Sorry about the chapter title— it isn't letting me put spaces in between the words. :(

TRACIETHOMSISMYQUEEN

" How is he?" Maureen asked Collins once she entered the waiting room, Roger behind her. She gave Collins a hug and they sat.

" Um… he's in a coma. He was hit pretty hard, and when he got to the ground, he hit his head on the concrete and broke his leg," Collins said.

Maureen noticed the man sitting dangerously close to Collins. The man's eyes were too small, and too close together, his lips were also too small, and his cheekbones were raised slightly higher than they were supposed to be, making a small dent in both his cheeks… and yet he was still extremely handsome.

" Care to introduce me to who this is?" Maureen asked, soon noticing him and Collins were holding hands.

" Oh, um… this is Whizzer… the hottie I told you about, the one I was going on a date with… well today was our first date and then I got the call that Mark got into an accident, and I told Whizzer I had to come here, and he insisted on coming too," Collins explained.

" Aw, you called me a hottie?" Whizzer asked Collins, and Collins blushed.

" Hmm… where have I heard the name Whizzer before?" Maureen asked, trying to remember when she heard that name.

" It's not exactly a common name," Whizzer said with a deep chuckle.

Maureen smiled. " I probably heard something like it. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Whizzer… and hey, you hurt Collins, I will not hesitate to attack."

Whizzer smiled in return, and Maureen saw how gorgeous he really was. " Don't worry."

Maureen nodded, and they all turned their heads when a voice called Mark's name. They all stood, and walked up to the doctor.

" How is Mark?" Maureen asked eagerly, squeezing Collins's hand.

" Unfortunately still in a coma, as I expect Mr.Collins informed you of," the doctor said, and Maureen nodded. " He can take visitors now, and one person is allowed to spend the night."

" Me," Maureen and Roger said at the same time. They looked at each other.

" I'm his best friend," Roger stated.

" And I'm his girlfriend," Maureen contradicted.

" How about none of you stay the night, and I call his momma up so she can sleep here, with her son," Collins said, not wanting the two to start bickering.

Maureen and Roger gave each other a look, and then looked at the doctor. Roger faked a friendly smile. " That's fair."

" Mhhm," Maureen agreed.

" Roger, come with me, we'll go see Mark," Collins said, and grabbed Roger's arm, dragging him towards the hospital room.

Maureen and Whizzer found their way to a bench in front of Mark's hospital room. " So, you're the best friend?" Whizzer asked.

Maureen smirked. " Yeah… is that what he referred to me as?"

" Yeah… he also called you his favorite human being, the thing that makes him smile everyday, his confidant, his sister, and the most beautiful, perfect human to ever exist," Whizzer said.

Maureen smiled so brightly, blushing. " Are you serious?"

" Dead serious. I was beginning to doubt he was gay," Whizzer joked, and they both laughed.

" Well, he overrated me. I'm not that great," Maureen stated.

" You seem like you are… look, Collins and I just started going out, but to be completely honest, I really like him, and I'm happy he has you, if I ever break his heart," Whizzer said, and Maureen shot him a look. " Not that I plan to, but you know, sometimes you can be in relationship and really love someone, and yet still hopelessly fall for someone else."

Maureen thought to Joanne, and her beautiful eyes, lips, hair, body, and smile. Oh, that smile, Maureen thought, a smile of her own spreading across her face. So beautiful. So… flawless.

Whizzer smirked, waving a hand in front of Maureen's face. " You alright there, honey?"

Maureen seemed to come out of trance, shaking her head. " What? Oh yeah… sorry. Just… thinking of Mark."

Whizzer looked at her suspiciously. " You sure?"

" Of course. Who else would I be thinking of?" Maureen replied. " I'm a… good girlfriend."

Whizzer nodded. " If you say so."

Before Maureen could respond, Roger and Collins came out of Mark's room.

" Maureen, you could go," Collins said, signaling towards the room.

Maureen nodded and shared a glance with Whizzer before walking into the room.

There Mark lied on the bed, his leg that had a cast on it slightly higher in the air because of the pillow underneath it and his face cut up and bruised. And even with all the injuries, he looked peaceful. Over the past few weeks, Mark had no ease in his mind whatsoever, with the thought of Maureen cheating on him and trying to take care of a moody Roger who was obviously feeling a lot of pain and not dealing with it correcting.

Maureen stood next to him and examined his face, touching it slightly with the back of her nimble fingers. " Oh, baby. I'm sorry, for all of this. It shouldn't have gone this far with Joanne, I thought it was just gonna be a one night stand, but I'm… I'm falling for her, Mark. Hard. And maybe I'll have the balls to tell you this when you wake up, and maybe I won't. But I wanna be with her, I just don't wanna hurt you. Because I love you, I just… I won't say love, but I really, really like Joanne."

" How touching," a voice said, and Maureen turned to see Roger.

