The Sweetest Ecstasy, The Perfect Sin.
Every Thug Needs A Lady.
I scurried downstairs and was immediately met by another big, black towncar.
“So this is how the better half lives...” I said to the driver as he opened the door for me.
“It appears so, miss.” He told me with a charming accent.
The driver knew where he was going and shortly dropped me off at a small café on the outskirts of a park. It was very quaint, there was no other way to describe it.
“Hey, babe.” Gerard walked up to me and gave me a quick hug and a kiss.
“Hi,” I sat down with him in front of a fireplace, “So, I saw you on TV today.”
“Did you? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen us before.”
“No, I have, but it was sort of ironic to have just spoken with you, you had on the same outfit and everything, and then you’re, like, on TV.”
“I could see that happening. Well, just know I’d rather be with you at any given moment when I’m anywhere but onstage.”
“Awww, babe.” I cooed, reaching out for his hand.
He took my left hand and stared down at it for a moment, then up to me and smirked.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothin’ babe.” He murmured, “I got you a cinnamon roll.”
“Ooooh!” I raved, taking the plate he handed me.
We sat serenely and ate our baked goods for a bit, gazing into the fire. I was watching Gerard’s musing stare as his bit his nails, contemplating what he was thinking. Instead of trying to guess, I just said what was on my mind.
“Frank wasn’t on TV.” I said.
He snapped out of his trace and turned his head to me.
“Yeah, he was sick.”
“No he wasn’t,” I differed, “He was with me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He knows about us, so we better tell everyone else before he does.”
“Right... You were with Frank? How did he know?”
“I don’t know. He showed up at the room this morning.”
Gerard looked back into the fire.
“Hey, babe? I really don’t think this is a fling, or anything like that, so-” I started.
“A fling?” He questioned.
“You know... something we wouldn’t tell everyone about-”
“Are you kidding? I HAVE to tell everyone about us. And I can’t fucking wait until I do. This is it, Kat. This is me, and this is us.”
I nodded vaguely and looked into the fire. Then I looked at him, his clothes, his sunglasses, his Sidekick III, the café, the foreign town, the wandering eyes of people here and everywhere, and realized.
This was it.
This was going to be us.
Gerard and I just hung out in the café after that, being completely, abnormally average.
The next day, the boys were practicing for a string of smaller shows. It had been a long damn time since I had been around this. All the equipment, the people, the noise, the smell.
A few of us were standing in the pit towards the back near the audio engineering station.
“God, I’m glad you’re back,” Jamia gushed, “Gerard was getting lame.”
“Haha, sorry. I’m glad to be back, too.” I replied, keeping my eye on Gerard up onstage with the rest of the band.
He’d been acting strange all morning and I couldn’t determine what his deal was. He kept to himself, pacing back and forth onstage. While the other guys were joking and messing around, he’d silently sip his plastic red cup of honey and pull his hood down farther.
He stepped up to the mic and began the same vocal warm-ups he’s always used. Then he walked offstage. When he came back, he was followed by a friend of ours from New York, Matt. They had a few words with him, then Matt climbed up to a keyboard.
I was then distracted by someone passing out drinks. My back was to the stage when I heard the first few notes of a song they’d been working on since they recorded ‘Bullets.’ But, when Gerard started singing, it had new lyrics.
You might now know it as ‘Welcome to the Black Parade.’
“When I was,
in Jersey,
my girlfriend,
she taught me how to love her,
and how to love myself.
And I said, “Kid, when,
you get back,
you’ll soon see,
that she’s no other lover,
the only one for me...
And now that,
we’re back in,
the place that
we both shared together,
I have to let her know.”
I swallowed hard, mortified.
“This time, I will not let you go,” He jumped off stage and slowly made a straight line to me.
I was shaking, and the drink in my hand almost fell to the ground. Jamia took it and walked backwards away from me.
Then the thing I was dreading the most happened.
He got down on one knee and pulled out a black velvet box.
“I mean this, forever. Will you marry me?” He proposed, opening the box to reveal a gorgeous ring with a round diamond.
I felt faint and I started shaking my head in disbelief. Seeing the fear in his eyes, I quickly sputtered out an astounding, “YES! Oh my God, yes. Yes, yes, yes!” I screamed and jumped on him.
We fell to the ground and everyone started applauding.
It was the best show ever.
“Jesus Christ, Gerard. You and the dramatics.” I said exasperated and straddling him.
“Their only for you.” He pledged, propping himself up on his elbows and slipping on the absolutely breathtaking rings on my finger.
I looked at them, then looked to him, then something clicked in my brain.
The engagement ring looked familiar.
I looked down at it again. I’d seen the large, round diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds in a white gold band before.
My eyes slowly glanced back up at him, flooded with tears.
“You’re giving me Grandma’s ring?” I asked, putting my right hand to my mouth and spreading the fingers on my left hand in front of me.
“She wanted you to have it. You’re the only one in the world who can wear it.”
GERARD’s POV
The tears in the corners of her eyes sparkled just as bright as the diamond, maybe brighter.
“Wait,” I reminded her, “Look at the wedding band, it’s engraved.”
She looked down and smiled, “ ‘After all the things we put each other through,’ Pft, AMEN to that.”
“And on the inside.”
She raised her eyebrows in intrigue, then read, “ ‘We’ll show them.’ It’s perfect. You’re perfect!” She exclaimed before pouncing on me again.
I kissed her like crazy and people started laughing. I had forgotten they were there. I quickly got embarrassed and tried to stand up.
