Chapter 1 – Torn Apart

Disclaimer : I don’t own any of them, except for Chester =D

“You can’t do this.”

Mike sighed and opened his drawer, pulling out his favorite polka dotted socks.

“You can’t do this, Michael,” Anna said again. “Not to me.”

Mike tossed closed his luggage bag and zipped it up. “I’m sorry, Anna. But this is my job.”

“Well I’m your wife!” Anna argued. “The longest time you’ve been at home so far was 55 hours. When are you going to quit your job and stay with me?”

Mike buried his face in his hands. He could barely even call the house he was in his ‘home’ anymore. He had been spending most of his time with his band, touring around the world. Anna had been begging him to leave the band and start a quiet life at home for a year already, but he just couldn’t. Not when Linkin Park was doing so damn well.

“Mike, I love you. Please, I’m begging you… I can’t stand another night alone!” Anna pleaded. All he could do was look at her with sympathy. He couldn’t do anything else – Chester was already waiting in his car outside.

“I gotta go,” was all he said. Anna burst into tears. He leaned over to kiss her, but she jumped back. Mike looked at her for a moment, hurt, and thought twice about leaving for his tour to Japan. But just then, Chester honked loudly, and Mike could sense that Chaz was getting impatient. Anna looked out the window at Chester’s car, as if she was trying to burn it with her eyes. When she looked back at Mike, the look of sadness on her face turned into pure anger.

“Get out,” Anna snapped.

“Honey, I-..”

“I said get the hell out!” she yelled. Mike stood in front of the door for a moment, staring at his wife. He wanted to do something – anything, to make her smile, but all he did was walk out of the room. He heard glass shattering and winced. She was throwing things around again, just like she had the time he left for Texas.

Mike hurried out of his house and took a deep breath, inhaling the cool evening air. He sighed, feeling relieved. Chester turned to Mike and grinned, giving another honk for fun. Mike couldn’t help but smile back – Chester always made him feel better.

“Sorry I kept you waiting, dude,” Mike apologized, loading his luggage into the boot.

“Anna again?” Chester said, frowning.

“Well, yeah,” Mike admitted.

“Kinda expected it, no offense,” Chester said.

“None taken,” Mike replied, slamming the boot shut. He got into the passenger’s seat and Chester started the engine, driving off.

“Wanna talk about it?” Chester offered. Mike didn’t reply, so Chester took it as a no. Finally Mike spoke, “Where to?”

“Um… Joe’s,” Chester replied. Mike nodded. They sat there in silence for a moment, then Chester tried to start a conversation.

“Joe’s stupid frog died,” Chester grinned.

“Finally!” Mike said, chuckling softly. “How did it happen?”

“Well, it hopped out of the pond and decided to hide underneath his car. Joe ran over it the next morning,” Chester explained.

Mike laughed lightly. “Naturally Joe.”

Moments later, they arrived at Joe’s place. Chester honked his car again. Joe came walking out dressed in a black shirt and black jeans, wearing a pair of sunglasses. He looked so pale, like all his blood had been sucked out of him. He got in the car quietly, his mouth drooped down into a frown.

“We’re very sorry for your loss,” Chester said with mock-seriousness.

“Shut up you two, Froggy Almighty was my best friend,” Joe said. He took out a tissue and wiped his eyes. Chester smacked Joe. “It was just a frog, you idiot.”

“Mr. Almighty was not just a frog. He was a companion, a friend, a playmate, a lover…”

Chester ignored him and picked up speed. “We’re late,” he said. They finally got to the studio and parked the car. The rest of their band mates were already there.

“Late as usual,” Phoenix said jokingly. Mike glared at Phoenix, but he didn’t seem to notice. They got on the bus and loaded everything in the boot. Joe sat with Phoenix, Brad sat with Rob and Chester sat with Mike. Fifteen minutes later, the bus door closed and they were headed to the airport.

Joe opened a pack of Mr. Potato chips and hungrily stuffed a handful of chips into his mouth.

