FicWad

I was glad to get of the stage.

Don't get me wrong - I loved performing, and the crowd tonight had been awesome. But I wasn't feeling too great. As in, I was feeling as if I just wanted to crawl into bed and never come back out. I tried to convince myself that it was something to do with the bright, hot lights and the tight jeans and the fact that I hadn't eaten a lot today - but I knew deep down it was something else.

"Be right back, guys. I promised Jamia I'd call her after the show tonight," Frank said to Mikey and I (God knows where Ray had disappeared to), running out of the stage door while pulling his phone out of his pocket. We could just hear him talking to her from where we were standing. "Hi, baby. Yeah, it's me. Awh, honey, I miss you too. How're the girls? Really - well, like mother like daughters," He paused to laugh. "Yeah it was great. I was kinda distracted though - I was thinking about you. Yeah, I love you too, babe-" I didn't hear the rest of his conversation, on account of the fact that I left the theatre we'd been playing and headed for the tour bus. Ray was leaning on the outside wall of the bus, cell phone in hand.

"Hi, Gee," He smiled up at me briefly, before turning his attention back to his phone.

"Hey, man," I replied flatly. "What you doing out here?"

"Nothing - it's a nice night, so I just thought why not? Hey, I'm texting Christa, you want me to tell her you said hi?" He asked. I forced a smile, though my heart plummeted.

"Sure," I said. "Listen, I'm not feeling good - I'm gonna turn in early tonight."

"Okay, buddy. Hope you feel better in the morning," He smiled at me. I smiled back at him, making my way up the steps.

"I doubt I will," I whispered.

I got to the bunks and pulled out my cell. I dialled the number I knew by heart and pressed the phone to my ear. It rang twice then - "Hi, this is Lindsey. I'm either busy right now, or my phone died. Leave a message and I'll try to get back to you. Bye!" Then the beep telling me I could leave my message. I sighed.

"Er... hi, Linds. It's me - Gerard. So I just wanted to call and let you know that the show tonight went well, and I'm missing you. Er... tell Bandit I'm missing her too and I can't wait to see you guys when I get home tomorrow. Love you both. Bye." And I hung up.

It hurt that the phone had rang only twice. If it didn't ring at all, that would mean her cell battery had died. If it'd rang like eight times, it'd mean she was busy or hadn't heard it or something. But it rang twice. Which meant she'd purposely diverted my call.

*

Mikey found me curled up on my bed about an hour later. He crouched next to me. "Hey. Ray said you were feeling a little sick," He said. "You alright now?"

"Yeah," I lied. "Hey, Mikes, you couldn't do me a huge favour, could you?"

"Sure, what is it?" He smiled.

"Lend me your phone? I wanna call Lindsey, but my battery died," I lied.

"Sure," He dug in his pocket and offered me his cell. I dialled Lindsey's number and pressed it to my ear. It rang twice again then-

"Hey, Mikey, what's up?" My wife's cheery voice said.

"It's Gee," I replied, quietly. "My phone died, but I wanted to call you."

"Oh," She sighed. "Right. Well did you want something?"

"Just to talk to you," I shrugged. "How's it going?"

"Fine," I got a one word answer.

"Is Bandit okay?"

"Yeah,"

"Can I speak to her?"

"She's in bed,"

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow," I tried to sound bright. "Well, I don't wanna use up all of Mikey's minutes, so I'll see you tomorrow, babe, alright?"

"Sure," All of her answers were monosyballic.

"I'll be home around three in the afternoon,"

"Mm," Oh, come on! That's not even a word!

"Love you, sweetie," I tried.

"You too," She replied, unethusiastically. "Bye." And with that she hung up.

I handed Mikey his phone back, then slipped under the covers. "Could you shut off the light on your way out? I wanna catch some sleep," I yawned.

"Sure thing, pal," He smiled. "Sleep tight. Feel better tomorrow."

"I will, thanks," I lied. As soon as he left the room, I cried quietly into my pillow.