A Simple Song for Lori
oh, i can tell that we are gonna be friends

rewritten May 20, 2008.

Nicholas turned away from his laptop to face his brooding manager. “Nice going, Andy,” he drawled, pushing off the desk and swiveling in his chair. He was supposed to be performing on a late night show, but after Andy fought with the host, he was replaced with some other act at the last minute. He didn’t really mind though, he just wanted to relish the moment; it was very hard to find something that could annoy Andy.

“What?” Andy said hotly, glaring at Nicholas from the suite’s couch. “I thought he’d be used to people calling his chin big!”

Nicholas rolled his eyes. “You lack social skills.”

“You’re one to talk, kid,” He checked his watch again. The show was going to start soon. “Anyway, it’s their loss.”

Shrugging, Nicholas turned back to his laptop. After a few minutes of mindless internet surfing, Nicholas’s eyes widened as he read through a page he just opened.

“A-Andy,” he breathed, tossing a crumpled piece of paper at his manager. “You won’t believe what people are writing about me.”

Andy walked over to him and looked over his shoulder. “What? Critics?” he yawned.

Nicholas shook his head. “No, these... stories! About me!”

“Ahh... fanfiction.” He stood up and patted Nicholas on the shoulder. “Now that you’ve reached celebrity status, I recommend you to use the internet less. Some of those stories can scar your mind forever.”

Nicholas’s eyes were still glued on the computer and he shuddered as he read one story. “Some of this stuff is so – “

Andy sighed. He had sympathy for the kid; it was hard to say anything when you read about yourself in a drug induced orgy with members of another band, or with a sister that didn’t exist. “You’re lucky you’re a solo act, and not in a band with other guys,” he comforted lamely. “The fanfiction for bands is much, much worse.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you have no idea the crap Gerard Way and the other guys have to deal with.”

“Damn...” Nicholas mumbled, quickly closing the window.

“Yeah, and you’re not gay, so don’t worry about it,” Andy paused, and an eerie silence lingered in the air. “Wait, but if you are – you need to tell me now because we’d have to change some – ”

“I’m not.”

“Okay then, straight guy, dress up,” Andy clapped his hand over his shoulder before heading for his room. “Change of plans, we’re going to Shining.”

“Is that a club?” Nicholas asked, shutting his laptop. “But I don’t feel like going.”

“It doesn’t matter if you feel like going. You’re getting paid to go, so you have to – and wear the watch.”

Nicholas glanced at the pile of clothes, accessories, and shoes sitting on one of the corners of the living room. Most of the time, they were probably organized in a closet or trailer, but since Christmas shopping season was going on, he was being sent so much clothes they didn’t bother to arrange them anymore. “Which one?”

“Any. I’ve got some people complaining that you don’t wear some of the stuff sent to you a month ago.”

Nicholas sifted through the clothes and picked up one of the watch boxes. “What? Do they expect me to wear something different every single day?” he asked, casually tossing the box back in the pile to pick another one. “That’s insane.”

“Uh, yeah?”

When finally deciding on a dark green watch, he fastened it onto his wrist. “Okay, whatever, let’s go,” he said, realizing he had no choice in the matter anyway.

Andy finished buttoning his own polo and quirked an eyebrow at him. “You’re supposed to wear a watch on your left wrist, not your right.”

Nicholas lifted his arms to look at his wrists. His wristbands were on his right, along with the watch. He shrugged as he set them back down. “Yeah, but I’m a lefty,” he said flatly. “Lefties can wear their watches on their right.”

Andy looked at him blankly. “Right. Whatever, let’s get going.”

Nicholas followed after him and quickly picked up his comic book before Andy could see him. As he locked their suite’s main door, his eyes fell on his wristbands once more, and a he felt sudden twinge of homesickness and guilt. It was a week since he left home, since Lori called him, and he still hadn’t called her back. It wasn’t that he was doing it intentionally... it’s just that... he really didn’t know what to say. He swore he’d talk to her when he got back and he made sure he had something planned by then... hopefully.

“Nicholas, there’s a small difference between fashionably late and just plain late!”

“Oh, right,” he muttered, running for the elevator where Andy was glaring at him, his arms crossed.

“You really have no sense of time,” Andy scolded as the doors closed.

Nicholas pressed the button for the lobby. “Probably because I never wear my watches long enough to get used to having them.”

“Yeah, despite the fact you’ve got a ton of them lying in the room – and besides, every watch has the same time.”

Nicholas shrugged and leaned against the elevator walls, closing his eyes as he felt the lurching sensation in his stomach. “I’m not a watch person.”

