Another Time, Another Place

I do not own Rent. This takes place between La Vie Boheme A and B, and when Mimi and Roger are outside singing I Should Tell You (movie based) The lyrics are, of course, from the Rent song 'Another Day'.

The party seemed to die down after the first hour. Roger and Mimi disappeared out the door, and everyone got into their own thing. Angel and Collins jumped off the table, making their way toward the bar.

"…And did you SEE the old guys face when I kissed you?" Angel giggled, sipping her beer with her pinky straight out.

"Mmmhmm," Collins replied wrapping his arms around her waist. "If every kiss is like that one, my dear, we have a VERY beautiful future ahead of us…"

They kissed sweetly, until they were interrupted by a throat being cleared.

"I TOLD you, we're brothers," Collins grinned, hugging Angel close to him. Mark smiled.

"I didn't even know you were going out!" Mark replied, the smile never fading.

"You weren't there when we told everyone, were you, Marky?" Angel asked.

"N-no," Mark replied, biting his tongue.

"Yeah," Collins grinned, and Mark saw more happiness in his eyes than he'd seen…ever. "We're a thing."

Mark forced a smile.

"That's great you guys…really great," He felt his stomach turn. "'Scuse me…" He headed for the washrooms.

He stared at his reflection.

DAMNIT!

Why hadn't he said something? Why had he waited so long? He could've prevented this!

The moment Mark met Him, he knew he was going to love Him. But no. He was pining for Maureen. He loved Maureen. He couldn't just move on.

Well guess what, Mark? Maureen's with Joanne now, and Angel's with Collins. You really fucked up this time.

He didn't want to accept that he was gay. He didn't even know that he was. He didn't want to start a relationship with a man because he didn't know if he could handle it.

It was Maureen's fault.

For one thing, he couldn't move on because she hurt him so badly. Then, if it weren't for her stupid performance, they'd never had had time alone together, they'd never had fallen in love.

And it wasn't that Mark didn't like His love. Far from it. He was a wonderful person, and a great friend.

He was just so damn lucky.

Mark composed himself, trying to remember the words Roger had used.

Another time, another place…

It was surreal…the words he hadn't really understood last night seemed to make perfect sense now.

He walked out of the bathroom with his head held high. Maureen and Joanne were kissing again.

So were Angel and Collins.

Mark took a deep breath. He clutched his camera to his chest and turned it on. This was how he viewed the world. This seemed to ease the pain.

First shot, Maureen and Joanne. The one who left him behind. The one he could finally leave behind.

Next shot, Roger and Mimi. Back from the cold, holding hands. Together.

The last shot before he finally set it down were the happy couple. Kissing, laughing, talking excitedly, and then going off to join Mimi and Roger.

He quickly shut off the camera and moved to join his friends.

Give into love or live in fear

He finally understood.

Angel would always love Collins.

So would Mark.

That wasn't really that great, I know, but I'd never seen a Collins/Mark and I wanted to write one. Hope you got some enjoyment out of it. Sorry if I got you Mark/Angel shippers excited ;)