FicWad

The house was eerily quiet as Monica walked in and locked the door behind her. This was the first time she had ever been in her new home alone and she smiled to herself. Although she wished with all her heart that Gee was here with her, she had to admit to herself that she had been looking foreword to spending some time alone. First she called Jamia and checked in with her to make she was fine. Jamia assured her she was and that after the big breakfast Monica had made her she was just going to watch a movie and more than likely take a nap. She had promised Monica she wouldn't budge from the sofa until she got back which would be in just a few hours.
Monica made her way slowly room to room trying to picture in her mind how she wanted to decorate. Many of the rooms were already the color she wanted so there wasn't a lot of prep work to do before furniture could be moved in. Yesterday she had finally gotten the insurance check from her aunts house so she had some money of her own to buy some of the things they needed for the house. She knew Gerard would tell her to put whatever she wanted on his credit card but it made her feel good that she had money of her own to contribute. After looking around on the ground floor she made her way upstairs.
She looked into the bedroom that Kelly had chosen, much to Kara's annoyance, and smiled to herself. She remembered how happy Kelly had been to inform her sister that she had gotten to choose her room first because Gee had said so. Kara had called her sister a brat but then she always did. Kara's room was next and it saddened Monica to realize that Kara wouldn't be spending much time in the room. Monica knew that as soon as Kara was out of school and Bob could find the time, they would marry. It was hard for her to believe that her daughter was old enough for marriage. Sometimes she wondered just where time had gone. Of course she knew that her upcoming birthday was making her feel old so she shook her head and tried to forget the event.
Before long she found herself in the master bedroom. Seeing the bed made her miss Gee so much it hurt. She crossed to the bed and lay down on the satin comforter and remembered how he had decorated this room himself to surprise her. Reaching across she pulled out his pillow and hugged it tightly loving the way his scent still clung to the fabric. In her mind she tried to calculate the time difference between Germany and Jersey and wondered if she could call him. She didn't want to bother him but damn she wanted to hear his voice so badly. Her need to talk to him won and she pulled out her phone and dialed his number. It seemed to take forever but she finally heard him answer.
"Hi Honey." he answered
"Hello, Gee. I'm sorry to call. What time is it there?"
He laughed, "You called to ask me the time? Honey are you okay?" He had to speak loudly because of all the noise around him.
"No I called cause I miss you," she said honestly.
Something in her tone bothered him, "Wait a minute, let me find a quiet place to talk" he walked out onto a darkened terrace. "That's better, now talk to me."
"I'm at our house, laying on our bed missing you." she explained.
"I'm liking the visual," he said with a smile, "tell me more." He heard the terrace door open and he was handed a glass of sparkling water. He smiled his thanks then spoke to Monica, "Have you bought anything for the house yet?"
"No not yet, I'm just trying to picture things in my mind first, I guess. So tell me about your day." She felt so detached from him right now.
"Well he got her this morning and did several interviews. Those are always fucking weird cause the interviewer first speaks in German then to us in English. You gotta sit there waiting until you can understand what they're saying and even then sometimes it's hard to understand what they mean." He took out a cigarette and lit it, "Then we did a live TV show which was pretty rad, lots of kids in the studio and outside we had to have police escorts. Tomorrow we have three more interviews then the concert. I guess I'm tired but excited all the same."
"You sound like it. Where are you now?" she tried to picture where he was talking from in her mind.
"We are at the house of one of the promoters. He's having a party and invited us. It's kinda weird, cause I don't understand German but it's helping to pass the time."
"How's Bob? Kara told me he sounded terrible when she talked to him."
"He's a little better I guess" Monica could hear him speaking to someone else. He laughed at something then spoke to her again, "Honey, I think we're about ready to leave. I'll call you later, okay?"
"Sure, love you." she said
Once more he was talking to someone else. Monica couldn't make out what the other person was saying but it sounded like a woman's voice. He laughed again then spoke "Sorry, honey what did you say?"
Monica frowned, "I said I'll talk to you later."
"Oh, okay" There was a pause and she thought he had disconnected, "Love you" he added.
"I love you too, Gee," she said in return before disconnecting with a huge smile on her face.


Kelly was home yet another day from school due to her horrible cold. She was miserable not only because of the nasty bug but because she was missing her boyfriend Mike. He had called her last night telling her how much he missed her and the feeling was mutual. She wondered what class he was in right now and if that terrible Tessa Henderson was flirting with him. Kelly sighed and grabbed the remote off the table. Donna had fixed up the sofa for her with blankets and pillows and she was planning on watching some TV to pass the time. She flipped through all the channels but couldn't find anything to occupy her mind. Lying back on the pillows she closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep. The dream came as she fell into a deeper realm of sleep.
When she awoke there were tears on her face and she desperately tried to grasp the remaining fragments of the dream. She could only recall bits and pieces and was left with mostly feelings and nothing more. All she knew for sure was that Gerard, Liv and her mom had been in the dream. The feeling of hopelessness and despair hung with her refusing to let go. Kelly racked her brain trying to remember what had happened. As she wiped her eyes she could still see Gerard looking so hurt. But mostly she could still feel the pain of knowing he was leaving. He was leaving her just like her real dad. Kelly felt so alone fresh tears filled her eyes.

