Challenge # 3 II Green Cities and Christmas Laughter
Title: Green Cities and Christmas Laughter
Author: Kellie lilchibibunny
Feedback: aquafishnets@yahoo.com
Pairing: None; characters are Mark and Collins.
Word Count: 2,505
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, General
Summary: Mark Cohen is lost in New York. Tom Collins is looking for a friend.
Notes: The Adam Pascal song I used was "Something of Ours". I know this came out kind of long...but I had a lot of fun writing it. I kind of took some liberties with the characters (such as Collins loving the Wizard of OZ), but I hope no one minds. And who knows? Collins may just LOVE the Wizard of Oz.
Special Thanks: I just want to thank chewychicle for being SO wonderful. I love you, dear! I hope she won't mind if this is dedicated to her.
Spoilers: None!
Warnings: A whole bunch of laughter and smiling. Collins loves to laugh, what can I say?
Disclaimer: Jonathan Larson rocks.
A week before Christmas. And here Mark Cohen was-broke, lost, having no place to go, and aimlessly wandering outside a mall in New York, filming random people here and there. He was supposed to meet Benny here; after they met up at the mall, the two would go and find the place Benny said he had booked for them. It was a good plan (well, for the two friends), and Mark was naive enough to believe that Benny was going to meet him.
Unfortunately for the young film maker, Benny wasn’t coming. Mark had kind of figured that out after he had been waiting for an hour or so. Probably ran off with Alison, and forgot that he was here in a very strange place, occasionally getting knocked around by the mall crowd. So Mark was left alone, filming people walking by, without a place to go or anyone to go to.
Well, until Tom Collins came along.
He just happened to be walking past when the camera caught his eye. It stood out amongst the hurried people, standing still in the moving crowd. And as Mark took the camera away, Collins saw the worried face search the crowd. Poor boy was looking for someone. A girl, maybe? He kept looking at his watch...perhaps the girl had stood him up. That felt terribly wrong to Collins. No one should be alone so close to Christmas time.
So, Collins took a chance. Why not?
“Hello,” the professor said as amiable as he could. The bespectacled boy just about jumped two feet in the air and almost dropped his camera. Collins couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction; the blond was so wrapped up in filming people he didn’t notice Collins come up next to him. “You okay?”
“Y-yeah,” Mark stammered, holding tightly onto his camera. Jesus! He almost dropped it! The man laughed, and Mark flushed. He would have been angry, except this guy didn’t seem to be laughing at him, but rather laughing at what happened.
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Collins said as a kind of an apology for frightening him. He held out his hand. “I’m Tom Collins. Just call me Just call me Collins,” he made sure to mention, smiling. “I’ve found I don’t really answer to Tom anymore.”
Mark shook his hand. “Uh, Mark. Mark Cohen,” he replied, finding Collins’s grin contagious. “If you don’t mind me asking, Collins,” Mark continued, fidgeting a little, “what made you suddenly come to greet me?”
“I noticed the camera,” Collins answered, chuckling as Mark put said object away, not really wanting to attract any more attention. “Plus, you looked a little worried...and lost,” Collins said as an afterthought. “And no one should be alone around Christmas. Plus, I could always use another friend.” He couldn’t help grinning again.
“Well, I wouldn’t mind having a friend at the moment, either,” Mark said truthfully. “I am a little lost. And lonely,” he found himself saying. It was true. He felt so insignificant (and who wouldn’t, in the big city?) and so utterly alone, knowing he knew no one around here.
Collins looked at him curiously. “What are you doing? Waiting for someone?”
The wide-eyed look on Mark’s face made Collins laugh again. “How did you know?”
“You kept looking at your watch,” Collins said, pointing to it on Mark’s wrist. “Who are you waiting for? Not to be nosy,” he added, not meaning to pry into Mark’s affairs. It was really no one’s business but Mark’s.
But Mark didn’t mind. Collins put him at ease with his gentle smiles and booming laughter. Mark was still a little cautious (due to the strict teaching about strangers from his dear mother), but he found himself just enjoying the simple conversation. “I’m waiting for a friend,” Mark explained. “We were gonna meet here, then go to this place that he had arranged.” The blond frowned. “But he’s an hour late, and I’m starting to worry something bad happened to him.” But he was pretty sure Benny was off enjoying himself, out of any danger whatsoever.
Collins was also starting to think Mark’s friend had abandoned him, but he didn’t want to say it. “Wanna take a stroll in the mall for the time being?” he asked the small boy. “I mean, I don’t have much money,” and never really do, he silently added, “but it sure as hell would be a lot warmer in there.”
