Inner Demons

A week later...
"The 11:15 flight to Los Angeles is now boarding." a soft voice announced.

Nadine glanced around; Delia was deep in conversation with her brother. Frank and Mikey were having trouble fitting all their things in a small canvas bag, which was making Ray laugh. Gerard was sleeping on Nadine's shoulder and he let out a heavy but quiet cough and shifted his head. He was sick with the flu and was not looking forward to the plane ride at all. Nadine blinked and watched as people lined up to take their seats. Ray was watching too.

"Let's just wait, we have reserved seats anyway,"

Gerard opened his eyes, "What?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep and confusion.

Nadine sighed and stroked his nappy, black hair, "It's nothing, go back to sleep."

Bob and Delia strode over, "Come on, we'll miss the flight."

Ray sniffed and shook Gerard's arm, causing him to wake again. The group of seven, plus Brian, boarded the small, crowded plane. Delia and Nadine sat with Gerard, who simply put on his head phones and quickly fell back asleep. Bob, Ray, and Mikey sat in front of them, while Frank and Brian sat across the aisle. Delia buried her head into Nadine's neck, who pushed her away, "Sick-o..." she muttered.

Delia mock gasped, "You don't love me anymore?" she then covered her face with her hands and made an exaggerated sobbing noise.

Mikey spun around, "You better be quiet or they'll kick us off the plane,"

Delia stuck out her tongue and poked her brother in the back of the head, "How long will it take to get into California?" she asked.

Bob shrugged, "Nine hours maybe. It all depends on the weather."

Delia nodded and settled back into her seat. Nadine smiled and handed her a tick, silver-fronted note book, "You know the drill."

Delia smiled and picked up her pen. She was writing quickly, and Nadine retrieved a book from Delia's bag and propped herself up on her knees. She was immersed in the story, when the plane jerked suddenly. Gerard's eyes snapped open and he gripped onto the seat, his knuckles turning white. Delia grabbed his arm and trembled. Once it all stopped, Bob turned around, "Del, you okay?"

She nodded and clutched her chest, breathing harshly. Gerard wrapped his arm around her and hugged her head. The intercom dinged, "This is your pilot, we seem to have hit some turbulence. It will be a bit uneasy for just a few minutes."

Ray and Mikey exchanged nauseous, nervous glances, and moaned as the shaking started again. Gerard and Delia curled into one another and just waited until everything was calm. Nadine lifted her head and looked over at Delia, who was much paler than usual, "At least the worst is over.."

Delia muttered and closed her eyes, covering her mouth with her hand. Gerard stared at them with watery eyes and coughed, "I can't wait until we land,"

Everyone agreed whole-heartedly. The nest of the flight went off without a hitch, well, almost.

"Eww," Delia whispered sharply, "Gerard is drooling again!"

Nadine suppressed a laugh and gingerly pushed Gerard's head into the window. Delia shuddered and began swatting at her arm with napkins. Nadine rolled her eyes, "Give the guy a break, he can't breathe through his nose."

Delia grimaced and threw the now moist napkin at Nadine's face, hitting her square in the mouth. She gasped and smacked Delia, lightly of course, across the cheek. Mikey turned sharply around, "Girls! j Don't wake up Gee!"

They both sighed and glanced at one another, then Gerard, whose shirt now had a trail of saliva on it. Mikey sighed and held back a laugh, "Can one of you clean him up?"

Nadine glared at Delia, who shook her head, "Oh no, let him be covered in spit! I don't care."

Delia looked out the window and was in awe by the virginic blue skies. Below them, a thunderstorm ravished the mid-west.

Gerard mumbled in his sleep and woke up. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and sniffed, "Are we there yet?"

Delia shook her head, "Only about, uh, four more hours."

Gerard moaned and coughed into his shoulder, "I feel like shit. I don't wanna do this anymore."

Delia rubbed his warm forehead, "Shh, you need to do this. Besides, you'll only be sick for a couple of days and you guys are just writing stuff now."

Gerard nodded and leaned into Delia, "I'm cold... and hungry. Do we have any food?"

Delia thought for a moment and her face lit up. She pulled out her bag and shuffled through it for a moment, before pulling out a package of cookies and some chips. Nadine squealed, "I forgot about those!"

The three of them began to eat and Frank stared at them, "Can I have a cookie?" he asked, screwing his face into its most innocent expression.

Nadine blinked, "Umm.. no!"

Frank growled and stood up, reaching across the aisle and grabbing a handful, "Mwahaha!" he shouted.

