You Can Cry All You Want To, I Don't Care

I slowly approach dad and when he sees me in the crowd of teenagers his face goes even harder and he marches forward, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the car. "I have class" I tell him and he grunts at me and says "I already told them you wouldn't be attending today." I swallow hard in fear, having never seen him this mad before and when we reach the car he lets go of my wrist and barks "Get in" at me and I hang my head as I do what he says. The drive home is silent and when we get there we both get out and go inside and when I make my way to the stairs dad says "No, living room, now." I turn back and slowly walk into the living room, sitting in the arm chair in the corner and he sits on the couch and lets out a deep breath before saying "So I'm guessing you were with Frank?" I nod, not really game to speak and he says "I don't want you moving in there Gerard. You're seventeen years old and you're not old enough to do something like that yet, you guys can't even pay your own bills." "Actually I applied for jobs and Frank works full time so yeah we can." Dad lets out a long drawn out sigh, rubbing his hand over his face before saying "Gerard, I know I seem like the enemy right now but I promise you I'm only trying to do the right thing by you. I don't want to see you get hurt ever and I'm afraid that's what's going to happen. You're seventeen, Frank is your first love and even though it seems like everything now and that it will last forever, it doesn't always and I know that from experience. I would hate to see you move in there and have it all taken away from you. I also think that if you move out now and have to get an after school job to support yourself you're either going to drop out of school so close to graduation or you won't end up going to college and I would be so disappointed to see you throw your future away and ruin your life for anyone, no matter how much they mean to you. You're an amazingly talented person Gee and I know you can do great things in life and I don't want you to risk that for anything." I remain silent, listening to what he's saying before taking a deep breath and saying "But what if it's meant to be? I've never felt this way for anyone before and what if this is it, what if I'm meant to be with Frank, like you and mom were meant to be together and it's failing because we can't be together? I know you don't want me to get hurt but this is hurting me, badly. And I plan to graduate and go to SVA and Frank is more supportive of that than anyone, he's always saying that that's what we're doing even on days when I doubt I can get in, he's always telling me that I will and that that's what he wants for me, he loves me dad and he's not trying to ruin my life, he only wants what's best for me too." Dad lets out abother deep sigh before saying "Ok, I'll make you a deal. I'll let you go, you can go and move in with Frank and get your after school job but I want to see where you're living first, I'm not letting you go somewhere that's not fit to live in. We'll trial this for three weeks, if your grades slip or you start missing school or if there's any trouble, you're moving back in here, deal?" I stare at him, feeling slightly shocked that he's giving in and I nod, unable to form words for a second before I choke out "Deal." We both stand and dad comes over and wraps his arms around me, hugging me to his chest as he softly says "Love you Gee, I just want you to be safe." "I know, love you dad."

After we pull apart I go up to my room and pack almost all my clothes into bags and wander around the room packing up everything else I want to take before making a couple of trips downstairs with it all. Dad helps me load it all into the car and we drive over to the apartment as I give him directions and when we get there he turns to me and says "Wow, um Gee how can you guys afford a place like this? Franks job isn't like a drug dealer and a pimp or something is it?" I burst out laughing before saying "No, he works at the guitar store and he also is giving private lessons and his moms friend owns the apartment so she's helping us out by letting us rent it cheap." Dad nods and we get out of the car and go upstairs and I let us in, letting dad take a quick look around before he helps me bring my stuff upstairs. As he goes to leave he pulls me into his arms and says "Love you Gee, I hope we still see you from time to time." "All the time dad, promise." We pull apart and he leaves and when the front door swings shut I turn back around and look at all my stuff laying in the living room and I let out a girly little squeal and jump around, excited that this is finally happening. It takes me an hour to pack all my stuff away and then I lay around watching tv for a while before I get bored and I decide to paint. Luckily the living room
floor is polished wood so if I spill anything it will be easy to clean so I lay out my small paint stained sheet on the floor in the corner near the window and I set up my easel on top of it, pulling out my last blank canvas and just before I start to paint I strip off my clothes, not wanting to get paint on them because the shirt is actually Franks and im too lazy to go and get another so I just paint in my boxers, turning the tv down low so it's background noise. I'm halfway through the painting when I hear the front door open and I look over to see Frank coming in and he stops where he is, his hand still on the doorknob as he says "Wow, can I expect to come home to this every day or did I do something special to earn this treat?" I giggle and sit my brush down, crossing the room to him and leaning in to seal my lips to his, not touching him because of the paint on my hands. While we kiss Frank pushes the door shut before bringing his hands down to grip my hips, pulling my body against his and deepening the kiss until we both need to break away for air. "I didn't want to get paint on your shirt" I offer as an explanation to my lack of clothes and he smiles and leans in to peck my nose. "I wouldn't have minded but this is good too." I smile back at him and when he goes into the bedroom to change I go to the bathroom and wash my hands, deciding to stop the painting for now. Just as I'm drying my hands Frank comes in and says "Did I miss something? All your stuff is here." "Oh yeah so when I got to school today dad was waiting for me and he took me home and we talked it out and as long as I keep my grades up and keep going to school I can stay." Frank smiles wide before launching himself at me, picking me up and as my back is pressed against the wall I wrap my legs around his waist, kissing him deeply. When we break apart again and he puts me down I say "I also have to still go to SVA if I get in." "Well atleast we agree on that, there's no way you're not going babe and of course you're getting in." We share a smile and another quick kiss before Frank takes my hand and leads me to the kitchen, talking about how hungry he is and when he drops my hand I say "I'm just gonna put some clothes on first." Frank pouts and says "But I like you like that." I chuckle and shake my head as I say "Ok fine" walking over to the bench and helping him with dinner, making small talk about his day at work while we cook.

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