Tragic Magic II World Tour

Chapter Twenty

"Hayden, your date left you," Andy calls across the room, mocking Hayden.

"Yeah, I know," he says with a look of disgust on his face, "thank you, Andrew."

"Just trying to help," he says to me, giving a wink.

"Such a sweetheart," I bump his shoulder with mine.

"You seem to be taking this rather well," he says, sitting down on one of the bar stools.

"Of course," I say, taking the seat next to him, "haven't you heard?"

"No," he grins, "why don't you tell me?"

"Last time I checked, I was with someone better than the both of them," I say, returning the wink at Andy.

"You're cute, girly," he says, rolling his eyes at me.

"It was a compliment, in case you didn't realize," I joke.

"How cute, and by cute I mean disgusting," Ryan adds, reminding us that there are people other than ourselves in the room.

"Goals," Jaime approaches Andy and I with a smile on his face.

"We're cute too," Bell says, getting closer to Ronnie, obviously trying to compete with Andy and I.

"Right.." Andy catches a glimpse at the annoyed look on Ronnie's face.

"What's your plan for today?" Christian asks Andy and myself.

"We haven't decided," Andy answers for the both of us, "Although, we have run into an old friend who will be accompanying us."

Oh yeah, I completely forgot Gerard was still upstairs.

"Do I know him?" Ronnie asks me directly.

"Yes," I say, bringing myself closer to Andy as if he could protect me from Ronnie's strong presence. Just being in the same room as him gives me anxiety.

"You alright?" Andy whispers to me.

"Yeah," I lie, gripping his upper arm tightly. Talking to Ronnie sober makes me weak.

"Well, who is it?" Ronnie locks eye contact with me.

"Um-" I feel lost in his words. Why am I like this?

"Me," Gerard says, entering the room. "Long time, no see, friend," he greets Ronnie first.

"Holy shit, Gerard Way?" Ronnie stands and greets him with a handshake, "How did you get here?"

Ronnie and Gerard got caught up in conversation, giving Andy and I the opportunity to sneak away.

"So," Andy sparks conversation as we enter the elevator to head back up to the room, "what was that about?"

"What?" I act as if I don't understand what he's talking about.

"Your reaction towards Ronnie," he says, giving me a look of disapproval.

"He just makes me uncomfortable I guess," I admit, feeling weak again.

"I don't get it. How were you married to him if you feel like that all the time?" Andy asks.

"Things change," I shrug, "I mean, we've never really been together long term. There's always a breakup period. I always felt comfortable when we were together. Having that wall of tension makes things awful."

"Yeah, but this is the end, right?" Andy turns to face me.

"Yeah," I say confidently.

"Because I do want to actually be with you," he explains. "I'm not a fan of this 'we're kind seeing each other, kinda not' phase."