FicWad

Shit there he is...

I wanted to run across the airport and tackle Bruce. I hadn't seen him in years, though from what I could tell, he hadn't changed at all.

"You okay?" Axl asked, tightening his hold on my hand.

I looked at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

Axl shrugged and started leading me to the gate. I kept casting glances behind me to see how far away Bruce was from me.

I was nervous, so nervous it's a miracle Axl didn't feel me shaking. All this time I had been wanting to see him so badly, and now I was just a few feet away from him, now i was scared of what would be said.

Axl didn't let me dwell long in thought thankfully. He was trying to keep us more or less hidden from public eyes as we passed through coach. He growled at me whenever I tried to turn around to see if Bruce was behind us or not, so I eventually just let him lead me to first class without a fight.

It was completely and utterly awkward the entire time we were gettings ettled on the plane. The instrument and gear were going n one flight while the passengers were all going on another. Between Maiden and Guns we had practically taken over the plane. There were so many of us that, in first class anyway, the stewards and stewardesses were wearing Iron Maiden and Guns N' Roses t-shirts. One of the stewards came out in an AC/DC shirt and kept trying to catch my eye. Axl immediately told him to fucking leave his girl alone or he was going to beat his face in and throw him off the plane. The next time I saw the steward he was in a Maiden shirt.

Before the flight took off, one of the stewardesses was reading out the safety procedures and slipped up when telling us how to correctly tie the life jackets. We all started laughing and at the same time Adrian, Bruce, Nicko, and I all started singing, "You're shit and you know you are! You're shit and you know you are!" (A.N. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, I advise that you watch Iron Maiden: Flight 666) The Maiden roadies joined in, but the Gunners were all looking around with confused looks.

Bruce caught my eye then. During all the singing he looked straight back at me and made me lose my breath. Dammit, dammit, dammit... Don't look at him, Riley, don't smile, just start talking to Axl... Still, I kept my gaze locked with Bruce's. He winked and an involuntary smile curled on my face.

"What are you smiling at?"

I looked at Axl quickly. "Huh? Oh, just thinking."

"About what?"

...shit... Think, Riley, think! "Memories."


Axl smiled. "Of?"

"Oh... um, high school." Yeah... high school...

Axl looked ahead and stared at the back of the seat in front of him. He knew I was lying, and I was going to get a load of shit about it when we landed.

The plane finally took off, headed for Moncton in New Brunswick. I ended up falling asleep against Axl's shoulder. After all the restless nights we had in the new house any peaceful time where I could sleep was welcome.

Axl woke me up when we were about to land and once we were on the ground I made a break for the door. "Riley! Where are you going?!"

I practically ran through the gate and collapsed on the carpet. "LAND!!!"

I heard footsteps behind me as I lay still crumpled on the floor. "Should I be worried?" I heard Axl ask.

I tilted my head sideways so as better to talk to him. "With me? Yeah, you should always be worried."

Axl smirked and lifted me up by my waist. "Well as hilarious as it is seeing you lie there, I think we better get going. Don't want to get mobbed."

You just don't want me to see Bruce... I thought as the rest of the guys caught up. A few cops escorted us out to the front of the airport.

I looked back again, just once more, to see if Bruce was following me.

He was standing a few yards back, watching me walk off. I turned back to watch where I was going. He's hurt... He's hurt and it's all my fault...


BRUCE'S P.O.V

Even across the airport I could still see the anxiety she held in her blue eyes. I wondered if she could feel the hurt raidating from my own brown ones.

Had this been what it felt like when she watched me walk off all those years ago? Had she felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest at the prospect of me being with someone else? Had she wanted to chase after me, hold me, and never let me go?

Because that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to psh away the redhead that had his arm wrapped around her waist so meticulously and take her up in my own. In my opinion, she was still my girl, my beautiful, kind wife-to-be, but reality was staring me right in the face.

She was with Axl, and she was happy.

Adrian came up to me and slapped me on the back. "You coming, mate? Or are you just going to stand there all day?"

I sighed but shook me head. "Let's go," I mumbled.

"You alright, Brucie?"

"Yeah..."