" Leave me the fuck alone, Davis," Maureen said through gritted teeth, still looking at Mark and holding his hand.

" Oh, talking to Mark about how much you love Joanne… really, that hit my soft spot," Roger said sarcastically, his hand on his heart.

Maureen rolled her eyes. " Get out. You already had your time and you can come back in when I'm done."

" But here's the thing. You go ahead and start screwing another woman while still being with Mark, and then you have the audacity to come here and talk about how much you care about and love him," Roger said.

" You already gave me one unnecessary lecture on this, so if you would mind, back the fuck up, and stick your nose in your own sorry little life," Maureen snapped.

" My sorry little life?! Maureen, you're so insecure that you have to go around fucking everyone in the world and wearing tight shit so people can stare and you can get cat-calls. You love attention so much, hell, you live for attention, and when your boyfriend doesn't give you enough, you don't even think to talk to him about it, you just go straight to your next option: cheating… look, I'm no expert at having a perfect life, but I know a thing or two about at least having a good one, and what you're doing with yours right now isn't fucking good. It's fucking disgusting! Running around cheating on every partner you have isn't anyway to live your life, Maureen."

" You don't get to tell me how to live my fucking life, Roger! You are such an asshole! No wonder April killed herself!" Maureen yelled.

Roger froze.

" What's going on in here?!" Collins yelled once he was in the room.

" Nothing. Nothing at all. I was just leaving," Roger said and glared at Maureen, then brushing past Collins and storming out of the room.

Maureen slumped down into the recliner, and buried her face in her hands, her knees connected but her feet apart, and her back arched.

" What happened?" Collins asked.

" Nothing. I'm gonna have a cigarette," Maureen stated and stood up, about to walk past Collins and Whizzer, but Collins grabbed her arm.

" A cigarette? You smoke now?" Collins inquired.

" They relax me," Maureen replied.

" Hey, you know you can tell me anything, right?" Collins said with a warm smile.

Maureen nodded, trying her best to fake a smile, but failing. She left the hospital, and stood outside, tajing a cigarette out from it's pack in her purse and putting it in her mouth.

When she finished with her cigarette and threw it on the ground, then stepping on it, she called Collins, deciding she should leave. She was really tired for some reason, and just wanted to get home.

Collins let her go and Maureen called a cab to get her home.

: :

When Maureen got to her building, she went to open the door, but someone suddenly grabbed her from behind and pulled her into an alley. They had their hand clasped over her mouth, so her screams could not be heard.

Maureen tried to fend off the person, but they had a tight grip on her. They pushed her to the floor on the alley, and she was about to scream, but stopped when she felt a gun on her head.

" If you scream, I shoot," a deep voice said.

Maureen looked up and saw The Man. " You. Roger and April's drug guy. What do you want from me?"

" Listen up. I saw you and some girl making out one night in front of your building. But I've also seen you with the little ginger. Who are you with?" The Man asked.

" What do you care?"

" Well, here's the thing. That woman has been trying to make her big break as a lawyer on me and my customers. She has become a big problem, always throwing my girls who sell my drugs for me in jail and that's not good for my business. And I've been thinking about ending her, so I'll have one less problem on my plate. Therefore, I need some new people. Now, I was wondering if you would like to become my main girl since my old one got her ass busted while selling drugs to some seventeen-year-old methhead a week ago."

" HELL NO! And hey, if you touch Joanne, I will kill you."

" You didn't let me finish. If you don't wanna become my main girl, Ms.Jefferson will suffer the consequences," The Man said, wiggling his gun in his hand.

Maureen clenched her jaw. " You asshole! You can't do that! If I don't wanna be in your little druggie group, I don't have to be!"

" Well, like I said, unless you want your girlfriend to die, you don't really have a choice."

Maureen huffed. " What do I need to do? And how often?"

Every Friday, you come to Dan's Dairy Warehouse. I give you a few addresses with orders, and you deliver them discreetly. You come back to the warehouse with my money, and that's just about it. Any other info, I'll tell you this Friday. If you ghost me, you best believe Joanne'll be dead by Monday."

Maureen gulped, and stood up." Alright. I'll do it."

The Man smiled a creepy smile, sending shivers down Maureen's spine. " Oh, and maybe I'll have you do a few other things."

" Like what?" Maureen inquired.

" You'll see," The Man replied, and then pointed his finger in Maureen's face. " And listen. You keep your mouth shut about this. You tell anyone, and I'll not only kill JoJo, but you and all your friends."

Maureen nodded. " Don't call her JoJo."

The Man smiled that creepy smile again and strided out of the alley.

Maureen sighed, and rested her head on the wall.

" What the fuck am I doing?"

TRACIETHOMSISMYQUEEN

So, I don't know if the reason why The Man is blackmailing Maureen even makes sense, but I honestly had nothing else. Super big writer's block. Sorry not for updating any other stories. I'm working on it. ;)