So...Who Are You Again? My Chemical Romance? Never Heard of You.

Gerard led me to a small side room down the hall where we stood as I waited for him to say something. I let my mind wonder back to the fight- The two looked so angry with each other. Now looking upon Gerard's face, I hardly believed he could look so vicious. He now looked more worried than anything.

"Why were you crying, Julie?" he finally spoke, shifting a step closer to me. "What did he do?"

"It wasn't Frank's fault that I was upset," I told him, looking down at our shoes. He had much bigger feet than me I noticed, but that was neither here nor there.

"I bet it was somehow," Gerard insisted, crossing his arms as he bitterly cast a glance down the hallway.

"Well sort of," I admitted slowly, making his eyes go wide, then added quickly, "but it wasn't intentional."

"But it was still his fault." Gerard narrowed his eyes, growling, "I'm going to kill him."

"Gerard, he's your best friend," I reminded with a sigh before anything could start. He scoffed as if saying that wasn't a good enough excuse.

"Then he won't be suspicious."

"Well after that I wouldn't be so sure," I said motioning back to the lobby. "Why'd you freak out, anyway?"

"I don't know," he answered loudly, keeping his mouth open as he raised his shoulders. "I was waiting for you guys to get back and I saw that you were crying and I just lost it."

"And why'd you automatically think it was Frank's fault?" I interrogated, all of the sudden feeling defensive. "Why were you so against him?"

Gerard looked taken aback by my sudden ferocity, his wide eyes searching my face for an answer. I probably shouldn't have snapped at him, but I was disappointed at what he assumed. His expression slowly transformed into a sad one, looking to be going through an internal conflict. He finally mumbled, "Do you like him, Julie?"

He took me by surprise this time when he said this. Even though I knew what the answer should be, I couldn't bring myself to say it, or anything for that matter. I just stood there, searching for words to a one worded answer. His face grew somber as I stalled to answer.

"No," I finally said, not sure if I meant it anymore.

"It doesn't take that long to come up with just a no," Gerard whispered, looking down. He visibly looked hurt and I hated seeing him like that. I felt I should ask what was wrong, but there was no point since I already knew the answer thanks to Shelly.

"Look, Gerard-" I started uncomfortably, trying to veer away from the subject. I really wasn't in the mood, despite how selfish that may sound.

"Don't get too attached to him," he cut me off sternly, now looking me dead in the eyes. He elaborated before I even asked. "I've noticed you and Frank have been...mighty close lately, and I really don't know why. But I don't want you getting hurt, so don’t get too close."

"Gerard, what are you talking about?" I asked austerely, growing annoyed. I personally blame my recent horrible sleep pattern. "Are you trying to tell me not to be friends with him?"

"I'm trying to tell you to be careful," he said calmly, drawing his eyebrows together. He reminded me of an older brother scolding his little sister about some guy who didn't meet standards.

"I don't like him," I repeated, feeling it necessary to point out again, even though it was slightly out of context.

"And I can only hope you're telling the truth." He smiled meekly before wrapping his arm around my shoulder to squeeze me into a sideways hug. We shared a silent moment where all the anger threatening to build up had dissipated and Gerard seemed to be back in his normal state of mind...whatever that was.

"Now come say sorry to Frank," I said suddenly, tapping his collar bone with my fingers. When I pulled away, he gave me a doubtful look.

"Julie, guys don't apologize," he informed, bowing his head in disbelief.

"How do you possibly keep friends?"

"My good looks and charming personality," he answered narcissistically, raising a shoulder and flashing a pageant smile.

"You can cut the crap- This isn't The Dating Show," I remarked, making him take in a sharp intake of air.

"That hurt, Julie," Gerard replied curtly, touching his heart with a fake offended look.

"Well now that you've been brought down from your high horse, let’s go talk to Frank," I persisted, grabbing his sleeve and pulling in hopes that he'd follow.

"What is with you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, side glancing at him unsurely

"You keep talking about him," he said frowning. "Even when we first met, you were obsessed with talking to him. You just keep bringing him up.”

"No I haven't," I refused, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Yeah you have.”

"Why does it matter to you so much?" I asked then added sorely, “And no I haven't."

"It just annoys me." He crossed his arms and looked away pouting.

"Well you don't need to be annoyed because I don't always talk about him."

