Gerard's POV

I tried to get away from him but he kept following me, even into the bathroom, which was no surprise but annoying nonetheless. I turned to him quickly and told him that I really did have a girlfriend and that he needed to leave me alone before I did something he'd regret, but he wouldn't listen.

"Goddamnit, Frank, I told you to leave me alone. Why won't you just leave me to my misery?"

"Because, Gee, we both know you don't hate me and we both know even more so that you used to love me. We were best friends, we started a band together, and in all the time we've known each other you can't honestly tell me that you don't love me."

"Frank, I've told you over and over; I don't love you."

"Well, if that's the way you really feel. When you go, don't ever think I'll make you try to stay."

"Frank, I'm leaving now. Please, don't try to follow me home and make my life a living hell again."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. No problem."

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I pulled up across the street from Laila's house and knocked quietly on her window. I really hoped she was home. Within a minute, she pulled the curtains aside and opened the window silently.

"Hey," I whispered, "grab some stuff, enough for a week or so, and come outside."

"Are you crazy? My dad will notice I'm gone y'know. I'll try to leave with you, but no promises on getting away quickly or safely." She grabbed an apparently already ready bag and started to climb out the window.

"How did you already have things packed?"

"I've been prepared to leave for the past three months, ever since I moved here. My dad, he's been so bad lately, since my mom died, and I knew I needed to be ready to leave without a second thought. I've got all my money, enough clothes for two weeks, an extra phone and charger that I've kept separate so my dad won't have a way of tracking me, and all the other necessities. I'm ready if you are."

"Alright, just take my hand. Let's not think about tomorrow. Let's just go. I need to get out of here anyway. My ex best friend is being stalkerish and I don't want him to find you and mess with you. I don't think he's quite stable and he may try something any sane person wouldn't normally do. I just don't want you to be part of this."

She nodded her head in agreement and grabbed my hand. "Alright, let's go."

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Laila's POV

We had been driving for hours, and god knows where we were. I hoped Gerard knew where we were.

"We're in Princeton, New Jersey," he announced, halfway probably reading my thoughts.

"And how far away exactly is this Princeton from Bellville?" Despite living in New Jersey for the past 4 years, I still had no idea of its geography.

"It's about a 5 hour drive."

"Oh good Lord, my ass aches from sitting that long ass drive. Where exactly in Princeton are we going to stay anyway? And what the fuck are we doing here anyway? I know you said pack for a week or two, but what are we doing?"

"I don't know about you but I need a break from Bellville, as well as Frank, and since one seems to contain the other, the best option to me was to leave them both behind. And as far as I could tell, it wasn't cold by your house at all tonight. In fact it was rather warm, for this time of year. You could've gotten away with short sleeves, especially for the short walk you had. I know it's probably none of my business, at least by your standards, but I'd really like to know what's going on with you and I'd love to know why you're so secretive about your arms. They're just arms. Everyone has them."

"Everyone has arms, true, but not everyone has-wait. Did you say Frank?," he nodded slowly with a confused look on his face. "Frank, and Bellville, as in the former rhythm guitarist of My Chemical Romance and the place where said band got its beginnings?," he nodded again, this time with a look of almost dread on his face. "I take it you know him?"

"Well, yeah. At least, I used to. We haven't talked in about 9 months, and we've been drifting apart as best friends since before then. I guess you could say he's got a lot of unresolved shit that he couldn't work through quickly enough to keep us together."

"How in the holy fuck did you become best friends with fucking Frank Iero?"

"Well, I met him in school. Him and my brother, Mikey, and our friend Ray, and I all used to hang out. We were the best of friends. At least, until Frank decided he couldn't keep it in his pants around me. Granted, for a while I felt the same way, but after a while it didn't really grow old or boring, I just moved on. The feelings faded and he decided he couldn't take it, so all throughout the production of this thing we were doing he kept making trouble, which is probably why it never got past 5. We would've ended up doing another thing, but that won't happen until he gets his shit together and decides to quit making trouble for the rest of us. I don't know if you've ever noticed, but when his band was coming out with Conventional Weapons they only made 2 songs at a time and everything hinted at the ending, but no one saw it except Frank, and the rest of us-I mean, the rest of his band."

"So how is it that you're an art teacher, but you used to be best friends with Frank Iero? You could've done their album artwork or something like that and if you were his best friend I see no reason why he wouldn't have been all for it."

"I did do some of it. That shirt you're wearing, Three Cheers, the album art was done by me. I'm an art teacher out of want, not need. Now come on, you said your ass hurt from all this sitting, so let's find somewhere to stay over the break."

We drove through the town and finally settled on a tiny hotel on the outskirts of the inner city. We checked in to a one-bed room, which I didn't really mind, but I didn't know if Gerard minded it. I guess he didn't because he didn't say anything when we checked in, but maybe he just didn't want to give any suspicion to the clerk.

Gerard's POV

I was equally as exhausted as Laila, but we couldn't sleep yet. I knew I was hungry, and I'm sure she was too. I suggested calling in a pizza to be delivered and she said it was fine with her, so I ordered us a pizza and sat back to chat with her more.

"So, you actually listen to MCR, and don't just wear the shirt and know the rhythm guitarist's name because you think he's hot and the shirt looks cool?"

"Why the fuck would I do that?"

"I didn't think you would, but some people do, so I had to make sure. So, what's your favorite album?"

"Well, I really like The Black Parade, but my favorite is probably Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge."

"I like that one too. I don't know about you, but I plan on actually staying here for more than a night, so I'm going to hang shit up in the closet. I won't take up any more than half, so you're welcome to the rest of it, or any of the drawers." As I hung up my clothes I realized I only packed a few t-shirts and jeans; the rest was waistcoats and button ups. Oh well. Too late now. I continued to hang up my things, until I got to the bottom of my suitcase. What I saw on the bottom brought back so many memories I started to tear up. I hung them up anyway, hiding them in the back in hopes that Laila wouldn't notice them, and quickly shut the door on my side. She started hanging up her things as well, and opened my door back up so as to let in more light. When she saw what I hung up in the back, her jaw dropped.

"Are those-do you have-are you-you've got to be fucking shitting me," was all she could stutter out.

"Well, I said Frank was my best friend. And as his best friend, he let me do some shit that not a lot of people got to do. I went on tour with his band, and during the filming of the music videos for Danger Days and The Black Parade as well as the tours, I did some things. So I got a jacket from both of the albums. Not a big deal," I sheepishly shrugged while hoping the dim light wouldn't show my blushing face.

Notes

Title creds to The Downtown Fiction. I'm so sorry for not updating for so long but I had major writer's block and very little time to update. I don't particularly have time now but I got a random burst of inspiration from a song I was listening to (don't remember what it was now but whatever) so I figured I should update before I forgot. Also, I'm sure you can see what I'm hinting at, but I'm gonna draw it out another chapter or two so don't die from suspense. XO