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

"Frank, come on," I coaxed, motioning him forward as he hesitantly took baby steps behind me. His nervous gaze kept jumping around as he licked his lips.

"How can I face them?" he asked, pausing to swallow. "I've lied to their faces all tour long…and you too. I shouldn't be talking to any of you."

"Quit being such a drama queen," I insisted, stepping back to him with a reassuring smile. "They're your friends, and so am I. We're not going to leave you on the side of the road somewhere. It'd be too much trouble to get another guitarist."

Frank clicked his tongue and shoved me playfully as I laughed, noticing a small grin on his face. I wrapped my fingers around his arm and began moving, willing him to move closer to the elevator. He reluctantly complied, walking a little faster. I pressed the button to head down, Frank keeping his head down. It arrived quickly and we stepped on, letting the doors shut us in, then I pressed floor one, our destination. I watched Frank's discomfort quickly rise by the milliseconds as he rapidly tapped his fingers on the rail, until he finally looked up with a frown.

"I can't do this," he declared, reaching forward to press a different floor button. I quickly grasped his arm to intercept him.

"What are you doing?" I asked, keeping hold of arm as he struggled against me.

"I can't do this!" he persisted, trying to stretch around me with his other arm. I strategically moved to block him to which he desperately tried to maneuver around, but I kept getting in his way. After a few more seconds of struggling, he gave in with a sigh.

"Okay, fine, fine," he muttered, dropping his arms to his side. I smiled in accomplishment, looking up at him with a nod. Suddenly, he quickly shoved his arm forward toward the buttons, catching my off guard. My reflexes kicked in and got his hand at the last minute, which unfortunately caused my elbow to hit the red, emergency button.

"Now look what you went and did," I accused, looking up as the elevator abruptly stopped, the lights dimming.

"Me? That was you," he blamed, pointing at me. He was technically right, but I wasn't going to admit it. I turned my attention back to the rows of buttons, examining them. Cautiously, I pressed the red button again, Frank looming over my shoulder in curiosity. A smile lit up on my face when the elevator shifted and let the lights shine fully again, continuing its path. He huffed and crossed his arms, clenching his jaw.

"Are you done?" I asked after a few seconds, crossing my own arms. Instead of answering, he looked past me sullenly, sticking his bottom lip out slightly. He wasn't a happy camper.

Unexpectedly, the elevator stopped at floor 3 and the doors opened, revealing a middle aged couple who stepped aboard with a quick smile. Frank stealthily slunk around me as I was distracted by the two and attempted to run for it. I saw him out of the corner of my eye and latched onto him, pulling as he attempted escape.

"Frank-" I addressed, having trouble restraining him in the doorway as he clambered about trying to get out of my hold. "Stop it!"

"They all hate me!" he whined.

"You're being overdramatic." I readjusted my grip as the man who had gotten on cleared his throat, making us both freeze. Frank and I glanced to him innocently as his eyebrow rose, silently questioning us.

"Is this going to take long?" he queried, scratching his head. "Because we'll just take another lift."

"No," I answered through gritted teeth, taking the opportunity to shove Frank back inside, quickly slapping the button to close the door. "It's not."

As a last attempt, Frank held his arm out to set the elevator off course, but I slapped his it down. He sighed heavily then leaned against the corner, sulking to himself, his eyes fixed on the numbers above the doors. He looked miserable as floor 2 lit up, reminding me of a child in the dentist office waiting room. Finally, the 1 turned white and the doors slid open, allowing the couple to get off while Frank and I stayed.

"Come on," I cooed nicely, grabbing his hands to lead him, only he didn't move. He just stared at me with his bottom lip stuck out. I took a breath then retracted my hands. "Frank, I can't believe you don't want to talk to your own friends. They're worried sick."

"I've lied to them so many times, why do they still want me to be?"

"Never doubt the power of the English language and its abilities," I assured, half smiling. "Just talk to them."

"Okay," he mumbled, pushing off from the wall. We walked silently, me looking around for any sight of the guys. Conveniently, Gerard chose that time to round the corner and almost run into us. His jaw dropped in disbelief as he stood there for a couple seconds.

"Frank!" he suddenly yelled in realization, throwing his arms around Frank, making me laugh. He pulled away with an astounded look that quickly turned into a frown before he punched Frank in the side of the head. "You dumbass."

"Ow!" he yelped, clapping a hand on the side of his head in pain with a shocked look.

"Do you not think?" Gerard reprimanded, emphasizing his words with his hands.

