You Put the Spike in My Heart

"Knock, knock."

Bailey's eyes lifted from her book, a confused smile finding its way to her face. She was currently reading in her bunk, the curtain pulled as a warning to leave her be - but the unexpected voice definitely came from Gerard.

She had been awake for at least three hours, their journey to Pennsylvania starting around an hour ago. She had secluded herself so that she had some time to suffer through her hangover. Gerard had hung around after the concert the night before. But why was he still on their bus?
She pulled the curtain away slowly. Gerard's hair was a black mess and his eyes were half closed suggesting he had just woken up. Bailey held a hand to her mouth but couldn't stifle the laugh.

"You know, it's never a good idea to fall asleep in plain sight on this bus."

Gerard's face was covered with marker and lipstick, but he merely nodded knowingly.

"I caught a glimpse on my way to come see you. You like?"

Bailey nodded in mock enthusiasm. Sitting up in her bunk, she patted the seat next to her which he took graciously. He almost regretted it as soon as he sat down. This bunk was where Bailey spent most of her time so of course he was almost instantly drowned in a smokey-lilac heaven.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Way?"

He stared at her, bewildered. What kind of evil question was that? It would be a disaster for him to answer. But he supposed it was a good question. What had he come to see her for? He couldn't quite remember, which was her fault of course. Did she honestly not know how enticing she smelled?

He broke from his thoughts when he felt her flinch. He had unconsciously taken her hand, but she didn't pull away. The odd thing was that the flinch was nothing like her usual recoil away from him. She wasn't in one of her nasty moods, this was something entirely different.
Now that he was able to think straight, he took a deep breath to collect himself. This was Bert's sister and Frank's friend. He was going to have to try and behave himself.

"I came to see how you were. You drank quite a bit last night."

Bailey felt a bit of fire rush to her cheeks but fought it back down. He was right. She had drank a whole 24 pack by herself without realizing it until it was gone. She could only imagine how horrible she looked. With a sudden jolt of insecurity she ran her free hand through her long red tresses and sighed.

"I'm fine. I just needed to sleep it off."

"Bert tells me you guys talked."

She nodded.

"Yeah, I forced myself to get over it. Besides, I needed to make arrangements for a ride to my house. And I needed to know what time you guys were planning on leaving if I come back."

Gerard's eyebrows knitted together and heinstinctively squeezed her hand tighter.

"IF you come back?"

She nodded again and looked at their entwined hands in confusion before proceeding.

"It all depends on how things go. You above anyone else here know what a nuisance I've been."

"I wouldn't call you a nuisance. An interesting distraction, maybe."

Bailey eyed Gerard, unsure as to how she was supposed to take that. She had been inconceivably rotten to him since day one. Why was he so nice to her? Just the thought of trying to figure him out was too much for her brain to handle. She decided it would be best to keep her eyes from him and take a special interest in her own shoes.

"Bert tried to convince me to take him along to see my father. I swear that boy has been dropped on his head way too many times."

"You should cut him some slack. He's just trying to be your big brother."

She rolled her eyes and bit her tongue. She didn't want to talk about her relationship with Bert.

"I could go with you if it would help."

She couldn't help but look at him. She looked confused again, staring at him intently as if weighing something. Gerard wished she would just tell him what she was thinking. She shook her head at him but didn't break eye contact.

"It's bad enough Frank is going with me. He says he's used to the abuse. My father never liked him. He would chew you up and spit you out, Gerard."

Her free hand clenched into a fist as she looked away.

"Just wait until he sees the ugly little punk I've turned out to be."

"Hey."

Gerard cupped her chin with one hand and pushed her hair behind an ear with the other. His eyes smoldered into hers,looking almost insulted.

"You are not ugly. Don't you ever say that."

Bailey trembled but she couldn't move. Her heart was beating way too fast, her stomach doing flips. She couldn't even look away. She felt a hint of hysteria bubbling up inside of her when he started to stroke her face with his thumb.

What's happening? This isn't right!

She couldn't pinpoint exactly what she was feeling at the moment. It was familiar, something she had known a long time ago. But it didn't even matter if she knew what it was or not. All that she knew was that she didn't want it.
The hysteria built up inside of her until it formed into a laugh. Caught off guard, Gerard let his hands fall away from her.

"You really need to go wash that stuff off your face. I can't take anything you say seriously with 'I heart Zebras' written on your forehead."

She was relieved when he laughed back. He groaned a bit and rubbed his forehead.

"I forgot about that. I'll be right back."

Bailey grabbed her bag and made her way to the front of the bus as soon as he disappeared into the bathroom.
Gerard was disappointed when he saw that Bailey wasn't still in her bunk when he returned. He must have scared her off with his actions. He wasn't going to kiss her...not that he hadn't thought about it. He was human after all.
He made his way to the front of the bus, finding everyone stacking food on their plates except for the lone red-head smoking at the window on the other side of the room. She had her feet on the table and her eyes were a million miles away.

Bailey watched as the scenery outside changed much too quickly. It felt like she had just left Pennsylvania yesterday. It was what she needed and now she was going right back to the hell she called home. And she was going to be there for the anniversary of her mother's death.
She suddenly wondered if it was such a good idea to come on this tour. She had given up being numb for the chance at living again. Now this whole situation was threatening to wreck her.

I'll never let them hurt you...

She turned her head to look at him. She could have sworn he had said it out loud but he wasn't even paying attention to her, laughing at something one of the guys had said. She turned back to the window, pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. There were numerous decisions she was going to have to make by the end of the night. When her hands started to shake she realized that she was fighting a decision she had already made.

The decision to make those choices sober.