Lindsey POV
Today I am going to show Gerard Lovers' Creek. It's a beautiful creek.
I got out of bed that I was sharing with Jennifer.
I went to the kitchen and saw she was making breakfast.
"Morning Lindsey," Jennifer said.
"Morning Jenn," I reply back.
"You seem oddly excited," Jennifer questioned.
"What do you mean?"
"You're doing something today. And it involves Gerard," Jennifer said with a smirk.
Damn how did she know?
"How'd you know?" I asked.
"Dude, you seem to have a crush on him," Jennifer said. I grab a cup and filled it with coffee. I shrugged.
"You know it's all in the pass. You have to move on, Lindsey," Jennifer said.
"You know I made that promise." I stated.
"Lindsey, why did you promise that?" Jenn asked.
I sighed. Why did I promise myself that?
"I'm too scare to fall in love again," I said quietly looking at my hands.
"Lindsey, remember, you must have a few broken hearts before you find the one," Jennifer said.
I gave a small smile.
"Well, today I'm going to show Gerard that creek on 195th Street." I stated.
"You mean Lovers' Creek?" Jennifer smirked.
"Yes, Lovers' Creek." I said.
"Ooo," Jennifer said.
"Stop it. We're just friends," I said.
"Not the way Jimmy, Steve, and I see it," Jennifer said and she left the kitchen.
I sigh and look at my hands. I guess I really do love Gerard. But does he feel the same way about me?
I shook my head and ate.

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"Yeah. But that isn't the main reason," I said with a smile.
"What are you up to, Lindsey Way?" He asked.
"Lindsey Way?"
"Oh shit. Did I say that?"
"Yeah." I reply.
"Sorry. I was reading this message I got. Then I said 'Way' instead of your name." Gerard explained.
"It's fine. Don't worry." I said.
"Let me start my sentence again." He said. "What are you up to, Lindsey Ballato?"
"It's a surprise." I stated.
"Are you going to tell me?" He asked.
"You know you just asked the most stupidest question ever." I said.
Jennifer walked by, smiling. I flipped her off.
"It is not!" Gerard protested.
"Is to you motherfucker." I said.
"Not!" Gerard said.
"It is!"
"Prove it to me," Gerard said.
"Well, I told you it's a damn surprise and then you asked me if I am going to tell you what it is. Now, that wouldn't be a surprise," I said.
"Sorry," he said sarcastically. "I hate surprises."
"Well, you'll like this one." I said.
"Fine. What time?" Gerard asked.
"Mhmm. Around eight PM. Oh by the way, be at my place to help around two." I said.
"Alright, see you then." Gerard said.
"Bye Jennifer! I'm off to my apartment." I said heading out the door.
"Remember to kiss Gerard!" Jennifer said. I flipped her off.
On the way to my apartment, I kept thinking why is everyone so desperate to hook me up with Gerard. I mean, yeah I haven't dated a guy in like four years, but that doesn't mean anything, right?
But I promised myself I wouldn't fall in love with any one. Remember Lindsey. You promise. I kept reminding myself.
Deep down in my heart, my heart is telling me to break the promise. To let Gerard to be the only exception. That I love him.
That's what my heart is telling me. That I love him!
But what if he's like Chad? I thought.
No, he isn't like Chad at all! He isn't Chad! Gerard is different. He's different from all the men in the world. I thought to myself.
"Okay, so now we're going to get these neon color," I said picking up a bucket of neon blue. "And we're going to splash the colors with the brush."
"So, which one are we going to start first?" He asked.
"Neon blue."
He grabbed the bucket and started splashing it on his side of the room. I did my side. I had finished first than Gerard. He was still splashing the second wall. I stared at him for a moment. I don't think he saw me stare.
I came up with a fun idea. I grabbed some of the neon blue and splash it at Gerard.
"The fuck," he said. I laughed.
"Oh I'm going to get you!" He said and splash some on me.
"Motherfucker!" I said and splash some on Gerard.
"Dammit Lindsey. You got it all over my shirt!" He said.
"Dude, your shirt was already painted on." I said.
"Not true! Show me," he said.
I smiled. I went up to him with my brush full of neon blue paint. Gerard didn't know what I was going to do. Once I was really close to him, I smiled, then painted a neon blue line in the middle of his black shirt. I then dropped my brush and started to run for cover to the bathroom.
"Motherfucker! I'm going to get you!" Gerard said.
I am a fast runner, but since I tripped over the covered floors, it had slowed me down by a lot. Enough for Gerard to catch me.
As I got to my feet and began to run again, he got an opportunity and tackled me down. "No!" I yelled.
He got his brush and gave an evil laugh. Or so he try, it turned out to be cute...
"Got you now, Lindsey," Gerard said as he painted my cheek and my shirt.
"Fine, we're even now. Happy?" I asked.
"Yes I am," he said and got off me. I lay there on the ground.
"Aren't you going to stand up?" Gerard asked.
"Too lazy." I said. He took his both of his hands out for me to grab. I sighed and took his hands. Gerard then pulled me up.
"Well, I hope you're not too lazy to show me the surprise," he said.
"Don't worry. Hey, what time is it?" I asked.
He pulled out his phone. "four, why?"
"Crap. Go home and get ready," I said.

