Trust Me

***** LAURENS POV ***** 4 DAYS LATER *******

I was really surprised when I got a call from Gee yesterday. He had spoken to his cousin Joe and got us on fear factor and we were going to film the first task today. It would be taking three days in total and if we won, the money could go to any charity we wanted but we hadn't decided yet.

I felt nervous as I got dressed and packed enough stuff for three days away, how would the guys treat me now after what happened with Ray? Would he and Bob be alright now?

I looked in the mirror and sighed. Jason had gotten drunk yesterday and hit me, I had a black eye and a split lip and I had been to scared to try and fight back. I was as silent as I could be in the apartment, knowing he was still sleeping and would go mad if I woke him.

Jason,
Gone to visit a friend, be back in three or four days,
Love, Lauren xx

I left him a note on the table, grabbed my things and left as fast as I could, wanting to be out of the firing line. I dumped my bag in the back of my little car and then climbed into the front, starting the ignition and turning the heater up to full blast to block out the late December chill.

The drive down the Jersey was pretty uneventful and I reached Gerard and Frank's house, where we were all meeting, in record time.

"Hey Lauren!" squealed Frankie, rushing over from where he had been speaking to Ray and Bob to hug me.

"Hey Frankie, how are you hun?" I said and he let go of me after a few moments to answer.

"I'm great, guess what day it is!"

"Don't know, wait.... is it New Years eve?"

"Yes and......."

"Bob's birthday!" Now I remember.

"You got it!"

I followed the excitable Frankie over to where Bob and Ray were standing, talking to Gee.

"Hey guys!" I said cheerily and received a hug greeting from each of them.

"Oh yeah and, happy birthday Bob!" I grinned and he smiled and hugged me again.

"Thanks," he grinned, taking Rays hand again.

"What happened to you?" asked Gee, motioning to my shiner and lip.

"I uh... fell when I was getting out of the shower and I... uh.. hit my face on the radiator, cos I'm soo clever," I joked, attempting to cover my lie.

"Are you sure?" asked Bob.

"Yes! I'm sure, god it's cold out here, when are we leaving?"

"When the cars get here to pick us up and when my lazy ass brother decides to show," said Gee, looking around impatiently for any sign of Mikey.

"He'll be here, stop worrying baby," said Frankie, kissing Gee on the cheek and making him smile.

We talked and waited until Mikey came running around the corner, his bag on his back.

"Sorry I'm so late guys, the car was being a bitch," he panted, dropping his stuff on the floor and joining our circle.

"It's OK, Joe isn't here yet anyway," said Gee.

Joe showed up about ten minutes later in a black fear factor pickup truck. He hugged Gee and Mikey and shook the rest of our hands and was introduced before we all piled into the back of the truck and he drove us off to wherever the first task was. There was a camera man in the truck with him and he filmed us on the journey to edit and use for a kind of introduction to the show.

"Are we there yet?" asked Frankie after about five minutes of driving.

"No," said Bob, shifting and sitting back down on Rays lap, causing the camera guy to give them a very strange look.

"Shit! Sorry ba... Ray," said Bob with a grin, sitting back where he was sat before.

"Not telling anyone then?" asked Mikey once the camera guy had stopped filming and turned back around.

"We'll do it at the next press conference we get," said Ray and Bob nodded, taking his hand.

"How about you guys?" I asked Gee and Frank.

"We will just act normal for this, like a couple, and if anyone asks any questions we will tell them the truth," said Frankie and Gee grinned.

An hour later we pulled up at an empty airfield and Joe hopped out of the front of the truck, signaling for us to get out of the back. We clambered out and waited for him to tell us what we were doing next. We stood in a line with our backs to the runway and Joe stood next to us, on the end of the line.

"I'm Joe Rogan, and welcome to Fear Factor," he grinned to the camera and a plane took off from behind us, making us all jump and turn to watch its progress.

"The plane will get to its full height as two people stand on the wings, they will each walk to the other persons wing and collect the flag before disconnecting their harness and jumping from the plane to parachute down to the ground. The team that does this in the fastest time will win the most money for their chosen charity," roared Joe over the noise of the planes engine as It landed again. It was a one man, propeller driven plane, painted the Fear Factor yellow, with a flag on each wing and harnesses and wires to allow you to walk on the wings and not fall.

"Any questions my friends?" asked Joe as we got into pairs, I was with Mikey to allow all the couples to go together.

"Can we not go to full height? Can we just get the flags with the plane on the ground?" asked Bob and we all laughed.

"Somebody is scared of heights!"

"Yes, I am, but it's for a good cause so I'll give it a try," said Bob, looking nervously at the plane and then back to Ray.

"Which charity is the money going to if you two win today?" asked Joe, the camera on the three of them.

"Cancer research, for obvious reasons," said Bob and we all clapped and cheered, the sound echoing in the huge empty space.

"You two wanna go first?" asked Joe and Bob frantically shook his head.

"No, it's OK, ladies first," he smiled at Frank and Gee who backed away.

"Mikey and Lauren, go first?"

I looked at Mikey and smiled my most evil smile as he paled in fear.

"Come on Mikes, suit up," I laughed as Joe handed each of us the harness and the parachute to put on.

"Why did I ever agree to this," he groaned and we all laughed as he suited up.

The plane moved around out of the way of where we were standing and we were shown how to use our parachutes, how to land, and how to disconnect our harnesses from the plane.

We climbed onto the wings and our harnesses were connected up to the plane.

"Are you ready?" yelled Joe as the planes engines started up.

I smiled and gave the thumbs up, I saw Mikey do the same. I held onto the support wire for dear life as the plane took off.

GERARD'S POV.

"They're doing pretty good," said Ray as they started to switch wings on the plane, inching forward to collect their flags.

They reached the middle and grabbed onto each other so neither of them fell before moving towards the flags, their clothes billowing in the high winds.

Mikey reached his flag first and from what I could see, stuffed it in his pocket before leaping from the side of the plane and pulling the parachute a few seconds later. Lauren was struggling, pulling the flag but it wouldn't come off until she got it and leapt from the plane, pulling the parachute as she began to descend.

We ran over to meet them as they floated slowly back to earth.

"I'm gonna puke!" warned Mikey and we all jumped back as he puked everywhere, caught on camera for the whole world to see.

"You think you're gonna puke now, just you wait until you see tomorrow's task," said Joe with a nasty grin before Frank and I got strapped up to have our go on the plane...