Hold on Tight and Don't Look Back

“Mikey, Mikey what’s my surprise?!” I nearly tripped down the stairs with excitement. The front door had finally slammed shut, Ray, Gerard, and Frank and were gone, and I couldn’t wait to find out more about this so called surprise.

“Lexi, calm down . For God sakes you’re going to kill yourself on the stairs,” he stood at the bottom of the narrow staircase smiling up at me.

“I’ll calm down when you tell me what this secret surprise is!” I attempted to jump to the soft living room floor from the fifth step but missed my footing and kind of face planted into the carpet instead.

“I knew you were going to hurt yourself. Are you sure you even know how to walk?” he teased me as he helped me up off the floor. “Come on, let’s go get that surprise,” he smiled, lacing his fingers through mine as he carefully led me out the door.

“Mikey! Where are we going?!” It seemed as if we had been driving in the car for hours, for some strange reason not knowing where I’m going makes me extremely nervous and causes me to panic.

He directed his gaze to the passenger side of the car, smiling with wide eyes as he slowly pulled into a gravel laden driveway. ‘Here,” he laughed. “We’re here, you can calm down now,” he carefully shifted the car into park before walking over and opening my door.

“This is a house. What are we doing here?” I asked him as he slightly grabbed my arm to help me out of the car. He placed his hand in mine and led me down the long driveway to the door. “This isn’t any house, it’s a special house,” he smiled over at me.

Mikey lightly tapped the door three times, letting whoever was inside know we were there. The large wooden door creaked as it opened. A tall, rather large woman poked her head through the crevice she had created. Her frizzy brown hair stuck out in all directions, her eyes slightly shifted to the left as she noticed Mikey standing beside me.

“Oh, it’s you,” she snapped as she widened the gap in the door.
“We’re here to pick up our dog,” he smiled at with his beautiful eyes.

“We’re getting a dog?!” I’ve always wanted a dog, but my mom always said they would make too much of a mess. I was smiling from ear to ear as Mikey led me into the house.

“That’s the one you wanted, right?” the lady pointed to a small, fluffy, black Pomeranian penned in the corner of her living room.

“Yes ma’am, that one,” Mikey replied to her as he handed her a check.

“Alright, take him and get out,” I wonder if she woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. She could be a little nicer to us seeing as Mikey just paid her for the dog.

“Go pick up your dog, Lexi,” he released my hand from his and gave me a slight nudge. I slowly walked over to where the dog was sitting. His eyes were big, his tail was wagging, and he was jumping up and down. “Calm down little guy, we’re going to go home,” I whispered to him as I picked him up. His fur was soft and cozy like a fuzzy sleeping blanket, “I think I’m going to call you Drake,” I rubbed his head.

“Are you ready?” I was so distracted by the little fluff ball I held in my hands that I didn’t notice Mikey standing behind me. “Let’s get the little guy home, shall we?” he was smiling as he wrapped his arm around my back to lead me out of the house.

**
Mikey slowly pushed open the cold front door to the house as Drake began to run around in circles, wrapping his leash around my legs. I reached down to untangle myself and carefully picked him up off the ground. His tiny body was shaking with nervousness as I carried him into the living room. “It’s okay little guy, we’re home now,” I quietly whispered words of reassurance into his ear.

“Mikey, can you unhook the leash from his collar?” I asked him, not wanting to scare Drake by removing a hand from around him.

“No problem,” he quickly removed the little silver hook. “I’m going to put his bed in the corner over here,” he pointed to the back corner near the couch as he placed the bed on the ground and disappeared into the kitchen.

I sat down on the couch, placing Drake comfortably on my lap. Luckily for us, Drake is a rescue dog, so he’s already been potty trained and had all his shots. It’s kind of like the best of both worlds, you know? It’s like when your friend has a really cute dog and you’re glad you don’t have to do the work, except the dog is yours.

I slowly placed my feet on the ground as I stood up. “I’m going to put you down in your bed, okay baby? Mama’s going to go get your food, I’m sure you’re hungry,” I rubbed his head as I placed him on the fluffy, overstuffed dog bed.

“How do you feel about watching a movie?” Mikey was staring at me, smiling with his eyes as he placed the food and water bowls on a little plastic mat near the dog bed.

“What movie?” I pulled him over the couch as I sat back down, pulling my knees up close to my chest.

“Are you cold?” he asked, smiling as wrapped his arms around me, pulling me closer to his side.

“A little,” I smiled back up at him, laying my head on his shoulder.

I felt safe, sitting there wrapped up in his arms. His shoulder was warm and welcoming, making the couch seem like a suitable place to sleep for once. “I love you, Lexi,” he lightly kissed the top of my head. “I love you, too, Mikey,” I let myself cuddle up in his arms as my eyes started to fill with sleep.

“Wake up love birds!” Gerard was yelling as he shook my shoulders. “Here, read this, pronto,” he handed me a small slip of white paper.

Lexi, you are not funny. Do not joke about how amazing my body is, and how hot Ray’s hair is. We will come after you with girl eating vampires and you will be forced to surrender your pen. Love, Gerard.

