I'm not dead! Just very busy. I caught up with a lot of work so hopefully I'll be updating again soon. Here's another chapter for you all and thanks for all the response so far!

Chapter 8: You Can't Always Get What You Want

School was more torturous than usual today. Tripp couldn't stop glancing at the clock, trying to will it to go faster. He considered slipping out during lunch and heading home early but forced himself to trudge on through the school day.

"Tripp, are we still going to the mall today?" Jared asked, catching up to Tripp as he rushed down the hall. "I have a list of things to get-"

"Sorry, Jared! I need to get home." Tripp apologized, trying not to pay attention to the affronted look on his friend's face. "I'll make it up to you, I swear!"

"Now I have to go with my mom!" Jared complained as they stepped outside. "You know she doesn't like me going out by myself."

"Sorry! But I have this gig I need to practice for…" Tripp slowed his gait down so he and Jared could walk side by side.

"You've been rushing home to practice all week." Jared pointed out. "Is it because of whats-his-name?"

"It's Bleed." Tripp corrected, rolling his eyes affectionately. Jared didn't have a taste for rock music. "And…kinda. I'm going to be on stage with one of the greatest guitarists ever! I don't want to slip up."

"You're a great guitarist too." Jared shrugged, not understanding Tripp's concern.

"Thanks…but this is different. It's like if you were going to work with…Stephen Hawking or something."

"I see your dilemma." Jared nodded, his eyes a bit wide. "Although I really wouldn't compare a guitarist to one of the greatest physicists in modern-"

"Jared."

"Shutting up now."

Tripp laughed a bit but suddenly ducked himself to hide behind Jared. It was hard with his friend's skinny frame. "Walk faster. I don't Izzy to follow me home."

"We always walk with Izzy." Jared raised an eyebrow.

"I know…but she's been trying to break into my house all week to stalk Bleed." Tripp explained, relaxing a bit when they were far enough. "I think she has serious fixation problems-"

"Who does? Who are we talking about?" The boys jumped and turned to see Izzy standing right behind them. She grinned at Tripp and linked her arms with his and Jared's. "Soo. Tripp. Buddy. Guy. I just bought the new Guitar Hero:World Tour. Why don't we all go play it at your house?"

"Ooh! I love that game!" Jared faltered a bit when Tripp looked at him.

"I love that game too, Jared. And you know who else loves that game? The guys! We should all play together-"

"We're busy, Iz." Tripp interrupted. He sighed at the pouting look Izzy gave him. "We have a gig to rehearse for."

"C'mon! You've been practicing all week! Take a break, Tripp." Izzy pouted and tightened her grip. "I'm surprised the guys are even going along with it. They won't even get up from the couch half the time."

"We're all pretty excited about the gig. That's all…" Tripp insisted. But, Izzy had a point. Usually the guys were lazy to the point of inertia. Since Bleed came back, they seemed a bit more motivated. At least Derek did. And Burger and Ash usually followed the Brit's lead on most matters.

"Well, at least invite me to the gig! Say backstage?" Izzy batted her eyes coquettishly at Tripp and smiled in a way she probably thought was endearing.

"Fine...you guys can both come if you want." Tripp noticed his house was coming into view and tore his arm from Izzy. "It's at SuperNova downtown." He broke into a quick jog and waved to his friends. "Seven tomorrow evening! I'll see you!"

When Tripp was out of site, leaving the other two slowly meandering down the sidewalk, Jared noticed Izzy frowning. "What's wrong?"

"I dunno…" Izzy scratched the back of her head, pursing her mouth. "I thought SuperNova was an eighteen and over club."

"Maybe it's an all-ages night?" Jared suggested.

"Huh. Maybe." Izzy shook her head and shrugged it off. "Anyway, if you're coming with me, what are you wearing?"

"Clothes?" Jared picked up his pace when Izzy gave him a look. The back of his shirt was grabbed and he was dragged in the opposite direction. "I don't really like that kind of music-"

"C'mon. You can't look like a geek when we go see Bleed. We're going to the mall!"

"This guy has you and Tripp acting like weirdoes!"

"Stop complaining. At least you don't have to go shopping with your mom now."


When Tripp got home, Ash and Burger were in front of the TV, their eyes glazed over. "What are you guys watching?"

Burger recovered from his TV-trance and smiled at Tripp. "Just cartoons. Nothing else is on."

"I like the colors." Ash informed them, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Where's Bleed and Derek?" Tripp asked, ignoring the drummer's anecdote.

"Uh…around." Burger suddenly raise his voice to foundation-shaking levels. "Guys, Tripp's home!"

