Everyone stopped what they were doing when Maddie and Frank made their way back to the bus. She was all smiles and he was laughing at whatever she had said earlier, and it was confusing as all hell to the rest of the band. Gerard was leaning against the bus with a cup of coffee, grinning from ear to ear.

"Looks like my begging and pleading for them to make up worked, Mikes," he said as Mikey came out of the bus. Mikey laughed at Gerard and shook his head.

"You really think they would have stayed mad at each other for long?" Mikey was right. They had invited Maddie along with them for the next phase in their band's career - they would have to learn to deal with each other sooner rather than later. Maddie came up to her brothers, beaming up at them. Gerard gave her a knowing smile and looked over at Frank, mouthing "thank you" at him. He didn't want his sister and best friend fighting over some stupid shit he did. Maddie went to go dump her bags in the bus and Frank crossed his arms.

"So we talked." Gerard didn't answer, simply looking at him expectantly. It was sad, if he had a tail Frank was sure it would have been wagging a mile a minute. "And we both agreed that we were stupid for blowing up the way we did, and that you're a fucking idiot." Gerard's expression drooped for a split second before he rubbed the back of his head and smirked.

"I don't blame you two. That was the right call." Frank was still pissed at Gerard, but he tried to push it to the back of his mind, convincing himself that it was a one time thing and not a downward spiraling relapse. He wanted to trust Gerard entirely, and not let some stupid tiff get in the way of their friendship. "So did she find everything she needed, or will you two be making another trip when we get to the next city?" The eldest Way grinned at Frank and took a sip of his coffee.

Frank sputtered and uncrossed his arms, gesticulating at Gerard. "No way, man. I'm not her babysitter! She's your responsibility!"

"Gee, and I was starting to think we were getting along fine," Maddie said from the bus steps, sticking her tongue out at Frank. He laughed as she descended. "Don't worry about me, Gerard. I bought the bare necessities to survive until I can get home." She noticed Mikey still standing around nearby and linked her arm in his. "I was told that you had toiletries I could borrow and or take forever." Mikey rolled his eyes at Frank and disappeared into the bus to go find his extra travel size bag.

Maddie leaned against Gerard and he reached up to ruffle her hair. Normally Madeleine hated that - it made her feel like a child - but with Gerard it was different. There was a longing deep inside of her that wished she'd grown up with them and had that older brother who mussed up her hair in front of everyone and the other brother she exploited simply because she knew he wouldn't say no. Hell, maybe if she'd known about this sooner, she and Frank wouldn't have started off on the wrong note.

But why was she so hung up on how Frank felt about her? It had to be because out of all five of them, he had the most adverse reaction to her existence. Even Ray - even Bob - took her side in the whole fiasco and they had barely just met her. She couldn't stop looking at him as he and Gerard talked about the upcoming show and the setlist and the end of the tour tomorrow. Madeleine was glad they had patched things up, but she could still feel her wrist burning - and not because of the scabby abrasion healing.

She was so fixated on the damn scorpion tattoo on Frank's neck twitching every time he said something that she didn't notice Gerard nudging her repeatedly. "Mad, it's time to go get ready." She didn't want to let them go, but there was a show to play. Maddie decided this time around she would sit off to the side and watch from the wings to avoid any more stupid security mix ups.

---

Madeleine couldn't stop cheering. She was watching her favorite band live, playing all her favorite songs. But then, who was she kidding? They were all her favorite songs. It was just so exciting to be able to be on the other side of the stage, knowing that when they were done she'd be able to go back to joking and laughing and talking and hugging without having to wait on a line or by the barricades.

But she also couldn't stop watching Frank. There was a different kind of energy to him on stage than in person. He was one hundred percent into the music and the way he moved reflected his feelings for what he was playing. Nothing was choreographed with him, considering that he spent a lot of time on the ground because of a misstep. Madeleine caught herself grinning every time he would turn around and catch her eye.

Honestly, she wished she kept up with her guitar lessons so she could jam with them. She was mediocre at best, knowing chords and theory but lacking the drive or creativity to put it together. Madeleine couldn't help but feel sad about things like that, because she knew if she'd at least been allowed to grow up with Gerard and Mikey things would have turned out differently. She didn't want to dwell on that anymore. That was then, and this was now, and now meant that she had two siblings who adored her and happened to be getting big in their careers. And they wanted her to be a part of their lives. That was the most important thing to her - they wanted her to be there.

She was so lost in her head that she almost didn't realize their set ended, and Gerard had come barreling in through the curtain barrier. Followed out by the rest of the band, Madeleine skipped down the stairs and flashed a toothy smile at Mikey and Gerard. "You guys, that was fucking amazing. Does anyone ever congratulate you on a set or do you guys just know you're fucking amazing?"

"Oh, we know. It's just nice to hear it sometimes," Mikey laughed, propping his bass up against his leg. The guys all went to put their instruments away, save for Gerard who wandered over with Maddie to the meet'n'greet table.

"So our merch guy bailed on us. You think you can handle this?" He pointed to a couple boxes of tee shirts and CDs and Madeleine raised an eyebrow at him.

"Alone? With all these people?" She thought about it for a moment before nodding furiously. "Whatever you need, bro." Maddie was probably going to regret it, but hey, first time for everything.

---

It wasn't even the merch stand that ended up bothering Madeleine the most. She was doing fine, selling shirts and making change. People gave her weird looks and constantly did double takes, looking between her and Gerard sitting at the table nearby, but she didn't make anything of it. Nobody had made it public that she was related to them, so she wouldn't be the one to do it either.

What annoyed her was the commentary that surrounded the entire area. The lewd commentary, to be more specific. The people on line were all talking among themselves but she heard everything that was being said. Every little thing they'd do to Gerard, what they wanted Frank to do to them... It sickened her, but also made her feel something deep in the pit of her stomach that had nothing to do with revulsion.

As the meet and greet drew to a close, Maddie packed up the remaining merch into the boxes and went over to the guys. She didn't want to tell them about the things she heard while selling at the booth, so she just sat down on a crate next to them and listened in on their conversation.

"I really think we need to go theatrical with the next album. I'm talking like crazy production, a storyline, " Gerard was saying.

"Ooh, a new album?" she said and Gerard nodded at her.

"Probably after this tour is over and we get our shit back together we're going to have to start writing and recording." Gerard leaned back in his chair as the guys talked between themselves about the music and their plans for the end of the tour. Madeleine had no idea what lay in store for her, considering that she hadn't planned for much further than the end of the tour. "You'll come with us, right Mad?" Gerard's question caught her off guard.

"If you all want me there... I mean, won't I just be a distraction?"

"If we didn't have any distractions, Gerard would probably drive us all crazy," Mikey snorted. "Unless the other guys have anything against it...:

"Would be nice to not have everything be a giant sausage fest all the time," Bob grunted from the outer edge of the semi circle they'd made. Gerard grinned, ruffling Maddie's bangs again.

"Then it's settled. After this tour we'll drop you off at home, we'll recuperate for a few days and then it's time to write a new fuckin' album!"

Notes

I am so sorry about the delay - I've been busy trying to prepare for camp and do all the administrative work and..... -__- This is a bit of a filler chapter for now because I'm still working on where this story is going and when certain things are going to happen, so bear with me ^___^