I Get It ((Rae))

[Weetzie O'Keeffe H7]

Weetzie hadn't been in London for nearly two months. She had left around Valentine's Day and she was arriving today. The bus pulled up to a stop and Weetzie lifted her head from the cool glass window. She didn’t make any move to get up from the seat and leave the bus although her legs yearned for her to move. She didn’t have the strength to actually face this place again. She would be returning to Hogwarts with Chris in two days, once she got settled again. Weetzie was dreading it immensely. She hadn’t seen Bryce since the kiss and she didn't plan on actually talking to him once she did return to Hogwarts. Besides, he and Ashley Hill must be happily together by now. Weetzie ran her fingers through her long brown hair and looked up as Chris Crawford took a seat beside her, pulling her legs over onto his lap, "Why the sad eyes, Weetz?" His voice was like music to her ears and Weetzie closed her eyes, holding onto the way it sounded before moving and leaning into his arms. His fingers moved and ran through her hair easily, his lips soft on the side of her head, "Hmm?" Weetzie had been silent and so Chris had pressed her for an answer, an answer that she wasn't ready to give.

After a moment of silence, Weetzie tilted her head and looked up at him, "I'm not ready to be back here, Chris." She could see the flicker of worry in his blue eyes. She knew he was worried that she wasn't over Bryce, no matter how many times she tried to convince him that she never liked Bryce – she just missed her best friend. Even that seemed to threaten Chris. He had explained to her once that it was because he wanted to hold all of her heart and he knew that Bryce held a bigger piece of it. Weetzie hadn't been able to really understand that, because it was a platonic piece. "Not just because of Bryce, but because I won't even know where to fit in anymore. On the road I knew who I was, but here…this place has so many different Weetzie's in it, I don’t know which one is really me." She had changed quite a bit over the past two months; she wasn't the same Weetzie O'Keeffe that she had been when she left. She was mellower, she was happy, and most of all she was mature – something that the old Weetzie hadn't been.

"Relax, hmm? I know who you are and I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Things will be okay. This is home, Weetz," he kissed her forehead tenderly, "this is home." Weetzie closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to let his touch sooth her. There was a part of Chris that no one else got to see except Weetzie, and she savoured it, but sometimes…it got a little sticky. The door to the back room opened and before Weetzie knew it, Chris was up from the seat beside her and was fiddling around with his guitar across the way. Weetzie looked hurt and breathed in deeply, sitting back down with her head resting against the glass. It had been this way for the entire tour. Chris would be all sweet to her, as if he loved her, and then when someone came in walking distance of them, he'd shove her aside and be the old Christopher Crawford again. She hadn't had the courage to ask him why this was before, but perhaps now that she had returned to London things would change. Maybe once they got into school, things would be different.

"Come on…" the drummer for the band, Lars, said as he pulled Weetzie up from her seat. She made a noise of disagreement, resentment, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she let him lead her off the tour bus, Chris following after a few seconds so as not to seem suspicious. The day was bright, which was odd for London, but it was still breezy and rather cold. Weetzie crossed her arms over her chest to block the cold and lifted her eyes to look at the building they had stopped in front of. It was the label that Chris was signed to, and the label that he was trying to get to sign her. It wasn't working so far. "Home sweet home," Chris said as he moved to stand between Weetzie and Lars, his hands stuffed into his jean pockets. "Let's go." He nudged Weetzie and moved toward the entrance. They all filtered around her and she stood, quiet, silent, not wanting to enter it because it wasn't home to her. She chewed on her bottom lip, willing her legs to move but unable to. "Are you going in?" a voice asked from behind her, causing Weetzie to turn and see a tall blonde who look a year or so older than her. "Oh…um…thinking about it. You?"

[Raelee Gray]

Rae had known that being a comic book artist wouldn't get her anywhere. She had known that it wasn't really her passion, although she was certain that drawing was something she could not live without. It eased her and soothed her in a way that nothing else had ever been able to before. Not even music. But the truth was, Rae just wasn't looking for a starving artist career track. She needed something stable, grown up. And so, Rae had been looking for a job with a record label or a music store or anything. She hadn't been having the best of luck and so, she had decided to stop and grab something to eat a nearby café she had been in plenty of times before while making mail runs for the comic books. She had a sandwich, a cup of tea, and a newspaper in front of her with circled ads. There was one record label looking for an assistant. That was better than nothing and Rae figured it was worth a try. She finished off her tea and then grabbed her purse and jacket before leaving the café and hurrying across the street to the other side. She walked down the sidewalk, pressing past the people going in the opposite direction, trying to get to her destination.

When she did, she spotted a girl standing outside the building, looking intimidated and as if she was debating with herself about going in or not. Rae stood behind her a moment and then spoke, "Are you going in?" she didn't mean to sound rude or rushed or anything, it was just a simple question. If the girl was really in her way, she could just walk around her. No, Rae was just curious as to why the girl was standing in front of the record label without going in. She imagined her to be this starving artist type that Rae was so determined not to be. Then she turned around and answered, her tone kind, if not a little dry, "Oh…um…thinking about it. You?" Rae smiled brightly at her and took a step forward to stand beside her, crossing her arms over her chest quite like the girl did, and staring up at the building. It did look much more intimidating now that she was standing in its shadow, as she would undoubtedly be for years. "Thinking about it, but it looks like it will eat me alive if I step any closer." Rae smirked and looked over at the girl beside her.

