What We Do is Secret [XOXO]

April 4, 2005

Los Angeles 21:45

"Rank?" Gerard casually asked getting out the car as Frank closely followed. Gerard was readjusting his black kevlar vest and red shirt sleeve.

Mikey's nose edged closer to his brother, pulling his beanie over his ears and took a sniff. "5."

"Yeah?" Gerard asked nervously, eyeing Frank from the side, looking for confirmation.

Frank was tucking his tie back neatly inside his own vest and casually leaned in. A huge shit-eating smile spread across his face. "Seven." He corrected, biting on his lip with a mouth twitch, apologizing for his honesty.

"Seven?" Gerard's mouth pulled in horror. "Shiiit." He scratched the back of his head as the three men made their way into the CBS studio building.

"Hi! My Chemical Romance?" Frank first heard from the doorway and leaned in to shake the hand of the clipboard holding man, whom he could only assume was the assistant producer or some poor intern stuck there for the night.

"Hi, yeah... Frank." A warm smile spread across his face, immediately setting the guy at ease. They dealt with a lot of assholes in that line of work, so when a band member greets with a smile, it was always a breath of fresh air.

"Jence, hey... AP. Adam's all ready for you."

"Gerard. Hi. My brother Mikey." Both men shook his hand and entered after Frank.

Jence led the three men, through front security and took a sharp right down the hall, explaining how Drew would be on a live call for the segment since he was in New York. A story neither man was paying much attention to. Gerard kept trying to readjust his outfit from the night. He knew he should've packed in something more comfortable after the Kimmel show, but as usual, he didn't listen to his inner voice of reason. Frank's eye caught the uncomfortable behaviour from his frontman as a coy smile played on his lips. "Just take it off." He offered.

Gerard frowned. "My shirt's soaked through. It's nasty."

Frank giggled. "So's mine and I'm taking this shit off for sure."

"Dude, you ranked me at a seven. I feel like this is at least keeping some of the stink at bay." Gerard whispered back. His voice was extra raw and smokey... as always after a performance. He loosened his tie slightly.

"What the fuck? Since when you so concerned about how you smell?" Frank subtly slipped his hand into Gerard's belt and yanked him closer to take a nibble at his shoulder.

"It's a small studio, man." Gerard shook Frank off him, feeling slightly anxious about what Frank had just done. Mikey's head did a quick whip around to see what the quick motion was but missed it. Frank turned away to look nonchalant as Gerard continued to be distracted by his stench and tight kevlar. "My stink is gonna fill that place up so fast."

"Yeah you're right there. But it's just an hour. We're the ones who gotta sleep with you. Besides... a 7 ain't that bad. You've been at a 15 before." Frank teased, nudging Gerard's arm as Jence opened a thick door into the studio. Adam was the first to get up, making all three men freeze up at how overly excited and loud the man was, sticking his huge hand out to greet them. Mikey was positively stuttering as he greeted first. Frank turned his head to meet Gerard's nervous blown open eyes. This guy was gonna be a real piece of something. Both Gerard and Frank just knew it... this hour was gonna be unlike anything they'd done before.

After meeting Chris as well, the band took a seat at the dark green table. Gerard pulled his phone out to make sure it was turned off. A quick glance at a text from Bert he still had to get back to. Gerard made a mental note to find out whether that Juarez trip Bert wanted was for real or just drunk ramblings from a dude who felt insecure after their last few weeks and that fucked up Fuze Q&A. He hadn't even let Bert know that he was back in LA, that's why he had a room booked at the hotel with the guys instead. For once it was Gerard everyone wanted a piece of, not Bert. And he was the one who just didn't have the fucking time anymore to text and call every week. Tonight alone the band had to jump from Kimmel to LoveLine without leaving any time for the sweat to even dry. Gerard put his phone off and signalled for Mikey and Frank to do the same.