We headed back towards the mall but turned into a smaller center where our local comic shop was. It looked like it was decently filled with people, there were even people outside hanging out. Gerard pulled up a few stores down since there wasn't any space in front of the shop. We got out of the car and went straight inside, ignoring the younger kids and some adults who were outside .
"Oh man you think they have cookies?" I asked as we stepped into the warm shop.
"Oh! I fricken hope so!" Gerard said next to me, jumping to the side slightly to pass someone who was walking out. I laughed and walked past the register area and straight towards the back where I knew they were probably hiding the food. The sounds of Muse over the old speakers made everything feel otherworldly. Especially after the warehouse. As we got closer to the food I noticed a familiar looking aphro and a short little asshole.
"Hey there you guys are!" Frank said loudly as we got closer to the table. I waved at them and glanced at Gerard, he had a look on his face that said the fuck which is exactly how I was feeling.
"We were wondering if you guys were going to actually show or if we missed you," Ray said as I leaned in to give him a hug.
"Nah we just went and got dinner and then we walked around for a while." Gerard said fistbumping Frank and Ray.
"OOOoooo! Just the two of you?" Frank asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Uh yeah, that's how hanging out works?" I said rolling my eyes and reaching for a cookie off the table next to Ray. I feel a bit defensive about the comment but I'm not sure why.
"Sure sure," Frank said elbowing Gerard in the ribs.
"Yeah so you and Ray were just hanging out by yourselves this whole time? Aloooone?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Ah yes, the whole two people of the opposite gender can't hang out without it being a date deal, ugghhh.
"What? That's different!" Frank whined.
"Yeah? How?" I crossed my arms giving him my best I'm not impressed look.
"Eh, she's got a point." Ray said next to me.
"What! How?!" Frank said stepping away from the table so someone else could grab food.
"Uh we could have easily been making out like you're implying they did?" Ray said laughing. "And we didn't, nor are they suggesting we did cause we're friends. And since they are friends too its dumb to suggest that they were making out." Ray coming in for the rescue! He always knows what I'm thinking when it comes to stupid gendered shit.
"Also, you're only saying that cause Gerard is a boy and I'm a girl. Same reason Mrs. Way makes Mikey and I keep the door open when we have sleepovers." I said around a bit of my cookie. Gerard just kinda nodded along, he seemed a bit off. Maybe it's all the food we ate.
"She's got you there," Ray said, grabbing a brownie from the table.
"Ughh whatever. You guys are no fun." Frank said pouting.
"Well how's the party been?" Gerard said changing the subject.
"It's been pretty good! Lots of people buying comics, which is good for the shop. There was pizza earlier too." Ray said.
"Cool. Imma go hunt for some comics then. See you guys in a bit." I said before walking towards the giant bins of old comics to look for some that I might want to add to my collection. The boys were still talking by the table before heading over to some other comic bins and looking too. I'm going to let the boys have some boy time. I don't want Gerard thinking he has to stay with me the whole time. It's not like this is a date or anything. It's just us hanging out and keeping secrets from all our friends. LOL. Plus I can get real annoying and honestly I don't want him getting sick of me just yet.
We spent another hour hanging out and talking comics together before Mikey texted that he and Kristin were done with the movie. We said our goodbyes and hopped back into his car. We rode in comfortable silence listening to Greenday.
"I had fun tonight," Gerard said quietly as we pulled into the parking lot of the mall.
"Me too. We should hang out more often." I said looking out the window to hide the smile I had.
"Yeah." It sounded like Gerard was smiling too. We pulled up to the curb and saw Mikey and Kristin standing outside waiting for us.
"Did you guys have fun?" I asked as they got into the car.
"Yeah the movie was pretty good," Kirstin said buckling up.
"Yeah but the food could have been better." Mikey stated.
"Where did you guys eat?" Gerard asked as he pulled away and started to leave the mall.
"Some new burger place. It was alright. What about you guys? Where did you go eat?" Kristin asked.
"We went to a cute 50's diner. And we also had burgers like you guys. But ours were pretty good. Right Gee?" I said smiling at him.
"Yeah they were!" He chuckled. Mikey and Kristin told us about the movie they saw on the rest of the drive home. We dropped off Kristin and then the boys dropped me off. I felt pretty good when I said goodbye to them. Like friendships can make you feel so warm inside. I can't wait to hang out with Gerard again. Or just everyone. Having friend hangouts is going to be so much better now that Gerard and I are friends again. Everything feels so right.