Almost Easy

Projekt Revolution: Raleigh, North Carolina.
Before Mindless Self Indulgence’s set – Backstage:

In the backstage area of the Walnut Creek Amphitheater, there existed a small number of open rooms designated as resting areas for the eleven bands currently performing on the Projekt Revolution summer tour. They were not enclosed entirely, as the roof that served as a cover for all of the backstage areas was held up by steel pillars, leaving a good six feet of open air between the roof and walls, but they were separated from the crowds of fans and the parking lot, providing an enjoyable little haven for those band members that chose to use the space to convene, instead of their tour busses. This was a rare treat of sorts, since most of the venues weren’t able to accommodate all of the band members so well when they were backstage, but Gerard Way had found himself rather grateful for this refreshing change of backstage scenery.

Humming an indistinguishable tune under his breath, Gerard walked into one of the larger backstage areas, sweeping his large sunglasses from in front of his eyes and glancing around, looking for a familiar face. Not to his surprise, Frank was seated on the floor a good twenty feet away, keeping company with the four musicians from Mindless Self Indulgence as they sat among some unused amplifiers. Frank could only keep Gerard’s attention for so long, however, as when his eyes landed on Lyn-Z, the bassist of the band and his current girlfriend, a smile grew upon his lips. He walked over, trying to look casual; an image that was ruined only a few moments later.

“Honey!” Frank jumped up from the ground and ran to Gerard, wrapping his thin arms around Gerard's neck and planting a sloppy, wet kiss on his cheek. Gerard groaned and pushed Frank away playfully, pretending to grimace as he wiped his slobber-fied cheek with the back of his sleeve. Lyn-Z shook her head at the both of them, but patted the free place next to her on the floor, motioning for him to sit next to her. Gerard walked over to her, first bending down so he could give her a kiss on the lips before he took his seat.

“What a coincidence! We were just talking 'bout you,” Frank informed Gerard with a sly grin, seating himself beside Jimmy Urine once more, his legs crossed Indian-style beneath him. Gerard frowned, wondering exactly what about him had been the main topic of discussion, though he tried not to instantaneously worry about it. The mysterious twinkle in Frank’s eyes would soon be revealed anyway, if he knew Frank, so why break his head over it? Frank was never good with keeping secrets to himself for long periods of time.

“Oh really?” Gerard asked, feigning surprised as he placed one of his arms around Lyn-Z's shoulders, pulling her body closer to his. Smiling warmly, she reacted by putting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes as the conversation continued. “And what about me were you discussing, exactly?”

“How hot you really look as a chick.” Frank nodded in excitement, beaming brightly. Only momentarily embarrassed, Gerard chuckled and shook his head, his hand rubbing soft circles on Lyn-Z's arm as she started to fall asleep in his. Jimmy snorted and looked away, crossing his arms in front of his chest and sticking his nose up in the air.

“But Urine doesn't believe it!” Frank scowled, pouting a little and focusing his eyes on a small fissure in the cement floor. Gerard rolled his eyes halfheartedly and shook his head before turning his attention back to Lyn-Z, shaking her softly in an effort to keep her awake. He was too late; obviously feeling comfortable, she’d gone ahead and fallen asleep in his arms; she was probably worn-out from the constant touring.

“Oh, please. Everyone knows I'm the pretty one here.” Jimmy smirked, sharing a meaningful glance with his guitarist, Steve Righ?, who looked pretty tired himself. In preparation for the band’s set, his hair was already rather spiked up, just like Jimmy's—who did it first thing in the morning and took at least a whole hour, according to Lyn-Z—but he looked more as though he was ready to traipse on back to the band’s bus and go to sleep, rather than go on stage.

“You're also the ugliest guy here,” Steve added with a yawn, causing Jimmy to giggle and hit him playfully on the arm.

“I looked pretty hot as a chick, though...” Gerard said defensively, shooting a playful glare to Frank so he wouldn’t say anything against it.

“Oh, totally. I would date Gerard,” Frank said, holding up his arms in front of him as he looked at the lead singer of his band, who was laughing, albeit uncomfortably.

“Too bad. Find someone else, I'm taken.” Gerard smirked before he shot a loving look at the sleeping Lyn-Z in his arms. Jimmy pretended to throw up, pointing a finger down his throat, but as soon as Gerard’s suddenly exasperated face was no longer looking at him…he allowed for a very small smile to cross his lips. He made fun of the happy couple enough, he knew, but he was still happy to know that Lyn-Z had finally found someone who loved her. Even though he had to wonder why she seemed to find herself so attracted to men who sometimes liked to don dresses…

“So…why don't you dress up in drag once in a while, then?” Jimmy asked suddenly, curious to hear Gerard's answer. “I'm sure the fans would love that.” He smirked as he imagined Gerard as a chick. Aw, shit, he thought to himself. He didn’t look half bad…

“And encourage them even more to write those slash stories about me and Frank?” Gerard raised an incredulous eyebrow at Jimmy, unwilling to wonder why the other man looked as though he was daydreaming, all of the sudden.

“MSI – thirty minutes before stage!” one of the techs called loudly, walking in the room. Instantly, Kitty shot up from the amp that she’d been sitting atop of; clearly, she had dozed off just like Lyn-Z as the conversation turned over to the subject of men in drag. Gerard smiled and shook his girlfriend softly, trying to wake her up as gently as he could.

Mindless Self Indulgence’s set – Revolution stage:

Gerard watched the show from the sideline, just like he always did, with Worm standing next to him, acting as his bodyguard. Obviously, having the rather large man standing next to him just pulled more attention his way, but he didn’t care. His eyes were fixated on Lyn-Z, who was playing her bass with a grin on her face.

