You're My Nicotine

"He kissed you?!"

"He did!"

"Oh. My. God."

"It was so amazing!" October squealed into the phone, feeling like a giddy school girl sitting on her bed past 11 o'clock at night, "I swear I could have almost died."

"This is so awesome, October, I'm so happy for you!" Hazel cried into her own phone, sat on her own bed.

"I'm happy for me, too," October smiled to herself, "But then he said he had to figure things out."

Hazel's face dropped, "What?"

"Precisely. What does that mean?"

She shrugged, "It could mean anything... Oh shit, maybe he's thinking about staying in LA!" She sat up on her knees abrupty. "Oh shit, maybe he's gonna ask you to go back to New Jersey with him!" she cried excitedly, "Oh shit, October!"

"Shut up, Haze, you're scaring me," October replied, wide-eyed, "Of course he's not, I mean, things like that only happen in fairytales, right?"

"Heh," Hazel shrugged again and sat back against the head of her bed.

"When do you think he'll call?" asked October.

"Well, you've got the whole weekend now, right? So I'm guessing pretty soon..."

"I guess," she agreed.

"Oh shit, what the hell are you gonna do about Ethan now?"

"Fuck knows," October sighed, shoving her head in her free hand, "It's totally gonna fuck up everything between us and I don't want that to happen, I mean, I really like Ethan."

"Well, just don't worry too much about it yet until you know for sure what's going on with you and Frank, just wait 'til he calls," Hazel said and looked over at her vibrating cell phone on the nightstand.

"Okay..." October replied, more to herself, "Yeah, I'll just wait 'til he calls."

"Okay. I've got to go, dude, Ben's calling my cell..."

"Surprise, surprise," answered October with a roll of the eyes.

"Shut up, I'm happy," Hazel retorted.

"Don't mention anything about what's happened, you know nothing!"

"Alright, I won't. Bye!"

Saturday came and October spent the whole day taking glances of her cell phone, seeing if she had missed a call from Frank, but there was always nothing. Sunday was the same, and by the time Monday morning arrived, she was more worried and nervous than she had spent the past two days, put together.

Why hadn't he called?

October came out of the female bathroom of St. Micheal and almost walked right into Ethan. He spotted her and her heartbeat quickened.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," he said as she kept her eyes to the ground, "I hope you haven't been avoiding me because I don't want us to be like that, October."

Her eyes gradually moved up to his face as it looked down at her sadly.

"I'm sorry if I came on too strong Friday," Ethan told her, "Please don't be mad at me-"

"I'm not mad at you, Ethan," she cut him off softly. "I'm sorry the night ended the way it did, I was just... confused."

"You don't have to be sorry, I was the one who was rushing into something... Can we just, you know, put it behind us?"

"Yeah, sure," October nodded.

"Good," he nodded in reply. "Um, Frank managed to get my brother and I free VIP tickets for 'In It For The Money' on Wednesday. There's four tickets so Hazel's coming, and I thought you'd want the other one...?"

She inhaled a breath slowly and held it as Ethan continued.

"It can just be a friend thing," he explained, "I mean, we don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with, okay?" He looked at her, eagerly awaiting her answer.

'In It For The Money' was a one-off, small show in Los Angeles that My Chemical Romance would headline, playing along with bands like Jimmy Eat World and 30 Seconds To Mars, unsigned bands thrown in here and there. The money the concert got for every single ticket would go to some charity or other, so it was all for a good cause.

Would Frank have called by Wednesay? If he hadn't, it would make things so awkward, maybe Ethan would pick up that there was something going on between them. But then again, if Frank had called, she would soon know where everything stood and would have a great time at the concert.

She released her breath.

"I'll think about it," she smiled.

October spent the rest of the day moping around school, feeling glum that Frank hadn't spoken to her yet, and then had Hazel and Joshi over for pizza and chit-chat.

"Will you stop looking at that thing," Hazel spoke as she caught October stealing yet another glance from her cell phone, "He'll call when he's ready."

October groaned in frustration and grabbed a slice of pepperoni. The three friends sat on her bedroom floor in a triangle, Mindless Self Indulgence playing softly in the background.

"Ooh, I almsot forgot!" cried Joshi and reached behind him to grab his bag, pulling out a glossy magazine.

