Under Jersey Skies

“Gerard, I can’t do this. I’m with Frank! You know that!” I said, pushing him away.
“Jackie! I’ve fucking liked you since the moment I met you!” Gerard snapped.

I sighed, looking at him and feeling completely guilty.

It wasn’t as if I didn’t enjoy it, and part of me wanted to throw myself right back into his arms again, but I knew it wasn’t right. I wasn’t the kind of girl to cheat. Frank was a good guy, he didn’t deserve that. Still, when I had kissed Gerard, I’d felt a fire that was unlike anything I’d ever felt with Frank. I looked at him, even in his angered state, Gerard was still sooo beautiful.

Shut up. You’re with Frank!

There was a sudden smashing at Gerard’s bedroom door.

“GERARD! THE FUCKING SCHOOL CALLED! AGAIN!”

I looked at Gerard, completely terrified, and he gestured for me to come to him. I ran into his awaiting arms, and he held me protectively.

“I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE, BOY!”

Gerard tightened his hold on me.

“I won’t let him hurt you, I promise.” he said bravely.

I smiled, despite the fear coursing through my body. Gerard made me feel really safe, and the way he spoke those words so bravely, the way he truly wanted to protect me, it was . . . Sexy.

The pounding stopped as the phone rang, and Gerard’s father went to answer it.

“Come on.” Gerard said, taking my hand and leading me out of the house, we ran down the street and turned the corner, so we were completely out of view should Donald come outside looking for us.

We continued on for a few blocks, until we found a Starbucks, and went inside. The both of us sat down in a booth in the corner, and I turned to Gerard.

“What the hell happened back there?” I asked.
He sighed. “It’s not the first time, and that’s not the worst of it.”
“The worst of it?”
“No, it’s been happening for awhile now.”
“What?”
“Yeah. It’s not always just him yelling at me, he . . .” Gerard gulped. “He beats me.”
“Oh my god . . .” was all I could choke out. “That’s . . . That’s horrible.”

I threw myself into his arms, holding him tightly.

No wonder he’s been so depressed.

It all made sense now. The day I’d hugged him at school and he’d flinched in my arms. The day I noticed he had a pretty nasty black eye. I’d always known something was up. Mikey had kept it quiet at Gerard’s wishes, but now that I knew, all I wanted to do was help him.

“Gee . . .” I sniffled, noticing I was crying. “If there is anything I can do, please, just tell me.”
“Jackie . . .” he sighed, stroking my hair. “You don’t need to get involved; I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I don’t care.” I said, burying my head in his chest. “If anything happened to you, I swear to god . . .”
“But nothing has, seriously Jackie, I can handle it.”
I looked up at him with an angered expression. “Yeah, nothing’s happened . . . Yet. But if something did . . .”
“Jackie, can we please just stop talking about it?”
“But Gee--”
“No but’s, just drop it.”

I looked up at him, about to open my mouth again; when I decided it was probably best if I stopped talking about it, I hated seeing him get worked up like this. That was when I noticed I was still in Gerard’s arms. I pulled away.

“Sorry, I--”
“What? We can’t hug? Seriously Jackie, you need to lighten up on the whole “Things-I-Must-Not-Do-When-I-Have-A-Boyfriend” shit.” He said, putting on a funny voice and putting one hand on his chest and the other up in the air while he said it.
It made me laugh, and I leant back into his arms again. “As long as it just stays at hugs.” I giggled.

He was quiet as I said that, stroking my hair gently.

“Gerard.” I said sternly, smirking.
“Yeah, sure.” He replied, though I still didn’t believe him.

It was probably the worst thing I could do, but I cuddled up closer to him. Yeah, I was probably pushing my boundaries a bit, and I felt bad that I’d preach to Gerard about this kinda stuff and then go ahead and do it anyway, but I couldn’t help myself. He was so strong and so warm, and when he held me . . . God, words could not describe the sheer beauty of it.

We stayed that way in silence for a few more hours, completely ignoring the fact that everybody who came into Starbucks was looking at us. The people behind the counter were starting to look a little irritated that we’d been here so long and not ordered anything.

“Gee, we should probably order something, that girl over there looks like she’s about to break something.” I giggled, looking over at the counter.
“What time is it?”
“Umm . . .” I looked over at the clock. “Three o’clock.”
“Shit. Already?” he said, getting out his phone.

He dialed a number, and was quiet for a few moments before whoever it was picked up on the other end.

“Hey dude, you out of school yet?”
There was a moment of silence before he answered the voice on the phone.
“Meet me at Starbucks.”
Another moment of silence.
“Alright, laters bro.” he said, and hung up.

I looked at Gerard, asking with a single expression who it was.

“Mikey’s coming.” He smiled.

Mikey arrived within ten minutes, looking at us with a puzzled look as he walked through the door.

“Gee . . .” I said, nudging his arm.
“Oh shit. Yeah. I forgot.” He said, pulling away from me.

“And why weren’t you at school missy?” Mikey asked as he sat down.
“She stayed last night.” Gerard answered for me.
“What? There was a girl in your room with you all night and you didn’t tell me? Aww man, why do you always get all the luck?”

I laughed at that.

“It’s not like that Mikey” I giggled.
“What’s it like then?”
“Mum and I had a fight last night. Long story short; she tried to act like she hasn’t been gone for three years, and I got pissed off at her about it. Frank was with us, and he offered me a ride home, but Mum made him go home and forced me into the car. We ended up fighting so I made her stop and I tried to walk home, but I got lost. Until I found your street.”
“Oh”
“Yeah.”
“So what’re you guys doin’ here?”
“Dad went nuts again; I wanted to get Jackie out of there before anything bad happened.” Gerard spoke up.
“Did he?”
“No. We left before that could happen.”
“We gotta do something about it man. Seriously. It’s getting worse; who knows what could happen if things got bad enough?”
“I’ll be fine. I don’t need any help.” Gerard grunted.
“Gee, Mikey’s right. For now it’s just black eyes and bruises. But wait till’ it gets to broken bones and internal bleeding.”
“I don’t want you getting involved in my stupid issues.”
“They’re not stupid Gerard!” I protested. “And neither are you. I just want you to be happy.”
“If you really wanted me to be happy, you wouldn’t have rejected me this morning.” He snapped, and got up and stormed out.

Mikey stared after him, before turning to me.

“What’s that all that about?”
I sighed. “He kissed me this morning.”
Mikey grinned. “Did he now?”
I looked at him seriously. “Mikey, I’m with Frank!” I snapped.
“Gerard really cares about you Jackie; just know that.” He said, seemingly unaffected by my temper. “Go talk to him.”

I thought on it for a moment, before deciding he was probably right and getting out of my chair. I found Gerard just outside, leaning against the wall; smoking.

“Gee . . .” I said, walking towards him. “I’m not saying I’m gonna be your girlfriend. But Gerard, I do want you to be happy, and if I can help stop your Dad from beating you, well… That’s a start I suppose.”

He still didn’t look at me, dropping his cigarette to the ground and dousing it with his foot. He looked at me, expressionless, before walking towards me and pulling me into his arms, probably a little too tightly, but I didn’t care.

“Okay, I’ll let you and Mikey help me.” he said, kissing my hair. “For you.” He sighed, breathing in my scent.
I leant my head against his chest and closed my eyes. “That’s all I want.”