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DISCLAIMER- Yes, Jonathan Larson (god), made all the wonderful characters of Rent. I am in no way ripping of the amazing Rent creator he ownes them all. I however own my fictional characters such as Rachael Adams and more to come.

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Chapter One: Simply Captivating

Marks POV

A knock came at the door, I checked the clock, they were on time as usual. Marueen and Joanne were bringing over their kids, today was little Ryan's birthday. I opened the door to see Joanne holding their newest, Ella, in her arms, and Ryan hanging on her arm. Marueen was behind them carrying presents and decorations. Ryan saw me and ran over, wrapping his arms around my legs, saying, "Uncle Marky!"

I smiled and ruffled his hair, "Hey mister birthday boy. How are you?"

"Good." He said then ran past me to grab my camera which was lying on the couch, he was always wanting to play with it.

I gave Joanne a hug, "Hey Jo." I tickled Ella's stomach, which made her giggle and beary her head into Joanne. She was shy.

"Hey."

Maureen came forward, I held my hand out, "Hey Mo, need help?" She looked like she was struggling.

She nodded," Thanks!" then she handed me a bag or two, which were pretty heavy.

I put them on the table, then went over to Roger's door and knocked on it, "Rog, theyre here."

He didn't respond, which I figured he might. It had been 1 year since Mimi had died, and although he was active and still living No Day But Today, he had a somber attitude about him. With Mimi gone, he had a heavy heart. I hoped Roger would come out today. We set up for the party, and Collins came in a little late.

"Hey Mark, Joanne, Mo…" He looked around, and sighed, "Roger still in his room?"

I nodded and he went in there to talk to him. We continued setting up in silence wondering if Collins could get him to come out. A few minuetes later Collins came out, Roger behind him. He looked very tired, dark circles under his eyes. Little Ella slipped out of Joanne's arms and crawled over to Roger, then raised her arms up, wanting him to hold her. We were silent, not knowing what he would do. To our surprise, he leaned down and picked her up. She looked at him with her big eyes, both of them not saying a word, then she rested her head against his chest and stuck her thumb in her mouth, looking very peaceful.

Joanne smiled, "She normally doesn't let anyone hold her." Roger just shrugged.

Ryan, how like Marueen loved the spotlight, then realized that the attention was no longer on him. He ran over to Mo and asked her, "Party?!"

The party was wonderful, Ryan blew out the candles on his cake that Collins had made him. He loved all his presents, books from Joanne, clothes from Marueen, and a mini toy camera from me. We hadn't expected Roger to get him anything, but he pulled out a little leather bracelet and gave it to him. The whole party, Ella stayed in Rogers arms, and wouldn't let anyone hold her.

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"Bye!" I said to everyone, closing the door. I looked at the clock in the kitchen, it was midnight, it had been good to see everyone again. I went to go clean it up the dirty dishes. Roger was leaning against wall, just looking out the window. I started to clean the dishes, but couldn't stand the silence, "Enjoy the party Roger?"

He nodded, then walked over. "Mimi wanted kids." He said suddenly. I looked up at him, turning off the water, surprised.

"Really?"

He nodded again, "We both did, but it wouldn't been fair to the kid. It would have had two dead parents, and might be sick too."

I had never known he wanted kids. It was good to see he was talking freely. I would have to invite the kids back over more often, even if it was chaotic, Roger was talking.

Then he looked at me straight on, "Have you thought about it Mark?"

I nodded, "I have a little." I said truthfully, "I love spending time with Ryan and Ella. But Maureen never wanted anything like that, or so I had thought. Someday though." I paused, "It think I'd like being a dad."

Roger smiled and was about to head to his room, when we both heard a crash. "What the hell?"

I opened the door but didn't see anything, I went over to the stairs and looked over the rail. Someone had dropped a huge box, it was shadowy, but I could see that much.

I ran down the stairs, "You need help? I-"

I stopped mid sentence, the stranger had turned. I was at a loss for words. She was gorgeous. She had beautiful green eyes and light brown hair, her bangs framing her perfect olive skin face. I couldn't stop staring, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Help would be wonderful, thanks." She had an accent, but I couldn't tell where from exactly.

