Collision

I'd gotten a text the next morning from Gerard detailing the plans for the concert, although I hadn’t checked my phone straight away, he’d sent it around eight, making me wonder whether he was insane (who the heck would want to wake up that early after a night out?). It told me to bring some kind of ID and show it to a staff member there who’d look after us, although I wasn’t exactly sure what this entailed.

I was already up even when it was only ten in the morning, which was surprisingly early for me. Janey had called me at the ungodly hour of six am, but apparently was drunk out of her mind because she hadn’t even realized it was the time when normal people were happily asleep in their warm, comfy beds. She’d apologized, and I hadn’t even got an answer to why she’d called in the first place before she’d hung up giggling. I tried to get back to sleep but after an hour of staring up at my ceiling, as fascinating as it was, I finally decided to get up. So I was sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee beside me and a notepad in front of me. I was doodling, trying to come up with some catchy titles for Janey’s newest music review, and failing badly; my brain wasn’t good at working even at the best of times, and certainly not at ten in the morning.

I did eventually give up. Not until after I’d doodled a mini-army of stickmen, though. And then I’d decided to wake my sister up in the way she normally woke me up — by bursting into her room and jumping on her bed. With her in the house I don’t even know why I bother with having an alarm clock anymore.

She screeched at me when I landed on top of her, kicking my stomach and pushing me right back off the bed again.

“Owwww,” I groaned from the ground.

She scrambled out from under her covers and peeked over the edge of the bed, obviously wondering what had attacked her. When she saw it was me she just grinned maliciously.

“Serves you right,” she said, getting to her feet and stepping neatly over me. I made a grab for her ankle but she was too quick, and disappeared down the hall into the bathroom. I laid there for several minutes, unwilling to move and wondering how I’d ended up with such a lovely sister. Finally I did get up, just as Alex walked back into the room with a hairbrush in her hand and her straighteners in the other. She looked at me, then pointed to the door.

“Out,” she said simply. I glared at her and stalked out with as much dignity as I could muster — not much when I was clutching my stomach and limping. I walked back downstairs, grabbing my yellow hoodie from the stairwell on the way, and headed into the lounge to watch some (crappy) morning TV whilst I waited for her to get ready. It shouldn’t take much longer than five hours or so, I thought, as I settled down on the sofa and grabbed the remote.

When my phone rang halfway through a program I picked it up rather angrily. “What the fuck is it now, Janey?” I snapped. I still hadn’t forgiven her for waking me up at six am.

“Such a nice greeting,” Gerard replied, chuckling.

I relaxed. “Oh,” I said. “Sorry, I thought it was—”

“Janey? I guessed.”

“Uh. Yeah. Sorry again,” I mumbled, embarrassed now. I grabbed the remote and muted the TV so I could hear the phone better. “So, um, why are you calling?”

“Just wondering if you had anything planned after the concert.”

I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see that — which I realized after I’d done it, of course. “No, I was just gonna go home,” I said, still watching the silent images on the TV. It was a rerun of Scrubs and I realized suddenly that J.D’s daydreaming sequences were even weirder muted.

“Do you want to go out with us? You know, the band. Alex, too.”

I smiled. “No, don’t worry. I don’t want to impose on you guys. Plus I need my beauty sleep, I have a meeting tomorrow.”

“You sure? I think you’d like the club we’re going to.”

“I can’t, I’m sorry. But you guys will have fun, right? I’m not gonna tag along like... the sixth wheel or something.”

“Okay,” he said, even sounding a little disappointed. “Well, I’ll see you at the venue then?”

“Actually, I’ve decided I’m not going. I’m actually gonna kidnap Finley and elope in Mexico today.”

He paused. “Isn’t he still a minor?” he asked.

“I love how that’s your first concern. But nope, he’s nineteen. Like I said, I’m the grandma of the group. I need to pick up knitting or something. I can fend off admirers with the needles.” I nodded seriously when I said this, looking up when Alex jumped the last few steps on the stairs and hit the hallway with a thud. She mouthed ’who is it?’ and I mouthed ’Gerard’ back. Then her eyes lit up and she rushed over. She didn’t seem surprised so much as excited by the fact I was talking to him.

