Colder Than Ourselves.

After five minutes of convincing myself that this couldn't go too badly and getting Bandit out of her car seat, we all trudged up to my front door. We were met by my eager mother, her face dropping when she met Bandit's smiling one.

"Who is this, Robby?" She asked, shutting the front door behind us.

"Ma, this is Gerard, the guy who owns the comic book store in town, and his little girl, Bandit."

"Nice to meet you, Gerard." She said, attempting to smile again. "How old is your daughter?"

"I'm three!" Bandit squealed, jumping up and down.

Screams from upstairs poured down the stairs, making Bandit jump and crawl between Gerard's legs.

"Girls," My mother called, trying to sound as kind as possible. "would you please stop that, Bert has friends over!"

Suddenly, the screaming stopped and their bedroom door opened, all three girls peeking out to see what my mother was talking about. Katie pushed Mel and Rachel out of the way and flew down the stairs, a stupid grin on her face.

"Who is this?" She questioned, looking Gerard up and down.

I had to admit, he didn't look his best, but he still looked adorable. He had on black skinny jeans and a superhero hoodie on, making him look like a wild man, but damn did he look fine... in a totally straight way. Yeah, straight.

"This is my daddy!" Bandit answered, grabbing on to my leg now.

"Well, hello, daddy!" I heard Melanie answer from the top of the stairs.

My mom shot her an dirty look and she scooted back towards their room, bringing Rachel with her.

"Bert?" Bandit asked, tugging on my pants leg. "Why are there so many people here?"

"Bandit," Gerard began to scold.

"It's okay, Gerard." I laughed, picking her up. "These are all my sisters and my mom, Bandit."

She nodded, like she fully understood and waved. My mom smiled and began to loosen up, waving back to Bandit.

"I'm Katie," Katie began to introduce herself, then pointed to my other two sisters. "and that's Rachel and Melanie."

"Hi!" Bandit squealed, leaning towards Katie, her sign of wanting to be held by someone else.

Katie grabbed on to her cautiously, a nervous smile on her face. Before I knew it, Rachel and Mel were surrounding her, my mother included. They all gawked at her and made baby talk at her, while Gerard just looked on happily. I couldn't help but be happy, this all just seems so perfect.

The good time was interrupted by father and brother entering the door behind, a clear trace of irritation on my father's face.

"Edward, you're home!" My mother cheered, pushing us all out of the way so she could pay full attention to my dad. She always did this, especially when he seemed unhappy. It always made me feel uncomfortable, like only my father mattered to her, but I couldn't blame her. My father was a severe man and if things weren't perfect, he'd make them out to be that way no matter what.

"What is going on?" My father questioned, totally ignoring her.

"This is Robby's friend and his daughter." My mother kindly answered, showing them off.

"Does he go to school with you, Robert?"

"No, dad, he owns the comic book store in-"

Before I could finish, he cut me off with a stern look on his face. "Robert, did you just say comics?"

"Um, uh-" I stuttered as my father took a step towards me, my eyes on Gerard and Bandit the whole time.

"What did the church say about comics, Robert? They said that you weren't allowed to read them because they were against God!"

By the time he had finished, he had me pinned against the wall. I looked to my mother with an embarrassed, pleading face, almost begging her to do something. My brother had a smirk on his face while my sisters just looked away, trying to obey my father. He suddenly made a sharp turn towards Gerard, making him jump. Although I couldn't see his face, I could feel the coldness from him.

"You need to leave, I will not have your evil intruding in to my house!" He shouted before he turned and stalked off towards his office.

No one spoke a word and we all just kept looking at the floor until Gerard suddenly picked Bandit up, dramatically making his way to the door.

"Gerard, wait!" I pleaded, chasing after him. "He didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry!"

He ignored me, clearly upset by what had just happened, but I wasn't going to let him go that easily. Bandit began to cry as Gerard began to harshly load her in to her car seat, his anger, or some sort of emotion, seeped out of him.

"Daddy, let me hug Bert bye!!" Bandit cried as Gerard closed the door. When he turned away from her, I was faced with his harsh glare. He didn't keep eye contact with me for long, but instead moved his gaze to the ground.

"Move, Bert." He growled, pushing passed me.

Tears came to my eyes and I angrily followed him around to the driver's side of the car, slamming the door when he began to open it.

"What the fuck?" He asked, turning to me.

"You're really asking me, Gerard? You're the one with all the issues!" I spat, stomping my foot. My mother had come outside by this point, attempting to hush us and stop the fight.