The music was loud and blaring. An infectious beat throbbed against the brilliant walls, the sleek leather furniture, and the sea of bodies in the club. Arms were in the air, hair was flung from side to side, and all were bathed in the neon lasers twirling above them. It was another Saturday night at Shining, the newest and most popular club in the city, and while there was a long line of eager people outside, begging to get in, Nicholas was sitting comfortably in the VIP room, not quite sure why he was there in the first place.

He had just spent the past hour squeezing between people, trying to find an empty seat, but even that was a hard task. People would jump in front of him, asking for a picture or autograph, and there’d be the occasional strange guy who’d start sharing his life story if you just looked his way. When he finally found an empty booth on the corner of the room, he quickly sat down and opened his comic book.

He only got through two pages – and considering the fact it’s a comic book, that’s not a lot – when someone sat beside him and slung an arm over his shoulder.

“Hello, Nicholas.” The voice was smooth, like it came straight from a CD, perfectly adjusted and tweaked in the studio to make perfect for the ears.

Recently, strangers would often go up to him and talk like they were the best of friends. At first he was uncomfortable, but after a while, he got used to it. “Yes?”

He looked up at the girl beside him, and even though the club had different lights dancing on her face, he could tell she was very pretty, and from the way she carried herself, she knew this fact. Her dark hair fell past her shoulders in long waves, easily fixed with a run of a hand, and she had an easy smile on her face, showing a white set of teeth. “You don’t know me?” she asked, slowly retracting her arm as she leant back on the sofa.

Nicholas furrowed his eyebrows. She was familiar; he probably saw her on television one time, but he was most likely changing channels so it was only for a second or two. “No, sorry,” he apologized, closing his comic, but setting his thumb inside to save his page.

The girl laughed, slightly out of character from the alluring confidence she had. Maybe she was an actress. “Ah, so you haven’t gotten the memo yet?”

“What memo?”

“I see,” she mused, nodding. “Well, don’t worry, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow. We’ll get to know each other then.”

She started to leave when Nicholas set his comic down and reached for her hand. “Hey, wait a sec – “

“Bye Nicholas.”

She swept down and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek, successfully quieting him. As she left, she looked back and winked. Nicholas weakly raised a hand over his cheek, and blushed like the embarrassed boy he turned into whenever his Aunt Magda would visit and press a big, fat kiss on his cheek.

Nicholas looked around for the girl, but he couldn’t get very far with the number of people that kept getting in his way. Finally, he decided to give up and retreat to his empty booth, wondering if she really was going to see him tomorrow or if she was drunk and saying random things.

Weird girl.

He just flipped open his comic book when another person approached him – this one more irritating than weird.

“Nicholas, what the hell are you doing?”

Nicholas looked up from the comic, scolding himself for not hiding it sooner, to see a pink man running up to him. He quirked an eyebrow and quickly realized it was Andy, whose bald head was a bright pink from the lights. “Hey – “

Before he could finish his sentence, Andy snatched the comic book from his hands. “I bring you to this club because the owner paid you to mingle, get to know people, and show off the fact you’re here – not to read your book like this is some kind of library!”

“But I am getting to know people,” Nicholas protested, making feeble attempts to get his reading material back. “You know, Cobalt Man, Speedfreek, Nitro...”

When Nicholas looked up to see that he was the only one that found his answer amusing, he rolled his eyes and leant back on the leather sofa. It wasn’t even that comfortable.

“I mean, what am I supposed to do now?” he asked, reaching for the table and taking a sip of his screwdriver. He winced and set it back. “I’ve taken my pictures, I’ve said hello to Lindsay, isn’t that it? If there’s anything else I’ve missed, please, give me the checklist so I can get started.”

Andy frowned at him. “Anything else you want to say?”

“Yeah,” Nicholas snatched his comic book from Andy’s hands and opened back to his page. “Don’t drink too much.”

“What? I’ve barely had anything tonight.”

“Yeah,” Nicholas mused, flipping his page. “So say the empty shot glasses along the bar counter, unless they emptied themselves.”

If there hadn’t been a blue laser over Andy, his face would actually have been red, not a light purple. “I can control myself.”

Of course, the next day, it wasn’t Nicholas who was locked in the bedroom, his head in the toilet.

In fact, he was sitting comfortably on the couch, his feet lazily slung over the coffee table as he flipped to the last page of his comic. “Want me to get some food from the Korean restaurant down the street?” he called out, tilting his head to the bathroom while his eyes were still on the comic. “I hear their stew helps with hangovers.”

His reply was another flush of the toilet.

