Categories > Original > Romance > Dancing with Death
The next few days were oddly peaceful. Gerard and I coexisted, walked together to the classes we shared, and were overall civil to each other. Nothing about him made me mad anymore. I actually kind of…liked it. It gave me an odd sense of comfort to be talking to him.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, he invited me over again Thursday, just to go over the project quickly and make sure we knew what we were gonna do. I accepted. Thursday afternoon I found myself raiding my closet, making sure my skirt, with its chains and tears, fit just right over my boots. I smiled when I pulled out an old black tee shirt my brother had given me for my birthday one year. He’d admitted it was a crappy gift, but I’d accepted it gracefully, ideas already blooming as to what I’d do to make it awesome. I’d torn it, I’d cut it, I’d stretched it, until holes showed off the purple tank I always wore underneath, only half of its practically destroyed, over-stretched collar clinging to my right shoulder. I really liked how it’d turned out. I pulled it over my head and, pausing to add some eyeliner—something I never did, I was out the door by the time Gerard was there to get me.
I didn’t know what had come over me or why I was dressing up. It was just Gerard, after all. Or was it just that? I didn’t know. Well, too late to change, I thought, pulling open the car door.
“You look nice,” he commented, making my cheeks turn red.
“I gotta go out to dinner with my parents after this,” I said nonchalantly. “But we’re going to a restaurant I hate, so I decided to wear what’ll really annoy them—one of my favorite outfits,” I gestured to the getup I wore.
He laughed. “Very nice. I like it.” He looked me up and down, making me warm all over.
Get a grip, I thought sternly. This is GERARD.
“Thanks,” I smiled. “I do too.”
He backed out of the driveway and sped across town, just barely going over the speed limit. We reached his house pretty quickly. In fact, sooner than I thought possible, I was in his room, sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, counting the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling, as he kept talking about boring stuff I had already tuned out.
“Are you listening?” he asked suddenly, pulling me back to reality.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. He shook his head, getting up from the desk and sitting down next to me.
“We’re gonna fail this. Not ‘cause we have a bad report, but ‘cause we have terrible presentation.”
I shrugged. “Can’t be that bad. After all, Thanatos is pretty interesting.”
“I think his life must have sucked.”
“Why? Because he had no love interests?” I teased, smiling.
“I bet that had something to do with it,” he laughed, meeting my eyes.
“And have you ever had any love interests?”
“Once. But it’s over. I think I told you about Selena. You?”
“Once upon a dream,” I laughed. “Every time I tried, it always turned out that the guy was lying to me. Or he was just a player.”
“And have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a guy who wasn’t lying or looking to get some?”
“Many times,” I murmured. We were closer than ever before. Our faces couldn’t have been more than an inch apart. I wasn’t wondering if I could kiss him anymore. I knew I could. I was just waiting on him. He leaned in then, and obliged me. His silver lip ring pressed against my lower lip, somehow deepening the kiss. His hands moved to my face, cupping my cheek, twining into my hair. His cold hands suddenly felt welcoming, not gross. Alive, not dead. I leaned closer, my fingers curling around the fabric of his shirt, willing him not to lean away, to stay this close forever.
Our lips disconnected.
He laughed almost weakly. “Now that is something I haven’t done in a while.”
I smiled, reaching up to brush the hair out of his eyes. “Well you’re still good at it.”
He leaned forward, probably planning to kiss me again, and I was fully ready to let him, but my phone ringing in my pocket made us pause halfway toward each other. I turned away and answered. “Can I call you back?”
“Okay, Sammy, moment of truth. Did you ask him to the dance?” Tina sounded too sweet, like poisoned honey.
I detested the name Sammy. It made me mad. “Yes, Tina, I did. And please, don’t bother calling me again. I’m deleting your number from my phone, and I won’t pick up next time. Also, if you ever call me Sammy again, I swear I’m gonna claw your eyes out with my bare hands. Goodbye.” I hit the end button and threw the phone against the wall.
Gerard laughed. “You probably just broke your phone.”
“Eh. It’s been through worse.”
“Wanna grab some dinner? There’s a nice Chinese place down the street,” he said, helping me up.
“Um, no, I gotta go. Dinner with my parents, remember? How about we do this for the project: we read the stuff we have out loud to the room, and at each new page one person will stop reading and the other will start. It’s simple, sweet, and sure to be just like everyone else’s. Wanna know what makes ours different?”
“Sure.”
“Ours is amazing.”
He laughed. “So I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“If you decide to show up,” I smirked. “Bye, Gerard.”
And then I left his room, despite the fact I wanted to stay.
Ugh, ANOTHER author's note.
Really, I don't normally do these, but I've been getting more talkative lately. That, and this is one of my favorite parts, personally.
