FicWad

Lily sat on an airplane wedged between an elderly woman and a very large, sweaty business man. She looked at the bag of peanuts in her hand, contemplating whether or not to consume the sodium laden protein. She could recall, almost vividly, the times she had choked on airline peanuts. Eyes watering, face red from embarrassment..Will playing his Game Boy peacefully across from her.
She decided on a miniature box of raisins instead. As she chewed the dried fruit slowly, she thought about the plane crashing down. She thought about it catching fire on the runway...all the worst case scenarios as she chewed absentmindedly
She glanced at the large man next to her with narrow eyes...if there was a fire ..would she have to climb over him? Lily caught his eye contact and awkwardly continued to chew her raisins, staring intently at the seat in front of her.
An hour later, she checked into her hotel room and threw her bags on the freshly vacuumed carpet. She sat on the edge of the neatly made bed, running her hands through her hair with a sigh as she looked down at her feet...at the beat up pink flats, scuffed and begging to retire. She closed her eyes, lashes pale without mascara, and let out a groan, falling back onto the crisp, clean sheets.
"I'm...so tired.." she moaned under her breath, looking up at the ceiling.
Lily grumbled, closing her eyes and furrowing her eyebrows, hand at forehead attempting to rub the jet-lag away. She was supposed to give Brian a call when she got here...
She stared blankly at her purse, visualizing her cellphone inside, laying peacefully.
She should call him..but she was so tired...
The speaker-phone pierced through the warm silence...through the fatigue of the hotel room.
"Hell-o?"
Lily lay on her side, arms tucked under her head,
"Hey Brian..I'm here." she mumbled, closing her eyes once more.
"Ah, great!" Brian exclaimed, "Me and the guys are just getting ready to go."
Lily grunted a response.
Brian continued, "So, just meet us at the studio at around 2, and we'll car pool it over to the hall, ok?"
Lily still had no idea what the video was going to be about OR what "the hall" was. All she knew was she was tired, and she had an hour to sleep.
"Ok.." she said softly, face seemingly sinking into the bedspread.
Brian laughed, "Ok Lily, see you at 2."
=================================
Lily stepped out of the cab slowly, extending one leg out the door cautiously. She adjusted her sunglasses and lightly touched her head scarf to ensure it was still in place. She handed the cab driver a five dollar bill and stepped out of the car, simultaneously clutching her purse to her side and smoothing down her bangs. Lily was dressed in jeans and a long blue t-shirt, an image of snoopy silk-screened on the bottom corner. Her black sneakers led the way to the studio entrance, heart pounding nervously beneath her clinging t-shirt. All she could think about, as she made her way to the black, glass door, was Gerard. His smile..his laugh...
How would he greet her? Would he hug her...shake her hand? Or just play it cool?
All the possible scenarios played out in her head and she began to doubt herself in a sudden burst of negativity..was her outfit lame? Should she have worn more makeup? Did she look fat?
She made her way to the front desk, footsteps echoing in the official, important silence.
The receptionist looked up from her desk, phone to her neck, eyebrow raised,
"Listen honey, if you want a meeting with somebody you gotta' call ahead of time. This isn't a hair salon, we don't take walk ins." she finished with a forced grin, continuing to dial a sequence of numbers, writing down what she heard from the receiver with a worn pencil clutched between two heavily manicured acrylic fingers.
Lily leaned over the counter with a grin.
This bitch was in for it.
"Um, actually-"
"There she is! Lily!"
She spun around to see Brian walking towards her, cellphone in hand.
Lily grinned widely, turning to face him,
"Hey Brian! I made it!" She said happily, almost ecstatic at the look on the receptionist's face.
"Great, good to see you." Brian said with a smile, giving her a kiss on the cheek and a quick, yet sincere hug.
"Hey.." Brian continued as he pulled away, "Thanks for taking care of Bert the other day, I really appreciate it." he paused, "We all did, here.." he said, gesturing towards the ceiling.
"Yeah..no big deal...he uh...made himself at home." she said with a smile.
"I'm sure he did..." Brian said with a laugh.
A beep caused Brian to turn and fix his gaze on the elevator down the lobby. It was almost blocked from Lily's view by a couple potted umbrella trees.
She heard the doors slide open.
"There they are..and right on time." Brian said with a smile, glancing at his watch.
Lily's hearts seemed to jump up her throat and rest there, pumping furiously at the sight of them.
She was greeted by a chorus of "Lilllllly!!" and boyish grins.
Bob enveloped her in a tight hug, smiling widely,
"B-bob...you're so.." Lily held his waist at arms length, "Slim!"
Lily's gaze shifted to Gerard, standing there with a sweet smile on his face, hair sweeping across his eyes.
"Y-your hair!" Lily gasped, seemingly floating over to touch his short black cut.
She didn't even think twice about running her fingers through it in astonishment.
"It looks so cute!" she gushed, feeling the soft hair between her fingers.
She blushed when she realized the spectacle she was making...and that she had practically jumped on Gerard's hair without any sort of invitation, babbling like a lunatic.
Good one Lily. Real smooth.
In her minds eye she was bashing her head against a wall, throwing herself off a building...
"Thanks." Gerard said with a grin as Lily wrung her hands together nervously.
"I..I like it. Obviously" Lily mumbled, looking at the ground.
Before Lily could react, Gerard pulled her into a hug; a hug that ended in an extra squeeze and a kiss on the cheek.
Lily's heart was pounding away in her chest...seemingly cracking her ribs with each beat, begging to break free and leap into Gerard's hands.
Gerard stared at her with a smile that Lily returned...a sweet, awkward smile.
The kind of smile you know is immature..the kind you know is sickly sweet...the kind you know makes others roll their eyes in disapproval and jealousy...but you can't help it. You can't help but smile, but beam, because you are so..in like.
And they stood there, locked in each other's smiles, in each other's gaze for what seemed like years, but was really a few lingering seconds. Frank broke the silence by clearing his throat loudly, stifling a grin behind his gloved hand.
"Hey Lily..I got my hair cut too." he mused, extending a strand of hair between two fingers.
Lily laughed, blushing slightly.
"Hey Frank." she said through a smile, giving him a sincere hug.
Mikey gave her a soft, awkward hug that was truly his style. Ray pretended to shake her hand, only to crush her in a tight, big-brotherly embrace.
Brian sighed, looking at his watch, "Ok..now that we're all reunited, let's get going..we've got a long day ahead of us..." he said, motioning to a white van parked outside.
Brian led the way, the band and Lily at his heals.
Lily looked at her feet as she walked between Frank and Bob.../he kissed me on the cheek!!! AND IN FRONT OF EVERYBODY!/
She could feel the imprint of his lips...a burning sensation where they had brushed her cheek.
She glanced to the side to see him..to take in his new look..his new hair...
and he looked up at her with those eyes, that look of his, mouth open slightly, curling to a grin.
And she smiled back, clutching her purse tightly for comfort.
Mikey and Frank exchanged glances.
She was so, incredibly..in LIKE.