"I'm loving the apartment Gerard,"Mikey twirled around in a circle,"Very scary,"He said sarcastically.
"Fuck you man my decorations are fucking awesome,"I muttered as I grabbed a bottle of coke from the fridge.
"Coke? You got anything stronger?"Pete sighed as he jumped up and sat on the bench.

"I wasnt aware you drank,"I looked at him curiously.
"Times like these you- need something to- to take the edge off,"Pete stuttered as Mikey came and stood next to him with an angry look on his face.
"Right... And what are these times like?"I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well I uh um you know um music and um... Shit..."Pete took the glass of coke I had just poured him and turned away.

"Ryan and Brendon have been really difficult lately. With Spencer and Jon not in Jersey at the moment, Pete has to deal with them,"Mikey said confidently.
"God those two. We went to the bean the other day and they were there arguing loudly over whether a staccato was too much. Fucking ridiculous. Di almost kicked them out,"Ray came and leant on the bench.

"Oh Di. How's she doing?"Frank came out of the bedroom with a- a gun in his hand.
"Frank where the fuck did you get that? What the hell is going on?"I screeched and backed away from Frank's menacing look.

"Mikey's been feeding information to Cole,"Frank gave Mikey a dark glare.
"What?"I looked from Mikey's confused face to Frank's scary fucking death glare back to Mikey's- satisfied face?
"I fucking knew it,"Frank spat out and aimed the gun at Mikey.

"Frank!"I shouted and jumped in front of Mikey. Frank's arms faltered and the gun was lowered.
"Gerard get out of the way! Dont you understand! Its Mikey's fault that Cole knows we're in San Diego! He gave Cole your apartment number! He told him Claire's fucking school! He needs to pay,"Frank raged.

"Frank if you think I'm just gonna let you shoot my brother then you are out of your fucking mind! If you want to kill him you have to kill me first!"I stood up straight, holding Mikey in place behind me.
"Gerard dont do this,"Mikey and Frank said in unison.
"Mikey I'm not letting you die!"

"Fine! I am not giving up everything I have fucking worked for this past year because of you Gerard. No. I'm doing this to protect Claire and Lily!"Frank pointed the gun at my leg.
"Frank..."I stared at him.
"Gerard I'm sorry. But he needs to go,"Frank's eyes never wavered from my eyes. He had no sympathy for me or Mikey.

"Do it then Frank. Shoot me then shoot my brother,"I felt the tears come into my eyes as Frank took in a deep breath. I closed my eyes and flinched as the gun shot sounded out loud and clear. And not a second later I could feel the most horrible burning sensation in my leg.

"Ah! Fuck!"I opened my eyes and fell to the ground, clutching at my bleeding leg.
"Gerard? Gerard!"Frank appeared in front of me. The gun wasnt in his hands and he looked worried.
"Get away from me you bastard!'I shouted and scrambled backwards. I couldnt even feel the pain in my leg anymore.

"Gerard what the fuck?"Frank fell to his knees and stared at me. I glanced down and noticed my leg wasnt bleeding.
"I- you shot me,"I spluttered.
"What? No I didnt. Gerard what the hell are you talking about?"
"You- were going to shoot Mikey cause he- he's been giving information to- to Cole about- about us and you shot me in the leg, Frank. What is going on?"

I pushed my fists into my eyes and rubbed.
"Gerard was that a hallucination?"Frank said softly. My eyes flew open and I found myself nodding to everyone. They were all standing behind Frank looking scared and worried.

"I- I'm okay,"I looked away from them all and struggled to stand up. That pain had felt so real. Frank's hands went around my waist and then he was helping me struggle over to the couch.
"Do you want some water? You need food dont you,"Frank sighed,"When was the last time you ate?"Frank nodded at Pete who went into the kitchen and started rifling around.

"I um... Uh I'm not sure. I dont remember. Lunch time yesterday?"I muttered and sank into the couch, closing my eyes and trying to make sense of my hallucination.
"For fucks sake Gerard you have got to stop doing that!"Frank yelled. I opened my eyes to see Frank stand up and stare at me sadly. Mikey and Ray were quietly talking on the other side of the road.
"I'm sorry I dont notice. Time just flies by and usually if I'm not with you I dont eat dinner cause I dont notice the time,"I mumbled and bunched myself up into a ball in the corner of the couch.

Pete's appeared next to me with a glass of water and sandwich.
"No I'm not-"
"Dont you dare say you're not hungry Gerard. Shut up and eat it,"Frank ordered.
"Frankie, I love when you get all controlling like that,"I smiled. That got a hint of a smile.

I took the water from Pete and drank it all in one go. He handed me the plate and sat down on the coffee table.
"Thanks,"I mumbled and took a bite.
"What uh what did you hallucinate about?"Mikey spoke up. Everyone looked at me and waited.

"Um. Mikey was telling me that Pete had found it really difficult with Brendon and Ryan. Then He mentioned Di and Frank, you walked out of the bedroom with a gun in your hand and started going on about Mikey feeding information to Cole about us. And thats how he knew we were here and what school Claire goes to and what apartment number I am..."I stared at the coffee table. What if that was true? Mikey was telling Cole everything about us?