Nadine huffed and crossed her arms, giving Delia a pathetic look. She sighed and shook her head, "Don't look at me hun."

Gerard agreed, then sneezed loudly. Delia handed him a napkin so he could blow his nose.

After they had eaten they fell asleep until Ray finally woke them up and told them they were landing soon. Delia smiled and began grabbing her things to put back into her bag. Nadine collected all the trash and stuffed it into the now empty chip bag. The plane began to dip lower as they passed through the thick clouds. A sharp flash of lightning whipped past them and Gerard hung his head, "It always fucking rains in LA..."

Delia sighed as the plane's wheels skidded along the slippery tarmac. They exited the plane as quickly as they could and made their way to baggage claim. They were lost in a crowd of people and tried to stay as anonymous as possible. They almost succeeded, that is, until a group of teenagers spotted Ray's unmistakable hair, "Oh my God! It's My Chemical Romance!" a brunette in pink heels shouted.

Gerard covered his head with his jacket and backed up into the wall. He slunk down a bit and Delia stood in front of him. Nadine managed to drag Frank away as well, pushing him and Mikey into the bathroom. It was working too, until Bob 'accidentally' flagged Gerard down. Soon the girls circled like vultures.

"Gerard! Gerard! Can I, like, have your autograph?!" a girl with poorly dyed hair screeched.

He moaned and buried his head into Delia's shoulder and gave her a pathetic "If-you-make-them-go-away-I'll-make-it-up-to-you" look. She sighed and rubbed his back as the girls slowly drew closer. A tall boy in extremely tight pants thrusted a pen into Gerard's hand, and proudly held out a piece of paper. He glanced over at Delia, who looked ready to punch someone in the face. Gerard blinked and moaned softly, "Delia, I think I'm going to be sick.."

She raised an eyebrow and watched as his face turned pale green. He then vomited all over the three teens gaggling in front of him, tightly shutting his eyes. Delia stood there, torn between shock and amusement, and made a peculiar laughing noise. One of the girls screamed and darted into the nearby bathrooms, while the other two just stared at one another. Delia smirked and wrapped an arm around Gerard, leading him over to a section of chairs. Nadine was sitting with Ray and Bob was looking rather frantic, "Guys! I can't find my suitcase!"

Delia shrugged, "It'll show up, our flight was full."

Ray nodded, sending his hair in several different directions. Nadine, however, was busy looking for something far more important, "Have you guys seen my brother?" she asked.

Gerard lifted his head, "No.. have you seen Mikey?" he questioned, now suddenly aware he hadn't seen him since they were on the plane.

Nadine shook her head, "Umm, the last I saw them, they went to the bathroom," she explained.

Ray shook his head, "I'll go look for them.."

He wandered off, and Bob gave a shout of triumph from the baggage carousel. "I found it!"

He half-hoisted it above his head, and shook it proudly. Nadine rolled her eyes, "Wouldn't it be funny if it was open?" she hissed.

Delia burst out laughing and grabbed her duffel bag as it rolled past her. The girls went over to Gerard, whose head was propped against a support beam. Nadine pounced into his lap and he looked like he was going to puke again. "Let's blow this place. Bob is off doing a victory dance, and God only knows where the other three are..." she said brightly.

Gerard grimaced and shook his head, "Brian would kill me,"

Delia nodded and pulled Nadine off of him, "Let the poor baby heal!" she shouted.

Gerard narrowed his hazel eyes, "Baby?"

Nadine stuck out her tongue, "Oh yeah Delia? Well, you're stupid!"

The two began bickering until Ray came over with a red-faced Mikey and a giggling Frank. He stood directly in front of Gerard, "Is it true you threw up on those annoying kids?" he asked, hyperly.

Gerard nodded slowly and Frank hugged him, "Oh, that's soo cool!" he laughed.

He cracked a smile and they were soon joined by Brian and Bob, "Come on, we have to be at the house in an hour," Brian instructed as if they were little kids.

The group left through the exit and were greeted by sheets of icy rain. Frank clutched his thin jacket, "I thought LA was supposed to be warm!" he shouted through chattering teeth.

Mikey nodded and wrapped his arms around Nadine, who completely forgot to wear a jacket. They split into groups of four and piled into idling rental cars. Frank was driving and Nadine was giving him a hard time, "Oh Jesus Frank! You're going to kill us!" she screamed.

Delia and Ray laughed and he gave everyone dirty looks. He revved the engine and followed Brian out of the airport.