Kat’s POV

My eyes slowly fluttered open and I instinctively shadowed them from the light streaming through the window. There was an all too familiar pounding in my head and everything spun when I sat up too fast. I groaned, grabbing my head with both my hands. I didn’t think that I had that much to drink the night before. Clearly I was mistaken. I dragged my body into the bathroom and took two Tylenols from the bathroom cupboard, swallowing them with a glass of water. Now all I needed was a shower and I’d be all set. The shower did wonders, washing off the night before. Going to a club had been a great idea. It had been a lot of fun. I hadn’t danced in ages and it had felt good to feel free again. After I got out of the shower, I noticed that it was only nine thirty. I might actually be on time for work again. When I reached the kitchen, my nostrils were greeted with the smell of breakfast. I entered the kitchen, surprised when I noticed the laid table and Dana dishing out pancakes.

“I hope you’re hungry.” Dana grinned coming over and kissing my cheek. “I made plenty.”

I was awed and sat down at the table. “I’m starved,” I admitted. I was always hungry after a long night out and since I only got home after two that morning, I seemed to be extra hungry. “If you keep this up, I’m going to become spoiled.”

“Good, then I’ll keep spoiling you,” he told me, putting away the pan and opening the fridge to get the juice.

“Do you want a brat for a wife?” I asked while he filled our glasses with juice.

He chuckled. “I’ll take my chances.” He took a seat across from me and we both started eating. Dana without a doubt made the best apple pancakes ever.

“Oh, and I hope you don’t have any plans for tonight, because I’m taking you out,” he said, taking a large bite of his pancakes. “I have a table reserved for eight o’clock,” he informed me.

“Wow, you already have everything figured out. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have an entire itinerary set out for the week,” I joked.

“No, I’m not that far ahead yet, but maybe I’ll come up with one,” he smiled and I mirrored it.

After breakfast, Dana insisted on cleaning up and I left for work. The morning passed the same as any other morning which was super busy. Everyone came by Starbucks before going to work or during a coffee break or any possible time they could. I think some people simply didn’t have anywhere else to be and stayed there all day. As usual lunch time was a killer.

“Hey, Kat,” Gerard smiled once he reached the front of the line.

“Hey.” I returned his smile. “The usual?”

He chuckled, “Yeah, you know me too well.” I turned away from him to get his coffee ready.

“In the morning it’s black with three sugars,” Ray murmured, stepping past me to get to the espresso machine.

“I need the caffeine,” Gee replied and I noticed that they weren’t even looking at each other. “Hey, can I get a muffin too please?”

“What would you like?” I inquired ignoring the obvious tension between the two friends. It could only be over one thing.

“Whatever’s good.”

I handed him his coffee and a chocolate chip muffin and shook my head at his proffered money. “I’ve got you.” I was in a good mood and feeling generous.

“Thanks.” He shoved the few crumpled dollar bills back into his pocket. “What time do we meet tonight?”

“Oh yeah, I can’t go out tonight. I have other plans,” I informed him apologetically.

“Oh?” he said surprised.

“Dana is taking me out.”

“Oh!” Realization hit him. “Okay, well, have fun,” he said after a beat. I didn’t fail to notice how his face fell as soon as I told him that I was going to be spending the night with Dana.

“Sorry,” I apologized, unable to feel a little guilty. He needed to spend time with other people too though, besides, what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t blow off my husband to go out and get drunk with Gerard. We both had our own lives.

“What? No, it’s fine,” he assured me, back to his old self again. “It’s your husband after all. At least you’re not blowing me off for Ray,” he joked. I relaxed. He was okay. I didn’t have anything to worry about. A brief second in time from a while ago, when he had kissed me, flashed through my mind. What the hell was that about? We haven’t even talked about that. It was a lot easier to forget.

I cracked up, more to hide my sudden discomfort than at what he said. “Don’t worry. That won’t happen anytime soon.”

He smiled, “Good to know. I’m off. See you tomorrow.”

*

Gerard’s POV

Okay, so I wasn’t spending the evening with Kat. That gave me time to spend with the guys, because I haven’t done that in ages. It was about time I caught up with them again. As if the world planned it, I bumped into Bert and Shawn on my trek home.

“Hello, stranger,” Shawn greeted me heartily.

“What’s up, guys?” I smiled, genuinely happy to see them. These guys were my best friends after all.

“Oh, so you do know us?” Bert said sarcastically.

“What?” I was confused by his unexpected hostility.

“We don’t see you anymore, man,” Shawn explained, smiling apologetically.

I looked at each of my friends in turn, Bert with his constant greasy appearance and Shawn who was for once comfortably clad in a plain old jean and t-shirt and not his usual working clothes. “I’m sorry, I’ve been busy…”

“With your new girlfriend?” Bert wanted to know. “The one you didn’t bother telling any of us about.”