"Well I sure can't now, that fucking hurt Gerard!" Frank argued, rubbing the side of his head with a frown. I laughed to myself, earning me confused side glances from the two.

"You two are funny," I commented, biting my lip to try and stop my already forming smile.

"Julie, I did not hit him for your comedic amusement. I hit him because he's a dumbass," Gerard corrected, articulating his words so I could tell he meant it light heartedly.

"I am a wounded soul," Frank defended, holding a hand over his chest. "Don't talk to me like that."

Gerard suddenly looked down silently, licking his lips and blinking several times. He swallowed before mumbling, "I, uh- I'm sorry about Lauren. I had no idea."

"Yeah," Frank said with a glum half grin.

"How about we get all the guys together and talk about this that way everyone can hear the story?" I suggested, noticing it was still only Gee, Frank, and I. I didn't want Frank to pour his heart out...then do it all over again 'cause someone else wasn't present. The boys nodded in agreement so we set out for the main lobby to gather the others up.

--

"I never knew you were such a good councilor," Shelly complemented me, her eyes darting around the tour bus where everyone was gathered. I smiled in accomplishment, feeling proud of myself. From the hotel, we all congregated on the bus so that we wouldn't be even further behind the others bands than we already were. Shelly and I watched from the side as the band talked everything out, getting secrets out into the open, all with my aid of course.

"I didn't really know either," I admitted, nodding my head. I hate to brag, but without me prying into Frank's life, I don't think things would have worked out nearly as well as they were going.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you for some time now," Shelly whispered, with a mischievous look in her eye, "what's the deal with you two? And I want a true answer this time."

"Well," I stated, trying to fight off a smile. "I'm pretty sure he likes me."

"And you like him," she hinted slowly, raising her eyebrows then added quickly, "Although I don't know why, 'cause he's been an ass to you."

"What happened to you idolizing these people?"

"Oh, I still do," she assured, tucking a couple strands of hair behind her ear. "But I'm only being honest, like I've said before. I'm not going to hold back my opinion for the insanely hot and talented guitarist of my favorite band."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," I finalized, placing my list in my palm. I'd always valued Shelly's opinion because I knew she wouldn't hold anything back, so I was getting the whole truth from her.

"But really," she spoke softly again as they were still talking things over in the main portion of the room, "why haven't you and Frank gotten together? It's really obvious you two like each other."

"Because of Lauren," I answered gravely, looking to the ground. "He doesn't want to be with me until he can give 100%."

"Well that's admirable." She nodded her head, understanding.

"And here's my question for you," I said quickly before she could prod around anymore. "Why haven't you and little ol' Mikey gotten together?"

Her jaw dropped and she sputtered for a couple of seconds, trying to find an answer, and I simply laughed.

"Uncalled for," she declared, slapping my shoulder lightly.

"What?" I asked innocently, shrugging my shoulders, then continued, mocking, "He likes you and you like him."

"Says who?"

"Says your face."

"Is that supposed to be a come back?"

"No, no," I declined, waving my hand with a grin. "I've noticed your little glances and how you conveniently agree with every single thing he says lately."

"Julie, shut up," she commanded, trying to suppress a smile while I softly laughed. I hadn't realized how loud we'd gotten until I noticed the entire band looking at us silently with raised eyebrows.

"We're talking about serious matters over here," Frank informed sternly, though I could tell he really wasn't angry about it.

"So are we," Shelly argued playfully, making a face, causing Bob to click his tongue.

"Women," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"If your girlfriend were here, Bob, I don't know how well she'd take to that."

"Hey, fuck you, Mikey." Bob grabbed the pillow next to him and chunked it at Mikey, who dodged it with a snicker.

"So is everybody cool?" I asked cautiously since I hadn't really been listening to the entire hour the conversation had been going on. "It rather seems that way."

"How can you say that when he just threw a pillow at me?" Mikey objected, motioning towards Bob.

"That's how I know things are back normal." I nodded definitely, crossing my arms. And things really did seem that way. The guys were able to handle a joke- There seemed to be a tension eased from the room and life sparkled in their eyes where there was once dullness. I released a sigh of relief upon noticing this, ignoring Mikey's grumbled argument.

My eyes lingered on Frank and a smile grew simply by looking at him so relieved, unburdened by secrets and lies. We made eye contact and he shyly smiled gratefully that suddenly began dropping as his eyes focused behind me. I furrowed my eyebrows and twisted around curiously to see what caught his attention.

"Ah! A bee!" Frank suddenly screamed. My eyes widened in fear as I let out a short shriek, throwing myself around to try and spot the malicious insect. A look of horror spread across everyone's faces as they ducked, enlarged eyes frantically searching where Frank pointed.

