You Come Along Because I Love Your Face

“Uh, I was just hugging William because he was cold, and—“
“Shut up,” Ryan interrupted Gabe. “I know what’s going on here. And, you know what? I’m going to tell everyone about this, Gabe. Your career will be over, and I’ll get all the fame I deserve.”
“But it’s nothing, Ryan!”
“Oh, really? You clearly stated that judges can’t have relationships with contestants. So you know what that makes you, Gabe Saporta? A big, fucking hypocrite!”
“I am not a hypocrite!”
Suddenly, the door of the bathroom burst open, and a guy with red hair and a head that resembled a bobble head popped in.
“Did somebody say hypocrite?!”
“Gerard Way?! What are you doing here?!” everyone asked in unison.
“Well, you were talking about hypocrites, weren’t you? I’m the man!”
“Get out of here, asshole!” Ryan muttered, and pushed Gerard out of the bathroom. “Anyway, off I go to go tell the whole world about your creepy relationship with this fourteen year old boy!” Ryan was just about to prance out of the washroom, when Gabe firmly grabbed onto his shoulder.
“Okay, what do you want, Ryan?”
“What to you mean?” Ryan raised his eyebrows.
“If you keep my relationship with William a secret, I’ll give you something in return.”
“Hmmm, I’m sorry, my original plan seems so much better than anything you could ever give me.”
“Please,” Gabe begged, and tightened his grip on Ryan’s shoulder.
“What’s this? Gabe Saporta?? Begging? Ha!”
“Shut up, you bastard,” Gabe grumbled.
“Okay, fine,” Ryan pretended to admire his fingernails. “I guess I could strike a deal with you.”
“So, what do you want?”
“I want you to give up all of your press, and let me get all of the attention. I want you to slowly disappear, so that I will become the favourite judge. Sure, you’re going to lose your career one way or another, but you might as well lose is gracefully. And with your help, I’ll rise to fame faster. Oh, and I want you to be my personal slave. If you fail to do all of these things, then your little secret is out.”
“Ryan, you’re full of shit, you know that?”
“No, Gabe, I don’t. Have you ever thought that, maybe, just maybe, it’s the other way around?”

***
“Hey, William,” Gabe grasped William’s hand, as they walked around the deserted parking lot at the end of a long day. The sun was setting, and it cast long, gloomy shadows across the asphalt. “We haven’t properly ‘hung out’ in a while, since things have been pretty stressful with the show and all, so how about we go back to my room and fool around?”
“I don’t feel like it,” William replied simply. “I just want to talk with you.”
“What do you mean ‘just’?”
“I don’t like sex that much. It’s messy and overrated. Plus, it hurt.”
“Oh.” William thought he saw Gabe twitch a little. Gabe kicked a small pebble by his foot, and watched it tumble across the parking lot, before it came to a stop at the other end.
“Can we go get ice cream instead?”
“Fine.”
***
“Now, remember, Gabe,” Ryan smiled, and patted Gabe on the back. “Be a real douche bag tonight.” Ryan winked, and walked out of the changing rooms.
“Fuck,” Gabe muttered, and sat down on a stool. He buried his face in his hands, and wished he could stay there forever. There was a knock at the door, and one of the crew members told him to hurry up. Gabe groaned, and followed closely behind.

Everything about the show was the same: the roaring crowd, the smiling contestants, the overall thrilling energy that seemed to pass through everyone, Gabe’s gloomy personality… well, okay, everything was the same except for Gabe. He wasn’t at all excited or happy to be on the show that night, with Ryan’s damn face taunting him the whole time, reminding him that he had to put on a fake attitude for the whole show. He took the glass of Coke resting on top of the judges’ table, and took a big gulp. Almost as soon as he had finished the last bit of drink, Billie Joe began to greet the audience and TV viewers. After going through the twenty remaining contestants, he made his way towards the judges. Gabe couldn’t even look at him, so he began to draw on the table with the droplets of condensation from the glass of Coke.
“Hey, Gabe! How are you feeling tonight??” he asked intently.
“Shitty.” Gabe didn’t look up from the table.
“Oh, why is that?” Billie shoved his microphone into Gabe’s face, even though he had a perfectly good one right in front of him.
“Because you won’t get that goddamn microphone out of my face!” Gabe snapped. Ryan giggled.
“What’s so funny, Ryan?” Billie Joe asked, deciding that it was best to ignore Gabe from now on.
“Oh, nothing. I just thought it was rather rude of Gabe to say that. I’m having a lovely time tonight.”
“Me too, Ryan! And I hope the folks back at home are, as well!” The crowd erupted into cheers. “So, how about we hear some singing!” the crowd got even louder, and one of the singers—Quinn, from the changing room—made his way onstage.

After Quinn had completed his song, it was time for the judges to evaluate him.
“Lovely, Quinn! You are so talented!” Ryan gushed. The audience nodded in agreement.
“You are one of my favourite singers, ever!” Pete complimented.
“Meh,” Gabe shrugged. The crowd shot him the dirtiest look he had ever seen—even dirtier than the look an old woman on the street had given him when he was trying to coax a little girl into his car a year ago…

The rest of the night continued like this. By the end of the show, Gabe was getting booed off. Ryan sure was getting what he wanted.
“Oh, Gabe,” Ryan greeted him by the dressing room, after everyone was packing up. “I’d like a ride back to my place in your limo, please.”
“Whatever you say, asshole…” Gabe muttered under his breath, and led the way.