FicWad

"...speech..."

'...thoughts...'

Chapter 004

Frank padded down the posh hotel hallway, groggily rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked so out of place, wearing only Teen Titans pajama bottoms which were clearly not his size as they ended mid-calf and looked completely air tight in a few eye-catching places. Hearing a scoff somewhere in front of him, Frank cracked open a bleary eye to see a snooty prima donna shoot him a look of utmost loathing as he passed her in the hallway. Then again, her behavior was completely expected of anyone in the hotel, had they seen a dangerous looking, tattooed rock star, wandering the halls half-naked in nothing but kiddie pajama bottoms. But such callousness was a thing Frank was used to and did not hesitate to flip her the bird and walk straight into Mikey's room yelling like a horny bastard, "Mikey, make sweet hot love to me right NOW!" before slamming the door in her schalack stacked, appalled face.

"Now Frankie, that's not very becoming...at least say please." Gerard mumbled as he thumbed through a magazine, making Bob and Ray snort into their Lucky Charms filled cereal bowls as Frank chortled along with the rest. (Every morning the band would meet up in someone's room to eat breakfast without being molested by anyone.)

"Mikey's easy, you never have to say 'please', right Mikes?" Bob snickered, nudging the lanky bassist genially.

"Oh ha ha! You slay me, Bob Bryar, you slay me!" Mikey replied dryly, turning on the T.V. and channel surfing as fast as his fingers would allow.

"Wait, how you know if he was easy?" Ray interrogated, squinting over his spoon at the drummer.

How Bob knew such a detail was never to be found out as Mikey averted their attentions to the T.V.

"Guys look!" he squeaked, moving closer to the black box eagerly to make room for everyone.

"Well Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz had an exciting night last night at London's Brixton Academy." Suchin Pak grinned from ear to ear as a picture of Pete appeared at the upper right hand corner of the screen. "And not to worry, the concert did not close with any injuries upon the bassist or any of the other band members but rather with an engagement ring on the finger of Pete's girlfriend of nearly two years and successor of Vanessa Minnilo as an MTV VJ starting next week, Mina Dean. Yes, ladies and gents, its true, the couple are finally engaged. He proposed in front of the whole crowd after singing to her a song he wrote especially for the occasion. And lucky for you, we were able to get a clip of the whole engagement---"

Gerard was the only one who had enough sense to turn off the T.V. before it got to be too much for Frank. Once he did, he turned around to see Frank still standing where he had been when the segment had begun, staring hard at the screen.

He spoke before anyone could so much as ask any questions. "I'm still gonna talk to her. Its worth a try, I won't let her go without a fight."

*

Hours later Mikey was finally able to get a hold of Quinn who was still in London.

"I don't know now. I'm not sure if she'll appreciate interference after saying yes to Pete!" Quinn sighed into his cell phone.

"Baby, please, Frankie's gonna go berserk if you don't even try." Mikey chided.

Quinn ran a hand though his short blond locks, unable to decide whether or not he should continue to attempt break Mina and Pete's newly strengthened union. "Alright alright, just give me a little time, okay? I'll see if I can get somthing together." Then added quickly, "I can't promise anything, this is gonna take patience, something we both know you don't have."

"Yeah, I know-- hey! Its not my fault you took so long in the shower, yanno?" Mikey snapped playfully as they began to piece together a rough plan of how to get their favorite couple on speaking terms again.

*

Pete and Mina walked hand-in-hand in the airport terminal, taking as long as possible before they had to part for the very first time since their engagement. The news had traveled fast , how could it not, he proposed in front of thousands of blogging fans! Due of all the publicity, the pair could barely leave the hotel without so much as throngs of well wishers bottling up the London streets; not that they minded staying alone and indoors in the days that followed. But, thanks to a few decoy cars and body doubles, Mina, Bert, Quinn, Jepha, and Branden were all able to make it to the nearby airport for their flight with Pete seeing them all off.

"Everything's so crazy, now, huh?" Mina breathed, caught up in a tight hug with her fiancee.

Resting his chin atop her head, Pete replied, "Yeah, don't worry, though, I'll be back before you know it and we'll start planning the wedding." [They had yet to decide on a date, venue, and everything else as well.]

"Promise?"

"Promise." Pete assured Mina as he tilted her chin up and placed a kiss upon her lips.

Their little scene, however, was trampled over by Quinn berating them for such a display.

"Honestly, as if the whole world buzzing over your engagement wasn't enough...!" he whined nauseatedly while Bert simply glowed with pride.

"Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone!" Jepha sang, in a somewhat tone deaf manner, as he dragged Quinn away from the couple. Once they were far enough away, however, the tattooed guitarist dropped his Pink Floyd act. "What's the deal Quinn-man? You've been kinda touchy since the show."

"Its nothing Jeph, really." Quinn replied, shrugging out of his friend's grip.

