Memories

The next day was incredibly hectic; I promised Gerard that I would help him to unpack as many boxes as we could until I had to leave for the train to go back to Jersey. We made sure to get up fairly early so we would have plenty of time to get as much done as we could, but in the end we found that there were way too many distractions. We managed to kill a couple of hours until around 11am by making and eating breakfast, and of course I was just having too much fun going through all of Gerard's embarrassing things from his childhood that he'd never thrown away.

I pulled the item my fingers were clasped around from the bottom of a box labelled 'DO NOT THROW OUT!' As I realised what I'd came across, I felt the corners of my lips twitch upwards into a smirk. I spun around to face Gerard from across the room, startling him in the silence when I yelled, "Oh shit! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle action figures!"

From where Gerard was failing miserably to fit together a little desk from IKEA that Lindsey had thoughtfully bought for him, I saw his head snap up sharply and his eyes seemed to almost bulge out of his skull when he finally realised that I'd found his secret stash of man-toys.

I let out a small laugh, turning back around with a grin as I peered further into the box, but gasped when I felt Gerard's arms suddenly wrap around me from behind while he reached frantically for the action figure I was now attempting to hold above my head. It would have worked, too, if Gerard didn't have the advantage of height and I wasn't completely helpless and weak when I was laughing too damn hard.

"Give it back!" Gerard cried, attempting to take it from my grip, and then resorted to trying to tickle it from me. I managed to wriggle from his grasp, stumbling across the room and falling over a polystyrene block from one of the many boxes. I landed with a thud on the floor beside the sofa, the action figure cradled to my chest as I watched Gerard leap over the block I fell over previously and climb on top of me, his legs straddling my waist either side. "Frankie, please," he laughed as I struggled, wriggling underneath the weight of his body.

"Never!" I yelled dramatically, my laughter causing my limbs to become weak, and eventually Gerard managed to snatch the toy from my grip with an "aha!” Holding it above his head in triumph, he remained straddling me. I sat up, wrapping my arms around his torso and flipping us over so that I was on top of him. "No fair," I grumbled. "I wanted to play with it."

Gerard smirked up at me, the toy tight in his grip. "But it's a collectable," he mumbled, and I snorted, grinning back at him and leaning down to connect our lips in a playful manner. Instantly, the action figure was forgotten and I felt Gerard's hands tangle in my hair and pull me closer.

After a few seconds, I pulled away, my breathing heavy as I pressed my forehead to his. "I love you, you fucking dork." He didn't reply, but he let out a heavy breath and his lips parted into a grin as he reached his hand up to cup the side of my face, allowing himself room to begin kissing my jaw line, trailing his lips gently to the soft spot behind my ear.

"Do you really have to leave, Frankie?" Gerard breathed into my neck, and a shiver involuntarily shook through my body. "Mm, we could y'know, just stay here forever. We'd never leave the apartment." His hands found their way to my hips and I felt him start to trail his hands up and down my sides, occasionally slipping them gently up my shirt in the chastest way.

I let out a breath-y laugh, shaking my head at him. "Mm, where would we get the money?" I sighed, brushing the hair from his face gently with my hand when I heard him groan in protest at my question.

"Let me have my fantasies; nobody has to work in their fantasies," he mumbled, leaning up to bury his face into the crook of my neck. "Not that I don't love my job," he added. "I just don't want to leave you, I'm gonna miss you like fuck."

I closed my eyes, concentrating on Gerard's hands playing with strands of my hair and his skin on my skin instead of the overwhelming urge I felt building up to cry. "I know, baby. Trust me, if it wasn't for school, I'd never fucking leave here."

He hummed into my skin, his lips leaving sweet kisses across my neck and to my collarbone. "I'll visit you as much as I can," he promised, leaning up again to kiss my lips. It was a slow kiss, and I made sure that I cherished every moment of it. "And we can call each other every night."

I nodded, opening my eyes to see him staring at me, and that was when I felt something inside of me break. A choked gasp made its way from my throat and I had to cover my mouth when I felt my lips start to shake. A few tears escaped my eyes and I felt Gerard's hand brush some hair from my face before he pulled me onto his chest. One hand tangled in my hair and the other rubbed soothing circles on my back as he cooed in my ear. I buried my face into his shirt, gripping his shoulders with my hands as I began to sob, feeling the pain spread throughout my body.

"It's okay, sugar," Gerard whispered, encouraging the tears as to get them out of my system, and from the way his voice sounded strained, I knew that he wanted to cry, too. But he didn't cry. I guessed he was trying to be strong, or put on a brave face so he didn't upset me even more, but I didn't want Gerard to be alone. I didn't want to be alone.

Eventually, my crying ceased, and I sat up slightly. I glanced at Gerard, who was frowning, his eyes watching me intently. I guessed that my face was blotchy, and I had to resist the urge to scratch it when it stung with the saltiness. "I'm fine." I answered Gerard's unspoken question, nodding and trying to force a convincing smile, but he was having none of it.

"You're not fine, sweetheart. Don't lie to me." His eyes managed to catch mine and I found it almost impossible to look away, mesmerised by the way they seemed just so full of worry and sadness, and compassion. When I didn't speak, Gerard tilted his head, his tongue flicking out to lick his lower lip before he leaned up to kiss my forehead. His lips lingered there for a few seconds and he sighed, pulling away and sitting up.