“Gimme it,” she said, making a grab for the phone. But I deftly moved out of her range. And fell on the floor, not so deftly. I was starting to think of the floor as my second home. I’d ended up on it three times today — once when rolling out of bed, once when Alex had kicked me, and now when she’d tried to take the phone. She was standing over me, glaring, and I was actually slightly scared.

“That sounded painful,” Gerard remarked, when I groaned loudly. “And I don’t really like needles, so you’d have to keep those away from me.”

“It was,” I said, rubbing the back of my head. “And my sister is giving me the evils, now. Perhaps it’s time to go. Bye.”

He said goodbye too and I hung up, still looking up at Alex. “Good morning,” I said. She didn’t move. “Are you gonna, like, stand there all day?”

“You woke me up.”

“Uh-huh?”

“I hate you.”

“Uh-huh?”

“Die.”

“Right. Can I get up now?” I asked plaintively, giving her my best impression of puppy eyes — which probably looked more like a raccoon on crack, since I’d not wiped off last night’s eyeliner yet. I was fantastic at procrastinating. She huffed loudly and walked off, into the kitchen. Presumably to get breakfast, which knowing her idea of sustenance would consist a muffin and a cup of tea with five sugars. Health food. I grabbed hold of the sofa’s armrest and hauled myself up, then collapsed on it.

“Urrgh,” I groaned. Then I finally gathered myself up, checking I was all in one piece, and dragged my weary body upstairs and into the bathroom to do my makeup.

When I got out I found my mother staring at me from her bedroom, her lips pressed together. “You’re making a lot of noise,” she said. “I was trying to have a lie-in.”

“Sorry,” I replied, feeling a lot like a naughty teenager being told off. She huffed perfectly, well-practised in the art, and walked past me into the bathroom, scraping her red hair back into a messy bun as she went. I smiled at her back and then walked into my room to get dressed properly and to stop slumming around in my awesome cow-print pyjamas.

I bumped into Alex downstairs, now a lot more cheerful since she’d got her morning caffeine into her (this family was unhealthily dependant on caffeine.) I made breakfast and sent her up with it to mum as a peace offering, then went back to watching TV and doing nothing. It was getting good at that. Alex managed to rope me into a game of scrabble, although her idea of words was certainly different from the dictionary.

“Er, does that that spell ‘lol’?” I questioned, staring at the three letters she’d just put down.

“Duuuh,” she replied, leaning back into the sofa and grinning brightly. “I’m so whooping your ass at this, Cam.”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m following the rules. They’re so restricting, aren’t they?” I said, placing my next set of letters and jotting down our scores.

“What the hell does ‘nescient’ mean?”

I tapped the side of my nose. “Ahh, it’s a word you should use to describe anybody you love. Like you, Alex. You’re very nescient.”

“Thank you!”

I got absolutely owned, quite honestly, but at least my words made sense. After the game I realized it was time to get moving, so I kicked Alex into the hallway to put her shoes and jacket on whilst I ran around searching for my bag and phone. Once I’d successfully hunted both down — my bag was under the kitchen table and my phone was down the side of the sofa — I grabbed my own shoes, jacket, and Alex, and ran out the door. I didn’t want to miss the bus because we really couldn’t afford a taxi. I’d already lent Alex some money so she could get hold of some merchandise if she so wanted.

The bus came about five seconds after we reached the stop and we both hopped on it, out of breath but proud we’d managed the practically impossible feat of actually being on time. I double checked I’d brought my provisional driving license — I was more likely to lose my passport than anything else, so it was the only good I.D I had — and then relaxed, chatting easily to the extremely excited, panda-eyed Alex. She’d done her hair different from anything I’d seen on her before, sweeping chunks of it up into little bat clips, and it looked very weird and very her.

The O2 arena actually made me stop and stare when we saw it first. I was old school and stilled called it the Millennium Dome, but it was quite a site. And there were crowds and crowds of people queuing outside, some with blankets and others just huddling in groups. I even saw a few with the shiny, gold-foil rescue blankets. I didn’t blame them; it was damn cold out. The middle of November probably wasn’t the nicest month to stand outside for several hours.

I walked up to an official looking person guarding what was either a wall or a very cleverly hidden door, trying to hide my nervousness when he turned a cold stare on me.

