Take My Hand and Never Be Afraid Again

As predicted, Frank, Mikey, Bob and Ray were already over at the Way household, and Gerard and I walked in on them playing an intense game of Left4Dead 2. I don't think they even noticed us come in until Frank died and turned around to throw the controller, narrowly missing my face.

"Oh, shit! I am so fucking sorry!" he yelled, jumping up and hugging me as I stood there awkwardly.

"Uh, there, there little chickpea. It's all good." I said, patting his back while signaling for Gerard to pull him off of me. After he had, I waved hi to the other guys who had remained where they were, laughing at the panicked Frank. For a while we sat and talked, giving me an opportunity to get to know them better and vice versa. I learned that they had all been friends since kindergarten and all lived on the same block, meaning they saw eachother every day. I thought it was awesome that they were all so close. I had never before seen or experienced a friendship like that.

Eventually Gerard pulled me aside to get a rough sketch for his project. As I helped him set up his supplies and we discussed the approach he wanted to take, Frank came up and began talking to us.

"So...watcha doing?"

"We have a project for art. Pandora hogged all of the class time today, so I have to start mine now." Gerard teased, playfully sticking his tongue out at me.

"Well aren't you sassy?" I questioned back, hiding my giggle behind my hand.

"Oh, he's the queen of sass." Frank shot back, earning a middle finger from Gerard. "So did you finish yours, Pandora?" My response was to walk over to my bag and remove my drawing from the tube I had it in. Carefully unraveling it, I held it out for the guys to look at. All of them gasped and Gerard was beaming, snaking his arm around my waist for a quick hug.

"Isn't she fucking incredible?" he asked, pride laced in his words. It still touched me how much he enjoyed my work, and I looked up at him, beaming as well and feeling touched. Mikey was the first to speak up.

"Holy hell, I think we may have found a better artist than Gerard!" Ray and Bob nodded their heads in agreement, smirking as Gerard's smile turned to a slight frown.

Pressing into him a bit further, I whispered to him, "I'm sure your work is incredible, much better than mine."

"I just hope you like the portrait I do of you," he replied, squeezing my waist again, that starnge look once again in his eyes. Then, louder, "Alright, let's put this away before you guys screw it up."

"Pandora," Frank piped up as I was putting it away, "can I ask you for a favor?" I bit my lip, nervous.

"Sure."

"Do you think you could draw me something for my birthday? I'll admit I'm a little jealous Gerard gets a piece of your work and I don't."

"I'd love to draw something for you," I said sincerely. "And I think I know exactly what to do." He smiled and hugged me before rejoining the other three who were seriously too into their video game for their own good. I joined Gerard who, after a couple minutes of thinking, tongue poking out between his lips and head tilted to the side, instructed me to sit in a chair, back straight and head slightly tilted to the side, almost as if I were looking off in the distance. I sat there for about half an hour before he told me he had all that he needed, though he wouldn't let me see it.

"No, no, no, no, I had to wait till yours was finished so now you have to wait till I've finished." I sighed but didn't argue. As it was getting late I decided to go home so that my parents wouldn't worry. I said my goodbyes but as I grabbed my things, Frank piped up again.

"Woah, woah, wait a minute! You're not walking alone at night in Jersey. Are you crazy?"

As the others voiced similar things I smiled and said, "Surprise, boys, you have a new neighbor. I'm right across the street."

Notes

I know this wasn't the best way to end the chapter, but it was the best I could do. I'm trying to ease into things, not have all the relationships be bam, boom right off the bat. But starting in the next chapter more still start to develop and time will actually elapse. I struggle with wanting to add too much description lol. Again, hope you guys like!

-Motor Baby