Chapter 3: Sweet Dreams
This wasn't good. Derek always knew Bleed was a little 'off'. That the man was capable of doing crazy things. But this was beyond insanity. And reality, for that matter, Derek thought as he, Bleed and the unicorn managed to out-fly an airplane. Bleed shouted something at him that he couldn't hear over the rushing wind and flapping of wings.
"What?" Derek squinted as he tried to make out what Bleed was saying. "I can't hear you! Speak up!"
They suddenly crashed through a barrier of stone and glass and landed on the ground, somehow unhurt. Must be unicorn powers, Derek thought dazedly as he looked around. He blinked slowly as he took in the new surroundings. "Why the hell are we in a church?"
"Where else would we have a proper ceremony?" Bleed lifted Derek off the unicorn and began carrying him down the aisle. "They've already started without us!"
"Wait, what?" Derek stopped struggling and looked around. Odd, how he didn't notice how the pews were filled with people before now. As they reached the alter, a sobbing woman caught Derek's attention. "Mum?"
"Our little Derek is finally getting married!" She sniffed, smiling tearfully. "Finally! You have someone to make an honest man out of you!"
"I am not getting married!" Derek shouted, pushing against Bleed harder. He saw Ash and Burger standing at the alter, sporting matching grins and matching tuxedos. "Guys, help me!"
"Don't worry, bro! Pre-wedding jitters are totally normal!" Burger said encouragingly.
"I'm a bridesmaid!" Ash chirped, adding his two cents.
"Let's just skip the vows and get down to the good bits." Bleed told a wrinkly old man, who wore bishop robes. "I want to get to the honeymoon." Derek blanched and tried to get away, only to have Bleed hold onto him harder. "He's so impatient-"
"Let go of me, you arse!"
"Aw. I love you too!"
"You may now kiss the bride."
"No!" Derek shrieked, pushing Bleed's puckering face away. "Why am I the bride?"
Bleed's lips were mere inches from his own, Ash and Burger were throwing rice at them, people were cheering and the unicorn was sporting a 'Just Married' banner over it's flanks. Derek managed to twist out of Bleed's arms and took the opportunity to make a run for it. He tripped down the alter steps in his panic and hit his forehead on the front pew.
"Ow! Shi-"
"Derek?"
"What's going on?"
Derek gasped and looked around, clutching his sore forehead. He was in his bed, in a thankfully, familiar room. There was no church, no crying relatives and definitely no wedding. "Thank god!"
"Derek? What's wrong, dude?" Burger's sleepy voice calmed him down a bit and Derek tried to catch his breath. "Did you hit your head again?"
"N-nothing. I just had a really weird dream…" Derek wiped his mouth, oddly feeling his lips tingling. "Probably from trying to sleep on an empty stomach."
"Figures." Ash's spiky hair peeked from the edge of the top bunk, his voice concerned. "There's left over pizza in the fridge."
Derek considered it for a moment before just flopping back into bed. "Never mind. I rather not leave the room."
"…Dude, don't let Bleed get between you and food." Burger advised, sounding serious.
"I'm not." Derek grumbled, feeling a bit foolish as his stomach growled at him. "…I can hear him moving about out there. I just don't feel like dealing with him right now."
"Bleed's not going to mess with you. He just apologizes a lot." Ash tried to reason.
"Exactly. It's really annoying." Derek rolled his eyes, scoffing. He hated the way Bleed's grating, irritating voice constantly repeated the same things. And the stupid way his dark eyes looked sad when the apologies were rejected. And the pouting face- "He's so annoying!"
"Yeah…" Ash's voice was tired and slow when he spoke. "But, I kinda feel sorry for him."
"Excuse me?" Derek felt a flash of irritation and glared upwards at Ash, even though the man couldn't see him.
"N-nothing. It's just…kinda weird seeing him like this." Ash sounded a bit nervous at Derek's tone.
"He's obviously trying to trick us into thinking he's sorry." Derek huffed. But Ash had a point. In the all the years he had known the man, he never heard Bleed utter an apology for anything. Derek shook his head and set his jaw firmly. It didn't matter, he decided. Bleed betrayed his friends and the band and him. It was unforgivable, regardless if he was genuinely sorry. "He's leaving tomorrow, first thing in the morning anyway. So, at least we'll be Bleed-free soon."
Derek was satisfied when his friends mumbled agreements through their yawns and he settled back in his bed. His stomach suddenly growled in a rather loud manner and he groaned quietly.
"Y'want something from my garbage can?" Burger offered, which was generous of him considering how protective he was about his food.
"Er…no thanks. I rather not eat something that's been sitting in a rubbish bin." Derek grimaced and tried to go back to sleep, hoping no more nightmares would wake him.
