FicWad

“Hey, Don.”
“Well hello, daughter-in-law. How are you feeling?”
Alicia realized she felt like shit but she didn’t have time to deal with that now. “I’m okay. Can I talk to Donna?” She loved Don but this was something she wanted to discuss with her mother-in-law.
“Sure, hold on a sec.”
Alicia waited trying to go over in her head what she was going to say.
“Hey, Honey. Sorry it took so long. I was just saying goodbye to Monica and Elle.”
“Monica was just there?” Alicia was shocked. Donna didn’t sound upset.
“Yeah, I was watching Elle and she came to pick her up.” She frowned realizing Alicia sounded wrong. “Are you trying to get a hold of her or something?”
“How was she?”
Now Donna was confused, “How was she? She seemed a little preoccupied. I wanted her to stay to talk a bit but she said she had a lot of things she needed to take care of.”
Alicia sighed, “Oh shit. Donna there’s something you need to know.”
Donna sat down and smiled up at Don who sat a glass of ice tea in front of her. “What?”
“Gee did an interview a few days ago and it’s just showed up on the Net. He said he’s not engaged anymore.”
Donna sat the glass of tea back down with a thunk. “What?”
“Yeah.” Alicia said sadly, “And Monica didn’t know. Christa showed her the video.”
“Oh my God.” Donna whispered. Don walked over to the table with a concerned look on his face. “She didn’t tell me.”
“I guess she just can’t talk about this right now.” Alicia guessed. “I’m so worried about her.”
“How could she hide this from me?” Donna wondered. She quickly filled Don in. “Why would Gerard do that? What the hell is going on?”
“No one knows. He’s not talking to anyone.”
“Well he’s gonna talk to his mother.” Donna’s anger was apparent. “I want to know what’s going on.”
“They’re probably getting ready to go on stage about now.” Alicia said looking over at the clock. “Mikey said he’d call me as soon as he can.”
“Did he say anything else? Does he have any idea what’s going on with Gerard?”
Alicia sighed, “He’s really upset about all of this. I’m worried about him.”
Donna shook her head, “Mikey loves his brother so much. Call me if you hear anything else, okay?”
“Promise.” Alicia said. She disconnected and hit the replay button. Once again she heard Gerard’s voice saying he wasn’t engaged anymore. What the hell could have happened to make him do this? Nothing was making any sense anymore.

Gerard deliberately stayed away from the others until a few minutes before it was time to hit the stage. He couldn’t talk to anyone right now. Couldn’t they see his life was in ruin? Couldn’t they just leave him alone? He slowly walked to the side of the stage waiting for the lights to dim.
Bob came up from behind him. “She knows. She’s seen the fucking video.” Was all he said before moving away.
Gerard closed his eyes. The pain in his heart was deep, too deep to deal with right now. He pushed it all aside. He had to. There was a concert. This was the only thing left in his life. Everything else was gone now.

“Hi, can I come in?” Christa said softly.
Monica stood back, “Sure.”
Christa noticed that Elle was lying on the sofa sleeping.
“She just fell asleep. Come on into the kitchen.” Monica whispered. Once they were seated at the table Monica spoke again. “Thank you for coming by but please understand I can’t talk about this right now.”
Christa saw the haunted look in her eyes. “It’s okay if we don’t talk about it. I just wanted to be here with you.”
Monica blinked back tears, “Thank you. I just have to think, you know. I have to decide what to do. I’m not going to lie. I had no idea Gee would do this. I guess I just thought he’d come home and we’d work it out but now I know I was wrong. He’s made his decision.”
“But Monica, he loves you.”
Monica shook her head, “No, he doesn’t. I was stupid to ever believe he did. I was always his second choice. I was always the one he used to try to get over Liv. I was a fool and now I see that.”
Christa’s heart sank. “That’s not true. He does love you.”
Monica’s anger flared, “So much so that he announced to the world we were no longer engaged without bothering to tell me, right? Yeah, that’s the actions of a man in love.”
“I don’t claim to understand why he did that but don’t give up.” In her heart Christa truly believed they should be together.
“I gave him my heart. Everything I did I did for him. He can’t see that or he won’t let himself see it. Either way it doesn’t matter, it’s over.”

