WARNING: THIS CHAPTER MAY BE TRIGGERING TO SOME PEOPLE! (I'll put a notice at the beginning and end of the scene, if you do skip the scene, it's ok, bc what happened will be mentioned later on, but if you don't want the details, it's ok to skip. Thanks!)
{Gerard's POV}
I was sitting in Study hall on Friday, last class of the day. It was really boring. For one, it was one of the only classes that none of my friends were in. I was all alone in this class. So, of course, I sat in the back of my class. I did that, really, in every class, but especially in science. Bert was in this class, though, and the only thing keeping me from sitting next to him was the assigned seats the teacher gave out, making him sit closer to the front of the class next to this kid named Andy. Andy was pretty cool. we didn't talk a lot, but he didn't hate me. He dressed like me, and he liked the same kind of music. He had long, black hair, and he wore eyeliner too. I kind of felt bad that Bert had to sit next to him, because apparently Bert liked to pick on people like Andy, which I felt was kind of ridiculous because Bert used to be like us. But, I should be the one to know that Bert was not the person he used to be. He had changed so much since the day I met him. It always seemed to me that I was losing a little bit more of him every single day. As I sat in my desk, I drifted into my own thoughts, remembering a time, which seemed like centuries ago, where Bert was actually really nice. I remembered the day we met, where he came up to me in the school yard and complimented me on my Misfits T-shirt. We got talking about music and stuff. He was so funny. I remembered our first date, when he took me out to a local Italian restaurant. We sat and ate, telling each other all about our lives, our hopes and dreams. The two of us were hopelessly in love. He was the best thing that had ever happened to me.
That was when my thoughts turned dark. I remembered the first night Bert ever came home drunk. He stumbled into our house, slamming the door. I had been sitting on the couch, watching a movie and waiting for him to come home. I looked up and saw him, and smiled. "Hey, baby. How was your day?" I asked, moving to give him a hug. He smirked and started laughing. I noticed he was swaying a little, and I started getting suspicious. "Bert, honey, where have you been? Did you go drinking? How much did you drink?" I asked, moving a bit closer. That was a mistake. He lashed out and grabbed my shirt collar, pulling me close to him. I gasped, my eyes wide. "Would you just mind your business, for Christ's sake?! Just, leave me alone!" he yelled, shaking me slightly. He let go of my shirt quickly, dropping me to the floor. I pulled myself up and followed him into our room, where he had sat down on the bed and started taking off his shoes. "Bert, honey, please. Let me just run you a shower, and then you can go to sleep, and we'll talk in the morning." I pleaded with him. "Didn't you hear me? I want to be left alone. Get out!" He jumped up and swung his fist, which connected to the left side of my face. The force of the punch threw me against the door. I stared at him in shock, then just decided to go sleep in the living room. I grabbed some pajama pants and my pillow, then left the room, closing the door behind me. I went out and set my stuff on the couch, lay down, and started crying. I couldn't believe Bert would do and say all of those horrible things, I couldn't believe he would ever hurt me.
And I didn't. I stayed with him for so long, and for what? To be hit and yelled at all that time. I gave him all of my love. He was my everything, and he just used me as a punching bag. I can't believe it took a visit to the hospital, almost dying, for me to realize how bad he really was. I couldn't believe I was so stupid! The bell rang. Everybody left, even the teacher. Mr. Burkheart had never really paid attention to anything in this class. I stood up from my seat, my books in my arms, and headed towards the door, only to be stopped by the very person I had been previously thinking about. "Hey, Gee! What do you say we hang out after school?" he asked. I gulped and looked him in the eye, shaking my head furiously. "Gee, you know I know you talk now. Use your words." he said in a deep, threatening voice. That seemed ironic. I guess he hadn't heard about the accident. Though, I guess a lot of people didn't pay too much attention to the fact that I had temporarily lost my vocal ability, because why would they? I didn't talk to anybody here on a regular basis, so why would they be concerned if I lost my ability to do so. It wouldn't change anything in their minds. "Come on, Gee. Talk to me. Do you want to hang out after school?" he asked again, in a sweet and terrifying tone. "I-I-I...N-No." I gasped. He smirked and shook his head. "That is where you're wrong, Gee, baby. See, if you don't come with me, I may just have to give your dear Frankie a taste of what you went through all those years ago. Wouldn't want that, now would we?" he asked deviously. Oh my God, he was threatening me?! And with Frank's safety, no less. I didn't want to be with him, but I couldn't let him hurt Frankie. This was my problem to deal with, not Frank's.
