Survival of the Living

Lydia POV

There was a loud crash and a sudden flood of bright lights.

“Oh geeze, oh shit!” I huffed sleepily.

Both Gerard and me sat up at the same time and winced against the sudden bright light coming from the hall. Lindsey stood in the door frame, panting with a worried frown set on her face.

“Lindsey?” Gerard mumbled his voice thick with sleep.

“Gerard,” she confirmed with a sigh, “you scared the shit out of me, ya know.”

She slumped her shoulders and turned the over-head lights on, nearly blinding both Gerard and me.

“I’m sorry honey, I thought I’d be back home before you got back,” Gerard apologized, rubbing his eyes furiously. Don’t quote me, but I think he was trying to hide that he may have been crying in his sleep.

“It’s fine, I’m glad you got some sleep,” she nodded, coming over to the bed and perching herself on the edge.

“Hey Lyn,” I nodded, shoving a hand through my knotted hair.

“Hey little girl. Mom called me, she probably called you too. I’d check your phone,” Lindsey said while absently taking Gerard’s hands into her own.

“Ermf… alright,” I sniffed, clambering off the bed.

I left Gerard and Lindsey to settle whatever they had too while I walked out into the kitchen to check my home phone. I don’t know why I still had one, especially being a girl that had an iPhone. Sure enough, once I got into the black-tiled kitchen I saw a little red light flashing on the answering machine. I clicked the play button and let it run while I began to pull coffee making supplies from the cupboards.

‘Hey. How’s my little psycho doing? Just thought I’d say hi… bother you to call your mom once and a while… and just see how you’re doing! Alright, call me back, bye.’

She didn’t sound that bad on the answering machine, but I guess that if I saw her in person she’d be looking even older then she did last month. Drugs, depression, and smoking can do that, it’s another reason why I’m determined to succeed in life.

I absently began to hum the song ‘Better’ by Guns ‘n Roses while I poured the coffee water into the kettle. I was very touchy about how I made my coffee, I had to use a French press and I had to grind the beans right before I used them. Coffee machine coffee just didn’t cut it for me.

A few minutes later I was pouring hot water over a pile of ground beans and filling the air with coffee scented goodness. I would be hearing from Gerard any second now. As I started to put the lid over the glass container, Gerard and Lindsey walked out of my room and claimed spaces at my mini kitchen table.

“We smelled coffee… we decided it was a good time for us to come and check on ya,” Lindsey told me with a little smirk.

“Well I thought that might happen. That’s why I made a bunch of extra,” I smiled, picking a spot on the edge of the counter and leaning against it.

We all sat in a comfortable silence for over five minutes while the coffee brewed, we all had enough on our minds to keep us occupied for at least that long. I turned to face the coffee and pressed the filter down, pushing all the coffee grindings to the bottom.

“You both want coffee, right?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.

“Mmhm,” Gerard and Lindsey both answer at the same time.

I emptied the dark coffee into three mugs and brought them to the table where the sugar and powdered creamer was already waiting. I had my coffee black, I liked the raw taste. I thought it didn’t really taste like coffee anymore if you put shit in it but that was just my opinion.

“I think you should come stay with Gerard and me. At least for a little while,” Lindsey finally said after a long moment of silent coffee drinking.

I paused mid-sip and looked at her over my mug. She was staring down into her coffee and slowly mixing it like it was the most important thing in her life.

“Well uh… thanks but that’s alright,” I said, slowly setting my mug back down, “I don’t rent this place for nothing. I need to learn to be independent, right?”

“Yeah, but your fucking 14 and your using our mothers name to rent an apartment so you can live on your own! That’s just not natural, people don’t do that!” Lindsey declared, smashing her fist down on the table.

Gerard and I jumped in surprise and stared at her face. Her lips were in a hard set line and her eyes glistened with threatening tears.

“We-well, I thought you were ok with it. That’s what you said when I got it…” I stammered, I was highly confused. Lindsey had always been with me on the idea of living on my own. She thought it taught responsibility and made me a stronger person, now she’s freaking out?

“I know… I know. I guess I’m just paranoid since the accident. You have enough stress to deal with right now, you don’t need to go to work and school,” Lindsey sighed.

What she said triggered a little warning in the back of my mind, I hadn’t been to work in three weeks. My boss probably heard about the accident or I would have been fired ten times over by now! Maybe I should just do everyone at the diner a favor and quit…

“Thanks Lyn. It’s good to know that I have you looking out for me,” I smiled, and I reached out to squeeze her hand.

She smiled and squeezed my hand back. She was perfectly under control again, just like the Super Lindsey we all know and love.

Gerard and Lyn only stayed at my house for another half hour while we drank coffee and had light conversation. They went back home and we made plans for me to move out of my apartment and into their house next weekend. Each of them hugged me, and reminded me to keep my cell phone on before leaving… it made me feel loved.

I couldn’t think about anything but family as I shut off the lights and got ready for bed, it was so nice to have them. We all looked out for each other and took care of one another; none of us were in danger. I curled up under my covers and shut off my bed-side lamp, leaving me in the darkness. The cool sheets bunched around my neck, and then my heart fell.

We didn’t protect Mikey.