Mourn the Losses. Cherish the Victories.

"So?"

Lily looked casually over her book giving Janie a bored glance. "So, what?"

Before Lily could return to her book, Janie snatched it away tossing it over her shoulder.

"You know what I'm talking about. Patrick!"

"What about him?" Lily restrained herself from gritting her teeth, and flinching as her book hit the floor with a low thud.

"What about him…" Janie murmured, than snorted. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You were gone for a while. Anything interesting happen? Anything you might want to tell me?"

"Yes, we talked, and realized we were meant for each other, and should never be apart." Lily answered flatly, ignoring the look Janie was giving her, "Than we had hot, passionate sex in the dirt."

Janie sat, silent for a moment. "Well, you think someone who just had great sex wouldn't be so uptight."

"You obviously have great sex everyday." Lily grumbled, flipping through her book, trying to find where she had left off before Janie had interrupted her.

"I try." Janie answered simply, once again grabbing the book from Lily's hands. She looked over the cover with disgust. "Why the hell are you reading this crap? It's a bunch of knights, dragons, and princesses rolled up in a bad fairytale."

Lily easily snatched the book back, and held it in her lap letting her fingers trace the art on the cover. She was used to Janie's teasing. It was just something they did between each other, but when it came to her books, Lily was very protective.

"Think about what you just said for a minute. How do all fairytales usually end?"
Janie thought over the question for a moment before shrugging. "With a happy ending and two hopelessly romantic idiots riding off into the sunset back to their castle to have great sex."

"There is no sex in fairytales. Sex results in divorce, because in order for both parties to be satisfied they need to communicate, and we all know men are incapable of doing that. It might show that they have feelings, and that’s not manly."

"That’s why you lie." Janie shifted, glancing out the tinted window behind her. "You don't beat down the guy's ego, you build it up. Scream out his name while you're doing the deed, tell him you need him. Tell him his dick is actually bigger than it is. Add some toys and handcuffs in there and you got yourself a good relationship. For the time being anyway."

"For the time being? I'm talking about long term, like marriage."

Janie groaned and rolled her eyes. "Lil, guys don't want to hear about marriage. They want to hear about how you're going to tie them up and fuck their brains out."

"And I want to hear about how you're going shut up about relationships, and Patrick and leave me the fuck alone, but we all can't get what we want now can we?"

Janie playfully shoved her friend. "Oh come on. I've known you for what? About six years now? I know their must be a kinky side to you. I mean, wouldn't you just love to tie Patrick up and have your way with him?"

"No, not really," Lily replied flatly, standing from the couch, and stretching. "I'm going outside; I'd rather not talk about screwing someone I just met a few hours ago."

"Well, if you ever change your mind, I have the tools for the job!" Janie yelled after Lily with a laugh, knowing damn well Lily was ignoring her.

XXXXXX

"Gerard, did you take my goddamn lighter?" Frank threw aside clothes, digging through the pockets hoping to find his lighter. Hell, he would settle for some matches even.

"I just gave it back to you. How the fuck did you lose it already?" Gerard walked into the back room, kicking at the mess that was now covering the floor. "Frank this isn't your house you can't just throw your shit all over the place."

Frank growled, throwing a pair of jeans over his shoulder. He gritted his teeth at the sound of Gerard chuckling.

"You really need a cigarette, man. You seem kind of tense."

There was no point in answering. Anything Frank said Gerard would comment with a smartass remark. He would be the first to shot a comment right back, but at the moment he was too nicotine starved to care.

Gerard shrugged when he only received a grunt in reply. "Well, I'll see you later Frank. Mikey, Ray, and I are heading over to The Used bus. Good luck finding that lighter."

With one last laugh, Gerard left the room yelling to clean up the mess. Frank grunted falling back on the small couch. He rubbed his temples, the hint of a headache forming. Not only was his lighter missing, but the room was now destroyed.

He was hoping his headache wouldn't become more than a small ache, but it came on full force when he spotted his lighter sitting on the shelve across the room along with his DVDs. He grumbled a few curses underneath his breath, but didn't bother getting upset. If he even thought about how much effort he put into looking for something that was right in front of his face, he was going to scream.

Piling his clothes into his arms, he threw them into a corner of the room. If Gerard didn't like it than he could clean it up himself. With a cigarette hanging from his lips, and lighter in hand he headed outside.

Once his foot set foot on the ground, he lit the end of his cigarette and took a long drag. It was complete heaven, the soothing taste of nicotine filling his mouth making him relax immediately.

A cool breeze hit his face, blowing his long bangs into his eyes. They would be lucky if the weather stayed this comfortable the whole tour. Frank could clearly remember shows when it was too hot to even breathe, but those were always the best shows. Even with all the heat there was so much energy and the fans were amazing.

