Return To Me, My Love

William and I make it through a whole movie and ten minutes into the next one by the time anyone comes looking for me. I have had five beers by this point, William matching me drink for drink so we are both tipsy and singing along with the movie, Sweeney Todd, and giggling when the door to the back lounge opens and I see Frank and Ian standing there, Ian smiling fondly at me and Frank looking even more pissed off than before. "What are you doing?" He snaps and I turn my head to look at him, frowning in slight drunken confusion as I say "I'm spending time with my new friend." Franks eyes dart from my face over to William and back again, even more anger evident in them when they lock with mine again. "Come on, it's late and we're going back to the bus. We're leaving in an hour." "No, I'm watching a movie right now with someone who actually wants to spend time with me so go back to the bus on your own." Frank opens his mouth, clearly ready to argue with me, as he takes a step towards me but Ian wraps an arm around his waist and softly says "Frank come on, let him make a friend." Frank huffs out an angry breath before nodding once and I shoot Ian a small smile of appreciation as he takes Frank back off the bus. Once they're gone I turn my head to look at William and say "I'm sorry about that, I can go if you want." "No it's fine, you guys are clearly having issues so if you wanna hang out for a while that's cool." I smile softly at him and he smiles back before we turn our attention back to the movie but the carefree mood from before is gone, neither of us singing along anymore and in that moment I hate Frank a little for ruining my fun.

A few hours later I wake up with my face buried in Williams neck, his arm wrapped around my waist as we lay together on the couch, my body half ontop of his in the small space and I realise we must have passed out. I quickly climb off the couch, my head spinning and I sway slightly and stumble a few steps as my hand comes up to clutch my head and William lets out a soft groan as his eyes slowly open. "Hey, what's going on?" He groans out and I shake my head, trying to clear the sleep and hangover fog clouding it when I realise "Are we moving?" William sits up and remains silent for a few seconds before saying "Yeah, I think we are." "Oh shit, this is bad, this is gonna be so bad." "Hey, it's alright. We're all going to the same place." I nod, trying to calm myself down but all I can think about is how mad Frank is going to be and how I don't want to fight anymore but it's going to unavoidable with how cranky Frank has been today. William gets up and takes my hand, leading me out to the front lounge where we find his bands bass player still up, smoking a cigarette and watching a movie. "Hey guys" he greets us and I nod at him as I take a seat beside him. "How long have we been travelling?" I ask softly as William steps over to the mini fridge to get us some water. "Uh, maybe like three hours now" he tells me and I feel my stomach drop, having been asleep longer than I thought. William comes back over and takes a seat on my other side, handing me my water and we all fall into silence again, watching the movie playing on the tv and it's almost over when we feel the bus slow down and then come to a stop. I turn my head to the other guy, wondering why we're stopping but before I can even say a word there's a loud banging at the door and William slowly gets up to open it. "Where is my husband?" I hear being yelled as the door opens and I tense up, Frank acting so out of character. "He's in here he just fell as..." But William is cut off by Frank shoving him aside as he forces his way onto the bus, making a path straight for me and he grabs me by the shoulders, harshly pulling me to stand and I try to shrug out of his grip as I say "Frank stop it." "Come on Gerard" he tells me as he slides a hand down to grip my wrist and he tries to pull me along behind but I struggle out of his grip. "Gerard" he snaps as he turns back to face me and I say again "Stop it Frank" but he ignores me, quickly stepping towards me and he quickly bends down a little, throwing me over his shoulder and carrying me from the bus as I try to struggle against his hold, Franks hands tightening on me to the point of painful as his fingers dig into me and I go limp, unwilling to fight against him anymore as he carries me back to our bus, humiliation and hurt flooding through me as other people at the gas station we're stopped at stare at us as we go past.

Notes