Take My Hand and Never Be Afraid Again

*Pandora's P.O.V.*
Gerard and I had been dating for the past 6 months, probably the best six months of my life. Nearly every day was spent with him and the guys, but we also made time for ourselves as well. To my great joy our relationship was received very well by the group and Mikey and I had gotten to be so close that he had begun calling me his sister. Everything in life finally seemed to be going right for once. After Gerard's 18th birthday, for which we threw him a small party filled with D&D, movies and karoake, the boys all had the idea of forming a band.

To be honest, they were fantastic. Bob killed it on the drums, and Ray's guitar riffs were out of this world. Though Mikey was the more timid person in the group, his skill on the bass could not be denied and it seemed like performing really made him come alive. Frank, always so hyper, was perfect on rythm guitar. He was a ball of energy that never knew when to quit, but his dramatic nature worked for them. And Gerard...well, he was Gerard. He was brooding and passionate and his lyrics showed this. He had the voice of an angel to me and every time he opened his mouth to sing I found myself lost in the sound. He was talented in so many ways, and I was honored to be his. Honored and somewhat scared. Someone so perfect....I found it hard to believe at times that he had chose me.

At the moment I was helping them prepare for the school talent show. It took a lot of encouraging to get this to happen, but once I passed the idea by Frank and he began his usual hyper rant it didn't take long for everybody else to agree. Though they were clearly a bundle of nerves the excitement on their faces was obvious.

After making sure all of the instruments were ready to go I made my way to Gerard and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.

"Sugar, you'll be amazing. You always are." I whispered to him, snuggling into his chest. He relaxed into my touch and nuzzled his nose into my hair.

"You are so wonderful. Thank you for this. I don't know what I would do without you."

"Continue to be the incredibly talented person you are, that's what." I laughed, pulling back to look at him.

"Hey, look who's talking. I heard you singing in the shower the other night." He chucked at my horrified expression. "And you have the most beautiful voice I have ever heard." There was a mischievious glint in his eye that I did not like.

"Whatever the hell you are thinking, no." I said firmly, pursing my lips. The chaperone for the talent show came by to tell the boys they were up in minute. Gerard still had that glint in his eyes and my stomach formed a slight knot as he and the guys grouped up to have a pow-wow before their set. When they were done I gave each of them a hug and watched them walk on stage.

"Hello, Our Lady of Sorrows!" Gerard's voice boomed out. "Is everyone ready to rock tonight?" Scattered applause answered him. We were somewhat the outcasts of the school, so it was a little understandable that most of the student body wasn't too keen on seeing them perform. "Well, due to limited time we have two songs we will be performing tonight, so let's jump into it. We are My Chemical Romance and this is an original called 'Headfirst for Halos'."

Well let's go back to the middle of the day that starts it all
I can't begin to let you know just what I'm feeling
And now the red ones make me fly
And the blue ones help me fall
And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling
And as the fragments of my skull begin to fall
Fall on your tongue like pixie dust just think happy thoughts

[Chorus]
And we'll fly home
We'll fly home
You and I
We'll fly home

Come on!

Well now I'm back in the middle of the day that starts it all.
I can't begin to let you know just what I'm feeling.
And now these red ones make me fly,
And the blue ones help me fall.
And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling.

[Chorus]
And we'll fly home,
You and I,
We'll fly home.

Now honestly that's what I said to her, what I said to her

As the song ended I clapped so hard my hands were hurting. They performed it perfectly and had even gotten some of the audience to sing along during the chorus. It was like being at a real show! My smile was so big as Gerard turned to look at me that my cheeks hurt, but the excitement and pride in his eyes, in all of their eyes, was perfect. They were all on to something incredible and I was certain they would make it far.

"Thank you everybody who sang along with us, you have no idea how much that means." Gerard began, slightly out of breath. "Now we have one last song left and in order to perform it, I would like to ask my beautiful girlfriend to help me sing. Pandora, will you come out here, sugar?"

I glared at him, scared and shaking. By the looks on Bob, Ray, Frank and Mikey's faces they all knew this was coming and part of me was hurt they hadn't told me. They all knew I had horrible anxiety and that getting on stage would most likely make me barf rather than sing. My hesitation was obvious enough that Gerard jogged over to grab my hand and pull me on stage. Wolf-whistles and cheers erupted from random places but my panic was still there.

"Gerard, what the fuck?" I whispered, lip trembling.

"Baby, you will be perfect. We practed all of this and chose a song I know you know. We're doing a duet, 'Sweet Things' by The Pretty Reckless." I blushed slightly as this was the song I had been singing in the shower the other day. "I believe in you, babe. I love you." I gasped slightly. We had been dating for 6 months but this was the first time he had told me he loved me. And it gave me strength.

"I love you, too." His smiled stretched wide and with that he handed me a mic and announced the song choice to the audience. I don't know how he was able to get it approved by the school, but apparently he did. And with that, we sang.

(italics = gerard, bold = pandora, both = both)

Evil—knockin' at my door
Evil—making me its whore
I don’t mind
If you take what's yours but give me mine

Evil wants you to know
I'm much too young to be owned
I don’t mind
If you take what's yours but give me mine

Hey there, little girl
Come inside. I've got some sweet things
Put your hair in curls
Paint you up just like a drag queen

I don't mind decay
You are the night that saves my day

Hey there, little girl
Come inside, don't be afraid. I'll keep you safe

I'm evil knocking at your door
I'm evil making you my whore
I don’t mind
If you take what's yours but give me mine

[4x]
Hey where are you going?
I wasn't through
I'm gonna have my way with you

I am like decay
I rot the ground that guides your way, oh

Hey there, little girl
Come inside. I've got some sweet things
Put your hair in curls
Paint you up just like a drag queen

How you like me now?
Did I succeed and make you proud?

Hey there, little girl
Come inside, don't be afraid. I'll keep you safe

After we finished silence greeted us and I began to shake in fear. Gerard wrapped his arms around me, assuring me I had been great when suddenly cheers erupted from the audience. The entire audience. The guys ran up to us and we all had a huge group hug, laughing and bowing as we left the stage. After a couple minutes of the judges deliberating they announced My Chemical Romance as the talent show winner and the band to be playing at our senior prom.

*Gerard's P.O.V.*
I felt horrible for putting Pandora on the spot like that, but she sang so beautifully and put all that she had into it, like I knew she would, and I was so proud of her. We won the fucking talent show. With less than a month of being a band we won it and would be performing at prom. We were all beyond excited and all I could think was that this was because if Pandora. Her faith in all of us led to this. I grabbed her in my arms, holding her close and kissing her on the forehead before looking into her eyes.

"I love you. Will you go to prom with me?"

"Of course, sugar. I love you. Now let's celebrate!"

"Did I hear 'celebrate'?" Bob questioned, popping up out of nowhere. "Fuck yeah! But what should we do?" By this time we had all joined back up.

"Well, my mom is out of town, why don't you guys just stay at my place?" Frank suggested. "We could watch movies, have a couple beers. I have a pool."

"Then away we go!" I cried.

Notes

I'm still not sure where exactly this is all going. I have a couple of idea, but I think I'm going to go through high school as quickly as possible because I would like to write about them being adults and on tour and whatnot. Please, leave questions, comments and concerns! :)

-Motor Baby

P.S.
And I know I rely a lot on description and actions rather than dialogue. If that's a problem, please let me know and I will try to use more dialogue.