Illuminated Silence

19

By the time they left the diner, it was almost 3am. The hours leading up to then had been pure bliss in a world full of stress and commotion, the two just talking about anything and everything, common interests and random shit altogether. It was fun while it lasted and they eventually had to break into the real world.

Stellar and Gerard stepped out into the cold New York night. The city took on a new allure at night, shadows dancing around the soft glow of the dim lights lining the streets edge, an array of more colorful lights adorning over buildings in the city. Gerard linked arms with her as they walked along the streets to no particular destination, just enjoying each others company and talking again about random topics.

"So Mr Way, do you do this often?"

Gerard smiled as he looked down at her. "What? Walk with a pretty girl?" She blushed, glad it was dark out. "Wander the streets at night." He looked out ahead of him, then up at the cloudy sky. "Mm, sometimes. I usually have trouble sleeping. Probably all the coffee," He chuckled.

"How about you? Do you often go wandering the streets of strange cities  with handsome companions?"

She punched him lightly in the arm. "Speak for yourself. I usually wake up at weird times and can't go back to sleep. Then again sometimes I can even sleep for days at a time," She went quiet. Gerard noticed this. "I get what you mean. I–I do that too. " He stuttered. She knew what he meant. He'd been in a bad place too.

She was about to reply when her arm was yanked harshly out of his grasp. He turned and looked at her wild eyed and panicky. "Stellar!"

She'd been pulled into a dark alleyway, Consumed by the foul stench of stale water and rotting trash. A vent hissed nearby with steam slithering out, fanned slightly with the rush of the wind as Gerard's converse slapped on the damp concrete. "Don't move."

Gerard stopped next to Stellar, sheilding her with his body as the gun aimed at them. This wasn't the first time he'd been held at gun point, and he sure hoped it'd be the last. "Hey man, just calm down okay? You can have our stuff yeah? I have like fifty bucks in my wallet. Here," He passed the bills to the offender, gun trained on his head. The man snatched it, in turn causing his sleeve to ride up slightly. Needle marks were visible all over his arm, indicating he must've been a junkie. Dangerous. Unpredictable. Desperate.

Stellar stepped out from under Gerard, she didn't want him to get hurt. After all, he had more to live for than she. Gerard tried to pull her back but she shrugged him off. She was going to do something stupid, but playing on the junkie being high, she hoped would work. She took all the courage she could muster and looked the crazed gunman in the eye, smiling evily and trying to look crazy herself. She shook her head and laughed aloud. "Stupid little mortals! They don't know what they're in for! What a pitiful species, weak and powerless against us," She flashed her teeth and heard Gerard mutter something from behind her. "Olivia dear, you should know better than to play with your food. He's just a human; You don't boast to a deer do you?"

The gunman looked at them both cautiously, hands shaking slightly. "What the fuck are you two on about?"

She ignored him. "Oh but Hector! Its so much more fun! To hear their pathetic little hearts race in fear as you advance toward them-mmm- it just makes finally eating them that much more satisfying! " The man was now fully shaking, eyes blinking at them wildly. It seemed to be working. She finally met his eyes. "Tell you what human, I'll give you five seconds-no, ten- to escape now and try and outrun us. I do love the thrill of the chase, don't you Gerard?" He nodded. "Now go human. Before I change my mind and kill you here instead." The man hesitated but sprinted fast out of the alleyway on second thought. Stellar let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and collapsed against Gerard, shaking. "Jesus Stellar! What were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed?" She sighed against his chest as he hugged her tightly, as much for his own benefit as hers. "It worked didn't it? And you got to keep your money,"

He laughed humourlessly. "I suppose. I can't believe you used a line out of a movie though. Your lucky I knew it," She nodded as they pulled apart, still clinging to each other. "Cmon, I wanna get out of here before that guy comes back and realizes we played him. I'll call a cab." He said. Luckily their was no shortage of cabs in NYC, so they didn't have to wait long for one to show up. They piled inside and took a relieved breath. After a few moments the taxi driver asked where their destination was. Gerard looked down at Stellar to ask what her hotel was, but found her asleep, slumped against him. He sighed and stroked her head, giving the directions to his hotel.

It had been a long night.

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Sun filtered lightly into the near darkness of the unfamiliar hotel room, strips of the narrow light falling across the room like a knife through butter. Somewhere near her head, the gentle beep beep of Stellars phone buzzed near her head. She let out a deep breath, groaning slightly as she felt blindly for it to no avail. She cracked open her aching eyes, jumping slightly at the sight across from her.

Gerard slept peacefully across from her, raven hair falling into his angular face, skimming his long matching eyelashes. His lips lay slightly parted, breath gently fanning other stray strands. And those eyebrows, they were to die for .He was truly an angelic sight to behold. Perfection, She thought. "If you like staring, you'd probably do well with a picture,"

She snapped out of her daze to meet his now open hazel eyes, flecks of green, gold and amber visible up close. Her face turned pink. "How did I get here?" He rubbed his eyes. "You fell asleep on me in the cab and I didn't want to wake you, so I just brought you back here. Hope you don't mind. "

In a way she did kind of mind, after all she'd only met him yesterday. But she wasn't about to tell him that. "Nah its fine. Thank you, by the way." He smiled tiredly, yawning. "What time is it anyway?"

She reached around her and picked up her phone, clicking the power button. 50 Missed Text Messages. 12 missed calls. " 1pm. Probably time to get up." He groaned. "Damn. I suppose. I'll just have a quick shower." She nodded as he dragged himself out of bed scratching his head as he walked into the bathroom and closed the ensuite door. She heard the run of the shower turn on and clicked back on her phone, reading some if the messages.

'Trick 🙎:

-Stel?

-Hey, we're sorry.

-Don't listen to Pete he's a dick.

-Hello?

-Okay your ignoring me.

-Please reply

EmokingPete💕:

-look, I didn't mean it.

-I get it you hate me, but at least reply.

-Stellar?

-please reply I'm worried

- its not funny now honestly just tell me your okay

-I'll call Josh

BeeboUrine:

-wth happened???

-R?

-Jesus woman reply I didn't do anything

-we're all fucking worried about you ass

-dare I say it your gone like all my band members 😂

-no?

Farrah:

- don't come back. We don't need you. In fact we don't like you.

Stellar sighed at the last one and closed off her phone, ignoring the rest of the texts. She sent a quick message to Brendon, considering he didn't really do anything.

Stellar:

Hey forehead. Dw I'm safe and sound, just slept over at a friends. I'll be back soon to collect my things before I fly back to LA. Byeeee x 🙇

She sighed. It was time to face reality.