FicWad

Just a little note, I've made a Tumblr for this story with pictures and quotes for the story, check it out and follow it http://giveemhellkidficwad(.)tumblr(.)com/(without the brackets)

I woke up the next morning to the smell of strong coffee and pancakes. I loved coffee and drank it every day, much to my mother's distaste.

I wandered downstairs to find Gerard sipping at a cup while Lindsey was standing at the kitchen counter flipping a pancake onto a plate.

They both looked up and smiled when they saw me.

"Morning Cara, how was your sleep?" Gerard asked, pulling me into a one-armed hug. I returned the hug while sneakily stealing a sip of his coffee.

"Sleep was good, but your coffee isn't strong enough for my liking," I said, pulling away and making myself a cup.

"What? How is my coffee not strong enough? I almost choked on it, and I love coffee!" Gerard exclaimed.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm used to stronger. My mom doesn't drink coffee so I can make it how I like without worrying about using it all up," I said, spooning more coffee into my cup.

"You're definitely my child, no-one apart from me can stand strong coffee," Gerard chuckled, taking another sip of his coffee.

Lindsey pushed the fresh pancake towards me. "Here, eat it before it gets cold, we've already eaten ours."

I accepted the pancake and drowned it in maple syrup, devouring it within a minute. I rinsed my syrup coated plate off with hot water and put it in the dishwasher.

I drank my coffee silently, relishing the feel of it going down the back of my throat.

"Oh! I almost forgot, your mom called while you were sleeping this morning. She was just checking up on you and said for me to tell you that you got a visitor after you left. Someone by the name of Alex?" Gerard said.

I almost spit out my coffee. I'd met Alex around a year ago at one of my schools. He was like me, with piercings, coloured hair and causing trouble, except for the fact that he never caused enough trouble to get expelled. We were like two peas in a pod and it was legitimately the only school I was sad to leave, purely because I'd never see Alex again.

"Did she say anything else about him?" I asked curiously.

"She said that you should call him. It sounded kind of urgent," he replied.

I gulped down the rest of my coffee and ran upstairs to find my phone. Once I located it I scrolled through my contacts to find Alex's number and hit call.

It rang a couple of times before the familiar husky voice came through the receiver.

"Hello?"

I smiled at his voice. "Hey Alex! It's Cara."

"Oh hey Cara! I guess your mom passed on the message that I dropped by yours yesterday, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm living in New Jersey with my dad now. Doesn't suck as much as I thought it would though," I answered truthfully.

Alex was the only person who I could confide in to the whole absent father issue. He was present on my birthday when I received an envelope that I proceeded to stash away and he had the same issue except with his mom. She left him with his father when he was only a baby and was now a dealer and prostitute in some city. He hoped to never see her again.

"Really? He must be a pretty decent guy for you to be able to stand him," Alex said, his voice sounding tinny through my phone.

"Yeah, he's actually really cool and nice and shit. So tell me, why were you at my old house yesterday when you clearly don't live in that state?" I asked him, getting to the root of the conversation.

"Oh, uh, I was going to ask you something but I'll wait until I see you again to ask it," Alex said, kind of avoiding the reason.

"Okay, well I'd better go then, I have a pretty big day ahead of me," I said, slightly disappointed.

"Okay, talk to you later Cara, I miss you," Alex said.

All I could manage was a "Bye." I hung up and threw my phone on the bed, angry for some reason. The phone call had just created a bad mood and for some reason it was escalating. I changed into a pair of stonewash skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt with one of my hoodies over top. I slipped my feet into my navy converse low tops and stormed downstairs.

"What's wrong?" Lindsey asked me as I stormed past her, nearly knocking her over.

"I need to vent. I need to throw something or hit something," I said, unable to say more than that. The energy inside me was building up and it needed to be released before I hurt someone.

"Okay, well there's a carton of eggs in the fridge and apunching bag in the garage. Just don't hurt yourself," Lindsey pleaded.

I raced back upstairs and grabbed my iPod and dock and detoured through the kitchen for the eggs. I headed into the garage and plugged my dock in, turning it up loud.

I picked up the first egg and with all my might threw it at the brick wall where it shattered and slid down the wall. I picked up another one and aimed it at the same spot; the noise it made was satisfying.

