FicWad

Lucky for me the next day was a “travel day”. Okay I totally didn't mean this but I was trying to keep a positive outlook. The tension on the bus was still there between Gee and Ray even though it was obvious both men were trying to repair their tattered friendship. Around noon I finally left the bunk and dressed. I had to endure lots of teasing about how "lazy" I was but I took it all in stride. The truth was I felt incredibly tired both mentally and physically. Last night I knew my illness had been caused by the stress of what had happened between Ray and Gee but I wanted to downplay that fact. Gerard did not need any more added stress. Taking a seat in the back of the bus where Mikey, Alicia and Bob sat along with my husband, I smiled hoping it looked sincere.
"Hey when do we stop for lunch?" I asked.
They all laughed, "You just got up and you're ready for lunch?" Bob kidded.
"Yep, it's that whole eating for two thing."
"She does need to eat." Gerard said putting his arm around my shoulder.
I sighed, "He's worried about my blood sugar."
Mikey nodded, "Yeah, he just told us we needed to stop a few minutes before you got up."
"How are you feeling?" Gee asked me softly.
I turned to look into his eyes, "I feel fine. Just hungry."
He smiled slightly but I could still see the concern on his face. "We're gonna stop in about ten minutes."
"Good. I'm gonna grab my phone and see if I have any missed calls." I stood up too quickly and the world tilted.
Gerard shot to his feet to steady me.
"I'm okay." I said to his unasked question. "But to be honest the constant movement of the bus is getting to me." Ever since I'd gotten out of the bunk I'd felt a little dizzy. I took a deep breath, "Lunch will help." I said before heading back to the bunk to grab my phone. I took it out of my bag and noticed I had several missed calls. The first was from Jenny. I hoped she wasn't calling with bad news about her father.
"Hey" I greeted her when she answered.
"Hi, Laura. How's everything going?"
I laughed, "No, I'm supposed to ask you that first. How's your dad?"
Jenny sighed, "Well by the time I got here he'd already been released from the hospital. The doctors say he had a light stroke but they think with rehab he should regain the use of his arm and his speech will improve."
"That's good news." I said wondering why she sounded so down.
"Yeah, it is. I will be rejoining the tour in Arizona."
"Are you sure?" I wanted to make sure she didn't feel as though it was something she had to do. "I mean if you think you should stay with your dad we'll all understand."
Her laugh was false. "Who's we?"
The question confused me. "Well, the band and Reprise."
I could hear her softly breathing but she didn't speak. Something seemed very wrong. "Jenny, talk to me, please."
"I'm trying so hard to be a good daughter but fuck, it's not easy. I don't think dad cares one way or another if I'm here or not. And having to deal with his wife is almost unbearable."
Now I understood. She wanted to come back. "Okay I'll tell you the truth. I'm glad you're planning on coming back soon. I miss you."
"Really?" I could hear the uncertainty in her voice.
"Yeah, really. Heck you just left and I miss you."
"I miss her too." Alicia yelled as she passed by me heading down the hall towards the front of the bus.
Jenny laughed. She had heard Alicia. "Tell her I miss her too."
"She misses you too." I yelled at Alicia "But not as much as she misses me."
Jenny giggled, "You two are so funny. I really do miss you guys. I just wanna pack my stuff up and leave right now but I promised to help out here for a few days."
I looked up to see Gerard standing nearby. "We're stopping for lunch now." He said softly.
"Hey, Jenny it's lunch time for us so I gotta go. You call me later okay?" I wanted her to know I wasn't blowing her off.
"Oh that's okay. I didn't really want anything. I just called to let you know I got here okay."
"I'm glad you did. Now promise to call me later. Since we're on such a strange time difference I want you to call when it's best for you. I'm just gonna be on a bus so it doesn't matter to me."
"Laura thanks." She said so softly I had to strain to hear her.
"Thanks?"
"Yeah, for your friendship. You and Alicia don't know who much it means to me."
"Hey, what are friends for?" I teased. We said our goodbyes and I disconnected.
"How's her dad?" Gerard asked as I stood. He took hold of my arm not waiting to see if I was dizzy.
We started walking towards the front of the bus. "He's doing fairly well. She's planning on rejoining us in Arizona."
"That's good to hear."
We walked off the bus and into the sunshine. It was a beautiful day. I spotted the small restaurant across the lot and smiled, "I am hungry."
Gerard threw his arm around me. "So what are you hungry for?"
I wasn't sure but I was thinking of ordering one of everything on the menu.