"F-F-Fine. L-Let's...G-GO." I stuttered. He ran his fingers through my long, black hair. I froze at his touch, my eyes wide and my breath catching in my throat. "Good. And, here's another hint. Don't tell any of your friends about what happened in here, or what I just said. Got that?" he asked. I nodded quickly, suddenly terrified of what could happen to me or my friends. He took my wrist and pulled me out of the classroom. "We'll go to your locker and get your stuff first-it's closer. Then, we'll stop at mine real quick, and then we'll go to your car. I left mine at home-Brunner drove me. I told him this morning that I would be going to his house after school, so we'll go there. I'll drive. Understand?" he asked. We reached my locker as I nodded. Unfortunately, Mikey was standing there. "Hey, Gee. What's-" he stopped when he saw Bert with me. "Hey, Mikey. What's up?" he asked, as if they had been friends for years. "What are you doing, Bert. Get away from him!" Mikey demanded, already extremely angry. "Sorry, Mikes. Gee asked me after last period if he could hang out with me. We're going to hang out." Bert explained. I was shocked. I wanted to tell Mikey that Bert was lying and that he was threatening me, but Bert gave me a glance that shut me right up. "Gee asked if he could hang out with you? I don't believe you! Why would he do that? You're such a liar, Bert!" Mikey said. "I don't know why he would, but he did. Tell him, Gee." Bert said, nudging me in the side. "I-I wanted to h-hang out with him. I f-f-forgive him for..." Mikey interrupted me, saying, "Don't strain your voice. Whatever, Gee. I'll see you when you get home." he said, slamming his locker shut and leaving. "There, that wasn't so hard. What did he mean by 'don't strain your voice.'? What's wrong with your voice?" he asked. "C-Car a-ac-cid-dent." I struggled to get the word out. "Oh, so what did you, like, hit your head or something?" he asked. I couldn't believe how genuinely concerned he sounded. I nodded, my throat feeling completely shot. "Oh, I'm sorry." he said. I rolled my eyes, grabbing my stuff from my locker and shoving it angrily into my backpack.
Once I had everything, I closed my locker and followed Bert to his, where he grabbed a few things, shoved them in his bag, and closed his locker. We walked out to the parking lot where my car was parked. "Keys." he said. I dug them out of the pocket of my hoodie and shoved them in his hand. He unlocked the doors and slid into the driver's seat. I climbed into the passenger's seat and closed my door. Bert locked the door, started the car, and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road. We drove all the way to the outskirts of town, until we pulled up to a nice-looking, brick house. "This is Brunner's place." Bert said simply, turning the car off and pocketing the keys. We climbed out of the car and stepped up to the front door, Bert pressing the door bell. After a few seconds, Brunner opened the door. "Hey, Bert!" he cheered, and then he saw me. With a grimace on his face, he said, "What is the freak doing here?" Bert's eyes narrowed, his hands balling into fists. "He's here with me." he replied simply. "Okay, dude. Whatever you say. Just-keep him off the furniture. Freaks don't deserve such luxuries." he laughed. I noted the emphasis on that one word. "Yeah, sure, dude. Whatever. Come on, Gee." Bert said. He grabbed my wrists and pulled me inside Brunner's house, Brunner shutting the door behind us. I knew, deep down inside, this was going to be bad.
{Frank's POV}
"What do you mean? He was hanging out with Bert?! No. No way!" I exclaimed. Mikey had called brought us all back to his house after school, explaining to us on the way all that had happened at Gee's locker. "I'm serious, Frank. I'm sure Bert was lying, but he's definitely up to something, and it has to do with Gee. I don't know what's going on, but it's terrifying!" Mikey exclaimed, tears forming in his eyes. Ray put an arm around him, rubbing up and down on his arm. "It'll be okay, Mikes. We'll figure this all out when Gee gets home. Until then, we'll all stay here with you." he said. "Do you think Bert said something to him. Like, if he didn't agree to go with him, he'd do something to him?" Bob asked. "I don't know. Bert is definitely the type to threaten a person to get what he wants. I'm sure he's threatening Gee somehow, but we can't jump to conclusions. We'll just have to wait until Gee gets home." Ray explained. We all sat on the couch, patiently waiting for Gerard to get home.
{Author's POV}-I'd say sorry, but you all know what to expect at this point, soo...yeah.
Gerard got home at around 8:30 that night. Frank, Mikey, Ray, and Bob were all sitting around on the couch in the living room, the TV on but nobody really paying any attention to it. They all looked up as soon as the door opened. "Gee, where have you been?!" Frank immediately asked, moving towards him. Ray held him back. "Calm down, Frank." he warned. Frank took a breath and asked again, "Where have you been?" Gerard looked at them all a bit nervously, locking the door. "I was just...out. Running errands." He knew they wouldn't believe him at all. He knew that Mikey had rushed to tell him that he was with Bert. "Don't lie to us, Gee. You were with Bert. Why?" Frank asked. Gee started getting annoyed. He didn't want to tell them what had happened. He couldn't, or else Bert would hurt them, or worse. He knew Bert better than any of them. He knew Bert was capable of and willing to kill any of them if he had to. "I..I f-f-forgave him. I d-decided to m-move on f-from the p-p-past." Gee stuttered. "Gee, come on. Be serious! You sat on this couch, bloody and broken, and cried to Ray and I and begged for us to make sure that you never saw Bert again. Now, you just decide to forgive him, like he's deserving of our forgiveness!" Mikey exclaimed. Gee got furious, but he tried to contain his rage. "H-He didn't b-beat you, M-Mikey. I stayed w-with him all of those y-y-years. Th-That was my mistake. I l-let it happen. I d-did it to m-myself!" he said. The other four were silent. "Gee. None of what Bert did was ever your fault. Don't tell yourself that. Did Bert...Did he threaten you, Gee. Did he tell you he'd hurt you?" Bob asked.