“I thought you said you wanted to lose weight, man,” Brad said, sitting across from Joe.

“I *munch* can’t *gulp* take it anymore,” Joe said. He stuffed the last bit of chips left in the pack into his mouth and tossed it aside.

“20 seconds. That’s a new record,” Phoenix said, pretending to write it down on an imaginary piece of paper.

“Hey Mike, do that thing with your nose again,” Brad called.

“Yo… earth to Mike Shinoda. Do you copy?” Phoenix said when Mike didn’t respond.

“Huh? What? Oh, sorry. I was just… thinking…” Mike replied, still looking like he was far off into space.

“Leave him alone, guys. He’s not in a good mood,” Chester said.

The others looked at each other and shrugged.

“Let’s play a game of truth and dare, shall we?” Phoe suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“So who’s playing?” Joe asked. Everyone except Mike and Rob put up their hand.

“I want to read a book,” Rob said quietly. Brad rolled his eyes and turned to Phoe.

“Okay, I’ll start. Chester, truth or dare?” Phoe asked eagerly.

“Um… Dare,” Chester picked.

“Okaaayyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DARE YOU TO KISS MIKE!!!!!!!!!” Phoe said, and he burst out laughing. The others just sat there, looking bored.

“That’s way too easy,” Chester bragged. He turned over to look at Mike who had no idea what was going on, and gave a quick peck on the cheek. Mike barely even blinked. Chester sighed and turned back to the rest of the players.

Phoe giggled. “Your turn.”

Chester sighed and poked Joe’s rib. “You. Truth or dare?”

Joe grinned. “Truth!”

Chester thought for a while, then said, “Okay. Who do you miss the most right now?”

Joe sighed. “Froggy Almighty.”

Everyone groaned.

“What? You guys have never loved before?” Joe argued.

“We have, but not a frog! I mean, come on. It’s green and slimy and-..” Chester said.

“And cute!” Joe finished.

They rolled their eyes and waited for Joe to call a name.

“Hmm… Mikey!” He pointed at Mike and grinned widely.

Mike snapped out of his funk at the sound of his name and turned to them. “I’m not playing, remember?”

Joe frowned. “Come on, Mike. Phoenix and Brad are no fun.” Everyone knew he said that just to get Mike to liven up though. Mike was always the serious (a.k.a boring) one.

Mike sighed. “Yea, okay. I pick truth.”

Joe clasped his hands together. “What were you thinking of just now?” The others nodded along – they were wondering as well.

“That’s none of your business,” Mike snapped.

Joe giggled, not noticing the sharpness in Mike’s voice. “C’mon… you gotta follow the rules man!” And then, he felt something hard hit his face. Everything stopped for a moment, and when Joe finally came to his senses, he realized that Mike had actually punched him. Hard.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” Chester pushed Mike back, pinning him to his seat. The rest checked Joe’s face to see if anything was broken.

“I’m sorry. I just… got carried away,” Mike apologized. Joe yelped when Brad pinched his nose.

“I think it’s broken,” Rob said, moving Joe’s face from left to right to check for any further damage. (He was in medical school for a while but dropped out for the band, can you believe that?)

“What’s wrong with you today, dude. Ever since we left your house…” Chester stopped, and realized why Mike was so moody. “Look, Mike,” he said, a little more quietly, “I know you and Anna aren’t doing so well. But man, you gotta stay calm. I understand how you feel, but if you keep this going, everyone on this bus is going to wind up being killed by you.”

Mike looked at Joe. “I’m sorry, Joe. I don’t know what got to me.”

Joe grinned. “It’s okay. I’ve never broken my nose before. This is so cool!!!”

They finally reached the airport and unloaded their stuff. They got to the check-in counter and loaded their luggage, none of them speaking. The airport was barely crowded. It was around 10:45 at night. The silence carried on until Brad’s stomach came in conversation.

“I’m hungry,” he said. “Wanna go have a snack?”

They nodded solemnly and walked to KFC.