In the middle of the song, she found herself placing the instrument on the floor and running towards the barrier, jumping off the stage and landing upon the many outstretched hands that had suddenly appeared to support her. Several fans started screaming, trying not to be crushed by the others who surged forward, trying to get close to her. Gerard had winced when she first made the jump, as he always did (no matter how many times she did such things without receiving any injuries, he still worried) but now, relieved she’d made it, he only had a smile to offer as he watched her trying to walk over the crowd. She failed miserably, unfortunately, falling and suddenly disappearing out of sight. Jimmy, on the other hand, continued to jump, prance, scream, and sing as high as he could without missing a note, grinning with that familiar, rather mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

Gerard tried to blow a bubble with his gum, but realized that he’d been chewing it too long; it had lost its elasticity. Only slightly dejected, he resorted to tapping the floor with his booted foot, bobbing his head to the music while chewing. His sunglasses were safely shielding his eyes from the sun (something he still hated, but started to get used to after realizing that he just couldn't escape it) as he—somewhat nervously—wondered where his girlfriend was.

“Hey guys! Have you…have you seen my bassist?” Jimmy called forlornly after the song, cupping a hand over his eyes and squinting in the bright light of the sun. “She's about this tall...” He held up his hand above his head, showing how tall she was, causing the crowd to laugh and cheer. He pouted when Lyn-Z didn't show up at the stage, and stamped his foot on the floor as though he was a stubborn child just denied some sweets.

"Lyn-Z! Stop looking for leprechauns and Guinness, and get the fuck back up here!" Jimmy yelled, though his words were in vain; even as he was speaking the last few words, Lyn-Z was finally climbing back over the barrier with a huge grin on her face, laughing, adjusting her rumpled skirt, and ignoring the mockingly disapproving look that Jimmy shot towards her.

“Oi! Bassists these days…” he muttered in the microphone while shaking his head. Gerard laughed when he caught Lyn-Z winking at him as she took a sip from her water bottle and prepared herself for the next song. Most of the fans didn’t seem to notice…but Jimmy certainly did.

Before then, he hadn’t even realized that Gerard was there, watching the set from the sidelines, his eyes were only for Lyn-Z. It was intriguing, the amount of dedication he’d shown to the bassist thus far, Jimmy had to admit it…and just then, trying to be discreet as he set about glancing between the two lovers, he was stuck with a sudden inspiration. The conversation he’d had with Frank earlier on in the day was echoing through his ears, and before he even realized it, a plan was forming itself in his mind. Perhaps, he thought, this could be a bit of a test for Gerard…

After Mindless Self Indulgence’s set – Backstage:

“Next time, I won't be saving you from the killer leprechauns, Lyn-Z. Just so you know…” Jimmy Urine sighed, an air of forged haughtiness about him as he glanced around at his bassist, who was walking next to him as they walked away from the stage and made their way to the backstage safe haven. They’d already managed to make it back to the main area when, trying to be stealthy, but failing epically, Gerard snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to his body as she let out a giggle. Grinning, he gently kissed her neck while Jimmy sat down on the area of the floor they had occupied earlier.

Gerard grinned mischievously and pulled the woman onto his lap as he sat down on the floor, leaning back against the brick wall. Jimmy reached behind him and grabbed one of the towels that he’d before had the forethought to bring from his bus and toss over a nearby guardrail, using it to wipe his face clean before hanging it over his shoulders. Breathing deeply, he threw his head back and tried to steady himself; the adrenaline was still going through his whole body. Lyn-Z was starting to look a little worse for wear—her pigtails had come loose and she was, of course, covered in sweat from her onstage (and offstage) escapades, but Gerard didn’t mind. He was used to it, being quite accustomed to his own ragged self after stepping away from a stage.

“Hey…let's make a bet.”

Out of the blue Jimmy’s voice rang out, a perceivable mix of excitement and impish delight. Surprised, Gerard actually took his eyes away from the woman in his arms.

“A bet?” Gerard confirmed, raising an eyebrow at the spiky-haired lead singer. Jimmy tore his gaze away from the apparently fascinating rusted spot on the roof and focused his eyes on Gerard, who appeared both confused and suspicious.

“Yeah, and you better join in on it, or I'll...er…” Jimmy trailed off, pressing his lips together and waving his finger at the other man, unable to continue with his train of thought due to a lack of something bad enough to threaten with.

“You'll what?” Gerard asked with an amused smirk.

“Or…or I’ll paint your fucking tour bus pink, that's what!” Jimmy suddenly snickered, glaring slightly at Gerard, who rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the woman he held. She was being oddly silent, her head resting itself comfortably upon his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his neck. He wasn’t sure if she was sleeping or not, but was unwilling to find out; she needed her rest, he was sure.

“I dare you to dress up in drag!” Jimmy giggled. Gerard’s attention was immediately caught once again.

“Wait...what?” Gerard chuckled nervously, a small blush beginning to take over his normally pallid cheeks. For a brief moment, he clung to the hope that Jimmy was only joking…but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he probably wasn’t.

“I…no, not going to happen. I’m not going to dress in drag,” he sighed, causing Jimmy to shake his head in disappointment. Jimmy got to his feet once again, scratching the top of his head and mumbling something to himself that Gerard could have sworn sounded a bit like, “Damn it, where did I leave that pink paint?”

“Oh jeez…why are you suddenly so obsessed with me in drag, anyway?” asked Gerard with a frown.

“Oh, come on! Don't think the fans aren't interested in it, too. Ever since you mentioned it in that interview, they’ve loved the idea, and you know it.” Placing his hands on his hips and looking quite pleased with himself, Jimmy stated his case. “Besides, you said it yourself earlier—you looked hot as a chick. So why not show it off?” Jimmy continued, pressing his lips together and pretending to mope.