Mark scanned the crowd for a bit, out of habit. “Maybe I should wait...” he started to say, but trailed off. Well, he had been sitting in the cold for an hour. It wasn’t looking like Benny was going to show. And if, by some off chance, he did, then maybe Benny should get a taste of his own medicine. He could sit in the cold for a little bit. Plus, the mall would be warmer, and Mark certainly didn’t mind Collins’s company. “Sure,” he answered, smiling. “Why not?”
Collins returned the smile. “Then onward! Into the crowd!”
The mall was packed, but that was to be expected. A week before Christmas, people were going to be packed in stores, waiting in impossibly long lines. Luckily, Mark thought, he had no money to spend. “I always hated going to the mall when I was little,” he found himself saying as he looked around the huge building. “Of course, I haven’t been in any malls lately, but during Christmas was always the worst.”
“Whenever I came into malls, I would always go into the bookstore, first thing,” Collins said, laughing. “I loved going in there. Guess what my favorite book was?”
Mark couldn’t help but grin. “What book?”
“Wizard of Oz.” Collins suddenly started to double over in laughter, and soon Mark joined it. “Always loved the idea of a green city,” he managed to get in between bouts of laughter. “I mean, that was the best damn city ever!”
“All your dreams come true there!” Mark said, giggling.
“Exactly! Who wouldn’t love that?” Collins glanced at the bookstore, and when he looked back to Mark he had a child-like smile on his lips. “Mind if we go in? Haven’t read that book in a while.”
“Wouldn’t mind at all. Haven’t been in a bookstore for a while myself,” Mark added. That was a common thread for the two-they were both avid readers. And into the bookstore they went, hunting the shelves for the Frank Baum book. “Hey, look at this, Collins!” Mark blurted suddenly, stopping. Collins walked up to him, and looked at the book the young blond was pointing to.
“Wicked, huh?” The professor gently pulled the book from the shelves, and gazed at the cover. “The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
“Interesting,” Mark said, and Collins chuckled.
“Well, that’s something. Writing about the Wicked Witch.” He ran his hand over the cover, smiling.
“I always thought the Witch was the most interesting character,” Mark mused aloud, making Collins look up.
“Really? And why might you think that, Mark?”
“I always thought it was interesting to wonder how the bad guys got so...well, you know, bad.” Mark flushed a little before continuing. “But you never really got a lot of information on the Witch. She was there to get those slippers and that was it. You never really knew why she wanted them, ‘cept that they belonged to her sister, and they were probably magic,” Mark added, feeling a little stupid. “So when I was little, I created elaborate stories about why she wanted that, why she was so mean, things like that.” He gave a little embarrassed half-smile to Collins. “I like creating stories. I know it’s kind of weird, but I do.”
“No, no, it’s a different way of thinking, that’s all,” Collins said, grinning at Mark. “Creating stories is a wonderful thing. Maybe you should get this book,” and he held it to Mark.
But Mark shook his head. “I couldn’t read it.”
“Why?”
“...I wouldn’t want to read someone else’s version of the story when I’ve already got my own.” He fidgeted a little, a nervous habit. “I like my version.”
Collins laughed, and patted Mark’s shoulder. “And you should be proud of your version,” he replied, putting Wicked back on the shelf. “It’s what makes the character yours, you know?”
They met eyes and both smiled. “Wanna go find the Wizard of Oz now?” Mark suggested.
“Let’s go hunt through the children’s section,” Collins offered, a twinkle in his eyes. And so they ran off like kids to the children’s section of the store. And wouldn’t that be something to see? Two males that were certainly not children running through the kids’ section, amidst the tiny chairs and tables for the youngsters to sit on.
They did find the book, and Collins read the first few pages aloud as Mark listened to the words pour out of his mouth in that smooth voice of his. By the time he was ready to put the book down, a child had sat down to listen. When Collins stopped reading, the little girl asked him politely if he could keep reading. Collins and Mark looked at each other, and they both laughed. As Collins continued to read, more little kids kept coming to sit down and listen to the age-old story about a little lost girl and her journey. After he had finished the first chapter, Collins passed the book to Mark, who read the second chapter. And so they did that for what seemed like forever, reading the Wizard of Oz chapter by chapter while the children listened on, enraptured.
However, as Mark finished the eighth chapter, an employee came up and asked them to leave, since they were about to close. (Actually, the parents were getting a little scared about their children being around the two bohemians, people they didn’t know, which was understandable but somehow a little cruel all the same.)
