FicWad

Hellooo!! I know, I know it's been a while, but I recently scanned through one or two of the older chapters and Irealized that the story has lost its story.

It still follows a plotline, but it simply consists of arguments and make-up sessions. It has a backbone, but no marrow... Ignore that last sentence. The point is I want to give the story alittle more body again so I'll be attempting to make it somewhat better as Icontinue with the next chapters.

But for now, chapter 27 is all yours! Please let me know what you think!



*



"What made you change your mind?"

I looked up from making the bed and found Brittany looking at me questioningly. I wasn't sure what exactly she meant and waited for her to elaborate.

"I begged you to let me spend the night before and every time you kicked me out. Why did you let me stay last night?"

The look on her face was one of pure curiosity, but unfortunately for her I didn't really have a straightforward answer.

"I figured that Gerard already knows what we're doing so it won't do any damage whether you spend the night or go home. It doesn't change anything. As for my mom," I winced inwardly. She wouldn't necessarily say anything, but that didn't mean that she would approve."I'm a grown man and should be allowed to come and go as I please," I shrugged.

"That's your reasoning?" she asked, the disbelief clear in her voice. "It's not like you weren't at the same level of maturity or that Gerard didn't know what we were doing two weeks ago when Iwanted to stay."

I gaped at her. She had a point, but why did she push it?

"Can we not fight about this," I muttered, turning my back on her and fixing my hair in the mirror. We made peace barely a few hours ago. I did not have the strength to argue with her right now nor the desire to do so.

"I wasn't going to start an argument. Iwas just curious that's all."

Wow, Brittany not picking a fight. That's novel. I bit back the comment resting on the tip of my tongue and turned around with a smile.

"Breakfast?"

The blonde sat down on the bed looking up at me uncertainly.

"What?"

"I'm not really hungry. Maybe we can just hang out here for a little while longer," she said hopefully.

"I've seen you eat," I pointed out bemused. "And you're a Way. You guys are always hungry."

She looked down, twiddling her fingers.

"Brittany, what is it?" I asked, walking over and sitting down on the bed next to her.

"Me staying here last night was great, but," she lowered her voice. "I don't want to bump into your mom on the way out. That would just be awkward."

I blinked a couple of times and then burst out laughing.

"No way! You're afraid of my mom?"

"No, but it's your mom. Frank, I have no idea what she would think if she saw me coming out of your room this early in the morning."

"Since when do you care what people think?"

"I don't, but as your girlfriend Ishould at least care what your mom thinks of me. Parents only want the best for their children and I don't want to give your mom a reason to hate me," she explained sheepishly.

Brittany Way self-conscious. Well, I was definitely going to make a meal out of this. I suppressed my laughter just enough to be able to talk.

"You can relax. I'm pretty sure my mom has already left for work. There's no chance of you bumping into her."

"Really?"

"Yes," I chuckled again. "And I'm positive that my mom doesn't come close to hating you. You haven't given her any reason to. Are you coming?"

The teen thought about what I said for amoment and then nodded reluctantly.

"Good," I smiled, kissing the side of her head and getting to my feet. "Besides," I continued, walking towards the door. "I'm pretty sure my mom already knows that you spent the night whether she sees you now or not."

I felt a pillow hit my backside and laughed, bending down to pick it up off the floor. Brittany looked at me innocently as I walked back over to the bed and dropped the pillow in its previous place. I caught her eyes watching me warily, but I smiled at her.

"Come on. I'm starving," I said, holding out my hand.

Very trusting, her hand came up and then rested in my hand. That's when I pulled her up and grabbed her around the knees, hauling her over my shoulder.

"Frank!" Brittany yelped in surprise, her hands instinctively grabbing onto my sides to keep from falling.

"Don't worry. I got you," I grinned broadly, turning around and heading for the kitchen.

"Put me down."

"No."

"Put me down!" she repeated a little louder this time.

"No," I laughed as she started struggling in an attempt to free herself.

"Hold still before I drop you," I threatened and she became still.

"This is so not funny," she grumbled. "I can't wait for you to put me down, because I'm going to..."

She stopped talking the second I stopped walking. She started wriggling again.

