FicWad

When Mikey returned, it was with a bowl of tomato soup with crackers floating on top, and a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows melting inside the mug. Pen smiled a little. It reminded her of when she was little and she would get sick, and her mom would make her stay in bed all day, and they'd play little games...

She squashed those thoughts. That was a long time ago, and her mother certainly didn't feel the same way about her anymore. She sat up with some difficulty and Mikey set the bowl on her lap, the mug on the bedside table. "Thanks," she said with an appreciative grin. She took first one, then another, then another sip of the soup, shuddering as it warmed her from the inside out. Mikey was gingerly perched on the edge of her bed, watching her eat her first meal in over a week, which she wolfed down. He noticed that the soup matched her fiery red hair, and it made him smile. He could see that she was quite pretty, with wide green eyes, and pale white skin that seemed to glow beneath honey-colored freckles. He shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts. Not now, Mikey told himself.

"So, we're gonna stop at a hotel soon," he told her, trying to keep his mind off how attractive he found her. "Do you want a room to yourself? I understand if you do, I mean, you don't even know us--"

"No," she murmured, looking down at the empty bowl in front of her, nibbling at the extra crackers he had placed on the plate. "Don't go to the trouble, I'll be fine to sleep on here or something--"

"Oh no, that's out of the question. Even if there wasn't a snowstorm, I wouldn't let you stay on the bus by yourself. But if you don't want your own room, then you can share one of ours. Someone always gets a room to himself anyway, since there's five of us. So you can share my room. If you want, that is. You can still get your own room and all..."

"No...I'll share a room...that is, if you don't mind." He looked her over once more.

"Of course I don't mind." he told her, smiling warmly. She returned the gesture, feeling the color rise in her cheeks.

Just as an awkward silence was blossoming in the room, the bus stopped. The two strangers glanced out the window to see that they were in the parking lot of a semi-fancy hotel. Mikey grabbed the plate off of Pen's lap, setting it on the bedside table.

"Can you walk?" He asked.

Pen thought for a moment. Should she try? She just shook her head. "I don't think so..."

"Okay," he said. "I'll just go get your stuff from the dryer and then we'll find a way to get you into the hotel." Pen nodded. He folded all her clothes nicely and packed them neatly into the duffel, placing Wiggles on top and zipping it up. "Alright," Mikey said, standing in the middle of the room with a thoughtful look on his face. He snapped his fingers. "Hey, Bob," he called.

A tall blonde man of stockier build than Mikey and his brother walked into the room. He had light blue eyes and fair skin.

"Pen, this is Bob Bryar, he's the drummer. Bob, this is Pen, the chick we picked up," Mikey introduced the two.

"So I remember," Bob said, smiling politely at Pen, who blushed.

"So," Mikey continued. "Pen needs help getting into the hotel, because she can't really walk."

Bob nodded and walked forward, easily scooping Pen up in his arms and carrying her out of the room. She gasped; she hadn't been expecting that. Down the steps of the bus, through the parking lot, and into the hotel, Pen was quite sure that they made quite a sight for any bystanders who happened to look.

A fourth man with a big, curly, red afro checked in with the desk-clerk, who handed him a myriad of assorted card keys, which he doled out to the respective roomies.

"But Mikey," Gerard whined when he discovered his roommate, a fifth man who was short with black hair and covered in various tattoos. "We always room together."

"Well, not this time, Gerard," Mikey said sternly. "Pen doesn't really feel comfortable with anyone else, and it's pointless to buy two rooms with one person in each room. This makes more sense."

Gerard sulked and followed his bandmate up to their room, as the afro-man departed to the room he was to share with Bob, who carried Pen to hers and Mikey's room. The blonde man set her down gently on the bed before walking out, probably to join his friend in their hotel room.

"Hey, Mikey?" Pen asked as he was setting her bag on the floor. "Can you--will you get the pig out of there?"

"You want Wiggles?" Mikey asked innocently, making Pen laugh.

"Yes, please!" she said.

"First say it."

"Say what?"

"Say you want Wiggles!"

Pen laughed again, feeling stupid for having brought the toy at all. "I...want Wiggles," she mumbled the last word, which made Mikey chuckle and hand her the stuffed animal, which she grabbed and nuzzled, before setting it on the bed beside her.

"So," Mikey said, sitting on his own bed. "You run away from home, and instead of bringing any personal items with you like jewelry, an iPod, or anything like that, you bring a stuffed pig that looks like you've had it for decades."

Pen smirked and looked down at the animal. "Just about," she told him. "I've had it since I was, like, three. But since I'm getting teased for it so much, I'm kind of regretting bringing it!" she added playfully.

He smiled. "Hey, I saved you from the blizzard, doesn't that grant me any teasing privileges?" Pen shook her head and rolled her eyes, laughing.

Just then, the phone rang, startling them both. Mikey answered it with, "Hello?...Yeah...Wow, umm...hold on," he covered the receiver with his hand. "Hey, Pen?" she looked at him. "You wanna watch a movie with all the guys? If you don't, I understand..."

"No," she said quickly. "That's fine. It sounds fun. They'd better come here, though, because I don't think Bob wants to come back and carry me to someone else's room."

"Good idea," he turned back to the phone. "Yeah, just tell everyone to come to our room, since, y'know, Pen can't really go anywhere...Okay...Okay," he hung up.

Within minutes, the other four band-members were congregated in Mikey and Pen's room. They all sat together on the floor in front of the television, Mikey having popped a DVD in the player. Some monster movie, Pen had been told. She was settled between Mikey and Bob, sitting criss-crossed, holding the popcorn.

The movie was gory and loud, but Pen could barely keep her eyes open, she was so tired. And she was cold; the room was freezing. She tried getting closer to Mikey, but he was just as cold as she was, and not much of a cuddler. Bob was warmer, and she cozied up to him, ending up curled against his side with his arm around her shoulders. She fell asleep with her head slumped against his chest.


A/N: Okay, so I usually have a rule of like, three days between postings and whatnot, but I was so completely blown away by the reviews/ratings I got for this, I just had to update. I have this story on other sites and it didn't get received as well there as it did here so early on. So yeah. Thanks to those of you who commented/rated it, you're all cute-eh pahs, and sweet-eh pahs, and all other kind of pahs.

Bee-Tee-Dubs, before I get anyone saying how Bob didn't join the band until Three Cheers, I know. But...I don't care! Bob is my favourite member of MCR (this will become apparent later), and I know absolutely nothing about the old drummer, anyway. So yeah. Rate/Review/Sub. OverAndOutxx