The Punchline to the Joke Is Asking

I set my shoulders, then turned to face Brendon, grinning. Little Miss Lies.
“Well, let’s go see if anybody missed us.”

When we reentered the hotel room, Mikey shot us a relieved look, and I grinned at him. Flawless, no cracks on my glass surface, even though I was anything but crystal clear.
“Why’d you leave me?” Frankie wailed, tackling us into a giant hug. He would have knocked me right over had he not grabbed Brendon, too. Even with Brendon towering over Frankie, we still stumbled back a bit. For a munchkin, he was strong/ Then again, I didn’t really have room to make a comment like that; measuring in at 5’ 2”, I was still shorter.
“What do you mean, ‘leave you’?” Gerard asked smoothly as he stepped into the room, Pete and Joe flanking him. He arched an eyebrow, but he wasn’t looking at Frankie, but me.
“Cinnamon and Bden went away a minute ago and we couldn’t find them, but they just came back, so it’s okay.” Frankie grinned happily, hugging us tighter.
“Frank, we’re gonna pop.” Brendon muttered, trying to pry him off.
“What were you two doing alone together?” Joe asked, narrowing his eyes at Brendon.
We both glanced at each other, trying to come up with something. Why hadn’t I thought up a cover story? I always planned ahead!
“Nothing?” Brendon tried, but Joe just glared as Pete crossed his arms and Gerard’s eyebrows rose even higher over his unamused expression.
“Try again.” Pete demanded.
“Ninja lessons; Sneaking Around 101.” I replied smoothly, looking Pete in the eyes. “He’s always bugged me about being a ninja, now he can go be one, too.” None of that was a lie, but none of it was the real truth.
“And you couldn’t say that straight off?” Joe asked skeptically.
“Dude, ninjas, secret, duh.” I rolled my eyes and scoffed for effect, and They bought itor at least pretended to.

“Cyn, for tonight, why don’t you stay with-”
“Us.” Ryan and Brendon said together, cutting Pete off then looking at each other in surprise. Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly at Brendon, and Brendon looked away from his friend.
“…I can’t think of a valid reason to say ‘no’.” Pete admitted in frustration a moment later, looking at Gerard and Joe for help.
Joe just shrugged, while Gerard bit his lip, thinking it over.
“No extra bed?” He tried.
“If we were going by that, she’d have to room with Frankie.” Pete replied.
“Yay! Can she? Please?!” Frankie latched onto me excitedly, and I grinned. He was great; I adored Frankie. Best of all, he never asked me a question I didn’thave the want to answer to.
“Yeah, please?” I pleaded innocently, batting my eyelashes.My surrogate dads The three of them took one look at my face and had an answer.
“Ryan, don’t let Brendon ruin her innocence.” Gerard sighed, rubbing his templeas if I were just another headache for him.

-X-

Later, I was alone in Brendon and Ryan’s bathroom, taking a shower, when someone knocked on the door.
“Cyn? I’ve got clothes you can borrow for now. Is it safe to come in?” Ryan asked, his voice slightly higher than normal. I could hear Brendon snickering in the background.
“It’s fine.” I called back, glad I’d hung my towel from the top of the shower door- I didn’t trust glass to hide me, not even frosted, wavy shower doors.
I heard the door open and shut quickly, and I could only imagine Ryan’s blush, which must have been spectacular because Brendon burst into laughter right after the door snapped shut again and I heard Ryan fall against it.
I had to bite back a laugh, myself, not registering the abrupt silence when Brendon’s laugh suddenly choked off.

When I stepped out of the shower, toweling off, I sighed at my reflection in the mirror. The scar over my eye was small and thin, but very visible, and my eyes were sunken in my sallow skin from lack of nutrients. I kind of liked my hair two-tone, with the red on top and black from just above my chin to just past my shoulders. The scars on my arms, new, old, self-induced and accidental, the deserved and the mistakes, made even me turn my gaze away in revulsion.
I pulled on the clothes- Ryan’s skinny jeans and Brendon’s Zombies tshirt, over my own underwear, and realized Ryan had taken mydirty old clothes.
Even my MCR shirt and my hoodie.
Shit.
I dropped the hairbrush, barley satisfied with my now tangle-free hair, and cracked open the bathroom door.
Brendon was sitting on the couch, his back to me as Squidward’s nasally laughter echoed over SpongeBob’s sobs, completely absorbed in the television set. I had no idea where Ryan was as I scoped the room. I couldn’t see him anywhe- There was my hoodie, hanging over the back of a chair on the far side of the room with my jeans. I could bolt for it and Brendon wouldn’t notice as long as I didn’t wait for a commercial.
Easy as pie.
I waited until there was a commercial break, sitting through the ads patiently so another pause in the show wouldn’t catch me off guard, then took off when I heard Brendon laughing at SpongeBob again.
I sprinted for the chair, slammed on my hoodie, and left the hood up as I bunched the ends of my sleeves in my hands.
Then someone cleared their throat from the side of the room I hadn’t been able to see from the bathroom.
I swallowed nervously, then slowly turned to face him.
Pete, Gerard, and Joe had returned, and stood with Ryan, who was holding my tattered, now extremely bloodstained MCR shirt.
“What. The fuck. Did you do?” Gerard asked slowly, all four men staring at me hard.
I tipped my chin up slightly, my glare defiant as I remained silent. I pretended not to notice that Brendon was watching us instead of SpongeBob now.
“Cyn, answer us.” Pete’s voice was quiet, dangerous even, as he took my shirt from Ryan and examined it carefully, his eye frequently meeting mine over the bloody cloth.
When you see blood on black, you know there was a lot of pain going on somewhere.
“What’d you do?” Joe repeated, his voice the gentlest yet, though still icy.
I locked my jaw. They didn’t need another nightmare.
“Any good horror stories for me?” Ryan asked, and I met his gaze, a sadistic grin pulling one corner of my mouth up.
“Plenty.”

I knew it was a mistake to answer, and the guys pounced once they had me talking, keeping me either defending myself or entirely silent for the longest time.
“Cyn!” Frankie burst through the door and tackled me in a massive hug, completely oblivious to the interrogation going on. “You’re staying with Mikey and me tonight, so we’re stealing you now.” He grinned happily, waved cheerfully atthe bad cops my questioners, and towed me quickly out the door and down the hall.
Almost immediately, his overly happy demeanor vanished, and he glanced at me out the corner of his eye, trying not to let me see his concern. We he realized I’d caught him, he grinned crookedly, slightly ironically.
“They can question you later. We just got you back, and we’re gonna hang out while you’re here.”
I guess Frankie noticed more than he let on.