“Oh, girl eating vampires, that’s how we’re going to place this game?” I teased him.

“Oh, you know it. I suggest you prepare yourself,” he was laughing as he took a seat on the couch next to me.

“Mikey, dude, wake the hell up! We have stuff to do today!” Frank threw a pillow at him from across the room, causing his eyes to fly open as he sat up.

“What’s going on?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“We have that promotional shoot today for the Christmas charity show we’re playing at Maxwell’s on Friday, the 23,” Ray jumped over the back of the couch and sat down besides Mikey.

“Oh, that’s right. Shit, I forgot about that.”

“Yeah, did you talk to Lexi like I asked you to do three days ago?” Gerard teased his brother; it was a pretty usual occurrence with those two.

“Talk to me about what?” I asked, flashing Gerard a confused look.

“Figures,” he lightly hit Mikey on the head. “We’re playing a Christmas concert at Maxwell’s Friday night, and the proceeds are going to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. It’s a pretty small , intimate gig, and we were kind of hoping you’d be willing to open for us and play a couple of your original songs acoustically,” he flashed me a nervous smile.

“You’re fucking kidding, right?” I shot him a defensive stare.

“No, I’m not,” he wasn’t smiling anymore.

“You really want me to open for you guys. No one knows who I am,” why would they want someone who no one’s ever head of to be their opener. Hell, they could get practically anyone to open for them. It just doesn’t make sense why they would choose me.

“We do. And we know you have some pretty serious talent. Why not spread it to the world?” he gave me a reassuring smile.

“Well, if you’re sure about it, I’m in.”

“YES!” Frank was jumping up and down with excitement.

“Frankie, down!” Ray jumped off the couch in an attempt to get Frank to stand still.

“I’m just so happy for you!” he was still jumping, despite Ray’s best efforts to get him to stop.

“I know you’re happy, but seriously, chill the fuck out,” Ray’s hand was on top of Frank’s head, keeping him from jumping.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll go get ready for the photo shoot.”

The house was in complete hysterics for the next few hours as we all tried to get ready sharing only two bathrooms. Gerard was running back and forth between his room and Mikey’s room asking me for make-up advice, Frank kept bugging me about what to wear, and Ray spent the majority of his time trying to figure out what to do with his fro for the day. Mikey straightened his hair, as usual, but I left mine natural, allowing the blonde waves to surround my face.

The large photography lights were set up barely a foot from one another and made the studio hot and stuffy. I could tell the guys were enjoying themselves moving from position to position as the photographer snapped away. “Great job,” she kept repeating as pressed the tiny button atop her camera. Her words were short and sharp, reminiscent of an aged Russian accent.

“Her, over there. That is the girl that is opening for you?” she questioned Gerard.

“Yes, that’s her.”

“You, over there in pink striped top. Come over here,” she pointed at me as she spoke, her words full of anger and distrust. Where did they find this photographer? I thought to myself. I think someone gave her an extra dose of bitch this morning. “Get in the picture,” she snapped as she stared at my face. “Stand there in the middle, between that one with the puffy hair and the short one.”

“Excuse me, ma’am, but they have names. Ray and Frank,” I politely informed her that contrary to her personal beliefs, the guys do in fact have names, and are actually people that deserve a little respect.

“That’s nice, I don’t care,” she responded with disgust. “Smile!” she commanded.

I took my place between Ray and Frank and plastered a smile across my agitated face and she took the photograph.

“Good, now I want you to stare and look serious. 3-2-1,” she snapped another picture.

She continued to boss us around like we’re some kind of animals for the next several hours, constantly repositioning us and commanding us to give her that “perfect” face. I can totally understand why most artists hate doing photo shoots now, the photographers are rude, bossy, and could honestly give two shits about you.

“That is enough!” she yelled. “We are done here.”

“Thank God,” Mikey whispered in my ear as wrapped his arm around my back, pulling me into a side hug. “Sorry about all that, I know it’s not the most exciting thing in the world.”

“It’s alright. I just feel bad for whoever that crazy ass lady lives with,” I laughed.

“I’m going to log in to the band’s Twitter and post a picture from the set today for the fans, is everyone cool with that?” like Gerard really needed approval for that, though, I suppose it’s nice that he asked.

“Yeah, yeah! Do it!” Frank was jumping up and down again, I shot him nasty glare.

“What?” he asked, flashing me his puppy dog face.

“You have got to learn how to calm down, honestly,” I laughed. “Maybe we should stop letting you have sugar.”

“No, no don’t do that! I’ll - ” Frank was cut off by Gerard’s yelling. “FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!” he was almost at the point of screaming.

“Gerard, dude, what’s the problem?” Ray asked him.

“I uploaded the wrong fucking picture dude,” he snapped.

“What one did you send? I’m sure it’s not that bad,” Ray smiled slightly, attempting to calm him down. He stood there, waiting for Gerard to answer, but Gerard just kept staring at me, eyes full of shock, confusion, and apologies.