"You've got to start looking after yourself," Gerard muttered into my ear as he set me upright. I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Go away," I hissed back, "do you want someone to see?!"

I heard a soft chuckle as we broke free from the mob leaving the school.

"Does your popularity really mean that much to you?" He asked, falling into step beside me. I stared at him, not entirely understanding what he was doing.

"Yes, Gerard, it does. Now please leave me alone."

"Let me drive you home." It was more of an order than a suggestion. I gave him a quizzical look. "Do you want to walk through a blizzard?"

"I'm fine," I argued stubbornly. Gerard sighed loudly as I quickened my pace, leaving him behind.

He seemed to have gotten the message, because he didn't try to catch up with me. A few minutes later I dared a glance behind me and saw that he was no longer there. I felt bad. Really bad. I told myself I didn't want to be a total bitch and that's exactly what I had been. I was a bitch to him because I didn't want anyone seeing us. I didn't want anyone finding out about our almost-friendship. My popularity was more important than other people's feelings. Gerard was right, I was just another cheerleader; selfish, inconsiderate and a total bitch. I'd well and truly blown in with Gerard now, but maybe that was a good thing. That suited the cheerleader in me just fine. But why did my insides ache with guilt? I was a completely different person on the inside to the one I was on the outside. That, I believe, is the definition on a fake. To put it simply, I was a bad person. I realised earlier that Gerard brought out the best in me and now I'd lost that. I'm such a fucking idiot but I'm so confused. Do I want him in my life or not?

The answer to that question came sooner than I expected. Through the wind and hail that I had been battling against whilst wrapped up in my thoughts, I heard a loud horn sound next to me. I instantly recognised the sound (as sad as that was) and turned to see a black car with it's windscreen wipers frantically batting away slush from the windscreen. Inside, the driver was waving to me to come over, his face still holding the smirk that I hated with everything I had.

I hurried across the deserted road and stood by the driver's door. Gerard wound down his window.

"What are you doing? Get in."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Just get in."

I did as I was told, mainly out of curiosity - I wanted to quiz him on his determination.

Once I had slid into my seat, I shook the hailstones out of my hair and Gerard set off immediately. We were mere minutes away from my house, so I knew I didn't have long with him. But everything I wanted to know was pushed to the back of my mind. Right then, only one word was floating through my thoughts and I knew that it wouldn't fade until I said it out loud.

"Sorry." It wasn't a word I used often. Ebony had trained that out of me. Why should I ever feel the need to be sorry if I'm never wrong?

I glanced at him as he processed my apology. I could see in his face that he was biting back some sarcastic comment, but then his expression softened, almost as if he'd come to some kind of realisation.

"No," he sighed, "I am." He pulled onto the steering wheel and took a turn in the opposite direction to my house. I didn't question it; I knew he didn't want to cut this conversation short - it was important, after all. The thing that confused me was his sudden sincerity, but I remained quiet, waiting for him to continue. Once he realised I wasn't going to speak, he plunged into his explanation.

"You're a good person, Evie," he admitted with another sigh, "which is completely wrong. I mean, you're a fucking cheerleader," he added quickly, giving me a quick, obvious look. I nodded in an 'of-course' manner, and allowed him to carry on. After a pause, he scratched his head nervously and the words came tumbling out of his mouth. "I'm a dick. I don't know why I said what I did to you. It's not your fault, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just -"

"Gerard, shut up." I didn't like listening to his confused, awkward apology. It didn't suit him to be nice. Like he said, he was a total dick...but I liked him that way. "You don't have to be sorry," I told him as he took a glimpse at me with confused eyes, "it's weird and it creeps me out."

We both fell silent after that. The car rolled to a stop soon after and I realised we were outside Gerard's house, the bush I had fallen in at the weekend now barely visible under a blanket of snow. I stared at the house for a while until I heard the sound of keys and looked around to see Gerard pulling them out of the ignition. He slid out of the car and started making his way through the snow to his house. I, however, stayed put. The first and last time I had been to this house I was paralytic drunk in a dress that was almost non-existent. Oh, and I had been accused of sleeping with Gerard by his own mother.

Gerard noticed I wasn't behind him and retraced his footsteps, opening my door for me. I looked up at him, gulped, and swung my legs out into the cold. H seemed not to notice my uneasiness and turned away again. I trailed behind, quickly checking my outfit to make sure I was presentable. Denim shorts, thick black tights, vest top and a woollen cardigan. At least I didn't look like a whore. I pulled my untamed hair into a messy bun in an attempt to make myself look more respectable, cursing past me for not styling it this morning.

