FicWad

“So here’s the happy couple now.” Frank said as Gerard and Bob walked into Brian’s office. “You guys are late.”
“We dropped off Kara and Kelly at school on the way here.” Bob explained as he took a seat. He looked over at Gerard wondering why the guy had been so quiet on the way over here. Several times he had tried to start a conversation with him but he could tell his mind was a million miles away.
“Okay” Brian said as he handed each member a copy of the revised tour itinerary. “You fly out tomorrow and the first concert is tomorrow night.” He looked over at Ray. “I’ve got you and Christa booked into her own room on all the stops. The rest of you guys will be doubling up.”
“Hey can I have the newly married guy?” Frank asked smiling.
Brian looked over at him. “Shit, I don’t care if you share with Mikey. If he can stand you.” He said with a laugh.
“I wasn’t talking about Mikey.” Frank said devilishly.
Brian looked confused, “You weren’t talking about Mikey?”
The band members all looked at Bob. Brian noticed, “What the fuck is going on?”
“Kara and I got married in Chicago on Friday.” Bob said shifting in his seat.
“Yeah, so that sorta makes him Gee’s son-in-law.” Frank said gleefully. “Ain’t that something?”
Brian stared at Bob, “You got married to a girl still in high school?”
Gerard came to Bob’s defense, “She’s eighteen. It’s not a big fucking deal.”
“Yeah, it is. I can’t fucking believe you didn’t tell me. This is gonna be a big deal when it hits the press.”
“Who the fuck cares?” Gerard said angrily, “The press don’t run our lives. Bob married the woman he loves. People are just gonna have to deal with that.”
Bob shot him a look of thanks. “She and I were gonna wait but well, after everything that’s happened we just decided the time was right.”
“Yeah, I heard about the fire.” Brian said sounding pissy. “Think I would have heard it from you but no, I got that bit of news from one of my staff. A kitchen fire the paper said. What happened?”
Bob looked at Frank just daring him to speak, “Kara accidentally started a fire. It wasn’t that bad.”
Brian shook his head, “Well I’m glad she didn’t get hurt. Everything being taken care of back home?”
“Yeah, my mom and dad are overseeing the remodeling.” Bob said hoping they could move on to another topic.
Brian walked back around his desk and took a seat. “Look Bob, I’m not being a hard ass but you really should have told me you were getting married. I would have fucking hated to find out from someone’s blog.”
“Sorry, I just figured I was gonna see you today so I waited.”
Brian looked down at some papers on his desk, “So this marriage sorta happened fast.”
Bob’s temper flared, “Fuck, can’t two people get married without others thinking there was so underlining reason. No, she’s not fucking pregnant.”
“Dude, calm down.” Brian put up his hands, “I’m just asking cause you gotta know that’s gonna be a speculation. Fuck, she’s still in high school. I haven’t looked but I’m sure your marriage is all over the boards unless you two decided to keep it quiet.”
Bob thought back to yesterday when he had walked into the lunchroom at her school. “No, we haven’t kept it a secret. I actually went to the school yesterday and grabbed her out of the cafeteria so she and I could have lunch together.”
Brian actually groaned, “Fuck, no you didn’t keep it a secret.”
“Why should he?” Ray spoke up. “Do you really think our true fans are gonna quit listening to the music cause Bob got married?”
“I’m not worried about the fans. I’m worried about the powers that be at Reprise. They get a lot of pressure on them from different groups. Bob marrying someone in high school will make some people unhappy.”
“Well fuck them.” Gerard said angrily. “Look we have a right to have our own personal lives. Bob is married. End of story.”
Brian, as well as the rest of the band, was surprised by Gerard’s anger. Brian nodded and turned his attention to the itinerary. This whole subject would have to be dealt with later. “You’ll see there are added dates which will cut into your off time.” There was some groaning but he was quick to point out, “You guys not only will still have September off but that will give us some leeway when Jamia has the babies cause I know Frank is gonna be off and I’m sure the rest of you will want to be off a few days too.”