“Uhm, hi,” I said. He stayed stubbornly silent, just looking at us both — I could feel him judging us. I straightened up, dug into my bag, and pulled out the license. “I’m Cameron Martinez,” I said, showing him it.

Suddenly, he nodded and smiled. “I was told to look out for a Cameron,” he said. I was certainly surprised by the sudden change in demeanour. He pointed over at another black-clad adult and waved him over. “Hey, Archie,” he said, addressing the new guy — a thin, tall man with a shock of red hair. “Take these two through to the back. They’re guests.”

Archie turned to us and grinned. “Righty-o, follow me guys,” he said, cheerfully. He led us through another entrance around the side, but I still heard a few people break out in whispers and I felt slightly guilty.

“Aren’t we gonna queue?” I asked, nervously. Alex glared at me and dug an elbow into my ribs, mouthing ’don’t ruin a good thing’.

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Archie replied, stopping outside an unimportant looking door. “Wait in here for a few secs,” he ordered, opening the door. I stepped through, and stopped dead. Wow, this was certainly a few steps up from the green room of the Underworld — they even had a catering table, which Alex zeroed in on straight away and headed towards.

“That’s kinda rude,” I said, as she grabbed a Pepsi. “It’s not ours.”

“Oh, lighten up Cam. I’m not sure how you did it, but this is fucking fantastic. Dude, you must have Gerard twisted around your little finger.”

“Hey,” I protested. I didn’t like to think I was abusing the friendship that was developing between us but Alex made it sound a lot like I was manipulating it. “He offered!”

“Right,” she said slowly, throwing herself down on the sofa. “Did you like, put out or something?”

“I’m not a groupie!”

“What a pity,” a new voice said from behind me. I spun around, wide-eyed, and saw Gerard leaning against the doorframe... or at least I think it was him, under all the make-up. I just stared. His face was extra pale, and his eyes were surrounded by thick rings of dark brown.

“I hope that’s for the stage,” I said. “You look ill.”

He looked pleased. “Good!” He said, striding into the room and taking the Pepsi out of Alex’s hands. She was too busy grinning to care. He took a sip of it, made a face, and handed it back to her. “Ugh, I hate full sugar,” he complained, either oblivious to the fact everyone else in the room was completely silent or just ignoring it. “So,” he said, looking up at me and smiling. “Pleasant day?”

“Not really,” I replied.

He quirked an eyebrow. “Uh, okay. Unpleasant day? Well, that’s about to change. You get to meet some of the most awesome people in the universe tonight.”

I saw my chance and grabbed it. “Oh my god, you have the Jonas Brothers here?” I asked, clapping my hands and even going as far as to jump up and down.

He grimaced. “No, I was thinking more the band and our fans...”

Alex sighed. “Cam, stop messing with the guy,” she said, standing up. I noticed she was holding on to the Pepsi but not drinking from it, and I had the horrible thought she’d probably mount it on her wall or something when we got home.

He slung an arm around her shoulders. “See, Alex here, she’s nice.”

“And my little sister,” I added warningly.

His arm slid from her shoulders. “And, uh, yeah, your sister.”

She looked disappointed but soon recovered, still holding onto the Pepsi like it was a holy grail. He moved closer to me, touching the sleeve of my blue jacket.

“I see you’ve gone for subtle today,” he said. I glanced down at my ensemble of a white t-shirt, my jacket and red jeans, then shrugged.

“I was feeling patriotic,” I said. “And I like to stand out in a crowd.”

“But you’re not American?” He questioned, furrowing his brow slightly as if trying to figure this mystery out.

I hit his arm gently. “The British flag is red, white, and blue, too. And we had it first.”

“Ooh, a history lesson. Fascinating,” Alex said, rolling her eyes.

He smiled. “Fair enough,” he said, taking hold of my arm and steering me out of the room. “Come with me,” he said, even though I had little choice in that since he had a hold of my arm, albeit gently. I looked back and made sure Alex was following — I didn’t want her getting lost in an area this big. God forbid what she’d do if she met anybody else remotely well known, either.

Speaking of that, we seemed to be walking towards a door with a sheet of paper with ’MCR’ in bold letters stuck to it. My eyes widened automatically and I even felt a flutter of nervousness in my stomach. He walked in first without knocking, and none of the people gathered in various areas in the room looked up until he cleared his throat. And then they stared.

