FicWad

I watched most of the concert but decided to head back to the bus before the last few songs. Gerard and I planned on leaving as soon as he could get away. I was almost to the bus when Tom, another of my Meet & Greet workers, stopped me.
“Laura, can I talk to you for just a minute?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
He handed me several folders. “These are the stats from the two Meet & Greets that we didn’t do.”
He was, of course, talking about the two concerts that had been canceled because of Gerard and me. I knew everyone wondered why the concerts were canceled but so far no one had come right out and asked. I was sure there were lots of different stories going around especially considering the way Gerard and I looked. I took the folders from him.
“So far there hasn’t been any decision about the missed concerts.” I explained. “So until management decides if they are gonna be rescheduled I don’t think we can really do anything.”
He nodded, “Yeah, I kinda figured that.”
“If they don’t reschedule I’m sure we could put some kind of package together for these fans. Autographed photos, CD’s maybe. Not as good as actually meeting the band in person, but something.” I felt bad for these people who had been looking forward to meeting the guys. I wished things hadn’t happened like they did.
Tom cleared his throat. “I was thinking the same thing. You know, put something together for the fans. Actually after the first canceled concert I wanted to work on the idea but well, with you gone I didn’t know who to run the idea by.”
“You could have talked to Jenny.”
“I couldn’t find her or I would have.”
“I’m sure she was on her bus. Anytime I’m not around she’s really who you need to go to for things.”
“Okay, I will.”
I started to move in the direction of the bus when I noticed Tom wasn’t finished. “Uh, Laura something else came up while you were gone.”
I waited. I liked Tom but sometimes waiting to get information out of him took patience. “What?”
“The first Meet & Greet that got canceled had an extra guest that got added but no one knew how.”
“That’s not all that unusual. Probably someone at the radio station did it.”
“That’s that I thought at first but the radio station is who contacted me.”
I wondered how long this was gonna take. At this rate Gerard would be off the stage and I’d still be talking to Tom.
“I’m not following you.”
“Okay this extra person got on the list. When the concert got canceled she called the radio station demanding to know why.”
“So an overzealous fan?”
“The guy from the radio station said a crazy fan. She told them she was a dear old friend of Gerard’s and wanted to know why the concert had been canceled. When they explained to her that they had no idea she freaked out. She started saying things like he would be so upset because she was an old family friend.”
Suddenly I felt a chill run down my spine. “What’s her name?”
Tom took the folders back from me and flipped through them. “Marie Rollins. Is she an old friend of the family?”
Oh, how I wanted to scream yeah is an old fucking dead friend of the family. No wait she won’t stay dead. Marie better know as Merri was on the Meet & Greet list. Well, wasn’t that a nice piece of information. Tom was staring at me. “I don’t know. Sounds like a fan who just got overly upset about the canceled concert.” I lied.
“Yeah, well that’s what I told the guy from the radio station. Anyway, I guess she sounded crazy enough that he thought we should know.”
I took the files back. “Thanks Tom. I’ll look into it. Gotta go. See you tomorrow afternoon.” I walked off before he could tell me anything else I didn’t want to hear.

As I zipped my duffel Gerard hit the top of the stairs, “Got our stuff ready?”
I nodded. “Yep, ready to go.”
We loaded our stuff in the van and took off before any of the other band members showed up. Once we were on the road the conversation I had been dreading reared its ugly head. “Tell me about the house.”
“If I do is it gonna ruin our night?”
He took his eyes off the road momentarily to glance at me. “Is it gonna ruin the night?’
I sighed, “Well yeah. I mean every fucking time we talk about you know what things take a downward turn.”
“I’m sorry about that Laura. You know I wish we could just once and for all forget about the fucking past.”
Instead of answering him I looked towards the back of the van. “Score.”
“What?” He was clearly confused.
I had spotted a box I could pull up in between the captain’s chairs. I did just that. Once the box was in place I sat down next to him and leaned my head on his shoulder.
“As much as I like having you this close you know it ain’t safe. You’re not wearing a seatbelt.”
“Don’t care. I need to be close to you.” I answered.
He took on hand off the wheel and put his arm around my shoulder. “Okay, I promise it won’t ruin tonight for us but you gotta tell me about the house.”
I tilted my neck up so I could kiss his cheek. “Whoever broke in spray painted lyrics from one of your songs on the walls downstairs.”
“What song?’
“A song off Bullets. They were mixed up lines here and there but I knew how they fit together.”