They all nodded their agreement. “She’s still doing good?” Brian asked Frank.
“She’s doing great. Alicia is gonna stay with her while I’m gone which is a load off my mind.”
Brian turned to Mikey, “And Alicia is okay with you leaving?”
Mikey smiled, “Yeah, she’s good with it.” He looked around the room, “I want to thank you guys again for letting me have the time off to stay with her after the robbery. We needed that time.”
“Hell, didn’t even miss you.” Frank said with a grin. “Took me several concerts to realize Matt wasn’t you.”
“Fuck you” Mikey answered smiling.
Brian cleared his throat trying to decide how to bring up another subject they needed to discuss. He was sure given Gerard’s current mood it wasn’t gonna be pleasant.
“So” he said slowly, “This tour is gonna be stress free, right?’
Gerard looked up from the paper in his hands. “Yeah, I’m not gonna be fucking around with Eliza.” He ground out.
“Gee, don’t get mad at me. Look you know it’s my job to keep this band on track. Anything that can present a problem is something I have to deal with. The shit that happened in Europe caused a lot of stress on everyone.”
Gerard lit a cigarette before speaking, “Yeah, especially on the woman I love. I fucking hurt her real bad. Thanks for bringing it up.”
Ray and Frank both looked at each other. Mikey was the one to speak, “Is everything okay with you and Monica?” Last night they had seemed so happy. He couldn’t believe there could be trouble between them.
Gerard looked over at his brother, “I fucking hurt her, man. I acted like a stupid shit and hurt her. Yeah, she says she’s forgiven me but I know she’s still hurt. I fucking wish we weren’t leaving.”
They all grew quiet. Finally Ray spoke, “Look, it’ll be okay. She loves you. You guys are gonna get through this shit.”
Gerard took a deep drag of his cigarette and tried to let go some of the anger he had at himself. Last night listening to her talk had been brutal. He knew she had been hurt he just hadn’t realized how much. “Yeah, we’ll be okay.” He said softly.
“And I’ll be with you to keep your ugly ass in line.” Ray said trying to lighten the mood.
Frank thought back to all the shit he had had to deal with in Europe. “I gladly turn over that job to you. Just watch out and hope that Bob don’t clock him in the head with a drumstick again.”
Bob looked at Gerard, “That was totally an accident. I love Gee,” He said smiling.
Gerard rolled his eyes, “Yeah, an accident. It’s okay. I know I totally deserved it.”
“Ah, are you guys gonna kiss and make up?” Frank teased.
Bob gave him an icy stare. “Fuck no. I’ll let you take care of kissing Gerard.”

Kelly was sitting in the cafeteria with her friends enjoying lunch. She saw Mike enter the lunchroom but instead of coming and sitting with her he moved towards a table across the room. There a bunch of his drinking buddies were laughing over some stupid magazine. Sometimes she wondered if she really liked Mike anymore.
“Kelly, what are you doing?’ Jenny asked breaking into her thoughts.
Kelly took her gaze away from Mike and turned to her. “What?”
Jenny giggled, “We eat lunch together almost everyday and I’ve never seen you dissect your burger before.”
Kelly looked down at her tray. Sure enough she had taken the bun off her hamburger and removed the three pickles, setting them aside.
“If you’re not gonna eat those, I will” Megan said looking over at her.
Kelly wondered how she could have removed the pickles without remembering. She never took apart her hamburger. Suddenly she saw a vision of Elle in her mind and a terribly sad feeling hit her. Shit, she hated when this happened. It felt like the breath got knocked out of her.
“Are you okay?” Jenny asked, “You don’t look so good.”
Kelly blinked, “Uh, yeah I’m fine.” She said softly.
“So can I have the pickles?” Megan asked again.
Trying to erase the feeling from her mind she shook her head, “Nope, I love pickies. I’m saving them for last.”
Megan and Jenny both laughed, “Pickies? Kelly you are sooo strange sometimes.” Megan said.
Kelly forced a smile thinking, ‘Yeah, sometimes I’m really strange’.