Heaven Help Us

Two Days Before Christmas

I sat there in the room, watching Dante and Jeph, waiting for Rain to come back.

I wasn’t completely sure if she’d still want to talk to me, but it was worth a shot.

We’d waited five years to talk, and I didn’t want it to end with her unfinished sentence.

I heard the music play, I heard her talk to the crowd, and then I watched as Death to You filed out, back into the room. All of them except for Rain left the room to go meet fans.

“I’m not going to tonight, guys. Tell them I’m really sorry,” She looked sincere; I could tell she was. “Everything go well?” I watched her ask Dante.

“Yeah, he was perfect. Just like usual,” Dante smiled.

“Great, great! Um, would you mind taking him back to DTY’s bus?”

“No problem.” He took Jeph’s hand and stood up. “Which PJ’s tonight, man?” He asked him on the way out of the room.

The kid took a moment to reply. “Harry Potter.”

Rain came back over and sat next to me again.

“Look, I can’t stay to talk for very long, because Jepha will want me there to say goodnight.” She began.

“I understand,” I said.

She looked skeptical for a moment, then relaxed. “Have you…had any kids? Been dating or anything?”

“No, not as far as I know. I, um, I had a girlfriend when I left for tour, but we were more of just friends, so that’s all we are now. I’m cool with that; I was the one who suggested it. She’s been great about it.”

“Yeah…I haven’t really dated at all…”

I nodded understandingly.

“Your kid seems to be really into art,” I commented.

“Oh, fuck. You should see our house. Or the bus. He’s got fucking tons of sketchbooks filled, and he loves painting. Oh, and sculpting, can’t leave that out. He’s an artsy kid. We’ve got his paintings everywhere at home. There’s at least one in every room.”

“Is he any good?”

“Brilliant, actually. Gerard and Dante like to help him out from time to time. He always brings his art supplies with him when we’re on tour. Sometimes it can be a pain in the ass, but it encourages his love of art, so I always let him. He likes the guitar and singing too. And violin. Occasionally he’ll sit down with Brooklyn and play some piano. Frank turned him into a bookworm. He loves books, and stories.”

“Sounds like a really talented kid.” I said.

“He is. Extremely talented. Listen, there’s something I need to tell you, and I don’t want to put it off for too much longer. It’s been five fucking years, and I think you deserve to know.”

I nodded eagerly. “Yeah?”

But then Zac came in. “Rain? Jepha wants you. He says he ‘needs to know what happens to the Killjoys or he’s gonna die.’”

“Oh, shit, okay. Sorry, Andy. Um…can we talk soon? It’s…important.”

“Totally. Yeah, whenever. I’m find-able on the BVB bus at almost anytime. But, my parents will be coming by for the show before the tour break.”

Her expression changed a little. “Oh, really? That’s awesome! I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Okay. Alright; see you later then,” I smiled at her and went to the bus to sleep.

Rain and I only had time to exchange brief hellos and small smiles over the next week and a half. It was both frustrating and endearing. She was almost always accompanied by Jeph and/or Dante.

So, it was the day before my parents were going to come to the last show before tour break, and two days before Christmas, when I heard a knock on the door to my room in the bus around midnight.

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I'm not sure whether or not she should tell Andy next chapter. What do you all think?