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“Shayde?”

“Huh?” I looked up to see Mikey looking down at me with a worried expression on his face.

‘What is it?” I yawned.

“Gerard needs to talk to you,” Mikey replied, “He’s at the front of the bus.”

“Okay.”

I stretched, got out of my bunk, and fingered my tangled hair for a brief moment. The smell of sweat and dirty socks started to blend with the aroma of coffee bean as I made my way to the front of the bus. Gerard was there, just like Mikey said, looking out the window with some steaming coffee. He too, had a disturbed look on his face. I sat down next to him cautiously.

“Mikey said you needed to tell me something,” I started.

Gerard only nodded.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He didn’t say anything for a long time…

“You know how Lyn-Z and I got married a while ago?” he finally said.

I nodded, but he didn’t seem to acknowledge me.

“Well,” he continued, “Our friend who married us…” he paused again and rubbed his forehead, “…she wasn’t a licensed pastor. Lyn-Z and I found out last night and I asked her if she wanted to get married for real…” he stopped again, but this time I thought he was waiting for me to say something in response.

“Did she say no?” I asked worriedly.

“I wish!” he seemed angry now. “I ask her in the most romantic way possible, and all she does is stare at me and leave!” he sighed deeply and put his hands over his face.

I felt horrible. I really thought Lyn-Z was a better person than that.

“I can’t believe she would do something like that,” I finally said.

Gerard didn’t say anything.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” I continued awkwardly, “Do you want to be left alone?”

“No.” He said quickly, “Please stay here.”

I nodded even thought his face was still buried in his palms. I simply sat there with him for a while, but it didn’t feel as awkward anymore.

“Shayde?” he at last said.

“Yes?”

He looked up from his fingers, and I could see that his eyes were red.

“Why does this keep happening to me?”

I immediately felt terribly helpless all over again. He had been upset enough after what happened with Eliza. She had the nerve to use him for money and fame, deceiving him to believe that she truly loved him. They were even engaged before she broke down, and told him what her real intentions had been. I was just about to say something to him when Frank, Nicole, Ray, and Bob all got back on the bus from eating breakfast. They seemed to be having a great time too. I wondered if they were just oblivious to Gerard’s feelings or if he had even told them yet. Gerard reached for his sunglasses and slipped them on.

“How was breakfast?’ he asked them.

“Not bad,” Frank answered, “They had something there I could actually eat, ya know?”

“Hey Shayde?” Nicole turned to me, “Could I talk to you? Just for a second.”

“Sure,” I nodded to her. I put my hand on Gerard’s shoulder for just a moment before I left hoping it looked casual enough in front of the others to that they wouldn’t interrogate us later on. Nicole led me all the way to the back of the bus, past the bunks and Mikey.

“Are you alright?” She asked me. “You look stressed.”

“What? Yeah I’m fine.” I answered, but I accidentally stressed the ‘I’ too much, making her question me more.

“What about Gerard?”

‘Crap,’ I thought to myself. I didn’t know if Gerard wanted anyone besides Mikey and I to know yet, but I didn’t want to lie either.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“What’s wrong?”

“He had a rough time last night.”

“What happened??” she urged me on.

“I don’t know that many details and I don’t know if he wants many people to know about it yet.”

Nicole looked a little disappointed that I couldn’t tell her about what happened. I really wanted to, but she would probably find out later on anyway.

“Alright,” she said.

We were making our way back to the others, and we passed Mikey who was on the phone.

“What do you mean you won’t make it?” He said sadly to the person on the other end.

Nicole and I exchanged worried looks.

“But you promised…......okay…alright…I love you too…bye.” Mikey sighed and clicked off the phone.

“Who was that?” Nicole asked.

“Ava,” Mikey responded drearily.

“What’s wrong?”

“She can’t make it…”

“To the New Jersey concert?” I asked.

Mikey nodded reluctantly.

“That’s awful!” Nicole exclaimed, “Why not?”

Mikey shook his head and started dialing a number again. I figured I should get back to the others and make sure Gerard was okay, so I left them to call whoever.

When I got back, they were all carrying on and seemed to be having a good time. I was happy for them but I could tell that Gerard was still hurting and I wanted to talk to him more.

“Hey where’s Mikey?” Bob asked.

“Oh,” I realized the question was directed at me, “He’s on the phone.”

“With who?’ Ray posed.

“Ava. We’re afraid she can’t make it to the New Jersey show like we’d been planning.”

At that, everyone’s expressions dropped into disbelief.

“What??” Gerard said loudly.

“Where else is Mikey supposed to propose to her?” Ray asked.

I shook my head wistfully. Mikey had been planning this for so long, but now it was just blowing up in his face. Nothing seemed to be going well so far and they day had barely started. I could only imagine what could happen next…

“Nicky!” Frank called.

“Yeah?” Nicole responded as she made her way to the front of the bus up to Frank.

He pulled her close into his arms…

“You’ll come to all of our shows, right?” he asked her.

“What makes you think I’d do that?” she teased.

Frank only smiled and kissed her lightly.

Ok, maybe I was wrong. At least someone’s love-life was going smoothly. But then I let my stare drift over to Gerard. Even through his sunglasses, I could tell he was staring at his best friend and Nicole as they joked with each other. His eyes were full of envy and sadness. He noticed that I was looking at him and he glanced up and met my eyes. Normally, I would have quickly looked in a different direction like I’d never been looking at him in the first place, but instead my eyes locked with his. He blinked at me as if to say,

'Stop worrying about me, I’m fine.'

I didn’t believe that statement, and I wouldn’t have even if it had been spoken out loud. I glared at him through his dark shades trying to tell him,

'No, you’re not, and you know it. I need to talk to you more.'

I continued to gaze into his despair-ridden eyes, as he did to me, until Mikey entered our group with fake casualty in his expression.

“Hey, do you know if Ava will make it now?” Nicole asked him.

“No,” he said sorrowfully, “Now I’m even less sure if she can come or not. Her boss said that if she misses one more day of work just for a concert then she’s fired. I called him and tried to convince him to let her go with me just this once. I even told him that I was planning something really special for her, but he still blew me off.”

“Ugh, that guy is such a jerk,” Frank said wrinkling his nose.

His arms were still around Nicole. She pulled away, kissing him as she did, and poured herself some coffee. Gerard went over to comfort his distressed brother, pushing his own conflicts aside.

“Are you gonna tell them?” Mikey whispered to him lowly.

“Later,” I heard him reply.

They must have been referring to the incident with Lyn-Z…
Right? I couldn’t help but be little curious.


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NOTE: I actually wrote this a few months ago. So I really don't think it's all that good. I promise that there will be more vivid descriptions and improved dialouge in the chapters to come. It will probably take a while for the full plot to unfold. ASome chapters are greulingly short. but I promise it will all be worth the wait. :) Please reviewwwwww!!