FicWad

Valentine’s Day had come that year with a blanket of snow as well as temperatures that were
still cold but tolerable. Things still weren’t patched up between Gerard and I despite our
friends’ efforts. I mean, come on, if your boyfriend suddenly cheats on you and then says he
still loves you, would you immediately say yes? Of course you wouldn’t, no sensible person
would.

“Valerie, honey?” My mom knocked softly on the door.

“What is it, Mom?”

“Gerard just called. He still feels really bad about what happened, and he wants to make it
up to you and explain what was going on. He wants to take you out to Olive Garden for dinner
tonight so that you can talk this over.”

I thought about that and sighed. I might’ve been in denial about this and not know it, but
what it all came down to was the fact that I ended our relationship just based on what I’d
seen, and I hadn’t given Gerard the chance to tell me his side of the story. I wasn’t being
fair to him, so I decided I might as well listen to what he had to say despite my feelings.

**

When I got inside the restaurant, I saw that Gerard was waiting for me.

“Hey.” Gerard smiled and hugged me.

“Hey.” I replied softly.

“I know you’re still mad at me, but I just wanted to explain what happened, only if you’ll
let me, though.”

“I will. Besides, I wasn’t being very fair to you just ending our relationship on the spot
like that.” I looked down in shame. “I guess it was an instant reaction kind of thing.”

“Don’t worry about it, everyone reacts like that sometimes.”

The waitress took our drink orders as well as our food orders, because he and I had eaten
there before and we knew what our favorites were. Once she had gone back Gerard cleared his
throat and I knew it was time for us to talk.

“Val, what you saw really was not what it looked like. I was walking to the parking lot when
that girl literally pounced on me and forced me to kiss her.”

I thought about it and decided that that was an acceptable explanation. “But that doesn’t
explain why she kissed you.”

“This was all something that Bianca had come up with.”

I stared at him. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am. The girl had a crush and me and Bianca knew it, so Bianca paid her to break us up.”

Hearing that, I was at a total loss for words. I really had no idea that people would do
something as low as what Bianca did to me just because of something that had happened months
ago. It wasn’t until Gerard squeezed my hand that I realized that I was crying. “Why doesn’t
she just let this go already?” I wiped my tears away.

“Something tells me it’s because she’s not used to people sticking up for you, and because
you’ve got all of us behind you, she feels threatened.”

”Why would that make her feel threatened?”

”Because she’s used to succeeding in intimidating you, and she knows that her hold on you
isn’t as strong now because you’ve got us.” Gerard explained. “I’ve seen it happen before.
Mikey got picked on all the time, and when the guys and I kept sticking up for him, the
people picking on him eventually gave up. Hey, if it makes you feel any better, Bianca
hasn’t said anything to us since then.”

”I see.” A brief silence passed when our dinner arrived.

“So, are we still a couple?” Gerard asked before we ate.

“Only if you still want to be after the way I reacted.” I replied softly.

“Of course I still want to be, babe.” Gerard kissed my hand. “I love you, and that hasn’t
changed.”

“I still love you, too.” I raised my glass. “Here’s to us.”

Gerard smiled. “To us.”

*

A month passed and Gerard and I were hanging out at my house. My parents had gone out for
the evening and my sister was at a friend’s, so we had the house to ourselves.

Just after the movie we were watching ended, Gerard’s phone rang and he got up to answer it.
He listened to the other end, and his eyes widened in shock. He hung up, and threw his phone
onto the floor.

“Goddamn it!” he yelled. He collapsed on his knees and started sobbing, muttering a string
of profanities under his breath between the sobs.

“Gerard?” I asked timidly. “What happened?”

“Mikey just called...with the news...” He took a shakey breath and started again. “Our
grandma just died.” His sobs ran anew. “There, I said it.”

“Oh, sweetie...” I wrapped my arms around him in a comfort hug, which he gladly accepted. He
cried into my shoulder and hugged me back while I held him, rubbing his back gently. I felt
a tear or two escape from my own eyes as I digested the news, remembering how I’d felt when
my own grandmother died. At the same time I realized just how much I was going to miss his
grandmother. She was such a lovely woman even though I didn’t know her for very long. I
remembered Mikey telling me that their grandma had cancer and that the doctors were out of
options.

