My Way Home is Through You

The week passed by slowly, my mom usually remained in her room reading or she would come downstairs to watch a movie with Gerard and I. It took about two hours for Gerard and me to convince my mom to come to the Way’s for Christmas dinner. Currently I was sitting on my mom’s bed trying to get the corner of the wrapping paper to turn out right.

Two slender hands reached out from beside me and grabbed the present I was trying to wrap; my mom’s fingers expertly folded and taped the present. She passed it back to me with a small smile.

“Thanks mom,” I said and gave her a hug.

“You’re welcome,” She said and got up from the bed slowly, “Now that you and Gerard are forcing me out of the house, you need to help me find something to wear.” She said as she opened the closet door.

“How about that nice black skirt of yours and the red sweater,” I suggested as I got up from the bed and pulled the articles of clothing from the closet. I held them out to her and she smiled approvingly.

“Now you better go get changed, they’re expecting us to be over there soon.” She said as she grabbed the clothes from me and shooed me out of the room. I laughed as she closed the door on me and I walked over to my room.

I already had a few outfits picked out but I wasn’t entirely sure which one I was going to wear. I looked at the clothes that were placed on my bed and decided that I was going to wear the black dress pants. Then I grabbed the white shirt that had flared three quarter length sleeves and tied in the back, it was a comfy shirt but also looked dressed up but also casual. I quickly changed and put the final touches on my hair, I decided to leave it curly.

“Are you ready?” I heard my mom say through my door.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” I said, I took one final look in the mirror and nodded approvingly. I opened my door and saw my mom standing there. She looked absolutely beautiful, the skirt that I told her to wear flared perfectly and showed of her legs, and the red sweater hugged her curves just right and the v-neck dipped just enough. “Mom, you look great.” I said. I could see the colour rise to her face.

“You’re just saying that.” She said as she passed me the bag full of gifts.

“No really mom, you look amazing.” I said as we both started to go downstairs. I remembered the desert my mom and I had spent all day making, they were mini cheesecakes. “Don’t forget the desert.” I said as I slipped on my jacket and boots.

“Oh right,” My mom’s face lightened up and she ran to the kitchen to retrieve the desert. She came back with the tin foil covered tray. I smiled as I pulled open the door and we both stepped out. I locked the door behind us. It had stopped snowing earlier; it was only a few inches so it wasn’t that bad to walk on the sidewalk. I looked around the neighbourhood and I could see a lot of people were eating dinner, or kids were outside building snowmen. The moon was covered by a cloud; it was probably going to snow later on.

We finally reached the Way’s house and I rang the doorbell. Mrs. Way answered the door and ushered my mom and me into the house. She gave me a quick hug and then pulled my mom into one. They both walked to the kitchen and I followed behind, I knew the guys were downstairs but I didn’t want them to know I had presents yet. I spotted the Christmas tree in the living room and I slipped into room, I noticed that the guy’s parents were all sitting down having a drink or just talking. I smiled at them as I pulled the presents from the bag and placed them gently under the tree.

“My, you’re just like Santa Clause.” I heard someone say behind me, I looked up from where I was kneeling on the floor. I looked up and saw a boy, he looked to be about my age and he wore his hair in a similar fashion as Frank’s. “I’m Benji, Frank’s older brother” He said as he reached out his hand to help me up.

“Mackenzie,” I said as I accepted his hand, he was a lot stronger than he looked because it barely took any effort to pull myself up. “Why aren’t you downstairs with the guys?” I asked curiously. I also wondered why Frank never mentioned that he had an older brother, and why I haven’t seen him at school.

“I was thirsty, and then I saw you.” He said, I couldn’t help but blush at that. “Well shall we head back down; leave the adults to there boring chatter.” He said. I nodded, and he offered me his arm. I started to feel a bit uncomfortable with his forwardness; I ignored his arm and walked out of the living room and to the door that led to the basement. I prepared myself as I opened the door, a burst of yelling and laughter erupted from the basement and I smiled to myself. I hurried down the stairs with Benji on my heel.