It had been quite a while since they had first walked in the mall doors, but neither seemed to notice the time fly. As they walked by a line of children waiting to sit on Santa’s lap, Collins chuckled and shook his head. “What is it?” Mark asked, cocking his head slightly to the side.
“Just reminds me of when I was an impressionable youth at Christmas time.” Mark laughed as Collins made a little half-smile.
“What happened?” Mark asked. “After a sentence like that, I need to hear more.”
Collins grinned. “Well, when my brother and I were little, our dad would dress up as Santa. And so one year, my brother had gotten sick and spent all day in bed. My dad was out of spirit, and I wasn’t being the best child. So, when he came up to me in the Santa suit he said, ‘Merry Christmas. Now sit and tell Santa what he’s gonna have to stand in line for this year.’” He laughed. “My mother slapped him later, saying my Christmas was ruined. But my brother and I thought it was pretty damn funny.” He looked to the other. “So what about you, Mark? Got any good Christmas stories?”
“I would if I wasn’t Jewish,” Mark replied. Collins blinked, and, after a few seconds, laughed.
“So instead of stories of Santa and Christmas trees, you’ve got ones about dredles and menorahs?” Mark laughed as he nodded, and Collins chuckled. “So, what do you do, Mark?”
“Well, I...I film,” Mark said bashfully. “I want to make a film that means something. I don’t want to be famous or anything, really...but it would be nice,” Mark mentioned as an afterthought, grinning a little.
“We all want something of ours to make us the face that stands out in the crowd,” Collins responded, and Mark couldn’t help but marvel at the simple yet incredibly true statement.
“What do you do, Collins?”
“I teach,” the professor said plainly. “Philosophy.”
Mark couldn’t stop the grin that came upon his face. “I can see,” he stated, and his chocolate-skinned companion laughed.
“Well, I’m one of the more laid-back teachers, as I’m sure you can see.” A slight pause, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. “Are you thinking of selling your films? Hollywood, maybe? See them on the big screen?”
Mark scoffed. “When cows fly.”
Collins let out a huge burst of laughter. “Not when pigs fly, eh?”
“Nah. Pigs are overused. Plus, cows are just as good as any farm animal to fly,” Mark said with the utmost seriousness, which just made Collins laugh again and shake his head.
“You slay me, boy!” Collins slapped him on the back, and Mark smiled. “Well, I’ll tell you-jesus!”
Mark looked at Collins, a little alarmed. “What is it, Collins?”
“We’ve spent almost two hours in this mall,” Collins answered, an apologetic tone in his voice. “Your friend-”
Mark shrugged, frowning. “I didn’t think he was coming. I mean, if he wasn’t there in an hour, well...I was kidding myself to think he would come. Now the only problem is finding a place to stay.” A sad look came upon the blond’s face. “I don’t have any money.”
“You can come stay with me,” Collins blurted, saying it instantly before even thinking about it.
Mark’s face brightened considerably. “R-really?”
“Sure, why not?” Collins replied, blowing it off as nothing. “It’s no problem. I mean, eventually you’ll have to pay rent, but for now we’re okay.”
“‘We’re’?” Mark repeated, a little confused.
“My roommate, Roger,” Collins said, grinning. “He’s a smart-ass, but you learn to love him. He pretends to be a tough guy, but I know he’s a softie inside. He’s a musician, so there might be a constant guitar in your ear, but it’s bearable. He’s not bad,” he added. “And if he bugs you, I’ll lay down the rules. Roger may be an asshole, but he gets when someone’s serious about something.”
“So...you’re letting me stay with you?”
“Well, yeah!” Collins laughed. “You wanna?”
Mark let out a burst of relieved giggles. “Sure! Sure I will!”
“Well then, come on. It’s getting a little late, and we can grab some food at the loft. I hope you’ll like it there.” Collins looked up at the sky as they left out the mall doors. “It’s my home.”
“Home,” Mark said, and a small warm smile formed on his lips. “Home.”
“You know, Mark, I think this is the start of one hell of a friendship.”
“I think you’re right, Collins.”
And a week before Christmas, a small, white, blond filmmaker with glasses and a tall, black college professor with a white knitted cap walked together, and maybe you wouldn’t have noticed them...
But it was hard not to stare as the burst into laughter, the kind of carefree laughter that children often display, the kind of laughter that is sadly often lost the older you get, the kind of laughter that just makes you smile.
