It's Not the Life It Seems

Honey didn’t get much sleep that night. When it had finally struck midnight Mikey had dared to enter the bedroom area, to find his brother sound asleep in his bunk. So the rest of them with nothing left to do, and not wanting to talk about the issue that was so obviously on the forefront of everyone’s thinking, had gone to bed.

Honey had tossed and turned in her bed before she crawled out and made her way to Bob’s bunk, in desperate need of human contact. She had woken him up and asked if she could sleep with him that night. He had moved over and she had crawled in, although the space was small and they were cramped, it was exactly what Honey had needed. She had fallen into an almost peaceful sleep with Bob’s arms around her whilst Bob struggled to sleep in fear he would do something to hurt the woman sharing his bed.

When Honey awoke the following morning she was all alone in Bob’s bunk. In fact, she was all alone in the bedroom which was surprising as it was barely 8 o’clock. Honey could hear voices coming from the lounge room, so she stretched in Bob’ bunk and then crept over to the door the led to the lounge. She pushed it open slightly and peered out to see Gerard sitting on the couch, his head in his hands, with his band mates surrounding him.

Honey could see his lips moving and strained to hear what was being heard, not wanting to go in there and intrude herself. Eavesdropping was much easier then facing the awkwardness that was sure to occur.

“It’s just so fucked up, I never wanted my private life to be exploited like this,” Honey managed to catch Gerard saying.

Mikey said something to him which Honey didn’t hear to which Gerard replied, “I don’t want to be famous if it comes at a price like this. This sucks. I shouldn’t have to deal with shit like this, I’m just a dude from a band, not Justin fucking Timberlake.” The room went silent before Frank spoke up.

“Have you spoken to Eliza yet? Did she…catch the show?”

Gerard glared at Frank. “No, I haven’t yet. As you could imagine I am slightly dreading it.”

“What are we going to do about Honey? Will she stay or will she go?” Ray questioned, playing with his hair. Bob looked sad at the thought and Frank’s eyes went wide as he found the thought of Honey not being on their bus unnatural. What would he do with his time? He had forgotten what touring was like when Honey wasn’t with them.

“I don’t know,” Gerard said hoarsely. Honey closed the door at this point, not wanting to hear anymore. It was fairly obvious she was unwelcome on this bus now and it was no longer a good idea for her to remain on it any longer. Not with Gerard around at least.

Honey crawled into her bed, wrapping her arms around her pillow letting tears cascade down her face and into the material. It sucked that the place she felt most at home was now the place she felt most unwelcome at.

“Honey,” a voice whispered from above her, gently shaking her. Honey opened her eyes to see the olive eyes of Frank staring right back at her. Honey looked around and realized she was still in her bunk, she must have fallen asleep.

“Honey, we’re having a meeting with Brian and the producers in the lounge now,” Frank told her.

“Why?” Honey wanted to know.

Frank hesitated. “This show has exploited us and so Gerard rang Brian telling him it was over. I think that’s what the meeting is about, finishing the show.”

Honey’s heart gave a pang, she wasn’t ready for it to be over but it was true that she didn’t like her own television show. It wasn’t right that it had become the main gossip medium for anyone wanting to know anything about Honey.

Honey nodded, “Okay.”

Frank helped her out of bed and together they walked into the lounge, where Gerard, Mikey and Ray were sitting on the couch, Bob on the floor and the producers, Brian and Kirstin had stolen the dining table chairs and positioned them opposite the couch. Honey and Frank joined Bob on the floor, although Honey sat as far away from Gerard as possible.

“Okay,” Brian began, “I think we all know why we’re here. This show has crossed the line and completely exposed something that wasn’t intended to be seen. It has fully exploited Gerard and Honey and it wasn’t meant to become a trashy gossip show. I think its time we call it quits and the boys continue touring as normal.”

Clive, the main producer, had seen this one coming and plastered his face into a smirk.
“No can do. The show will continue as normal and for the full amount of time,” he smugly informed them.

Brian shook his head, “No I don’t think so. It is not fair for Gerard to have his personal life made so public. This show has done nothing but confirm the stupid rumors that the stupid gossip magazines invented. The show is over.”

“No, it’s not. We only showed the truth, it’s not our fault ‘Gee-Gee’ couldn’t keep it in his pants.” Gerard looked positively livid at this statement, his hands clenching into fists, not that Clive noticed or cared.

“The show will run for the whole intended time, and if you even think about trying to end it we will sue your asses for not fulfilling your contractual obligations,” Clive finished.

“Shit,” Brian said, realizing Clive was right. They had signed a contract and they were obligated to fulfill it.

“That’s not good enough Brian. I don’t want to be on the show that made me look like an idiot and fucked my whole world up,” Gerard spoke up angrily.

“Well whose fault is that Gerard?” Clive asked him with a lazy grin, “Well since were done here, we might as well go back to our bus. I’m sure there are plenty of more moments we can edit to show the world.”

Bob flipped him off as he walked down off the bus, followed by his minions leaving only Kirstin and Brian behind.

“Kirstin, can I talk to you?” Honey said in a quiet voice. Kirstin nodded and the two left to go to the bunk area.

“Brian this isn’t good enough. I don’t, I’m NOT, going to be on this fucked up show anymore. They manipulate everything!” Gerard exclaimed, folding his arms over his chest.

“I know Gerard, I’ll try and get the lawyers to find a loop hole, but for now your stuck. There’s nothing we can do so you just have to keep your chin up and keep out of trouble,” Brian told him.

Gerard gave a loud sigh. “Can we at least get her off the bus?” He asked, referring to Honey at the same time as Honey and Kirstin walked back into the room. Honey, upon hearing his words, gave him a hurt look and spun around on her heel going straight back into the bunk area.

“Nice going Gee,” Frank hissed before jumping up to follow Honey.

Gerard just groaned again, nothing was going right for him at the moment.

“Have you spoken to Eliza yet?” Brain asked him.

“No,” Gerard replied looking miserable at the prospect.

“Well you had better do it soon. If there’s nothing else, we’ll go because I’ve got to get over to New York. Just ring me if you need anything,” Brian told him before he and Kirstin jumped down the bus steps.

One hour later Honey and Frank came out of the bunk area, after playing with Frank’s new camera and taking a million pictures, to find a scene similar to the one Honey had been greeted by in the morning. Gerard was on the couch, his band mates, excluding Frank, surrounding him. The only difference from this morning was now he was actually crying.

“She was so fucking angry, she hates me, she hates me,” he was saying over Mikey’s shushing noises.

“I think he must have talked to Eliza,” Frank whispered in Honey’s ear, pointing out the obvious.

“It’s over Mikes, it’s over,” Gerard continued wailing as his brother rubbed circles on his back.

“They must have broken up,” Frank whispered to her, “she was never very good for him anyway. They are very different people”. Honey wished Frank would stop talking, she felt just terrible knowing she played a part in Gerard’s break up.

Gerard looked up and noticed Honey standing there. He glared angrily at her before hissing, “It’s all your fault,” to her.

Honey gave a small gasp, shot him an angry glare back and turned on her heel to retreat back into the bunks.

“Oh good going Gee!” Frank cried before once more following Honey back into the bunks to cheer her up and comfort her.

“Man, Frankie is whipped,” Ray said causing everyone to laugh, “but seriously Gee, that was a little harsh. It wasn’t just her fault, it takes two to tango.”

“Whatever, I just don’t want anything to do with her anymore.”