She sat in the pew next to her mother, leaning slightly against the end of pew because they were the last ones in this row. She stared up at the enchanting ceiling of their church, all high and bright with painted on stars and the night sky. It reminded her of Hogwarts, though she'd never say that out loud to anyone.

She could hear the voice of the Minister, that low voice all firm and commanding. But, Minister Way was a nice guy, always smiling as he preached, wanting the best for all his followers. She liked him.

She tore her eyes away from the beautiful high ceiling, bringing them down to gaze at the Minister. He was a tall man, thin, with broad shoulders and black hair that was cut short and off his face. He always had a knack for drawing people in, which was why their church services were always full. He spoke with passion and conviction, she admired him. She looked from him to the family in the front row, the Minister's family.

His wife, Donna, was a beautiful woman with dark hair and light eyes. She was pale, like Minster Way, though her hair was a lighter shade of brown that laid straight against her thin shoulders. She sat with her youngest son, Michael, if she remembered correctly, who was a few years older than her – maybe three. He was wiry, thin, with broad shoulders that he hadn't grown into yet. His head was bowed, his light brown hair was plastered to his skin and stuck out at odd angles, the glasses on his face only made him look cuter. He sat next to his mother, listening to his father, and being the good son that he was always portrayed to be.

She brought her gaze away from them and moved back to the front of the room, settling her stare on the Minister, like she was suppose to do. But, she couldn't help the feeling of someone looking at her. She glanced over to the left of the podium and felt her gaze connect with his.

The other son.

He was the older son of Minister Way and Donna, he was eighteen and just graduated from the Seminary high school they had sent him off to. She remembered there being talk last week of his return, how he would be the new Preacher to his father's Minister, at some point taking over for his father. He visited often from school, he spent many sundays returning to their hometown and joining in with the sermons. She knew who he was, they had briefly spoken before in passing, just as everyone had, he had smiled at her the way he was now. He was kind, and cute, and made her heart thump oddly in her chest. And, he was back.

Gerard – that was his name – smiled at her from where he sat to the right of his father. His warm eyes made her want to flush, but she kept herself from doing so. She smiled back at him shyly before bringing her gaze back to his father, trying desperately to listen to what Minister Way was saying. Was is wrong that she thought the Minister's son, the new Preacher, was cute? Surely it wasn't that bad, was it?

She spent the rest of the sermon avoiding Gerard's gaze, she didn't feel him looking her way after she tore her eyes away from his, but she thought it best to at least try to pay attention. Once it ended, her parents stood and made their way out of the church silently. That's just who they were, they were quiet, busy people. She was surprised they even had time to go to church.

She stood with them, filing out of the church. She looked over her shoulder to see Donna and Minister Way talking by the podium, Michael going over to talk to his brother. She was fascinated by them, she didn't have a real reason to be, but she was. It was her mother's quiet sigh that brought her back to reality.

“Come, Evie. We're going to be late.”

Evie turned back towards her parents and the bunches of people exiting. Her parents were soft spoken, quiet people that kept to themselves. They didn't have time for family friends or other relatives, they barely had time for themselves. Evie guessed they liked it that way.

She exited the church with her parents, not looking back over her shoulder at the family that enraptured her.

---

The a few sundays later, she found herself in the same pew her family always sat in. Over the past few weeks she had taken to watching the Way's like she always did to keep herself occupied during church. It was easier now that Gerard was back, being graduated from Seminary gave him the right to start practicing his faith fully, which was why he was now standing at the podium giving a sermon in place of his father. Minister Way had started it out, then handing the reigns over to his oldest son. She could tell that the Minister was grooming him to take his place at the large congregation.

She found herself actually listening to what he said, his smooth voice flowed over the church like velvet. She looked him over as he stood before them all, his dark hair was always styled out of his face, but she could tell that without all that product his hair was longer than it looked. His skin was pale, from what she could see of it – he was buttoned up pretty tight as all people of the cloth usually were. He wasn't quiet as tall as his father or his younger brother, but he still held some height. He wasn't lanky like them either, instead standing with an average frame, and broading shoulders. He was handsome. She scolded herself for thinking that way about him.

He had this easy presence about him, an oddly alluring smile on his lips, his green eyes connecting with people as he spoke. It made her believe what he was saying, but maybe that was because she thought he was so cute.

Too soon for her liking, Gerard stepped down from the podium, letting his father take over the last few minutes of the sermon time. Minister Way finished up quickly, leaving them to collect themselves and leave. Her parents stood and began to walk, but were stopped by a few acquaintances. Evie stayed sitting in the pew, knowing it would be a while – the Millers were very chatty people. She sat looking around the large room of the church, people watching mostly, and she was startled when she heard his voice beside her.

“Evie Addams, right?”

Shocked, she turned to her right to see him standing there, smiling down at her with that charm that just oozed from him. She nodded, “Uh, yeah.”

