Give Our Rights Away, Arise And Seize The Day

After Ryan finished packing and left, it took a little effort for Tori to convince Gerard to come over, mainly for her to talk about what was with him recently. This time, she wasn’t going to allow him to walk out on him or hang up, it was going to be serious. He came in and sat down on the couch unannounced and began to watch T.V. About fifteen minutes into his show, Tori walked downstairs and almost fell down the steps from spotting Gerard on the couch.

“There is something called a doorbell,” she scolded

“I know,” he shrugged. She sat down next to him and turned off the T.V. “I was watching that!”

“I know, but now you are talking to me.”

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

“Well, you specifically.”

“What did I do,” he asked right away.

“I just want to know what has been up with you lately.”

“Um…nothing,” he lied.

“Gerard, tell me,” she said sternly.

“It honestly is nothing, nothing you would care about anyway,” he shook his head.

“Well now that you said that, I want to know.” He looked down at his shoes. “Gerard,” she touched his arm “you can tell me anything. I won’t judge you or anything if that is what you’re worried about.”

“Believe me,” he laughed lightly, “That is the least of my problems.”

Before Tori could say anything else, Maddie came running down the stairs. “Where are you going?”

“Out,” she started heading to the door.

“You can’t possibly be feeling any better right now.”

“I don’t. I only slept for an hour, puked for another hour, and now I just need air,” she said, closing the front door behind her.

“Maybe I should go with her to make sure she will be okay,” Gerard stood up.

“Sit,” Tori commanded, pulling him back down onto the couch. “Seriously, tell me.”

“Fine,” he sighed. “I kind of, sort of…” the next few words were incoherent.

“I’m sorry, what did you say,” Tori asked.

“I said the I think I like you.”

She just sat there, thinking of a way to respond. “And I like you too, you are like a brother to me.” He laughed again. “What’s so funny?”

“That’s not what I meant,” he looked at her. “I like like you. A lot.” She was quiet she had a hard time looking at him. He slapped his knees and stood up. “I’m out of here.” He walked to the door. Tori immediately followed him.

“Gerard, wait!”

“Why should I," he began, barely turning around while walking away. "I waited long enough and you had yet to notice or to think of me as more than a friend. I spent all this time hanging out with you and nothing!”

“Did you expect me to pick up on the signals that easily?!”

“Yes, I did," he finally stopped and turned around. "They were blatantly obvious that after a week of hanging with you, Maddie texted me and asked if I liked you. How could you be so blind?!”

“I would love to be with you, b-.” Before she could finish, Gerard had planted his lips onto hers. She was fighting it at first, but gave in for a bit. After a few seconds, she pushed him away. “BUT! I’m with Ryan, so I can’t,” she finished her sentence.

He laughed one more time before heading towards the door again. “That was what I knew you were going to say.”

“You are still my friend though right?” He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. She had tears in her eyes and looked very concerned.

“Frankly, I don’t even know if I want to even be your friend anymore.”

He walked out and left her to herself. She caught her breath and went back over to the couch, sinking into the cushions and crying.