"Frank, what is it? Why'd you stop?"

"Morning, Mom," I awkwardly greeted my mother standing in the hallway and looking at me in surprise. I felt Brittany's entire body go rigid and instantly put her back down on her feet.

"Morning, Mrs. Iero," Brittany slightly stuttered as she regained her balance and raked a hand through her hair in an attempt to fix it.

"Good morning you two," my mom returned our greetings with a smile. "Frank, I made breakfast if you're hungry."

"We were on our way to the kitchen."

"Okay, good. I'm off to work. I'll see you when I get home?"

"Probably," I nod smiling.

"Enjoy your day," she smiled at both of us before leaving us.

There was a moment of absolute silence until Brittany groaned loudly.

"Your mother hates me."

"She does not hate you."

"Did you see the way she looked at me?

"I believe she gave you a smile. Asmile!" I emphasized with a smile of my own.

Brittany groaned again, burying her face against my shoulder. I chuckled, wrapping an arm around her and leading the way to the kitchen.



*



"I'm heading this way," Brittany informed me waving her hand in the direction of Kasey's house when we stood outside in front of mine.

"You know, Gerard knows that you were with me."

She shrugged, "I know, but I want to drop by Kasey's house anyway. I have to talk to her."

"Okay, well I'll see you later?"

She nodded, "Sure."

I leaned in to give her a kiss and then we went our separate ways. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Gerard's number. It rang a few times before he answered.

"I don't want to talk to you. Why are you calling me?"

"I miss you, Gerard. Can I come over?" I asked already crossing the street to his house.

"Don't try and soft soap me and no, you can't come over. You lied to me and then you didn't do as I told you."

I giggled, "Whatever. Now open the door."

I waited a few seconds and then Gerard opened the door with his phone still in his hand.

"Fancy seeing you here," he muttered coolly only causing my grin to grow wider. "I don't even want to know why you're in such a good mood," he stated, turning to go back inside the house as I followed him.

I felt like being a little asshole and told him exactly what he didn't want to hear.

"You wouldn't believe me, but your sister snuck into my bedroom through the window last night! I was shocked to find her hanging onto the trellis outside my window after she nearly smashed through the glass in an attempt to get my attention. It was such a repeat of events, her coming over, us arguing a little and then making peace and then making up,"I made sure to emphasize that last part with a wicked grin, instantly noticing Gerard freeze in place and turn to scowl at me. "And there I was thinking that we were broken up. Figures, sex can fix everything."

"Frank," the raven-haired male glowered at me. "I doubt that it's your time to die yet, but I'll be happy to jump the gun on such event."

I burst out laughing. "That was easier than I thought it would be."

"Dude, don't even start with me. I'm so mad at you already. You have no idea how much crap I had to come up with this morning to explain to my parents why Brittany wasn't home. My mom came too damn close to calling Kasey's mom. That would've been the end of it."

I shrugged casually, grabbing a mug from one of the cupboards and making a cup of coffee. "We'll just hand it over to Brittany and she'll smooth out the wrinkles. Your sister is one of the best liars I've ever come across."

"Yeah, that's true, though that's not exactly a good thing."

"Granted," I nodded in agreement. "Hey, I need to talk to you."

I placed a hand on the back of one of the chairs, ready to pull it out and sit down until I thought better of it. Imight need to make a run for it if things got ugly so standing up was probably the best. However, my mind was obviously not in control of my movements anymore, because my hand involuntarily pulled out the chair and my body sat down. I was nervous as hell to say the least and had no idea how to go about this. Where did I even begin?

Gerard must have seen that it was serious, because he sat down practically next to me, patiently waiting for me to begin. He was calm now and his hazel eyes were warm and searching, watching me expectantly. I had his undivided attention. At that point, twenty years of friendship kicked in and I relaxed completely. I had nothing to be afraid of. Gerard was my best friend and he had my back. I could trust him with this.

I took a deep breath and started, "Ok, so you're pretty much up to speed with everything that's been going on with me and Brittany, right?"

I could tell that he wanted to crack asmart remark, but he bit down on his lip and nodded slowly.

"Basically we fight and then we make up. This repeats a couple of times and we call it a day," I ramble in frustration that I didn't even understand.