If he noticed her nervousness or her flushed cheeks, he said nothing. He just continued to smile down at her. “I'm Gerard Way.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He smirked then, causing her ovaries to basically explode. “You're cheeky. I like that.” Cue her internal swoon. He looked over to where her parents stood, looking bored and tired as the Millers talked their ears off. “Those your parents?”

She nodded, “Yeah. They're, quiet.”

“How old are you, Evie?”

“Twelve.”

He nodded, his smile widening. “You know, you're just the right age for our after school program. I'm not sure if you have any other after school activities, but, if you don't maybe you'd consider ours?”

Evie tore her gaze from his and looked over at her parents. They worked all the time, they weren't neglectful like Allison Fable's parents, just... boring. She didn't have any after school activities, she usually just got off the bus from school and spent the rest of the afternoon doing her homework and watching tv until her parents came home for dinner. They wouldn't mind if she spent her afternoons at the church, they probably wouldn't even notice if she did. But, she'd ask them anyway.

“I don't see why not?”

The smile that Gerard gave her made her want to throw up. Was it even allowed for someone that cute to be a member of the cloth? It was downright sacrilegious.

“Great. I hope to see you this week then, you can be my helper, you seem like you're good with small children.” She couldn't tell if he was lying to her or not, but she didn't really care. She would absolutely love to be his helper, if it meant she got to look at his cute face all afternoon. “If your parents have any questions, just tell them to give us a call.”

She nodded, “Alright, I will. Thank you.”

Gerard just smiled at her again, “You're quite welcome, Evie. See you tomorrow.”

He walked away from her then, joining his family over at their usual pew, talking with some of the other members of the church. She looked over to her parents, deciding they needed saving and walked over to where the Millers had them trapped.

“Mom,” She gave a sheepish smile to Mrs. Miller for interrupting her. “We have that science project to do.”

Her mother's light eyes lit with confusion for only a moment before a small smile played over her lips. She had just basically lied in church, she didn't even feel bad about it. Her mother was a pretty woman, with dark blonde hair and the same blue-green eyes that Evie herself possessed. Ocean eyes, her father called them.

“Oh, yes. I'm sorry, Irene, but we really have to get going.”

Her father sent her a wink as Mrs. Miller nodded her head, also smiling. “Of course, Addy. We'll see you this week at the bake sale, yeah?”

Evie saw the slight crinkle of her mother's nose at Mrs. Miller using her nickname instead of her given name, but she didn't correct Mrs. Miller. She simply nodded her head as they began to leave the church, “Yes. I'll give you a call, Irene.”

They filed out of the church, jumped in the car and drove home. For some reason, Evie couldn't get the question out. Not until they were at home and sitting around the table for dinner did she manage to let it tumble out of her mouth. She had left her parents be for the duration of the day, sitting in her room and watching movie after movie until dinner time. She didn't want it to seem like she was only going for Gerard – which, she most definitely was – but also because she didn't want her parents to get offended that she wanted to spend time away from the house. She wasn't sure why that notion bothered her so much.

They were all silently eating when Evie brought it up. She raised her eyes from the table to her father who was playing sudoku as he ate, then to her mother, who was looking over files from work. Evie glanced down at her own book, wondering if this was normal in other families.

“Mom? Dad?”

They looked up and over at her, her mother spoke first. “What's up, chicken?”

She silently stewed about her parents still calling her childish nicknames, but said nothing about it. “I was wondering if it'd be okay to join the church's after school program?”

Her parents looked at each other, her father shrugging his shoulders and her mother nodded as well. “I don't see why not.”

Her father put down his pen and turned to look at her. “Are you... lonely, darling?”

She shook her head, trying to alleviate her parents worries. They were busy and they did keep to themselves, but they were good parents. They did love her. “No, not at all, Dad. I'd just like to have something to do for my college applications.”

That had her mother beaming. A lawyer herself, her mother was all about higher education and a good job that suited your intelligence. Audrey Addams was smart, so was her husband Alfie – who worked a boring job as an accountant for a stuffy bank. Her parents were so normal it almost hurt.

“Well, that's fantastic, sweetheart. Good for you, for thinking ahead like that.”

“So, it's cool, if I go?”

“Of course, have fun too.”

Evie tried to stifle the small that wanted to take over at her mother's words. “I will, Mom.”

She went to bed that night excited, basically wanting to skip school all together and go straight to church – a first for her and basically every twelve year old in existence. She could barely sleep the whole night, too many butterflies in her stomach. Which made her scowl, he was just a boy. Well, not even a boy, he was a man. A man that was six years her senior and dedicated the rest of his life to his faith. She needed to stop thinking so sillily about him and treat this as the good opportunity that she told her parents it was.

There was no harm in thinking Gerard Way was cute, but to have a crush on him was just stupid. And, she was smarter than that.

Notes

Hello! Now, I know this looks a bit weird now, but don't fret. This will move quickly until they're both a good age to make with the unholy vows. Thanks in advance and let me know what you think!