FicWad

Ivy’s POV

I checked my appearance in the mirror one last time and grabbed my jacket off the bed before heading out the door. My brother was sitting on the living room couch staring at his phone when I entered the room.

“I’m heading out for a little while. Tell Mom I’ll be home in time for dinner.”

He didn’t respond, just kept staring at his phone. I had no idea what was wrong with him. He never acted like this. Maybe he hit his head and lost his marbles.

I opened the door to head out when Frank stopped me.

“Hey, Ivy, wait up!” he called, jumping up from the couch and hurrying over to me. “Are you going to meet Gerard?” he asked hopefully.

My curiosity was peaked. “No. Why would I be meeting Gerard?”

Frank shrugged. “No reason. I just thought that you guys were friends after Friday.”

“Okay, but if I were, then what?”

Frank looked thoughtful for a second and then shook his head. “Nothing. Just curious. Have fun doing whatever it is you’re going to do.” He turned his back on me, walking in the direction of the hallway, probably going to his room. Yes, something was definitely up with my brother.

It was a rare sunny day as I made my way to the park. The twenty minute walk seemed to fly by. As I walked, I took in all my surroundings, the cars driving by, people tending their gardens, here and there kids riding around on their bikes. All in all, it was quite busy for this particular neighborhood.

Upon reaching my spot in the park, I found that I would have company while there.

“Gerard, hey! This is a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

The man with the silky black hair hopped off the fallen tree he’d been sitting on and approached me. Damn it, who was I to play it cool? I had the biggest crush on this guy. It was no wonder either as I watched him walk towards me with smooth strides, that gorgeous face and a slightly lopsided smile, showing off his white baby teeth. Damn Frank for stealing all his attention Friday night.

“Hey, Ivy,” he smiled, giving me a hug in greeting. “How have you been?”

I was still a little thrown by his surprise appearance in the park, but then again, this was where we met. Maybe I shouldn’t be all that surprised.

“I’m always good, thank you very much. How about you?”

He looked up and into the distance before answering. “I’m good.”

“Liar,” I accused, playfully shoving him.

The male chuckled, leading me back to the tree where we both sat down.

“What brings you here?”

“I’m doing absolutely nothing as it suits a summer vacation,” I informed him, swinging my legs forwards and backwards.

“Summer vacations were the best part of school,” he stated with a nod. “How long before school starts again?”

“About three weeks at which point I will be a senior. I still can’t believe I only have one year of school left before I have to move out and fend for myself.”

“Moving out isn’t so bad,” he assured me. “I mean, aside from the fending for yourself part, leaving home is great. You get to come and go as you please and you can pretty much do whatever you want.”

“And I won’t have to live with my brother anymore.”

“That’s the biggest bonus of it all.”

“Sure,” I said in disbelief. “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind having to live with him.”

“No thank you. I have better things to do with my time.”

I looked at him questioningly and Gerard rolled his eyes. “What the fuck is wrong with your brother?”

“The better question would be what is not wrong with Frank,” I joked.

“I’m serious,” Gerard said looking at me.

“What happened between the two of you?”

“Nothing.” He looked away from me. “I just had the honor of meeting Lisa.”

“Oh.” My eyes grew wide. “Frank didn’t tell you about her?”

“No, he didn’t tell me about her!” he exclaimed upset. “No, Frank took my number and made plans to meet up on Saturday and spend some time together.”

“You did what?” This was definitely news to me.

“Yes, and Frank was all flirty the entire time, holding my hand and stealing kisses, right up until Lisa and her friends showed up. Surprise! Frank couldn’t even grow the balls to introduce us.”

“Now you’re mad at him?” I guessed. “No wonder Frank’s been acting weird all week.”

“He has?”

“Yeah. No wonder he wanted to know if I was coming to meet you.”

Gerard looked confused. “Why should he care? He has a girlfriend.”

I shrugged. How was I supposed to know what was going on inside my little brother’s twisted mind. That’s one place I dared not go.

“So Frank and Lisa…” he started and I could tell that he wanted to know about their relationship and I hated to have to burst his bubble.

“I’m sorry, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you,” I told him honestly. “Lisa wasn’t easy to get…”

“And I was, because I played along with the stupid game?” Gerard asked indignantly.

