Ember and Gerard in: The Band Project

Chapter 1: Meeting

~Ember's POV~

I walked down the streets, lost in my thoughts about college. In my opinion, college was a fucking drag. I was stuck in a school studying a subject I had no interest in. All because I wanted my parents to be proud of me. 

I knew my friends were wondering why. I had never listened to my parents before. I knew what all my friends were saying behind my back. My friend Heidi's words played in my mind. What happened to you, Ember? You were an amazing bassist!

I scoffed, then sighed. I hadn't played bass in a year. That dream had died when I had turned eighteen, which was why I was studying psychology instead of being in a band.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I didn't see him until I tripped over him.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" he snapped angrily. I stood up and looked at him. He was around my age. He was thin, smelled bad, and had stained and ripped clothes. His black hair was fading at the roots, indicating that he hadn't dyed it in a while.

  But what really got to me was his eyes. They were blue, and full of pain, sadness, and hurt. I held my hand out to him. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry for tripping over you. Let me buy you some coffee to make up for it," I offered. He looked at me suspiciously, but seemed to decide the offer of free coffee was too good to resist and allowed me to help him up.

"I'm Ember. Ember Kohli," I said.

"Gerard Velocity."

We walked into the nearest Starbucks. I noticed how everyone shied away from him. He seemed to not notice it. Or perhaps he was used to it.

"Hey, Gerard, do you want something to eat?" I asked, gesturing to the assortment of muffins, cakes, and pastries in the glass container in front of us. 

"If it's not too much to ask, can I have a blueberry muffin? And normal coffee," he said.

"No problem," I answered, looking at the young man and wondering if it would be rude to ask why he was on the streets. 

"Ember, you're up," Gerard whispered. I stepped forward. The man at the counter shot a dirty glance at Gerard. Gerard looked down and shuffled his feet.

"How can I help you," the man said, forcing a smile on his face.

"Two blueberry muffins, one normal coffee, and one cream-based vanilla bean frappe," I ordered. 

"$7.50," The man said as he put in our order. I handed him the money and Gerard and I moved to the side to wait.

"You didn't even get coffee! Cream based vanilla bean frappes are just liquid ice cream!" Gerard hissed at me.

"I like my liquid ice cream, thank you very much. Besides, I'm not allowed to have caffeine because of the pills I'm on," I replied.

"That is depressing," Gerard declared, grabbing his coffee and muffin as it was called. I grabbed mine and followed him to a nearby table. He took a sip of his coffee, savoring every last drop of it,

"Hey, do you have paper and a pencil?" he asked hopefully. I nodded and pulled out a notebook and a pen. He took it from me eagerly and began to draw. I took a sip of my drink, liquid ice cream as Gerard had called it, and looked out the window. I tried to think about the essay I had to write, but my thoughts soon turned back to bass. There wasn't a day that went by when I didn't think of it.

When I came back to reality, Gerard was staring at me curiously.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you out on the street?" I asked. Gerard sighed.

"I think that's a story for a different day."

"Okay, I can respect that. Hey, normally I wouldn't do this, but you don't seem like a psychopath. Would you like to come to my place and clean up? No offence, but you kinda smell like horse shit. I also have some black hair dye so you can re-dye your hair," I bribed. Gerard bit his lip and looked like he wanted to refuse. He accepted in the end, so when we finished our food and drinks, we walked off to my house.

"Uh, the bathroom is over there. The hairdye is in the second drawer. I'll go dig out some clothes for you. I think my friend Pierce left some here last time he came to New Jersey," I rambled. Gerard nodded thankfully and shuffled into the bathroom. I skipped up to the guest room and dug through the closet, trying to find some of Pierce's clothes. Hobo, my dog, followed me around the room.

"Ah ha!" I exclaimed when I found some. I left them outside the bathroom door and went downstairs. I wrestled with Hobo until Gerard came out of the bathroom, his hair freshly dyed, and he no longer smelled like horse shit.

"Who's this?" he asked, scratching Hobo behind his ears.

"This is Hobo, my dog. Hey, do you want to stay for dinner? Please say yes. I'm sick of being alone in this fucking house. I want to paint the walls but I'm so lazy," I said.

"You ramble a lot. I guess I could stay for dinner," he agreed.

"Great! Anything you would especially like?" I asked.

"Uh... salad sounds really good," Gerard said.

"Okay. You can go watch t.v or something while I make it. Oh, and I have a cat too. Don't freak out if you see him," I informed him. Gerard nodded and wondered into the living room. He turned the t.v on and began watching Adventure Time. Hobo curled up beside him.

I made a quick salad and called Gerard over for dinner. 

"I hate to be a nuisance, but could I stay the night? Just one night," he asked, pleading with his eyes.

"Dude, I'd be a major shit head if I let you go out on the streets after I fed you and stuff. You can stay as long as you need to. Seriously. Here, I'll show you the guest room," I said.

"Yanno you're really weird. Normal people don't take in hobos," Gerard declared, following me to the guest room.

"I did take in Hobo. I can take in you if I want to. It's really no problem. I don't talk to many humans. I could probably use the socalization," I chuckled. 

"Okay. Hey, where's your cat? I love cats!"

"I think he's actually in the guest room somewhere. That's his favorite room. I'm going to ask you not to freak when you see him," I said seriously. Gerard crossed his heart and I opened the door.

My cat, Fleshy, a hairless cat, was sitting on the bed. Gerard squealed excitedly, then ran to hug him.

"I fucking love hairless cats!" he exclaimed. I smiled. Gerard patted Fleshy, then looked around the room. His eyes landed on my bass.

"Do you play?" he asked.

"No. Not anymore. I gave up. It was a stupid dream," I sighed.

"No dreams are stupid," Gerard said, his tone full of seriousness.

"That one was."

"What was your dream, Ember?" he questioned.

"I wanted to be a bassist in a band. But that dream is dead," I said firmly.

"The dream isn't dead. Your heart is. Bring your heart back to life, Ember. You're not supposed to end up like everyone else. Pick up your bass and play," he urged. I shook my head.

"I can't. Never again. Besides, I have an essay to write. Fleshy is probably going to sleep with you. I'll see you tomorrow," I muttered. I exited the room quickly and went to mine. 

After locking the door, I sat down at my computer and tried to work on my essay. I got to the first line before I gave up and let my thoughts go back to Gerard's words.

Maybe my heart was dead. Maybe I was going to end up just like my parents.

I shook my head and decided to sleep.

My dreams were tormented. But then again, they had been since I gave up bass.

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Ahoy there mates! We're back! I hope you enjoyed the first chappie of Ember and Gerard in: The Band Project! 

xoEmber