The Gray City - Ryan Ross x Reader

Chapter Five

"That sounds amazing," (Y/n) cheered, pouring all her talent in the little act she was trying to keep up.

"I knew, you'd love it," George said, his voice oily and greasy, just like his hair, "Here, get yourself some nice new clothes to surprise me with tomorrow."

He stretched out his hand, holding an envelope that was bulging from its content. (Y/n) gave Hansen a hesitant glance, but he nodded encouragingly, so she reached for the envelope.

Suddenly a hand closed around her wrist, and she was pulled closer to the stranger.

"I'm looking forward to getting to know you better," he whispered into her ear, before he licked over her cheek, making her shudder in disgust.

He pressed the envelope into her hand and let go of her wrist, not caring to give her another look and strode out of the room, Hansen following him.

Even without looking, (Y/n) knew that she was holding unreasonable amounts of money with which this slimy monster tried to buy her affection.

George in the meantime made an entirely unexpected encounter in the narrow corridor outside the changing rooms, when a young, tall man walked in, fedora pulled into his eyes and coat closed until his chin. It did not take him a second look to recognize the brown eyes and the silky locks that his son had inherited from his mother. The young man looked up, his eyes widening at the sight of the man in front of him. For a moment George wanted to say something, make a comment about how his son had grown into the disappointment George had always known he would be, but he did not. No reason to have Hansen knowing about his relationship with the band's guitarist. And if the boy had any common sense at all, he could put one and one together and figure out that it was George who would spend Christmas night with his son's lover. Yes, Hansen had told him everything, he knew about his son's interest in this little dancer, at least he had a good taste in women. Too bad only that daddy got there first.

(Y/n)'s skin had been burning the whole day from the extensive scrubbing she had done on her cheek where the customer had licked her. She had decided to keep the money on her body to all times, just in case someone had noticed the exchange. She certainly had the one or the other good use for it, certainly not planning on spending it on clothes. The only purchase she made with it was a tiny dagger. It was a fascinating instrument, easy to use, perfect for self-defense. It was slim, good to hide even in as little clothing as her stage costume; the hilt was made out of beautiful dark wood, the blade out of sharp metal. It looked comparatively harmless, but the sales assistant had allowed her to demonstrate the deadly precision the weapon was capable of first hand on a poor cushion.

Now she had stored both the dagger and the money safely in her costume while her mind was still spinning, still not knowing how she should get out of here before it was too late. Her eyes burned from all the crying she had done earlier in her helplessness, and she quickly put on the colombiana mask to hide the dark circles under her eyes. And Ryan still knew of nothing.

Luckily she found a way to solve at least this problem the moment she stepped on stage. Spencer was already seated behind his drum set, so (Y/n) quickly stopped next to him, pretending to redo her shoe, while telling him the devastating news quietly.

Spencer nodded, growing a little paler as he understood the impact of this news. (Y/n) was done fixing her shoe so she walked further to the front, close to Ryan who still managed to resist the tiniest look at her. A few seconds passed and suddenly Spencer stood next to Ryan, whispering something in his ear. Ryan nodded a few times, seemingly unimpressed by the message. Then Spencer walked over to Brendon and the new bassist, Jon, and whispered something to them too, while Ryan walked over to Hansen.