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"Hey Lindsey, when was the last time you had your panic attack?" Jennifer asked.
I stopped brushing my hair. When was the last time I had my panic attack? Two months ago? Three?
"I think three."
"You sure?" Jennifer asked sitting on the bed.
"I'm pretty sure I said I think." I stated.
"I'm just wondering. I don't want you to have a panic attack while you're on your date with Gerard." Jennifer said.
"Not a date. I'm just going to show him the creek." I said.
"At eight?" Jennifer said.
"What. It looks better when there's a little bit of sunlight. Plus, he was helping me painting my apartment. And you know I take a long time to get ready." I said.
"Okay, okay. Just, if you do have an attack, relax. Breath in and breath out. Don't get Gerard too worried like you did to me the first time it happened." Jennifer said.
"No promises." I said.
"Now you don't make promises," Jennifer said. I shrugged.

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"So, where are we going this time of night? You're not going to murder me, are you?" Gerard asked.
"Don't be silly, Gee. I would of done that a long time ago," I said trying to sound serious.
Gerard looked at me horrified. I couldn't hold in the laughter anymore, so I started to laugh.
"Just kidding, Gee," I said. He had relaxed. "You sick motherfucker." He mumble. I grin.
The only reason why Gerard was worried is because I'm driving and he's not. Hey! My car, my rules. Plus, he wouldn't know where to drive.
He rubs his neck then looks up at the car's ceiling. "Are there yet?"
"You sound like a little kid. The answer is almost." I said.
"Great." He said and closed his eyes.

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"We're here!" I yelled.
"Finally." He said.
"Gerard, quit being such a drama queen. It's only about forty minutes from your place to here." I said.
"That is quite long for me." Gerard said getting out of the car.
"You go on tour- you know what, I'm not even going to ask." I said.
I grabbed his hand and started to pull on it so he can follow me. I guess he got the memo because he does but doesn't let go of my hand.
"Why are we in this creek?" He asked.
"I wanted to show you it." I reply.
"Just to let you know, Lindsey, I'm not much of an outdoors person." Gerard said.
"Yeah? Well, neither am I." I stated. I can see the green and white gazebo.
"Are you taking me to that gazebo?" He asked.
"Well aren't you just full of questions today? Yes. We're going to that gazebo." I said.
Once at the gazebo, I let go of Gerard's hand. The creek was about fifteen yard away from the gazebo. The gazebo had a white benches so you can sit on.
Gerard looked around the park and the creek. "Lindsey, why did you bring me here?" He asked.
I sighed. I knew I had to tell him.
"When I first moved here, I was stressed out. I was worried about my future. I didn't know where to start. I had joined MSI when I moved here. I really didn't know how to play the bass. I took classes.
"Like I said before, I was under a lot of stress and emotional pain." I said then sighed at the memory. I took a seat and so did Gee.
"One night I had consider on cutting myself, again. I was going back home from class. Somehow I got lost on the way. I stopped here to ask people for directions back to Central Avenue. Well, there really wasn't anyone here. So I came to the gazebo and sat down and cried.
"I cried and cried. When I stopped crying, I saw the creek. It was now sunset. I saw the creek and how it flowed. It made me relax for some weird reason.
"After a while, there was a park ranger here. He asked me what I was doing here alone. I told him I was lost and needed directions. He gave me a small smile and told me about this creek.
"It's called Lover's Creek. They named it Lover's Creek because back in 1958, two friends had came here. This creek didn't have a name then. One was a girl the other was a boy. They promise each other if they were stressed out or sad to go with each other and come here.
"One day, the boy realized he loved the girl so much. More than a friend. He knew he couldn't tell that to her because she was dating someone else. He was under stress too. Just like me back then. But, he never told his friend -the girl.
"One day, he cut his wrist. He then came here to say goodbye to the creek.
"The girl was sad that day too. Actually, she was sad that week because she found out her boyfriend only used her to make another girl jealous. So she came here to the creek the same day to boy came.
"She saw him and ran to him to hug him. The boy was surprised. The girl saw his wrist and the blood dripping from his wrist. She loved him too, but she never thought he would like her back. She looked in his eyes and kissed him.
"After that day, the two friends were together. One day, the boy proposed to her, she said yes. They got married here in 1964. They had built this gazebo for the wedding and for the park.
"The park owners, at that time, heard the story of the lovers. So, they named this creek and park after the lovers. Lovers' Creek." I said.
Gerard stayed silent for a moment, looking at the creek. Then smiled.
"So you're making me promise whenever I feel stressed out to come here instead of abusing myself?" He asked.
"Yes. Please?" I begged.
"I will. Hey, Lindsey..." Gerard said.
"Yeah?"
"What did you mean by again?" Gerard asked.
At first I had no idea what he was talking about. Then it hit me.
"Oh. I use to cut myself when I was in high school." I said.
"Oh. You shouldn't have gone through that," Gerard mumbled. I held his hand.
"It's fine. The pass is the pass." I said. He put his head on my shoulder. "Thank you." He whispered. I'm not sure if I was suppose to hear that.

Notes

almost to the end of the story!