Thank You For The Venom (Frerard)

20 - Anytime You Want

20 - Anytime You Want

Gerard had done a lot of interviews. He'd done them hungover, drunk, high, occasionally sober, sleep deprived... you name it. Sometimes he'd have all his bandmates with him, and sometimes he'd be alone. Sometimes the interviewer would ask really engaging and thoughtful questions, and other ones just wanted to play would you rather or some weird version of fuck marry kill that Gerard definitely didn't want his answers to being plastered over myspace. 

The ones in Tokyo that afternoon though, they were hard. He had his sunglasses on and a had popped some chewing gum on the way in, but even then he couldn't shield himself from the withdrawal racing through his body. He crossed and uncrossed his legs pretty much every minute or so, trying to stop them from jittering up and down. It didn't work. 

He was desperate for a fix, and also desperate to be okay for the sake of the band, and the two urges were battling each other right there in the forefront of his mind. The interviewer was asking them about their favourite things about Japan, and he managed to get half an answer out before Mikey jumped in and started to talk comics. The rest of his bandmates had taken to rotating their answers, clearly jumping in the moment Gerard's voice started to shake or his expression falter. 

"We're so excited to play" Ray was saying "we're all pretty tired out from touring, but Japan is so special to us all, that we couldn't refuse coming.." 

"Have you got anything special planned for your set?" the interviewer pressed on. She seemed nice, and Gerard felt bad that he probably wasn't giving the best delivery. 

"We're trying to convince our management to let us get pyro, but we're not quite there yet" Frank answered, energetic as ever. 

"Yeah, only because you'll find a way to injure either yourself or one of us if we do" Mikey rolled his eyes, and the interviewer laughed. 

"We don't have any surprises planned" Gerard spoke up then, figuring it was about time he offered something worthwhile "but it is going to be a special one for us, certainly for me. We're really grateful to be here right now, and to be playing to such large crowds too..." he trailed off and swallowed as the thought of facing all those faces sober started to hit him. He quickly shook the thought away and instead smiled, stealing a glance at the clock from behind his sunglasses to see that they should be wrapping up soon. 

After the interview wrapped Brian had them all driven back to the hotel, reminding them to all remember to get something decent to eat and what time he expected them all down at breakfast in the morning. 

"How are you feeling?" he pressed Gerard. The others all hung around stealing glances at him, clearly trying to assess for themselves. 

"Alive" he shrugged "me and Frankie are gonna go get sushi." 

"Okay, good" he nodded, but was still frowning "I've been speaking to the label, and if you want, they're happy to pay for rehab after this trip" Gerard went to object, but he rushed on "I know you don't want it, but just see how you feel when we fly home okay? It's a good option to have, even if it doesn't sound like it." 

"Fine" he sighed, mainly because he knew Brian hated it when he couldn't solve problems, and if agreeing to think about it meant Brian felt like he was doing something useful, then he'd give him that. 

"Okay, well, you've got my cell if you need anything" he smiled before turning to Frank "honestly, anything at all, just ring me okay guys?" 

"Brain, go, we've got it covered" Frank reached out and took Gerard's hand in his "come on Gee, let's go."