She wasn't extremely short, but she wasn't as tall as Rae, but then again it was hard to be as tall as Rae. She was too tall and too thin, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. The girl had long dark brown hair, quite like the colour that they had just dyed Ashley's, but instead of being cut to her chin like Ashley's, her hair hung over her eyes and down past her shoulders. She had plump lips that Rae would kill for, and her sense of style was very mellow and something that Rae might wear if she was into that whole thing. She didn't seem extremely happy, though, and this worried Rae because this girl was so young and she shouldn't be so unhappy. Rae had been there, hell she was still there, and she wished it upon no one. When the girl spoke, though, it was with a humour that Rae could appreciate, "Yeah. It looks hungry. It's cool, though, I've been inside it plenty of times. It's the people inside the great and terrible beast that you have to watch out for." Rae laughed and raised her eyebrows.

"I believe it. So, if you're an artist, why are you standing outside?" She looked at her out of the corner of her eyes, not wanting to scare the girl off, though Rae felt deep down that it would take a lot to scare this girl off. She reminded Rae of herself before Adam, the girl who didn't let anyone in, the girl who didn't want to risk anything. And then Adam came along after his accident, and she jumped and took a risk because someone else needed her to – and she had emerged a better person, although she still had her problems and she still had her insecurities, but she was determined to focus on the things she knew she was good at. Which was music and sketching.

[Weetzie O'Keeffe H7]

Weetzie ran her fingers through her hair as the blonde spoke. A smile appeared on her lips at the witty remarks that were being tossed back and forth. She looked over at the girl and shrugged slightly, "I'm not really an artist, and trust me, I'm definitely not an artist that this label wants to sign." Bitterness could be heard in Weetzie's tone. She didn't know if the label just really didn't want to listen to her music, if they didn't like it, or if Chris just wasn't trying hard enough. But in honesty, she wasn't about to wait her entire life for the label to decide she was good enough for it. She turned to look at the girl and tilted her head slightly, "And you? Are you an artist?" The girl laughed and shook her head, her blonde locks bouncing, "No, not a musical one anyway. I just know good music when I hear it. I was actually looking for a job at a label and I was going to try here." The girl looked over at Weetzie and smiled before shrugging, her brown vest moving on her bony shoulders. She wore a cream dress with a dark brown vest and knee high brown boots. She looked very put together and Weetzie envied her. She knew she looked thrown together, but that was just because Weetzie always looked thrown together.

"So, if you can't find work…and trust me you won't want to work here… why don't you start your own label?" The girl tilted her head in thought as if she were seriously contemplating it. Weetzie was only kidding around, but this girl seemed to seriously think about it, as if taking advice from a 17 year old was a good idea. The girl looked at her and smiled, "I could. If I had an artist to sign." Her tone held suggestion in it and Weetzie felt her heart speed up. Was this girl for real? She was offering Weetzie something that the label Chris was signed to wouldn't even think about. It was surreal. "You haven't even heard me play yet, how do you know I'm worth signing?" She was trying to point out the flaws in the plan, and this was the smallest one so far. It didn't seem to faze the girl because she shrugged and looked at the tour bus, "Did you come off that?" Weetzie nodded and the girl continued, "If you're good enough to carry around on tour, you're good enough to sign. But just to appease you, why don't you grab your guitar and show me what you've got?" Weetzie's jaw dropped and her eyes widened, "O…okay, yeah! That's…okay…don’t move!" Weetzie hurried onto the tour bus, grabbed the nearest guitar (which was the one Chris had been playing), and then hurried back off, glad to see the girl still standing there.

The girl leaned against the wall and smiled encouragingly, which didn't help Weetzie's nerves. She had sung and played in front of a lot of people before, but that was her old songs – the old Weetzie. This is the new Weetzie, and the new Weetzie had new music, too. She started to strum her guitar and then began singing, "I couldn't make this up, I have been outdone by my own kind, I always traded up, yeah; now I'm a victim for the first time." Weetzie started to get lost in her own world as she always did when she sang. She loved it. She loved playing and singing and telling a story through her music, "well I'm unaffected and indifferent, but I can't pretend I'm not over the edge. Well, well, baby, what do you know? You turned the tables on me, didn't you? My, my, my it only serves me right, now I get it. This is how hurt feels, and it's everything they say it is." Weetzie tapped the beat with her foot, but the girl stopped her, a bright smile on her face. She put her hand on the neck of the guitar and smiled so brightly it hurt Weetzie's cheeks just looking at her, "I don't need to hear anymore. If you don't mind taking quite a big risk by signing with me and my new label, I'd love to have you." Weetzie's jaw dropped again and she watched the girl intently, waiting for the 'just kidding' part.

It didn't come. Weetzie closed her mouth and shook her head in disbelief, "I…I'd love to! I mean, yeah, it's taking a huge risk but I have nothing else to lose!" Weetzie smiled brightly and turned, setting the guitar on the bus again, before turning to the girl who was looking at her intently, "Wh..what?" Weetzie asked unnervingly, she hated being scrutinized. The girl laughed and shook her head, "I don't even know your name and you just agreed to sign with me, that's bad businessmanship or whatever they call it." Weetzie laughed, too, and ran her fingers through her hair again and then held it out to the girl, "Weetzie O'Keeffe." The girl seemed to falter, but whatever made her falter she seemed to shrug off and shook Weetzie's hand, "Raelee Gray, oh, but call me Rae. Your new manager/producer. It's a pleasure to be in business with you." Rae chuckled and Weetzie smiled brightly. She didn't know how much of a pleasure it would be later on down the road, but Weetzie was liking it at the moment.