“Dude, seriously, stop reading my Wikipedia page. That interview was years ago, at least…” said Gerard defensively. “And…well, to be completely honest, I was probably a little drunk when I said it…” he added in a low mumble. “Besides, I dressed up in drag, while I was in college, which wasn’t that recent, in case you missed that little detail,” he pointed out quickly, his eyes flashing back to Lyn-Z, hoping that she was really asleep. He smiled, brushing some of her long black hair out of her eyes while she slept. Her breathing, in a way, calmed him down slightly; it always had that effect on him. Jimmy sighed and sat back down on the floor, pouting and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“How is it that you can wear a massive amount of make-up to go on stage, to the point at which you look even more feminine than our little Lyn-Z here, but can't dress up in drag just for us?” asked Jimmy forlornly. Gerard shrugged, avoiding Jimmy's eyes. He never really thought about it like that…

“Hey there, sexy beast…” He jumped when another voice joined in the conversation, though soon was able to recognize Frank’s voice next to his ear as a pair of arms found their way wrapped around his neck. It was made a little difficult, since Lyn-Z was there as well, but Frank managed. Gerard smiled a little and shook his head when Frank placed a kiss on his cheek. Laughing, Gerard turned slightly and planted a great, slobbery kiss right on Frank’s cheek, as well. Both of the guys chose to ignore the rather strange look that Jimmy gave them.

“Frank, do you think Gerard should dress up in drag tonight?” Jimmy asked hopefully. Frank frowned and looked at Gerard, a smirk playing on his lips before he gave him another peck on the cheek, giggling.

“Now that I would enjoy!” Frank admitted wholeheartedly. Gerard sighed and rolled his eyes, yawning a little. Behind him, he could hear Julien-K playing and working the crowd; it pumped him up slightly, knowing that he only had a couple of more hours until he and his band went on stage to give their best, once more.

“Of course you would,” Gerard muttered, perhaps a little annoyed by the fact that they just kept talking about it.

“A dare then!” said Jimmy cheerily. Frank frowned, unaware of what Jimmy was referring to. Gerard rolled his eyes and shrugged, not really caring that Jimmy had a rather mischievous smile playing on his lips.

At this particular moment, Frank started to realize that this might get interesting if he kept his attention focused on this. Choosing to sit down in the middle, just between both singers equally, Frank flashed them both an innocent smile and began listening intently.

“I dare you!” Jimmy smiled slyly at Gerard. “Oh yeah, I have it now. I dare you not touch or even talk to Lyn-Z…er…for a grand total of three days!”

He bit his lip, trying not to let out a small (girly, but still his trademark) giggle when he bared witness to Gerard's reaction. The singer’s mouth was dropped open, his eyes resembling quarters in their roundness.

“What…you…excuse me?” Gerard stuttered, looking at Lyn-Z and then forcing his attention back at Jimmy several times, blinking and shaking his head as he thought (or perhaps hoped) he had misheard him.

“Oh, you know it.” Jimmy smirked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking more awake now than he did before. He appeared very pleased with himself.

“And what if he fails to do so?” Frank asked, breaking the silence when curiosity took over his remaining senses. Gerard groaned, as he already knew the answer to the question. Jimmy seemed to think about it for a while, placing his hand on his chin as he tried to create an illusion of stroking a nonexistent beard.

“Then...he has to dress up in drag! But if he does somehow manage it…which is very unlikely...I'll do it,” Jimmy said, smirking as he stretched his arms and placed them behind his neck.

“Please, like you don't already?” Gerard rolled his eyes, causing Frank to giggle slightly. Jimmy chuckled himself, and yawned, realizing that the adrenaline in his body was finally going away, leaving him restless and rather tired, to a point where he could fall asleep on the spot.

“You in, or not?” Jimmy asked, stifling a yawn as he looked at Lyn-Z sleeping in Gerard's arms. What she didn't know couldn’t hurt her. Right? Gerard sighed and let his shoulders hang, nodding and giving Lyn-Z a kiss on the top of her head, softly whispering a quiet, “I love you,” in her hair, a small detail that caused both Frank and Jimmy to smile at him.

Gerard wanted to say no, to tell Jimmy to forget about it and just put the whole thing out of his mind. After all…three days without even the slightest bit of affection, physical or otherwise, being shown towards the woman he loved? It was almost unthinkable! But still…there was another part of him that held a great sense of pride, and the thought of being taken down a peg didn’t much appeal to him, either. Besides, he tried to reason with himself, if he didn’t agree to this here and now, Jimmy might just attack him when he least expected it, dress him in drag, and force him on stage anyway. There was no winning, in this situation. He sighed.

“When does this whole thing start?” Gerard asked tentatively, hoping it wouldn't be at that moment because he would have therefore already lost.

“Tomorrow,” said Jimmy happily. “Oh, and one more thing. You cannot, under any circumstances, tell Lyn-Z about this! Not even through a note, or anything else you might think of!” he warned, standing up and stretching his arms. Winking, he walked out of the room, leaving Frank, Gerard and Lyn-Z (who was still sleeping and unaware of what had just happened) alone with their thoughts.

Day One:

After the concert that night, Gerard had gone to bed almost immediately; at least, an hour after the busses had left, off in the direction of the next venue. When he woke up, he realized that it was still dark outside; there were no windows in the bunking area of his band’s bus, but his watch could tell him that much. The singer sighed and sat up in his bunk, rubbing the back of his neck and then running his fingers through his shaggy black hair (which would be in need of a new dye job, soon).

He swung his legs over the side of the bunk and placed his elbows on his knees, rubbing his face with his hands before he stood up from the lowest bunk and stretched, trying to get rid of the kinks that had formed in his joints overnight. He yawned again and trudged toward the main area of the tour bus to prepare himself a nice cup of hot coffee.

After sitting down on the couch with a cup of coffee in his hands, Gerard realized that today was the first of three days in which he was not allowed to touch or talk to the girl he loved. Damn, this was going to be hard. The bad thing was that Jimmy had forbidden him to let her know in any way what was going on; he basically had to ignore her, and hope that she wouldn’t hate his guts when the three days were up.

“Hon'? What are you doing up this damn early?” Gerard heard Frank's voice in the doorway of the bunking area. He smiled fondly at the term of endearment Frank gave him.

