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Title: A Very Merry Christmas
Author: ~Dancing~Through~Life~
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: Rent
Pairing: Maureen/Joanne
Chapters: 10
Disclaimer: I don't own Rent or the characters. =(
Summary: A little Christmas fic about how Joanne and Maureen met.

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight

---

Joanne made her way back from the bathroom slowly, not wanting to run into anything in the Boho's dark apartment. She didn't know where the light switches were, and she didn't want to wake anyone, so she carefully picked her way through until she came to Maureen's room. The light was still glowing from underneath the door, so Joanne couldn't hope that Maureen had somehow miraculously fallen asleep already.

Joanne took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door open. Maureen was hanging upside down off the side of her bed eating something. She offered it to Joanne, and she realized that it was a bar of chocolate.

"Want some?" Maureen asked with her mouth full, waving her hand at Joanne. Joanne took it and sat on the bed next to Maureen, who's face was red when she sat up. "Have some, I swear it's not poisoned."

Joanne gave her an unsure look before breaking some of the chocolate off. It tasted normal, so she hoped that there wasn't anything in it.

"So," Maureen said loudly, flopping back over on the bed. "Tell me about yourself."

Joanne, who hadn't been expecting this question, looked over at Maureen. "Excuse me?" She managed through a mouthful of chocolate.

"You do realize I don't know you at all, right?" Maureen propped herself up on her elbows and raised an eyebrow at Joanne. Joanne couldn't help but think about how she didn't know Maureen either, and it seemed politer for Maureen to introduce herself a little better before demanding that Joanne do so. But, then again, this was Maureen. "All I know is that you seem to have a liking for chocolate." Maureen gestured to the chocolate in Joanne's hand.

Joanne slowly put the chocolate down and stared at Maureen. "What do you want to know?" She asked, not knowing where to start.

Maureen paused for a moment, contemplating. "I don't know," she finally said. "Er, what do you do for a living?" She sat up cross-legged on the bed and gave Joanne a cute smile.

"I'm a lawyer," Joanne said, immediately regretting it when she realized that Maureen would think that it was a boring profession.

Sure enough, Maureen had a very dull look on her face and flatly said, "That's nice." Joanne could tell that she didn't mean it. "What do you do for fun?" She asked, obviously hoping to get a more interesting response out of the lawyer.

"Fun?" Joanne asked, not really knowing what to say in response to that. If she had thought the lawyer answer was dull, she could imagine Maureen's reaction to this one.

"Yes, fun!" Maureen insisted, bouncing a little as an emphasis, and making Joanne a little uneasy again.

Joanne smiled sheepishly and replied. "I go over to my parents' house for dinner sometimes." She couldn't stop herself from flinching when Maureen playfully whacked her on the shoulder.

"What kind of person are you?" she exploded, falling over dramatically and covering her eyes. "Don't you do anything more interesting than that?" She groaned loudly. "You're a worse case than I thought, you know that?"

Joanne glared at Maureen, though it wasn't acknowledged because Maureen still had an arm thrown over her eyes. "Well," Joanne started. "If you know so much about fun, then what do you do?"

Maureen uncovered her face and looked at Joanne like she was crazy. "I go to the Life with the group."

Joanne was oddly surprised. It seemed to her that someone like Maureen would lead an exciting life. "Is that all?"

Maureen sat thinking for a moment. "I protest," she said, musingly. "That's fun. Now it's my turn. Do you date?"

The topic was straying to a subject that Joanne found uncomfortable at the moment; being in such close quarters with Maureen and still feeling rather warm. So she dismissed the question with a casual, "Not at the moment."

Maureen surprised her by saying, "Me neither." Maureen struck her as the type of person who would have had many boyfriends. "I mean I was," she stuttered, suddenly awkward. "But not now."

Joanne shook her head. "I don't much." Even in New York, it was hard to find someone like her. So she didn't date much, and even when she did, it usually turned out disastrous.

Maureen shrugged. "I fool around. It's your turn."

Joanne was surprised again. "We're taking turns now?" She asked, unsure of when this had been established.

