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The sound check had gone better then expected considering no one was talking to each other. As soon as they finished Bob had stormed off by himself and Frank had left with Matt. Gerard watched them go wondering if things were ever going to get back to normal. He found a quiet room where he could be alone. It was just under an hour until concert time and he wanted to try to prepare his mind for the show. He sat down, lit a cigarette and leaned his head back. He had just closed his eyes when his cell phone rang. Oh shit, it was his mom.
"Hi mom, sorry I haven't called but it's been a rough tour."
Donna didn't want to hear about the tour. "Gerard what the hell have you been doing?"
"Mom, listen it's not what you think."
She cut him off. "How a what I've seen?Why are you with Eliza?"
He really wished he hadn't answered the phone. "Mom, listen to me. I'm not screwing around with Eliza. She and Katlin have just been hanging with Bob and I as friends. Nothing more. I'm fucking tired of people trying to make this into something it's not."
"Does that include Monica? Are you tired of her trying to make this into something it's not cause believe me she has."
"You've talked to her about this? What did she say?"
"She's hurt, Gerard. How can you not understand that? You kissed another woman on stage for God's sake. There are photos of you and
Eliza together as a couple. Think about it, son. You've hurt the woman who loves you. How are you gonna fix it?"
He leaned his head back again and closed his eyes, "Mom, I haven't slept with Eliza. I've only spent time with her. I didn't do anything wrong." He tried to defend his actions. Donna wasn't accepting this attitude.
"You have done something wrong. You didn't tell her who it was you were spending time with. You've made it look like you were running around with Eliza behind her back. Come on, you've got to understand how Monica feels. I swear you take after your father so much."
"Mom, stop. I'm sorry if I hurt Monica."
Donna voice was getting louder by the minute. "No IF, you did hurt her. Now I'm going to ask you and damn it I want the truth. Are you sleeping with Eliza again?"
Gerard's patience snapped, "NO, how many times do I have to say it?"
Donna didn't care if he was angry. "But she still wants you, doesn't she?"
Gerard grew quiet. He briefly thought of lying but decided it would do no good. She would know. "Yes, she admitted she still loves me."
Donna sighed, "Then why in the hell are you still with her? She and her sister are still there aren't they?"
"Mom, they are leaving after tomorrow nights concert." As he said the words he remembered how upset Eliza was and it bothered him. It wasn't right that she was taking the heat for all that has happened.
"Good." Donna said, "Maybe once she's gone you can get your head screwed on straight and fix this with Monica."
"What the hell does her leaving have to do with my head?" He looked down at the cigarette he had forgotten. It had completely burned out. He lit another angrily.
Donna sighed, "Cause you never could think straight with her around."
"What? All she ever did was care for me. You're acting like this is her fault. I'm the one that suggested they come with us when I saw
her and Katlin in London."
"And she accepted right away, I'm sure. Gerard she knew you have a fiancée. She should have known it wasn't right for you to be hanging
around with her and Katlin. She's not a stupid woman, Gerard." She sighed, "She's a woman in love with another woman's man."
Gerard was definitely getting tired of this conversation. "Mom, I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow." He disconnected before she could
answer.
In Jersey Donna shook her head. Her son was screwing up his life and there seemed to be no stopping him.

Bob steeled himself before trying Kara's number again. It wasn't really a great time to talk so close to the concert, but he was pretty
sure she'd just let it go to voice mail again as she had all last night. This time difference was really screwing with him. 8 hours behind, 8 hours ahead, 8 hours behind. Who the hell cared anyway? He was so caught up in his mental rant that the missed Kara answering.
"Kara, is that you?"
"Forgotten my voice already, Bob? You've only been gone a week and a half. Oh, I forgot, you've been busy, haven't you?" All of Kara's good intentions of talking quietly and listening to Bob were rapidly going out the window.
"Kara, I love you."
"You have a very funny way of showing it. I've seen the pictures, Bob. Those women were everywhere with you. You went sightseeing with them.You should have been doing that with me, Bob."
"You weren't here."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious. So did you think that I wouldn't mind if you found a substitute for me. Look, I wouldn't mind that you did all those things if it had been with the guys, but it wasn't. It was with¦.. them." She wanted to call them a suitable name but her anger was getting the better of her. She continued, "Do you realize how much it hurt to see you at a birthday for one of them? What the hell was that? I'm stuck here studying for the midterms from hell and you're over there with your head in a bowl of communal ice cream. I hope it was good, Bob." Suddenly the conversation was just too much for her. She obviously wasn't ready to listen. She disconnected the call and threw the cell phone.

After the call from Mom, Gerard's pent-up energy had reached a new high. Shit, he needed to do something to blow off steam before the concert. The trouble was he couldn't think of a damn thing to do. He was too restless to sit still. He roamed around backstage. Hearing
laughter he headed for the green room. He stopped in the doorway. Frank, Matt and James were inside jamming. He hesitated. Frank, sitting
closest to the door looked up, spotted him and without saying a word shut the door in Gerard's face.
"What the fuck?" He punched the door. "Shit, Piss, Fuck" He spun around hissing in pain. "Fuck, fuck, fuck" He kicked the door for good measure.
He stalked down the hall, nursing his sore hand. Round the corner, he ran into Bob. Bob, not meeting Gerard's angry stare, started to walk past, but Gerard grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"The girls wanted me to tell you that they're leaving tomorrow."
"Good" was Bob's curt reply.
"Why the hell do they have to leave? It's still a free world,isn't it?"
"They should never have been here. All they've done is cause trouble."
Gerard's anger was building. "Look, if you go near Katlin again,
I'm gonna fuck you up."
"Oh, Monica and Eliza aren't enough for you? Now you want Katlin too? You're sick." Bob broke Gee's grip and pushed past him.
"I really mean it. Stay away from her. Don't fucking threaten her again." He shouted after him.
Bob turned, "Are you fucking crazy?" He shook his head and continued walking away.

The mood on stage was definitely strained. The usual playful interaction amongst the band mates was totally gone.
Frank hoped that the kids wouldn't be disappointed. He always wanted to give them a good show. It was amazing how many of them knew all the words to every song and sang along. He'd really had it with both Gerard and Bob. It was bad enough with what happened with the girls but now they were shooting eye-daggers at each other at every opportunity.
In the middle of "I Don't Love You", Gerard was hit in the back of the head by a drumstick. Bob tried to play it off as an
accident, but his self-satisfied expression told the truth.
Gerard picked up the stick and quickly flung it back at Bob, saying loudly, "Here, you might need this back, but the way you play, I
don't think anyone would notice."
Bob promptly threw the other stick at Gerard's head.
God, Frank thought, just let them make it through this tour without killing one another.
Standing on the side stage Eliza smiled while observing it all. She turned and quickly made her way backstage to the dressing rooms. No one questioned her when she grabbed Gerard's cell phone.

Authors Note - Sorry about any mistakes, I'm working off a strange computer that seems to hate me.