We woke up to the kids running into our room. Bandit was surprised at first, but she joined in too. They hung all over us, crushing us onto the bed. Frank and I looked at each other for a second, then started to laugh.

“Dad! I’m hungry!” Bandit whined.

“I’m hungry too!” Cherry whined.

“Can we have pancakes?!” Lily suggested.

“Why are you in the same bed?” Miles questioned.

“I’ll go make pancakes.” Frank said, ignoring Miles’ question.

The girls ran off, but Miles stayed there. “Gerard, why didn’t you sleep in a different room,” He asked. “Daddy never lets Dewees sleep in his bed.”

“I’ll tell you later.” I said. “Go to the kitchen, your dad’s making pancakes.”

---

After breakfast, Lindsey came to pick up Bandit. She stayed on the couch and talked for Frank while Bandit and I got all of her stuff packed up. Bandit walked with her mom out to the car and waved goodbye to Frank and me, and for once in my life, I knew I was doing something right.

“Gerard?” Frank called.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to come with me to drop off Miles, Cherry, and Lily?”

“Are you sure Jamia will be okay with that?”

“Don’t worry! The kids promised to say Bandit and you just came over for breakfast.”

“Alright, why not.”

---

We got into Frank’s car and Miles was shoved into the middle seat by his older sisters. The twins definitely got the temper of their father, and Miles definitely had the stubbornness of him. We drove for about 20 minutes, the kids annoying each other the entire way there, and once we got there, I decided to help carry all their backpacks and toys and jackets. Frank knocked on the door and Jamia answered quickly.

“Hey Frank.” She greeted. “Hi Gerard!”

“Hey…” I responded, handing her all of the kids’ bags. “How are you?”

“I’m doing fine, why are you here?”

“I came over with Bandit for a little while. We had breakfast together.

“That’s funny. Is three days what you mean by a little while? I was hanging out with Lindsey all last night. She told me you two were together now.”

“Shit.” Frank muttered. “I didn’t want you to—”

“What? Freak out because we’ve literally been broken up for two months and you’ve already proved my theory that you two were hooking up while you were on tour? Is that it?”

“Listen, Jamia, we never did anything offstage, I swear. This isn’t something that re-sparked.”

“Why should I trust you with my kids when you can’t even tell me when you have your boyfriend over with my kids?”

“JAMIA!” Frank yelled. “I thought we could be on good terms through all this! He hasn’t been drinking, he had his kid over, Lily’s best friend, and he didn’t do anything that should upset you!”

“You really thought that I would fall for that “It’s Dewees” bullshit?” She spat at me.

“I didn’t know you were going to ask Frank if he wanted time with them!” I defended. “I’m not a part of this. I was there with my kid, Frank was with the children that are both of yours.”

“Frank, don’t expect to see the kids until Gerard is actually clean.” She spat at me.

I wanted to die. I really just wanted to get drunk, do cocaine, pop some pills, and jump off a fucking bridge. I ran away. I didn’t know what else to do, and I called Mikey.

“Gerard?”

“Mikey, I’m having a panic attack!” I yelled, hyperventilating.

“What happened? Did Frank do some—”

“No, no, he didn’t do anything. Jamia, she used my relapse as an insult, and I’m a mess, and I don’t know where I am—” My phone died.

Suddenly, I saw a car pull over. Burt’s car.

“Gerard!” He yelled.

“I’m not interested.” I said, panicking.

“I know, just use my phone. I’ve seen you at your worst, and this is pretty close—at least in recovery.”

I stared up at him and grabbed his phone, typing in Frank’s phone number.

“Bert?” Frank answered.

“It’s Gerard. Bert found me, he’s letting me use his phone, we’re on our way to your house. Don’t worry about me.”

“If he doesn’t get you home in less than an hour I’m calling the police.”

“Just—”

“No, Gerard. I know what he’s put you through, and I don’t trust him.”

“Okay. I’ll tell him. Bye.” I hung up the phone, handing it to Bert.

“Where do you need to go?” Bert asked, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the ground.

---

Bert took me to Frank’s house, where Frank was on the patio, pacing back and forth.

“Thank God you’re alright.” Frank sighed, hugging me tight. “I was so worried.” He looked up towards Bert, “Thank you for bringing him home!”

“You’re welcome.” Bert said. “Take care of him.” He drove away, and for a minute, he looked like he was crying.

And so we went inside.

Notes

So I decided to write the next chapter in Lindsey's POV so that I could use this

Chapter title from “With Me Tonight” by The Used