MY POV
Wow.
“So this is how the better half lives...” I said to the driver as he opened the door for me.
“It appears so, miss.” He told me with a charming accent.
The driver knew where he was going and shortly dropped me off at a small café on the outskirts of a park. It was very quaint, there was no other way to describe it.
“Hey, babe.” Gerard walked up to me and gave me a quick hug and a kiss.
“Hi,” I sat down with him in front of a fireplace, “So, I saw you on TV today.”
“Did you? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen us before.”
“No, I have, but it was sort of ironic to have just spoken with you, you had on the same outfit and everything, and then you’re, like, on TV.”
“I could see that happening. Well, just know I’d rather be with you at any given moment when I’m anywhere but onstage.”
“Awww, babe.” I cooed, reaching out for his hand.
He took my left hand and stared down at it for a moment, then up to me and smirked.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothin’ babe.” He murmured, “I got you a cinnamon roll.”
“Ooooh!” I raved, taking the plate he handed me.
We sat serenely and ate our baked goods for a bit, gazing into the fire. I was watching Gerard’s musing stare as his bit his nails, contemplating what he was thinking. Instead of trying to guess, I just said what was on my mind.
“Frank wasn’t on TV.” I said.
He snapped out of his trace and turned his head to me.
“Yeah, he was sick.”
“No he wasn’t,” I differed, “He was with me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He knows about us, so we better tell everyone else before he does.”
“Right... You were with Frank? How did he know?”
“I don’t know. He showed up at the room this morning.”
Gerard looked back into the fire.
“Hey, babe? I really don’t think this is a fling, or anything like that, so-” I started.
“A fling?” He questioned.
“You know... something we wouldn’t tell everyone about-”
“Are you kidding? I HAVE to tell everyone about us. And I can’t fucking wait until I do. This is it, Kat. This is me, and this is us.”
I nodded vaguely and looked into the fire. Then I looked at him, his clothes, his sunglasses, his Sidekick III, the café, the foreign town, the wandering eyes of people here and everywhere, and realized.
This was it.
This was going to be us.
Gerard and I just hung out in the café after that, being completely, abnormally average.
The next day, the boys were practicing for a string of smaller shows. It had been a long damn time since I had been around this. All the equipment, the people, the noise, the smell.
A few of us were standing in the pit towards the back near the audio engineering station.
“God, I’m glad you’re back,” Jamia gushed, “Gerard was getting lame.”
“Haha, sorry. I’m glad to be back, too.” I replied, keeping my eye on Gerard up onstage with the rest of the band.
He’d been acting strange all morning and I couldn’t determine what his deal was. He kept to himself, pacing back and forth onstage. While the other guys were joking and messing around, he’d silently sip his plastic red cup of honey and pull his hood down farther.
He stepped up to the mic and began the same vocal warm-ups he’s always used. Then he walked offstage. When he came back, he was followed by a friend of ours from New York, Matt. They had a few words with him, then Matt climbed up to a keyboard.
I was then distracted by someone passing out drinks. My back was to the stage when I heard the first few notes of a song they’d been working on since they recorded ‘Bullets.’ But, when Gerard started singing, it had new lyrics.
You might now know it as ‘Welcome to the Black Parade.’
“When I was,
in Jersey,
my girlfriend,
she taught me how to love her,
and how to love myself.
And I said, “Kid, when,
you get back,
you’ll soon see,
that she’s no other lover,
the only one for me...
And now that,
we’re back in,
the place that
we both shared together,
I have to let her know.”
I swallowed hard, mortified.
“This time, I will not let you go,” He jumped off stage and slowly made a straight line to me.
I was shaking, and the drink in my hand almost fell to the ground. Jamia took it and walked backwards away from me.
Then the thing I was dreading the most happened.
He got down on one knee and pulled out a black velvet box.
“I mean this, forever. Will you marry me?” He proposed, opening the box to reveal a gorgeous ring with a round diamond.
I felt faint and I started shaking my head in disbelief. Seeing the fear in his eyes, I quickly sputtered out an astounding, “YES! Oh my God, yes. Yes, yes, yes!” I screamed and jumped on him.
We fell to the ground and everyone started applauding.
It was the best show ever.
“Jesus Christ, Gerard. You and the dramatics.” I said exasperated and straddling him.
“Their only for you.” He pledged, propping himself up on his elbows and slipping on the absolutely breathtaking rings on my finger.
I looked at them, then looked to him, then something clicked in my brain.
The engagement ring looked familiar.
I looked down at it again. I’d seen the large, round diamond surrounded by smaller diamonds in a white gold band before.
My eyes slowly glanced back up at him, flooded with tears.
“You’re giving me Grandma’s ring?” I asked, putting my right hand to my mouth and spreading the fingers on my left hand in front of me.
“She wanted you to have it. You’re the only one in the world who can wear it.”
GERARD’s POV
The tears in the corners of her eyes sparkled just as bright as the diamond, maybe brighter.
“Wait,” I reminded her, “Look at the wedding band, it’s engraved.”
She looked down and smiled, “ ‘After all the things we put each other through,’ Pft, AMEN to that.”
“And on the inside.”
She raised her eyebrows in intrigue, then read, “ ‘We’ll show them.’ It’s perfect. You’re perfect!” She exclaimed before pouncing on me again.
I kissed her like crazy and people started laughing. I had forgotten they were there. I quickly got embarrassed and tried to stand up.
MY POV
Wow.