FicWad

“How lovely of you to join us, Gerard, darling.” The ebony haired woman disapproves her eldest son`s late arrival, ignoring his pale, worried expression.
“Hello Mother,” Gerard grimaces as he takes his seat opposite her, but not before pulling Catherine`s own seat out from under the fine clothed table for her. The dark haired beauty smiles and softly thanks him, before murmuring a quick, very strained greeting to her fiancé`s cold and ever so controlling mother.
“Are you not going to say hello to your old man?” his tall intimidating greying haired father chuckles, a tight sound that lacked any form of joy of humour.
“Oh,” Gerard ducks his head embarrassed, not for the first time missing his long black locks that Donna had forced him to cut off, claiming that long hair definitely did not suit him. Or made him appear scruffy and not at all gentlemanly, more like.
“Hello Father.” He forces a smile onto his unhealthily pale face, anxiously twiddling his thumbs in his lap as the four waited or Gerard’s guest of honour to arrive.
Donna clear her bejewelled throat, the short golden chain straining uncomfortably around her wrinkled, pale neck and delicately lifts her crystal wine goblet from the sparkling white silk tablecloth.
“This Frankie you told us about, dear, what does he and his family do?”
“Erm well he didn`t say when we met yesterday, it was after all a very brief encounter.” Gerard thinks on his feet, feeling rather proud of his excuse seeing as he had such little time to prepare it.
“Hmmm,” Donna on the other hand, did not seem as impressed. “Well, is he married, engaged, have any children?”
“Mother!” Gerard`s throat constricts tightly at the thought, bile rising in it. “Do not be absurd! Frank is younger than I am, how could you expect him to have a wife and children?”
“Well,” she clears her throat, “I had expected or you to have had been married and have at least your first, if not second child on the way by now.”
Catherine’s eyes widen with surprise and she chokes on her wine, Gerard helping her to calm down by patting her on the back gently.
“Children?”
“Well yes, you do plan on starting a family at some point in the very near future, do you not?”
Catherine bites her lip, the mere thought of suffering through pregnancy and labour making her feel a little light headed. She was after all, not much more than a child herself. Gerard pales, more bile rising from his empty stomach. It wasn`t that Catherine was not pretty, because she was, stunning even, but he just could not bring himself to do anything more than place a brief kiss to her painted lips. It just didn`t feel right somehow.
“ Are we interrupting?” Frank asks, leaning casually on the back of Gerard`s chair, his soft chestnut hair tickling his face.
“Who are you?” Donna raises one neat eyebrow at the two young passengers stood in front of their dining table.

“Oh where are my manners?” Frank offers his hand to the dark haired mother, a polite, albeit lopsided grin on his face.
“I`m Frankie Iero and this is Apollonia.”
Donna stares blanking at his outstretched hand as though touching it would contaminate her with something horrid.
“Your wife I assume?”
The two guess burst out laughing, Apple even having to wipe away a tear from her sapphire coloured eye.
“Good God no!”
“Frank is like family to me, and I may be a low class pheasant, “she narrows her eyes at the eldest members of the table, “but I ain`t all that into incest.” She pauses, “or men.”
Donna coughs, fiddling with the hem of her finely made dress. “You mean to say that you are…”she can`t bring herself to finish the disgusting sentence.
“A Faggot?” Apple shrugs, “Yeah I guess I am.”
Frank and Gerard bite back laughter, while Catherine stares at the dark haired girl with a mixture or awe and respect. To speak her mind like that, it must have taken such great courage.
“Hey Gerard,” Frank pushes past his friend, who was beginning to argue with the parents about how her very existence was a great sin and he grabs a spare seat and sits next to him.
“Hello.” He blushes at the intense way Frank was looking at him, not noticing the slight knowing look Catherine gives him. “I apologise for my mother, she isn`t very-“
“Nice? Accepting? Kind hearted? A mega bitch?”
“I was going to go with understanding but…” He trails off. “Thanks you for coming, Apple seems…interesting.”
The younger boy chuckles. “Yeah, she is.”
“Anyway, thanks for inviting me but I don`t think we are very welcome here.” he nods towards Gerard`s paprents sadly.
“I guess not, “Gerard sighs, “I just wanted to thank you for…well you know.”
Frank pauses, considering whether or not to ask. “Oh fuck it!” he mumbles, earning a confused look from Gerard and a deathly glare from his family. He lowers his voice, “If you really want to thank me then meet me at eleven tonight by the lifeboats.”
Gerard grins, his heart doing an alien flip, “I`d love to.”
Frank grins to himself, maybe there was hope.