Monica returned to Jamia and Frank's apartment her arms filled with grocery bags. She hadn't planned on stopping at the grocery store but on her way back had decided to stock up on some munchies. She wanted to keep Jamia's moral up, it was important for her to have a positive attitude. She walked in and noticed that Jamia wasn't on the sofa as she had promised she would be. "Jamia" she yelled as she crossed to the kitchen and set the bags down on the counter.
"I'm in here" came the reply from the bedroom.
Monica followed her voice. Jamia was lying on the bed. "Why are you in here?"
"I got bored with the sofa so I decided to come in here and clean up a bit but then I got tired and had to lay down."
Monica frowned, "You promised you wouldn't move from the sofa. You know you shouldn't be up and you definitely shouldn't be cleaning."
Jamia looked sheepish, "I know, I'm sorry." She burst into tears.
"Jamia, what's wrong?" Monica crossed to the bed and sat beside her friend. "Are you in pain?"
"No" Jamia hiccupped, "I feel fine it's just..." she cried harder.
Monica put her arms around her, "It's just what?"
"I miss Frankie so much. I want him here damn it and I know that's selfish but I can't help it." She leaned her head on Monica's shoulder. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
Monica had to laugh, "Your pregnant, you know,,,hormones all over the place. I know you miss Frank but he'll be back soon."
"I know, I'm sorry I'm being such a baby about this." She reached over to the bedside table and grabbed some tissues.
"Why don't you call him?" Monica suggested, "Hearing his voice will help"
"Yeah, I think it will." Monica helped her back to the sofa and she dialed his number. He answered immediately. Monica watched the change come over Jamia as she talked to him. It was so sweet the way they talked to each other. She sighed and went into the kitchen to make lunch. When she had the sandwiches prepared she took Jamia's plate in to her. She was still on the phone talking to Frank.
"Is Gee with him?" She asked Jamia softly.
"Frank is Gee sharing a room with you again?" Jamia asked. She listened to his answer then asked, "Monica wants to talk to him."
Franks answer caused her to frown. "Why?" Jamia asked bluntly.
Whatever Frank answered Monica could see it didn't make her happy at all. Monica could also see that whatever Frank was telling Jamia about Gee it wasn't good. "Have him call, okay?" Jamia said. Monica wondered what was going on and if Jamia would tell her.


Gerard was laughing at the memory from one of the old Warped tours when his phone vibrated. He saw that it was Kelly calling. "Be back in a minute." He said getting up and heading for a quieter location.
"Hurry back we all have ghost stories to tell and yours about the frozen food aisle is the best."
Gerard nodded and spoke into the phone, "Hey, Kell how are you feeling?"
"I'm okay, how are you?"
He could tell by her tone something was wrong, "Kell, are you feeling bad? Let me talk to your mom"
'Oh hell' Kelly thought, She hadn't stopped to think he might want to talk to her mom, who wasn't here because she was with Jamia. A fact that Gerard wasn't supposed to know. She thought fast, "Gerard you are gonna be my dad aren't you? I mean you really want to don't you?"
Gerard was shocked by the questions, "Kell of course why would you even ask?"
"I dunno," she mumbled shifting the phone from one ear to the other.
"Please, honey, tell me what's wrong."
From the other room Gerard's name was yelled by several people. He yelled that he would be back in a minute. "Kell talk to me."
"No, it's okay Gerard, I can hear that someone is calling you. Forget I called, it's nothing I'm just tired of being sick and bored cause I didn't get to go to school. Take care, bye." She disconnected and closed her eyes.
Gerard stared at the phone in his hand. He was going to call her back when he heard his ghost story being told. "That's not how it happened," he said returning to the group. It was right after grandma died and our first Thanksgiving without her. I was in the grocery store and I go to get a chicken pot pie for that night and I open the freezer door and for a moment I'm looking at the frozen dinners and it's almost empty because of a lot of people don't have families and it made me really sad: that's the kind of shit that really depressed me. But I thought about it for a second and because I'd paused, all this frost got on the glass. I shut the door and I noticed that my name was spelled out, now I don't have a very common name, I don't know any Gerard's and it was spelt right-side out."
"That's creepy" one of the girls said with a shudder.
Bob looked over at her and had to agree. Gee had never told him that story before. It was definitely a night for firsts.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Gerard's ghost story was from an interview in the October 30, 2004 Kerrang. Quite an interview.