And in this moment we can't close the lids on burning eyes
Our memories blanket us with friends we know like fallout vapor
Steel corpses stretch out towards an ending sun scorched and black
It reaches in and tears your flesh apart
As ice cold hands rip into your heart
That's if you've still got one that's left inside that cave you call a chest
And after seeing what we saw, can we still reclaim our innocence?
And if the world needs something better
Let's give them one more reason now

Gerard sang as I sat outside the booth, watching him and the rest of the guys play. He was always so absorbed in the song when he sang, so passionate about it. As if he completely tuned out the world. This was our fourth day in New York, and I was sad it was going to end so quickly. Our days weren't as exciting as I expected. We woke up extra early, recorded at the studio for like 15 hours straight, and went back to the hotel and slept. Very exciting. It was almost 8, but I felt a mighty need for a walk outside. I never got to explore this city much. From what I could tell, it was pretty. Lots of buildings and strange people. Not much different than Portland, actually. The guys had just finished a song and were being released for a few minutes for a break. Gee smiled at me when he saw I was waiting for him. "Sorry you have to stay so late for us," he told me before pulling me into a kiss. I returned the kiss before pulling away to reply.
"Where do you think I'm gonna go?"
"Oh. Good point." He grabbed my hands and we followed the guys to the break room. Said room was littered with styrofoam coffee they had just thrown on the floor between recordings.
"So, what was the song you guys were doing just then?" I asked.
"Skylines and Turnstiles," Ray replied. I nodded.
"I really love that one."
"I know, me too!" Frankie exclaimed. "Gee wrote it."
"I guess I just have the most talented boyfriend," I said. I turned to Gerard as I said it, but was directing it towards anyone in the room. I looked out the window and got the urge to take a walk again. "Hey, would you guys mind if I take a walk?"
"At night in New York? No way," Mikey hissed.
"Let her get some fresh air, man," Ray retorted. "She's been locked up in here all night long." Mikey sighed.
"Just don't go too far, 'kay, babe?" Gerard asked. I nodded in response, smiling. I was only gonna walk a few blocks. I hugged them all before grabbing my phone and going down the elevator. I just wanted to explore a little bit, even if it was only a few blocks.

GERARD POV

For some reason, as I watched her walk to the elevator, I began to think about how this all started. The day I met her.

I was thrown against a locker by Jacob, probably denting it. His little posse stood behind him, fists clenched, ready to start a fight if I acted up. I've had to deal with this almost every day since my first day last year. What did I do to them, though? I had no idea. They began to spat words in my face, but I learned to tune them out at this time. I still felt the same fear as that first day of freshman year, however, that same desire to run. And I actually had a chance to today. JJ was pulling his fist back to punch me when a teacher turned around the corner, yelling for him to stop. He and his followers immediately snapped their heads towards the teacher, giving me a chance to run. I tripped at first, but regained my balance and sprinted into the nearest hallway. I heard JJ yell something, immediately followed by squeaking of sneakers. I was staring over my shoulder to make sure they weren't on my tail. I just kept running and running.
Suddenly, I ran into something. Strange, this hallway isn't a dead end. I fell to the floor with a soft thud. I groaned before sitting up and seeing what I had run into. Or, who, rather. I looked up to see a girl with red hair sitting across from me on the floor, looking just as scared. Shit, she was pretty. Insanely pretty. Hot, even. She did look familiar, but the only reason I could think of for that was my art class, vocals. I heard the click clack of heels emanating from the hallway she came from. She looked over to the janitor's closet next to us and grabbed my arm, forcing me inside with her. Shit, Gerard, apologize! "I'm s--" I started, but she cut me off by shushing me. She stared intently at the door, waiting for something to happen. The squeaking following me and the clacking following her met in front of the door.
"Where the hell did they go?!" yelled a girl. I recognized the voice as Tiffany Matheson's, the most popular girl in school.
"Dunno. Probably ran off." JJ replied. Tiffany obnoxiously sighed and walked away, JJ and his posse going in the opposite direction. Suddenly, the girl began to wheeze, holding her hand on her chest.
"Oh my god, are you okay?!" I frantically asked.
"Can't. Breathe. Asthma. Inhaler. Backpack. Floor. Bathroom," she managed to sputter out between wheezes. I assumed she meant the girl bathroom, so I immediately dashed over there. Lying on the floor was a plain backpack. I kneeled down and shuffled through the front pocket for a minute before finding a blue L-shaped tube. Inside the tube was a silver canister. I gripped it tight and ran back over to the closet. "This?" I asked her, holding it out. She quickly nodded and grabbed it from my hands, bringing the opening to her lips, pressing on the canister, and taking deep breaths. She took a few doses before turning to me and staring. I smiled.
"I'm Gerard," I told her.
"Rose," she replied. "Sorry about that, my asthma acts up when I exercise. Especially since I was under a great deal of stress by being chased by those girls. God, they want my head but I don't even know their names." Wait, she didn't know who Tiffany motherfuckin' Matheson was? I stared at her in shock.
"What?" she asked.
"How do you not know Tiffany Matheson and her godforsaken clique?"
"I-I'm new." That makes sense.
"Oh. She's the head cheerleader here. The girls who follow her around are the rest of the squad who want to look cool."
She scoffed. "Tiffany? That's the most stereotypical cheerleader name ever." I laughed. "Who were those people chasing you?"
"Jacob 'JJ' Johnson and his friends," I replied. "Head quarterback. He's hated me from my first day last year. Dunno why. It's like I've been dropped in a cliché teen movie. While I remember to ask, what year are you?"
"Sophomore."
"Me too. I thought you looked familiar. You got vocals as a last elective?"
"Yes! My group is Cell Block Tango." No wonder she looked so familiar!
"You got the Ukrainian girl, right? Your voice is perfect for her." It really was.
"Th-thanks!"
I smiled at her. I had a feeling about her, something that said this would end up being a wonderful friendship.

