Sing It Out

*Gerard’s POV*

I watched as Sam walked away, heading toward her mother’s car. Why didn’t her mother come in? When Bandit was in the hospital, I practically drove my car through the wall to get in. Poor Bandit. She didn’t feel much pain though, she was killed almost immediately. Lyn-Z, on the other hand, died slowly, painfully...

I shook that thought out of my head. Better not to dwell in the past.

I turned toward Mikey, who was staring at me like I had just sprouted a horn. “What the hell, Gerard?”

“What?”

“You gave her your phone number? She’s going to give it to everybody.” Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. No, I trust her.

“It’s fine Mikes.”

He rolled his eyes, but apparently decided to trust my judgement. Frank piped in, lending me his undying support.

“Who’s she gonna tell, Mikey? It doesn’t sound like she’s exactly popular. And besides, it’s kind of hard to gossip when you can’t talk.”

I shot Frank a silent thank you, and he nodded, smiling. Oh, I missed seeing his smile while the band was apart His bright personality could light up a room. I used to have a huge crush on him, before I met Lyn-Z. Even then, Lyn-Z started out as a distraction from Frankie, because he was already married and I couldn’t have him. But now he and Jamia are divorced. Man, that was a huge fight. Who knew Jamia was such an asshole?

“Gerard were you listening?” Ray’s voice broke through my mind. We had walked out to my van and were now getting in.

“What?”

“Do you have any idea what I just said?”

I rolled my eyes. “No Mr. Toro, sir. Sorry, I’ll pay more attention next time.”

“Shut up, Way. I’m not explaining that again. Anybody else want to tell him, or should we just force him to wonder for the rest of eternity.” Ray looked pointedly at Frankie, who had gotten in the passenger’s seat, and I was stuck driving.

Frank giggled. “I’ll tell him. Gerard, we were talking about taking The Californians on the rest of our tour with us. I mean, if you think they’re good enough.” Colorado was just the second stop in our tour. We’d have about 3 months on the road with them.

“Oh, they’re good enough. I mean, they’re not just good for their age. They are actually really talented. Maybe more so than us.”

Frank stuck out his lip and pouted. “Nobody is better than me.”

“You’re right, Frankie, you’re the best.” I turned back to Ray and Mikey, who were looking at us strangely. “What?”

They looked at each other for a moment, and then Mikey spoke up. “It’s just, you guys. Uh, you’re just, um, weird.”

Uh, okay? “Yeah, um, anyway. We’d have to ask the kids’ parents. I’m sure Sam’s mom wouldn’t care. She’d probably be excited.”

Frank looked angry. “Yeah, she’s a bitch. I feel so bad for Sam. But what about the other kids?”

“I’ll call Sam later.”

Ray raised an eyebrow. “Really Gerard? You’re going to call a mute person?”

I blushed. “Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that. I would text her, but I feel like this would be best delivered in person. Mikes, how much longer are we in Colorado?”

“Six days. We have that show in the Springs, remember?”

“Oh yeah. Maybe the kids could perform with us then, almost as a last audition.” Frankie mused. “Eyes on the road, Gee.” I loved it when he called me that.

I pulled into our hotel parking-lot. We were road-tripping until we got to our tour bus in Kansas, our next stop. “I’ll text Sam and ask if she can have her band meet us somewhere tomorrow.”

We all got out of the car. Frankie was having issues with the passenger-side door, so I decided to be a gentleman and open his door for him, taking his hand and helping him out. He blushed. Ray and Mikey exchanged a look. What was up with them? I’m just helping out a friend.

We entered the Hampton hotel, grabbing fresh-baked cookies on the way. This time we were lucky enough to get four separate rooms. I shivered as I remembered that one time on our second tour, when all five of us (we still had our drummer) had to stay in a one-bedroom suite. That sucked.

Once in my room, I shot Sam a quick text.

Hey, this is Gerard. We have an important question for you. Can you and your band meet us somewhere tomorrow?