“How do you…”

“Shawn saw you with her on Saturday,” he responded even before I could finish my sentence. He didn’t look happy with me at all and I wasn’t sure what his problem was. I haven’t done anything wrong. I couldn’t possibly have done anything to him when I haven’t seen him in almost weeks.

“A pretty girl with black hair,” Shawn inserted.

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“You looked pretty close to me.”

“We’re just friends,” I insisted, because unfortunately that was exactly all we were, friends.

“What happened to bros before hoes?” Bert wanted to know.

“She’s not a ho’,” I growled defensively. Bert didn’t know Kat and couldn’t be talking shit about her. I wouldn’t allow that.

“You know what I mean,” he huffed. “You used to spend every night out with us and now this girl has taken our place?” He crossed his arms over his chest. Was he seriously sulking about not seeing me all the time anymore?

“You’ve changed,” Shawn agreed.

“I haven’t…”

“Did you forget about us or do you just not give a damn anymore?” Bert wanted to know not letting up on his pissed off act.

“Fuck you!” I snapped. I couldn’t understand why they were mad at me. Yes, I haven’t been spending all my time with them lately, but that did not justify their attitudes. “You are the last person on earth who can say anything about not giving a damn!” I told Bert lividly, remembering a time when he let me down. Neither of us was perfect. I’ve been hurt too.

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded even more angry than before, judging by his balled fists.

“It means that none of you so called friends called or visited or anything when I nearly died of blood poisoning. That girl you’re so quick to insult wasn’t even really my friend, but she checked on me to see if I was okay. She cared. Where the hell were you?” I demanded. “I used to think that you guys cared and understood me, but I’m really starting to wonder. Maybe you should think about that the next time you wonder why I’ve found different company.”

“Fine! If she’s so damn special, why don’t you just marry her and forget about us!” Bert shouted. “It obviously comes very easily to you. We’re only good enough until the next person willing to be your friend comes along.”

I couldn’t believe he said that. It was like someone had kicked me in the ribs. “I will!!” I screamed back, because I had no other words for that. “Believe it or not, but I actually love her! So you can go to hell if you have a problem accepting that!” I swallowed hard. This was not at all what I thought would happen when I saw them.

“Gerard, that’s great,” Shawn said, with a slight smile in between Bert and I’s shouting match.

“This is unbelievable,” Bert muttered throwing his hands up in the air. “Maybe you should just quit while you’re at it, because you know you’ll just screw this up too, like you do everything else.”

“Bert!” Shawn hissed sharply.

“No, it’s okay,” I said quietly barely phased by Bert’s words. Clearly the truth of what he thought about me was finally coming out. At least now I knew where we stood. “I’m a fuck-up, I know. I know I’ll fuck this up too. To be honest, I already have. Get this though, she doesn’t care. She was willing to give me another chance.”

“Remember that you only get so many chances, Gerard. How long will this girl stick with you?” Bert wondered. “But hey, your good old friends will be in the same place that you abandoned them the next time you’re desperate for someone to give a shit,” he said as he walked backwards before. “Because we will be here after she has had enough.” He spun around and walked away not even bothering to wait for Shawn.

“That’s Bert’s way of saying that he misses you.” The latter muttered, although even he knew that Bert had gone too far and that nothing he said could excuse his actions.

“Fuck him,” I grumbled, upset by everything he’d said.

“Do you really love this girl?” What? My brain slowly registered what he said and I realized that I had in fact admitted to loving her. That’s right, I loved Kat. I didn’t have to wonder about that anymore. I now knew with certainty that I did.

I gave a non-committal shrug. “It’s complicated.”

“I’m happy for you, man,” he hit my shoulder and smiled. “You deserve it. I should probably get going. The guys will be wondering about my whereabouts by now.”

“I’m sure Bert will fill them in,” I said bitterly.

“Like you said, fuck Bert, okay? He’ll come around eventually and go crawling back to you. You know how he is.”

“Whatever. I might see you later. I’ll probably join you guys for some fun.”

“Bert lost his cool for nothing then,” he laughed. “Alright man, see you later.” We parted ways, him heading in the direction of our favorite bar and me in the direction of my apartment. I should have gone straight to the bar, I thought when I reached my apartment and found Mikey waiting for me.

“Hey, I brought you some food, since I figured that you didn't spend a lot of time shopping,” he informed me with a smile.

“Uh, thanks.” I unlocked the door and waited for him to walk in first. Mikey headed straight for the small kitchen area and started to unpack the contents of the brown paper bag. I eyed him suspiciously, not believing for one second that he was here to bring me food.

“I brought toilet paper too,” he informed me, holding up a roll of toilet paper.

I sighed, “Mikey, what do you want? Did Ray put you up to this?”

“Ray and I talked,” he admitted, pulling out some toothpaste and shampoo. “But he didn’t put me up to this.”

