Did We All Fall Down?

*Ray's POV*

The five of us filed into the diner.

"Hey, boys. I'll be there in a minute." our regular waiter, Cheryl called to us. We waved. We looked around and spotted Emma sitting in one of the booths, waiting for us. She had ear buds in and was quietly humming "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville" as she sketched in a small black book. She must have seen us out of the corner of her eye, she snapped her head up, yanking the ear buds out of her ears and smiled widely.

"Hi," she said nervously. She closed her sketchbook and put the pencil behind her ear, next to a pen that was already there. We all sat down; Bob, Mikey, and Gerard on the bench opposite Emma, Frank at the end of the table in his chair, and I sat next to Emma. She smiled nervously at me. I smiled back.

"So, how are you guys doing?" she asked timidly.

"Pretty well, we had some PR trouble, but other than that, Frankie's healing up well and things are looking good." Gerard said.

"People Magazine? Yeah, I saw those. I flipped through the first one, planning on buying it until they started trashing you guys." Emma said, glad to have something speak about it.

"Yeah, it was crazy," Mikey said. Emma nodded. Cheryl walked out of the kitchen towards us.

"Dear Lord, what happened to you, Frank? I didn't see you when you all came in." she asked.

"Car accident, I'm gonna be fine." Frank smiled up at her.

"Oh, God... I'm glad you're gonna be okay."

"Yeah, it was all over People Magazine, they wrote a lot of crap about it." Frank said.

Cheryl grunted, "Stupid magazines. I don't pay attention to them. Hell, I shop at a little privately owned market that doesn't even sell 'em. Well what can I get you?" She took down our orders and made her way back to the kitchen. We could hear her speaking to the cooks in there.

"By the way, that's the coolest wheel chair I've ever seen. And nice casts too," Emma complimented.

Frank beamed, "thanks."

"Hey... I meant to ask you on the phone; You live with two guys named Stuart and Rizzo?" Gerard asked Emma.

She blushed, "No, it's a joke I have with my friends. I bring my pet rats to school in my bag sometimes. The teachers never figured it out so I do it like once a week now. It's like a code. Pretty much the whole school knows not to ask about the rats, they just ask how Stu and Riz are. At lunch break I'll go outside and take them out, and my friends will play with them." We all burst out laughing.

"That is so freakin' cool!" Mikey exclaimed. We nodded in agreement. She smiled.

"I wanna meet these rats! Ah, poor little guys, they have to endure an education!" Frank joked.

"So, you're in high school?" I asked.

"Yup, junior," she answered.

"You look older," Bob said.

"Thanks."

"Wait, I called your home phone, right? What about family?" Gee asked. Emma's face fell slightly.

"It's kinda complicated," she said softly.

"Are you doing okay?" Frank asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm good. My brother takes care of me. The lease on the apartment is under his name." Emma said. We didn't want to pry but we were all concerned: Why was a teenager living by herself in an apartment paid for by her brother? Where was her brother? And what about parents?

Cheryl arrived with the food. "Eat up, kids. Especially you, Honey, you're a stick." she said playfully to Mikey.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." he muttered, smiling. We all began to eat, and talk was forgotten for a few moments. When Emma thought everyone's mind was on the food she changed the subject.

"So, how's the new album going?" she asked.

"Pretty good. We've got quite a few songs ready," Gerard said, allowing the conversation to steer away from Emma, keeping her comfortable.

"That's great, I can't wait to hear it!" she said. We continued to talk and eat for over an hour.

"Well we wanted to thank you again for saving Frank's life." Gerard said.

"Yeah, and apparently waiting for hours to make sure I was okay even though you didn't know me," Frank said knowingly.

"How did you kn--" she began.

"The nurse at the desk told me when I checked out, her name was Ana, I think." Frank smiled.

"Oh," Emma murmured, blushing. Cheryl came back to our table to take the empty plates and give us the check.

"Thanks, Cheryl." Gerard grabbed the receipt. "My treat," he said.

"Th-thank you," Emma said graciously. We smiled at her. She bit her lip, holding back a question she must have wanted to ask from the beginning. She finally spoke up.

"Um, I feel so dumb asking but, I was wondering if I could have your autographs?" she asked timidly.

"Course," Frank said. She opened her sketchbook to a clean page and handed me it to me with the pen from behind her ear. We all signed in turn.

"Thanks so much. It was amazing to actually spend time with you all." she said.

"It was great to spend time with you, too. But, we need to get going. We'll see you again." Frank said.

"R-really?" she asked doubtfully.

"Really," Gee said as he put the money on the table. She blushed furiously, obviously she hadn't intended to ask that out loud, let alone receive an answer. Frank moved away from the table to let us all out of the booth. The rest of us got out of our seats, each giving Emma a hug. Frank beckoned to her and she bent down to get a hug from him too. We piled back into Gee's car and watched as she got into her truck, a sweet grin on her face.

"I definitely want to see her again," Frank told us.

I nodded, "She's really nice."

"Yeah, and I also want to find out if she's doing okay..." Bob muttered.

"I know, she's a good kid. I hope everything's okay," Gee said with his eyes on the road.

*Emma's POV*

As I started up my truck and began to drive I couldn't believe what had just happened. I had always had daydreams about meeting the members of My Chemical Romance but this was real. And in reality they were amazingly kind, smart, funny people; better than any fantasy could have made them out to be.

But suddenly a stab of sorrow hit me. I remembered the looks on their faces when I told them about how my brother paid for my place. They had looked worried, they must have wondered what where he and my parents were. Those were just questions I wasn't ready to answer.