Gerard wasn't all that surprised to see that Frank was dressed in only his black boxers. Even though they had some pretty good air conditioning in their bus, the heat in the vehicle was still unbearable during the night, when it was turned off. The smaller man smiled tiredly and ran his hand through his hair before he sat down on the couch and laid his head down on Gerard's lap, using his legs as a pillow.

The singer looked out the blinded window, not really knowing where else to look, lost in his own thoughts. Just barely, he could see the outlines to several trees, houses and wide open spaces on the way to the next venue. He yawned and looked out to the rising sun, and smiled sadly, realizing that he would have to make sure he didn't touch or talk to Lyn-Z, without making her angry at him and think that he didn't love her anymore.

“Damn you, Urine,” he muttered under his breath before he took another sip from his coffee. Frank looked up from his lap and smiled, as some sort of comfort before he closed his eyes and dozed off. Gerard sighed and threw his head back, thinking about how he would handle this dare...bet...whatever it was at that moment.

The second that the bus stopped at the parking lot of the next venue, Gerard sighed and shook Frank out of his dreams, receiving a groan and almost a slap in his face for waking him up. Or at least, for trying to wake him up.

After poking the guitarist a couple of times in an attempt to get him to move, Gerard gave up and slid out from under him. He went to the bunk area, choosing the same black jeans as he wore almost every day (even though they had some holes in it that shouldn't be there in the first place) and got dressed as quickly as he could. The other band members and their tour manager, Jerry, didn’t even wake up.

The heat outside was almost unbearable, and it didn’t help that he was dressed in all black…even though Lyn-Z had told him plenty of times that it wasn’t such a good idea. Clearly she was the smart one in the relationship, which caused Gerard to smile to himself a little as he thought about the beautiful girl he could call his girlfriend. For now, anyway, unless she truly became angry with him…

Bored and deciding to explore the venue, he found himself in the backstage area of the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater, where the technicians were still putting up everything for the show on the main stage; the Revolution Stage was still being set up on the other side of the grounds. Gerard watched them walk around and make sure every little thing was set up just perfectly. He wondered if anyone else from any of the other bands were awake, but he doubted it.

Gerard sighed, rubbing his fingers through his hair before he chose to walk around again, even though the temperature was already rising slowly. He was sure that around noon, they would be told to stay in their busses until later on in the day, when the heat had gone down a little, excluding the time they needed for their sound checks and performances. As he looked around the parking lot, he saw the different busses from the bands on the tour; Mindless Self Indulgence’s bus was parked just next to My Chemical Romance’s violently orange one.

“Gee! Gee, honey! GEE, I LOVE YOU!” Gerard jumped a little, and it was with moderate shock that he realized Frank was hanging halfway out one of the windows of their bus, probably still dressed in his boxers, as Gerard could see his bare chest. The lead singer’s eyes widened before he held one hand to his forehead and sighed deeply, not understanding how the man could be so hyper and awake at eight in the morning.

“Gerard! Honey! Come back!” Frank yelled out of the window, waving his arms around him as he tried to reach Gerard, who was way out of reach from the small window he was hanging out of. “I love you!”

Gerard rolled his eyes, but eventually just walked onto the bus anyway, almost falling backwards down the steps again as Frank ran to him and wrapped his arms around his neck, pushing his complete weight against Gerard's fragile body. The singer's hand quickly reached for the door frame to support his own body, just to make sure he didn't fall down on his ass.

“I missed you!” Frank said, burying his head in Gerard's chest as the singer struggled to stay on his feet.

“Uh...that's...nice, Frank.” Gerard said, looking down at Frank's head and only seeing a mass of black hair there to greet his eyesight.

The guitarist looked up at Gerard and made eye contact, smiling brightly at the singer before he planted a kiss on his cheek and ran off again. Gerard raised an eyebrow at Frank, who disappeared in the bunking area—a disappearance that was followed by some angry shouts coming from a certain drummer. Gerard chuckled and shook his head, glancing around on the bus and wondering why he had come back to it in the first place.

It was quite a funny sight to see Gerard stand in the middle of the bus with a frown on his face and his hands on his hips, looking around the bus as though he had no idea where he was. Of course, at that moment, Jimmy Urine saw it fit to burst through the door, yelling on the top of his lungs.

“THIS IS SPARTA! Oh, wait...” Jimmy stopped and frowned. “THIS IS...a very messy bus! What do you guys do in here, seriously?”

“Jimmy, for god’s sake!” Lyn-Z ran into the bus right after him, struggling to catch her breath as Jimmy whipped around, excited, and showed her a big grin. Gerard's eyes widened slightly as he saw what she was wearing. Some short jeans with a bikini top to fit with it, only covered up with a light sweater that hung open so she wouldn't have a sunburn. Oh no…

“Lyn-Z, honey! I found Sparta!” Jimmy said, jumping up and down. “It was disguised as a very messy bus!” he quickly added, pointing at the several empty wrappers of Skittles and other candy that littered the floor, mixed with some varying cans of all different kinds of soda.

“That's...good for you, Jimmy,” Lyn-Z said, apparently rather uncomfortable, as Jimmy appeared to be rather hyper and thus began to turn around in circles speedily, though he tried to stay in the same spot. She blushed and looked apologetically at Gerard, who couldn't keep his eyes off her.

“Sorry 'bout him. Steve was dumb enough to give him coffee at this hour in the morning,” the bassist said with a shy smile, trying to avoid staring at the shocked look Gerard was casting in her direction. She felt a blush creep up her cheeks as she realized that his reaction was most likely caused by her choice of clothing.

Gerard nodded, keeping his lips tightly pursed so he wouldn't blurt out anything and so result in losing the dare after just one day. She looked at him strangely for a moment before she shot him a smile, grabbing Jimmy and leading him out of the bus by his arm, winking at Gerard once more before she left.

“Fuck...she looked good,” Gerard muttered the moment Lyn-Z closed the door behind her. Behind him, Frank giggled slightly, clearly enjoying the internal dilemma Gerard was going through.