“Hello, welcome to KFC. My name is Joshua, may I take-..” he suddenly stopped and stared at the band, his jaw hanging open.

“I’m Chester from Linkin Park, yeap. Nice to meet you, and thank you for being a fan,” Chester said, bored. He had done this so many times already.

“No, not you,” Joshua said, looking over Chester’s shoulder. “Mike! I’m such a big fan! I love the work you’ve done with Fort Minor, and I love the way you’ve proved that non-blacks can rap just as good!”

Phoenix snickered, and Chester hit him hard. “Shut up man,” Chaz said, embarrassed. “I knew I shouldn’t have spent so much time hanging out with Britney Spears.”

“Chill, dude. He’s just one guy. The rest of the world loves you,” Brad reassured. Rob took out a pair of reading glasses and a dictionary. Brad started making fun of Rob for studying the dictionary, while Joshua was trying to get Mike to sign on a napkin.

“Okay, Josh, we’re all hungry, so let’s get this over with,” Chester said harshly. They took their orders and waited for their food. When it was served, they paid and sat down at a table. No doubt that there were people watching them warily - a group of girls were giggling and whispering, and a family of four were staring at them, the parents glaring and their two kids grinning like idiots. Other than that, the restaurant seemed pretty dull and empty.

There were a few attempts at conversation, but none of them lasted more than a minute. Joe kept touching his nose every 5 seconds, Mike was staring at his coke like he wanted to drown himself in it, Chester was trying his best to get Joshua’s attention and impress him, Rob was learning every word that started with K, and Phoenix and Brad were comparing their mothers.

“My mom can make pizza. How cool is that?” Phoenix bragged.

“Anyone can do that, you idiot. My mom used to be a skateboarder,” Brad competed.

“Well my mom can put her foot in her mouth!” Phoenix said loudly. Everyone turned to look at him, and everything seemed to freeze like in those olden days movies.

“Okaayyy, gross. Let’s go, guys,” Chester said. They wiped their mouths and got up. Before leaving, Chester looked at Josh and gave him his best smile, but Josh didn’t seem to notice – he was too busy fussing over the napkin Mike had signed. Chester grunted and stomped off angrily, muttering curse words.

“Let’s go to the waiting room – the departure is in an hour,” Rob said.

Mike sighed. He felt guilty about leaving Anna like that. He had been debating with himself whether he should call her or not, but he couldn’t make up his mind. He was afraid she wouldn’t pick up, which would only make him feel worse.

“Wait, let’s browse around souvenir shops first,” Joe said.

“What for? This is OUR country,” Brad answered.

“So? Airports have cool stuff.”

Mike followed them obediently. They walked into The Body Shop.

“Hey cool! They have all sorts of foot scrubs. Peppermint, almond, strawberry…”

“What the hell is this- OUCH! Fuck, it got into my eyes…”

“That was perfume you idiot.”

“How was I supposed to know? The label says Water.”

“That’s the brand.”

“I knew that.”

Mike browsed around lazily. There were many branded perfumes. Anna loves perfume, he thought. He frowned. If he wasn’t so busy with all this music business, he would be at home with his beautiful wife, having beautiful kids, and living a beautiful life he secretly wanted so badly. But he had gone this far – why give it all up and settle with something simple?

“C’mon guys, we gotta go,” Chester said. Everyone left and headed to the waiting room.

Mike looked at the people around him. There were families and couples everywhere. They all looked so happy, like they had no troubles in their lives. Everyone was smiling and laughing… Where did his smile go?

Suddenly, he spotted a woman with straight black hair, looking left and right, as if she was lost. She had no luggage with her, and seemed like she was trying to find someone. Mike was somehow mesmerized by her, but could only see her back. Finally she turned around, and his mouth fell open.

Anna?!

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Hey, hope you liked it. Some of the facts and details weren’t exactly wrong – they’re just made up. So anyway, this chapter was kinda boring, but it’ll get better – it’s only the first one. Please keep reading… I need your support! Oh, and review alright? Thanks!

-Chelsea Bennington.