FicWad

Oh look! An update! Short, yes. More coming tomorrow, probably.

Enjoy



Jamia and I make our way from the dressing room to the stage hand in hand. It's been so long since we've been this comfortably close and despite everything that has happened recently I've missed this. I've missed her. It feels so right to hold her again. I can't believe I ever let her go. I realize now that after the girls died I was so blinded by grief I pushed away the one person who needed me the most. I wonder, if I hadn't, how different would my life be right now? Would any of this have happened?

We arrive backstage to the familiar bustle of a show about to start. I walk her to the guitars and stop and pull her into a hug. She still looks scared.

"Everything's going to be fine," I promise. She nods reluctantly. I kiss her on the forehead. Over her shoulder I see Bob trying to catch my eye. I nod to him and refocus on Jamia. "I need to go talk to Bob okay?" She nods again and I squeeze her hand before leaving and making my way over to Bob.

As I reach him he simply raises his eyebrows in question. I sigh and run my hand through my hair.

Bob looks like he has a million things to say but he settles on "Nice tats."

"Yeah...um...a lot has changed. The guys know."

"They'd have to be blind not to," he says dryly. "And what's with the PDA?" He gestures toward Jamia.

I take a deep breathe and launch right in, catching him up on the developments of the last hour as quickly as I can. Deciding to visit the guys as Frank, getting caught by Jamia, the young roadie bringing my bag, the guys figuring out I'm Jason, Jamia's confession. When I finish I pause, letting my words sink in.

"And you believe her." The way he says it is more statement than question.

I shrug. "Yeah I think I do. She didn't give herself a black eye now did she?"

He doesn't reply. "Oh come on Bob," I insist. "Even she's not that crazy. What would she gain by this anyway?"

Bob scowls. "Don't be blinded Frank. Don't forget what she's done, regardless of the reason."

"Look right now it doesn't matter. Whether it's Jamia or this other guy there's a high probability that something's going down tonight. Gerard would never call the show this late and he's not going to believe me right now. Could you keep an eye out backstage? First sign of trouble we call it before somebody gets hurt."

"No."

I do a double take. "What?"

"I can't keep an eye out backstage," Bob says simply.

I groan. Why is he being difficult?

"I can't keep an eye out backstage because I'm not going to be backstage. I'm going to be on stage with you. Ten minutes ago Gerard asked me to play tonight. I didn't get it at first but now seeing as you're you again I think Gerard is trying to spin this as a one time reunion show or something."

I nod slowly as it sinks in. What if this is all just part of the plan to get us all on stage at the same time? The uneasiness in my stomach grows.

"Thirty seconds guys! Let's go!" Matt shouts over to us. We make our way over.

"Hey Matt," I say. "Can you do a double check of the stage and equipment?"

He throws me a look that says "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"The show's starting right now," he says as politely as he can manage.

"I know," I answer. "But it's important. Check the supports ok? And the amps. The wires. Oh, pyro equipment. Definitely check the pyro equipment..."

He opens his mouth to protest again but Bob growls "Just do it," and Matt scurries away mumbling. Ten seconds later we're on stage.