"Oh wait, never mind," Frank said lightly, rising his eyebrows. "It's just a refrigerator."

"What the fuck, Frank?" Ray was the first to object, his jaw dropping in disbelief.

"It's an easy mistake," he defended halfheartedly, stepping to his feet and grabbing hold of an almost empty glass on the table beside him then swallowed the liquid remaining, "especially if you're thirsty."

"Hey, that was mine," Bob protested as he straightened up, sloppily pointing to Frank as he passed.

"I'm thirsty," he replied without turning around, on a direct path to the kitchen area.

"Is he taking any meds we don't know about?" Gerard whispered as he leaned toward me, his jaw slacked.

"No, I'm-" I was cut off by a sudden loud thump behind me where Frank was. I turned toward him in question, as well as the rest of the room, to which he stood there awkwardly with wide eyes.

"Don't look at me," he demanded in a harsh whisper, looking anxious. My jaw slowly dropped as I narrowed my eyes, wondering why he was acting so suspicious. I faced Gerard again, who looked just as weirded out. The five of us glanced around at each other, deciding just to shrug his weird behavior off. That he was just being...Frank. I ignored the few various noises that came from the kitchen as we lulled back into a conversation about what state we were in.

"Stop the bus!" Frank, now standing in the doorway of the main area, bellowed all of the sudden. The driver sat up in alert, looking in his rear view mirror with surprise, and slammed on the breaks, causing everyone to fall forward. Thankfully I landed on Gerard...who landed painfully on the floor.

"What's the problem?" the driver asked in panic over several muttered obscenities.

"I've gotta pee," Frank answered simply.

"Bathroom," Mikey stated, over exaggeratedly pointing down the hallway from the ground as he got up. "Right there."

"I'm self conscious," he said softly with a childlike smile.

"Since when have you been self conscious?" Gerard stressed, carefully making sure I was up comfortably.

"It can happen." With that, Frank dashed off the bus, leaving us in a whirlwind of confusion.

"You know, I'm starting to rethink my answer to that meds question," I said, scratching my head as I watched the door slam shut. I stood up and wandered to the window, peeking out at him to see what he was really doing.

"Ew, Julie, why are you looking?" Shelly teased, making me click my tongue impatiently. I saw Gerard walk up behind me inquisitively through the slight reflection on the window.

"What the hell is he doing?" Gerard mused, both of us now carefully watching Frank who, we silently decided, did not have to go to the bathroom. He was a little ways into the tall grass, treading around with his eyes on the ground. Soon, the whole group, including the bus driver, was gathered around the window, observing an unknowing Frank.

"What is he doing?" I whispered in immense confusion, my mouth hanging open. Frank kept repeating the process of glancing around on the ground, pausing, and then shaking his head. Finally, I grew impatient and stomped to the door, pushing it open, and heading to Frank. I scoffed when I noticed everyone still observing from the bus with interest, their faces pressed against the window in various places.

"Hey," I greeted, making my way to Frank, squinting in the afternoon light. He jumped in surprise then faced me with a strained smile.

"Julie!" he called, faking enthusiasm.

"Might I ask what you're doing?" I requested, tucking my hands behind my back while trying to see what he was hiding.

"Nothing," he sang nervously, taking a step to the right. "Might I ask what you're doing here?"

"Is that your fish?" I asked with rising concern, appalled, noticing something small and pale on the ground next to a hole.

"NO!" he practically yelled, moving closer to me to block my view. I quickly ducked around him and squatted to the ground to find poor little Meatloaf's limp body. Frank sharply took in a breath of air as I sent him a disapproving frown.

"What did you do?"

"Well- I-" he stuttered in attempt to explain, looking guilty, as I waited expectantly for an answer. He pursed his lips, running a hand through his hair. "You uh- Remember when I said I needed to get fish food at the mall yesterday? Well, I actually did need fish food, it wasn't just a ploy to hang out with you. And then...I kind of...forgot..."

"You bastard!"

"I know-"

"You realize this makes you a cruel and indecent murderer," I informed, crossing my arms, not happy in the least the way he neglected his pet. Even if it was a last minute decision to get, he still should have at least taken care of it.

"I know. It's all my fault and I feel horrible," he mumbled, drawing his eyebrows together. "I wanted to give it a proper funeral to make up for the shitty life I gave it."

"Well I guess that slightly makes up for it."

"I'm not used to taking care of fish," he admitted remorsefully with a pout. "The last one I had was when I was 7...and I killed that one, too."