"You don't have to yell, I'll just go look for them." Tripp winced, rubbing his ears.

"Why bother? They're probably in the garage, let's go there!" Burger pulled Ash from the couch, despite the whines, and tried to steer Tripp outside.

"Well, hold on! I need to get my guitar-" Tripp frowned. Burger was so weird sometimes. He usually only acted rushed like this if he was under stress or something.

"Why would you need that for?" Burger blocked Tripp and nearly stumbled when the teen darted around him somehow. He raised his voice again, shouting. "Okay, Tripp! Go get your guitar! That's in your room! Down the hall-"

"Burger, why are you screaming?" Derek appeared in the doorway, looking annoyed.

"Sometimes I can't control the volume of my voice." Burger chewed his bottom lip and tapped his fingers together.

"Yeah. Like just now." Ash nodded, petting Burger on the back. "Poor Burger."

"I thought you guys were in the garage." Tripp said as he took the door out to the hallway.

"We were on our way." Bleed appeared next to Derek, looking a bit disheveled. Moreso than usual anyway.

"Awesome. I'm gonna grab my stuff." Tripp called as he ran to his room.

The guys blinked at each other before shuffling to the door. As they stepped outside, Derek rounded on Burger, hissing. "The kid is going to wonder what's going on with you acting all freaked out!"

"I wasn't freaking out!" Burger protested. He opened the door to the garage a bit harder than necessary. "You asked me to tell you when Tripp was home and I did!"

"Well, you could've not screamed like a banshee!"

"You guys shouldn't be…messing around or whatever anyway!"

"We weren't! We were laying down for a bit!"

"When Beth comes home from her convention it won't just be us when Tripp's at school. If you guys are planning to be all secretive-"

"Hey, no fair! No one cuddles with me…" Ash interrupted, looking hurt.

"We weren't cuddling, you sissy." Bleed grumbled, his face getting a bit pink. Actually, they were but that was beside the point. He cleared his throat as he began hooking up his guitar. "Speaking of the kid and his mum, I was kind of thinking…won't this place get a bit crowded with six people? Five being adults?"

They looked at Bleed for a moment before, Derek spoke up. "Well, yeah, I suppose. But we can make it work."

"I guess…but wouldn't it be better if we got a place of our own? I mean, it'd be easier on Tripp and stuff." Bleed said in his best casual voice. "We don't want to be burdens, right?"

"That's…considerate of you…" Derek looked at Bleed strangely for a moment before looking up from a door slamming in the distance. "We'll talk about it later, okay?"

Bleed was about to insist but Tripp walked in and he kept his mouth shut. He groaned inwardly as he began plugging in his guitar. His fingers were actually aching a bit from being unused to playing everyday for hours.

Practiced dragged on and so did dinner. This was the closest to being domesticated in his life, he realized grudgingly as he set the table. Living in the suburbs, doing chores and looking after a kid was definitely not his thing. He wanted to bring up the subject of moving out again but didn't know how to without sounding desperate.

Bleed was rather sullen after dinner. He sat slumped in an armchair, staring at the TV with everyone else. He was trying to send subtle hints to Derek to go to the bedroom with him, but the singer either didn't notice or ignored him. He glanced at Derek who was sitting with Tripp and laughing about something (probably something stupid, Bleed thought petulantly) and eventually slunk off the room after grumbling a goodnight to everyone.

/Just gotta wait for a little while longer. Then that dumb brat will be out of my hair./ Bleed thought crankily to himself. In a small act of defiance, he jumped into Derek's bed and laid on his stomach. /If he wants his bed back, he's going to have to drag me out./ The idea of annoying Derek amused him a bit. But also depressed him as it reminded him that he wasn't allowed to be in Derek's bed, despite sharing one for a number of years.

"You better not be on my bed." Derek's voice warned suddenly as his footsteps went by.

"Yeah? What if I am?" Bleed couldn't help but be antagonistic tonight and stubbornly remained flat on the mattress.

The footsteps stopped for a moment before Derek spoke again. "I think you're forgetting who had the most wins during our Prank Weeks."

"…I'm on the floor." Bleed replied contritely as he quietly slithered off the bed. He heard Derek's chuckle fade down the hall and sighed. /Just a little while longer./


The evening couldn't come fast enough for Tripp. He was already up at the crack of dawn, feeling restless. It was almost annoying the way the guys slept well past noon and didn't seem to share his excitement. Well, Bleed appeared to in any case. The older man was relentlessly enthusiastic which was nice considering Tripp felt as thought he was acting somewhat moody last night.

