Hi! I'm new at this so I don't know if it's any good or not. Um . . . I've been reading a lot of stories about how Angel & Collins met and Today 4 U by missxflawless caught my attention, kept it, and inspired me. So . . . this is my version of how the couple met in Collins' POV. Like I said before, this is my first fanfic so please be nice to me. And if people like it, I'll write more.

I own nothing. The Almighty Larson owns it all.

"Shit!", I murmured as the harsh winds blew in my face. I tried to close my coat to keep the cold night air out. Not that it would help since the damn zipper broke off the minute I put on for the first time. Hey, can't blame a guy for tryin'. But, you can blame him for not being smart enough to save up for a car. You know, a car. The thing with four wheels, an engine, and, my personal favorite, a heater. Hmm . . . maybe I can hot-wire a car or something . . . never mind. The last thing I need is to be arrested on Christmas eve.

The wind blows again and I shift the bag I'm holding to my shoulder so I can use my hands to cover my ears. "Why must you mock me so?", I asked my beanie that I wore everywhere. There's a downside to wearing my beanie. It doesn't cover my ears and it's knitted. Well, I'm almost home . . . where there's probably no heat either. Come to think of it, it's most likely colder than it is out here.

Fuck! I take my hands off of my ears, shove my hands in my pockets, and continue walking in the cold. The fucking freezing cold! I swear next year, I'm leaving. I don't care what month, what week, what day, what time, or how the hell it happens. I'm moving somewhere like . . . Santa Fe. Yeah, that's it. Good ol' sunny Santa Fe, New Mexico. I might even open a restaurant or something. What a great premature New Year's resolution. Or maybe I'll go back to MIT and not get kicked out again for having a theory.

They only kicked me out cause my theory used common sense. Which is something that the board at MIT is afraid of. Either that or it's cause I'm black and gay. Imagine that. Being kicked outta MIT because of a bunch of racist homophobes. THE BASTARDS! But I digress. As I'm walking, I see something in the middle of the street up ahead. I don't know what it is, but it looks like it's bleeding.

Holy shit! It's a dog! "Ugh!", I grimaced and made a gagging noise. This is exactly why I'm a vegetarian. I don't have to witness my food bleed to death before I eat it. (Not that I'd ever eat a dog.) I start walking again at a faster pace, in desperation to get out of the cold and away from the dog, but I slow down when I approach a street drummer. He looks like he's Latino or something . . . I don't know, but he has a nice beat. Just to be nice, I dug into my pocket and pulled out some change. Four whole quarters. (Well, what do you expect from a poor black man?)

I looked down at the drummer's . . . what is that? A pickle tub? Whatever. "Merry Christmas. May your holiday be less shittier than mine.", I said, dropping the quarters onto the Latino's . . . uh . . . drum. He smiled and I walked on, pretending not to notice his unforgettable smile. Home! Finally! And the lights are out. Only meaning the heat is off too. Damn-it! This has gotta be Benny's doing.

I went over to the payphone, that I rigged so nobody had to use money (cause I'm that damn good), and dialed the number that I was surprised I remembered after 7 months away from home. "Hello?" Mark had answered the phone. It's good to here his voice. I love that little albino pumpkin-head. "Hey, guess who's back in town." Like he doesn't already know. "It's Collins, man. Throw down the key." I don't know why we don't just get that damn thing copied. I see Mark come out on the fire escape.

"Hey!", he said, as he threw the key down to me and I missed it. Only because my hands are fucking freezing! I bent down to get the key. When I stood up there were three guys coming toward me and one of them had a bat. This can't be good. "You got a light, man?", one of them asks me to my relief. "Yeah.", I replied, digging in my pocket for my lighter. Before I even had time to think, the guy that asked me for a light punched me in the stomach and another one tried to grab my bag.

"Gimmie that shit!", the bag snatcher yelled. As you wish. I threw the bag at him and ran. "Get that son-of-a-bitch!" I heard one of them yell as I ran down an alley. Not the smartest move now that I think about it. I looked back to see how far behind me they were and tripped. On what I have no idea. Two of the guys started kicking and punching me as the third one put his bat to some use. "Pick his ass up! Come on!", the bat guy yelled. The other two did as he said and the fucker jabbed me in the stomach with the bat! I fell to ground, they got their last hits in, and then they took my coat.

Great. Now if I don't bleed to death, I'll fucking freeze to death! I managed to sit upright after a while. "How do you stay on your feet when on every street it's trick or treat? And tonight it's trick.", I asked myself before putting a hand to my face and discovering blood when I pulled it away. "Welcome back to town.", I said to myself sarcastically, examining the blood on my hand. I tried to stand up . . . and failed. "Oh, I should lie down. Everything's brown and, uh-oh, I feel sick." I felt my eyes closing as I slipped into unconsciousness. "Gettin' dizzy . . ."

So, what'd ya think? Dija like it? Dija hate it? Please review.