And oh, what beautiful smiles they had.
-fin.
Author: Kellie lilchibibunny
Feedback: aquafishnets@yahoo.com
Pairing: None; characters are Mark and Collins.
Word Count: 2,505
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama, General
Summary: Mark Cohen is lost in New York. Tom Collins is looking for a friend.
Notes: The Adam Pascal song I used was "Something of Ours". I know this came out kind of long...but I had a lot of fun writing it. I kind of took some liberties with the characters (such as Collins loving the Wizard of OZ), but I hope no one minds. And who knows? Collins may just LOVE the Wizard of Oz.
Special Thanks: I just want to thank chewychicle for being SO wonderful. I love you, dear! I hope she won't mind if this is dedicated to her.
Spoilers: None!
Warnings: A whole bunch of laughter and smiling. Collins loves to laugh, what can I say?
Disclaimer: Jonathan Larson rocks.
A week before Christmas. And here Mark Cohen was-broke, lost, having no place to go, and aimlessly wandering outside a mall in New York, filming random people here and there. He was supposed to meet Benny here; after they met up at the mall, the two would go and find the place Benny said he had booked for them. It was a good plan (well, for the two friends), and Mark was naive enough to believe that Benny was going to meet him.
Unfortunately for the young film maker, Benny wasn’t coming. Mark had kind of figured that out after he had been waiting for an hour or so. Probably ran off with Alison, and forgot that he was here in a very strange place, occasionally getting knocked around by the mall crowd. So Mark was left alone, filming people walking by, without a place to go or anyone to go to.
Well, until Tom Collins came along.
He just happened to be walking past when the camera caught his eye. It stood out amongst the hurried people, standing still in the moving crowd. And as Mark took the camera away, Collins saw the worried face search the crowd. Poor boy was looking for someone. A girl, maybe? He kept looking at his watch...perhaps the girl had stood him up. That felt terribly wrong to Collins. No one should be alone so close to Christmas time.
So, Collins took a chance. Why not?
“Hello,” the professor said as amiable as he could. The bespectacled boy just about jumped two feet in the air and almost dropped his camera. Collins couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction; the blond was so wrapped up in filming people he didn’t notice Collins come up next to him. “You okay?”
“Y-yeah,” Mark stammered, holding tightly onto his camera. Jesus! He almost dropped it! The man laughed, and Mark flushed. He would have been angry, except this guy didn’t seem to be laughing at him, but rather laughing at what happened.
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” Collins said as a kind of an apology for frightening him. He held out his hand. “I’m Tom Collins. Just call me Just call me Collins,” he made sure to mention, smiling. “I’ve found I don’t really answer to Tom anymore.”
Mark shook his hand. “Uh, Mark. Mark Cohen,” he replied, finding Collins’s grin contagious. “If you don’t mind me asking, Collins,” Mark continued, fidgeting a little, “what made you suddenly come to greet me?”
“I noticed the camera,” Collins answered, chuckling as Mark put said object away, not really wanting to attract any more attention. “Plus, you looked a little worried...and lost,” Collins said as an afterthought. “And no one should be alone around Christmas. Plus, I could always use another friend.” He couldn’t help grinning again.
“Well, I wouldn’t mind having a friend at the moment, either,” Mark said truthfully. “I am a little lost. And lonely,” he found himself saying. It was true. He felt so insignificant (and who wouldn’t, in the big city?) and so utterly alone, knowing he knew no one around here.
Collins looked at him curiously. “What are you doing? Waiting for someone?”
The wide-eyed look on Mark’s face made Collins laugh again. “How did you know?”
“You kept looking at your watch,” Collins said, pointing to it on Mark’s wrist. “Who are you waiting for? Not to be nosy,” he added, not meaning to pry into Mark’s affairs. It was really no one’s business but Mark’s.
But Mark didn’t mind. Collins put him at ease with his gentle smiles and booming laughter. Mark was still a little cautious (due to the strict teaching about strangers from his dear mother), but he found himself just enjoying the simple conversation. “I’m waiting for a friend,” Mark explained. “We were gonna meet here, then go to this place that he had arranged.” The blond frowned. “But he’s an hour late, and I’m starting to worry something bad happened to him.” But he was pretty sure Benny was off enjoying himself, out of any danger whatsoever.
Collins was also starting to think Mark’s friend had abandoned him, but he didn’t want to say it. “Wanna take a stroll in the mall for the time being?” he asked the small boy. “I mean, I don’t have much money,” and never really do, he silently added, “but it sure as hell would be a lot warmer in there.”