Bleed was a heavy sleeper. So, he slept right through the bustling of the kid getting ready for school, his weird friend standing over him while he slumbered on the couch and the ensuing argument that ended with Tripp dragging the girl out the door. Not even the strong sunlight shining directly in his face roused him. The thing that woke him was the hard jabbing in his arm.
"Mmph…whaa-?" Derek, Ash and Burger stood over him, their faces in identical scowls. Bleed slowly sat up and scratched at his long, tangled hair. "Uh…morning, lads. What's for breakfast?"
"Eggs and bacon." Burger replied.
"For us, that is." Derek's tone was deceptively sweet for a moment before turning hard. "You're leaving and never coming back."
"Okay, okay. Before you kick me out, I want to say something-"
"Save it for someone who cares."
"Seriously! Just let me-" Bleed's arms were grabbed, one by Derek and the other by Burger. He struggled, trying to get his arms free. "C'mon! Give a bloke a break!"
"There's nothing you can say or do to make us change our minds!" Derek's grip tightened but Bleed managed to jerk away and step away from his ex-band.
"You right! I'll go…" Bleed quickly reached into his pocket before he was grabbed again and took out a small remote. He spent the entire night setting this up. There was no way he was going to let it go unused. "I just hope it's safe to drive…in a candy blizzard!"
Talking to the kid made Bleed think. Afterwards, he snuck out and drove down to the nearest convenience store. A lot of them were closed that late at night, but after much searching he managed to find one. The last forty dollars in his pocket was gone after purchasing several bags of candy. Then he spent the rest of the night, finding random material and rigging a crude contraption to hold the candy up by the ceiling of the living room and getting it to release. By the time he was finished, it was almost six in the morning, his head and eyes hurt and he was utterly exhausted. But Bleed decided it was worth it as Ash, Burger and Derek's faces morphed from surprise to sheer glee.
"Whoa!"
"Awesome!
"Bleed, you rock!"
The brilliant smile on Derek's face made Bleed's stomach actually flutter, making him feel like a silly teenager. A hand clapping his back made him tear his gaze away from Derek and look behind him to see Burger, his shirt holding a generous amount of candy and chocolates.
"Dude, you set all this up by yourself?"
"…Well, yeah." Bleed suddenly felt a bit embarrassed at Burger's slight grin. "I mean, it's not much but, whatever."
"Huh. Wow…you must've worked your butt off." Burger seemed sheepish now as well, like he wasn't sure how to talk to Bleed.
Ash wandered over, tearing a chocolate bar open with his teeth. "Nope. It's still there."
The laugh that erupted out of them felt incredibly refreshing and vitalizing. Bleed could swear he felt the previously coldness between them vanishing. It felt good. He looked around to see Derek standing a little off away from them. Derek's smile was gone, but there wasn't any anger either. Bleed caught Derek's eyes briefly before Derek looked away and retreated to the couch, his cheeks coloring faintly.
Bleed smirked and dropped himself down next to Derek who was busily trying to unwrap a hard candy. He took the little, red sphere from Derek and easily squeezed it from the wrapper. "Here."
"Thanks. This was…uh, nice of you. I guess." Derek's voice was neutral which was a definite step up from the anger. There was even a tiny hint of a smile returning at the edge of his lips.
It was actually thrilling to see the beginnings of the familiar smile. Bleed edged closer to Derek, feeling rather bold. "No problem. So, you like it?"
"I'd like it more if you'd give me back the candy. You know strawberry's my favorite." Derek leaned away a bit, but there was still a trace of that smile.
"S'why I picked up a whole bag of it." Bleed leaned in, following Derek's movement and popped the candy into his mouth, making Derek's hazel eyes widen a bit. He sucked on the treat nosily for a moment before rolling it between his front teeth. "You still want it?"
"Eugh! Get away from me!" Derek snapped, grabbing Bleed's face and shoving him back roughly.
Bleed nearly choked as the candy slid down his throat. He coughed and pounded on his chest, trying to call after Derek, who was running out of the living room.
"Too soon, man." Burger said, muffled through a mouthful of chocolate.
"You got burned." Ash chimed in, sounding a bit too cheerful for Bleed's liking.
Bleed rubbed his neck, something more than the candy making his throat feel groggy. "I got caught up in the moment…damnit."
"…Well, leave him alone for a little bit. Or you'll make him even more angry." Ash and Burger exchanged slightly sympathetic glances. Had Derek not have blown up, the little exchange would've been like how the relationship use to be.
Seeing Bleed still massaging his neck, Ash thumped him on the back a few times to help. "C'mon. Let's get some breakfast. Then we gotta go dig up the bowling balls from the basement for later. Derek should be okay after."
Bleed glanced at Ash and felt a bit grateful for the kind effort. "I know. But, I just want to apologize really quick." He got to his feet and started towards the guest room, after Derek. "I'll join you lot later."
Whoo, another chapter! Thanks for all the reviews and stuff everyone.