“Shut up, Iero...don't make me get out that glittery whip I found on stage last night!” Gerard said, threateningly, though the threat rang hollow, as it just caused Frank to giggle some more and wrap his arms around Gerard's waist.

Gerard sighed and hoped that this day would be over quickly. He wasn't sure how long he could try and keep his mouth shut and his hands to himself, if Lyn-Z chose to walk around in her little outfit like that…

Day Two:

“Jimmy! Come back here!” Lyn-Z's voice broke through the laughter in the backstage area once again, and all eyes turned towards the door where, moments later, Little Jimmy Urine ran through…well, it was more liked he bounced into the area on a big, pink, rubbery ball. Gerard raised an eyebrow at the man, who was only wearing a pair of pants that were so ripped up and demolished, it looked more like a very raggedy skirt. Jimmy seemed perfectly content to ignore Lyn-Z’s screams from behind him, as he bounced along on his new toy. A rubber handle attached to the ball allowed for him to keep his grip on it, though he was only holding onto it with one hand, the other waving above his head wildly.

“No! It's my toy, now!” Jimmy yelped, finally coming to a stop, and getting up from the ball. He tried to hold it and therefore protect it in his arms, but his arms were still too short to completely surround it. Lyn-Z, who had followed him into the area, sighed and shook her head, placing her hands on her hips as she started to tap the floor with her foot (which made an odd sound, since she was wearing flip-flops), hoping that Jimmy would get the hint and give the ball back.

“Jimmy...” Lyn-Z started in a slow tone that made shivers run down Gerard's spine. Then, his eyes noticed that she was wearing the same outfit as the day before, making it even harder for him to not to go over to her, grab her, and kiss the living daylights out of her. He bit his lip and sighed inwardly, leaning back against the wall behind him and closing his eyes, trying to get rid of the image of her in that outfit…even though it was rather difficult.

“My pink bouncy ball! Get your own!” Jimmy said, holding the ball to his body as close as he could and sticking out his tongue at his bassist. Lyn-Z sighed and shook her head, looking around the room and shrugging at the other members of different bands (who were all used to Jimmy's strange behavior when hyper or drunk) before she simply gave up and left, probably deciding that it was about time to get dressed for the show anyway.

Gerard sighed in relief and ran his fingers through his jet-black hair, wondering how she was dealing with the fact that he refused to talk with her, touch her, and had just been mainly avoiding her for the last couple of days.

“Is there something going on between you two?” Gerard looked up and made eye contact with a rather confused looking Adam Lazzara. He opened his mouth a couple of times, trying to figure out a lie to say, but eventual gave up and shook his head.

“It’s…it’s stupid. Just a dare Jimmy came up with,” Gerard mumbled, showing his friend a small, half-hearted smile.

“Oh...” Adam nodded, smirking a little. “So, what does Lyn-Z has to do with that little dare?” he couldn’t help but ask. It wasn’t beyond him, noticing that Gerard and the female bassist had seemed less cozy the last couple of days…in fact, he couldn’t remember even seeing them hang around one another at all, which was very odd. They’d been inseparable since the day they first became close, and so it seemed odd to see them not acting in such a way now.

“If you have to know…Jimmy bet me that I couldn't go three days without touching or talking to her. It’s day two, and I'm already having a hard time. Especially when she's dressed like that!” Gerard complained. Adam smiled and shook his head—since he’d heard Jimmy was involved, he was expecting something like that…though he would never have believed that Gerard would actually go along with it. Must be a manly pride thing, he thought to himself.

“What happens if you can't?” Adam asked curiously. This would be interesting, he was sure.

“I have to dress up in drag,” Gerard pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Adam raised an eyebrow at Gerard, wondering why he was so against the idea of drag.

“But…you look good in drag!” Adam argued, knowing so because of the many stories he’d been told. But that was some time ago. Gerard chuckled and nodded.

“As long as he doesn't paint our tour bus pink, I'm fine with it,” the older singer shrugged. Adam laughed a little and shook his head.

“Why does she want back that big pink bouncy ball, anyway?” Adam asked, frowning as he saw Jimmy playing with it at the other side of the room, giggling insanely and clearly enjoying himself as he occasionally threw it up in the air and then caught it again.

“Uh…I think she uses it as chair in the bus. And sometimes practices her backbend on it when she's bored.” Gerard shrugged, trying to ignore Little Jimmy bouncing around in the background. Adam looked over his shoulder with a frown on his face as he wondered what was all happening behind him but had to bite his lip so he wouldn't laugh out loud at the fact that Jimmy was still playing with the big pink bouncy ball.

“But seriously, a pink one? Couldn't she like...get a black one or something?” Adam wondered, raising an eyebrow at Gerard. The lead singer shrugged and looked at the ball.

“It's not girly pink but flashy pink, like, not too pinkish, but then against not too flashy,” Gerard explained. “You try to figure that one out; she explained it better to me, before.” He rolled his eyes with a small, tired smile on his lips.

“All I hope now is that he doesn't take that thing with him on stage,” Gerard said. Jimmy was clearly enjoying himself like he never had before with his new toy. He chuckled in amusement and shook his head at the childish behavior of the man that was, in actuality, eight years older than him.

“Jimmy!” Lyn-Z's voice returned, causing Gerard's heart to jump in his chest. Adam looked between the two and smiled, shaking his head at the fact that Lyn-Z was still unknowing to the little bet between the two lead singers.

“You better give that bouncy ball back to me if you don't want to get hurt!” she threatened, walking over to Jimmy, glaring at him. The spiky-haired lead singer looked up from the pinkish ball and to Lyn-Z, still holding it in his arms to keep it away from her.

“What are you going to do then, huh? Get out your kinky glittery whip?” Jimmy smirked, taking in Lyn-Z’s change of outfit; she had finally traded her (in Gerard's opinion, very sexy) outfit for her traditional skirt, with boots and a red vest. Lyn-Z raised an eyebrow and then placed her hands back on her hips, tapping the floor with her foot.

