Thank You For The Venom (Frerard)

15 - A Shot To Remember

15 - A Shot To Remember

The next few days of tour passed in a bit of a blur. Gerard had settled into a routine in which he'd gradually try to drink during the day without attracting too much attention from his bandmates, and then more obviously so when it reached a decent time in the evening. At that point, it was normal for everyone to be drinking, and so he didn't have to hide it so much. 

Then would come the show. They'd been electric, but it was still fairly obvious to his bandmates that he was a bit more fucked up with each one that passed. He hadn't meant to become reliant on something extra to take the edge off - be it pills or coke or just plain old alcohol, but with each show he found himself reaching for them with less and less thought. 

Then would come the after show parties, although he'd been getting earlier nights than he would've done thanks to Frank. 

His decline was not going unnoticed by any of his bandmates, but Frank in particular was becoming more and more desperate in prising Gerard away from the party scene as quickly as he could. He was getting better at it too, as if there was one thing that could tempt Gerard away it was the thought of curling up in his bunk together, shutting out the rest of the world for a few hours. 

It was a Thursday, or at least Gerard was pretty sure it was, and they were drinking in one of the venues dressing rooms with a couple of other bands and some crew. It wasn't a wild night, but Gerard was still outpacing everyone when it came to the amount of beer being consumed. 

"Hey" he felt Frank's hand on his shoulder and leaned in close enough that only he could hear "I'm kinda tired. Come to bed with me?"

"Yeah, I'll be like ten mins" Gerard nodded. They tended to wait before following each other to make it less obvious, but Frank knew that Gerard's interpretations of ten minutes could be a very ambiguous. 

"Okay. I'll see you back there" Frank turned and started to tell the crew members he'd been talking to that he was going to turn in. 

"Ahh, come on Frankie, the night's still young yet" one guy - Gerard couldn't remember his name now - say saying, but Frank was far better at resisting peer pressure than he was. He just laughed it off and changed topics smoothly to something about guitar tech and sound system setups for the next venue. 

And then he was gone, and Gerard had a new beer in his hand, and Bob was talking to him about his plans for when the tour wrapped up. He let himself fall into conversation for a little longer, but eventually his heart won out, and after downing the last few drops of his can he mustered up a yawn. 

"I'm going to bed" he sighed to Mikey, who arched his eyebrow knowingly. 

"Sure" he mused, and Gerard gave him a light elbow. 

"Shut up, I am."

"Okay, well bus call isn't for another hour, so we'll be here if you need us" there was a glint in his little brother's eye that told Gerard he really didn't want to take this conversation any further. 

"Night, Mikes" Gerard rolled his eyes. Mikey had, for the most part, not pressed any further on exactly what was going on between his brother and his best friend. Part of him didn't really want to know, figuring ignorance was definitely bliss in this scenario. But every now and then he'd make a comment or just give Gerard a look that reminded him that they definitely were not fooling him. He knew Frank hadn't slept in his own bunk for well over a week now, and whenever he left the party Gerard would always follow a little later, claiming some unrelated excuse. Really, it didn't take a genius. 

Gerard stumbled a little as he left the venue and headed across the parking lot to the bus, the alcohol preventing him from feeling the cold snap in the air. Instead he barrelled onto the bus, which was comfortingly quiet compared to the loud music and chat that he'd just come from, and kicked off his shoes.