"Yes you do," he mumbled stubbornly. I glared at him, refusing to continue the argument. We stood at a stalemate for a couple of seconds, the conversation taking a terrible turn again. He finally clicked his tongue then reluctantly snapped, "It just makes me angry that all your attention is on him, okay?"

So he was jealous; how cute.

"You're just making a big deal out of nothing," I assured serenely, nudging him with my shoulder, trying to convince him of his paranoia. But before I could take a step away, he grabbed my hand to stop me. I quickly looked up at him in surprise and he gazed back into my eyes shyly. I stood frozen, unable to move my body as he took a step closer, never breaking eye contact.

"Maybe you're right," Gerard whispered slowly. He lightly bit his lip after tightening his hand's grip around mine, running a thumb over my knuckles gently. My eyes were still wide when he delicately placed his other hand along my jaw line.

"Gerard, I- you- I- " I choked out, silently cursing myself for becoming too bewildered to even tell him he had the wrong idea. I didn't have the chance to finish my poorly developed sentence before he closed the gap between us, kissing me softly.

A loud cough suddenly pulled him away, and we both looked like deer caught in headlights while finding the source of the noise. I wanted to disappear on the spot when I saw Frank and Shelly, both looking less than thrilled. Of all the seconds they could have shown up, they had to pick that particular one. Furthermore, why did those particular two have to see us?

"It's time to start packing up," Frank informed in a low voice through gritted teeth, glaring at Gerard. Shelly didn't say a word as she stood with her arms crossed, glowering murderously at me.

"R-Right," Gerard stuttered, then stepped awkwardly away from me. He flashed a quick smile to me, swallowing nervously, then shakily left the room. Frank's eyes bore into Gerard every step he took, before he followed without a second glance at me.

I continued standing, embarrassed, and I could feel Shelly's eyes piercing into me as she pursed her lips.

"That wasn't-" I began, squeezing my eyes shut, as if it would make everything go away.

"No," Shelly cut off. "You don't get to talk because all you're going to do is lie again. You told me you didn't like him, and you told me you'd stay away from him."

"I was telling the truth," I defended.

"You and I must have a different idea of those concepts then," she replied bitterly.

"Look let me explain," I requested, taking a few steps toward her. She raised her hands as she backed away.

"I think I saw all the explanation I needed."

I watched her leave, but didn’t follow. I knew it would take awhile in order for her to allow me to explain myself...But I wanted to tell her then. I wanted to tell her that I didn't feel anything when Gerard kissed me, but yes, I was secretly curious what it would be like. I wanted to tell her I felt more by simply touching Frank's hand. I wanted to tell her that I had lied, but not to her. I had lied to Gerard. I think I might have lied to him about how I felt about Frank because I realized he was right- It didn't take that long to come up with just a no.

--

Back upstairs, I sat alone on the bed thinking over life in general. How did things get to be so complicated in a time span of over a little two weeks? Shelly and I were from a small town in Rhode Island, so nothing really big or scandalous ever happened. Neither of us knew how to handle this.

A knock on the door made me jump. I quickly hopped up to answer it and found Mikey, who entered the room without even asking.

"You know how to shake things up," he commented, taking a seat on the couch.

"Did someone tell you what happened?" I questioned, abandoning the door.

"Well I figured it out from the bits and pieces that were yelled at or near me from various people." I let out a sigh before resuming my seat on the bed.

"I really wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Mikey continued lightly, shrugging indifferently.

"What's not to worry about?" I asked hysterically, but he simply continued watching, calm and almost uninterested. "Shelly has an unhealthy obsession with Gerard, and I told her that I'd stay away from him so she could have her shot, but he went and kissed me and I was too stupid to just walk away. Now Frank is still mad at Gerard from their fight earlier and I know Shelly's pissed off at me and she won't even talk to me so I can tell her it was an accident. That I don't like Gerard- I like someone else here."

"Woah, I didn't hear that part from them!" Mikey's eyes bulged as he bolted up in surprise, contrasting his lazy posture throughout my breakdown. I slapped my hands over my mouth but there was no point; the damage was already done. I stood up and shook my head, rapidly waving my hands.

"You didn't hear that," I commanded, trying to calm down Mikey's persistent giggles. He stood up, biting his lip, bobbing up and down.

"Who is it?" Mikey asked excitedly. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. Who is it?"

"George," I answered the first thing that popped into my head, remembering what the driver called Frank earlier. Mikey stopped moving and scrunched his face up.

