Gerard came back into my room about 20 minutes later with Bandit in her wheelchair.

“Mommy, look what I can do!” Bandit yelled as Gerard let go of her chair, she started doing a wheelie and rolling towards my bed. “Are you really coming home on Thursday?!”

“I sure am!” I replied enthusiastically. I looked up to Gerard and smiled, How the hell did he choose me?

“Alright, Bandit, we’ve gotta go home now. We’ll see her soon, don’t worry!” Gerard said, grabbing her wheelchair and rolling her towards the door. Once they left, I decided to examine all the bones I had broken. I felt my rib cage with my left hand and rub the parts that had been broken. It stung to touch, so I stopped touching them and tried to sit up.I used my right foot to feel the cast on my ankle and my left hand to feel my right hand. It hurt, but I was alive. I could survive this.

---

Next Thursday

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I woke up to the sound of Bandit wheeling into my room and Gerard pushing her. Bandit looked just as happy as ever, despite her current situation, and Gerard smiled widely.

“Hey guys!” I said enthusiastically. “My crutches are over there, can you grab them, Gee?”

“Of course!” Gerard replied, grabbing my crutches and helping me up.

We were approved to leave briefly after the two came into my room. We got into Gerard’s car, which was more difficult than it used to be since I had to fit my crutches with Bandit’s wheelchair. We drove down the highway to our house and Gerard made us lunch. It felt like Gerard never relapsed, like Frank never let Gerard move in, it felt like nothing had changed except for Mine and Bandit’s abilities to walk.

The house was clean—cleaner than it was before. Everything was flawless. My family was back together again. Frank and Gerard were ex-friends, nothing more.

I was really happy for them while it lasted, but I also knew how toxic Frank was for Gerard to be around. When Gerard and I first got married, he threw a bottle at Gerard and told him to get wasted. Frank showed up drunk to most of the dinners Mikey and Ray would host, and his wife was never happy about it.

Him and Jamia were really only together because they knew each other so well for so long, not because they loved each other. When they were going out together, it was real. When they got married, it wasn’t. It was to spite our marriage.

Frank and Jamia argued bitterly—I remember taking the twins away from it on occasion because Frank didn’t want them to be around it. I felt sorry for them because they were stuck, they didn’t know what to do. When they got divorced, Jamia came here, she blamed Gerard and she blamed me. But we helped her. Frank was never bitter towards me, him and I were good friends, despite him being an insane closeted bisexual.

That’s why I expected Gerard to run to him so quickly, Gerard went around as an asexual for years. He claimed that asexual but he really meant he didn’t like a specific gender—and he wasn’t in it for sex. People always claimed he was lying about being asexual, because everyone was in it for sex. But that’s what made him such a pure person. When he met me, he was with a model and makeup stylist. They were really good friends and they were engaged.

Eliza called off the marriage because she felt like his fanbase was making it difficult for her to have any secrets and she wasn’t comfortable with constantly having to lie to keep herself safe, and in a sense, I understood that. It happened to both of us everyday.

Gerard and I got together right after they split. He told me he’d never had a crush on anyone before, I was his first crush. He claimed that I was the only one he ever wanted to be with, which thankfully is still relevant.

We finished our lunch and Bandit took a nap. I felt like I was the luckiest person alive. I had my dream job, my dream life, everything. My tour was in two months, and Gerard’s started in three. Bandit would be staying with Gerard’s mother, Donna, who lived three clocks down since she was offered a high paying job as a beautician in LA.

“Hey, are you okay?” Gerard asked, since I was zoned out.

“Yeah, I’m just really happy.”

Notes

Chapter title from "Summertime" by MCR
I'm on the road and normal updates will start happening around Monday at the latest. I'm so excited to get back to Colorado, even though I love Oregon, and I loved going to Eugene since my sister had a volleyball camp invite from University of Oregon. I think Brookings is one of the most beautiful places in America. I hope you guys liked this chapter, expect more Lindsey and maybe a few Jamia chapters. I'm trying to cut down on Frank's chapters because I don't like his character too much. If I have WiFi, I'll update tonight or tomorrow.