“What song?” he asked again.
“Demolition Lovers.”
His arm around me tightened. “Okay, what else.”
“The police detective was really nice.” I explained trying to put off telling him the rest. “I said that I couldn’t understand who would do anything like that. I said it couldn’t be fans cause they wouldn’t treat your home like that.”
“I think that’s true. I can’t see any of our fans defacing property like that. But you know everyone assumed the house got sold so they wouldn’t know it was still mine.”
I laid my hand on his thigh. “Gerard, I agree with that. Everyone assumed the house was sold so they wouldn’t have known they were messing with you.”
“Laura, spill it.” He sounded so tired.
“In your room in red spray paint someone wrote the word MURDER.”
I held my breath waiting for his response. It didn’t take long.
“Fuck” He moved his arm from around my shoulder and I sat up.
“See why I didn’t want to tell you?’ I whispered.
“Well fuck. What the hell is going on? If someone thinks I murdered Merri why the games? Why not just come out and accuse me?”
I shook my head, “I don’t know.” I paused then added, “Yeah maybe I do know. Maybe it’s because they are trying to get their revenge. They’re trying to push you over the edge.”
“Well they’re fucking gonna do it.” He ground out. “So what did the detective say about that?”
“He was really nice about the whole thing. I told him I had no idea why anyone would write that.”
“He believed you?’
“Why wouldn’t he?”
Gerard stared straight ahead. “This is so fucked up. You know it’s a good thing I married such a good actress.”
His words stung. I scooted off the box and back over to my seat. We drove on in silence for several minutes. Finally I spoke. “Is that really how you feel? That I’m just a good actress?’
“You know what I mean.”
“No Gerard why don’t you explain. How much of our life do you think I’m really being truthful about? How much of it am I just acting my way through? Hell, maybe I don’t even really enjoy sex with you. Maybe I’m just pretending to cum each time.”
“Why the fuck are you getting so defensive?”
Maybe I was being defensive but I couldn’t help it. “Just don’t talk to me for a while.”
“Laura, look I didn’t mean anything bad. I was just saying that it was good the detective believed you. Can you imagine if the police suddenly got involved in this fucking mess? What if they suddenly decided to look into Merri’s disappearance?”
“What disappearance? As far as her mother is concerned Merri is alive and coming home.” I screamed. “Shit, she’s still thinking about that last night you two spent together.” Oh fuck, as soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to take them back. I glanced over at Gerard and saw the look on his face. I slouched down in my seat and tried not to cry.
We drove for almost an hour without speaking. Finally Gerard pulled into a connivance store parking lot. He parked then got out without a word. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Here I was worried about him ruining the night and I had done it myself. I opened my eyes when he pulled his door open and crawled behind the wheel.
“Gerard I’m so sorry.” I said looking over at him. I was shocked to see him holding out a candy bar.
“For me?” I asked totally confused.
He smiled slightly, “Figured you could use some chocolate. I remembered you said it always makes things seem better.”
Tears started to roll down my face. “You remembered that?”
“Laura, there isn’t one thing about you I ever want to forget.”
Oh fuck, now I was really crying. “I’m so sorry.” I said again.
“Stop. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead.
“But I’ve ruined the night for us.”
“No you haven’t. Look we still need to talk about you going to Helen’s. You have to know you scared the shit out of me. After that you and I are gonna put the whole fucking mess out of our minds.” He started the van. “But no fucking movie night.”
“Why?”
As he backed out he explained, “Cause were gonna get a room and I’m gonna make love to you. Sweet and slow.”
I hiccupped. “You are?”
He laughed, “Woman get your ass back over here.”
I scooted over on the box and he threw his arm around my shoulder. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do. Also as soon as the tour is over we’re gonna go back to Jersey and get our own place. We can get a house if you want but since we’re just gonna be going back out on the road in a month I thought an apartment would probably be best.”
I smiled like an idiot, “Our own place?”
“Yeah, you know married couples do get their own place.”
I closed my eyes and let the wonderful feeling that was washing over me sink in. “How much further to we have to go?”
“About an hour.” We were back out on the highway. “Someone getting tired?”
I ran my hand down the inside of his thigh. “Nope, not tired.” I said smiling. “Actually quite the opposite.”
“Me too, Baby. Me too.” He said as we drove further into the night.
As happy as I felt right now I realized he was wrong. There were two things we still had to talk about. Helen, and the fact that her dead daughter had been on the Meet & Greet list.