One Shots

"Rachael, it's time to get up." Emily gently nudged her sleeping friend.

"No," she mumbled in response.

"Yes." The pillow was unceremoniously snatched from under Rachael's head. "The set you're covering starts in an hour."

"Oh crap!" The young red head quickly leaped from her laying position on the backseat of the van and scrambled around to find some clean clothes. Emily stood guard outside the door as she slipped on some semi-clean shorts and a wrinkled t-shirt.

"Thanks for waking me." Rachael emerged from the tour van and pulled her long hair back with a rubber band.

"No problem," she smiled and gave her a cold bottle of water. "Today you're shooting My Chemical Romance."

"Sweet," Rachael grinned. Besides being a huge fan of My Chem, she had also taken photos of the band for Alternative Press and other shoots before. She had become rather good friends with the group and spent time with them whenever they happened to be in the same city together.

"Where are they?" she asked as she gathered her camera.

"They're on Main Stage Left," Emily read from her schedule.

"Are you serious?" Rachael groaned. "That's all the way on the other side of the venue!"

"Well you better get started," she laughed as Rachael started her journey, grumbling along the way.

She walked through the rest of the small vans and then through the more expensive tour buses. Must be nice, Rachael thought. She was envious, but she knew the bands who occupied those buses deserved them. She's seen how hard it is to make it in the music industry, working in it herself.

Rachael finally entered the venue grounds and made her way through the crowds of kids clad in various band shirts. She could already feel the sweat form on her brow from the Atlanta heat. She pushed her way through the crowd and made it backstage with ten minutes to spare.

"Sorry I'm late Joe," she told her co-worker. "I woke up late."

"It's fine," he dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "You're just in time to get a few shots before their set."

"Okay, cool." Rachael took her camera out of its case and headed farther backstage where the band was waiting to go on.

"Hey guys," she smiled to the familiar group of guys.

"Rachael!" Bob embraced her. "I didn't know you were on Warped."

"Yeah, I'm working for AP," she explained. "And I'm riding in a van with my friend's band. It's their first time on the Warped Tour."

"Well it's good to see you again," Gerard spoke up. Rachael only smiled and began taking pictures as the band started warming up. As Gerard performed his vocal exercises and the other guys pumped themselves up for the set, Frank just quietly stretched his limbs away from the rest of the group.

Rachael had heard about his separation from his fiancé, Jamia. She wasn't sure exactly what caused the break up seven months ago, having heard numerous rumors, from his infidelity to Jamia's turn to homosexuality, but Rachael never believed the rumors she heard. They were usually wrong. She silently took a few shots of Frank's gloomy form before they headed on stage.

When the crowd started cheering, Frank's expressionless face turned into one of pure joy and excitement. Any bystander could tell this is what he lived for, what every guy on that stage lived for.

Rachael stood at the side of the stage, getting great shots of all the guys and even some "Frerard" moments, as the fans so adoringly called them. Seeing Frank so happy after witnessing his somber mood earlier caused a wide smile to form on Rachael's face. She had always seemed more in tune with Frank than any of the others and to see him so down broke her heart.

As the guys started "Cemetery Drive," Rachael made her way down to the pit that the crowd had formed to get in a few shots and have some fun of her own.

"You guys were awesome!" she exclaimed once she had finally made her way backstage.

"I see you had fun," Mikey grinned at her disheveled appearance.

"Yeah," she grinned. "It was crazy out there."

"Well we're going back to the bus to cool off," Gerard said, slinging a towel around his neck. "D'you want to come by later?"

"We're leaving tonight to go to the next venue," she frowned.

"You can stay the night with us," she heard Frank speak for the first time that day. "We have plenty of room."

"I wouldn't want to be a bother."

"Oh shut up and say you'll come," Bob rolled his eyes.

"Fine," she chuckled. "I'll come by around nine."

"Great! See you then," Frank gave her that dazzling smile of his and waved goodbye. He had done a complete one-eighty since before their set. His down-trodden demeanor from earlier was replaced with one of happiness. Rachael just dismissed it as adrenaline from playing and headed back into the venue to check out some other bands.

*******

"Are you sure it's okay for me to stay?" Rachael asked once Mikey had opened the door to their tour bus.

"We wouldn't have asked you to come if it wasn't," he rolled her eyes at her worrying. "Now come on. We're in the middle of a game."

Rachael followed his lanky figure into the living area where Bob and Ray were in fierce competition in front of the television screen mounted in the corner. Gerard was sitting at the small table immersed in a drawing and Frank was no where to be found.

"What are you working on?" Rachael asked as she sat opposite Gerard.

"My comic book," He replied without looking up. Rachael sat observing her surroundings as Gerard concentrated on his current drawing. The bus was a million times nicer than the van she had been sleeping in for the past few weeks. She was stuck sleeping with four smelly guys in the confined space of the back seats. Needless to say they were thrilled that she wouldn't be staying with them tonight.

"You know," Gerard put his pencil down and looked across the table, "it's good seeing you again Rachael."

"It's good seeing you too Gerard," she smiled.

"So I'm assuming you heard about Frank and Jamia?"