He looked up when he heard the bathroom door open. Leaning on the doorframe was a rather haggard looking Andy, still in the clothes he had worn the night before.

“Good morning,” Nicholas said, a wide grin splitting his face. “The sun’s out, the clouds have parted, and I think I hear the birds – “

“Oh, cut it out,” Andy snapped, hobbling for the kitchen. “Where the fuck’s the coffee...”

“You finished all of it a while ago.”

“Fuck...” Andy muttered, slumping against the counter as he gripped his head. “Could you get some from room service then?”

“Sure,” Nicholas shrugged, finally feeling bad for the guy. “And I’ll get some of that Korean soup, too.”

“Why do you know so much about this soup?” The manager groaned, sitting himself on one of the stools beside the kitchen island. He had to hold onto the edge to keep from falling off.

“My friend used to have it all the time after his partying.”

“Was he Korean?”

“No,” Nicholas picked up the phone and dialed the number for room service. “Half Japanese.”

Before he could ask what the connection was, Andy felt another stab at his head and gave up, deciding he had talked too much already.

“They’re asking if you want French Vanilla or Hazelnut.”

“Does it look like it matters?”

“Right,” Nicholas laughed, finishing the order. He set the phone back on its receiver and sat back on the couch. “It’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”

Andy nodded, gripping the sides of his head again. “This can’t be happening... she’s coming here soon.”

“Who’s coming soon?”

“Someone.”

“Who?”

“Someone.”

Nicholas held the remote in the air so Andy could see it. His thumb hovered over the volume button, threatening to press it. “Tell me, or else I’m increasing the volume – and The Backyardigans are on, and you know how high their voices can get.”

A look of alarm appeared in Andy’s eyes. “Vivien Craig!” he answered quickly. “Don’t raise the volume!”

Nicholas set the remote down, disappointed that the name wasn’t familiar. She was probably some old, business suit wearing exec again. “Oh, okay.”

Before he could ask what time she was coming, Andy started sprinting for the bathroom, his hand pressed over his mouth. Nicholas watched as he disappeared into the bathroom for the third time that morning. He laughed; he had to admit, it was funny at first, but now it was getting pretty sad. When the room service came with his coffee and Korean stew, the waiter had to serve the food in the bathroom.

Nearly an hour later, the doorbell rang again. Nicholas wondered if Andy had ordered for more coffee from the bathroom telephone, and laughed when he realized there was a use for that bathroom telephone after all. Seeing that he wouldn’t get a coherent answer even if he asked, he headed for the door and opened it.

It wasn’t room service waiting on the other side.

It was the girl from the club.

Although this time, she wasn’t wearing a short black dress. In fact, she looked much more casual in a white, long-sleeved sweater, blue jeans, and black suede boots. He also noticed she wasn’t wearing any makeup, which didn’t hinder her good looks at all, since it made the pinkish tinge in her pale cheeks a bit more obvious.

“Hello again, Nicholas,” she said, looking up at him with a familiar smile.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “What are you doing here?”

The girl gave him a quick once-over, taking note of his boxers and a shirt that said ‘Wax on, wax off’ in front. “Good morning to you too.”

Before she could step into the room, Nicholas stuck his arm out and blocked her way. “Wait, what are you doing here?” he asked again, tilting his head toward her.

Unfazed, she looked up at him again. “Hmm, I think I remember saying I’d be seeing you today.”

“Yeah, but – “

She held a hand up in front of him. “Where’s Andy?” she asked. She was looking straight at him, and he noticed that she had pale blue eyes. He didn’t get to tell what color they were when they were in the club.

He frowned and finally let her in.

“Wait a sec.” He motioned for her to follow him as he made his way for the bathroom. He gripped the knob and opened it with her behind him and they stepped into the bathroom to see Andy sprawled on the tiles, gripping his head with his empty mugs of coffee and the Korean soup lying beside him. “There he is, Andy Croshaw.”

Hearing the sound of his name, Andy pulled the towel over his head. “Yeah, what – holy shit.”

“Hi, Andy,” the girl said, waving at him. “I see you’re not doing so well.”

He was still gaping up at them, his mind probably back swimming in the alcohol. Nicholas leaned against the doorframe and cleared his throat. “Andy?”

He blinked. “Oh, yeah,” he finally said. “Uh, give me a second with the guy.”

The girl nodded. “Okay, I’ll be in the living room watching television.”

Nicholas scowled at her. “Yeah, make yourself comfortable,” he said sarcastically.

She looked back and winked smugly. “Thanks, I think I will.”