Tripp managed to occupy himself by tuning his guitar, then Bleed's guitar, then Burger's bass. He even packed all the instruments into the van. When it hit six-thirty, he herded the older musicians into the van, despite their being in the middle of getting ready.

The minute the van was parked, Tripp jumped out and began hauling out the equipment for them to carry. There was a bounce in the teen's step as he walked up the stairs to the backstage entrance. "I can't believe I'm about to play at the same club as my idol!"

"Whoa, hey-" A large hand held Tripp back away from the door and a large bouncer frowned down at him. "Eighteen and over only."

"It's a dumb rule," Derek retorted as he motioned for Tripp to come along. "Let's just go in-"

"Don't make me eat you." The bouncer stared the Brit down and Derek seemed to have trouble deciding whether the man was serious or not.

"…Well, rules are rules!" Derek said with forced amicability as he turned on heel. Tripp sighed at the singer's weak resolve.

"I can fill in for the lead guitar," Bleed cut in suddenly before anyone else could move. He looked at Tripp and gave him a pitying look. "Just for tonight. You don't want to let the fans down, right?"

That was true, Tripp conceded to himself. But he still felt as though a flame had been doused inside him. It would be lame to plead with the bouncer to at least go in to watch backstage, he thought numbly. But the urge was still there to drop to his knees and beg. His band mates shot him mixed looks of sympathy and slight trepidation. They did have a sold out show. And playing a club like this would be good for the band. "Yeah…I guess it's for our fans…"

"Thanks, kid!"

The guys scurried up the stairs, past him while he fought to not let his disappointment show too much. Bleed followed them up the stairs but lingered back with Tripp and looked around.

"I'll try to do you justice out there, mate. But it won't be easy…" Bleed suddenly shut the door and smirked-he always smirked, but this time, his eyes were incredibly cold and there was a nasty quality twisting along his lips. "What will be easy is taking your place in the band."

The light, jaunty English-accented voice Tripp had come to associate Bleed with was suddenly different. It was lower, a bit scratchy and sneering. "W-what happened to your voice?"

"It's fake." Bleed replied simply as though he was replying to someone asking what the time is. He roughly clapped Tripp on the shoulder before turning neatly on his heel towards the door. "Thanks for keeping my seat warm for me! Don't worry, by the end of the week, my band will be outta your house."

"Wait a minute-" Tripp started, still confused. The metal door slammed shut in his face with a loud screech and clank.


That felt good, Bleed thought happily to himself as he strolled over to the backstage area. He would've really gave the kid an earful but he was in a good mood tonight so he decided to be nice. The next step would be to convince the guys to move out of the kid's house. He already had a sizable list, that he made last night when sulking, of reasons why it'd be a good idea. Then eventually, hopefully sooner (like really soon) rather than later, Tripp would be completely phased out and he could join the ranks of previous Iron Weasel guitarists that didn't work out. Bleed started to whistle a cheery rendition of 'Another One Bites the Dust' when Derek walked into view towards him.

"Where were you?" Derek asked, huffing a bit. "We're on in five!"

"Just making sure the kid was okay." Bleed lied easily. He smiled when the singer's expression softened. Derek returned the smile and discreetly brushed a stray bit of hair from Bleed's face. "Hey, let's go. You can touch me later, I promise."

"You've really…matured, Bleed." Derek let his hand rest on Bleed's arm and squeezed lightly. He gave a small smile which nearly made Bleed forget about the impending gig.

/I forgot how cute that smile is./ "Right, then!" Bleed said out loud, grinning. He put an arm around Derek's shoulders as they walked out onto the stage together. Like it should be, thought Bleed smugly.


Tripp had stood there in the dimly lit alley for awhile, disbelief rooting him to the spot. He dumbly hoped Bleed would suddenly pop back out and announce he was kidding but it didn't happen. Eventually, he wandered out onto the busy sidewalk and flagged down a cab. A lot of people were lined up at the door of the club and his stomach ached as he mechanically gave his address to the cabbie.

The bed creaked loudly as he dropped back on it more heavily then he intended. Tripp stared at the ceiling for a while until his confusion gradually gave way into anger. He felt stupid. The guys insisted that Bleed was no good. But he let the man waltz right in and make himself at home. The past week was just him trying to endear himself to everyone and it worked. Bleed really didn't care or liked him. It was just for show to get him to let his guard down. Tripp sat up, determined. He didn't know if Bleed expected him to just take this without a fight. But, he wasn't going to get pushed out like this. And he knew that the guys weren't going to let him go either.

Next update, the rating will go up to 'M'. So adjust your filters accordingly!