I sighed and shook my head. I knew he meant well...but I couldn't believe he forgot to feed his own fish. Frank kneeled grimly to the ground and I leaned down next to him, watching as he carefully wrapped up the body to place in the ground. I held his hand apologetically, even if he had just held a dead fish.

"We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of my poor fish," Frank began solemnly, squeezing my hand. "Though he wasn't with us for long...and it was sort of my fault...I appreciated him."

I nodded my head appropriately, agreeing with Frank's words. He was a pretty fish and it was a shame he couldn't have developed the ability to survive without nutrition.

"Have anything you want to say?" Frank offered lackadaisically, both our head bowed in remembrance.

"He was a good fish," I stated, though it sounded more like a question since I didn't really know what else to say. He nodded just the same, and began shoveling dirt on top of the fish grave. Soon, the ground was patted even and we both looked at it in a daze.

"Well this sucks," Frank said the obvious, making me laugh a little despite the situation. "I can't believe I forgot to feed my own fish."

"Yeah, me either," I agreed, only making him sigh and probably feel worse. "...But you have had a hectic couple of weeks..." I attempted to make him feel better, but mumbled, "as well as the fish I'm sure."

"I would say let's get another..."

"I think," I cut off before that thought could manifest, "you should just leave the fish population alone."

"That's probably for the best," he agreed dully, pursing his lips again. "Man, you'd think I'd be a better pet owner since I've got dogs back home."

"You and fish just weren't meant to be," I stated. "I think I speak for fish in pet stores across the world when I say to just accept it."

"Yeah." He let go of my hand to push off from the ground to stand up, me following so shortly after. We began heading back to the bus slowly, Frank walking closely to me. "Hey don't tell anyone about this.”

Uh oh. More secrets were already forming.

"You know…one day you're going to forget who you've told what and you're going to get in a lot of trouble again."

"Well anything worthwhile I've been telling you, so I don't think it's that difficult to remember."

"I feel so honored." He shrugged with a tiny grin in reply as we stepped onto the bus, immediately being met by everyone's attention from the window they were still clumped at.

"Don't tell me you stopped the bus to observe the flowers," the bus driver said first, his eyebrows raised hesitantly.

"A little known fact is that the first occupation I wanted to be was a florist. Flowers have always held a special place in my heart."

"Frank, that's some bullshit," Bob declared, shoving Frank in the shoulder as he entered the room. Frank frowned to himself, rubbing his arm without argument (probably because he knew that it was bullshit) then collapsed on a chair.

"What?" Bob asked tentatively, eyeing Frank as everyone took their former positions around the room. "That's it?"

"I'm not in a very reactive mood," he explained, expressionless.

"Does that mean if I punch you, you won't do anything?" Mikey asked hopefully as a grin lit up on his face.

"Probably not," Frank answered, his voice still even and low. An eager Mikey leaned forward, his fist balled but stopped midway when Frank added, "But that doesn't mean I won't retaliate later."

A nervous laugh escaped Mikey's lips as he inched away from Frank, rethinking his original plot. A few minutes later, loud conversation started up as the bus headed off again, music now blasting in the background. It didn't help I was right next to the speaker, just like where I always wound up being when I watched them perform.

My eyebrows furrowed when I heard an odd noise. It sounded like a buzz and I knew it didn't go along with the music. I glanced around the room; Gerard was reading a book, though I couldn't imagine how with the deafening music; Shelly, Bob, Frank, and Mikey looked to be holding an stimulating conversation; Ray was searching through a CD case, stopping every now and then to correct the placement.

No one else heard it but me. Finally I traced the odd noise to the table next to me, more specifically a cell phone that I recognized to be Frank's. I opened my mouth to get Frank's attention, but as soon as I did, it stopped buzzing, leaving me with my mouth hanging open dumbly. I kept my eyes on the phone, interested, then picked it up to read the screen so I could tell him who called.

1 missed call
Unknown

Well that's awfully helpful.

Unexpectedly, the phone started buzzing again, startling me and making my grip loosen on the phone. I read the caller ID only to be met with 'Unknown' again. I raised my eyebrow, wondering if I should answer it since Frank was busy. I shrugged, figuring, what's the worst that could happen?

"Hello?" I greeted politely, plugging a finger in my ear to drown out the music.

"Is Frank there?" a woman on the other end snapped rudely.

"May I ask who’s calling?" I answered flatly, taken aback by her commanding tone. I heard a reply, but her words were muffled in the commanding music. "Uh- Could you repeat that?

"This is Lauren, who the hell is this?"