FicWad

A canary yellow taxi pulled up outside Sam’s house as the sun started to rise in Hollywood. The Leto brothers got in and Shannon said hi to the driver, whose name was Ernie and was wearing a rasta style hat and had long, dark dreadlocks. He was listening and humming along to ‘No Woman, No Cry’ by Bob Marley & The Wailers on an old cassette tape, this reminded Jared and Shannon of the time they spent in Haiti as teenagers. After strapping on their seat belts and waiting for the engine to start, Shannon needed to ask Jared an important question, he wanted to know about what happened between Jared and Gerard. He leaned into Jared, and whispered in his ear;

"Now that we're alone... what happened between you and Gerard? I want every single detail."

Jared squirmed away, Shannon was way too close and it felt uncomfortable, he didn't want to be touched after what had happened. He hesitated to tell him anything, even though he realised that Shannon was one of the only people in the world he could trust.

"Uh... I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on! Tell me!" Shannon begged, an excited look in his eyes.

"I can't. I really can't."

"Don't make me force you! I will make you tell me everything-"

Jared didn't take Shannon's behaviour kindly. He was acting like a nosy, intrusive, pretentious bastard and it was starting to piss him off. He sucked in a deep breath and ignored the anger boiling up inside of him, and decided to lie a little. The years of drug taking had taught him how to lie, and Shannon fell for it a few times.

"He just made me feel a little shitty, that's all."

"Don't lie. He must have done something pretty shitty to make you feel this down in the dumps."

He would have to tell Shannon at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, but he didn't feel like he had the courage. Revenge on Gerard wouldn't be easy, so he would need Shannon. He always needed Shannon, the support, the pillar, the shoulder to cry upon when he was feeling down.

"Fine. He came into the garden and sneaked up on me. I didn't realise he was there so he hit me and..."

"Go on."

"H-he burnt me with a cigarette and fucked me in the ass then made me suck his dick. I must have uh... passed out so he made me-"

"Do the drugs. I found the needle on the floor. You were so high."

At this point, Jared's eyes were filled with tears. His bottom lip trembled and he tried to stop himself from crying, but a fat teardrop rolled down his cheek before he could even force himself.

"I know." He sobbed.

Shannon stretched out his arms, enclosing Jared in a tight, rigid hug, soaking his white t-shirt in tears. He hated seeing Jared so sad, because he never knew what to do, rather than sit him down and tell him everything would be okay. It wouldn't be okay for a long time, until he got sober and forgot about Gerard.

"Don't worry! We'll fight this... together! We did it before and we'll do it again!"

"I can't. I need-"

"J, no!"

Jared's black rimmed, tear brimmed eyes were filled with desperation. He looked so vulnerable, like a kid that couldn't fend for himself. Shannon would have to make sure that he looked after Jared as well as he could and get him back on the right track again.

"Come on! I need just need a tiny bit! I can't stay sober for long!"

It felt like Shannon had travelled back four months in time. He could remember Jared begging him to go down the street to buy some skag in a dark, dingy alley because he couldn't bring himself to go outside. He would never do the same thing again, even if it was helping his brother.

"No. I won't let you become one of those junkies that can't function for more than a few hours without their fix. I won't let you get back into that vicious cycle."

"But-"

"No buts." Shannon interrupted. "We're going home, we're going to bed and when we wake up, hopefully everything will be back to normal."

The taxi stopped outside the bungalow the brothers lived in and both Jared and Shannon got out quickly. Shannon slipped a ten dollar bill through the driver's window, said thank you then followed Jared to the front door, which he unlocked. After getting inside and throwing his jacket on the floor, he grabbed Jared by the collar and dragged him upstairs to his bedroom.

"What are you doing?!" Jared shouted, trying to pull away.

"You're going to bed."