. Dinner'll be done in a minute." Mark sighed, getting up and heading into the loft to prepare her bottle. He put her on the blanket that was laid out on the floor and went to the kitchen area, pulling out the formula powder and mixing it with water. As he sat down on the couch to feed his daughter, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Mark looked at the phone on the table next to him. The loft was quiet, now that Annalise was busy eating. He could easily talk on the phone and feed her at the same time. He bit his lip, debating whether or not he should call her.
"Oh, what the hell." He said, reaching over for the phone and quickly dialing Joanne's number. They hadn't seen each other for a while. The last time they did see each other, Joanne seemed really distracted. Mark couldn't figure out what was bothering her, but she left not too long after.
He put the phone receiver to his ear, listening to the phone ring. Was she home, or was she working? It was around five, so he figured she would be home. Maybe she was working late, or got called in, or –
"Hello?" Joanne answered the phone.
"Hey, Joanne, it's Mark." He said slowly. Was this a bad time to call her? There was a pause after he spoke and he bit his lip, unsure of what to do.
"Oh, hey, Mark…" She said after what seemed like hours when, realistically, it was only moments. "What's up?"
Once again she sounded distracted and…nervous?
'That's weird.' Mark thought. "Oh, nothing. You know, the usual." He rolled his eyes and restrained himself from smacking his forehead with the phone. How dumb of an answer was that? "I haven't heard from you in a while and was just wondering how you were doing." Much better.
"Oh." Joanne sounded speechless. What was going on? Usually she could go on and on, talking on the phone for hours on end. Now she just sounded distracted and didn't have anything to say. Mark waited another moment to see if she'd continue. When she didn't, he went on.
"Is…everything alright?" He asked carefully. He didn't want to upset her if nothing was wrong, but wanted to know why she was acting so strange.
"Yeah! Yeah, everything's fine." She answered quickly, almost too quickly. Mark scrunched his brow.
'Okay, now something is definitely wrong.'
"Hey, has–never mind." She said quickly, catching Mark off-guard.
"Has what?" Mark asked curiously. Was she finally going to open up and tell him what was going on?
"No, never mind, it doesn't matter. It was stupid." Joanne protested.
"No, really. What?" Mark pushed. He was really getting confused now, and beginning to get concerned.
"I – I have to go." And with that the line went dead, leaving Mark to sit there listening to the dial tone, utterly confused.
"Hello? Joanne? Hello?" Mark tried, but knew she had hung up on him. 'What the hell was that all about?' He thought, putting the phone back on the receiver.
Annalise was just about done with her bottle, and sucked up the last of it greedily. Mark burped her, walking to Roger's room to lay her down in her crib for her nap. He stood there and watched her for a moment, her eyes fluttering shut as sleep took over her body. He grinned at the peaceful expression she had, and leaned down to kiss her lightly on her forehead.
"She's really precious, you know."
Mark must've jumped a mile high; he was not expecting anyone to be watching him, especially Maureen. Turning around, he held a hand to his chest, his heart beating profusely against his hand.
"What?" He asked, even though he heard her the first time. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it that quickly. 'I thought she hated her? Hell, I thought she hated me! What the hell made her change her mind?'
"Your daughter. She's really cute." Maureen was leaning on Roger's doorframe, looking in at Mark and Annalise. Mark looked at her cautiously. She hadn't said more than five words to him in the last few weeks, and now she was trying to make nice with him?
"Thanks." Mark said flatly, cocking a brow and blinking disbelievingly. There was an awkward silence; Mark scratched the back of his neck while Maureen bit her lip. Finally, Mark let out a big sigh, dropping his hand limply to his side.
"Why are you here?" It wasn't accusing or aggressive, but defeated and hurt. Maureen bit her lip some more and thought for a minute.
"I wanted to apologize." It was simple and quiet. She wasn't making eye contact, but rather darting her eyes around the room, landing on random spots throughout the Rocker's messy niche.
Mark bit his lip and barely shook his head.
"This is so typical." Mark sighed, walking past Maureen and into the main living space of the flat. Maureen followed him, making sure to keep her distance.
"Mark, I –" Maureen started, but Mark cut her off.
"Maureen, what–I…You just…" He was at a loss for words for a moment, racking his mind for the right thing to say. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before continuing.
"Why? What is your problem? You just…You go off whenever you want, and I'm here, at home, waiting for you! And when you come home, smelling like alcohol and another man's cologne I don't say anything! But I mess up once – once! And you just…And now…" He sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping after letting go. He looked down at the floor, too ashamed to look at her. "Why?" Mark asked quietly, glancing at her.
Maureen stood there, looking him in the face. Her shoulders were squared, her back erect, a blank look on her face. Finally, she licked her lips and shook her head.