“Just let the ball go, and you won't get hurt,” she said in a dangerous, low whisper that caused shivers to go down Jimmy's spine—but he still didn't give up, trying to hide the ball behind his back. “And don't you dare laugh, Gerard Arthur Way!” Lyn-Z said suddenly, shooting another, more playful glare at Gerard, who bit his lip so he wouldn’t burst out laughing. He quickly held up his hands in front of himself as though to protect him from the glare and Lyn-Z's empty threat.

Jimmy pouted and shook his head, taking a few steps backwards so he too would be safe from Lyn-Z's glare, but no avail. Gerard placed his hands on the back of his neck, enjoying the interaction between the bassist and singer. Jimmy took the opportunity to put the ball in front of his chest, hugging it like a teddy bear before he tried to run past the woman. Apparently Lyn-Z had expected a move like this, as she decided to put out her foot.

Jimmy, being somewhat clumsy – especially now that he was holding a huge pink bouncy ball – didn't see this and tripped over her foot; with an, “Oomph!” of pain and discomfort, he fell to the floor, the ball bouncing right out of his outstretched arms. Lyn-Z nodded in satisfaction to herself and picked up the ball, throwing it towards Gerard and Adam, who were trying not to laugh out loud at Jimmy's reaction to his falling.

“I don’t have time to put it back on our bus right now—you’d better hope there's nothing wrong with it when I come back!” Lyn-Z said with a small glare at the two other lead singers before she helped Jimmy up from the floor and walked over to the stage, preparing for the show.

Day Three:

Gerard laughed, watching as Frank ran around the offstage area, armed with a glittery whip and smirking, giggling several times, or mostly whenever someone would come near him and his Skittles at the other side of the area. It was like some sort of game; everyone knew how hyper he could get about the Skittles, and all did everything they could to avoid him getting even more hyper.

So now, several members of different bands were standing around Frank, trying to grab the Skittles away from him. Not only so he wouldn't get more hyperactive, but also because they were having weird cravings for the candy ever since Frank had brought them around, claiming that they were his and no one could touch them except him. In retrospect, they all probably could have gone and found a vending machine, but this was much more fun.

The lead singer looked at Jimmy, who was standing behind Frank and almost succeeding in taking over the guitarist. Shaking his head, the lead singer sighed and stood up, deciding he needed some fresh air. Even though it was one of the hottest days of the entire tour, he didn't really care. His mind was busy thinking about Lyn-Z, touching her, kissing her, talking to her…oh, the way she was dressed. It was just getting to be all too much for him. He needed to touch her, and talk with her. He wanted to laugh with her; who cared about that dare, anyway? Besides, he still looked goddamn good in drag, so it wasn't completely a horror...

Gerard walked away from the shaded backstage area, and was hit by the heat immediately. In was early, yet, so the crowds were just beginning to arrive, though they couldn’t see him from the front of the venue anyway, for which he was grateful for. He took a few sips from his water bottle before pouring some of it over his head in an attempt to cool himself, though it seemed as though it evaporated just a few seconds after settling into his hair, anyway. He sighed and chose to walk over to one of the trees beside the asphalt parking lot, hoping that it would be somewhat cooler in the shadow, but he knew as well as anyone that it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway, with this heat.

When he saw that there were no other band members in sight, he sighed in relief, happy for a little time alone (which was a hard thing to find, on this tour). Gerard grabbed his iPod from his back pocket and turned it on, plugging the headphones in his ears. Sighing happily when he heard some of his favorite music blasting in his ears, he sat down and leaned against the tree, settling himself in the cool, green grass.

The singer closed his eyes and began to tap his fingers on his knee to the beat of the music. Sitting in the shadows had a pleasant feeling to it, although some air conditioning or a cold drink could only make it more perfect. Gerard sighed and opened his eyes, searching for his water bottle. He took several sips and closed the bottle again so he wouldn't spill anything.

He leaned back against the tree and smiled happily as he closed his eyes, focusing back on the music. It made sense, then, that he didn't notice Lyn-Z calmly walking up to him, still dressed in the same outfit that had been getting Gerard's head in that gutter for the past three days. She leaned against the tree and crossed her arms in front of her chest, amused by his relaxed stature. Somehow, he’d never struck her as much of a nature kind of guy.

Playing with a small string of her long black hair, she watched Gerard move his fingers, and sometimes his foot, to the music. She wondered what he was listening to. Her eyes focused on him, even though she could only see a small part of his beautiful face; she couldn't help but smile and fall in love with him all over again. Even though…

Lyn-Z sighed and shook her head, growing tired of waiting for him to notice her. Quietly, stealthily, she bent down to his level and used her delicate fingers to grab the headphones out of his ears. She bit her lip as Gerard just kept lip-syncing the song for another couple of seconds before he noticed that there wasn't any music playing. He frowned and grabbed for his iPod, looking at the little screen.

The singer started to look around him frantically on hands and knees after touching his ears and noticing that his headphones were out of his ears. Briefly his mind wondered how that happened until he saw Lyn-Z's foot to his right. He looked up and smiled sweetly at her.

The two made eye contact and Gerard couldn’t help but smirk, then blushing a little as he saw that she was still wearing that, rather sexy in his opinion, outfit. The same outfit that had gotten his head in the clouds for the three days that he had been ignoring her for. He chuckled slightly and stood up, rubbing the back of his neck as she leaned against the tree and smiled at him.

“Oh, good. You’ve noticed I still exist! Now then, are you going to explain to me why you haven't been talking to me for the past three days? Normally you can't shut up,” she joked halfheartedly, looking at Gerard hopefully and praying he would actually answer. Gerard, on the other hand, suddenly looked a little shocked and took a step back. Should break the dare and just tell her everything, knowing very well that would result in him dressing up in drag? Or walk away from her, possibly risking the fact that she would kill him for ignoring her? Decisions, decisions.