“Oh great, that just makes it so much better!” I muttered sarcastically. “Please, Mikey, if you don’t mind, I really don’t need another speech. I’ve had a real bitch of a day and I really don’t need my own brother hassling me right now, okay.” I grabbed a jacket, some money and my keys and made for the door.

“Now you’re going to drown your sorrows with alcohol?”

“I am,” I answered truthfully.

“Yeah, because that will really solve your problems,” he mumbled.

“I don’t have any problems. All I need is a distraction,” I told him, holding the door open and waiting for him to leave.

“Get a girlfriend, someone who isn’t married. Get another job or I don’t know… There are so many other useful things you can do other than turning to alcohol,” he stated, walking over and stopping in front of me.

“No thanks. I’m content with my current method and I don’t want a girlfriend…”

“Because you’re in love with her, right?” I pursed my lips. “I can’t believe you fell for a married woman,” he murmured, shaking his head.

“You know, I just wish everyone would back the fuck off,” I said angrily, staring ahead. “I am so fucking sick and tired of everyone preaching and lecturing me: Ray, you even Bert and Shawn, two people I never would’ve thought would turn on me. I mean, they are really the last people who can preach to me about my way of living. I’m fucking tired of everyone wanting to tell what I should and shouldn’t do. It’s my life! I have the right to live it the way I want to, don’t I? I just want to be able to live my life without every other person having a fucking opinion about it. Is it too much to ask of everyone to just back the fuck off and let me live my life in peace? All I want is someone to love me for me, to not judge every little thing I do!” I exclaimed miserably. “I swear sometimes I’m not even thinking about doing something and everyone’s already judging me because of it. I’m just so sick of it all.” I sighed. I was tired.

“That’s not what it’s about,” Mikey said defensively. “We care and we’re trying to help you.

I growled, waiting for him to walk out. I locked the door as soon as he did and stormed down the hallway.

“You can’t run away, Gerard!” I heard Mikey call after me.

*

Kat’s POV

At the end of the day I hurried back home and got ready to go out. I put on a pair of black leggings and a navy blue dress. There was a black belt with a large round, golden buckle around my waist. My short hair was combed down neatly for once since I always wore it spiky. Lightly done make-up and golden hoop-earrings rounded off the look. I was excited about the evening. I haven’t been on a date in forever and Dana and I haven’t spent a proper night together in just as long. My amazing husband wore black pants with a white button up shirt and his hair was neat as always. I could picture Gerard with his either spiky or messy hair. He’d probably wear jeans and a t-shirt too. I shouldn’t be thinking about him. Clearly I’ve been spending too much time with him. He was occupying a lot of my thoughts lately.

“Ready to go?” Dana asked and I nodded in response. I was thrilled by the appreciation in his eyes as he took in my appearance. I felt like a teenager going on a first date with the cute boy she’s been crushing on for ages.

We left the house and arrived at the restaurant just in time for our reservation. It was a fancy French restaurant with a name that I couldn’t even pronounce let alone spell. Dana was being the perfect gentleman: complimenting me at every opportunity that came his way, opening doors for me, basically making me feel like the most important girl in the world.

“You’re really pulling out all the stops,” I noticed smiling.

“I want everything to be perfect,” he stated.

“You’re not going to propose, are you?” I joked and he looked at me like I was crazy. “I’m kidding,” I assured him. “We’re already married, remember?”

“That’s what I thought,” he spoke. “No, I’m not planning on proposing again, but there’s nothing wrong with a romantic dinner for two. It’s the perfect opportunity for us to talk since we haven’t done that in a long time.”

“Oh yeah, we should pretty much get reacquainted,” I said jokingly, but he didn’t seem to find it funny. I took a sip of the champagne he’d ordered earlier, tough crowd.

“What’s been going on in your life?” he wanted to know.

“Nothing much,” I replied truthfully. “I still work at the Starbucks and then I go out and get drunk every night.” There was no point in lying about it. He already knew all of that.

“Any new friends?”

I shook my head, “No one wants to talk to a drunken married woman.” I don’t know why I felt the need to hide my friendship with Gerard from him, but I did. He didn’t have to know about Gerard. I didn’t want a repeat episode of the other night when he accused me of cheating on him. Dana wasn’t exactly the most secure person around. “What about your life?” I asked, eager to get the focus away from me.

“I’ve been really busy…” I could only imagine with what… or who. “I might have my degree by the end of next year and then I’ll take my dad’s company to a whole new level,” he finished.

“How did you and Carrie get together?” I wondered.

“Do we have to talk about her?” he wanted to know and I could practically see the dark clouds roll over his mood. Great going, Katherine. Way to ruin a perfectly good night. “I told you it’s over so can we just leave it please? It’s in the past and I’d like to leave it there.”

“I’m just curious,” I replied innocently. “So?”