I saved the rest of the eggs and punched the punching bag until I was out of energy. Stupid Alex, why did he have to ruin the good mood Iwas in? I don't even know why I was angry at him, just his stupid questioning and presumptions and shit...

I unplugged my iPod dock and picked up the eggs to take back upstairs to the fridge. My hair was probably stuck to my face now but Icouldn't care less.

Once I reached the kitchen I put the eggs back in the fridge and took a gulp of cold water, heading back upstairs to take a shower.

I went back to my room after my shower, beginning to put some of my clothes into the drawers and onto hangers.

Gerard came to my room just as I finished putting my clothes away, his keys in his hand.

"You ready to go?" he asked me. I smiled at him.

"Sure am," I replied.

I fixed my hair in the mirror then walked downstairs, putting my wallet and phone into the little leather bag that was slung across my body.

"I'm going to show Cara around town then take her to rehearsal," Gerard said to Lindsey, giving her a kiss, "We'll be back this afternoon."

"Okay, have a good day. I'll see you later," she replied, giving me a hug goodbye.

Gerard and I headed out to a smallish silver sedan that was parked behind Lindsey's black SUV. He pulled out of the driveway and headed down the end of the street.

As we drove past streets, Gerard pointed out landmarks and other stuff, like Frank's house in case I ever wanted to run away and the Italian gelato place that he promised to take me to when he finished at rehearsal.

He finally pulled up in the main street, which contained asmall shopping centre and a strip of other shops.

"Where would you like to go first?" he asked me.

I looked around, trying to decide where to go first.

"Um, Hot Topic maybe?" I suggested.

We walked inside and I was immediately met with heaven. There were so many things I wanted to buy.

"Alright, go crazy and tell me when you're finished," he said, looking at a rack of black skinny jeans.

I went crazy. T-shirts, singlets, jeans, shorts, you name it I picked it up.

By the time I walked back to Gerard, I could barely see him for the pile of clothes I had.

He didn't say anything about my excessiveness; he just laughed and put it all on his credit card.

We went to some other stores in the strip before hitting the centre for lunch. After that we headed back to the car and Gerard drove to rehearsal.

On the drive over I started to grow anxious. I already knew Frank liked me, but what if Mikey and Ray didn't?

The further we drove, the more nervous I grew, to the point of looking pale, feeling nauseous and visibly shaking by the time we pulled up at the rehearsal studio.

"Cara, you okay? You don't look too good," Gerard commented, looking worried.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm all good, just a little nervous." Understatement of the year.

Gerard put his hand on my arm comfortingly. "You have nothing to worry about, anyone of them say anything about you I'll tear 'em anew one then we split, okay? I'll buy you the biggest gelato if you make it through the whole rehearsal without throwing up; you're looking a little green."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to steady myself."I'm ready."

We got out of the car at the same time and I walked shakily to the door, my legs threatening to give out.

Gerard opened the door for me and motioned for me to go inside, closing the door as he walked in after me.

I followed the sounds of guitars being tuned and the tap of a snare drum. It led me to a room where I saw Frank, Mikey, Ray and an unfamiliar drummer tuning their instruments and joking around quietly.

They all turned and looked to us as we entered the room, agrin appearing on Frank's face.

"Hey there Cara, how's it going?" he asked me cheekily.

"Oh, you know, same old moving town bullshit, happens every other month," I smirk at him.

"Except this time you're going to behave and stay in the one place, right?" Gerard warned me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, initiating a bout of laughter from the boys. "Yes, /dad/," I replied sarcastically.

They all laughed again and I felt a little more at ease.

"So who might you be? I didn't quite catch your name," Mikey asked me.

"I'm Cara, I just moved in yesterday," I replied.

"Cara? As in Vivianne's Cara? As in..." he trailed off.

"Your niece?" I finished for him.

His face lit up in a big smile as he pulled me into a hug."It's so good to meet you and finally put a face to the name!"

Ray walked over and gave me a hug as well. I felt more relaxed now and I took a seat on a chair situated in the corner while Gerard started setting up his microphone.

I sat back and listened to them playing, singing along in parts and even jumping up and head banging with Gerard in guitar solos.

