This is it folks. Last chapter. Thank-you so much for reading and reviewing and following and favorite-ing (is that a word? Oh well, you know what I mean.) Let me know how you feel. Review some more when you're done. It'll make my day and I'll be so happy! Don't be afraid to tell me you hated it (in a nice way, of course) or that you loved it! Thanks again and enjoy!

Chapter 21

Her t-cells were low because at some point her cold had turned into Pneumonia. She put on a calm exterior, but inside she was freaking out. She couldn't afford a longer hospital stay even though Joanne had offered to pay, so she decided to go home. She just couldn't be indebted to her friend that way, besides if this was going to be the end she would rather spend it living her life than hiding away from germs in a hospital.

The drive home was a blur. She slept on Roger's lap the whole way there. He ran his hand through her hair mumbling kind words to try and soothe her as well as himself. Once inside the apartment, he tucked her into his bed and that's where she remained for the better part of a week.

She slept a lot because she was tired, but she couldn't sleep more than thirty to forty minutes at a time. She was weak and achy. Roger sat by her and kept her company. She couldn't stand the look on his face. It was killing him to see her like this, and she couldn't stand herself for being the one to put him through the fear and anxiety of losing someone again. Hadn't he suffered enough?

"You can take me back to the hospital," she told him one night. "You can move on. Don't worry about me. I've been on my own before."

He got angry at her then and yelled. "Are you crazy? There is no way I would ever abandon you." He took her hand in his, toying with her gold band as he said, "I'm staying right here by your side. You're going to be okay, Tess. I know it."

"Roger, you know what's coming. I can't make you go through that. It's selfish of me to stay."

"You're depressed. I know, I've been there myself, but you can't let this take you over. You can't just lie there."

She nodded but didn't speak to him again. He deserved better than her.

Roger spent every waking moment with her. It wasn't fair. He hadn't had a moment alone with her since the day they'd taken her to the hospital.

"Don't just sit there sulking. Tell him you deserve to have time with her. You're her best friend." Kevin's voice broke into his thoughts.

The two lovers lay in bed together snuggled up under the blankets. It was a chilly night. Roger had better have all the spare blankets in the house wrapped around her.

"I wasn't thinking about that." He didn't want Kevin to think his head was somewhere else.

"Yes, you were. It's all you think about." Mark gave him an apologetic look. "I'm not mad. Mark, she's your best friend, you love her. You need to say something."

"I don't want to take away from their time together. Who knows-" He cut himself off. There was no way he could finish that sentence without breaking down.

Kevin took his hand. "Which is exactly why you have to speak up." He leaned in and kissed his partner. "She's special, Mark. I wish I had met her sooner. You need your chance to talk to her. To say-"

"Don't."

Kevin nodded; he understood Mark wasn't ready to face the finality of it all.

"Where's Mark?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper; he had to lean in to listen.

"Around." She'd lost weight, an incredible amount.

"I want to see him. Could you go get him please?"

Roger nodded. Mark had been avoiding him lately. Something was up his ass. Whenever they were in the same room together Mark only spoke to him in one word sentences, and only when Roger spoke to him first. He knew his friend was mad at him for hogging Tess. Too fucking bad. He wasn't going to apologize for wanting to spend as much time with her as he could.

Mark wasn't out in the living room or kitchen so he knocked on his bedroom door.

"What?"

Roger reigned in his temper. "Tess wants to see you." Mark opened the door and looked at him. His eyes were red and puffy. "You've been crying."

"Yeah well, I have good reason." He was angry, his voice was hard.

"She asked to see you. Don't be angry, Mark."

"My best friend is dying and you haven't allowed me any time with her. I have every right to be angry, Roger!"

"She's not dying. Not yet." Roger hung his head. "It should be me. God knows it's my time, I've been around long enough, but I just keep surviving." He looked back up and saw Mark's face full of fear. "Don't worry Marky, I'm not suicidal or anything." He smiled. "Go, talk to her. Get her out of this funk."

Mark nodded and walked toward her room.

He opened the door to dimness. There was a sliver of light shining in through the window next to the bed. She lay under several blankets, her thin arms over them. Her thick curls overpowered her face. "Hey, beautiful."

"Mark!" She smiled widely at him. "I missed you! Come sit down."

He sat on the chair next to the bed, placing his hand by hers but too afraid to touch it for fear it might be cold, cold hands always meant the end was near.

"How are you? How's Kevin?"

This was ridiculous. She was the sick one, the one who'd been through the ordeal, who was being forced to face her mortality, and here she was acting as if this was a casual visit. He swallowed the lump in his throat. Roger had said she was okay- for now, so he decided to play along.

"Good. He's good. We're good."

"I'm glad you found him."

"Me too."

"You need someone to take care of you." She put her hand over his. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt that it was still warm.

"I have you for that." Where would he be if she hadn't come into his life? Probably taking care of everyone else and forgetting about himself.

"I need you to promise me something. Mark, please?"

He shook his head. He was not going to make her any promises because she was NOT dying.

Ignoring him, she continued speaking. "Don't forget about Kevin while you're taking care of Roger." He opened his mouth to argue but she went on. "Roger's going to need you, but he's stronger than you think. Don't forget about yourself by putting all of your energy into fixing him."

All Mark could do was nod. He couldn't hold his tears back any longer and he knew if he opened his mouth he'd turn into a blubbering fool. She squeezed his hand.

"Thank-you for rescuing me, and for giving me your friendship. For giving me Roger, too. I love you, Mark."

Her words undid him. He stood up and hugged her tightly, sobbing like a child. "I love you too, Tess. You're the one who saved me."