Though, the former sounded better at that moment…

He couldn’t take it any longer. Jimmy had been teasing him for the last three days, saying he wouldn’t be able to take it, and he was right; Lyn-Z walking around, wearing just enough clothing to keep her dignity was driving him insane. The sight of her, the scent of her, both overwhelming his senses, and yet not being able to even talk to her was making his whole body crazy. He took a step closer to her; it was like she had been doing it on purpose to get him to give in. His hands slipped round her dainty figure and he placed his palms powerfully against the tree behind her, keeping her in place as his lips captured hers.

Lyn-Z looked shocked for a moment, not expecting him to kiss her like that without saying anything. But after a few seconds, she realized that he was indeed kissing her and just gave in to him, kissing him back.

“Oi! I thought I told you not to touch her for three days! It's only been two days! If you’d waited until midnight, at least, you would have won!” Jimmy had run out of the backstage area in time to see this, holding a glittery whip in his hands that he probably stole from either Frank (who had been running around with it earlier, whipping anyone who was in his way) or from their bus; both were likely scenarios.

Gerard chose to flip him off, not taking his eyes from Lyn-Z's pretty face before pressing his lips firmly on hers once again, feeling her gratefully return the kiss. He sighed contently as her soft fingers twisted themselves into his mane of dyed black hair. His hands pushed away from the tree and found themselves on the small of her back, pulling her ever closer to his black-clad body. He wrapped his arms protectively around her hips, savoring every second of her heavenly soft skin being against the cotton, leather, and denim of his clothing. Her fingers gently pulled at his hair; they were entangled as the singer picked his girlfriend up a few inches off the ground, wanting to be even closer to her; he had missed this…

“Wait, wait…what was Jimmy talking about?” Lyn-Z asked, gasping for air as she pulled back from the kiss, her arms still around Gerard's neck and her hands entangled in his hair.

“I'll tell you later,” Gerard mumbled, pressing their foreheads together before he pulled her in for another kiss. Lyn-Z smiled. Whatever had caused Jimmy to say that, which had obviously made Gerard avoid her for three days, it must have had a good reason to it. She was sure of it.

Afterward:

It was a strange sight to see, for sure. Lyn-Z, Frank, and Jimmy were all gathered around a small door, which was clearly the door leading in to the one bathroom of My Chemical Romance’s tour bus. The three people were crammed into the small space between the bunks and the back room of the bus, each equally hoping that Gerard would soon come out and relieve them from having to stay all cramped together like that.

“I am not coming out!” Gerard's voice rang from behind the door. Jimmy held a hand in front of his mouth to stop himself from letting out a giggle, causing a playful slap to be dealt to his arm by Lyn-Z.

“Come on, Gee! It's not that bad! Besides, you said you looked hot in drag!” Frank argued.

“That was like, two years ago! And I still had long hair, then!”

“You still do, honey, you just have to give it time to grow out more,” Lyn-Z responded, crossing her arms in front of her chest and rolling her eyes. Gerard didn't reply immediately, causing Frank to grin and knock on the door again.

“I'm still not coming out!” Gerard shouted. Lyn-Z had a sudden mental image of him sitting on the toilet in the small bathroom, his arms crossed in front of his chest and only clad in a simple dress that Alicia had given him (since one of their last stops was New Jersey, and Jimmy had convinced her to give it to them…although he had to promise that he wouldn't wear it himself), pouting because he was ‘tricked’ into doing this.

“Come on! You did this to yourself, you know. You could've resisted our pretty, pretty Lyn-Z for three days, but clearly you couldn’t so now you have to dress up in drag,” Jimmy said smugly, throwing his arms in the air since he was starting to get tired of waiting for Gerard to come out of the bathroom. “That was the deal, mutha fucka!”

“Gee, honey, come out! I want to see you,” Frank said, forcing a loving tone and looking at the door like he was deeply infatuated with it. Lyn-Z bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing at his goofy expression.

“Gerard, just come out and we promise we won't take any pictures,” Lyn-Z said soothingly. This was followed by a glare directed towards Jimmy, who was already looking at the little screen of his digital camera, making sure it was set to take pictures. Jimmy looked up from the screen and showed her an almost innocent look, though judging from her annoyed expression, it didn’t trick her in the slightest. He pouted and turned off the camera again, pocketing it and leaning against one of the walls with his arms crossed.

Lyn-Z heard Gerard sigh from inside the bathroom, and shuffled footsteps came closer to the door before it opened and revealed Gerard…who was looking pretty damn fine in a simple black dress (without straps) and with his jet-black hair shaggy and in disarray. A little bit of eyeliner around his hazel eyes completed the look, and even Jimmy's mouth fell open as he saw that Gerard did indeed look hot in drag.

“You shaved your legs for this? How girly are you, really?” Jimmy asked, pointing at Gerard’s freshly shaven legs. Gerard shrugged and averted his eyes down to his bare feet. The spiky-haired lead singer looked at Gerard with one eye half-closed and another one widened slightly. His mouth opened and closed several times, making him resemble a fish gasping for air.

“Damn, and I thought I was girly,” Frank said all of a sudden, breaking the silence in the room. Gerard rolled his eyes and playfully hit Frank on the head. “You still love me for it!” the younger man said in his defense, wrapping his arms around Gerard's rather thin (for a man) waist.

“Damn, you're skinny. Is it the dress or is it you?” Frank asked, looking up at Gerard and then at his arms around his waist. Gerard sighed and shook his head, pushing Frank away from him.

“You look better in that dress than I ever did!” Alicia's voice ran through the air. Gerard jumped up slightly when he noticed that his sister-in-law was standing in the narrow doorway, nodding her head in approval. The singer took a step back, trying to avoid her eyes as she walked towards him and took in his appearance.

“You should keep it. It looks good on you,” Alicia said with a smile, before patting Gerard's shoulder softly and then walking away again. Gerard looked at her retreating form in shock.

