The Thoughts of One Moment

Rikki's POV

I tossed and turned for the hundredth time as I laid next to Gerard in bed. We hadn't done anything that night as much as we both wished we had. I turned my head so I could look at him. He was sleeping. Totally unaware of my insomnia.

I gathered up the blankets on my side of the bed and placed them on his legs. I couldn't sleep and I didn't know why. I quietly stood from the bed and walked over to the nightstand on Gerard's side. I hope he didn't mind that I was stealing his cigarettes and lighter.

I quietly shut the door behind me and walked out into the hall. I heard the toilet flush and Frankie trudge out of the bathroom and back into his room. He had walked right pass me and still he didn't notice. He must have been tired.

The stairs creaked when I inched down them. I kept glancing behind me to see if anyone was woken up by the sound. A few more creeks and I was finally down and outside. I cupped a hand around the flame and lit a cigarette. Just one, and then I'd go back to bed.

::Time Elapse.::

The next thing I knew, the alarm was blaring off in my face. Gerard turned over on his side and swung an arm over me to turn off the sound. It died. "Time to get up." He said, grasping my arm with his hand. I grumbled and he stayed down. "Gotta get up." He tried motivating himself. He pushed himself up and sat on his side of the bed.

I got up and ran a hand through my tangled hair. I heard the door connecting the bathroom and his bedroom shut. "Dammit, Gerard." I said and glanced at the alarm. 6:15. I stood up and tested the door to see if he locked it on me.

I was able to walk right in and see Gerard hunching over the sink and letting the warm water from the faucet run over his hair. He reached for and tried to find a bottle of shampoo. Without thinking I handed him mine.

You know the girly-girly good smelling one. He squeezed a glob on his hand and started working it in. I think I'll let him find out for himself. He shut the water off and began to towel dry his hair.

He passed me on his way to the bedroom. I ran the water in the sink, so I could wash my hair with my shampoo.

...

Frank asked to come in sometime later. Gerard let him in not acknowledging the fact I just barely had my jeans on. I quickly pulled a shirt on and straightened it out. "You all ready?" Frank asked. Gerard looked around at his baggage. "Yup all here. The guys?" Frank smiled. "All accounted for."

I helped Gerard carry down his bugs. Not because there was alot there, just too much for one person to carry all by himself. I passed up a drink that was offered. Mikey and Bob were talking about something they planned to do while in Cali. I ignored them and focused on a refrigerator magnet.

::Airport::

Their luggage was soon carried off for scanning and boarding after being placed on the conveyor belt that everyone had to put things on. I watched it trail down the long belt when I heard Gerard call me over by the gates.

Just by the gate, I could see my breath in thin little steam bursts. Gerard noticed this, and lent me his jacket. I passed it up and looked at the other lines moving into the plans. "Are you okay? You're not talking much." He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm just tired." I pretended to yawn. He believed it and excused himself from me to go to the check desk with the others. The lady there checked their tickets and handed them each a pamphlet. R14, their ride to California was dispatching in 20 minutes.

"Make sure you call me." I told him poking his chest 10 minutes in. He caught my hand and squeezed it gently. "I will.." He said.

"You better." I played. He smiled crookedly and leaned to kiss me. Frank pretended to check the watch on his wrist while waiting for us to finish up. "Would you two kids hurry up. I'm getting old over here." He called over to us. I laughed.

The intercom clicked on, and if to support what he said, spoke loudly. "Final boarding for Flight R14 to Los Angeles, California." Gerard tried to pull away but I wouldn't let him. "Baby, I gotta go." He said, trying. "No, longer?" I begged.

"I can't, baby, babe I have to go." He successfully pulled away. He regretfully started to walk towards the rest of the group and turned around to say goodbye. I didn't realize how sad my facial expression must of been.

He jogged back and gave me another kiss. "I'll see you when I get back." Kiss. "Gerard." Mikey called. "I love you." Kiss. "Gerard!" Mikey called again with support from Ray. "I'll call but I gotta go." Kiss. "Bye." He said and finally stopped and left. I watched him say something to the band and board the plane.

I sat down on the plastic chair behind me and pulled my knees together. Some lady sat down a couple chairs away and crossed her legs all business like. "Husband?" I tossed a glance at her.

"What?"

"That man." She asked pointing to the gates. "No. We're not married." I answered quickly. "Oh, well, I just assumed." I shook my head. "No. I'm not married." I said again. "How long is he gone for?" She asked. I tried to remember how long he said he would be gone for. "3-4 weeks. He's doing some festival or something." I said. I don't know what he's there for. What they're there for.

"So what do you plan on doing now?"

"I'm going to go for a walk, have a cigarette and try not to cry like a baby." I answered, gathering myself up and standing. She choked back a chuckle. "Good luck with that." She offered. I nodded. "If I see you again, I'll be sure to tell you how it goes."

I walked out of the airport, in a hoodie, down Hudson St. past the Bombay Garden where we had had lunch and crossed the River Terrance on Warren St. Smoking the first cigarette out of a brand new pack of Mustang Gold.