Maybe it was annoyance at my own idiocy or perhaps it's because I didn't realize how much I actually needed this. Ihaven't spoken to Gerard like this in months. Our friendship kind of got the leftover time of my attention since I started dating Brittany. It's not that Iintended it to be that way, but we were always busy recording or when we weren't we were all spending some much needed quality time with our better halves. And then things became too complicated for me to even begin to explain it to myself let alone anyone else and I just refrained from telling him anything. The fact that I was dating his little sister didn't exactly make things any easier either. But here I was, about to pour my heart out to the man who's always been there for me and I recalled a few unpleasant memories where he also had to save my ass. I shook my head to clear it and sighed deeply.

"Gerard, man I really need your help."

A small reassuring smile was shot my way.

"Talk to me, Frank. What's up? What's got you in a spin?"

"Gee, you know me, but I don't know what I've gotten myself into. First of all, I slept with Brittany."

I noticed his expression darken momentarily.

"Which was a complete lapse in judgment on my part, but it happened and we both know about the events that followed. You found out, you were pissed, and there was that whole episode with Tray." I was waving my hands around as I spoke not sure exactly what else to do with them. It could also be because I was freaking out. Gone was the happy feeling of earlier this morning. Gone was the peace and tranquility I woke up with. The full reality of the shit storm that was about to hit my life loomed dark and big over me. My bad decisions and actions were finally catching up to me. Judgment day was right around the bend and it was going to knock me on my ass.

Gerard didn't push me and waited for me to continue at my own time. I scanned my thoughts looking for something to say next.

"Anyway, during that time you were mad at me which was completely understandable, but I was confused and...hurt?" I frowned and shook my head once again. "The point is that I needed someone to talk to and I decided to confide in Amy."

Realization dawned on his face causing me to stop talking.

"Oh, it's nothing, I just wondered when you and Amy got so close, but now you've answered that question so carry on,"he urged absentmindedly.

"Okay, well you're right, we did get close, really close. After that every time Brittany and I had problems, I would run to Amy which was probably wrong, I know, but I couldn't talk to you or even Mikey for obvious reasons," I stated, motioning towards him and looking at him with wide eyes. "So we got close and then at some stage we...kissed," I finally spat it out.

There was one piece of the puzzle out in the open. Gerard's facial expression barely changed and that kind of irked me. Of course he knew though. I knew he knew. We just knew each other that well. Ikind of wondered how much he knew. It was eerie that he could know anything really without me saying a word, but my mind was straying off topic again. On to more serious matters.

"It was just a one-time occurrence or at least that's what we thought. Don't worry, I've never cheated on Brittany," I assured him when he frowned. "But that doesn't change the fact that..." I stopped talking not knowing how he was going to take the next piece of information. Just spit it out, Frank.

"I slept with Amy."

Gerard breathed in sharply and it looked like his eyes were going to bulge out of their sockets.

"When?"

"Two nights ago... After Brittany and Ibroke up."

I gulped, watching his face for any indication of what he was thinking, but he didn't give anything away.

"Gee? Gerard?"

He swallowed hard. "Keep talking."

"It was right after we broke up and Iwas upset and so angry with her."

"I know."

"As always after a huge fight with Brittany, I went to Amy. We talked and I don't know what happened, but... Gerard, I didn't do it out of spite or revenge. I think I love her."

There. I said it. Now everything was out in the open. No more secrets.

"Who?" he asked quietly.

I hesitated for a split second before saying, "Amy."

I gave him a few minutes for everything to sink in. Hell, he probably needed a year to process all this information.

The male with the jet black hair frowned deeply. "I don't understand. If you love Amy then why come back to Brittany?"

I sighed deeply.

"That's another long and fucked up story."

"You might as well tell me that too. I'm pretty sure I can handle anything you decide to throw at me at this point. I'm guessing this is the main issue too. Tell me everything and I'll try to help you with whatever you need."

I couldn't help a giving him a stupid grin.

"Thanks, Gee. I knew I could count on you."

"Okay, okay," he muttered only half embarrassed. "I'm all ears."

I suppressed the image that popped up in my mind at his words and continued with the rest of my story.

