The Fear Of Falling Apart

-20-

Fin's POV

"We're over here." Tanith calls weakly as she slumps against the wall beside me. I look over to her in concern. I have no idea what just happened.

I know that was Diane, and I know she probably wants to take Tanith again. I still don't fully accept why she refuses to call the police.

Lucas would be able to come live with her. I mean, he would be totally welcomed.

The thing that scares me the most is what the two of them were talking about. Why were they saying that Tan was going to die?

She'd better not die. I won't let that happen.

Pete comes running around the corner, still yelling for us. As soon as he spots us, he runs over, dropping to his knees. "Oh my god, oh my god-" he repeats, looking us over.

"We're okay." Tan reassures him as Patrick rounds the corner, followed by Tyler and Josh.

"Oh my gosh what happened?!" Patrick splutters, clearly out of breath from chasing after Pete.

I look to the people around me with a blank face. I don't know what happened.

"We saw...her." Tanith says quietly.

The shock registers, and suddenly Pete's hugging both of us tightly.
I hug him back, glancing over to Tyler, Josh and Patrick. Tyler looks shattered. There's no other word for it, the despair on his face just says so much.

"I'm sorry." Tan whispers as she buries her head in Pete's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

---

The studio has become one of my favourite places in the world.

Working on Danger Days has been the only thing that I've put any effort into as of late. School work just doesn't compare anymore.

It's all in the studio now. We stopped meeting at Gerard's house and moved everything permanently into its new home.

I'm always in there with the band now. It doesn't matter if they're writing or recording or working on the concept, it's just better then being anywhere else. Tanith's been here a lot, too. She's started coming along even if it's just concept that we're working on.

It's just a really nice place to be. Frank keeps the fridge stocked with alcohol and soft drink at all times, and Ray has proven to always bring snacks if we text him.

Brendon was undoubtedly pissed at Tanith for sneaking out, but he didn't ban her from coming to the studio. So at least we can still work on the album.

"I'm thinking this Wednesday." Gerard says, half to the four of us in the studio and half to himself a he watches Tanith drum her part for the third time. Frank and Mikey ignore him and continue to focus on the drumming track, headphones firmly on their ears.

"What's this Wednesday?" I ask, glancing up from my sketch.

He turns fully to me and smiles a toothy smile. "We're filming the video for NaNa. And I mean all of us. Text Pete and tell him you're missing classes."

I scramble to pull my phone out of my bag, dropping my pencil over the drawing in the process. As I tap my message into the device, Gerard carefully picks up my sketchbook and examines what I was just working on.

"Tha-that's not finished." I tell him, looking up suddenly, my phone still between my hands.

He seems to ignore my statement. "I love this." He says warmly. "This is my favourite one so far."