The World is Ugly

"Rooose... Rose..."
I groaned and rolled over onto my stomach to look over to Gerard. "Gee, it's too early..."
"It's 2 am."
"My point exactly." I forced myself to sit up.
"Our plane leaves in like, an hour and a half, let's go!" He grabbed my hand and led me downstairs, where Ray was carrying our suitcases into a cab.
"Someone was willing to wake up at 2 am and drive us?" I muttered.
"Guess so."
I jumped into the minivan, sitting in the backseat with Gerard. My heart was racing. Today was the day. New York.
I never really traveled before, other than going to Seattle on the train when I was in Portland. It would also be the first time I'd ever set foot in an airport. I gripped Gerard's hand as I stared out the window, admiring the night sky, though it was almost starless. He wrapped his arm around my waist, poking my side. It didn't make me laugh, but wince a bit, rather. We had gotten matching tattoos again a week ago: "MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE" on our side. I swatted his hand away and he chuckled. The swaying of the cab eventually lulled me back to sleep.

When I woke up, I was in someone's arms. My eyes fluttered open and I saw Gee's familiar black hair. He saw I was awake and smiled. "Morning, sleepyhead."
"Morning," I croaked. I tipped my head back and by the bustling people, disgusting smell of coffee, and the sound of rolling suitcases, I could tell we were at the airport, waiting for the plane. The sky outside was still dark, so I didn't think I'd been out for long. He carried me past a couple of stores before sitting me in a chair at a Starbucks across from Frankie.
"Sleeping Beauty is finally awake?" he chuckled and took a sip from his coffee.
"It's like 3 am, shut up," I retorted.
"Correction: 2:46 AM."
I looked past him to the surprisingly large line for it being almost 3 in the morning. Gee was standing in line with Mikey and Ray. I had apparently drawn my attention to them for a while, because I heard Frankie laugh. "You look absolutely starstruck when you look at him."
"Hm?"
"Gee." I felt myself blush. "You really love him, don't you?"
"Y-yeah..." I shuffled around in my seat.
"Your feelings are mutual, between you and him. He talks about you all the time. It's really cute." He sighed. "He's been the happiest I've ever seen him since he met you. Promise me you won't hurt him."
I smiled. "I couldn't if I tried."
Gerard came a few minutes later with a cardboard tray with coffee cups in it. Everyone took their respective cups and Gee handed me a scone. "You need to eat. Airplane food is disgusting."

We ate in silence, probably due to the fact we were all extremely tired. As 3 am rolled around, the intercom screeched. "American Airlines flight to New York, please report to seating area C14." We grabbed our stuff and wandered around for a bit before finding our seating area. The second we got there, the attendants called for us to board.

Me and Gee sat in the very back, behind Ray and Frank and Mikey's seats. After a few minutes, an attendant walked up to the front of the plane. "Good morning. Thank you for using American Airlines. It is 3:25 AM. Please allow us to show you what to do in emergencies."
My grip on Gee's hand tightened. I wasn't scared of planes or dying in plane crashes, but the thought of maybe dying today scared me. Throughout the entire explanation, my grip tightened, until I could've broken every bone in his hand. It wasn't until the attendant went back into the cockpit did I let go.
"Ah, god, that hurt." Gerard hissed. "You scared of planes or something?"
"Never been on one. But I just don't feel up to dying today." I croaked. He leaned over to kiss me on the cheek.
"Chances of a plane crash are 11 million to one, babe," he whispered in my ear. "I promise we'll be okay." I smiled a bit.

I was fine until the plane started moving. It circled the runway a few times before it sped up. I grasped the armrests and steadied my breathing to try and calm down. Gee looked over and realized I was shaking. He wrapped his arms around my waist and nuzzled his face into my neck. I calmed down a bit, but then the plane took off. I didn't realize it at first, as it was still pitch black outside, but the plane tipped at an angle. I stared out the window, eyes wide, as we left the ground.

