Broken

Franks point of view.

So today is the day we meet the new guy.

I followed Gerard along the corridor, he was walking quickly, I had to almost run to keep up. Damn my short legs.

We were at the record label offices in New York. We've just finished recording the second album, and Matt has decided to quit the band. The music video for 'I'm not Okay' is being filmed next week and we desperately need a drummer, even if they only play for the video and then a few shows.

"Gerard! Slow down!" I gasped as he charged up yet another flight of stairs.

"Quit smoking," he smirked.

"But-you-smoke!" I panted out as I strained to keep up with him.

He reached the top of the stairs first and pushed his long black hair off his face.

Damn, he's so hot when he does that.

I reached the top a few seconds later and followed his through a set of double doors. We followed a long, winding corridor for what felt like forever.

Part of me wondered if Gerard even knew where he was going.

He stopped at a plain, brown door and knocked. After a few seconds a voice called 'come in!' and he opened the door and stepped into the room, gesturing me to follow.

It was Brian's office. I found it odd that although Brian was the bands manager, I had only met him a handful of times. Nevertheless, he was a really nice guy and I felt at ease around him.

"Gerard, my man!" he got up from behind his desk and shook Gerard's hand, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey Brian how you doing?" asked Gee, sitting down in one of the chairs opposite Brian's desk.

"I'm doing good, doing good, and how are you Frank?" he asked, shaking my hand firmly.

"I'm doing great, yeah, tired from working on the album, but its all done now."

"Yeah man, I can't wait to hear it, I'm heading to the studio later in fact, to give it a listen."

I sat down in the seat next to Gerard. Brian sat back down behind his desk.

"So we've found you a new drummer," he explained.

"He should be here any minute to meet you guys. I'm hoping you hit it off and that the shoot can still happen next week," continued Brian.

"Yeah, it'd be nice to get it done before we get too busy with the album release stuff," said Gerard.

My mind began to wander. I never understood why Gerard brought me along to these meetings, I didn't care about this side of things, I just wanted to play.

I started to think about what the new drummer might be like. The first image that came to my mind was a big, burly man who liked kind of like a viking warrior, but without the hat.

The next image was of somebody who looked very young, like they were only around sixteen and was terrified of going on stage.

The door knocked, jolting me to my senses.

"Come on in!" called Brian.

"Uh.. hi? I'm here to see you about the band?" said the man in the doorway uncertainly. I didn't even look up, I was fiddling with a stray thread on the hem of my shirt.

"Yep. I'm Brian Schechter, nice to meet you," said Brian politely, shaking hands with the man. I pulled the thread off my shirt and looked up.

The thread fell from between my fingers to the floor.

Gerard stood up and I practically leapt to my feet.

My heart thudded loudly in my ears, I willed my hands not to start sweating and create an awkward moment when we shook hands.

Gerard shook hands with him first, smiling politely and introducing himself.

I hastily wiped my now profusely sweating hands on my shirt.

"Hi, I'm Fr-" my voice broke. Perfect timing.

I coughed and tried again, taking his hand to shake it.

"Frank Iero," I said, trying to hide my embarrassment. I met his eyes, just for a second, but it was enough.

"Bob Bryar," he said with a small smile.