"Since when did you read OK!?" October asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Come on, you know I like a bit of gossip," he replied, waggling his eyebrows, "Seeing celebrities go downhill is amusing."

"Fair enough," Hazel shrugged and took a bite from her pizza slice.

Joshi flicked through the shiny pages until he landed on the one he wanted, and held it up for the girls to see. "Look!"

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Hazel as October gasped and grabbed the magazine.

The double page was filled with photographs of actors, singers, models, all out and about in their favourite places, snapped out of the blue as they went about their business, but the girls weren't interested in any of them except one.

In the picture at the bottom right hand corner was Frank and October on the night of the Prom, walking together down a dark street, smiles on both their faces as they seemed to be looking down at the 'Happy Feet' underwear Frank had on over his jeans. There was a small box next to the picture with a couple of short paragraphs.

'MCR's guitarist Frank Iero, 26, with daughter of Rock Star Billie Joe Armstrong, October, 17, hanging in Hyde, Hollywood.

God knows why he's wearing boxer briefs over his jeans, but it seems to be a private joke between the two. My sources tell me they have been friends since MCR moved to LA to work on the new album, and apparently are not romantically linked. But do my eyes decieve me or are they looking like a very cute couple?'

"Dude, why am I in a fucking OK! magazine?" October questionned aloud.

"That's what the paparazzi are like," Joshi answered with a smirk, "They see a juicy couple, snap it, send it off and get money."

"Yeah, I know but, like... I'm no one really important, and we're not even a couple!"

"Yet," Hazel added.

"OK! seem to think you look like a couple," shrugged Joshi, "And you are the daughter of a Rock God."

"Oh, man," sighed October, "Do you think Frank's seen this?"

"You'll soon find out when he calls," grinned Hazel.

October let out another groan of frustration. "When will that be?" she whined, handing the magazine back to her male friend, "I mean, who kisses you and then doesn't have the decency to call?"

"Maybe he can't make up his mind about what to do," Hazel replied sadly.

"Look, October, men are like elastic bands," Joshi said as he put the mag away.

The girls looked at him like he had just grown another head.

Hazel swallowed a mouthful of pizza and said, "Care to explain?"

"Well, they like to feel close," the blonde boy began to dictate, "But after a bit of being close they have to stretch and get far away...? And you have to let them, but then they come springing back."

"Interesting," October said slowly, grabbing another slice of pizza, "So, I need something that will spring Frank back?"

"Exactly," shrugged Joshi and grabbed a slice for himself.

"Okay... so, I need a plan."

"Thinking skills needed," Hazel spoke, frowning in thought.

The three of them sat in silence for a few moments, munching on their cheesy food, when October suddenly gasped.

"I've got it!"

On Wednesday evening, October sat at the bar in the VIP area of 'In It For The Money' with Ethan after just watching 30 Seconds To Mars finish their set. They were pretty good, seemed to have a huge fanbase, as did My Chemical Romance, who were indeed up next.

Frank still hadn't called.

This meant that October's plan was to go ahead. To begin, she would accept Ethan's invitation to the concert, which had been done, as she needed him for the plan. It involved two parts.

Firstly, she had to prove to Frank that she was sophisticated and grown up, that was the first bit. Secondly, she must be distant and play 'hard to get', that was the second bit. The conclusion was that Frank would get extremely jealous and would soon come springing back like an elastic band, and October would be irresistable to him.

The jealousy part seemed to be working as October caught Frank looking over from the side of the stage as she laughed at Ethan's joke. He made it look asthough he was fiddling with his guitar, but his eyes were sure as hell fixed on the two of them.

October placed a hand on Ethan's arm and said, "You're so funny, Ethan," rubbing it in just a little more.

The pair's laughter subsided and Ethan took a sip from his soda, before looking back to her. "You look really gorgeous tonight, October," he said.

She wore a jean shirt around two inches above the knee with fish nets and normal Doctor Martens, a leopard print strap top in black and white. Her hair was straightened and parted right over to the side with maroon-red nails and usual dark eyes. Ethan looked great in his denim jeans and dazzling white shirt with black pencil tie, and Converse.

"Thanks," October grinned, "You look, uh, pretty too."

He smirked and ran his left hand through his hair, messing it up more than it already was.

"Thanks," he said with false shyness, "I tried really hard."