I wasn’t expecting an immediate response, but not even 10 seconds later, my phone dinged, and I had received a text.

I’ll text the guys and let you know. :)

I put her number into my phone, smiling.

I got up to take a shower. I let the hot water relax all of my muscles. I thought about Sam. Man, it must suck to not be able to talk. I don’t know how she handles it. She doesn’t seem like a very shy person either. Why did it even happen? Caz said that it started when her dad died, but why would that give her a mental block? That had to be what it was, simply a mental block. Maybe it was unrelated. Maybe somebody abused her? Her mother? No. I hope not. Ugh.

I stepped out of the shower, dried off and got dressed. I left the bathroom to see that I had a new text from Sam.

How about at 11 tomorrow? There’s a Starbucks right near the park where Caz and I hang out.

I texted the my band to confirm, and they were all free. Just a precaution really. What could they possibly be doing out here in Colorado that I didn’t know about? Hiking? Smoking weed?

11 tomorrow sounds great :)

She sent me the address, which I promptly forwarded to the band. If our bands ended up going on tour together, I would have to create a group text with all eight of us.

**That Night**

“Gerard! Help me! Please, please, please.”

Lyn-Z was thrashing around on a hospital bed, pleading.

“Please make it stop!” It hurt to see her this way, covered in blood. Her right arm was at an unnatural angle, and even though her torso was covered with a sheet, you could see that there was a significant wound there.

“I’m so sorry honey. Just let the doctors do their job. You’ll be okay soon.” I gritted my teeth at the lie. I had already been told that her chances of survival were very slim.

“Where’s my baby? Where’s Bandit?”

“I’m sorry Lyn-Z, Bandit’s already gone.” She had died on the scene of the crash.

“No! No she has to be alive. Where is my daughter?” She screeched like a madwoman at the doctors, demanding to see her child. It was then that the nurse stuck the needle in her arm (cringe) and she immediately passed out. The nurse turned to me.

“I’m sorry Mr. Way. I should have let you say goodbye. It’s very unlikely that she’ll be waking up.”

“It’s alright. She’s not feeling any pain anymore, right?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s all that matters.” The nurse began to hook up the heart monitor, while doctors buzzed around her, evaluating her condition. I averted my eyes when they lifted up the sheet on her torso and I swear I saw a rib bone poking out of her skin. Poor Lyn-Z.

A shriek interrupted my thoughts. Lyn-Z had jerked back awake. Apparantly no sedative can keep her down. What a badass. She was screaming at the top of her lungs. I had never heard such a terrible sound before. And there was nothing I could do. I stood there, watching the love of my life die. Screeching, crying, screaming. She looked me in the eye.

“Gerard-” she managed. Then she screeched again. “Help! Help me. OUCH.” She looked back up at me. “I’m not gonna make it am I?”

“You’ll be okay, Lyn-Z. Keep fighting.”

“No. Gerard. Bandit is gone. I don’t wan-” she was cut off by her own scream as a doctor tried to sedate her again, unsuccessfully. “I don’t want to live like this.”

“Lyn-Z-”

She screamed, in utter and absolute pain. She continued screaming, as the heart monitor got slower and slower, until it beeped for the last time, and Lyn-Z’s scream was cut short. She was gone. It was my turn to scream.

I jolted awake, still screaming. This was a time I wished I convince myself that it was only a dream. But it wasn’t, it was real. Even if that was just a dream, it was a reflection of real life. I looked around my hotel room. It was still dark. I began to cry again, shoving my face into my pillow.

A knock at the door startled me. “Go away.”

“Gerard it’s me.”

“Frankie?”

“Let me in, please.”

I tore myself out of my bed and opened the door. Frank came in and closed the door behind him, before hugging me. “Nightmares again?”

“How did you know?”

“I’m sure the whole hotel knows.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Don’t even worry about it.” He dragged me over to my bed and tucked me in. “It’ll be okay, Gee. Go back to sleep.”

