Frerard - Against All Odds

1

Gerard waited until he heard Bert's car drive away before throwing the blanket off him on the couch and sprinting up the stairs. He'd had enough of all the bullshit that he and Bert put each other through constantly, and last night was the final straw.

Bert had been so unreasonable and just wouldn't let Gerard talk. He'd shoved a blanket in his direction and slammed their bedroom door shut in his face. Gerard had stood there for a couple of moments, seething, and wanting to kick the door down. But he didn't. He quietly trudged down the stairs and lay on the couch, pulling the stale smelling blanket around him, all the while making plans in his head to get the fuck out of there in the morning. He'd had enough. Had enough of this shitty relationship that had lost its way a long time ago. There was no point in the two of them continuing. They just seemed to make each other miserable, so he reasoned with himself that him leaving would be the best for both of them.

Lying there this morning, pretending to be asleep as he heard Bert enter the living room, he knew the decision was the right one. He sensed Bert come to a standstill beside him. At first, he thought Bert was going to wake him and make some attempt to apologise, but when he heard him whisper 'fuck you' under his breath before spitting in Gerard's direction, he knew he had to go. It had taken every ounce of strength not to lunge at him after he'd felt the disgusting splodge of spit land on his hand, but he forced himself to stay still, not wanting his leaving to be more of a drama than necessary.

Now he was frantically throwing his clothes into a suitcase, and all his other worldly possessions into black plastic bags. He stuffed his laptop, headphones, CD's and comics into one, and other bits of crap into the other. Then dragging them all down the stairs in one go, tripping over his own feet in the process, he flung them into the trunk of his car. He returned to the house and collected up any money that was lying around, filling another carrier bag with food (in case he ended up sleeping in his car), and finally picking up his wallet and phone and heading for the front door.

He took one last look around before closing it. He'd expected to feel all emotional (like they do in the movies) at the prospect of leaving, but he didn't. He felt nothing at all. Any happy memories that had been made in this house had well and truly been erased over the last couple of months, replaced with arguments and fights. He was doing the right thing. He knew that.

He'd driven around town aimlessly for the last couple of hours, stopping occasionally to eat or find a bathroom somewhere that he could use, and he was currently parked up thinking about his next move.

He knew where he was headed.

He hadn't seen Mikey in over a year, although they did still regularly talk on the phone. He couldn't bring himself to turn up on his parent's doorstep, knowing that he'd have to deal with them being disappointed with him all over again. First of all, he'd let them down because he hadn't reached his potential at college, then the fact that he'd 'turned out to be gay', and finally for being stuck in some dead-end job instead of becoming some high flyer that they could show off about to their friends. He did love them, and he didn't doubt that they loved him too, but they couldn't hide the disappointment on their faces every time they discussed where his life was headed. They managed to show off about Mikey a little more, seeing as he was straight, with a lovely girlfriend, and had a fairly well-paid job running the local music store (being in a 'managerial position' as his parents liked to tell people). What could they really say about Gerard? Other than him being some lousy assistant at a comic publishing company. In their eyes that meant making coffee and photocopying shit (which wasn't far off in truth), but to him, it was a foot in the door, an opportunity waiting to happen. They just didn't see that though, telling him art was just a silly hobby and that nobody would ever take him seriously.