"Oh holy shit. I ate too much." I moaned an hour later leaning my head back and closing my eyes.
Beside me Gerard laughed, "Well I did nicely try to tell you that the second piece of pie was maybe too much."
"It was sugar-free." I said in defense of my actions.
He laughed. "Sorry, Sugar. What can I do?"
"Make this buss stop swaying and hitting every bump?" I asked opening one eye.
"No can do." Gerard said with a frown.
"Maybe you and Laura should rent a car and drive to the venue." Ray said taking a seat across from us.” We're almost to LA. Why don't you guys rent a car there?"
I opened my eyes and sat up. This was really the first time since last night that Ray had instigated a conversation with us.
Gerard seemed to be considering the suggestion.
"I mean I think traveling by car is more comfortable for her, especially when she's not feeling well." Ray added.
At first I wondered if he just wanted to get us off the bus and away from him but as I looked into his face I could see he was truly concerned.
"What do you think?" Gerard asked me.
Truthfully I wasn't sure a car would be any more comfortable for me but the idea of being alone with Gee always sounded good. "Would it be too much trouble?"
Ray stood, "I'll go talk to the driver and tell him we need to stop. We're not on a strict schedule."
"Thanks, man." Gerard said looking at him.
Ray meet his gaze, "No, problem." He answered then moved away.
"That was nice of him." I whispered.
Gerard nodded, "Yeah, it was."
I could see he too was touched by Ray's concern. "Maybe we should see if he and Christa want to drive with us." I said softly. "I mean they might not want to but we should at least ask."
"I'll go talk to him." Gerard said standing.
Frank appeared as Gerard was leaving to talk to Ray and the driver.
"How's mama feeling?" He asked grinning.
"Not so good. I ate too much." I said leaning my head back on the sofa again.
I heard Frank giggle, "Yeah, well.."
"I know I ate like a pig." I moaned.
He sat down beside me, "Well maybe not a pig. But damn, woman. That second piece of pie?"
"Oh shut up." I said without anger. "I don't want to think about it."
"Laura, what's up with Ray and Gee?" Frank asked suddenly becoming serious.
Well, shit. I really didn't know how to answer. "I'm not sure." I hedged looking over at him.
I could tell he didn't believe me. "Does it have anything to do with Troy?"
Wow, that question was unexpected, "Troy?"
"I just thought it might because I know Carrie Long called Gee yesterday before the concert. I could tell he was upset and I saw him talking to Ray afterwards. Since Carrie and Troy were so close I thought it might have something to do with Troy's death. Of course when I asked both of them they clamed up and wouldn’t tell me shit."
I could hear the anger in his voice. He hated thinking that his friends wouldn’t confide in him. "Well since Gee didn't tell me that Carrie called I understand how you feel." I said feeling my anger rise. Why the hell hadn't Gee told me she called?
Frank picked up on my anger, "Shit, I guess I shouldn’t have brought this up."
"No, it's okay. I'm sure you just assumed he'd told me about the call. No big deal. It probably did have something to do with Troy."
"Yeah, well I know I shouldn't talk bad about the dead but that guy was always a douche. What the fuck Gerard was thinking being with him I'll never know." As soon as the words left his mouth he got a strangled look on his face.
"It's okay, Frank. I know about Gee's relationship with Troy." I said softly.
"Fuck, I'm sorry. I just need to shut up."
I leaned over and touched his arm. "Really, it's okay. I know about his past and accept it. He was with Troy during a very dark time in his life."
Frank nodded, "Oh hell yeah. I'm so glad you came into his life. He's changed so much since he's been with you."
I smiled my thanks.
"Okay, we've called ahead and the car is gonna be ready for us." Gerard said walking back over to where Frank and I sat. Ray followed him. "I asked Ray if he and Christa wanted to go with us."
Ray nodded, "I told him thanks but Christa and I are just gonna stay here. I promised we'd watch a movie together tonight. It's some chick flick she'd been trying to get me to watch."
I laughed, "Good for her."

Within an hour Gerard and I were in a rental car headed towards the next stop of the tour. He looked over at me and smiled. "Feeling any better?"
"I'm glad Ray suggested this." I answered shortly. I’d had been dwelling on the fact that he still hadn’t told me about Carrie calling and my temper was beginning to show. Shit, he could have told me during lunch when we were alone. I looked out the window and sighed.
"Yeah, it's nice when we can be together alone." He said keeping his eyes on the road but reached over and stroked my thigh. “We’ve had some good times in cars.”
Holy shit I couldn’t help it I rolled my eyes. I was pissed at him and he was thinking about sex.
He missed my eye roll and continued to let his fingers roam.
"So when are you going to tell me Carrie called?" I asked glancing over at him.
It was almost comic how quickly his head whipped around, "Fuck, who told you about that?"
"Does that really matter?" I asked trying to control my anger.
I guess he could hear by the sound of my voice I was trying not to lose it but damn, I was mad. Just thinking about that woman calling him was enough to make me spit.
Instead of answering the question he said, "Look if we drive a couple of hours we can get a hotel room and then we'll talk about it, okay?"
My fingers were drumming on the armrest. "Fine." I said slowly, "We'll talk then." I leaned back and closed my eyes.
"You gonna sleep now?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna sleep now." I answered tightly.
A few minutes passed, "How mad at me are you?" Gerard said reaching over and touching my face.
I knew my hormones were part of the reason for my anger but I couldn't seem to control that. "So fucking angry that I was thinking of giving you a blow job while you're driving but that ain't gonna happen now."