Mark scanned the crowd for a bit, out of habit. “Maybe I should wait...” he started to say, but trailed off. Well, he had been sitting in the cold for an hour. It wasn’t looking like Benny was going to show. And if, by some off chance, he did, then maybe Benny should get a taste of his own medicine. He could sit in the cold for a little bit. Plus, the mall would be warmer, and Mark certainly didn’t mind Collins’s company. “Sure,” he answered, smiling. “Why not?”
Collins returned the smile. “Then onward! Into the crowd!”
The mall was packed, but that was to be expected. A week before Christmas, people were going to be packed in stores, waiting in impossibly long lines. Luckily, Mark thought, he had no money to spend. “I always hated going to the mall when I was little,” he found himself saying as he looked around the huge building. “Of course, I haven’t been in any malls lately, but during Christmas was always the worst.”
“Whenever I came into malls, I would always go into the bookstore, first thing,” Collins said, laughing. “I loved going in there. Guess what my favorite book was?”
Mark couldn’t help but grin. “What book?”
“Wizard of Oz.” Collins suddenly started to double over in laughter, and soon Mark joined it. “Always loved the idea of a green city,” he managed to get in between bouts of laughter. “I mean, that was the best damn city ever!”
“All your dreams come true there!” Mark said, giggling.
“Exactly! Who wouldn’t love that?” Collins glanced at the bookstore, and when he looked back to Mark he had a child-like smile on his lips. “Mind if we go in? Haven’t read that book in a while.”
“Wouldn’t mind at all. Haven’t been in a bookstore for a while myself,” Mark added. That was a common thread for the two-they were both avid readers. And into the bookstore they went, hunting the shelves for the Frank Baum book. “Hey, look at this, Collins!” Mark blurted suddenly, stopping. Collins walked up to him, and looked at the book the young blond was pointing to.
“Wicked, huh?” The professor gently pulled the book from the shelves, and gazed at the cover. “The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
“Interesting,” Mark said, and Collins chuckled.
“Well, that’s something. Writing about the Wicked Witch.” He ran his hand over the cover, smiling.
“I always thought the Witch was the most interesting character,” Mark mused aloud, making Collins look up.
“Really? And why might you think that, Mark?”
“I always thought it was interesting to wonder how the bad guys got so...well, you know, bad.” Mark flushed a little before continuing. “But you never really got a lot of information on the Witch. She was there to get those slippers and that was it. You never really knew why she wanted them, ‘cept that they belonged to her sister, and they were probably magic,” Mark added, feeling a little stupid. “So when I was little, I created elaborate stories about why she wanted that, why she was so mean, things like that.” He gave a little embarrassed half-smile to Collins. “I like creating stories. I know it’s kind of weird, but I do.”
“No, no, it’s a different way of thinking, that’s all,” Collins said, grinning at Mark. “Creating stories is a wonderful thing. Maybe you should get this book,” and he held it to Mark.
But Mark shook his head. “I couldn’t read it.”
“Why?”
“...I wouldn’t want to read someone else’s version of the story when I’ve already got my own.” He fidgeted a little, a nervous habit. “I like my version.”
Collins laughed, and patted Mark’s shoulder. “And you should be proud of your version,” he replied, putting Wicked back on the shelf. “It’s what makes the character yours, you know?”
They met eyes and both smiled. “Wanna go find the Wizard of Oz now?” Mark suggested.
“Let’s go hunt through the children’s section,” Collins offered, a twinkle in his eyes. And so they ran off like kids to the children’s section of the store. And wouldn’t that be something to see? Two males that were certainly not children running through the kids’ section, amidst the tiny chairs and tables for the youngsters to sit on.
They did find the book, and Collins read the first few pages aloud as Mark listened to the words pour out of his mouth in that smooth voice of his. By the time he was ready to put the book down, a child had sat down to listen. When Collins stopped reading, the little girl asked him politely if he could keep reading. Collins and Mark looked at each other, and they both laughed. As Collins continued to read, more little kids kept coming to sit down and listen to the age-old story about a little lost girl and her journey. After he had finished the first chapter, Collins passed the book to Mark, who read the second chapter. And so they did that for what seemed like forever, reading the Wizard of Oz chapter by chapter while the children listened on, enraptured.
However, as Mark finished the eighth chapter, an employee came up and asked them to leave, since they were about to close. (Actually, the parents were getting a little scared about their children being around the two bohemians, people they didn’t know, which was understandable but somehow a little cruel all the same.)