I grabbed a box and called up, "Roger! Can you come down and help?"

He came down the stairs but stopped when he saw her, the both stared at each other. I sighed, of course, she was the type that would go for Roger.

"Roger can you help with this stuff please?" He didn't answer, he came down the stairs slowly.

"Roger? Roger Davis?" She said eagerly, "Holy ! Rachael Adams?!" They embraced.

I was so confused, "You two know each other?" They both smiled then laughed and nodded.

"Mark this is Rachael Adams, we are old friends." He was smiling, he was actually smiling. It was a new Roger, and it shocked me.

She smiled, "We've known each other since birth. Our mothers were good friends. I can't believe this."

"Tell me about it. How are you? Sounds like you still have your accent after all these years." He said picking up a box, starting up the stairs.

She picked up a smaller box, and followed up after him. I followed after her, making sure to stare at the box instead of her.

"I'm good thanks. Yeah, I just got in from London." Ohh, she's British. "After college last year I decided to go and spend a year back home."

Roger nodded, "What college?"

"NYU." We all reached the landing and dropped the stuff.

"Where are you moving into?" I asked quietly, she looked at a tiny slip of paper then looked up and smiled.

"4B."

Roger laughed, again surprising me. Who had inhabited his body? "That's right across the hall from us."

She shook her head and laughed lightly, "Such a small world."

We finished bringing up her stuff, I just watched her in silence as Roger and her talked about old times. I tried to not look at her, but it was unstoppable. The way she walked, the way her hips subtly swayed side to side, the way she smiled, the way she laughed, she was simply captivating.

"Do you guys know any place around here that has good food, I'm starving?"

We both nodded and said unintentionally in unison, "The Life."

She smiled her sweet smile and grabbed a coat from one of her bags, "You two up for some food?"

Roger and I looked each other, shrugged and nodded, "Sure."

I grabbed my scarf and camera while Roger grabbed his leather jacket. On the way to The Life, they walked more ahead talking, while I stayed behind filming as usual. Occasionally I would turn the camera on her and zoom in on her smile or as she tossed her head back in laughter. She caught me sometimes and I continued panning the camera, pretending I wasn't filming her.

Once we got seated she turned to me and asked, "So Film huh?"

I nodded, smiling shyly, "Yeah. I film pretty much everything. I don't want to miss anything important. What about you? What do you do?"

She set her jacket on the back of her chair, setting her bag on the floor, "I draw and sometimes paint."

Roger nodded, as untidy as always he had just thrown his jacket on the ground next to him. "She did all the posters and art for our band. And in school she won lots of awards. You should see some of her stuff, its really amazing." I didn't doubt it.

She just blushed. Intrigued, I continued, "What sort of things do you draw?"

She glanced up from the menu, "People mostly."

A beeping went off, "Roger, AZT." I reminded him quietly.

She stared at Roger in horror, "No..no, Roger..you didn't?!"

He nodded sadly, swallowing his pills with sip of water. "Why? I thought you weren't into that."

Roger just shook his head, "We'll talk about it later."

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She shut the door behind her with a smile as we entered the loft. I couldn't stop thinking of her. Roger went over to his room as normal, but before entering he stopped and looked at me, "What'd you think of her?"

I didn't really know how to describe what I felt, but I think he knew by my silence and bright red face. He smiled, "I thought so." He entered his room and I went over to sit by the window with my camera. I looked out at the city, holding my camera close, her face still in my mind.

Rachael's POV

I shut the door and leaned against it smiling. What a day. Seeing Roger had been so fun, we hadn't seen each other in forever. I unloaded some of some of sketchbooks from my bag. I took an empty and sat by the window. I loved drawing at night, it was calming. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something to draw. My pencil started to draw and I looked down at it with a smile. The only face on my mind was Roger's friend, Mark. I leaned against the window, thinking of how when he wasn't looking, I would glance over at him, thinking of how he would film everything, thinking how despite that fact he was my best friends best friend, I still couldn't stop thinking of him. I sighed and looked out the window up at the stars and moon, then scanning the buildings around me. I looked up at the moon and wished he could be here holding me, hoping someday he would.