An Old Beginning

“So, how’d it go?” Frank asked later that night as he watched Gerard finish his beer. “I’m guessing not too good, since you’re here with me instead of curled up in a nice comfy bed with her.”

“It wasn’t exactly the way I had planned, Frankie-boy,” Gerard replied sullenly.

“I’m sure it didn’t go that bad.”

“She’s with someone else,” Gerard muttered, staring into the bottle.

Frank gave him a sympathetic look. “Man, that sucks.”

“Yeah,” Gerard said softly.

“Is it serious?”

“They’ve been together for a year,” Gerard replied. “That doubles the relationship I had with her, so I’m guessing…yeah.”

“Does she love him?”

Gerard finally raised his eyes to his friend. “Does it matter?”

“Is that a ‘no’?” Frank asked with a smile.

Gerard sighed, looking back to the bar. “She said she doesn’t believe in love anymore.”

Gerard's eyes flew up to look at his friend when Frank started laughing
uncontrollably.

“I didn’t think it was particularly funny, mate,” Gerard spat out.

“Gee, my man, you are so clueless,” Frank replied, controlling his laughter. “How long were you with this girl?”

“Five months,” Gerard responded skeptically.

“And this new guy has been in her life for a year?”

“Are you going to get to a point anytime tonight?”

“You said that she fell in love with you while you were together. Shouldn’t she feel the same thing for a man she’s been with even longer?”

Gerard's brow furrowed as he tried to decipher what his friend was saying.
“She was young,” Gerard muttered in response. “She was impressionable…she didn’t know if she was in love with me.”

“She’s young now, Gee,” Frank said with raised eyebrows. “That doesn’t mean she can’t understand who she wants to be with. You share a child together. You’ve been in love with her how long? And you’re just going to give up? You’re going to let another guy have her? What happened to the guy I knew who would fight for what he wants?”

“If she wanted to be with me-“

”She would what? Come running back to you with open arms? Gee, you told me what happened. You broke up with her and then you rejected her. Do you
really expect her to risk coming back to you and getting hurt again? You’re going to have to make the first move. Call the girl and talk to her.”

“And ask what?” Gerard asked, losing his temper. He couldn’t control anything about the situation and it was eating away at him.

“Ask her to meet you. Get her someplace that has a lot of memories for both of you.”

“That would be my classroom in the high school,” Gerard replied, finally cracking a grin.

“Okay, that was way more information than I needed to know.”

Gerard chuckled before responding. “Truthfully, it would be on my desk…lots of good memories on that desk.”

“You’re killing me here, Gee,” Frank replied, shaking his head before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cell phone. “It’s stillearly…call her,” he insisted firmly.

Gerard took a deep breath as he picked up the phone, staring at it for a long moment before finally dialing her number. He gave Gunn a nod as he stood up, walking out of the bar to get some more privacy.

“Hello?”

“Nae.”

“Gerard? Is something wrong?” Naomi asked nervously.

“Can I see you tonight?” he asked quietly.

“I…I don’t know, Gee.”

“Please, Nae,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he leaned his head against the brick wall. “Come by the house later.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” she whispered.

“I just want to talk about Mikey.”

“What about him?”

“Please, Nae,” he repeated, his voice taking on a needy quality that was very unlike him. “I need to see you.”

Naomi stayed quiet for a moment, obviously thinking about it. “Okay,” she said softly. “Give me an hour…I’ll be there.”

Gerard breathed a sigh of relief as a smile briefly fluttered on his lips. “Thank you, sugar.”

----------
Ta-da. Now this is the last update of the night. No asking for more! I find it hard to say no to you damn people!