"I'm not buying that, tell me before I force it outta you. And, trust me, Mikey won't like the end result of this confrontation."

Quinn's shoulder slumped in submission as he sensed some truth to Jepha's ultimatum and proceeded to tell him, in short hand, the basic outline of the situation as well as the sketchy plans in the works. "...And if Frankie still pines after Mina the way Mikey says he is, then she has the right to know what's going on. I don't want her getting hitched without completely finishing everything with Frankie, its fair for both parties."

"Give it a rest Quinn, she's got Pete, she has moved on and no meeting with Frankie will change that." Jepha said bluntly, still in a bit of shock from Quinn's plans.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that one, Jeph. She might not be telling us everything, but she still has that ridiculous plushy that no one else knows how she came to have, except her and us. That, for me is proof enough." With this final argument, Quinn stalked off towards the gate, leaving Jepha to ponder while watching Pete and Mina, but mainly Mina, say their goodbyes.

'Just when I thought everything was fine again...'

*

"And at our number six spot on the countdown, give it up for Kelly Clarkson with 'Somewhere Not Here'!" Mina announced while the audience cheered as the video played.

At her second week as VJ, Mina had already gotten down to the beat of her work, even with Pete still away in Europe. Bert had taken up his role as both father and mother of the bride and was helping in any way he could to ensure a perfect wedding. Things were going as planned in Mina's mind even though others had different plans on mind.

The focus panned back to the TRL studio on both Quiddus and Mina as Quiddus spoke.

"That was Kelly Clarkson with her newest single off her CD entitled "Hope", hitting stores next week. But enough of that because you're in for a special treat. I've kept this surprise guest, a secret from everyone, even my lovely co-host Mina. And now its time to bring our guest out, Ladies and gentlemen, give a warm welcome to...Mr. Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance!"

The crowd went wild as Mina kept her composure.

'Surely, he came alone.' she thought, putting up a plastic smile as the curtain opened to reveal the lone figure of Mikey. Feeling a bit easier she welcomed him with a hug.

"Long time no see Mina!" Mikey said cheerfully as he returned the hug and shook hands with Quiddus.

"You two know each other, correct?" Quiddus asked reporter-ishly.

"Old friends, yeah." Mina supplied while Mikey simply nodded.

"That's cool. Well, Mikey, you're here promoting your band mate's label slash clothing line slash record label slash publishing company, right?" Quiddus went on.

"Yeah, Frankie has this company called Skeleton Crew and he couldn't make it today so he sent me instead. Anyway, we've got so many new artists, authors, as well as clothes coming out....." But Mikey's voice seemed to fade away from Mina's ears as the mention of Frank was magnified in her mind.

'Oh God, what am I going to do if he's here in New York?' she thought as she tried her best to stay coherent to the interview, 'You're just over thinking again, besides, if he was in New York then why isn't he here for the interview himself?'

This thought seemed to lull her into a sense of ease as they continued the rest of the show without so much as another moment spent on Frank



At the end of the work day, Mina was heading out of the door until Mikey came running.

"Mina! Wait up!" He called, hurrying down the hall to catch up while Mina stayed still. "Whoo, thought I would miss you before you left." He said worriedly.

"Well, you've got me now, so how are you?" She asked as they made their way out onto the busy New York City street.

"Okay, you--- Oh yeah congrats on the engagement!" Mikey gabbled feminely.

"Really, you don't think its...."

"Weird because Frankie's my friend and your ex and all that stuff?" he quarried clairvoyantly, "Nope, I'm really, truly happy for you."

Mina breathed more comfortably with that news and relaxed a bit. "So where, you headed?"

"I'm actually meeting up with Quinn over at Gilt, on Madison. Wanna come with?"

"Oh no, I don't want to impose--"

"Nah, c'mon, for old time's sake?" Mikey suggested.

"Sure, then why not?"

They took a taxi and conversed amiably over the ride to the restaurant about everything that had been going on for the past two years or so. When they entered the glamorized maitre'd led them to a secluded table. Quinn was already there and arose when he saw them coming.

"Hey Mina!" Quinn said, evidently expecting her already.

"Yeah, fine say hi to her, but not me." said Mikey in a pouty diva voice making the other two giggle

"Whatever, I just saw you this morning." Quinn replied offhandedly, turning to offer Mina a seat which gratefully took.

"Oh I see. And you thought you were getting laid tonight, right?" Mikey quipped, not missing a beat of their playful banter.

Quinn put up a shocked look, "Mikey you wouldn't!"

Mina merely shook her head at the teasing as she looked over the ornately designed menu. But she became somewhat distracted from choosing her main course as the scent of cigarettes, hair gel, and sandalwood cologne filled her nostrils. The smell was so familiar but she couldn't seem to place it to a face or name.

"Believe me Mikey would." came a somewhat serious toned voice. Mina's head snapped up only to lock eyes with none other than Frank Iero,