Ghost Rider

3; Shopping

Ghost's POV:
We take girls shopping, Ricky holding hands with Jess, but was distancing himself emotionally with her. You could feel the awkwardness in the air, boyfriend and girlfriend on their last straw, the man that loves him near, innocent friend to watch. It's depressing and cringy. It's like a bad movie, even Kylie notices, trying to distract us, taking us to Starbucks for some coffee before going to Hot Topic.

At Hot Topic, Ricky and I wear hoods, trying not to be recognized, burying ourselves in the band merch. Kylie looking at dresses, apparently 'needing one to the point of life or death,' which I assume means she has a date but I'll ask later. "Devin!" She calls me, "Coming, shh. Trying not to be bombarded remember?" I hiss at her, "Dress." She asks if I like it. It's simple and black with a skull crocheted on the back and fit her perfectly. "You look great." I nod, as she smiles hugging me. "Going to change, be right back!" She kisses my cheek going back in the dressing rooms.

"Girlfriend?" A girl about fifteen asks, "She's just a friend." I say before walking back over to Rick in the band t-shirt section. "So, friend as in crush but not happening or friend as in like a sister?" She follows. "Like a sister and can't you tell I don't want to talk?" I ask, frustrated. "Calm down, she's just curious." Ricky rubs my back comfortingly. "Which is fine, I just want some time away from all the attention." I grumble, "You a fan?" Ricky asks the girl. "Yeah, I don't fangirl though. I'm just like you said, curious."

Ricky's POV:

"Alesa." She smiles kindly. "Ricky, sorry about him, he's still not used to being recognized in public." I tell her. "It's understandable, you still with Jessica?" She asks. "Uh..." Before I could answer, Jess walks up, "Hey, Babe, who's this." She asks, cuddling her head against my shoulder, looking at her. "She's a fan, Alesa, Right?"

"Yeah." She nods. "Nice to meet you, I'm Jessica, Ricky's girlfriend." Jessica smiles, shaking her hand. "Have you found anything you want?" I ask Jess. "Nah, nothing looks good on me." She shakes her head. "I'm sure there's something. Keep looking." I tell her, kissing her cheek, I keep having to remind myself to flirt with her and act like I love her still. "I'm not Kylie, it's hard to find clothes, I have too wide of hips." She reminds me. "Babe, your perfect." I tell her. She is, gorgeous, kind, loving, I just don't feel anything anymore.

"Try that." I see a black lace dress with long sleeves. "Oh, that's pretty. Hey, Alesa, you mind helping me? Your tall, so you could reach it, I can't I'm too short." Jess asks for assistance as they walk off.

I walk over to Ghost, would was grabbing a Metallica shirt. "Sorry about earlier. I guess I need some Devin time and to leave Ghost behind for a bit." He says just loud enough to hear. "Understandable." I nod. "You've never felt suffocated have you? Under the persona that was your fame? I can barely breathe." He asks, he is stressed.

"Never from the fame, it doesn't bother me. My sister always had to know everything about me so I'm used to the prying. I have been stressed to my breaking point though. When I first joined the band, I left everything I knew. I'm from a rather large city in the Pacific Northwest, so you can imagine the culture shock. Chris helped me as much as he could but my smoking habits got worse, to the point everyone thought I was literally trying to kill myself. I wasn't, I love my life, I just needed a confort to keep me sane. You think I should stop all together but you should know, I've cut down a lot since then. I tried quitting when Jess and I got together, I can't I go insane. I get depressed, sucidal, everything else. So now I'm done ranting about my problems, I'd like to get back to my point," I chuckle from my rambling, "if there is anything I can get you that would help, I'll get you it." I offer.

"Thank you, that means a lot, and I'm sorry if I pressured you or anything with the smoking. I understand now, I just don't want you to die young. As for my stress levels, doing anything fun helps. Stupid stuff like mini golf, carnivals, haunted houses." He tells me, pulling me closer, "Kissing you..." He smiles, kissing me lightly, backing off after a second. "Sorry." He grumbles, walking away. "Come here..." I pull his arm back. "Why don't we let the girls to get their nails done and we can have some one on one time." I suggest, playing with my sleeves. "Sounds great." He smiles, going to bit the shirt he picked out earlier, leaving me to talk to the girls.

"Hey Babe, why don't you, Ky, and Alesa go treat yourselves with manicures or whatever they are called." I tell her, sliding some money in her pocket. "Ok, thanks but we haven't spent much time together today..." She complains. "We will, I promise." I whisper, kissing her jaw briefly, telling them goodbye, walking over to Devin.