"That was anti-climactic," he said, disappointed. "Who the fuck is George?"

"A roadie," I lied and he shrugged. I silently hoped that Mikey wouldn't interrogate the matter, only to find that George the roadie didn't exist. Or worse- he did.

"Well, I hope that uh- Works out," Mikey said awkwardly.

"Kay," I replied, my eyes still wide because I couldn't believe he bought it. I was normally not the great with lies, but I remembered Gerard had accepted my lie that I had gotten lost, except I had really been talking to Frank. Either the Way family was really gullible, or I'd gotten better at telling lies.

"But really, I wouldn't worry about it," he continued, looking at me with an empathetic smile. "Gerard and Frank have always been drama queens. They like to think they're not, but there hasn't been one tour that didn't have one of them yelling about something at least once."

"But that still leaves Shelly," I mumbled with a frown.

"Well you're really good friends, right? Your kind has strange ways of working things out."

"My kind?" I repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Women," he elaborated then cocked his head. "Women are weird...and for some reason always fighting over Gerard. But you'll work it out because I'll be there to help." He grinned broadly, pointing a thumb toward himself.

"Well thank you, Mikey," I said with a smile, actually believing his words.

"But that means you've gotta help me," he added quickly, flopping back onto the couch. My smile was replaced by worry; uh-oh.

I watched him pull a big white bag into view and place it on the table. My jaw dropped when I looked at the contents inside the top Mikey pulled apart. Mounds and mounds of different candy bars sat inside.

"Holy shit, Mikey," I whispered, staring in amazement.

"You said that Shelly liked candy," Mikey said, "but I didn't know which one to get, so I bought all of them. Do you think it's enough?"

"Enough for what, exactly? An all out attack on her dental bill?" He shrugged, not fazed at all. I took a breath then continued with a smile, "Yeah, I think it's enough."

"While she's swooning at my chivalry, you can talk to Gerard. Then you can talk to Shelly because she probably won't be as mad at you anymore. Everybody wins and it's all thanks to Mikey!" He clapped merrily with a smile spread from ear to ear. I blinked in surprise- He actually had a good plan. I could only hope it worked, though.

“Wait, what about Frank?” I realized, making his smile disappear. He blinked a couple of times before shrugging.

“He doesn’t count.”

I had a hard time believing Frank would just sit there through all of this. But there was no use defying Mikey- He had already won in his mind.

--

There was obvious tension on the bus when Mikey and I showed up. Frank and Gerard sat on opposite corners of the room and Shelly sat in the middle between them, frowning forward. All three glanced toward us as we stepped on, but only Gerard's eyes lingered on me. I tried to ignore the tiny smile that formed on his face.

I continued standing near the doorway, leaning on the counter that separated the kitchen and the stairs out. Bob and Ray stood on the other side of me in the kitchen area, sensing the argument they no doubt didn’t want to be part of. Mikey, however, continued into the room fearlessly and made himself comfortable on the other side of the couch Shelly was on. Everyone stood their ground for the couple minutes of silence preceding our departure.

"Why's there a fish here?" Ray asked suddenly, bending down so his eye-level was with the twittering fish sitting on the kitchen counter that Frank and I got. Gerard's head snapped toward Ray and his eyes widened when he spotted the beta.

"Oh, that's my fish," Frank answered distractedly. "I got him a couple weeks ago."

"You weren't lying," Gerard whispered, an eye twitching. He glanced toward Frank, genuinely surprised.

"I know," Frank replied smugly, crossing his arms.

"What's its name?" Bob hoisted himself onto the counter to sit, watching Frank's pet. Frank's spiteful smirk disappeared and his eyes grew big. I silently began freaking out- We had gone through too much to be found out now.

"Meatloaf," Frank stated, staring forward blankly with his hazel eyes still wide. I nearly choked on my drink I'd gotten when he said this, not expecting something so...obscure. Gerard immediately jumped up and patted me on the back, lightly touching my shoulder with his other hand.

"I'm fine," I breathed out between coughs, setting my drink down. I placed a hand on my collar bone, hoping to stop the coughing, taking several steps away from Gerard. He still looked concerned, but I held an arm out and repeated, "I'm fine."

I spared a quick glance out of the corner of my eye toward Shelly and noticed her face grow sour. I sighed helplessly then made eye contact with Mikey. It was time to start damage control.