I Believe We're The Enemy

Ray’s P.O.V.

I know I shouldn’t stay out in the desert for too long, but I don’t want to go inside and have to face the boys now. Not to mention Ginny. I love her so much, and I thought the feeling was mutual, but if she could tell Frank her feelings so easily, but she didn’t feel the same way about me, then I guess I was wrong. I wonder if she would love me if I tole her how I feel, but I’m so afraid. For all I know, she could positively abhor me.

“Ray?” I jump as Frank’s tiny hand touches my shoulder. “You need to come in now. You shouldn’t stay out here when it’s so hot.”

“I’m not going in,” I snap, refusing to look at him. He sighs.

“Ray, Ginny made a mistake. She loves you a lot. Sure, I love her too, but not like that. She’s all yours,” Frank finishes, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me to my feet. Even though he’s only trying to cheer me up, his words only bring another pang of heartache to me.

“No, she isn’t. She likes you. Otherwise she wouldn’t have said that,” I murmur, jerking away from him.

“Come on. We talked to her. You guys just need to make up and be a fucking couple already,” he says, obviously impatient with me.

“A fucking couple?”

“You know what I mean! Now come on!” he yells this time catching me unaware and pulling me to standing. I follow him hesitantly, knowing that resistance will be pointless and that if I stay out in the desert much longer I’ll be burned to a crisp.

A quick glance into the back room reveals that Ginny isn’t as ready for this confrontation as Frank had implied. She’s fighting for all she’s worth to escape to the back porch, but Gerard and Mikey have a firm grip on her, keeping her from leaving the room, while Sun Beam stands off to the side tensely, ready to help if she’s needed. My heart skips a beat when I see how amazing Ginny looks. Her hair is swept up into a loose bun on top of her head, a few loopy strands of silken bronze hanging down around her neck. Her clothes look comfortable but attractive, carefully accentuating the best parts of her figure. Her face is clear of the normal desert grime, but underneath her glowing teal-green eyes, tear tracks shimmer on her tanned cheeks. As soon as she sees me something new takes over her face and she rips away from the brothers, catching them by surprise as she changes direction. Next thing I know she crashes into my body, her arms wrapping around my waist as she knocks me over, desperate to be close to me. I push her off gently, sitting up as slowly as I can, but she leaps onto my lap, curling up into a ball with her face buried in my neck. Sighing with resignation, I push my face into her fair, feeling undesirable tears leaking from my eyes.

“Ray, I... I’m sorry,” she gasps, clutching my shirt with her skinny fingers. “I didn’t mean to hurt you feelings... I-”

“It’s okay,” I interrupt, so desperately glad to have her back in my arms that I no longer doubt her honesty. “It’s okay.”

“Well, that was easier than I expected,” Gerard says with satisfaction. “Now, to avoid any further confusion, you two love each other--even if you won’t admit it--and Frank and Sun Beam are both out of the picture. Got it?” I think about answering with a sharp retort, but Gee’s glare keeps me from responding. I do love Ginny, but I still don’t know if she feels the same.

I stand up carefully and help GInny to her feet, leaving an arm around her shoulders to quench the all-consuming need for each other that we’re both experiencing. “You look nice,” I murmur to her, feeling her relax as we slip back into our normal patterns.

“Sun Beam’s work, mostly,” she replies. “And Gee did my hair.” I raise my eyebrows at Sun Beam, shocked that she’s so willing to help Ginny, and she gives me a shy smile before gazing bashfully down at her feet. Ginny grins and leans her head on my shoulder affectionately.

The next week passes in a blur. Sun Beam stays at the diner, and I watch as her unlikely friendship with Ginny grows. I also come to discover a side of Gerard that I’ve never seen before. He promises me again and again that he doesn’t like Ginny, that she’s only a friend, but as his emotions surrounding her escalate I see that she means something more to him. He’s incredibly protective of her, and an unusual sort of affection emerges from him whenever she’s around. Strangely, he acts similarly toward her as he does toward Mikey. Even though I’m curious as to why he’s suddenly developed these feelings for her, I decide not to ask. In the meantime, the boys and I have secretly started to work on a song for Ginny, because we feel that her story ought to be told through music.