"Yeah, it's terrible. I thought they'd always be together," she frowned. "What happened exactly? I mean, I've heard a million different rumors, but I doubt any of them are true."

"He won't talk to us about it," he shrugged. "Today's the first day he's actually been a bit happy. Lately he's just been moping around, except while he's on stage, of course."

"Really?" Rachael raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Gerard looked nervously down at his sketchbook. "We were hoping that you would talk to him."

"Why me?"

"Because we've tried everything to get him to talk, but he won't and we think he was happy because you're here."

"That's crazy," she shook her head.

"Rachael," Gerard sighed. "You and Frank understand each other. I thought that if you tried to talk to him he would actually respond."

"And what if he doesn't?"

"All we ask is that you try," Mikey joined the conversation. "We've tried everything we could think of. Besides, you're a girl."

"Great observation Mikey," she rolled her eyes.

"It's like, programmed into your genes or something. You just know how to talk to people."

By this time Bob and Ray had paused their game and looked hopefully at Rachael. What could she possibly do that they can't? She barely even knows Frank! Sure, she considers him a friend, but not a very close one. The most in depth conversation they've ever had was about which Smashing Pumpkins album was the best. They've never talked about anything personal.

"I don't think I can," Rachael furrowed her brows. "I mean, I don't know much about him. If he won't talk to you guys, his best friends, why in the world would he want to talk to me?"

"Rachael," Gerard ran his hands across his pale face, "just please try."

She looked around at all five guys to find pleading, hopeful expressions masking their faces. Finally she sighed. "Fine. Where is he?"

"You'll do it?" Bob bounced giddily.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Now tell me where he is before I lose the nerve."

"He's in the back," Mikey answered her question. She thanked him and took a deep breath before heading to the back where she found Frank writing in a small notebook.

"Hey Rachael," Frank smiled as she sat next to him. "When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago," she smiled back. "Are you working on new songs?"

"Yeah, for my other band," he nodded.

"LeatherMouth, right?"

"You've heard of it?" he seemed excited.

"Mhm," she grinned at his child-like excitement. "I really like the couple songs I've heard. It has a really raw, punk sound to it."

"Thanks," his grin widened. "I'm glad you're here. It's nice to talk to someone other than the guys."

"I bet," she said. "Frank, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he put down the pen he was holding.

"What happened?" he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I mean, with Jamia?"

"Oh," he looked down. "We split."

"I know that," she said. "But what really happened? The guys are worried about you Frank."

"Well they don't need to be. I'm fine."

"Obviously you're not."

"How the hell would you know if I'm fine or not?" he raised his voice and Rachael flinched at the sound.

"I know you well enough to tell when something's wrong," she spoke softly in fear of him yelling again. "You're not yourself. What happened to the happy Frank I used to know?"

Frank was silent for a while, thinking things over before he spoke. "I couldn't be there for her."

"For Jamia?"

"I wasn't there when she needed me," he nodded. "She was upset and I couldn't be there for her."

"Frank," she placed her hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "It's not your fault. Jamia knew that you wouldn't always be with her because of the band."

"It just got too hard," he sighed. "We couldn't handle it."

"I'm so sorry Frank," Rachael embraced him. He relaxed in her arms and exhaled deeply.

"I've been with her practically since high school," he whispered. "I don't even know what to do now."

"There's only one thing you can do," Rachael rubbed his back comfortingly. "You just have to move on."

"You know," he began once he had pulled away, "you're the only person I've talked to about this. I thought that if I just ignored it, it would all go away and I'd get over it faster."

"But it didn't," Rachael said knowingly.

"No," he shook his head. "I've gotten over it mostly, but talking about it with you has helped a lot."

"Why didn't you talk to the guys about it?"

"I did'nt want to bother them with it. They have their own lives to balance while we're on the road."

"Frank they're your best friends," Rachael said. "They've been really worried about you."

"I figured as much," he sighed. "I should probably go talk to them."

"I think that'd be wise," Rachael smiled and stood with him.

"Thanks Rachael," Frank wrapped his arms around her once more. She breathed in the familiar smell of cigarette smoke mixed with his cologne. The scent was comforting to her.

"Any time Frank." He released her with one last grin and headed to the front of the bus toward the dim chatter of the rest of the group.

Rachael collapsed back into the couch and pulled her knees to her chest, running her fingers through her hair. Today had turned out to be a very tiring one. As she sat listening to the soft murmur of the guys' voices she felt her eyelids grow heavy until she could no longer keep them open.

"Rachael?" Frank's soft voice woke her.

"Yeah?" her voice cracked from sleep. She had been moved into a bunk and from the smell of the pillow it was Frank's. She opened her eyes to see Frank laying beside her.

"Do you want to get some coffee with me at the next stop?" he asked timidly, a blush creeping to his cheeks.

"I'd love to," she replied. A broad smile graced his face as he moved closer to put his arm around her. Rachael turned on her side so that they were facing each other.

"I think this will be one of the best tours yet," Frank whispered.

"Definitely," Rachael smiled as he leaned toward her. For that moment Rachael was perfectly content. This will be one great summer, she thought as Frank's lips lightly grazed hers.