He sighed, “She’s in charge of the company’s marketing. We weren’t even together. We had a few lunches together, that’s it.”

I nodded, not wanting to poke and prod any further. I knew for a fact that it had been more than a few lunches, but maybe it wasn’t quite as bad as I had imagined. A simple office affair that didn’t go beyond Dana’s desk, I could forgive that. Plus, I didn’t want to fight about it at that point either. He was trying so the least I could do was give him the benefit of the doubt. I must’ve spaced out for a second, because when I came out of my thoughts, Dana’s face was only inches from mine. Then he kissed me, softly. I could feel the tingles run down my spine at the connection of our lips.

He pulled away and smiled. “I should definitely do that more often.”

I giggled happily. “Definitely.” Just like that, the somberness of our conversation was gone and we could enjoy the rest of the night without any issues.

*

Gerard’s POV

I sat at the bar, downing one drink after another. All the guys were happy to see me again and for a short while they kept me occupied, but once the real drinking began, I found myself glued to the bar and none of my friends even thought to find that strange. After all, that was how they knew me.

She was out with her husband. Forgive me for not liking that. He was her husband and I was just me, so I had no right to be jealous, but I was. The jealousy was eating me alive. The realization that I loved her did not help the matter at all. It only made it that much worse. I could only imagine what they were doing. They were probably having a romantic dinner and then they were going to go home and he’s going to make use of the opportunity and… Fuck, I didn’t even want to think about it, because the thought of what they might do was driving me crazy. I knew he was her husband and that they probably did it often, but I really didn’t want to think about it. Why the hell did she have to be married? I felt sick and it certainly had nothing to do with the alcohol.

“I’m glad you’re here tonight,” Shawn grinned, sitting down next to me and pointing to the barman to get him a beer. “We’ve really missed you.”

I faked a smile, unable to tear my thoughts away from Kat. “Yeah, I missed you guys too.”

“Probably not Bert since he’s a douche bag,” he said quietly so only I could hear and I chuckled lightly.

“Here, have a beer on me,” he offered.

Bert simply glared at me from a few feet away. He was obviously still pissed about our little encounter that afternoon. He had no reason to be. If anyone had the right to be angry, it was me.

The beer and alcohol wasn’t enough to help me forget about my misery. Not even my rowdy friends were distraction enough. My mind kept returning to Kat… and her husband… and what they were possibly doing. I became more and more depressed as the night progressed. Once the alcohol killed all my rationality, I decided to take my last resort and walked over to talk to Bert.

“What do you want?” he grumbled, not looking at me.

I cleared my throat and whispered something in his ear. He looked at me surprised for a second and then he frowned again.

“Please, Bert. I’m desperate,” I begged.

He nodded and grabbed my hand, dragging me towards the bathroom. Once there, he checked all the stalls to make sure that they were empty before turning back to me.

“Okay,” he stated. “But you’ll owe me, big time.”

I nodded, “Of course.”

He then proceeded to stick his hand in his back pocket, producing a little plastic bag with the magic white substance that I desperately longed for, but haven’t used in a very long time. It was kind of ironic: since meeting Kat, I’ve somehow been better, drinking less, barely taking any antidepressants and definitely not doing drugs, but now it was exactly that fact, knowing her, that made me resort back to some of my old ways.

“I don’t know what’s in this, but this is a special batch: it’s really good,” he informed me excitedly. “Guaranteed to fix any problem and pick you up out of the dirt.”

“You sound like a fucking supplier. Just give me the drugs.”

“Anxious much? Shouldn’t that follow the use of this?” he said a little teasingly and I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t in the mood for his bullshit. All I wanted was to feel better.

During the next few minutes both of us got a fix before cleaning up and returning to the rest of the crowd. Soon the effects started to kick in and I felt better. I was laughing loudly along with everyone else; I was downing drinks as if my life depended on it and doing other random shit. Bert was even more of an asshole than usual, hitting on random women and I think he even hit on a guy at one point. It was insane. I forgot about everything and knew that I wouldn’t remember anything of this night the next morning.

*

I was right too. The next morning I was nauseous and dizzy as hell. I hated the aftereffects of drugs.I woke up lying sideways on my bed, half of my body not even on the bed. All my muscles were stiff, probably due to the position I had slept in. I dragged myself up with a lot of difficulty and shuffled towards the bathroom. I stopped halfway there, noticing a random girl sleeping on my couch. Guess I made a friend the night before. I continued towards my destination and finally stopped in front of the bathroom mirror.

“Hello, Gerard,” I greeted the familiar reflection. “Welcome back.”

Notes

Look at that, she updated and it didn't take forever. I wouldn't get too used to it though ;)
I would love to know what your thoughts on this chapter was.
Also, thank you all so much for all your feedback!!!

xoxo

I fixed a bunch of mistakes I noticed only after posting in case anyone saw those. Sorry!