“No, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that my brother went through a lot of shit for her. You’ve seen our style, my brother and I aren’t exactly part of the cool crowd.”

“Lisa is?”

“No, but she was dating a popular when she met my brother. He found out that Frank liked Lisa and although she could keep her boyfriend away from Frank, she couldn’t control his friends who took to picking on him on a daily basis. Eventually Lisa got sick and tired of it and broke up with the jerk. Right after Lisa and Frank finally became a couple, he got beaten up pretty badly. I’ve never seen him like that and I would never want to again. Fortunately she somehow got the three bullies expelled and now the two of them are able to be happily in love without anyone bothering them.”

“In other words, he’s crazy about her?”

I nodded in confirmation. “I’m sorry.”

“What do you suggest I do? Do I just forgive him for leading me on?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, Gerard, but I would suggest that you at least give a possible friendship between you guys a chance. My brother doesn’t always like a lot of people. You saw the people at our little party the other night. That’s the total of my brother’s friends and yet somehow you got accepted right off the bat. I honestly think that you and Frank would be really good friends and aside from his sometimes a-holish behavior, he’s a good and loyal kid.”

He sighed dramatically. “Okay, fine. I’ll talk to him.”

This made me smile. “You can walk home with me if you’d like? Maybe you two can sort this out.”

“No, some other time maybe.”

“The band is having practice tomorrow at four. You’re welcome to pop in then,” I suggested another time.

“I think I’ll do that, but until then, you and I have a bit of hanging out of our own to do. I stupidly spent more time with Frank Friday night and I owe you.”

I smiled happily at the idea of spending more time with him. “Yes, you do mister.” I bumped his shoulder with mine.

Gerard jumped of the fallen tree and grabbed my waist to lift me off as well. “Good. We can do anything you want. My treat.”

My stomach turned pleasantly when he held me. I really wanted to giggle right then and there. Why did I have to have a crush on a boy who would for very obvious reasons, such as him being gay, never be interested in me?

“Why don’t we stay here and talk, you know, get to know each other a little better?” I suggested hopefully since that’s all I really wanted to do.

“Okay,” Gerard nodded. “I’m good with that idea.”

We plopped down alongside on the grass and started sharing our stories. I told Gerard about my dad being in a band and being on the road a lot and that that’s why he wasn’t home much. In turn he told me about his parents, his brother, Mikey, and his grandmother, Elena. I trusted him enough to tell him about my drug addiction a while ago, but assured him that I was clean now. Choose your friends wisely. Gerard confessed that the reason he was back was because his band had failed and he was currently jobless and practically broke. It was amazing how open we were during the rest of the conversation. It was like we’d known each other forever.
Another confession from his side was that he was really into my brother, big surprise there, and that he was really disappointed with how things turned out. However, Lisa seemed very nice and he was glad if they were happy together. I didn’t believe the last part all too much, but whatever. I wasn’t about to ruin the moment.

We stopped by the arcade to play some games and have general fun and by the time I got home, it was already dark.

“Where were you all day?” Frank wanted to know from the couch where he was watching some crime series on television.

“Out,” I replied, taking off my jacket.

“Duh!” He rolled his eyes.

I walked over and stopped in front of him with my hands on my hips. “I talked to Gerard for you. He’s coming to your bad practice tomorrow.”

“He is?” Frank sat up in one swift movement and stared at me with wide eyes. “But wait, how did you know?”

“Gerard told me of course.”

“And you’re not mad at me?”

“Yes, Frank I am actually mad at you. What you did was really low and wrong.”

“I know,” he admitted. “I made a mistake, but I swear I just want to be friends with Gerard. He’s yours if you want him.”

I sighed deeply. “Frank, that’s not even what this is about. This is about you having an amazing girlfriend that you will lose if you pursue this any further.”

“I know. I know.”

“Do you?” he nodded vigorously. “Good. Tell Mom I’m not hungry. I’m going to bed.”

With that I left and went upstairs to my bedroom. It’s been a while since I listened to Guns & Roses so I popped in their CD and fell down on the bed where I continued to savor the beautiful music.