If you've stuck with this story so long as to be reading this right now, please know I really do appreciate it. I'm not gonna be unoriginal and say I couldn't have done this without you, because honestly I could have. I could've kept my head down and just wrote down the ideas in my head. But when I first posted this I had pretty much given up on this story. I was on like chapter 5 and didn't think I wanted to keep going. Then someone reviewed it, and others followed, and I knew I couldn't stop now. Thanks for sticking with this, and thank you so much for the reviews. They keep me going. So enjoy what you're reading right now (if it's possible...xD), and go show some other authors on here your incredible support (BUT PLEASE DON'T FORGET ME! :3). Thanks again. I'm gonna shut up now.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, he invited me over again Thursday, just to go over the project quickly and make sure we knew what we were gonna do. I accepted. Thursday afternoon I found myself raiding my closet, making sure my skirt, with its chains and tears, fit just right over my boots. I smiled when I pulled out an old black tee shirt my brother had given me for my birthday one year. He’d admitted it was a crappy gift, but I’d accepted it gracefully, ideas already blooming as to what I’d do to make it awesome. I’d torn it, I’d cut it, I’d stretched it, until holes showed off the purple tank I always wore underneath, only half of its practically destroyed, over-stretched collar clinging to my right shoulder. I really liked how it’d turned out. I pulled it over my head and, pausing to add some eyeliner—something I never did, I was out the door by the time Gerard was there to get me.
I didn’t know what had come over me or why I was dressing up. It was just Gerard, after all. Or was it just that? I didn’t know. Well, too late to change, I thought, pulling open the car door.
“You look nice,” he commented, making my cheeks turn red.
“I gotta go out to dinner with my parents after this,” I said nonchalantly. “But we’re going to a restaurant I hate, so I decided to wear what’ll really annoy them—one of my favorite outfits,” I gestured to the getup I wore.
He laughed. “Very nice. I like it.” He looked me up and down, making me warm all over.
Get a grip, I thought sternly. This is GERARD.
“Thanks,” I smiled. “I do too.”
He backed out of the driveway and sped across town, just barely going over the speed limit. We reached his house pretty quickly. In fact, sooner than I thought possible, I was in his room, sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, counting the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling, as he kept talking about boring stuff I had already tuned out.
“Are you listening?” he asked suddenly, pulling me back to reality.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. He shook his head, getting up from the desk and sitting down next to me.
“We’re gonna fail this. Not ‘cause we have a bad report, but ‘cause we have terrible presentation.”
I shrugged. “Can’t be that bad. After all, Thanatos is pretty interesting.”
“I think his life must have sucked.”
“Why? Because he had no love interests?” I teased, smiling.
“I bet that had something to do with it,” he laughed, meeting my eyes.
“And have you ever had any love interests?”
“Once. But it’s over. I think I told you about Selena. You?”
“Once upon a dream,” I laughed. “Every time I tried, it always turned out that the guy was lying to me. Or he was just a player.”
“And have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a guy who wasn’t lying or looking to get some?”
“Many times,” I murmured. We were closer than ever before. Our faces couldn’t have been more than an inch apart. I wasn’t wondering if I could kiss him anymore. I knew I could. I was just waiting on him. He leaned in then, and obliged me. His silver lip ring pressed against my lower lip, somehow deepening the kiss. His hands moved to my face, cupping my cheek, twining into my hair. His cold hands suddenly felt welcoming, not gross. Alive, not dead. I leaned closer, my fingers curling around the fabric of his shirt, willing him not to lean away, to stay this close forever.
Our lips disconnected.
He laughed almost weakly. “Now that is something I haven’t done in a while.”
I smiled, reaching up to brush the hair out of his eyes. “Well you’re still good at it.”
He leaned forward, probably planning to kiss me again, and I was fully ready to let him, but my phone ringing in my pocket made us pause halfway toward each other. I turned away and answered. “Can I call you back?”
“Okay, Sammy, moment of truth. Did you ask him to the dance?” Tina sounded too sweet, like poisoned honey.
I detested the name Sammy. It made me mad. “Yes, Tina, I did. And please, don’t bother calling me again. I’m deleting your number from my phone, and I won’t pick up next time. Also, if you ever call me Sammy again, I swear I’m gonna claw your eyes out with my bare hands. Goodbye.” I hit the end button and threw the phone against the wall.
Gerard laughed. “You probably just broke your phone.”
“Eh. It’s been through worse.”
“Wanna grab some dinner? There’s a nice Chinese place down the street,” he said, helping me up.
“Um, no, I gotta go. Dinner with my parents, remember? How about we do this for the project: we read the stuff we have out loud to the room, and at each new page one person will stop reading and the other will start. It’s simple, sweet, and sure to be just like everyone else’s. Wanna know what makes ours different?”
“Sure.”
“Ours is amazing.”
He laughed. “So I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“If you decide to show up,” I smirked. “Bye, Gerard.”
And then I left his room, despite the fact I wanted to stay.
Ugh, ANOTHER author's note.
Really, I don't normally do these, but I've been getting more talkative lately. That, and this is one of my favorite parts, personally.
If you've stuck with this story so long as to be reading this right now, please know I really do appreciate it. I'm not gonna be unoriginal and say I couldn't have done this without you, because honestly I could have. I could've kept my head down and just wrote down the ideas in my head. But when I first posted this I had pretty much given up on this story. I was on like chapter 5 and didn't think I wanted to keep going. Then someone reviewed it, and others followed, and I knew I couldn't stop now. Thanks for sticking with this, and thank you so much for the reviews. They keep me going. So enjoy what you're reading right now (if it's possible...xD), and go show some other authors on here your incredible support (BUT PLEASE DON'T FORGET ME! :3). Thanks again. I'm gonna shut up now.
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