"You weren't telling me anything," Maureen said. "Ask a question."

"Okay," Joanne thought for a moment before asking, "What do you do for a living?"

Maureen grinned. "I protest," she said again, happily. Joanne could tell that this was something that she liked a lot.

"As in a job?" she asked. She had never heard of protesting as a job, but with this group you could never tell.

Maureen snorted. "I don't get payed, if that's what you're asking. I do it because I like to. There are things that need changing around here."

Joanne was puzzled and looked around, almost as though she was looking for an explanation. "Then how do you pay for this loft?"

Maureen smiled bitterly. "We don't," she said. Usually Benny's decent enough to let us stay here. If not, we stay without power."

Joanne grimaced. "Sounds cheery."

"No s**t," Maureen muttered, rolling her eyes. "Ny turn. What's your orientation?"

Joanne was surprised by this question, and looked at Maureen with wide eyes. Maureen was grinning at her. "Excuse me?"

Maureen rolled her eyes again. "You keep saying that. I don't think it means what you think it means."

Joanne paused. "Okay," she said cautiously.

Maureen stared at her for a few moments, before finally asking impatiently, "Are you going to answer the question?"

"What was the question again?"

Maureen gave her a 'look.' "You're stalling, aren't you?" She asked.

"No I'm not!" Joanne said, mock hurt.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are," Maureen said, emphatically. "Answer the question. What's your orientation?"

"Er."

Maureen rolled her eyes for the third time since the conversation had started. "Do you want me to go first?" She sighed.

"Um."

"I'll take that as a yes," Maureen gave her a wicked grin. "I'm bi. I'll date either," She said "Now answer the question!"

Joanne was startled by the loud announcement. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before replying, "I don't normally date men." She sucked in a breath, realizing what she had said. "I don't normally date," she corrected herself quickly.

Maureen grinned. "So you're a lesbian."

Joanne shrugged before finally giving in. "I suppose you could say that, yes."

Maureen put her hands on Joanne's shoulders and gave her a little shake. "There, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Yes it was," Joanne said, obstinately.

Maureen groaned and let her hands drop. "You're hopeless," she said. "It's your turn."

Joanne was still rattled from her new discoveries, and didn't know how to reply. "I'm tired," she said, though she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep now. Especially with Maureen in the same bed.

"That wasn't a question," Maureen said, emphatically.

"Your point?"

Maureen sighed, clearly frustrated again. "My point is that you were supposed to ask a question."

Joanne paused, before finally childishly replying, "What if I don't want to?"

"Then what are we going to do?" Maureen asked, flopping back on the bed again.

"Sleep."

Maureen looked at her upside down. "You," she said, pointing at Joanne, "are no fun."

Joanne sighed, rolling her eyes. "So I've heard."

Maureen mock glared at her from her place on the bed. "We might just have to fix that, you know." She informed her, nodding.

"I'm scared."

"You should be," Maureen said, grinning evilly and upside down at Joanne. "Ask a question."

Joanne could see that she wasn't going to get away with not asking a question. "What kind of movies do you like?"

Maureen replied. "I like all kinds of movies. But if I watch a really scary one I can't sleep. I watch them anyway though. You?"

"I like all types too," Joanne said.

"Want to go see one sometime?" Maureen asked.

Joanne looked down at her, surprised. Maureen was suddenly looking up at her with a very serious expression, Joanne's heart started pounding, and she mentally cursed the blush she felt spreading across her face. "Alright." a smile spread across Maureen's face, and Joanne couldn't help but smile back. It was contagious.

"My turn!" Maureen exclaimed, but before she could get her question out, it was stopped by a huge yawn. She tried to stifle it, but it was no use. Joanne had seen.

"Ha!" she pointed at Maureen, who was just trying to stop another yawn. "You're tired too."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "Ok, fine, I am tired. Happy?" She sat up and crawled past Joanne, their shoulders brushing. She snuggled under the blankets and looked up at Joanne. "Are you going to get in the bed, or am I gonna have to come out there and get you?"

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