Gee shook his head, and technically it wasn't a lie. Bert never said he would hurt Gee. He had threatened to hurt his friends, his brother, his boyfriend. "Did he threaten you with something else?" Bob asked. Gee shook his head again, close to tears. That was the lie. "H-He didn't th-threaten m-me. P-Please, l-l-leave me al-lone." he choked out. Gee quickly ran to his room. Frank, Mikey, Bob and Ray followed. When they tried to open the door, they realized it was locked. "Gee, please open the door." Mikey pleaded. They could hear his soft crying on the other side of the door. They could also hear something else. (OKAY, TRIGGERING SCENE STARTS ABOUT HERE. AGAIN, IF YOU WANT TO SKIP, YOU WON'T REALLY BE MISSING ANYTHING, SO FEEL FREE.) "I-I'm so sorry, G-Grandma. I-I c-can't do it any-anymore. I-I'll see you s-s-soon." The four boys in the hall all looked up at each other. "He wouldn't try and..." Mikey said, hopelessly. "Mikey, go get your parents. I'm busting this door down. Hurry!" Frank ordered quietly so Gee wouldn't hear. Mikey nodded, tears streaming down his face. He ran down the hallway towards his parents' bedroom. "Back up and watch out." Frank warned Ray and Bob. They moved out of the way as Frank backed up to the opposite wall. He ran at the door at top speed and shoved his shoulder into it, instantly breaking it open. Bob, Ray, and Frank ran in to see Gerard on the floor, grasping at one of his red ties, which was knotted tightly around his neck. He was gasping and crying, his breathing slightly labored. "Oh my God, Gee!" Frank cried, running over and kneeling beside him. Frank reached up to Gerard's neck to get the tie off of him, but he kept fighting him.
Ray and Bob ran over and held him down. Gerard still struggled to get away from them all. Frank heard a cry of shock, and looked up and saw Donna and Donald standing in the doorway with Mikey. Donna was crying, Donald looked completely shocked. Mikey looked absolutely heartbroken, like he was literally dying on the inside. Frank finally managed to get a grip on the tie and quickly wrestled it off from around Gee's throat. Gee's eyes were closed, his movements had stilled. "Is he...?" Donna couldn't finish the question. Frank reached down carefully and pressed a finger to his throat, scanning for a pulse. He was relieved when he found a weak pulse, weak but there. "He has a pulse. It's a little lower than it should be, but that's probably from the lack of oxygen. He's okay." Frank confirmed, his relief evident in his tone of voice. (TRIGGERING SCENE ENDS HERE. THANKS, EVERYONE!) Donna came up and threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Frankie." she said, tears falling off her cheeks. "Your welcome. If it's alright, I'd like to put Gerard to bed. I think he needs the rest. I'll talk to him in the morning. He was in a bad state tonight. Bert was messing with him. I don't think pushing this all on him so fast is the best thing to do." He explained. Donna nodded and said, "Of course. We shouldn't overwhelm him. When he wakes up, you'll talk to him? Donald and I have work. You, Mikey, and Gee can obviously stay home from school. Ray and Bob, if your parents say it's ok, you can stay here if you don't want to go to school. Just explain that Gerard had some issues, and I asked if you could stay with him, because I don't want him by himself." Donna explained. Ray, Bob, and Frank all nodded. "Good. I'm going to bed. Ray, Bob, and Mikey, if you all want, you can sleep in the living room. Frank, you're obviously welcome to stay in here with Gee." Donna said. Frank nodded and watched as Bob picked Gee up off the floor and laid him on his bed, pulling off his sneakers and jacket.
Once Gee was taken care of, everyone but Frank left the room. Donna gave Frank one last smile and closed the door behind her. The lock was busted, and the door was a bit tougher to close, but it still closed okay. Frank looked down at Gee. Bob had laid him on his back, his arms at his sides. His facial expression looked blank, his chest rising and falling at a closer-to-normal rate. Frank sat down next to his head, and started running his fingers through Gee's hair. "You're going to be okay, Gee. I'll keep you safe. I promise." he said, smiling sadly. Frankie switched off the bedside lamp, the only source of light in the room, and settled into Gee's side before falling asleep.
Well, that was interesting. I'll be honest with you, I did not plan for that to happen. I planned up until the part where Mikey, Ray, Bob, and Frank were questioning Gerard in the living room. The rest I came up with as I wrote it. If you enjoyed this, please remember to vote and comment. If you hate me now, that's okay, bc I honestly kind of hate myself. Thanks for reading! Later!