They both laughed again and Hazel came over with Ben in tow, the two of them red faced.

"Man, it's hot in that pit," Hazel exhaled, plumping herself down on the stool next to October.

The VIP tickets meant that the four of them were VIPs, and therefore straight away meant they were in the Golden Circle for the entire show. The Golden Circle was a barriered off half circle in front of the stage that held a maximum of one hundred people, while the rest of the audience were to stand behind it. So the circle was basically the best place to be.

The lights dimmed and screams filled the small venue, causing the four friend's heads to turn towards the pitch black stage. Smoke started appearing as some creepy music began to play, obviously just a soundtrack. Soon rays of white light beamed down onto the five figures behind their instruments, shouts and yells flying from the crowd on the floor in front of them, and then in the centre Gerard spoke into his microphone.

"Let me hear you scream for me, LA!"

Everyone went wild, the peircing screams making the front man grin.

"That's what I'm talkin' about," he nodded and took a couple sips from his Red Bull, his jet black hair sat messily on his shoulders.

He went and placed the almost empty plastic cup on Bob's seperate drum platform and headed back over to the mic, queing the bands first song.

"Now I know... that I can't make you stay... but where's your heart? But where's your heart? But where's your...? And I KNOW..."

"Come on!" Ben yelled to the other three at the bar, grabbing Hazel's hand and leading the way back to the Golden Circle.

"To change that part... TO CHANGE...!"

The whole floor was going crazy by this point, punching their fists in the air, dancing and moving to the music My Chemical Romance blasted out to them.

"So many bright lights, they cast a shadow..."

Frank, stood on the left hand side of the stage behind his own microphone, looked up from changing chords on his white Gibson and into the bouncing swarm of people as Gerard continued to sing away to 'Famous Last Words'. His hazel eyes scanned the front part of the crowd that, in the floor plan, was known as the 'Golden Circle', and landed on the familiar four people dancing at the back of it, on the right.

They were close enough for the guitarist to see, and October could deffinately see him, as she and Ethan moved to the music opposite each other, their fingers entwined. She repeated to steal glances from Frank with a smirk as she continued to rub in the fact she was having a good time with Ethan.

Frank only looked on, envy clearly written across his face, and tried his best to concentrate on what he was doing. He looked away, telling himself he had a job to do, but throughout the eight songs the band played, he couldn't help but sneak glimpses at the teenage girl with his cousin.

Once MCR had closed the show, ending the concert, the band headed out the back towards their van. Frank came out the exit in a light jacket with his hands shoved in his pants pockets, and looked out at the clear night, sighing to himself quietly. He spotted, not far away, October and Ethan parading down the road, chattering happily amoungst themselves.

"Hey there, little guy," came a voice from behind, startling him a tad.

Frank looked at Gerard, grinning next to him.

"Great show, huh?" he said.

Frank shrugged and peeped back over to the teenage pair. "Not really," he replied, watching as Ethan placed his jacket over October's shoulders.

Gerard frowned and exhaled lightly. "What's wrong, man?" he asked his fellow bandmate, "You've been dreary all through tonight."

"Nothing... I think I might be coming down with a cold or something," Frank lied.

The front man moved his eyes over to where Frank's own were focused, and soon realised this had something to do with the young girl.

"I was just going to say hi to Ethan, and..." Frank trailed off.

Gerard nodded as he looked back at his friend, "Cool, but make it quick 'cause everyone's coming back to mine." He watched as Frank watched the pair walking away from the venue, seeing their cheery faces.

"Forget it," he mumbled and followed behind to the van.

Reaching her front path, October stopped and turned to Ethan.

"Thanks, Ethan," she said, handing him back his jacket, "I had a nice time, it was fun."

He replied with, "It was one of the best nights I've had in... well, forever."

Her eyebrows raised at him, and he only smirked back at her.

"I just want you to know..." he started, "I really... I really like you."

October smiled nervously, not knowing what else to do, but it quickly faded when Ethan leaned in. She moved her head to the side out of instinct, so his awaiting lips pressed against her cheek instead of meeting her own.

"Thanks again, Ethan," she said, her voice rattling, guilt surging through her entire body, "Goodnight."

"See you soon... beautiful."

And that was that. He turned and began strolling back the way they had just come, his jacket loosely in his grip. Just one word was going through October's brain at that point.

Fuck.