“Mackenzie!” I heard Gerard yell and get up from the couch and run over to me, he wrapped his arms around me and picked me up from the ground. I started laughing, but soon he placed me back on the ground and pulled me into a kiss. He pulled away leaving me slightly light headed, he looked behind me and I could feel his body tense. I looked back and saw that he was looking at Benji.

“Gerard.” I heard Benji say; Gerard pulled me closer to him and laid a protective arm around my waist.

“Benjamin.” He said back. I could feel the tension building around us, I was thankful when Frank broke it.

“Merry Christmas Eve!” Frank ran over and wrapped his arms around me, pushing Gerard out of the way. I laughed as I hugged Frank back. “Come see what I got!” He said as he pulled away and grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the rest of the guys, I glanced back and saw Gerard glaring at Benji. I tried to ignore it.

“Wow.” Was all I could say when Frank and I made it to the middle of the living room. In front of me was a twister mat with Bob, Mikey, and Ray all their limbs tangled.

“Frank! Spin the thing already!” Bob yelled, I could see his right foot slipping from the red circle.

“Oh right!” Frank said, he flicked the arrow and it landed on right foot, green. He yelled out the instructions and I watched the three boys try and get their foot to the green circle. Finally Bob’s foot slipped and as he fell he took down Mikey, which also made Ray fall. Everyone started laughing, including Gerard and Benji. Gerard had slid his arm around my waist again, I looked over at Benji and saw him looking at Gerard’s hand from the corner of his eye. He must have noticed me looking because he turned and smiled. I smiled back.

“I have something for you.” Gerard leaned over and whispered into my ear.

“Gerard, you already got me something.” I said as I raised my wrist to show the bracelet. I hadn’t taken it off since he gave it to me.

“That was only part of it.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards his bedroom. We reached his door and he told me to close my eyes, I obeyed. I heard him open his door and turn on his light, and then I felt his hands grab mine, he led me into his room. He let go of my hands and said for me to keep my eyes shut, there was more movement and then it stopped. “Okay, open them.”

I opened my eyes and in front of me was a painting; it was of me and my mom. Tears built up behind my eyes, I could remember that day like it was yesterday. Me and my mom were at the park, I had just fallen down and she finished putting a band aid on my knee. We were both sitting by a tree and she was telling me a story.

“Gerard, it’s beautiful.” I said as I hugged him. “Thank you so much.” I kissed him softly on the lips; I could feel him smile into the kiss.

“I was so worried you wouldn’t like it.” He said as he pulled away.

“Why would you think that?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I just had a weird feeling.” I kissed him again, pulling my body as close as I could to him.

“Well, I love it Gerard. It’s absolutely stunning.” I hugged him again.

“It’s time to eat!” Bob yelled from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, hurry up in there.” Frank yelled.

“Frank! You’re gross!” Ray said and most likely hit him because I could hear Frank groan and start complaining. I laughed as I pulled open the door, all boys stumbled forward to try and catch their balance.

“Come on guys, let’s go eat.” Gerard said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me past Benji quickly. The guys stumbled behind Gerard and I as we made our way upstairs.

Once upstairs we sat at the table that was dubbed the kiddie table, which I didn’t mind. It was kind of nice because it was in the opposite room as the adult table, it gave us the freedom to talk about anything. I sat down at a chair and Gerard sat next to me on my right side, Frank was about to sit in the seat on my left side but Benji slipped into the seat before Frank even got a chance. Everyone finally chose a seat and we all began to eat.

I felt awkward with Benji sitting next to me because he would always ask if I needed something, or if I could pass him something that he could easily reach. He would stare into my eyes for a long period of time and when I did pass him something his fingers would brush against mine. Gerard noticed this and he would move his chair closer. I was getting frustrated with the way they were acting.

“I’ll be right back.” I announced and got up from the table. I had to get out of the room for a few minutes. I left the room and quickly went to the bathroom; I fixed my hair and decided that I should get back to the room. I made my way to the table but before I entered the room I could hear the guys arguing.

“Just stay way from her!” Gerard said in an angry tone.

“What are you afraid of Gerard? Afraid that she might come to her senses and realize how much of a loser you are.” I recognized that as Benji’s voice.

I took this chance to walk into the room, everyone looked up at me. “What the hell is going on?”