Return To Me, My Love

William and I stop at a nearby cafe and have lunch together, getting to know each other better and by the end of the meal it's like we're old friends. When we leave the cafe we head towards the art gallery William was talking about and as we reach the building two young girls come over and say "You're Frank Ieros husband right?" I smile and nod and they start fangirling, asking where he is and I tell them he's busy working on stuff and they try to press me for information but I tell them I can't say anything. After we manage to get away from them we go inside and William laughs and says "Well that was weird." "I know right, I've been getting that a lot though." William smiles and shakes his head before we start walking around, William being surprisingly knowledgeable about art and we have in depth conversations about the various artists and pieces and I find myself having the most fun I've had in a while, finally having someone to share my full love of art with. After the gallery we walk around for a while longer, seeing some other landmarks nearby before we head back to the venue, Frank and the guys mid soundcheck when we get there so I go into the bus and climb into my bunk, taking a nap before the show.

I'm woken a few hours later by Ian, his face pulled into a soft smile as he says "You coming?" "Yeah" I tell him as I slide out of my bunk, Ian stepping aside to let me out and I realise we're alone in the bus. "Where's Frank?" I ask and Ian sighs and says "In the dressing room already." "Oh" I say, feeling upset that he didn't bother waking me to go with him. "Come on, I'm sure whatever's up his ass he'll get over it soon." "I hope so" I say as I run my fingers through my hair and as we step off the bus into the chilly night air Ian says "Brian is covering merch tonight, you deserve a night to relax." I smile at that and Ian smiles back as we make our way over to the door, security letting us in and I follow Ian down the hallway into the dressing room where Frank is sitting in the corner on a two seater couch hunched over his lyric book. I slowly cross the room and take a seat beside him, glancing over at Frank and he shifts slightly but doesn't look at me. I try not to let it hurt me, figuring he's just in the zone but ten minutes go by and he still hasn't even acknowledged my presence. "Frank" I say softly and he stops writing and lets out a groan as he says "What? What do you want now?" I bite my bottom lip as I turn my head away, unable to look at him otherwise I'll start crying and Frank huffs out a loud breath before going back to his lyrics. What seems like an eternity later someone comes into the room and announces the five minute call for the guys to go on and they all stand up, huddling together and talking softly, psyching each other up like usual before exchanging high fives and as they go to leave the room Ian turns and smiles at me, gesturing for me to come too.

Just as the guys are about to go on I grab Frank by the wrist, making him turn and look at me and I surge in and press my lips to his, Frank pressing a quick peck to my lips as I try to deepen the kiss before pulling away and I am left disappointed as he walks onstage and away from me. The guys make it halfway through their first song when someone grabs my arm and I spin around and see William standing there smiling sheepishly, his hair wet and his clothes clean and dry indicating he just showered. "Hey" he greets me and I say "Hi" back and we both turn to watch the guys play, William offering me the second beer dangling from his hand which I take gratefully, downing half of it in one go. "Slow down" William laughs and I smile as I say "Where's the fun in that?" Frank and his band make it two more songs into the set before William says "You wanna come back to the bus?" I think about it for a few seconds, trying to decide whether I should wait here for Frank to ignore me some more when he comes off or if I should go and make some new friends. New friends wins and I follow William outside to his bus, lighting up a cigarette on the way and when I pull it out of my mouth William reaches out and snatches it from between my fingers, taking a deep drag and sighing in relief before offering it back. I take it back and stick it between my lips, inhaling again as William puts in the code for the bus door and we go inside, finding the rest of his band in their front lounge playing guitar hero, still hyped up on adrenalin from the show. "You wanna play?" William asks and I smile as I shake my head and say "Nah if you want to though I'll just watch." "We could watch a movie in the back lounge?" He offers and I smile and nod, craving a quieter, calmer atmosphere and William smiles back and leads me through the bunk area to the back lounge, turning on the tv there and putting in a movie while I sit on the couch and get comfortable, downing the rest of my beer and William takes the empty bottle and disappears, coming back a few seconds later with a fresh one for me, settling on the couch beside me as he opens his own and starts the movie.

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