“Frankie? Will you stay here?”

He looked at me for a minute, his beautiful amber eyes locked onto mine. “Sure, Gee.” He laid down on the bed next to me.

“I hate my life.”

“Don’t. I’m not going to tell you to ‘be thankful for what you have’ or whatever, because that’s inconsiderate. You’ve been through a lot. But think about all the good things in your life. Me, for example.” I giggled.

“You’re the best thing in my life at this point, Frankie.”

“I’m glad. Now go to sleep. Big day tomorrow.”

“Not really.”

“Just go the fuck to sleep, Gerard.”

“I can’t.”

“I’m going to go back to my room if you don’t shut up.”

“Nooo.” I rolled over and grabbed him, pulling him closer to me. He tensed up at first, but then he relaxed and hugged me back. I looked up at him. “You’re the best, Frankie.”

“I know.”

“Wow, how modest.”

“I know that too.”

I looked his gorgeous eyes. His face and jaw were chiseled, like it was cut from stone by the gods. No wonder I used to have such a huge crush on him. But of course, he would never feel the same way. I reached up and grabbed a strand of his hair. He had grown it out again, just slightly shorter than it was during the Danger Days era. Beautiful. “Gerard?” He was staring at me, slightly weirded out. I was still playing with his hair.

“Oh. Sorry.” I looked into his beautiful eyes again, they were filled with concern.

“Go to sleep.”

I didn’t argue, and within two minutes, he was fast asleep. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep, in his arms.

**The Next Morning**

“Gerard? Frank? What the hell?”

I opened my eyes and sat up. “Mikey? What-” I looked at Frank next to me and then I realized what Mikey was thinking. “Oh no, Mikey, it’s not like that. I had a nightmare, and he came to help me.”

“Um. Okay. If you say so. Um. I’m going to go tell Ray that I found Frank. We had the hotel staff open the door. Um. Bye.” He backed away from the door, almost running into a lady walking down the hall. He shut the door behind him, and I heard his footsteps as he ran away from my room.

I laughed. “Wow, that hasn’t happened since-” I stopped talking when I realized that the last time that happened was when we actually had slept together, even though we were both married. Poor Mikey was scarred for the rest of his life.

Frank groaned and rolled off of the bed, landing on the floor with a thud. I got up and walked over to help him up. “Good morning sleepyhead.” He groaned again. He was not a morning person. Normally I wasn’t either, but I was in a particularly good mood. “Let’s go eat breakfast.”

“Gerard...”

“Move your ass. Let’s go.”

After a delicious trademark Hampton hotel breakfast, we left to meet Sam, Caz, Alex, and Seth at Starbucks. We were in a bit of a hurry, and we arrived about 5 minutes late. I spotted The Californians at a table and I dragged Frank over, followed by an annoyed Ray and a still-disturbed Mikey.

“Hey guys! Sorry we’re late. We lost Frankie this morning.”

Caz raised an eyebrow as we sat down. “How exactly do you lose a man? Even if he is a midget.”

“Hey!” Frank pouted.

“He was in my room.” Caz recoiled at my statement.

“No! It’s not what you think. He was just visiting.”

Seth rolled his eyes. “That’s what he said.”

“What was that Seth?” Frankie dared him to repeat his statement.

“Oh nothing. It’s not my business what you do at night. What did you need to tell us? We’re rather anxious.”

Sam nodded in agreement, sipping her coffee.

“Ah well, we were just wondering, of you guys wanted to join us on our tour?”

Notes

Hampton hotel breakfasts are the best.

If you were wondering 'the Springs' is what we Coloradoans call Coloado Springs.

I actually cried while writing Gerard's nightmare. I'm such a weakling.

If you have any questions, or if you see a mistake, don't be shy. Leave a comment. Or kik me at Party.Poison.Gee

I heard that if you sub to this story, the narwhal population goes up by 82%

xoxo

~Chloe Rose