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Gerard walked back on the bus soaking wet. He took off his jacket and tossed it on the floor.

"hey! Just cause you have a maid now doesn't mean you can start throwing stuff on the floor"

Riley yelled, standing up and setting the jacket on the door to dry. Gerard just walked past her into the bathroom to take a shower. Riley looked at Mikey in question.

"I don't think thats normal.....is he ok?"

Mikey looked at the bathroom door and frowned "Just leave him."

Riley nodded and walked over to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water. She sat back down on the couch and looked at the TV. She started laughing at what Mikey, Frank and Ray were watching.

"I can't believe yall are watching Kim Possible"

Frank looked at Riley and crawled over to her. He grinned and sat on her lap.

"I love this show!"

Riley grunted at the new weight. "God Frank, for someone so small you are really fat"

Frank glared at her "Im not fat.....or small...Im fun sized!"

Everyone laughed and Riley pushed Frank off her. "Move, I've gotta go put towels in the bathroom before Gee gets out"

Frank laughed "Or we could just leave him like that"

Riley shook her head "No. Somethings up with him. I really don't wana piss him off"

Frank sighed and stood up "your no fun"

he watched as she walked over and picked up the towels, disappearing to the back. Riley walked to the back of the bus where the shower was and listened to make sure the water was running. When she assumed it was safe to walk in, she did and what she saw made her heart jump. Gerard was standing in front of the mirror, with a towel wrapped around his waist. His long black hair was soaking wet and stuck to his pale and defined cheek bones. He was running his fingers over several scars on his chest and he seemed to have no idea she was standing there. Riley walked forward and shut the door behind her. Her body moved on its own as she walked over and lifted her hand to his face to make him look at her. His body tensed when he realized she was there but he didn't back away. He looked her in they eyes, his own hazel ones filled with sadness and small tears being hidden by the water dripping from his hair. She brought him close to her and lifted her face to his.

"Gerard...what happened?"

He closed his eyes and looked away. "She needs my help."

Riley tilted her head "Tell me."

It wasn't a question but a demand. He looked at her through his raven hair and nodded

"She wasn't just attacked. Who ever did this....raped her. She's at Newark Medical right now."

Riley brought him into a hug, wrapping one arm around his waist, and the other in his hair. He buried his face in her neck and wrapped his own arms around her waist. They were about the same height and so it was easy for her to rest her head against his. His body shook and she knew he was crying. She lowered them to the floor and rested her back against the wall with Gerard curled in a ball on her chest. She stoked his hair and tried to calm him down.

"Hey, its guna be ok. You hear me? Everything will be fine."

Gerard gripped her shirt with his fingers and lifted his head to look at her. She moved his black hair from his eyes so she could see his whole face.

"I promise, it will be ok."

He nodded "Im just worried about her..."

"I'll take you to go see her if you want..."

he looked at her debating if he should or not. "I don't know....I.."

"Gee, its clear your worried about her and from what you have told me, she needs your help. Maybe she saw you get clean and she wants the same."

he looked at her, sitting up, the towel loosening abound his waist, exposing more than should be seen. Riley blushed and looked away. Gerard blushed as well and tightened the towel back up

"Sorry...."

"its fine..."

Riley stood up and helped Gerard up too. She made her way to the door but he grabbed her arm, stopping her. She turned to look at him and he had a serious face on.

"Look, Don't tell the guys about this ok? I don't need them to worry about me. Please..."

She smiled "Tell them about what?"

He sighed "Thank you Riley....for everything"

She nodded and walked out of the shower to go change because her clothes were soaked from sitting on the floor. She opened up her bag and pulled out a pink RANCID t-shirt and some torn jeans and threw them on. She walked out of the room and bumped into Gerard who was throwing on a black Smashing Pumpkins shirt.

"Ow..."

He looked down at her and started laughing. "you like bumping into me when Im shirtless don't you?"

She laughed and walked passed him "nah, nothing to really look at. I think you like jumping infront of me shirtless and making me run into you"

He smiled and shook his head "Whatever"

Riley walked back into the kitchen and all of the guys were staring at her.

"What?"

They said nothing and just shook their heads. Riley suddenly got 'The World Is A Vampire' stuck in her head and she started to sing it while fixing a sandwich

"despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage. Some one will say what is lost can never be saved"

Thats the only lines she could remember so she just hummed the tune to the rest. Gerard walked out with his shoes and jacket on and the guys looked at him.

"Where you goin now?"

"Yeah man, we got sound check in like an hour"

Gerard shrugged "Coffee. Anyone care to join?"

the guys shrugged and there was a mix of 'no's and 'im good's. Riley looked up from her sandwich

"I'll go. Just no Starbucks. Its over priced crack in a cup"

Gerard laughed "But I like Starbucks"

She stood up and grabbed one of Frank's jackets "Then you my friend, are a conformist"

He just shook his head and walked out the door with her following. When they were far enough away from the bus, he looked at her and started to talk

"Thanks for going with me Rie."