When Gerard opened the door, I saw I needn't have worried. Mikey, the little nervous boy, was sitting on the couch eating cereal, but Mother Way was nowhere to be seen. As soon as I stepped out from behind Gerard, Mikey's eyes widened and he immediately stood up, muttering something about homework. Gerard turned to me and rolled his eyes. I just smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry about my brother," he said once Mikey was out of earshot, "he gets nervous around normal girls, never mind popular bitches such as yourself."

I smacked his arm at his insult as he smirked evilly at me. At least he was back to his usual self.

"So," I flapped my arms by my side, "what did you bring me here for?"

"We're friends, aren't we?" He asked sincerely, "friends visit each others' houses."

I shrugged and flopped down onto the couch. Gerard joined me, but I noticed he sat as far away from me as possible on the three seater. Mikey had been watching Transformers before he left, so we watched the end of the episode in silence. The episode ended soon after and the commercials started. Commence awkward chitter-chatter.

"So," I said, sweeping my eyes across the room in search of something to talk about, "your brother seems...shy."

"Who Mikey? Yeah, he's a bit of a dork." To emphasise his point, he gestured towards the TV, where Transformers had just been playing.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with anime channels!"

"Didn't say there was - wait, you like anime?"

I stared at Gerard, my mouth slightly open. "Who doesn't like anime?"

"Popular cheerleading sluts?"

"Fair point. But I'm not a slut."

"Did you love the last person you had sex with?"

"...No." I looked down at my hands, but Gerard didn't seem to notice my uneasiness.

"Did you even like him?"

"...I don't like to talk about it."

"Because I'm right?"

"No, because...yes, you're right, but not in the way you think."

He folded his legs underneath himself and twisted his body to face me. "What do you mean?"

I stopped picking at my nail polish and bit my lip. "I mean I don't want to talk about it."

As much as it pained him, he dropped it. I sighed, slightly out of relief, but mostly out of regret.

The truth is, Gerard was right; I didn't love the last (and first) person I had sex with. But then, at fourteen years old, are you even capable of loving someone? I guess maybe that does make me a slut, or maybe just weak. I've always been known to give into peer pressure, and this was a prime example. Personally, the guy creeped me out. He was nineteen, tattooed, pierced and generally a bit of a douche, but my friends were so insistent. I think they would have probably paid him if they had to. I've been ashamed of myself ever since, and now I just try to block that part of my life out of my memory. I've never been able to completely forget it, but maybe that's because I'm in a similar situation now.

I decided the uncomfortable silence that had fallen when I retreated into my own thoughts had gone on for far too long.

"Gerard..." I smiled. The tone of my voice made him look over at me.

"Evie..."

"You know what I haven't done since I left England?"

"What?"

"...Made a snowman."

Gerard wasn't looking at me, but at the TV (which was now showing an anime I didn't recognise). I could see from the smile on his face and the childish glint in his eye that he was definitely thinking it over. I, myself, had a bubbling feeling of excitement in my chest. It had been a long time since I was allowed to enjoy the snow, and not tut at it as I stomped through it in my branded winter boots.

"C'mon then," Gerard said, springing up off the couch and hurrying to the patio door just visible in the other room. I followed him eagerly, refraining myself from jumping up and down in excitement.

"Here." He pulled a black parka off the coat hooks hanging by the door and threw it to me. I looked at it dumbly, and then back up at him. "Well, I don't want you to freeze," he explained, "there should be some gloves in the pocket."

I shrugged and slipped the jacket over my shoulders. It was huge, but I knew the fleece lining would protect me from the cold. I took a pair of black woollen gloves out of the pocket and pulled them over my fingers. They were also huge, but I didn't care.

I'd barely finished making myself winter-proof when the patio door was slid open and I was pulled out into the snow by my arm. Outside, the bitter wind nipped at my cheeks and I felt them going a rosy red. Well, Ebony was always saying I needed some colour in my face...

I thought about my friends for a moment, about what they would think if they ever found out I'd spent the day at Gerard Way's house making snowmen. I'd probably be disowned, but at that moment that was fine by me.

After realising I'd been stood around thinking to myself for too long, I skipped over to where Gerard was sat, rolling a snowball that now reached to the height of my hip. I took a quick glance at him and saw his usually pale nose had turned a rosy shade of pink. I let out an involuntary giggle.

Gerard stopped what he was doing and frowned at me.

"Your nose," I began to explain, giggling even more, "you look like Rudolf." Sometimes I worried about my thought process...