"What? Thats fucking ridiculous. Mikey wouldnt do that. Mikey doesnt even know the name of Claire's school,"Frank laughed loudly.
"Really? You dont know?"I looked up at Mikey.
"What? I dont care what the name is. So long as she's doing well and shit,"Mikey shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh well... It was just a hallucination. Not real,"I took in a deep breath.
"Yeah but- you felt it right? The shot? Thats why you fell?"Ray took a step forward.
"Uh yeah. It felt fucking real,"I shivered as I remembered that horrible searing pain.
"What did it feel like?"Pete asked, a weird tone to his voice.

"Like- burning. White hot. I felt like I was going to pass out,"I said and popped the last of my sandwich in my mouth.
"So what happened when I shot you?"Frank sat down next to me, putting his arm across my shoulders and pulling me into him.

"I- you were gonna shoot Mikey. I kept telling you no and- it was like the rest of you just werent here and I got in front of Mikey and told you to do it so you shot me in the leg to- to get me out of the way but I guess thats when it ended,"I snuggled into Frank, enjoying the solidness of him. This was the real Frank. The one that cared about me. Not the one that shot me so he could shoot my brother. That was not real.

"Well dont worry. I would never shoot Mikey. Ever. No matter what. If it turns out that Mikey has been supplying Cole and his douche bags information about where we are I wouldnt kill him on the spot,"Frank said quietly, stroking my hair. I felt so sleepy. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.

"Gerard?"Frank whispered. I didnt bother answering him. I was about to fall asleep in a second.
"He's asleep,"Mikey said in relief.
"You dont think he's clued on do you?"Ray asked.
"Well I wouldnt be fucking surprised,"Frank grumbled,"You guys have got to get yourselves together. Ray, what the fuck was that at the airport? I told you not to bring any fucking guns. But you go and get someone to drive them here. And then you fucking greet him in the middle of the airpoort? What the fuck Ray. Have you no sense?"

Frank sighed deeply,"You guys need to get this straight. These times are fucking fine. You dont drink at all. And we certainly dont have friends that deliver our fucking suitcases. You hear me?"He demanded. He sounded like- a general.

"Frank dont go all captain on us right now,"Pete sighed,"I know we've got to be more careful but give us a day. We've been over there talking quite freely about it at base and on the phone with you. Being here and not being able to say a thing is actually really fucking hard. The fight's always on our minds. I lost a fucking friend the other day."

"Pete... I'm sorry... I didnt mean it like that I just- I really dont want Gerard finding out. Why hasnt anyone told me about this? Where was it?"Frank shifted slightly.
"Lewis found him dead in his bed. Strangled we think,"Pete whispered.
"Jesus... I'm gonna need to go back... I cant keep leading this while I'm over here,"Frank sighed loudly.

"What about Gerard? You cant force a fight and then a 2 week break to come over like you wanted to... He's not stupid. He'll try and make things right and he'll go to see you and he'll find out,"Mikey said quietly. Frank was going to force a fight?

"I know... I dont want him over there though. When we win this, I want Gerard to have finished college. I'm not letting him stop halfway through to try and win this fight,"Frank said firmly.
"Yeah but we all know Gerard could help. A lot. No offence but he would lead us better than you Frank,"Ray stated.
"I know I know I just dont want him to miss his last year,"Frank said in an anguished voice.

"You know, I dont start my last year until ferbuary next year... I can lead the fight until then..."I croaked. I fought back a grin as Frank jumped underneath me and the rest of the guys all went 'oh fuck' or 'oh shit'.
"Gerard how long have you been awake?"Frank moved out from under me.
"Didnt fall asleep,"I sat up and stared at him,"Frank. How could you keep something like this from me?"

"I- Gerard you heard me just then. I dont want you to throw away your last year,"Frank's face flooded with worry.
"Did you not just hear me though? I can lead it until I start again,"I looked around at all the guys. Only Ray was nodding in agreement. Mikey shot a look at him and he stopped immediately.

"Gerard you dont understand. You wont-"
"Wont what? Dont you trust me enough to come back here when I need to start?"I turned back to Frank.
"Gerard, I know you so fucking well. Once you find out exactly whats going on, you're not gonna want to stop until its over which could last god knows how long."
"Well tell me exactly whats going on! I bet I could find Cole in a week. He wouldnt have kept me in the dark if he didnt think that,"I glared.

"What?"Frank said in confusion.
Oh fuck. Oh shit oh fuck oh,"Fuck."
"Gerard what did you say? Has- have you been talking to Cole?"
"I- no. Not at all,"I turned away from him and stared at the phone. It was on the coffee table.

"Gerard dont lie to me,"Frank moved in front of me.
"I didnt put that there..."I said slowly.
"What? Gerard tell me the truth!"Frank cried.
"I did not put the phone there. Did one of you guys touch it?"I stood up and looked round at everyone's shaking heads.

"It was there when we got here..."Frank looked at the phone sitting innocently and silently,"But it wasnt when... when we left..."
I grabbed the phone and looked at the screen. It was in a call. That had been going for 6 fucking hours. I put it to me ear and said,"Hello?"

The phone started beeping showing that the call had ended.
"Someone's been listening to us talk..."I dropped the phone back onto the coffee table. Not so innocent looking now.
"We need to get to Mum's. Now,"Frank said quietly.