"That's exactly the heart of my problem, Brittany."

One of his eyebrows disappeared behind his thick black fringe and I didn't even blame him.

"Don't get me wrong, it's not her her... Fuck, let me put it differently. After what happened on Thursday, I was hell bent on not having anything more to do with Brittany."

"Yeah, you were pretty upset when you left."

"I was, but despite that, after realizing how I actually felt about Amy, I thought we could make things work. Ithink I deserve a good, healthy, happy relationship. I was all set for it too, but then Amy, being a woman, had to be all rational about the whole damn thing and over think everything! She told me that she didn't want to be my rebound and that I had to think about it. According to her things weren't over between me and Brittany yet."

"She was right," Gerard interjected with an amused smile.

"Which freaks me out. I mean how the hell did she know?"

He shrugged in response.

"But do you see my predicament? I have to choose between Brittany and Amy and I have no fucking clue what I'm going to do!" I said almost hysterically.

I never thought things would get to this point. I've never been stuck on a problem like this before. I was completely out of my depth and didn't know how to handle the situation.

"I need advice please," I pleaded desperately.

Gerard shrugged again. "I'm sorry, Frank, but I can't help you."

"What???" I squeaked in a high pitched voice. "Why not?" Now I was really annoyed. I just spent the last, what, twenty minutes telling him everything and now he has nothing to say to me? What the hell was that all about?

"Look, it's not that I don't want to. Ijust can't. Come on, Frank what am I going to do, tell you to pick Amy? Tell you to pick Brittany? You know as well as I do that I can't do that, because if things go bad, you'll end up blaming me."

"But..."

"I'll give you some advice though. Do not rush this decision and for fuck's sakes, stop sleeping with my sister until you've decided. It'll hurt her a hell of a lot less if you then do decide to be with Amy and it'll make your decision a little less..." I searched around for the right word to use, his eyes scanning the room. "Influenced? You have to think with your head or at least your heart. You can't choose based on your hormone levels."

I stared at him feeling more than slightly offended.

"Don't look at me like that. You know I'm right," he stated definitely. "And what's more, I think you should think long term. If this thing between you and Brittany is just a temporary fling and you honestly care about Amy, I'd suggest you go with the latter. All in all, you have to choose what'll be best for you in the long haul. Don't even consider how they would feel about your decision, because no matter who you end up choosing, the other one is going to be hurt. It's inevitable. Decide what you want."

"But I don't know who I want!" I exclaimed petulantly. "That's why I asked you."

"I'm sorry, Frankie. This one's all on you."

"I know," I sighed deeply. "Fuck my life. Why couldn't I still be in high school? Things were so much easier and less complicated back then."

He chuckled heartily, "Growing up is just part of life. Besides, you don't really want to go back to that hell hole, do you?"

"Good point," I conceded.

"Anything else on your heart?" he wanted to know, tilting his head to the side with an amused expression.

"Yeah, I've missed you," I grinned broadly and honestly. "We haven't spoken like this in ages."

"In my defense, I'm not the one who has been juggling two girls at once," he grinned teasingly.

"Piss off," I scowled, flicking the drying cloth that lay on the table at him.

He caught it, laughing.

"This seems jolly," Mikey noted, coming into the kitchen with a smile on his face. "What am I missing?"

"Frank was experiencing a crisis, but it's all sorted now." Gerard informed him, flashing me a sympathetic smile.

"Frank having a crisis?" Mikey chuckled."Who would've guessed?"

"Yeah, I didn't know how to handle all this awesomeness anymore, but Gerard gave me the really good advice of simply embracing it."

Mikey rolled his eyes.

"I should've known it would be something like that. Hey, do you guys want to hang out or something. I'm only seeing Sydney later today and until then I'm going to be bored out of my skull."

"And I always thought Gerard was the drama queen."

Both Way brothers scowled earning agiggle from me.

"Of course I'll hang with you. What did you have in mind?" I asked, getting to my feet and walking closer.

"We can rock out some Guitar Hero or have a horror marathon."

"Yes. The girls can join in when they come over. Yeah, I like that idea. Mel hates horrors so I'll be sure to get some proper attention," Gerard grinned slyly.