"Gerard, c'mon, break's over!" Frank said, lightly nudging me, pulling me out of my daze. I followed him back to the soundbooth. The next song on our list was Demolition Lovers. I had written it about Rose. I knew she'd love it. If only she was here to hear it. Wait no, I want it to be a surprise. I smiled as she ran through my mind again. But I had to focus on the task at hand: recording this. The music started and I was absorbed into it.

Hand in mine, into your icy blues
And then I'd say to you we could take to the highway
With this trunk of ammunition too
I'd end my days with you in a hail of bullets
I'm trying, I'm trying
To let you know just how much you mean to me
And after all the things we put each other through and
I would drive on to the end with you
A liquor store or two keeps the gas tank full
And I feel like there's nothing left to do
But prove myself to you and we'll keep it running

Suddenly, someone banged on the window between the booth and the studio. They motioned for us to come outside. Confused, we took off our headphones, put them on our microphone stands, and shuffled out. "We've got a huge problem," the guy said. "Especially for you, Gerard."

ROSE POV

I was enjoying the cool, crisp, summer air of New York, blasting music through my headphones. I must admit, I had gone more than a few blocks, I must admit. But this city was beautiful. The neon lights covering the buildings and the rushing of cabs and cars made it seem like I was in a movie. I had been stopped a few times by tour guides, since I did look quite lost, but I turned them down. I wanted to explore this beautiful city myself.
I eventually found I had explored enough (well, gone far enough) and figured it was time to go back. As I turned on my heel to go back to the studio, I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Well, not nauseous, but I had a bad feeling, A sense of impeding doom. I shrugged it off. I mean, Mikey did seem worried when I said I wanted to walk around New York at night. He was always filling my head with ideas of bad things that might happen. I can't get mad at him for it, though. It's his anxiety. I slapped my cheeks a few time as I walked back to calm myself. One of Gee's amateur recordings were blasting in my ears. Cubicles, the song was called. I really loved this one. I stared at my feet as I walked, my pace in sync with the song. I started thinking about the night Gerard asked me out, the night after that traumatizing event.
I remembered Mom had sent me a bunch of texts, one of them saying she was outside. I started having a panic attack, and he led me outside to show me she wasn't. Earlier that day, he told me he felt we had a certain connection, so I asked him about it. I don't remember anything between that and when we began to kiss. The whole event still made my heart go aflutter. I loved Gerard. A lot. I knew he was the one. Like, the one.

Suddenly, I heard someone yell at me. I looked up at him, confused. He simply yelled again, pointing behind me. Someone lunged at me, attempting to push me out of the way of something, but they were apparently too late.

I suddenly felt something crash into me, immediately sending me head-first to the cold pavement. There was a searing, unbearable pain running through my entire body, but especially in my back and my skull.
This wasn't pain like that fateful night with Mom. No, this was much worse. This was excruciating. My body felt so numb, yet was in so much pain at the same time. I heard even more screams and yells, some people running to my side. I tried to move, and immediately regret it. It felt like someone had put an entire car on my back, and I couldn't move. My attention was directed to the blood pooling around my face. I was confused at first, until I realized how fast I had fallen to the ground. Concussion, I thought to myself.

I succumbed to the darkness taking over my vision as the sirens of police cars and ambulances sounded in the distance.

Notes