Roger's head shot up, his eyes wide with surprise when he saw Tess emerge from his room, hand in hand with Mark.

"Tess, baby, you feeling better?" He tried to sound nonchalant, like it was no big deal that she'd finally come out of her room. He didn't want to scare her away with grand gestures.

She nodded. "Mark insisted I join you guys for a movie."

"Good. Come cuddle up with me." Roger patted the space next to him on the couch, whispering 'thank-you' to Mark when she wasn't looking.

Mark smiled back at his friend, his anger dissipating when he saw the relief on his face. It was as if a load had been physically lifted off his shoulders.

"Why don't you and Kevin join us?" Tess asked.

Mark looked at Roger who nodded his consent. "Yeah, okay. Let me go get him."

"What's going on with you two?" she asked as soon as Mark closed his bedroom door.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You could cut the tension with a knife, Rog."

"He's mad because he thinks I'm hogging you. He wants to spend time with you too."

She looked at him. "I'd be mad at you too. I don't have much time left. I want to spend as much of it as I can with all of you. I shouldn't have hidden in the bedroom. It's just…hard. It's hard."

Roger kissed her head. "I know, baby. I just want you here with me. I don't want you to leave before you have to. Be here with me and with Mark and Kevin and all of us. Celebrate what you have left, okay." He had tears in his eyes, but he made sure to smile through them.

They spent the rest of the day watching movies and making jokes. Collins, Joanne and Maureen showed up to join them. They all hung out in the living room making jokes and laughing as if nothing were amiss. Her mood seemed to brighten and he made sure to thank Mark for that.

Some weeks later, she lay with Roger on the bed looking up at him from where she lay on his lap. She'd given up arguing with him about his keeping a safe distance. He said he didn't give a fuck about getting sick and she really needed to be in his arms. `

"Does this hurt?" He ran his hand through her hair, worried that he might cause her pain. Her health had deteriorated since she'd come home from the hospital and her body was extremely sensitive now.

"No. I like it."

She was thinner than she'd been when she had first come to his door. "I love you." He whispered the words to her.

"I love you too."

He shook his head. She didn't understand. "I loved you long before I told you. I've loved you since the day you called me out on my bullshit. You remember? Out on the fire escape, the day of the party? Then I fell even harder when you came banging on my door and broke up with me because I wouldn't go into your apartment."

She started to cry. "Roger-"

"Sh, let me say this. I loved you the day you told me about Mimi's things being in the basement. I was pissed at you, but I still loved you. I loved you, and I was afraid to admit it." He let out a sarcastic laugh. "Mark was right."

"I love Mark." She made a weak attempt at a smile.

"He knows me better than I know myself. I hate that."

She started laughing but ended up going into a coughing fit.

"Shh. It's okay, breathe through it."

When she calmed down she said, "I love you, Roger."

"I don't know why."

She ignored him. "Be strong for me. Promise me that."

He started to cry. "Tess, don't. It's not fair. It should be me."

She placed the palm of her hand on his cheek. "Roger, it's my time. I'm okay with this. I've lived longer than I should have. After all those years on the street, it's a miracle I'm still alive. Be strong for me. Take care of Mark, don't let him forget about himself." He nodded, his tears making his vision blurry. "I love you. Thank-you so much for letting me in, Roger."

He bent down and kissed her softly until her felt her go limp in his arms. There was no other way to explain it, she was there one second, and then she was gone. He held her in his arms, and all he could do was cry. "I love you, Tess. Thanks so much for coming into my life."

Collins had forced Mark out of the house for lunch. "You can't lock yourself in there, Mark. You need to get some fresh air. Trust me, I know."

That last sentence had made Mark comply. This couldn't have been easy for Collins. He was reliving Angel's death.

"I told you, all you needed was an hour out. You feel better now don't you?" Collins said as he followed Mark into the apartment.

"Shh." Mark could hear someone crying. "Is that Roger? Oh my God, is she?"

Collins and Mark both walked into Roger's bedroom. Roger sat rocking Tess back and forth on his lap. "Don't go. Stay with me, please. I love you." His words were whispered through silent tears, there were no loud sobs, no desperation.

Mark walked over to him, and placed a hand on his back. "Roger, she's gone. It was her time."

He looked up at his best friend, then to Collins. "Will you- I want to stay here with her."

"Of course." Collins walked out of the room and made the calls that needed to be made. Then the three of them sat with her and waited.

It was a small funeral, just the six of them; Roger, Mark, Kevin, Collins, Maureen and Joanne. Kevin held Mark's hand through the entire service, he was his rock. Mark watched in awe as Roger kept it together through his eulogy, he was keeping his promise to her. Afterwards, they all had dinner in her honor. She would have been both proud and embarrassed at the toasts made in her name. Later that night he gave Roger his news.

"I've asked Kevin to move in." He wasn't asking permission. It was his apartment as much as Roger's, and he needed to keep his promise to Tess. He was going to take care of himself and that meant moving forward with Kevin.

"That's good. I'm glad for you two." Roger looked tired and worn out, but her stayed strong.

"Thank-you."

That was it. He didn't put up a fight or argue about sharing the living space. Kevin moved in, and life moved on. They mourned but went on with their lives. Mark was in awe of Roger. His roommate never once broke down. He cried at night sometimes but he still went out, he composed music, started a band, he moved forward. This new Roger was so different from the one who had lost April and Mimi. It didn't mean he loved Tess any less, it meant she had changed him in a way no one else had been able to.

Mark talked to Tess sometimes. He thanked her for changing he and Roger's lives for the better. He'd forever be grateful for the little wild haired girl who'd walked into their apartment and imprinted herself inside their hearts in a way they'd never forget.