Damn was it silly to get scared. That was nothing. I sighed out of relief and turned to Gee. "That wasn't anything to be scared of," I whispered.
He snickered. "I told you, you big baby." He pulled out his phone and gave me one of the earbuds. "Listen."
I did as he said and put one of the earbuds in my ear. What greeted me was Gerard singing.

It's the tearing sound of love-notes
Drowning out these gray stained windows
And the view outside is sterile
And I'm only two cubes down
I'd photocopy all the things that we could be
If you took the time to notice me
But you can't now, I don't blame you
And it's not your fault that no one ever does

I looked at him, confused. The reason we're going to New York was to record, anyways? "Amateur stuff we recorded with generic mics 'n shit," he told me.
"What's the name? Of the song, I mean."
"Cubicles." I nodded.
"So, what's the deal when we get there?"
"Oh, our record label got us reservations for a really fancy hotel. They said you're allowed to come with us to the studio and watch us record. Just... not actually go in the sound booth."
"Obviously."
"By the way, don't get mad, but... we've had to cut our trip short to just a week."
"I don't mind. Well, I mean, I do, but I'm not mad." I replied. I really wasn't. I was just happy to be with them.
"I hope you brought some nice clothes. I'm taking you to dinner tonight. Some fancy place the producer recommended. He might join us, if that's okay."
"Oh, Gee, that's perfectly fine with me."

I didn't realize we were slowly inching towards eachother until I was close enough to see every single yellow gold fleck in his eyes. Without realizing what I was doing, I brought my lips to his. Thank god no one sat in the empty third seat. We stayed like that for a minute, lips locked, running our hands through eachother's hair. We didn't break the kiss until I heard someone clear their throat. I pulled away to find a flight attendant standing there, tapping our foot. "We politely ask you to refrain from public displays of affection such as kissing on our flight, as there are children present," she told us. As she walked back to the front, I could hear her muttering something about, "kids these days". I felt the heat rising in my cheeks, and when I looked over to Gee he was beet red. I gave him a peck on the cheek and stared out the window, still listening to his amateur recordings of his songs.

About an hour later, the plane finally landed. Once we got all our luggage, we hailed a taxi and got a ride to our hotel.
"That was a strange time for public displays of affection," Mikey told us as the driver stopped at a red light. I started blushing again. "Not making fun of you," he assured us, "me and Frankie would've done the same if Ray wasn't sitting with us."
"I need a girlfriend or else I'm gonna die from watching you all make out," Ray groaned.
We soon arrived at the hotel. It looked like one a movie star would stay at. It was a good 25 stories tall, with a large U.S. flag waving at the top. The sign on the front read La Fantaisie Hôtel. I got out of the car and was immediately greeted with a bell hopper. "Good morning, madam, welcome to New York. Do you need help with your bags?" he asked.
I looked over to Gerard, who was putting my suitcase on a cart. "No, I think he's got it."

The clerk at the desk was very confused when he saw us; we were dressed like hobos, jeans and dirty t-shirts and slippers and ratted hair. He probably thought we were crazy or asking for money.
"Gerard Way," Gee said to him. He looked through something on his computer for a minute before nodding.
"Ah, yes, Mr. Way." He handed us two keys. "Room 24, 6th floor."

The bell hoppers helped us with our bags and putting our clothes away. When they were all done, one of them handed us another key, this time to a car. "From the man who booked the room. It's in the parking lot." And then he left.
"DUDE, DOES THIS MEAN WE HAVE A CAR?" Mikey yelled, his face a mix of shock and excitement.
"I... guess?" Gee replied. He was obviously confused. Mikey grabbed the keys and ran outside.
"DON'T KILL YOURSELF!" Ray yelled out the door.
"I didn't know we were gonna get a car," Gee said. "That'll be useful for tonight, huh?"
"What were you planning on doing tonight?" Frank asked.
"I'm taking her to dinner."
"Ooh, romantic."
I laid on my back on the bed, and it wasn't until then that I realized just how heavy my eyelids were. I slowly drifted to sleep.

Notes

i was listening to lavender town the entire time of writing this O u O