And stared.

And stared.

Until Gerard grinned and wrapped an arm around my waist and drew me against his side. “This is Cam, guys,” he said brightly. When had he started calling me Cam? I thought as various looks were exchanged between the guys in the room. I felt Alex slide into beside us, and even more looks were exchanged. Gerard didn’t seem to notice the awkwardness. He was good at that. “And that’s her sister, Alex,” he added, pointing to the open-mouthed Alex.

“Hi,” I said, quietly. I tried not to look like a deer caught in the headlights but I don’t think I managed it.

Finally, one guy in a thick black hoodie stood up and leapt over. “Heeeey!” He said, taking my hand without me offering it and shaking it vigorously. “I’m Matt,” he continued. He had a lipring, I noticed, as I smiled. But I didn’t recognise him and turned to Gerard for help.

“Matt’s sort of Frank’s replacement at the moment. He’s with family,” he explained.

“Ahh, okay. Hello.”

I saw Alex looking him over and I laughed softly. Then the others all said hi, too, although only one other came over — I recognized him as Gerard’s brother, Mikey, but it took me a few seconds. He looked meaningfully at Gerard before turning to both of us.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said politely. I knew he wasn’t happy, though, especially when he pulled Gerard aside, apparently out of earshot... but I could still hear their heated whispers even when I turned away.

“What is this?”

I attempted to strike up a conversation with Alex to distract myself, but she kept glancing sideways at the other guys in the room until I finally gave up and fell silent.

After a while, the mood relaxed, and I ended up talking to Grard quietly until they were given a warning that the support would be on soon. Alex wanted to stay side-stage, but they were already letting the audience in and I’d decided I wanted to see the concert from the actual crowd. It would feel weird watching it from the side. So, dragging Alex, I manoeuvred through the throngs of people already pouring in to try and grab a good spot. It didn’t really work, honestly, and we ended up to the right and back a fair bit, but it was a clear view and that’s all I really cared about. I let Alex stand in front, even though she was taller. She was grinning, chatting with another girl standing beside her whilst we waited, even if they had to raise their voices quite a bit to hear each other over the sounds of the music playing and people around us. The girl was shorter than me, curvy and with long-hair she kept playing with.

“So your name’s Alex?” The girl asked. “Is that short for anything?”

“Alejandra,” Alex replied, doing nothing to hide her distaste for the name. “When I was younger everyone called me Ally... ugh. How about you?”

“I’m Sandra, but most people call me Sandy. Ever been to a concert before?”

“Quite a few. And I’ve been to a few festivals before. I’m here with my sister,” she responded, pointing her thumb back at me. Sandy turned and smiled.

“Heya! I’m Sandy!” She said, sticking her hand out. I shook it politely, which felt weird with the heaving crowds pressing around us. “You a big fan?”

I laughed. “No, not really. They’re good, though,” I replied. “I’m Cameron. Nice to meet you Sandy.”

“You’ll be converted after this, trust me,” she said knowingly, tapping the side of her nose and then pushing a piece of her long fringe out of her eyes. “This is like my... fifth MCR concert, I think. They’re amazing live.”

“Really?” I asked, looking up as the lights dimmed. “Well, I’m expecting great things, then.”

The band which played the opening was amazing. I had no clue who they were, and couldn’t ask Alex since she was too busy messing around with Sandy, but they got the crowd pretty hyped up, even when they’d gone again and they were setting up for MCR there were the occasional yells and screeches. I’d tried to find somewhere to sit down but it was impossible without getting trampled, so instead I came up next to Alex and threw an arm around her shoulder, forcing her to hold me up.

“Ugh, you’re lazy,” she complained, pinching my arm. She didn’t move away though.

I smiled widely. “Hey, you owe me. I’m the reason you’re here tonight, remember?”

Alex looked unimpressed, until her eyes were drawn back to the stage. I followed her gaze just in time to see a flash of movement side-stage as the music began playing. Was that a gurney?

“Here we go!” Sandy said excitedly, gripping my arm. I grabbed hold of Alex’s arm, too, effectively linking us all together, but only ten minutes into the concert she’d already pulled away, throwing herself into the midst of the crowds. I tried to keep track of her bobbing, blue and black hair, but it was hard. I’d not seen this much black in one place since I’d gone to Download years back with Janey. I tried not to worry too much... she was seventeen, after all, and I’d always hated it when my mother had been obsessively protective over me at that age.

