Hello Angel

She had spent almost the entire day hanging out with Gerard and Mikey, with Ray and Bob popping in every so often to grab something and chat. She had taken plenty of pictures and was contemplating putting them up on her shiny new Facebook profile (or even update her MySpace) when she got home. But she was stuck with wondering, how would her friends react? Granted, she mostly had family and only close friends on there, but how was she supposed to explain this new development?

Maybe she’d keep it on the down low for now. After all, the only important people in her life already knew, and that was all that mattered, wasn’t it?

But something deep down inside of her begged her to throw up a picture of herself and Gerard making stupid faces together in the tour bus. So she made a mental note to upload the picture when she got home. If only Facebook would come up with a feature to upload from mobile phones…

Madeleine had spaced out thinking about these pictures that she hadn’t realized how late it had gotten. And still no sight of Frank. Hmph. “Gerard? I don’t know if you guys wanna keep me around or anything but I can go home since you guys still have shows to play this week.”
Gerard stopped talking to Ray and turned around.

“I thought it was implied that we were dragging you along for the ride. Or did mom not make that clear?” He grinned and Madeleine’s heart almost burst.

“That changes everything, let me just call my roommate and let him know.”

She pressed her speed dial and waited for Alex to answer.

“Hey, listen, they want me to finish off the tour with them so I’ll probably be gone for a few days… Yes, again… I’ll figure the clothing situation out eventually. Bye.”

“What clothing situation?” Ray chimed in.

“Well, considering the fact that I came here with nothing but the clothes on my back…”

“So did we, for the most part,” Bob laughed.

“Yeah, but I’m not gross,” Madeleine laughed as Gerard lifted his arm and mockingly took a whiff. Upon realizing that he actually did reek, he winced and put his arm back down. "Maybe whenever we get to the next city I can go shop around for some necessities before the show." Gerard tossed the can of beer he was downing onto the floor and crushed it under his shoe. It was only then that Madeleine realized how many cans were lying scattered by his chair on the pavement. "Are those all yours?"

Madeleine has been buzzing the entire day, not realizing that Gerard was slurring half the time and stumbling all over the place. She knew he had problems with alcohol but facing it in reality seemed like it should have been less extreme.

"Yeah, I haven't had a drink all tour but today's a special occasion, right? I've been jonesing for a while."

Madeleine frowned. It wasn't her place to comment, and Mikey didn't seem like he was going to say anything, so she kept her mouth shut.

They ended up getting tired from laughing, though Madeleine felt the strain from Gerard trying not to trip over his words - and at this point, his feet. "Let's go crash for the night," Mikey suggested, getting up and stretching. Madeleine followed suit, but Gerard shook his head.

"I'mma wait up for Frank. I'm worried about him."

"Suit yourself," Mikey said and climbed up the stairs into the bus. Madeleine hesitated but Gerard kept waving arbitrarily any time she said anything or made a move to sit back down. She followed Mikey up into the bus and collapsed into one of the cushioned seats near the front. Her brother brought her an extra blanket and pillow from the back and she curled up in the chair, closing her eyes. However, sleep wasn't easy when she could only think of Gerard sitting outside - at least she hoped he was still there.

She tried to succumb to sleep, but as she was drifting out, a loud crash woke her up.

"You were CLEAN, Gerard," she heard someone screaming, and then a thud against the door of the bus. Frightened out of her mind, she got up and headed towards the back of the bus. The squabbling had woken everyone else up and Mikey reached out to Madeleine, pulling her over after seeing the fear in her eyes.

"That would be Frank..." Mikey whispered, putting his arm around her shoulders.

The argument outside continued as Gerard started shouting back. All she could hear was "Don't be a fuck... I'm clean... My sister."

"So, it's my fault Frank's pissed off?"

"Absolutely not," Ray said from his bunk. "That was Gerard's decision. You're not a scapegoat."

She heard the bus door slam open and Frank angrily stomped up the steps to see everyone staring at him. His eyes locked onto Madeleine's.

"You."

Notes

Uh oooooh...