Leon Urie (Adopted By The Uries) ~COMPLETE~

Chapter Ten

As spring progressed, Leon slowly stopped having the nightmares about the shadowy figure standing over him, shouting incoherently, that he'd been having since Christmas. He slowly stopped jumping every time a door slammed. Tour was coming up, and Leon was just as excited as Brendon seemed to be.
 Frankie and Jace had started dating the week school started up again. Leon found that Jace wasn't rude to him, but distant, as though he was better than Leon and they both knew it. Leon tolerated it with pursed lips. Frankie tried to make them be friends for about a week until she gave up.
 “Why won't you just talk to him?” she asked Leon one afternoon when they were hanging out after school.
 Leon shrugged. “He doesn't like me, I can tell.”
  “It’s just cos he thinks you don't like him!” Frankie told him exasperatedly.
  “He pretends he's better than me.” Leon said flatly.
 Frankie sighed and dropped the subject.
   week before the tour was scheduled to start, they were lounging in the Uries’ living room, playing an intense game of Mario Kart as Brendon and Sarah cooked in the kitchen, listening to Frank Sinatra. When Frankie inevitably won, she suddenly looked over at Leon and asked, “What am I gonna do when you're away having the time of your life on tour?”
   shrugged. “You have Jace…” he muttered.  Come on, you hate Jace. You don't want him to be the only person I talk to,” Frankie argued.
 Leon nodded. He bit his lip. “I- I don't know. We can talk on the phone and FaceTime…”
  Frankie smiled. “That’ll have to do,” when she smiled, her cheeks dimpled. Leon smiled back, then glanced away, eyes prickling. He knew he was going to miss Frankie badly.
  The night before Leon, his parents, Zack and the rest of the band were scheduled to depart, there was a kickoff show in LA. Brendon and Zack had decided to give Frankie three backstage VIP tickets to share with whomever she liked. She arrived with her brother and her mom, wearing ripped high-waisted jeans with fishnets underneath and a Panic! At The Disco T-shirt that she'd bought a month before. Her long curly hair was in space buns. Leon thought, as always, that she looked amazing. She was about two inches taller than him in her high heeled boots, but for once Leon didn't mind being short. He was just glad that Frankie hadn't brought Jace along.
 Frankie greeted Leon with a big hug. She smelled of flowers. “Hi!” she said, a wide grin on her face. “Are you excited? I mean, I guess you've seen this before, but still. I'm excited!” she babbled.
  Leon couldn't help but grin back. “Yeah, I'm excited, too.”
  The pre-show music was loud where they were backstage, and there was a green glow coming from the stage. Leon could hear hundreds of people talking and laughing on the other side of the barrier, and he tried to stay calm. Everyone had to half-shout to be heard over the din.
 Frankie's mother had started up a conversation with Sarah, and Gray was hanging around near them, leaving Frankie and Leon alone. Knowing that it was more than an hour before the actual concert would start, they took a walk in the halls of the venue. After a while, the music died off to a low throbbing beat in the background.
  “So,” Frankie began as they reached a little window in the way back of the venue that looked out on a packed parking lot. “Tomorrow’s the day, huh?”
  “Yep,” Leon blew out his cheeks.
  “I’m gonna miss you,” Frankie looked over at him with a half smile. “For real. You were my first high-school friend.”
  Leon smiled back. “You were my first friend.”
 Frankie lightly shoved his shoulder. “Hey, you're coming back, it's not forever.”
  “True. And we'll talk, right?”
  “Yeah, of course. And you'd better send some postcards.”
  They started back in silence, following the sound of the thumping music. After a while, they came to a hallway Leon recognised. “Hey, Dad’s dressing room is here.”
 Sure enough, there was a door, slightly ajar, with a sign next to it that said, “Brendon Urie's Dressing Room”. Someone had crossed out Brendon Urie in red sharpie, and written instead, “The Amazing Beebo.” Leon recognised his dad's handwriting.
 “Your dad is a dork,” Frankie giggled, and from inside the dressing room came a shout of protest.
  “No, I'm cool,” Brendon stuck his head out of the door. “Oh, hi, Frankie. 'Sup?”
  “I’m seeing this show tonight with your son. Panic! At The Disco, maybe you've heard of them?” Frankie replied without missing a beat. Brendon laughed.
 “Spunky,” someone yelled from inside the dressing room. Leon recognised Zack's voice.
 Frankie flipped her hair and replied, “I try my best. Oh, and thanks for the tickets by the way, Brendon. My mom listened to one of your songs and bought every single one of your CDs. She's hyped.”
  Brendon grinned. “That’s great to hear, Frankie. Hope you guys enjoy the show.”
  Frankie and Leon made it back to the stage just as the opening band started playing.
  The show was spectacular, and it was over way too soon. Leon, so close to the stage, noticed that his dad really loved being there. He became a louder, even more contagiously energetic and intensely happy version of himself. Now and again he would catch Leon’s eye and grin at him.
 Afterwards, Leon realised he was incredibly tired, and wondered how Brendon felt.
  As they left the venue, Frankie grabbed Leon and hugged him tightly. “Hey, have fun.”
 “I will,” Leon promised, hugging her back.
  Finally they departed in their different cars. Five minutes into the ride home, Leon got a text from Frankie: I already miss you, dummy.