I stood, holding my hand out for Gerard to grab while he stood too, and he pulled me in for one last hug, his hands lingering at the small of my back. "Okay, I know I'm not fine," I admitted, my voice muffled by his hair. "I will be, it'll take time, but I can wait."

I heard Gerard sigh, and his hands trailed up my sides again as he rubbed my upper arms in a comforting way. "Come on, sweetheart," he smiled, the gesture small but making my heart flutter. "Let's go out."

I tried to protest as he linked his fingers with mine and began to lead me towards the door, but I shook my head. "We still have so much to unpack-"

This time, Gerard shook his head, cutting me off mid-sentence. "Nope, I have to unpack. But right now, all I want to do is spend the rest of your time here with you, doing normal things as if you don't have to leave in three hours." A small, sad smile graced his features, and I looked up at him through my lashes, finding myself nodding in agreement.

Turns out, Gerard's idea of doing 'normal things' with me was going grocery shopping. Not that I was protesting, I kind of liked the feeling I got when it was just us two, wandering the aisles of some local supermarket, my fingers linked with Gerard's as he only barely managed to push the trolley around with one hand. He crashed it a few times, having to apologise to the parent of the abnormally small ten year old that he didn't see.

"You were scared, just admit it!" I laughed as I picked up a loaf of bread and placed it gently on top of the cans of diet soda in the trolley.

"Well, yeah! She was fucking terrifying!" He exclaimed, and then craned his head around in panic to make sure that she wasn't standing close enough to hear him. "I almost pissed my big-boy pants."

I snorted, throwing a couple of packets of Doritos into the trolley as we passed them. "To be honest, I thought she was going to make you cry." I glanced over at Gerard, smirking when he abruptly stopped the trolley and turned to walk in the other direction; back down the snacks aisle.

"Oh shit, I am not passing by her again." I raised an eyebrow at him, silently questioning his manliness and grabbing his hand, pulling him to a halt as he tried to escape. He tilted his head and grinned at me. "I think this'll do for now, how about we just go to self-serving and then go get a coffee?"

I hummed in thought, but was distracted when he stepped forward, cupping my face and leaning down to kiss me softly, his teeth gently biting down on my bottom lip as we pulled away. I felt my cheeks flush and Gerard just smiled wider. "Shit, stop doing that," I groaned, shaking my head vigorously as if to shake away the clouds that had formed over my thoughts in those mere ten seconds.

I hesitantly sneaked a glance at him as his tongue flicked out to lick his bottom lip. "Do what?" He asked, seeming almost oblivious to what he had accomplished.

I shook my head again. "It doesn’t matter. Sure, let's go get coffee," I sighed, allowing myself to be led towards the self-serving machines by a very pleased Gerard.

We sat and talked for what seemed like hours. Our coffees had been finished in the first fifteen minutes of sitting down in this little family-business cafe, and the rest had just been spent conversing about the future; my future, Gerard's future, his job, the apartment. We had all of these ideas in our head about how we were going to re-decorate when I was able to move in with him permanently, and we were going to get a goldfish.

"We are not naming our goldfish Percy," Gerard chuckled, playing with the strands of my hair as I rested my head on his shoulder. I shifted so that my legs were over his, getting comfortable on the worn-down sofa of the cafe. My finger traced the rim of the mug that my coffee was previously in.

"Why?" I demanded, leaning my head back further onto his shoulder to look at him. He glanced down, rolling his eyes. "I happen to think that Percy is a very sophisticated name for a goldfish. We want him to be respected by the others, don't we?"

Gerard scoffed, sitting up straighter. "Who said we're getting more than one?" He raised an eyebrow and I poked my tongue out, grinning.

"Well I was thinking, y’know; Percy might get lonely...what with you working almost seven days a week now." I squirmed, batting Gerard's hand away when he poked his finger into my side.

"Percy is the train out of Thomas the Tank Engine," he laughed, leaning forward to place his empty mug on the table in front of us and then wrap an arm smugly around my shoulders, to which I happily leaned into. "Besides," he added, pressing his lips to my ear and humming, "I thought we could name him Earl."

"What?" I choked out, and he bit his lip, a convincing smile on his features. "How the Hell is Earl any better than Percy?"

Gerard remained silent, his eyes scanning my face for any signs of surrender until I sighed, throwing my arms incredulously. "Fine," I exclaimed, barely managing to fight the grin on my face at the way his eyes lit up in anticipation. "I'll buy you an office plant. You can name him Earl."

Gerard removed his arm from around my shoulder and then folded them over his chest, looking defiant as he arched an eyebrow. He stared at me, waiting for me to crack. I knew that one way or another; we'd be naming this goldfish Earl.

A few seconds passed with us silently arguing until I finally averted my eyes, defeated. "Alright," I sighed, folding my arms. "Earl it is." I watched in amusement when Gerard pretended to cheer, reaching his arms up to hi-five himself, but froze when I added, "on one condition."

He hesitated, and this time it was my turn to scoff. Remaining silent, Gerard waited for me to speak again; I took it as a good sign. "I get to pick the fish," I challenged, and he sat in silence yet again, a moment of deliberation before nodding.

"Deal," he said, and I grinned. My arms unfolded and I placed a hand on Gerard's knee, subtly moving it further up and watching as Gerard raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Care to seal the deal?" I challenged when my lips were by his ear, and Gerard stood, throwing a handful of cash onto the table before taking me by the hand and leading me out of the almost-silent cafe.

Notes

One more chapter, guys...