Than he saw her out of the corner of his eye, the girl from earlier. She stood there quietly
leaning against Fall Out Boy's bus looking as if she were deep in thought.

"Guess she is one of Pete's girls." Frank mumbled to himself wetting his lips, and taking a few long drags from his cigarette.

Fall Out Boy's tour bus was a few feet in front of his own, allowing Frank to stand and watch her quietly. Body language could tell wonders about a person if you knew what you were looking for. From what he saw she seemed to be a bit insecure about herself. She stood, holding her arms securely around her midsection as if she were protecting herself from the world.

Frank smirked to himself, an arrogant, yet confident smirk, and dropped his cigarette to the ground. He approached her quietly not wanting to scare her too much.

"Where's Pete?"

It was a stupid way to start a conversation, but he couldn't help but smirked when she jumped at his voice. Maybe it wasn't stupid, after all.

Lily swiftly turned her head, and tightened the grip she had on her shirt. She expected to find Patrick standing behind her, but stumbled back when she was met with a face she had never seen before.

"Excuse me?" She looked over his face quickly, averting her eyes to the ground when they made direct contact. He continued to stare at her, the air of confidence surrounding him making her shift uncomfortably.

Frank leaned his shoulder against the bus, the smirk on his face not wavering. He popped another cigarette in his mouth, looking her over, not bothering to be discrete about it.
She wasn't horrible looking, that wasn't the case at all. She was just short, and frumpy. He could easily see her as just one of the guys. Well, if she would loosen up a bit.

"Pete, where is he?" Frank offered her a cigarette, shrugging when she declined, than lighting his own. He flipped his bangs out of his eyes and watched her expectantly.

"How the hell should I know?" Lily scoffed, shuffling to her left wanting to put some space between them.

If possible, Frank's smirk became bigger. He closed the distance between them, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "You have no clue where your boyfriend is? What the hell kind of relationship is that?"

Lily grimaced noticeably at the word relationship. She wanted to shoot back a smartass remark, but she stopped, her eyebrows rising in question.

"Boyfriend? Pete is not my boyfriend. I think you might have me confused with someone else…."

"Frank." Frank extended his hand for a handshake, but after a few moments of Lily just staring at his hand, eyebrows raised, he sighed and dropped his hand. "Ahh, I see. You're the shy type.

Lily rolled her eyes. Typical answer; everyone assumed she was shy. In high school people would even ask her why she never talked, laughing at her and calling her a mute. She just had nothing to say to people like that. And this guy, Frank, he just looked like he wanted an easy target. Some poor little girl that would do anything he wanted.

"Can I get a name at least?"

Lily was silent for a few moments, trying to decide whether or not she should give him her name. Not that it mattered, she was sure he could easily find out from someone else. Perhaps if she gave in a little he would leave her alone.

"Lily, my name is Lily."

Her voice was quiet, but Frank heard her loud and clear. He smirked becoming more confident now that he knew her name. It wasn't the name he was expecting and he wondered for a moment if perhaps she was lying. The name didn't fit her at all.

Lily seemed to read his mind. "I know the name doesn't fit me at all. My mom named her cats better than she named me."

"It's a beautiful name."
"Yea, for someone else."

Frank balanced what was left of the cigarette between his fingers, blowing the smoke into the air. His eyes studied the multicolored sky a moment before turning back to Lily. He gently brushed the hair from her face, unfazed when she jerked her head away. He had expected a reaction like that. He simply smirked.

"I guess going somewhere more comfortable is out of the question, than, huh?"

Lily blinked, unsure of what she just heard. She gave Frank a sideway glance sure her mouth was hanging open. But at the moment she wasn't really sure of anything.

Frank inched closer, his lips inches from her ear. "It's alright, sweetie. You'll warm up to me eventually. Girls like you, they always do."

There were a thousand questions going through Lily's mind, but on top of everything she was confused. Was he flirting with her, or just fucking around with her? He seemed completely serious about the whole thing; a bit too serious. The look he was giving her, she knew that look. It was the look Janie gave a guy when she wanted to jump his bones. The exact look she gave Pete.

Frank chewed on his lip ring, and took on last drag of his cigarette from the corner of his mouth. This girl would be an easy one. With a satisfied sigh he stood up straight, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Hope to see you around, Lily."

With that said, Frank gave her one last smirk, and a look that most girls would swoon over, than headed back to his bus.

It wasn't until Frank was out of site the Lily realized she was blushing. Just the thought of the conversation that had just occurred seconds ago made her face beet red. It wasn't just his words; it was the looks, the way his eyes moved over every part of her, taking her in. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"What the fuck just happened?" Lily mumbled, sliding down the bus to the ground. That was the last thing she had expected when she agreed to come on this tour.