It had been quite a while since they had first walked in the mall doors, but neither seemed to notice the time fly. As they walked by a line of children waiting to sit on Santa’s lap, Collins chuckled and shook his head. “What is it?” Mark asked, cocking his head slightly to the side.
“Just reminds me of when I was an impressionable youth at Christmas time.” Mark laughed as Collins made a little half-smile.
“What happened?” Mark asked. “After a sentence like that, I need to hear more.”
Collins grinned. “Well, when my brother and I were little, our dad would dress up as Santa. And so one year, my brother had gotten sick and spent all day in bed. My dad was out of spirit, and I wasn’t being the best child. So, when he came up to me in the Santa suit he said, ‘Merry Christmas. Now sit and tell Santa what he’s gonna have to stand in line for this year.’” He laughed. “My mother slapped him later, saying my Christmas was ruined. But my brother and I thought it was pretty damn funny.” He looked to the other. “So what about you, Mark? Got any good Christmas stories?”
“I would if I wasn’t Jewish,” Mark replied. Collins blinked, and, after a few seconds, laughed.
“So instead of stories of Santa and Christmas trees, you’ve got ones about dredles and menorahs?” Mark laughed as he nodded, and Collins chuckled. “So, what do you do, Mark?”
“Well, I...I film,” Mark said bashfully. “I want to make a film that means something. I don’t want to be famous or anything, really...but it would be nice,” Mark mentioned as an afterthought, grinning a little.
“We all want something of ours to make us the face that stands out in the crowd,” Collins responded, and Mark couldn’t help but marvel at the simple yet incredibly true statement.
“What do you do, Collins?”
“I teach,” the professor said plainly. “Philosophy.”
Mark couldn’t stop the grin that came upon his face. “I can see,” he stated, and his chocolate-skinned companion laughed.
“Well, I’m one of the more laid-back teachers, as I’m sure you can see.” A slight pause, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. “Are you thinking of selling your films? Hollywood, maybe? See them on the big screen?”
Mark scoffed. “When cows fly.”
Collins let out a huge burst of laughter. “Not when pigs fly, eh?”
“Nah. Pigs are overused. Plus, cows are just as good as any farm animal to fly,” Mark said with the utmost seriousness, which just made Collins laugh again and shake his head.
“You slay me, boy!” Collins slapped him on the back, and Mark smiled. “Well, I’ll tell you-jesus!”
Mark looked at Collins, a little alarmed. “What is it, Collins?”
“We’ve spent almost two hours in this mall,” Collins answered, an apologetic tone in his voice. “Your friend-”
Mark shrugged, frowning. “I didn’t think he was coming. I mean, if he wasn’t there in an hour, well...I was kidding myself to think he would come. Now the only problem is finding a place to stay.” A sad look came upon the blond’s face. “I don’t have any money.”
“You can come stay with me,” Collins blurted, saying it instantly before even thinking about it.
Mark’s face brightened considerably. “R-really?”
“Sure, why not?” Collins replied, blowing it off as nothing. “It’s no problem. I mean, eventually you’ll have to pay rent, but for now we’re okay.”
“‘We’re’?” Mark repeated, a little confused.
“My roommate, Roger,” Collins said, grinning. “He’s a smart-ass, but you learn to love him. He pretends to be a tough guy, but I know he’s a softie inside. He’s a musician, so there might be a constant guitar in your ear, but it’s bearable. He’s not bad,” he added. “And if he bugs you, I’ll lay down the rules. Roger may be an asshole, but he gets when someone’s serious about something.”
“So...you’re letting me stay with you?”
“Well, yeah!” Collins laughed. “You wanna?”
Mark let out a burst of relieved giggles. “Sure! Sure I will!”
“Well then, come on. It’s getting a little late, and we can grab some food at the loft. I hope you’ll like it there.” Collins looked up at the sky as they left out the mall doors. “It’s my home.”
“Home,” Mark said, and a small warm smile formed on his lips. “Home.”
“You know, Mark, I think this is the start of one hell of a friendship.”
“I think you’re right, Collins.”
And a week before Christmas, a small, white, blond filmmaker with glasses and a tall, black college professor with a white knitted cap walked together, and maybe you wouldn’t have noticed them...
But it was hard not to stare as the burst into laughter, the kind of carefree laughter that children often display, the kind of laughter that is sadly often lost the older you get, the kind of laughter that just makes you smile.
And oh, what beautiful smiles they had.
-fin.