So instead I relaxed, enjoying the atmosphere, the excitement. Sandy was pretty damn fun to be with herself, and together we made our way through the crowds so we were more towards the front by a combination of our feet and elbows. I wasn’t so much listening to the music as just watching the stage, as the five guys I’d only just met performed. They were all wearing costumes which I had to admit made me giggle — so that’s what Gerard’s makeup had been about. Somehow towards the middle I ended up in the rapidly forming mosh pit with Sandy still hanging on my arm. I almost started crying with laughter when some guy tried to feel her up and she turned on the guy who’d done it, yelling insults about his mother and a gerbil, but she soon finished her assault on him and continued dancing like no other. I was certainly a bit more restrained but I couldn’t help but join in with the crowd. It was addictive. I really needed to go to more concerts.

I found Alex again at the intermission. She’d found herself a few guys to hang out with, her eye make-up smeared down her face but with a huge grin there too.

“Fucking epic,” she said, handing the bottle of water she’d procured from somewhere to a random guy and jumping on me. I staggered backwards but managed to set her halfway nicely on the floor before I toppled over. She helped me up again so I wouldn’t get crushed. Even when the band had disappeared backstage (and Sandy had informed me there would be more songs, after I’d asked if that was all, rather confused) the audience was still going.

Alex hugged me tightly. “You’re the best sister ever,” she mumbled into my shoulder.

I awkwardly patted her back. “That I am,” I said and grabbed hold of her arm to drag her away from her little crowd of admirers (how the hell did she do that?) and back towards the front of the venue towards the stage whilst we still had the chance and everyone was a bit more loosely-packed. Sandy appeared at our side soon after, somehow having found us again in the huge crowd, and as the band came back on stage an ear-piercing screech filled the arena. Gerard said something to the crowd which I missed because of the noise, but he scanned the room and winked when he saw the three of us huddled together at the front. I grinned at him, whilst Sandy let out another high-pitched yelp.

“Did he just fucking wink at us? Oh my god,” she said, doing a good impression of an excited thirteen-year-old.

“Yeah, I think he did,” Alex said, nodding. A shower of water fell on our area and I yelped myself, ducking. Gerard had a bottle of water in his hands and a wicked grin on his face.

“Fucker!” I yelled, drowned out by the screams, as I smoothed my damp hair back into place. A song I recognized came on — Teenagers, the only one I’d heard before today. I perked up almost instantly, glad to finally be able to sing along to something.

~*~

We stumbled outside, exhausted. My t-shirt was clinging to my body from a mixture of water and sweat, which certainly wasn’t an attractive look, and the cool air of November was certainly a relief after the unbearable heat inside. I wondered how the band managed to deal with all the pyrotechnics — after all, it was hot in the crowd, so it must have been scorching on the stage.

We parted ways with Sandy as she went off to the hotel she’d booked for the night, leaving Alex and I standing around, wondering what to do next.

“Home?” I suggested.

“Let’s go see the band again.” She could barely disguise her excitement at the prospect. I sighed.

“Fine, but we’re going home...” I checked my watch. “In an hour. Got that?”

She groaned, muttering something about being over protective as we left the groups of people behind and sought out the guy we’d talked to earlier. I remember his name being Archie, but that was it. We found him easily enough, surprisingly, leaning against a wall and smoking a cigarette. He gave us a wary look until we got closer.

“Oh, it’s... Cameron, isn’t it?” He asked, dropping the cigarette and crushing into under the toe of his shoe. “I guess you want to go back again, huh?” He stood up properly and went back inside. I guess he expected us to follow, so we did. He flashed a pass at a security guy who let us through the door, and then he pointed down the corridor. “Head down there,” he said with a smile, turning back and walking away.

We followed the corridor until we came to a turn. I tried to remember the way from there, and failed miserably. I turned to Alex. “Help?”

She grabbed my wrist, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly. “Follow me, moron,” she said, giving me little choice as she dragged me with her. I stumbled, my balance off put by the sudden force of the pull, and almost fell on top of her until I righted myself. I wriggled out of her grip, sulkily, and followed her.