“I want my skeleton pajamas back, by the way!” Gerard shouted after her. Alicia didn't turn around, but rather flipped him off over her shoulder, causing her brother-in-law to chuckle slightly and shake his head, muttering something under his breath that no one understood.

“And now, to get you on stage!” Jimmy yelled excitedly.

“Oh no! That wasn't part of the deal!” Gerard said in a small voice, his eyes wide.

“I'm altering it, too bad for you!” Jimmy grabbed Gerard's wrist and pulled him to the other side of the bus and right off of it—he was surprisingly strong. It was still early in the morning, really, so none of the bands were to be found milling about, to the great luck of Gerard, since he didn't feel like explaining it all to the other bands and their members.

He just hoped that there was not a single My Chemical Romance fan in the audience that had already gathered in front of the stage, which was rather unlikely since most of the fans always wanted a good spot in front of the stage; the better they could see him and the better their pictures would be, even if they wouldn’t be on the stage for many hours, yet. Oh god, did he hope that there weren't any girls holding cameras in front of the stage…

Jimmy was still holding his wrist as he marched towards the sideline of the stage, grinning evilly. Some of the crew members looked at them with odd expressions, though most probably didn’t even realize that the second one was really a male. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that Jimmy was about to push him on stage, in drag, in front of the growing crowd of fans that were either seated or in the pit area.

Gerard frantically tried to release his wrist from Jimmy's hold, but failed miserably; he tried to loosen up the fingers that were causing some red marks on his wrists, but decided to give up since he finally realized that he was just too weak to resist Jimmy. Besides, the other singer would just find another way of pushing him on that stage, whether he wanted it or not…

The fans in front of the stage were chatting happily with each other, apparently just fine with not catching any of the shows from the Revolution Stage, and Gerard's palms started to get sweaty.

“Jimmy…oh god, Jimmy, please let me go! Seriously, dude! Let go!”

This was all just a bad dream…a really, really bad dream, from which he would gladly wake up from. Now would be a good time. Gerard closed his eyes and hoped that, once he would open them, he would be in bed, next to Lyn-Z, as though all of this didn't happen. Of course, when he opened them again, he was still being dragged along by Little Jimmy Urine.

“I really don't think all of this is necessary, really...” Gerard said in a quieter tone of voice, trying to sound reasonable.

“Oh, but it is!” Jimmy said, as happy as a three-year-old on Christmas morning. Gerard sighed and shook his head, hoping that this would all be over soon.

“There you go!” Jimmy said, just on the sideline of the stage before he pushed Gerard out into the center. Gerard stumbled on the stage and looked, shocked, around him, to the fans, and then back at Jimmy before he tried to dash away. But clearly, Jimmy wanted him to stay a little bit longer, as he grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back on the stage, walking with him and leading him back towards the middle. Jimmy smirked and looked at Gerard without saying a word, crossing his arms and nodded, satisfied with how Gerard looked.

The crowd laughed a little, not really realizing what was going on. Their eyes were focused on Jimmy and Gerard in drag, even though they didn't immediately recognize him. Gerard rolled his eyes and flipped Jimmy off, stepping away and making a mad dash for freedom again.

“Hey, look everybody! It's Gerard from My Chemical Romance! In drag, of all things!” Jimmy shrieked, pointing at Gerard, who was halfway off the stage by now. The singer stopped and turned around, his hair and dress sweeping softly behind him. He looked at Jimmy with a frown on his face and a pout on his lips, his upper-body leaning forward a little more than the rest of his body. Oh well, he figured. If they already knew….Gerard looked at the crowd and then back at Jimmy before he let his arms drop at his sides and sighed.

“Buzznet, here I come.” Gerard rolled his eyes, ignoring the cheers and shouts of, “You look good, Gee!'”, and, “I love you, Gerard!” from the crowd, and even the shouts from, “I would date you, Gerard!” from Jimmy as he walked off the stage.

“Isn't he just lovely?” Jimmy asked the crowd, putting both of his hands over his heart and sighing wistfully. This day just couldn't get any better.

Just a few minutes later, he was walking onto his own band’s bus and still giggling. Gerard and Lyn-Z were sitting on the couch, and Gerard was still in the dress. In the long run, he decided that it was rather comfortable…and he was feeling too lazy to go and fetch some normal clothes, and put them on.

Jimmy smiled sweetly at the two before retreating towards the bunk area, which was also where they stored their luggage. He looked around the smaller back of the bus, filled with suitcases (just as messed up as his own) and clothes thrown around on the floor.

“Oooh, bra!” Jimmy whispered to himself, picking up the lacy garment, with flowers embedded upon it. It was more likely Lyn-Z’s, though it could have been Kitty’s. No, it had to be the former’s; it was more her style of bra, though most would never guess that. But then again, what did he know about women and bras? That was Gerard’s specialty, after all.

He smirked to himself, raising an eyebrow in curiosity before he pulled the bra over his black shirt (fitting with his pink gloves) and looked at himself at the full-length mirror Steve had hung up on the wall before they left on tour. He nodded and smiled at himself before he looked through the suitcase again, delighted when he found a skirt to match it.

Gerard and Lyn-Z, on the other hand, were cuddling up to each other (even though it still felt strange for Lyn-Z to cuddle up to a man who was dressed like a woman). The dark-haired woman smiled to herself and sighed contently, enjoying the peaceful moment between them. She’d missed this…

“Don't I look absolutely pretty?” Jimmy's voice rang through the air, and both Lyn-Z and Gerard both glanced up—and were shocked to see Jimmy standing there, wearing one of the bassist’s skirts, his black shirt with the pink gloves matching with Lyn-Z's pink, lacy bra. Gerard frowned at the other singer…but then nodded, satisfied by Jimmy's outfit as he spun around in slow circles, modeling his new look for them.

“I would so date you,” said Gerard with a grin.