"Oh yeah?" He said, placing his hands either side of his crossed legs. I nodded. "Well you look like a Frosty the Snowman."

I didn't get it, but before I could tilt my head in confusion, a huge handful of snow was slapped in my face. I gasped, leaning forward so the cold wouldn't drip down into my clothes.

"I," I growled, mopping the slush away with Gerard's gloves, "am going to fucking kill you Way!" I formed a snowball in my right hand and threw it, but Gerard had already moved to the other side if the garden, laughing hysterically and clutching his stomach. Another growl slipped through my lips as I formed a proper snowball and ran towards him. I screamed and turned away as another ball of snow was hurled in my direction. It landed with a thud on my back. Gerard tried to dart past me but I grabbed him and smooshed my snowball into his face, running away giggling before he could get his revenge.

Things got serious after that.

Gerard chased me around the garden, launching snow at me, while I ran ahead of him, giggling, and skipping through the hail of ammunition. I dared to turn around and taunt him, but before I could open my mouth to speak, a ball of cold smashed into my face. Without missing a beat, I propelled the ball in my hand through the air, hitting Gerard in the shoulder. And then the chase resumed.

He changed direction and I narrowly avoided his attempt at grabbing me. I cackled evilly and sprinted away again.

"How do you have so much energy?!" Gerard asked, panting heavily and holding his side.

"There's a lot to be said for being a cheerleader, you know?" I grinned, skipping away from my tiring pursuer. I most have gotten a little cocky because the next thing I knew, Gerard had lunged into me, throwing us both to the ground, and had then proceeded to pile snow on top of my head.

"Nooo," I whined, trying to remove the weight that was pinning me down. Gerard laughed evilly, but stopped nonetheless.

"You're a bastard, Mr Way," I pouted, shaking the snow out of my hair.

"I know, Miss McCullagh."

I stared at him and scrunched up my face in annoyance, but in doing so I witnessed a change in his face. The evil smirk faded and was replaced with a softer look. I, too, felt my expression change to match his. The giggling stopped and I felt Gerard move closer. My heart was beating out of my chest and I felt my palms become clammy. I was nervous. I didn't know what was happening, but I didn't want to stop it. Gerard was right above where I laid in the snow, his face coming ever closer. I was trapped by his arms either side of my body, but, again, I didn't mind. His breath warmed my frozen skin and I felt my head tilt upwards involuntarily. I had no control of myself anymore. What was happening..?

"Gerard?" The voice called from inside the house, bringing us both to our senses. Gerard sprang away from me and I quickly pushed myself up into a sitting position. Gerard's mother came into view at the patio door. "Good, you're home," she said, smiling kindly. She then saw me. "Oh," she blinked a few times, "hello..."

"Evie," I finished her sentence, feeling like I had shrunk to the size of an ant.

"I've met you before, haven't I?" She asked. I nodded sheepishly, remembering all too well my first meeting with Gerard's mother. "Well it's nice to finally meet you properly, Evie. I'm Donna."

I nodded dumbly and I could hear Gerard trying to hold back his laughter. Donna stepped back and was hidden from view by shadows. As soon as I was sure she was gone, I lent over and punched Gerard as hard as I could in the arm.

"Ow!" He shouted, grasping his upper arm. I stuck my tongue out at him as I stood; the snow had frozen my bum for long enough. The awkward situation we had found ourselves in moments ago seemed to be forgotten, or maybe we'd just made a silent agreement never to speak of it.

I brushed the snow off my legs, regretting sitting on the ground for so long. The long coat may have protected most of my body, but the bottom of my tights were now damp with freezing cold water.

"I want to call a truce," I announced, once I had finished making myself presentable.

"Oh?" Gerard raised his eyebrows at me as he picked himself off the floor.

"No snowballs," I said, holding my pinky finger out. Gerard tilted his head at it for a moment, then sighed and linked his finger with mine.

"Fine," he huffed, "now lets get this snowman built."

Notes

So so sorry for the long wait! There was a lot of uni work, procrastination, mourning the death of MCR, eating chocolate eggs to drown my sadness over the death of MCR and general laziness. I also hope you can forgive me for the quality of this chapter. It's not great (and I spent a lot of my time trying to get it up to an uploadable standard), but I wanted to get something out there.

Writing drama is a strong point for me, but of course not every chapter can be full of drama, and that is my downfall.

I'm getting started on the next chapter right now, so will hopefully have it up fairly soon.

Take care guys!

EDIT: I got so wrapped up in finishing and editing this chapter that I let my tea go cold. See the dedication I have to you people! ;)