"Well," She began, drawing a breath in. "I guess because I've never had anyone really cheat on me before." Mark raised his eyebrows, egging her on to continue.
"I trust you Mark. I really do. And I never expected that from you. You're just…different. From all of the other guys I've seen. You always seemed like the kind of guy that would never do that sort of thing." She looked at the floor, her eyes looking distant.
"I was stupid. It was one mistake – I mean, it's huge, but I think I overreacted." She glimpsed at Mark. "I could've at least stayed and heard you out. I'm really, really sorry, Mark. And I hope you can forgive me." As Maureen finished, she looked up at him, her eyes connecting with his. He studied her eyes.
"Are you really sorry?" He asked, not sure if he should accept her apology. Maureen looked into his eyes and shook her head slowly.
"I'm really, truly sorry, Mark." She said, stepping closer to him.
He considered her words for a moment, looking from her, to the floor and back and forth. Biting his lip, he drew in a deep breath.
"Alright, Maureen. I forgive you." He said quietly and slowly.
Maureen let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding and smiled big. She came closer and wrapped her arms tightly around Mark's neck, bringing their bodies together in a warm embrace. Sighing, Mark gave into the hug, wrapping his arms around her waist. He breathed in the scent of her lilac shampoo. But when he breathed in, all he smelled was vanilla. He opened his eyes and scrunched his brow.
'Probably just a friend's shampoo. It's not like I've never had to use Roger's or Collins' before.'
When Maureen drew back, she looked him deep in the eye, her face inches from his.
"What's her name?" She asked, grinning. Her face was slowly creeping towards his.
"Annalise. Annalise Cynthia Cohen." He answered quietly, looking back at Maureen.
"Beautiful." She breathed, finally locking lips with Mark. Mark simply moaned in reply, closing his eyes and giving into the exchange. As their kisses became more fervent, Maureen ran her hands through his short hair, causing it to stick up more on end than usual.
"Maureen!" Mark moaned and she kissed his jaw. He ran his hands down her back, stopping at the small and pressing her closer to himself, feeling the need to have her body pressed against his. She he guided her lips back to his and kissed him with more passion he had in him, letting Mark run his fingers along the base of her neck and hairline, grasping lightly. Mark broke the kiss and started to caress her neck with small kisses, nibbling every so often. Maureen breathed in and moaned.
"I'm breaking up with you."
Mark thought he'd heard wrong. He stopped kissing her neck and snapped his head back, looking up at her.
"What??" He exclaimed, his kiss-swollen mouth slightly agape, his eyes wide and brow knit. His breathing was labored as he stared with incredulity at Maureen.
"I'm breaking up with you. I've met someone else." She was far too calm for his. She bit her lip and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
There was a deafening silence as the two stared at each other. Mark ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Finally, after a few more moments he let out a light laugh.
"That's who you've been staying with for the past three weeks, isn't it? You've been seeing some other man on the side." He shook his head, a mad, angry frown playing across his lips. He looked at Maureen, who just looked pained. When she opened her mouth to say something, Mark shook his head and took a step back, letting go of her body.
"What's his name? Is it someone I know?" He asked, his voice so quiet and defeated and daring to break, Maureen shut her mouth and looked at him with even more pained eyes. "Well?"
"Jo– "
"Joe?? Joe Who?" He started raising his voice, not aware of the sleeping infant in the other room.
"Joanne."
Mark stood there, stunned. Joanne? A…Girl? He simply blinked at her. Maureen continued. "Her name is Joanne Jefferson. She's a lawyer. You'd probably like her if you met her. I've been seeing her for a while now, and…I don't know, but…I get this feeling every time I see her." Mark simply put his hand to his mouth and breathed heavily, not trying not to yell or thrash out. A girl?
"You're leaving me…for…a girl?" He breathed out, his voice cracking. This was heavy blow; he felt like had gotten beat on his chest with a heavy plank of wood. A thousand thoughts were going through his mind at once.
"Yes." Maureen said quietly. "But, I still want to be friends best friends with you. That's why I made sure there was nothing between us; I want to end on good terms!" She said it all quickly, but cut herself off, seeing Mark's horrified expression at her.
"Mark, I–" Maureen reached out to touch his cheek, but he swiftly turned his face away and stepped back more, looking at her with wide, harsh eyes. She sighed thickly and nodded.
"I'll be back the next couple days to get my stuff. I'm moving in with her." Mark closed his eyes and swallowed, attempting to block everything about her out of his mind.
"I guess this… is goodbye. I do still love you, you know." She said, almost as if it were a question. Hearing the last part of that, Mark bit his bottom lip and shook his head. Turning on his heal, he walked back into Roger's room, running a hand through his hair before closing the door quietly behind him.
:)
