Getting Surreal

The show went off without a hitch, much to Becks’ relief. She had been nervous about screwing up because she was definitely less than sober, but everything seemed to go fine.

Actually, it went better than fine. Everything was flawless. Well…during the second song, Frank broke a guitar string in the first verse, and she was able to get it sorted for him before the next chorus, so even when there were issues, it all seemed to just go right.

Hell, Brian even brought her a beer halfway through when she seemed to be sobering up, it went that good.

“You should think about drinking before every show,” Barry, Ray’s tech joked with her towards the end of the set.

She laughed idly, it registering somewhere in her booze-fogged brain that laughing was an appropriate response to his joke, but her attention was not on him.

It was on the skinny bass player rocking out for all he was worth, not missing a note. He was definitely getting into it more than she’d him before. He looked…focused, alive, in tune with everything happening-the music, the energy, even the crowd. Usually, he would only bob his head occasionally to the beat and maybe once every few shows, give a little hop for emphasis.

This particular evening, though, he was feeding off of everything, actually letting loose a little, banging his head to the rhythm and walking around the stage, interacting with his bandmates and Becks just couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He looked so free, so, so…happy.

And seeing him like that made her heart soar.

---

“Thank you, Philadelphia!” Gerard shouted into his mic, and the crowd went absolutely crazy. They were still screaming as the band left the stage, disappearing out of view. As per every night, all the MCR crew and anybody that was standing by gave the guys high fives or hugs, sharing in their adrenaline and excitement.

Becks was stood at the back of the pack and Bob made it to her first, the two of them performing their secret handshake they’d created a couple nights prior. It involved some jazz hands, fist bumps, and a mutual slap to the face.

“You guys are so weird,” Ray said, coming up and giving Becks a hug while she giggled and fluffed his hair a little. The second he let go of her and stepped away, she was being picked up from behind and swung in circles.

“Becks, Becks, my fucking hero!” Frank chanted, still swinging her around like a ragdoll.

“Ah! Frank!” She was laughing hard as he put her down and gave her a proper hug.

“You saved the show tonight, lady of mine!” He said in her ear, referring to her fixing his guitar for him in record time.

“Not so sure about that,” she deadpanned, still giggling. “I mean, I am pretty awesome, though.”

“Psh,” he let out, rolling his eyes and letting her go. “So cocky.” He grinned at her big and ruffled her hair before moving over to talk to Brian.

Becks shook her head, running a hand through her hair to try and fix whatever mess Frank had just made of it, smiling, before she noticed Mikey appear at her side. They just looked at each other, only about a foot separating them.

“You were amazing tonight, Mikey,” she finally said, a shy smile on her face. “Really.” And then she couldn’t stop her hand (she blamed it on the alcohol) that snuck out to grab on lightly to his wrist, as if to further press her point.

When she touched him, he stilled completely. They both looked down at where she was holding onto him, then slowly back up at each other.

Then suddenly, he burst into a wide grin and pulled her into a strong hug. She could feel his heart still racing from the show. Becks just wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick squeeze. The hug wasn’t long, and when he pulled away, he just looked down at her with a small, goofy sort of grin, and then he was off to chat with some other people.

She watched him go, happy to see him at such ease and smiling like a fool herself.

Next thing she knew, Frank was in front of her again and shoving a beer in her hands, a mischievous smirk on his face.

“Aw, fuck, Frank,” she giggled, “I’m so drunk already.”

“Oh, I know,” he chuckled and clinked their bottles together, “but you deserve this.” She looked at him then gave a ‘why the hell not’ shrug and they both took long sips from their drinks, only coming up to breathe, and the both of them smiling wide like two troublemaking kids doing something they knew was wrong. “C’mon,” he said, slinging and arm around her shoulders and leading her to where Ray and Barry were chatting animatedly.

---

About fifteen minutes and another beer later, Becks excused herself from her group of guys (who had moved from backstage to their greenroom) to go to the bathroom. On her way out, she ran into Gerard, who had a very strange look on his face.

“Hey, Gee,” she drawled out, drunk and needlessly happy, making her way carefully back to where she had been talking with Frank, Ray, and Barry, sliding her hand against the wall and feeling the cracked tiles of the venue. She was just about to turn the corner of the hallway when he finally spoke up.

“Becks, wait.” She froze to a staggered stop and leaned against the wall, curious, and waiting for him to catch up with her. And then he was standing in front of her with a very serious sort of expression on his face.

“I-is there s’mthin’ wrong, Gee?” She asked him, furrowing her brow when he didn’t do anything but look at his shoes and scuff his toe on the floor. “You okay?”

He sighed and looked back up at her, running a hand through his hair. “No, I’m fine, I…” He looked around the hallway then back at her. “Look. I don’t know what you did with Mikey, before the show…” She quickly opened her mouth to explain to him that they had just talked, nothing bad or scandalous happened, they had just talked, but Gerard held up a finger and she shut her mouth again just as quickly. “But thank you.”

At that, she blinked. “I, uh….What?” She asked him, dazedly.

“I, uh…I haven’t seen him act like that in a long time. Hell,” he let out a low chuckle, “I’ve never seen him like that on stage. And I don’t know what you did,” his eyes met hers, his expression simultaneously soft and serious, his voice low, “but thank you.”

Becks stood there, leaning on the wall and looking back at Gerard, taking in his words. Then, she gave him a shy little grin. “We just talked, really,” she said with a shrug. “I dunno.”

“I know, just,” he shook his head and looked at the ceiling. “Thank you.” He gave her one last, brisk smile with a curt nod. As he disappeared around the corner she had been heading for a minute earlier, it was her turn to call after him.

“Hey, Gee!” His head reappeared from around the corner he had just turned, a questioning look on his face that turned into one of amusement when he saw her frowning at her feet. “Am I allowed t’ call you Gee?” She asked, looking up at him, seemingly genuinely and drunkenly baffled by her own question.

Gerard laughed and came back around the corner all the way. “Yeah, you can call me that.” He watched her face light up a little at his confirmation.

“Cool,” she said with a big smile. “What’re you doing now?”

“Eh…I was thinking about going back to the bus to watch a movie.”

“Cool! Can I join?” She asked excitedly, then calmed quickly. “I’mean…’s that okay?”

Gerard just chuckled again and threw an arm around her shoulder, leading her towards the bus. “Always okay. I’ll even let you pick the movie tonight.” And he smiled when he heard her whisper an excited ‘yes!’