"Okay, before your hormones run amok I'm gonna call up the rest of the guys and see if they wanna join us."

"I'm going to call Melania."

"In that case I guess I'm on movie and popcorn duty."

"You got it," I smiled, pulling out my phone and calling first Ray and then Matt.

The guys were there even before Mikey finished making the popcorn and putting in the first movie.

"What are we watching?" Ray asked curiously.

"Mikey picked the movie. What do you think we're watching?" I asked with a roll of my eyes, grabbing a bowl of popcorn and making myself comfortable on one of the couches.

Gerard soon sat down next to me, but just as quickly got back to his feet when Melania made her appearance. I glanced over my shoulder at the couple greeting each other. It was a sweet exchange of kisses and quiet spoken words which brought a huge grin to my face. Those two were perfect for each other in every possible way. They thought so much alike and sometimes it seemed that Mel wore even more black than Gerard did. She's stolen so many of his shirts though that he's become annoyed with the habit. He was actually stealing my clothes now, at least the ones that fit, which was utterly ridiculous. Why didn't he just steal his own clothes back from her?

"You left out the part of the scary movies," Mel said accusingly, glaring at her boyfriend in disapproval.

He ducked his head guiltily, "Accidental omission?"

She looked at him skeptically, but eventually brought a hand up to mess up his hair in an affectionate manner.

"I'm not watching that," she stated with finality. "I'll be in your bedroom if you need me."

"But Mel," Gee whined.

"Don't but Mel me, Gee. You know I hate scary movies."

"Are you guys having a party without us?"

I turned my head further to see the gruesome twosome standing in the doorway. Of course we couldn't have a proper evening of fun without them crashing it.

"Looks like we're just in time too,"Kasey noted, walking into the kitchen to grab the other bowl of popcorn.

Brittany's eyes scanned the room and came to rest on me. I motioned for her to come over and then I patted my lap. The teen smiled brightly and happily complied.

"Long time no see, Frankie," she smiled, sitting down on top of me and pecking my lips.

"Are you going to join us?"

She glanced at the screen and pulled aface.

"I'm not a big fan of scary movies."

I chuckled, "I remember, but the previous time you weren't seated right here."

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her back against my chest.

"Good point," she conceded, turning slightly to face me.

I groaned, "Uhm, yeah, Brit just one tiny thing. If you're going to sit here, could you please try and stay still otherwise this will get very uncomfortable."

She stared at me confused for a split second before giggling.

"You mean like this?" she asked, shifting again and my breath hitched.

"Exactly like that."

"Relax. I promise to be good," she smiled, turning back to face the television screen and leaning back against me."This is surprisingly comfy."

"It is," I agreed happily.

"Are we going to do this?" Gerard asked, successfully dragging Mel onto the couch with him.

"It's not like we have a choice," the raven-haired beauty grumbled.

The rest of the guys found a place of comfort and Mikey hit the play button on /Jaws/.



*



"What are you doing?" Brittany murmured sleepily.

"Taking you to bed," I whispered. "You fell asleep on my lap. I can't begin to imagine why you're so tired."

She chuckled barely audible.

"Of course you wouldn't know."

I grinned broadly, catching the light switch and walking over to her bed, carefully putting her down. I pulled the comforter from the bed and proceeded to remove the sleeping girl's shoes.

"You suck. Those movies were terrible."

I chuckled at her drowsy comment.

"You enjoyed tonight just as much as everyone else did. Stop complaining."

"Mhm," She rolled over on her side, pulling the covers up to her chin.

"Sweet dreams," I breathed, leaning down to kiss her hair.

One of her hands came out to pull away the end of the comforter.

"Stay."

"Sorry, Babe, but your parents and your brothers would kill me if I came out of your bedroom in the morning."

"My brothers can't do anything to you and if my parents asked, we'll tell them that you and Gee had a late night and you stayed over."

I shook my head smiling. Even in her befuddled state she thought up lies.

"I have to go," I insisted. "But I'll see you tomorrow and then I'll take you on our first date."

"Promise?" she asked with a sigh.

"Promise," I said, kissing her temple and quietly leaving her room.

Now on to the next problem, our first date. What was I going to do?