Alicia had called and talked to Christa soon after she’d left Monica’s. Christa had told her how upset and helpless she felt. She wanted to help her friend but it seemed hopeless. Monica had given up. As bad as she felt Alicia still drove to Monica’s to see if there was anything she could do. She truly loved Monica like a sister and she refused to believe that it was over between her and Gerard. Monica hadn’t looked happy to see her but had welcomed her in.
“You shouldn’t have come.” Monica said without emotion. “Please don’t worry about me.”
“How the fuck can I not worry about you?” Alicia asked. “I’m so fucking confused and hurt myself. Gee isn’t just fucking with you, he’s fucking with Mikey. I seriously don’t know how much more he can take.”
Monica could see the stress Alicia was under. As much pain as she was in she pushed it aside to worry about the woman she considered a sister. “Please, stop. I know it’s hard but you need to stop worrying.”
Alicia broke into tears. “I can’t. Mikey is gonna crack I just know it. I can hear it in his voice. He loves you Monica just like I do. We don’t understand.”
Monica moved to the sofa were Alicia had taken a seat and sat down beside her. Elle who had awakened from her nap looked at them clearly confused.
“It’s okay, Honey.” Monica said to the little girl. “Alicia is just a little sad right now.”
Elle titled her head, “Mes sad too.”
“Because Alicia is sad?” Monica guessed.
Elle nodded.
Alicia smiled at her and wiped her eyes. “I’m okay, really.” She felt bad. Here she was trying to be supportive of Monica and she was making a mess of it. Suddenly her stomach flipped. “Oh damn.” She got up quickly and ran for the bathroom.
Monica closed her eyes.
“Mom what’s going on?” Kelly stood in the doorway. Luke was at her side.
“Oh I’m glad you’re home.” Monica said, “Could you and Luke take Elle to the park for a bit?”
“But what’s going on?” Kelly asked again. She could feel in her heart something very bad had happened.
“I’ll explain later. Alicia’s here but she’s not feeling well. I need to talk to her.”
Luke saw the desperation in Monica’s eyes. “Hey, Elle. Come on. You can push me on the swings.”
Monica gave him a weak smile. Still Kelly stood still staring at her mother.
“Not now.” Monica said softly.
Luke took control of the situation. He took Elle by the hand and turned to Kelly, “Come on Sunshine. We’ll talk to your Mom later.”
Kelly nodded and reluctantly followed him and Elle towards the door. Once they were gone Monica went to check on Alicia.

Gerard got through the concert completely like a man who was on autopilot. There was no banter with the audience, not interaction with the other band members. He simply sang the songs then left the stage. Not stopping backstage he walked out of the venue and got a ride back to the hotel. He needed to be alone. He needed to decide what to say to his brother. This couldn’t go on any longer. The tour was a week and a half from being over but he knew this had to be settled now.

Monica made Alicia promise to call her as soon as she got home. The stress was making Alicia sick physically and mentally. Gerard needed to know what he was doing not only to her but also to others. In anger she picked up her phone and called. The concert should be over by now. She prayed he’d answer.

He almost didn’t answer the phone yet something made him pick up. “Yeah?”
Monica took a deep breath, “Please hear me out and then I will never call you again. You have made it clear how you feel about me. I understand.”
“You don’t understand at all.” Gerard cut her off.
Monica closed her eyes, “Have you told Mikey?”
Gerard was surprised by the question. He’d assumed she wanted to talk about their broken relationship.
“Why the fuck do you want to know that?”
“Answer my question. Have you told him?”
“Not yet.” Gerard said grabbing his cigarettes. “Why the hell do you care?”
Monica called on all her inner strength, “Because I want you to realize something. What happened between your brother and Liv was a terrible mistake.”
Gerard exploded with anger, “Is that what you’re calling it? A mistake?”
“He was drunk out of his mind. Liv guessed he didn’t even remember it.”
“Yeah, sure. He fucked the woman I loved but because he was drunk that makes it okay.”
“Listen to me.” Monica said trying to control her anger. “Are you really willing to destroy your relationship with your brother?
“He destroyed it when he fucked her.” Gerard shot back.
Monica shook her head, “Then the love you feel for your brother is dead.”
“Don’t fucking talk to me about love. I love and I get fucked over.”
“I never..” Monica stopped. There was no reason to try to explain to him that she had made her decision out of love for him. He wouldn’t believe her. “You need to know. Alicia was here earlier she’s worried about Mikey.”
“She should be.” Gerard said, “I’ve fuckin’ decided to tell my brother I know what he did.”
Monica felt her heart sink. “No.” she whispered.
“Fuck yeah. He needs to know why my life has turned to shit. Why I’ve lost everything.”
“You’ve lost everything because that’s what you want.” Monica said softly.
The pounding on Gerard’s door momentarily distracted him and he didn’t hear her last comment. He walked over to the door to find Mikey standing in the hall.
“Gee, I have to talk to you.”
Monica heard Mikey’s voice. “Gee.” She said urgently.
Gerard stood back to let Mikey into the room.
“Gee listen to me.” Monica’s voice rose.
“I have to go.” He said to her.
“Gee, Alicia is sick. Physically sick. She’s worried about her husband who she loves with all her heart. She’s worried that he’s gonna crack because of what’s happening to you. Think about what you’re doing. She’s pregnant, and this could destroy their lives. Is that what you really want?” Tears rolled down her face when she realized he’d disconnected. Had he heard her? Did he care? She closed her phone and lowered her head. “Please, Gee.” She whispered, “Please don’t do this.”