“Nicholas, get in here!” Andy hissed, holding onto the bathtub to help him sit up.

Nicholas sighed, letting her go and closing the door behind him. “What? Who is that girl? What is she doing here?”

Andy weakly raised his hands up. “Please... slowly...”

Nicholas frowned and crossed his arms in front of him as he leaned against the door. “Explain.”

His manager took a deep breath. “First, she’s Vivien Craig.”

“... Oh.” So she wasn’t an old lady. Damn, so she had been right too, they were supposed to be meeting up with each other. “Well, what’s she doing here?”

“She’s here because as of now...” Andy paused and reached for his bowl of stew. “She’s your girlfriend.”

A drop of water fell on the sink.

In his entire life, Nicholas had only crushed on two girls. Sure, there were a lot of girls he found attractive, but there were only two he actually liked liked. One was obviously Lori, and he still didn’t know with himself if that was over or not. The other one was when he was in his fourth grade. He had a major crush on his fourth grade music teacher and he actually practiced his recorder every night so he could impress her in time for class. Of course, that crush ended on Valentines Day, when he found out she already had a girlfriend of her own.

So hearing someone tell him that he was being assigned a girlfriend was pretty... hard to comprehend.

“WHAT?”

Andy moaned, holding onto his bowl as he crawled into the bathtub and curled into a fetal position. “Loud noises...” he whimpered.

Nicholas sighed, running a hand down his face as he slumped against the door. “You know, if you weren’t in enough pain already, I’d probably be beating you up right now with the remote.”

Andy lifted up one eyelid at him. “I never thought I’d say this, but... thank God for this hangover, then.”

Nicholas frowned and threw a towel at him. “Go back to moaning and vomiting, will you?”

He stood up and closed the door behind him, intentionally slamming it shut so he could hear Andy’s frustrated groan inside. He spotted Vivien on the couch, her knees bent beside her as she leaned against the armrest, casually surfing through the channels. She looked up at him. “So, I’m guessing things didn’t go that well.”

He sat down on the other end of the couch. “You think?”

She chuckled. “It’s so early in the morning, sweetheart. Don’t get all upset.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Oh, sorry, which do you prefer? Honey? Sugarcup? Pooh bear? Or do you want me to make one of my own?”

Nicholas groaned, not liking her already. “Oh, I can tell that we are gonna be friends,” he said sarcastically.

Vivien glanced at him and sat up, her eyebrow quirked. “Did you just make a White Stripes reference?”

Nicholas lifted the hand off his face and glanced at her, trying to hide the surprise in his face. Although he didn’t like her, he had to admit, he didn’t think she’d catch it. “Yeah,” he mumbled.

“Thought so,” Vivien said, her gaze still set on him. Slowly, a smug smile appeared on her face. “Just because I’m an actress doesn’t mean I don’t know a thing or two about music.”

So she was an actress. “Right...”

“And maybe you can play that song for me on one of our dates,” she added, handing him the remote. “I believe serenading comes with the package.”

“In your dreams,” Nicholas muttered.

“Of course, since you’ll be in all of them from now on,” she returned mockingly. She stood up and combed her fingers through her hair. “Well, goodbye, honey, I’ll come by again when Andy’s ready. We have a lot to talk about.”

He fell back on the sofa. “Don’t call me that,” he repeated.

“And when I come back, I do expect some flowers ready. No roses please, I prefer tulips – yellow and white ones.”

“No way.”

“Oh, Nicholas,” She leaned forward and pinched his cheek. He swatted her hand off his face and crossed his arms in front of him like a grumpy little boy – because that’s exactly what he was right then. “You’re so adorable right now. I’d kiss you goodbye, but I’m afraid I’d like to take this relationship slow.”

She closed the door behind her as she left, leaving behind the scent of her perfume and an odd sense of foreboding. Nicholas groaned again, slumping in the couch even more. What good was going to come out of this? He could already picture all the trouble that was going to come up.

...

But at least there would be an end to the gay fanfiction.

author note.

In case you guys didn’t catch it, the song Vivien mentioned was We’re Going to Be Friends by The White Stripes. You all probably know it as the Napolean Dynamite opening song, but it’s a cool song on its own. Oh, Jack Johnson covered it – listen to it and decide which version you like best! So yeah, this is the rewrite for chapter seven, and I know some of you guys are wondering where Seb went, but don’t worry, he was mentioned, and he’s definitely going to be in the story. ( :

So anyway, what do you think? Oh well, lurkers – please leave a note! F sharp, B flat, but most preferably G, because that’s the easiest to play on the clarinet, haha! ( :