You're Not in This Alone.

I turned quickly and headed off before they could see me crying a little. I got on the plane and took my seat. I slept through most of the flight. My neighbor woke me up right before landing. I went to wait for my stuff. I stood there waiting for my bag. When it finally came, I grabbed it, turned, and saw Gerard standing about twenty-five feet away. I waved and he came over, picked me up and hugged me.

“My baby’s back!” he said. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” I said before giving him a kiss. “So, how’d it go?”

“Pushy, pushy. Take a few to settle first. Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed my
hand. “How was it?”

“Good. Nick proposed to Tori last night. I helped plan it…” I explained it all to him.

“Awesome. Good for them.”

“How was it without me?” I asked as I stuffed my stuff in the car.

“We all missed you. I was lonely at night. Your mom missed you the most
though.”

“Ok I’m settled. What happened with Frank?”

“He cooled off for a week and got back to his old self. We all sat him down and
had a long conversation with him. We were there for three hours.”

“Wow. Well?”

“The thing with him is that he tries to act like a tough guy. He said that he didn’t
like you at first. He hated you up until that one day at school when you stuck up for him. He explained that whole thing. But since he wanted to keep his tough guy image, he never thanked you. He just ignored you.”

“And?”

“That’s about it. I’ll tell you the rest when we get home.”

“Hrm. You know how to frustrate me,” I grumbled.

He chuckled and we drove in silence. We got to my house and I walked in
behind him.

“Surprise!” everyone shouted. “Welcome home.”

“Holy crap you guys!” I said.

I gave hugs to everyone then went up to put my stuff away. I also got to thinking.
Everyone was there except Frank. I guess my vacation didn’t help at all. I sighed and someone cleared their throat behind me. I turned.

“Umm…hi, Frank,” I said.

“Hey. I wanted to talk to you.”

“Gee told me most of it.”

“About me being a tough guy?”

“Yep. Come on, sit.” I patted my desk chair.

“Yeah, after you stood up for me in front of those preps, I thought you weren’t so
bad. I just took me a while to get used to the change. I never knew what to say, so I just ignored you. I feel so damn bad now.” He hung his head.

I looked up and saw a select few by the door. I waved them away.

“You know what? Now that I know the truth, I can forgive you. How about we start
off now?”

He looked up at me.

“Friends?”

“Friends.” I got up and hugged him.

“Yay, we’re a big happy family!” Gerard shouted, barging into my room. “Group hug!” He hugged me from behind.

“Can’t…breathe…” I wiggled around and pushed my way out.

Frank left and I finished putting my stuff away.

“I’m glad to know my trip wasn’t a waste of time,” I said.

“I told ya he’d come around,” Gerard said, jumping onto my bed. “What now?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” he said in a sexy voice, pulling me towards him.

“Then let’s go back to the party.”

“You know how to frustrate me,” he said.

“Now you know how it feels. You’re so cute when you want some.” I messed up
his hair.

“Yeah? You’re always cute.” He spun me and pulled me to sit on his lap. “You know, my parents are gone for the weekend, and Mikey didn’t bring his house key.” He grinned and started kissing my neck.

“Yay! Sleepover! Let me get my jammies.”