FicWad

“Hey how ya feeling?” Kara asked slightly out of breath from carrying her suitcase up the stairs. She dropped it in the hall and went into Kelly’s room.
“Not bad.” Kelly said, “Glad to be moving back home?” She nodded to Kara’s suitcase.
“This isn’t my home.” Kara informed her. “My home is in Chicago.”
Kelly frowned, “You still never told me why you hate Dad so much.”
Kara moved towards the bed, “Where’s Mom?”
“At the hospital visiting Luke. His Dad couldn’t get off work so Mom’s been staying with him all afternoon.”
Kara sat down on the bed carefully so she didn’t jar her sister. “That’s nice of her. How did his surgery go?’
“I’m not sure. Mom called a little bit ago while the doctor was checking on Luke. She said he’s got a fever and now they aren’t sure he’s gonna get to leave the hospital tomorrow.”
“That sucks.” Kara said. They sat silently a moment, “Oh, I got your homework for you.”
Kelly rolled her eyes, “Thanks so much. That was too kind of you.”
“Yeah, that’s how I roll.”
“So why don’t you like him?” Kelly asked knowing her sister had avoided the question about Gerard.
Kara sighed, “I do like him. I just don’t know if he’s right for Mom. I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“But he loves her.” Kelly said angrily. “He loves his family.”
Anger clouded Kara’s eyes, “Yeah, sure.”
“You still haven’t gotten over what happened in Europe last time.”
` This subject was one Kara hated, “I don’t give a rat’s ass what happened in Europe last time.”
“Yeah you do.” Kelly shot back. “You and Bob had problems and you blame Dad.”
‘I’m not talking about this again. Look you like the guy, good for you.”
“I love him.” Kelly said softly.
Kara shook her head, “Whatever. I just wanna get our of school and out of here. I’m planning on living in Chicago.”
“Even when Bob’s on tour?” Kelly was shocked.
“Yeah, even then.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Monica said sadly. Both girls looked over to see her standing in the doorway.
Kara groaned inwardly, “Mom, I don’t hate it here. I’ll miss you and Kelly.”
Monica shook her head sadly, “We’ll miss you too.” She took a deep breath, “Kelly I talked to Luke’s surgeon. They don’t know yet if he’ll ever be able to use his right hand normally again.” She hated this news. She hated hearing how unhappy her eldest daughter had become, “I’m gonna start dinner.” She turned and walked towards the stairs.
“Slick move.” Kelly whispered to her sister. “Way to make Mom feel bad.”
Kara glanced away, “I just have to get away.” She whispered to herself.

Monica told Gerard about Luke as she prepared dinner.
‘Shit, I really hope he’s gonna be okay. Not ever being able to draw again? I can’t even begin to know how that must feel. I’m glad you spent some time with him.
“Me too. I like him. If it turns out he can’t leave the hospital tomorrow I’m gonna go see him again.”
Gerard lit a cigarette and sat back on his bed, “So miss me yet?”
“Just a little.” She said with a smile.
“I watched our house disappeared through the back window and suddenly felt like shit. I just wanted to have the guy turn around so I could come back home.”
“So you got a room to yourself or our you sharing.” Monica started to peel the potatoes while she talked.
‘No, I’m sharing with Bob. We talked a lot on the plane over here.” He lowered his voice, “He’s worried Kara won’t finish school. He says she really fed up with things.”
Monica thought back to the conversation she had overheard between Kara and Kelly. “Yeah, she’s planning on living in Chicago as soon as she can.”
“She pretty much fuckin’ hates me.” Gerard said sadly.
“Gee” Monica said setting down the paring knife, “She doesn’t hate you.”
“Look, I could read between the lines of what Bob was saying. Kara like most everybody else is just sure I’m gonna fuck up our relationship.”
“No you’re not.” Monica said closing her eyes, “I won’t let you.”
He opened his duffle bag and started pulling out his stuff, “That’s good to hear. I need a keeper.”
Monica smiled. “I totally accept the job. So what did you do all day?”
Gerard moaned, “Signed my name.”
“Oh a signing.”
“Yeah, but the bad thing was we ran out of time. There were so many fans that waited in line for hours and we never got to them. I really feel like shit about that.”
“You did what you could.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t enough. As soon as we were done there we got whisked off for a TV show taping. I’m fucking tired. Jet lag’s got me.”
Monica glanced at the clock. “So go to bed.”
He finished his cigarette, “I’m gonna try but I’m so keyed up I probably won’t be able to sleep. I’m gonna call Kell’s phone, tell her goodnight then try to get some sleep. I’ll call you at some time tomorrow but shit there is so much we gotta do and then the concert tomorrow night is also being filmed.”
Monica listened to him rant yet she knew he thrived on all the excitement. “Love you. Talk to Kell then sleep.”
“I’d rather be in bed with you right now.”
“Ditto buddy. Talk to you tomorrow.”

Lying in bed Monica was shocked when her phone rang. She flipped on the lamp and saw that it was 2:26 in the morning. Then she remembered the time difference and assumed it was Gerard calling. She knew he would be up by now in London.
“Hello.” She answered without bothering to look at the number.
‘Monica.” The voice was almost a whisper.
“Liv?”
‘Yeah, I know it’s really late but well I’ve been thinking all night about something and I really need to talk to you.”
“Is everything okay? Is Elle okay?” Monica sat up completely worried now.
“She’s fine. I just need to talk to you about something very important. How is Kelly?”
“She’s doing okay.” Monica wondered where this conversation was going.
“Will Kelly be home tomorrow? Will she be around to keep Elle occupied while we talk?”
Monica could hear something in Liv’s voice that worried her. “Kelly will be here tomorrow. She wont be able to go back to school until next week.”
“So can we talk?”
“Yes.” She paused then added, “Liv is everything okay?”
“It will be.” Liv said in a rush. “We’ll be there around nine. That okay?”
“Sure, that’s fine.”
Liv exhaled, “See you then.” She disconnected.
Monica sat in her bed wondering what was going on with Liv. What was so important that she had to talk to her without Elle listening in? It was an hour before Monica could get back to sleep.