She nodded "No problem. I figured coffee was code."

He laughed and looked at the sky. It was still grey but most of the rain had passed.

"You know, I love they way the sky looks before a storm"

Riley looked up too "Yah, its really beautiful. Its almost....metaphoric"

Gerard looked at her in question. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. You know the storm is coming but you don't know how hard or fast it will come. No matter what you do to prepare for it, your still caught off guard and somehow amazed by it. Sometimes it destroys you, sometimes it just leaves a scratch but either way, you can't do anything to stop it. All you can do is pick up the pieces afterwards and keep walking"

Gerard stared at her "Wow...."

She smiled at him and looked back up at they sky "Am I weird for think that? I mean....Its just a rain"

"It rains and it pours when your out on your own"

Riley looked at him and smiled "Sound like a line in a song"

He shook his head "Not yet.....maybe it will be though."

She nodded "well, why don't we write it?"

He looked at her "Ok. What you got after that?"

"If it looks like Im laughing, Im really just asking to leave"

"There's a place in the dark where the animals go, you can take off your clothes in the..."

"No, not clothes. You can take off your skin in the cannibal glow"

he laughed "Juliet loves the beat and the lust it commands"

Riley laughed "What?"

Gerard shrugged "I don't know....just the first thing that came to mind."

"Ok well.....Drop the dagger and lather the blood on you hands Romeo"

He smiled "I like it....but what to call it?"

Riley looked up and saw they were standing infront of the hospital "The Sharpest Lives"

He looked at her "Yeah....The Sharpest Lives are the deadliest to me"

She looked at him and walked through the entrance doors "I think it fits"


They walked up to the receptionist at the front desk and she smiled at them

"Hello, can I help you?"

Gerard nodded "Can you direct me towards Alexis Anderson's room please?"

The lady looked down at some papers and then looked back up?

"Are you family?"

Gerard nodded "Yes. Im her cousin."

The lady looked at him skeptical but told him the room anyway "She's in room 203, down the hall that way and it will be on the right"

Gerard nodded and walked in the direction she told him. Riley looked at him

"Cousin...Really?"

"Well if I tell them Im her ex and the person that she said put her here, you think they would let me in?"

Riley shook her head "No...Probably not"

They walked down the hall and stopped when they reached room 203. Gerard sighed and slowly opened the door. He walked in and saw Alex was on the bed, with bandages around her wrists and arms. Her face had cuts all over it and her eye was black. She looked up and tried to smile but her mouth didn't move much because of how swollen it was. Gerard walked closer to the bed and Riley stayed at the door, watching. Gerard sat down next to her and tried not to cry at what he was seeing. He knew it now, he knew he still cared for her. After all that she did to him, he was worried about her. He looked down and took her battered hand

"Alex...."

She looked over at him, then up at Riley. He sighed

"Frank's girl. Long story ok?"

Alex looked back at him with sorrow in her eyes "Gee...Im so sorry"

Tears fell and she couldn't wipe them away. Gerard lifted his hand and gently did it for her.

"Alex, why blame me?"

She looked down "It was the only way to get you here. I knew they would do a DNA swab and declare you innocent but....I need you."

He looked down at her with a frown. "Alex, I told you...its over. You have to stop this..."

She nodded "I know...I know....Its not about that."

Gerard looked at her "Alex, what is going on?"

"I can't keep doing this....I won't let them kill me"

Gerard wasn't sure if she was talking about the drugs or the people who sold them. She shook her head

"You have to get me out.....You...you did it. You escaped. You saved yourself, please....save me too"

Tears streamed down her face and it killed Gerard to see her like that.

"Alex, who did this to you?"

She looked up at him "Jimmy. He said that I sold him a bad batch.....it was to teach me a lesson in cooking"

Gerard clenched his fists. "Ok....You will be safe here tonight."

He stood up and she grabbed his hand "hey, where are you going? You can't....Don't leave me...."

Gerard looked down at her

"I have to...I have a show tonight. You will be safe here, I promise."

he leaned down and gently kissed her forehead.

"I have to go...I'll be back tomorrow ok?"

She nodded reluctantly "Ok....Gerard?"

He stopped at the door and turned to her "Yes?"

"Im sorry....for everything. I was just so afraid of loosing you...."

he sighed "I know...Its ok."

He smiled at her and then walked out the door with Riley following right behind him. When they left the hospital, it was raining hard again. Riley looked up at Gerard

"Dude, Im tired of getting wet today."

he laughed "You wana just call a cab?"

She nodded "Yes!"

They waved down a cab and threw themselves inside.

"Starbucks on 4th and queens"

Riley looked at him in question "Well, I told the guys were were going to get coffee and I hate liars."

She laughed "Wow Gerard. You just want coffee"

he smiled "That too..."