RENT: Someone Else's Story (Chapter Five)
Title: Someone Else's Story
Chapter: Five
Characters/Pairing: April/Mimi, Mark, Benny, Collins, Joanne, Maureen, mention of Roger
Word Count: 546
Rating: PG-13
Summary: I could be in someone else's story, in someone else's life, and she could be in mine... April lived. Roger didn't. Mimi still knocks on the door of the loft on Christmas Eve.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rent. Plus, I kind of half-stole some lines from the show. Half-stole, because most of them I've kind of altered.
<< Previous Chapter
v. intermission
After a year of cold and emptiness and being alone, the experience of waking up with someone beside her was something of a novelty, and enough of a surprise that she jolted upright, blinking fuzzily at Mimi. For a moment, April couldn't quite decide to make of her presence there. At first she'd half thought that it was Roger - she'd had those dreams from time to time, though of course he always vanished whenever she woke up completely and left her feeling more lost and hurt than she had been before. But no, it wasn't a dream, just Mimi, still fast asleep.
April watched her for a moment longer, struck once more by just how young she looked... how young she was, just nineteen years old... Some sardonic voice in the back of her mind retorted, And you're so much older, at twenty-three.
Except that she was. Between drugs and detox and losing Roger, she didn't feel twenty-three anymore, she felt ancient and tired. Maybe less so around Mimi. With a sigh, she lay back down to curl up next to her again, and Mimi mumbled something in her sleep and put an arm around April, pressing against her. The warmth of having someone else in her bed was a welcome thing, at least. One thing here was normal - the loft, as usual, was freezing cold this morning, and either she or Mimi seemed to have kicked most of the blankets off the bed in the middle of the night. April figured she should probably go get them before they caught hypothermia, but couldn't be bothered to move, with Mimi holding her. She should probably be asleep too, after being up so late last night breaking into the loft. Well, early this morning, technically. Very early.
...This morning. The first day of the new year. April opened her eyes and blinked a little, twisting around to try to look at the window without moving enough to disturb Mimi. At this angle she couldn't really see out the window, just the light coming through it, midmorning sunshine, and completely unexpected after so many days of cloud and snow and sleet. Thin, weak sunlight, not enough to warm much of anything and still glacial cold here inside the loft, but April didn't see how the quality of sunlight particularly mattered. What mattered was that the sun was shining, on New Year's Day, and she had woken up today with Mimi beside her, and Mimi was warm even if the rest of the world was freezing. And that mattered a great deal.
"It's gonna be a happy new year," April murmured to herself, unsure where the certainty came from, but nevertheless confident that she was right.
Her words woke Mimi, who stirred and then let go of April to push herself up a little with a confused, sleep-fogged frown. "Hmm?"
April grinned. "Happy New Year."
For a while Mimi didn't answer, just frowned at her with that same confused, not-quite-awake look. "You said that already. Last night."
And April grinned and kissed her lightly, unaccountably happy for no other reason than that she could be. "I know. It bears repeating."
Next Chapter >>
Chapter: Five
Characters/Pairing: April/Mimi, Mark, Benny, Collins, Joanne, Maureen, mention of Roger
Word Count: 546
Rating: PG-13
Summary: I could be in someone else's story, in someone else's life, and she could be in mine... April lived. Roger didn't. Mimi still knocks on the door of the loft on Christmas Eve.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rent. Plus, I kind of half-stole some lines from the show. Half-stole, because most of them I've kind of altered.
<< Previous Chapter
v. intermission
After a year of cold and emptiness and being alone, the experience of waking up with someone beside her was something of a novelty, and enough of a surprise that she jolted upright, blinking fuzzily at Mimi. For a moment, April couldn't quite decide to make of her presence there. At first she'd half thought that it was Roger - she'd had those dreams from time to time, though of course he always vanished whenever she woke up completely and left her feeling more lost and hurt than she had been before. But no, it wasn't a dream, just Mimi, still fast asleep.
April watched her for a moment longer, struck once more by just how young she looked... how young she was, just nineteen years old... Some sardonic voice in the back of her mind retorted, And you're so much older, at twenty-three.
Except that she was. Between drugs and detox and losing Roger, she didn't feel twenty-three anymore, she felt ancient and tired. Maybe less so around Mimi. With a sigh, she lay back down to curl up next to her again, and Mimi mumbled something in her sleep and put an arm around April, pressing against her. The warmth of having someone else in her bed was a welcome thing, at least. One thing here was normal - the loft, as usual, was freezing cold this morning, and either she or Mimi seemed to have kicked most of the blankets off the bed in the middle of the night. April figured she should probably go get them before they caught hypothermia, but couldn't be bothered to move, with Mimi holding her. She should probably be asleep too, after being up so late last night breaking into the loft. Well, early this morning, technically. Very early.
...This morning. The first day of the new year. April opened her eyes and blinked a little, twisting around to try to look at the window without moving enough to disturb Mimi. At this angle she couldn't really see out the window, just the light coming through it, midmorning sunshine, and completely unexpected after so many days of cloud and snow and sleet. Thin, weak sunlight, not enough to warm much of anything and still glacial cold here inside the loft, but April didn't see how the quality of sunlight particularly mattered. What mattered was that the sun was shining, on New Year's Day, and she had woken up today with Mimi beside her, and Mimi was warm even if the rest of the world was freezing. And that mattered a great deal.
"It's gonna be a happy new year," April murmured to herself, unsure where the certainty came from, but nevertheless confident that she was right.
Her words woke Mimi, who stirred and then let go of April to push herself up a little with a confused, sleep-fogged frown. "Hmm?"
April grinned. "Happy New Year."
For a while Mimi didn't answer, just frowned at her with that same confused, not-quite-awake look. "You said that already. Last night."
And April grinned and kissed her lightly, unaccountably happy for no other reason than that she could be. "I know. It bears repeating."
Next Chapter >>