It had been two weeks and Lily hadn't come back. Mikey would go over to her house if he wanted to see her. She hasn't stepped foot into our house in two whole weeks. Our manager had told us that we needed to resume touring now that our album had come out. We'd be leaving in two days and the tour would be going on for a little less than two more months. We'd be home by Christmas. Taylor had already announced that they wouldn't be joining us for the rest. I'd be leaving Lily. Not that she'd miss me. I'll sure as hell miss her though. I'm sure Mikey will too.
One of the biggest brightsides to this tour is that I'd be away from Lindsey for two months. I still haven't found the guts to break up with her.
"I'm gonna miss you," she said, snapping me out of my thoughts again. This is the last day I was allowed to see her because the others said we needed the last day before tour to ourselves. I think that was just an excuse to get rid of Lindsey, but I didn't mind. I didn't exactly want her here either.
"I'll miss you too," I said quietly. That was a lie.
"Gerard, Lindsey, wrap it up! We have to meet with our manager in an hour!" I heard Ray shout down to the basement from upstairs.
"I guess this is it," she said sadly. I faked sadness.
"Guess so," I said. She hugged me and I hesitantly hugged her back. She placed a kiss to my lips. I kissed back even though it didn't feel right. There were no sparks.
"Bye babe," she said, then she left. I heard the front door open and close and I assumed she was gone. She didn't seem sad that I was leaving. Then again, I wouldn't miss her either. We're even.
I went upstairs to the living room with the guys. They were all dressed and ready and seemed to be waiting for me.
I spaced out throughout the entire meeting. I was still thinking about Lily. Tour isn't going to be the same without her. I wondered who our new merch girl would be. No merch girl would be as good at her job as Lily was. I also wondered what band we'd get to replace The Pretty Reckless since they had cancelled on us.
"Who will be our opening band?" I asked aloud.
"We'll let you know tomorrow when the flyers come in," our manager said. I sighed. I'm sure none of them would be as fun as The Pretty Reckless, because none of them would be touring with Lily.
We signed the contract and then went home to finish packing. Tomorrow was the last day before tour. We had to make sure everything was ready today so that the only thing we'd have to do tomorrow is double-check.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The last two days before tour went by really fast. We had packed everything up and now the bus would be here in just a few minutes to pick us up. I had just finished saying goodbye to my mom and dad. So had Mikey. The doorbell rang and I wondered who it was. Once I saw Mikey hugging somebody, I knew exactly who it was. It was Lily and the girls. They had come to say goodbye to everybody but me.
"Lily," Ray said happily. "It's been a while. What's up?" he asked.
"Not much. I've been laying in bed a lot lately," she laughed that adorable laugh of hers. "It's nice to have the time off though. No tours for me for a while," she said.
She hadn't even glanced in my direction. I felt like crying already. "Sounds great to me. I'm already missing the time off," Ray laughed. It was nice to see her doing well enough to make small talk like this.
Jamia and Frank had already said their goodbyes. They shared a long kiss and she started crying. Hayley and Taylor came in and said a quick goodbye to the guys. None of them looked at me.
Lily went through the group, hugging everybody goodbye. The last person she went to was Mikey. "I'm gonna miss you," he said sadly.
"It'll be okay, Mikester. It's only two months," she said as she hugged him tightly. She gave him a friendly peck on the cheek and ruffled his hair as she pulled away from the hug. "You're gonna kick ass, right? You don't need me there," she reassured him. He smiled sadly. "Make sure you all call me whenever you can, okay?" Lily said to the entire group.
The girls said goodbye to everybody, then they left because Jamia was in hysterics. Lily stayed behind for a little while. She hugged Ray, Frank and Mikey individually once more and whispered something to all three of them. Once she was done, she looked at me and we made eye contact. She looked like she was about to say something, but she just closed her eyes, sighed and turned around to leave. I felt like crying as I watched her walk away. I wanted to stop her, but there was nothing I could say that would make her forgive me. I didn't want to hurt her anymore. Just like that, she was gone, and my heart broke. Even with the entire band here, the room felt empty. I love her and she's moving on. All I wanted to do was run after her and tell her that I love her; or at least say goodbye, but I didn't want her to forgive me. She deserves better.
Lily left and the bus arrived soon after. Just before the bus arrived though, Ray silently handed me a flyer for the tour. I wanted to scream at what I read. At least I finally knew who our opening act was. That was really the only brightside to this entire situation.
"My Chemical Romance and Mindless Self Indulgence."
That's Lindsey's band.
Lily went away, and I was sure she'd never be back to me. Now it's time for me to take a different path; a path that involved touring with my girlfriend, who I don't even love. Great.