“She just couldn’t get better...” Gerard managed to say after calming down a little. “I’m
sorry for breaking down like this, Valerie.”

“Shh. Don’t be, it’s okay.” I replied gently. “You can cry, she was a huge part of your
life.” I kissed his cheek softly. “I know how you feel, my grandmother died when I was
fourteen and I reacted the same way.”

Gerard nodded. “Mikey told me that before she died, Grandma asked my dad if the band and I
could play at her funeral. I don’t know if I should, but I really want to do this for her. I
just don’t have any songs in mind for her.”

“Maybe you could play a song that someone else wrote that reminds you of her.” I suggested.

“I could...” His eyes then got a look in his eye that I’d only seen when he’d gotten an idea
for a song. “Valerie, could you get me a pen and some paper?”

*

Three days later, the song was ready. It was entitled “Helena”, and Gerard had put his heart
and soul into it. He had worked all his time after school with Ray and Bob to get all the
music written, and the guys were rehearsing like mad to make sure the song was the way
Gerard had intended it to be. Most people wouldn’t do something like this after the death of
a loved one, but Gerard and Mikey were turning their grief into something positive.

Gerard had asked me if I’d be willing to come to the service with him. I didn’t think it
would be right for me to intrude on such a private time for his family, but Mikey then
stepped in and told me that he was bringing his girlfriend with him. Donna told me that it
would be fine, because she felt it would help ease her sons’ pain a little.

I walked up to the church with Gerard’s hand in mine, squeezing it comfortingly whenever he
started to sob. When we got there, we saw Mikey talking to a girl that looked oddly familiar
to me.

“Val, this is my girlfriend Alicia. Alicia, this is Gerard’s girlfriend Valerie.” Mikey
said. I then remembered Alicia was the one who had given Bianca that well-deserved slap way
back when.

“I thought I recognized you, Alicia. I just wasn’t told your name.” I smiled apologetically.

“Not a problem.” She smiled back and gave me a hug of her own. “And don’t be ashamed about
my slapping Bianca, she deserved it and I had nothing against doing it.”

“The more united against her, the better.” I smiled back and we both laughed. Alicia was
proving to be really nice, and she was being Mikey’s rock as I was being Gerard’s that day.

The service itself didn’t last for very long, and Gerard and the rest of the guys got up to
where they had set up their equipment. While they made a couple of last minute adjustments,
Gerard addressed his family.

“My grandma always supported the band that Mikey and I are in: she loved hearing us play and
she always encouraged us to keep playing. Before she died, she asked if we could play at her
funeral, so I wrote a special song for her called ‘Helena’.” He looked over at his
grandmother’s coffin. “Grandma, this song is for you. I love you.”

I had tears in my eyes as I listened to the song. It mourned Gerard and Mikey’s loss, but at
the same time it evoked a sense of celebrating her life. The song was totally the band’s
style, and I knew that this was the kind of song she would have wanted her grandsons to
play. I stole a glance at everyone’s reaction to see that some were wiping tears away and
some had their eyes closed and just listening to the music. The tears running down Gerard’s
face didn’t stop him from singing his heart out. At the end of the song everyone stood up
and applauded them, and I knew that Gerard felt better because he had been able to fulfill
her last wish.

*

“Val, I know a funeral isn’t exactly the best way to meet new people.” Alicia said after the
burial had ended and everyone was leaving. “How about we go out for coffee tomorrow and get
to know each other better?”

”Sounds good to me.” I smiled and nodded. We quickly exchanged phone numbers and picked a
time and place to meet before she left. I had the feeling Alicia and I were going to become
great friends.

“Valerie? Got a minute?” Gerard asked.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“You being there for me these last few days is seriously one of the nicest things anyone’s
ever done for me. I really want to do something for you as a way of saying thanks.”

“What did you have in mind?”

I noticed a touch of pink gather at Gerard’s ears. “Well...prom is coming up in May. You want
to go with me?”

I smiled. “Gerard, I’d love to.” I hugged him.

“Awesome.” He smiled and kissed my cheek. “Thanks again for being there for me.”