"I'm not quite sure what to say about Linda... Everyone here knows what sort of woman she was. How strong she was... Loving and caring... She always put other people first... I uh... Eh em. Sorry. I owe Linda Iero my life. She always said she owed me hers, but no. Its me that owes her. Because of her, I stopped caring what other people thought of me. Because of her, I was able to get through my depression easier. Because of her... I met the love of my life. Her son,"Gerard looked down at Mum's coffin,"So Linda? Thanks. A lot. I owe you one... Linda, you made the world so much better. Its going to be so hard moving on but I think with you watching over us, it might make things easier."

Gerard cleared his throat, wiped his face on his sleeve and got down from the podium. He came back and stood next to me in the front row. I squeezed past him and went up to the podium myself. I cleared my throat and looked out at everyone. On the side I was sitting on sat the people I knew. On the other side was a whole heap of people I had never met before.

"I uh... My Mum... She uh,"I tried clearing my throat again, doing my best to get rid of the golf ball in my throat,"My mum. She is- was amazing. No. Is. She is amazing. She may be gone but she is still alive in our hearts and she is still a person. She is amazing. When she told me what she went through... I just- I just wanted to give her a fucking medal or something. I hardly doubt a medal would have sufficed but hey, it was the first thing that popped into my head,"I shrugged my shoulders sheepishly.

I pulled at my tie and looked down at the closed coffin,"It seems like only yesterday I was finding out I had been transferred to the school my Mum worked at. It took me a little while to come round to the fact that after 16 years of no parents at all, I suddenly had one, willing to love me,"I blinked the tears out of my eyes, swiping at the ones tickling my neck,"You made me realise that- even though... There is bad in this world, good comes out of it. All you have to do is look for the silver lining. The silver lining of you leaving me, was me meeting Gerard. And- and the guys and Brendon and Ryan and Sarah... You gave me my first home,"I cried, wiping my eyes furiously,"It seems like only yesterday that I got a mother. And- and now you're- g-gone. Why'd you go Mum? Why did you leave us? Why did you go where I cant follow?"I sobbed, gripping the podium to help me stand.

"Frankie sweetie, its okay,"Gerard was suddenly gripping my arms, holding me up like he always does. I grabbed at him, pushing my face into his chest to cry. His arms slid around me and held me tight. No doubt he was mouthing a sorry to the people. I let go of him and turned back to them all,"I'm sorry. Uh I think I'm done now."

Gerard carefully led me down the steps. We started heading towards our seats but I stopped and turned around. I walked over to her coffin and carefully opened the lid. Despite the burns and cuts on her face, she looked beautiful. Her long black hair was flowing over her shoulders and she looked like a ghost in her white dress against the red satin lining the coffin. I stood on my tiptoes and gently kissed her. I turned around at someone tugging on my jacket.

"Can I kiss her goodnight?"Claire sniffed.
"Of course sweetie,"I gave her a watery smile and picked her up. Claire gasped as she caught sight of Mum.
"She looks so beautiful,"She whispered as she reached down and stroked her hair.
"Doesnt she?"
"Yeah... I wish I had her hair,"Claire sighed and rested her head on my shoulder.

"I know baby. Come on, give her a kiss goodnight so we can take her to the cemetery,"I sniffed. I moved Claire closer so she could kiss Mum before putting her back down next to Gerard. Lily came over and whispered something to Mum before kissing her and shutting the coffin lid.

A song Mum apparently loved started playing and Mikey, Pete, Gerard, Lily, Nana Kat and I all carefully picked up her coffin. Claire walked silently next to me, holding my pants tightly. My shirt collar was soaked with tears and I knew it was going to have black and red stains from my make up.

We reached outside and made our way over to where she was going to be buried. I zoned out, staring across the misty field next to the cemetery through blurry eyes as the church guy started saying all this crap. It didnt mean anything to me. Mum wasnt religious so I wasnt sure why we were doing all this but Nana Kat had said it was best.

My eyes slowly travelled to the gates and I stiffened.

"Frank? You need to sprinkle the dirt,"Gerard whispered in my ear and pulled my eyes away from the gates. I nodded and grabbed a handful of dirt. The coffin started lowering into the hole and my crying ratcheted up.

"G-Goodbye Mum. I love you,"I cried and sprinkled the dirt over the top of her coffin. I moved away so someone else could do the same and let the tears fall down. Movement at the edge of the cemetery made me look up.

"Whats he doing here...?"I asked quietly. As my eyes cleared, so did the grief. In its place came the anger,"What is he doing here?!"I shrieked suddenly.
"Frank! Calm down! Who?"Gerard came to my side and looked to where Malcolm was walking over from the path.
"Relax. I'm just here to say goodbye. Dont I have rights?"He growled.

"No. You fucking dont,"I spat. Before I could register what I was doing, I suddenly found my gun in my hands and a ringing in my ears as Malcolm fell to the ground. The sound of shouting and screaming filled my ears a second later.

"Jesus christ Frank!"Someone shouted. My vision slanted as I took a step closer to Malcolm. I had hit his neck. Blood was pouring from his wound and from his mouth as he struggled to breathe his last breath.
"You lost your rights when you beat my Mum,"I snarled and shot again in the head. My vision kept slanting and the floor came rushing up to meet me.