“Hey guys!” I yelled as we finally found the band. Okay, so it only took five minutes or so, but it seemed like ages. There were various greetings and Gerard looked up, then walked over grinning.

“Hey there Cam. Enjoy the show?”

“It was... interesting,” I said with a small, awkward nod.

Beside me Alex crossed her arms and huffed indignantly. “Fine, ignore me.” She stalked past us and advanced on Matt.

I blinked. “Er... bye?”

Gerard scratched the back of his neck. “She’s just jealous you’re getting all the attention,” he said, still grinning. “So did you end up in the mosh pit? I swear I saw a red, blue and white blur in there. Not that we can see much these days with those stage-lights”

I nodded proudly. “Yup, that was me,” I said. I lifted up my t-shirt, showing him my ribs. I’d checked earlier and I knew there was a large purple bruise blossoming just under the bottom of my bra. “I got hit. Nice bruise, eh?”

“That looks painful.” He was staring at the bruise. He reached out and touched it gently with the tip of his finger and I winced. “Oh, sorry,” he said. I rolled my eyes.

“It’s a bruise, Gerard. Even you know should know they’re sore to touch.” I smoothed my shirt back down. I had my jacket in my arms since it had been so hot in the arena, but now I was missing the warmth.

“Hmm... true. But at least you can brag to your friends that you’re hardcore now,” he said, laughing. I raised an eyebrow.

“Me? Hardcore? Please,” I replied, shaking my head. I paused and then smiled. “It was a good show. You guys are great performers.”

I looked over his shoulder and saw that Alex had made herself comfortable on a stack of crates and was chatting happily to Ray and Matt, apparently about guitars because she kept making chord motions with her fingers. She’d got every music gene in my family. I barely hold a tune with my voice let alone play an instrument.

“So are you guys gonna stick around later?” He asked, breaking the silence. My attention flicked back to him.

“Huh? Oh. No, like I said. I have a meeting and I’ve told Alex we’re only gonna be here for an hour. Otherwise she’d want to stay until like... five am. You guys must be exhausted, anyway. Right?”

“Well, yeah,” he admitted. “But this is our last London show. Then we’re going to Belfast and then, after that, to... Australia. Or New Zealand. I’m not sure.”

“So you finally found out where you’re headed? Those are two rather random places to visit after each other, you realize. Sort of on different continents.”

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t plan it,” he said as Mikey walked over, smiling tiredly. I smiled at him, even if he only glanced at me quickly.

“Hey Gee,” he said, drawing the singer’s attention. “Do you know where the coffee machine is here? I’m so ready to fall in a heap.”

“I think it’s down there,” he said, pointing down a corridor. “Grab me one will you?”

“Get your own. And nice to see you again Cam,” he said, turning on his heel and walking off. I watched him go, slightly bemused.

“Didn’t he... not like me before?” I asked.

Gerard, apparently oblivious to the question, just frowned. “I could kill for a cigarette right now. Come with me?”

I shrugged and followed him. He led the way through the arena with a lot more confidence than I’d had, but I guessed that came with experience. We walked through a fire door (’won’t that set the alarm of?’) outside, where he leaned against the wall.

He looked at me, sliding a pack out his jacket pocket. “Do you smoke?”

“Sometimes, I guess. I don’t carry them around because my boyfriend didn’t like smokers.”

“Past tense?” He said, arching an eyebrow as he raised the cigarette to his lips and lit it.

I took the one he offered me and the cheap BIC lighter as well. “Ex. Since two months ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

He actually did look it, and I laughed as flicked the lighter and lit the cigarette. “Don’t be. I dumped him.”

“Oh.”

“So what about you then? Girlfriend?” I asked, attempting to blow smoke rings and failing miserably. I watched the smoke curling away from the cigarette in wisps. Definitely not a circle.

“Ah, yes.” I glanced at him and noticed he looked slightly flustered.

“Really? How long you guys been together?” I asked. I don’t know why; I guess I was just trying to be polite. But he took a long time to answer which made me curious.

“Ten months,” he said finally, tapping the burning cigarette against the wall and watching the ash drop to the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. “Her name’s Vanessa.”

“Must be pretty serious then, huh?”