One day Ginny walks in on us practicing one of our older songs, and it’s not until I finish an intense, head-banging guitar solo that her presence is noticed. Frank looks up from his own guitar, his fingers still going through the motions of the song on their own, and Gee just smiles at her and keeps singing even as the rest of us fade out. Ginny walks over and sits on the ground next to my chair, pulling her knees up to her chest and leaning her head on my thigh. “Play me a song?” she suggests shyly, looking up at Gerard with hope in her gaze.

We all look around at each other, meeting one another’s eyes, and instantly we know which song to play. Frank, Mikey, and I start right away, but Frank and I fade out as Gee starts to sing, giving Mikey a background solo.

”To unexplain the unforgivable
Drain all the blood and give the kids a show
By streetlight this dark night
No seance down below
There’s things that I have done
You never, should never know

And without you is how I disappear
And live my life alone
Forever now...”

We keep going until the song is done, Gerard swishing his hair erratically along to the beat as he wails. He must’ve sang the song to Ginny before, because she recognizes it the moment the chorus starts, and she starts to hum along. By the time we finish Sun Beam is standing in the doorway, grinning with enjoyment as the last few notes fade away. Ginny, elated, has her eyes firmly closed, and as my fingers leave the guitar she reaches up gently to take my hand.

“You really like music, don’t you?” I ask softly. She nods.

We disassemble and continue to go on about our day. Ginny insists on plucking a few strings on my guitar, and when I press a gentle kiss to her forehead she smiles blissfully. “You’re amazing, Ray,” she whispers into my ear. “You know that, right?”

I feel a blush creeping into my cheeks as she leans her head on my chest and tilts her face upwards to kiss my neck softly. I fight the urge to let it all out, to scream “I love you,” and instead I wrap my arms around her fragile body and pull her closer.

“Ginny, you are beautiful and dazzling and awesome and lovely and you make me feel like I’m on fire whenever I’m with you. I won’t ever let you go, got it?” She nods, sighing into my shirt.

Gerard, who’s been assigned to put Frank and Mikey’s instruments away, looks over at us and I see a flash of protectiveness ignite behind his hazel gaze, but he doesn’t say anything. I raise my eyebrows at him quizzically and he looks away, embarrassed.

We eat lunch together at one of the surprisingly cozy booths, all six of us squeezed into a seat meant to fit four. Ginny sits between Gerard and I, her head leaned on my shoulder while her legs are curled up half on Gee’s lap. He fiddles sleepily with the laces of her worn black combat boots, untying and retying them again and again in a way that seems to soothe Ginny. Whereas she seems excited and in a state of elation around me, Gerard relaxes her in a way that I can’t quite figure out. I decide to ask him what’s going on between them later, because I want to know.

That night after Ginny goes to bed I approach Gerard, steering him into a chair away from Frank, Mikey, and Sun Beam. He looks at me with dread in his eyes, obviously aware of the topic I’ve chosen to discuss.

“What’s with you and Ginny these days? You’re always giving me that protective look when I’m with her, and she’s so happy around you. What’s going on?” I ask, meeting his gaze firmly so that he can’t look away. He looks at me for a long moment and then actually starts laughing.

“Blinded my love much, Ray?” he says sarcastically. Confused, I raise one eyebrow at him in questioning.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

He rolls his eyes dramatically. “We’re not in love! She’s not cheating on you! Open your eyes and look around, Jet-Star. I love her because she’s like my sister. I’m her pillar of strength, except for Frankie obviously. I protect her because she’s like my family, and I want her to be as safe and happy as possible.

“Why do need to protect her from me, then?” I ask, still befuddled. He looks away nervously, chewing his bottom lip.

“I’m not gonna hurt her,” I inform him, sighing. “I’m not going to break her heart or destroy her life or get her pregnant or anything, I promise. Yeesh, Gee, you worry so much.”

He looks at the table anxiously. “It’s just... Well, I’m kinda like the leader around here, and I love you guys all so much, I just... I tend to worry,” he mumbles. I lean over the table and hug him gently, feeling him relax as he drops his head onto my shoulder. “I’m sorry I freaked you out. I’ll try to leave you alone.”

“It’s okay,” I reply with a yawn. Gerard tells me in a shockingly paternal way to go get some sleep, his fingers compulsively rearranging my hair, and I oblige, exhausted by the long days now behind me.