At the end of their rehearsal they were all sitting down and started packing up their instruments.

"Cara, you play?" Frank asked me, holding up his guitar.

"Yeah, I play a little and sing a little too," I replied.

Frank walked over and handed me his guitar. "Show us what you got."

I gulped, nervous now. I stood up and slung the strap over my body, standing in front of the microphone. I strummed out the opening chords of 'Amelia' by Tonight Alive.

I think about you every single day
And every time I see your face
I wake and it brings me to tears
We hadn't spoken in years
We were close when we were young and naive
We grew up and we learned other things
You'll always be sweet 16

And you will always be perfect
You'll always be beautiful
Our hearts will never forget you
You didn't belong here
And it's become so clear
Why heaven called your name

I miss you and it still feels like I know you
I've got pictures of us side by side to show you
But it feels like I owe you so much more

And you will always be perfect
You'll always be beautiful
Our hearts will never forget you
You didn't belong here
And it's become so clear
Why heaven called your name
And it just doesn't seem right, was it really your time?
Are we dreaming?
We'll never let go of you
Wish you were here but it's becoming clear
That Earth's just not the place for an angel like you
For an angel like you

You meant so much to so many
I'm not quite sure how to do justice to you
If they're ready to say goodbye
I know I'm not

You made the news and the papers for days and days
But it hardly seems fair
The whole world should know your name
I want them to know your name

And you will always be perfect
You'll always be beautiful
Our hearts will never forget you
You didn't belong here
And it's become so clear
Why heaven called your name
And it just doesn't seem right, was it really your time?
Are we dreaming?
We'll never let go of you
Wish you were here but it's becoming clear
That Earth's just not the place for an angel like you

And now we must let you move forward
Our love lies with you
Our souls fly with you
Amelia

I looked back up and saw them all looking at me in awe.

"You're gonna go far, kid," Frank commented, breaking the silence. I blushed and looked down in response.

Gerard looked at the clock on the wall. "Shit, Cara, we'd better go, I told Linds we'd be back this afternoon and it's already 3:30," he said, gathering his things.

I took the guitar off and gave it back to Frank. He accepted it and pulled the cord out of it, packing it away.

Gerard and I said our goodbyes to everyone and headed back out to the car.

We drove to the gelato shop and went inside to choose our flavours. I decided on hazelnut while Gerard went with coffee flavour.

As promised, Gerard bought me the biggest size gelato. I ate the entire thing, it was so amazing. It had a softer and creamier texture than regular ice cream.

After we had both finished we returned home where we found Lindsey lying on the couch with her eyes closed and her face a little green. She had obviously been preparing something and suddenly felt sick because there were ingredients sitting on the kitchen counter, a partly cut chicken breast sitting on the chopping board.

I went over to the chicken and smelt it, making sure it didn't smell off. It smelt and looked perfectly fine.

Gerard walked over and sat next to Lindsey, pushing her hair back off her forehead, which was beginning to stick to the beads of sweat that had appeared.

"Nausea again?" Gerard asked her and she nodded slightly."Want me to take you to bed?" She nodded again.

Gerard picked her up and carried her to the bedroom while Icontinued dicing the chicken as she had started.

Once Lindsey was in bed, Gerard joined me in the kitchen, beginning to cut the vegetables that were sitting out on the counter. He turned the radio on to a little rock station and we worked quietly together, occasionally singing along to songs.

We managed to finish dinner just as Lindsey came back downstairs, still looking pale but not green anymore.

We served up and ate dinner in the dining room, quietly watching the evening news.

We ended the night quietly, watching TV until we all managed to fall asleep.

*

When I woke up the next morning, Lindsey and Gerard were talking quietly. My neck and back were stiff, so I stretched out, hearing the satisfying cracking sounds.

"Good morning Cara," Lindsey said brightly, turning to me after she heard the cracking noises my back was making.

"Good morning Lindsey," I mumbled, feeling groggy from my full night of sleep.

"We have something important to do today," Gerard announced. I froze mid-stretch. If it was what I thought it was going to be...

"We're going to enrol you at Belleville High School!"Lindsey announced brightly.

I groaned. Great. School.

Sorry this was a shorter one, just a bit of a filler before I get into the school stuff!