He looked over at me, a small smile curving the edges of his lips. “Yeah, I guess so. But being on tour... it takes a toll. It’s hard when the majority of a relationship is spent thousands of miles apart.” He took a long drag and exhaled, a slow sigh.

“Troubles?” I questioned.

“No,” he said, a little too defensively. “It’s just... I miss her. And I don’t think she fully trusts me,” he continued. “But why am I telling you this?”

I was a little taken aback. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry,” I said, discarding my finished cigarette and putting a hand on his arm. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. How much longer are you on tour for?”

“Only a month. We’ve been on this leg since February... so that’s nine months altogether. I can’t wait to get back home and just relax.”

“Hmm, well, I can’t relate but at least it’s only a month more.” I tried to smile optimistically but honestly the lost expression of his face made it hard. So I decided to change the subject. “Can we go back inside? I’m freezing!”

He flicked the last bit of ash from his cigarette and shrugged. “I guess so. You do have a jacket, though, you know.”

Oh. I forgot about that. I frowned. Where had I put it? I was about to ask when I looked down and saw I’d hung it on my bag. Thank god I hadn’t lost it. I pulled it off the bag and slid it on, zipping it right up the top. I hadn’t actually realized just how cold I was until I slid my arms into the sleeves.

“Yeah, but...” I trailed off. “I’m still cold. I’m gonna go see if Alex is okay,” I muttered quickly, ducking back inside and hurrying through the route back. At least I didn’t get lost.

“Cam!” Alex yelled when I appeared. “Where the hell did you go?”

“I went out...” I said vaguely, waving my hand. “What have you been up to?”

“Oh, well, Ray and I were just discussing a few ideas I had. He was helping me out,” she said, a smile stretching from ear to ear. I raised an eyebrow and looked over at Ray, perched on a few crates. He smiled.

“Is that so?” I said. “Well, I don’t want to interrupt your little bonding session. I think I’m gonna go get some coffee. Want any?”

Alex did, but nobody else. So I promised to bring her back a cup and wandered in the general direction I’d seen Mikey disappear down earlier, deciding it would be easy enough to find a coffee maker somewhere in this place.

In fact, it was surprisingly so. I found it tucked inside a small alcove with a counter and a vending machine stocked with various different sweets. I gave the products inside a longing look, then turned to the coffee machine and tried to work out how to operate it. The instructions were simple enough, but either the diagrams didn’t match the model or I was going loopy. Where the hell was the red button?

I huffed, crossing my arms. Stupid thing, I thought, tempted to hit it and see if that worked.

“Need any help?” I heard from behind me. I spun around to see Mikey standing there, a cup of coffee in his own hands.

“Um, no. I’ve got it,” I said, turning back around and pressing a random button. The machine beeped loudly in protest. He laughed, and a hand reached out and hit a few buttons in quick succession, then shoved a cup in place. I blushed when it worked and the machine rumbled into life. I was annoyed I’d been so easily shown up. “Thanks,” I muttered, grabbing my cup and trying to repeat the action. This time actually succeeded, which surprised me.

“So, tell me, Cam... how did you meet Gerard?” Mikey asked, leaning against the counter with a polite smile on his face. I looked up at him, noting how similar they looked up close. Same eyes.

“Er, well, I lost my bag, and he returned it to me,” I said quickly. “And then I ran into him in Starbucks and I guess I made a good impression or something because he invited my sister and I here.”

“Uh-huh. Really?” he said, taking a long drink. He was giving me an apprasing look.

I sighed softly, not in the mood to be judged by a worried brother. “Look, I know you’re concerned but trust me, I mean him no harm. You don’t have to, like, kick my ass or anything.”

“I don’t kick asses, I just look out for the people close to me, that’s all. I’m sure you understand that, right?”

I understood the protectiveness. Even if he was the younger of the two I knew how it was to be close to a sibling. Alex annoyed the hell out of me at times but I’d do anything for her. “Yeah, I do. I’m sorry,” I said, playing with my charm bracelet and spinning it around my wrist.

“Good. Gee is... a little too trusting, at times. And I don’t know you. You seem reasonable enough, but first impressions lie.”

Okay, back to anger again. This time I contained it, though, masking my emotions with a polite if terse tone. “I understand. Not everybody has to like everybody else.”

I picked up the coffees, muttered bye, and walked off.