He looked like he had been slapped in the face and at that moment, I felt no better than Lindsey but he had to know that I just couldn't let him go like that. His breathing got labored and I saw a thousand tears well up in his eyes, making me feel even worse. I wrapped my arms around him, giving him the best hug I could, and let him breakdown on me. My mother wore a sad expression and just looked at both of us, not sure which side she should be on.

"It's okay, Gee." I soothed, rubbing his back. "I shouldn't have said that to you, I was such a bitch to you right there."

"N-no, it's what I needed to hear, it's the truth. I was horrible to you and Bandit just now, I was no better than that woman that ruins my life every second she gets." He sobbed, clutching on to me.

"Robby," My mother began, looking up at the house. "we need to go inside, before you get in trouble with your father."

I just looked at her, angry that she didn't understand the situation. Over the past week, Gerard and Bandit had become my favorite people in the world. I couldn't imagine my life without them now, they were the only people that understood me and didn't think I was a complete outcast or failure or what ever else my religion had defined me as. Gerard pulled away and took a deep breath, turning to look at an upset Bandit.

"I-I better go anyways, I need to apologize to Bandit and get stuff ready for the shop." He whispered, running his hands through his hands.

I reached towards him and hugged him once more, this time whispering in his ear. "Things will work out for us, Gerard, I promise. You have my cell number, text me or something tonight."

He looked at me, a curious expression on his face. I just pretended to look disappointed and turned to walk up the sidewalk with my mother, giving my "final" wave to Bandit.

Once I was inside, I was faced with my father, he had sent everyone else to their rooms while I was outside.

"Edward, things are settled now, the boys terminated the friendship, there's no need to yell at Robby." My mother pleaded, grabbing on to his arm.

He didn't look away from me though, only giving a swift nod and a harsh, "We'll see how things turn out from here and then we'll decide what he needs."

I choked on my own breath and ran towards my room, needing to get away from him before I started crying. It felt like I had just broke up with a long time lover, not someone that I had just met barely a week ago. When I reached my room, I closed the door and crashed on to my bed and buried my face in my pillows, letting my tears burn against my skin.

I wasn't sure how long I had been laying in bed, totally unaware of my surroundings, when I suddenly heard my phone vibrate in my pocket. My heart rose when I looked and saw one new message from a number that I didn't recognize.

All the message said was, "Hey, its me, Gerard."

I smirked and swiftly replied. "Hi Gee, are we okay now?"

buzz"Of course we are, I'm sorry for being such an ass earlier, I just.... I dunno, I felt totally out of control with myself and this situation."

I groaned to myself and thought of how horrible my dad was, taking a few minutes to answer him. "No, I'm sorry, it was complete bull. Did you put Bandit to bed yet?"

buzz "Yeah, she was just as exhausted as I am... She asked me to tell you goodnight."

I giggled at Gerard's obedience to that little girl. "Tell her that I said it too, I miss her so much."

buzz "Lindsey's home and I wanna take a walk, wanna risk it and come with me?"

"Of course! ;-)" I replied quicker than I ever had before and listened to what was going on in my house. My parents and siblings had gone to bed a long time ago and I was the only thing alive at that moment, making me thankful that everyone else was so obedient.

buzz "Okay, Bert, meet me at the burger place?"

"Deal."

I quietly walked down my stairs and out my back door, booking it towards the burger joint. My anticipation to see him grew in my chest and sent an overwhelming feeling in my body. I walked up the doors of the restauraunt to see Gerard sitting inside at a booth, all by himself. Shoving all my emotions aside, I hurried over to him and sat down eagerly.

"Hey Gee," I whispered, reaching for my napkin instantly, needing something to play with.

"Bert," He breathed out, a simple smile across his face.

"Gee, don't. Let me start first, please. First off, I'm so sorry for my Dad..."

He reached for my hand and I jumped a little, his touch sending electricity throughout my body.

"Don't apologize Bert, you couldn't help it, now how about that walk?"

I smiled and followed him outside, my mind going into mental overdrive. He opened the door for me and I could feel his eyes all over me, but I couldn't tell how they were taking me in. We walked south on the sidewalks and headed towards the park, not saying anything at first. Gerard hummed some song and totally acted like nothing had happened a few hours earlier, making me extremely nervous.

"What's wrong, Bert?" Gerard asked, moving closer to me.

"N-nothing, Gerard, I just, feel nervous for some reason..."

He put his arm around me, as though he was attempting to be comforting, but I felt that electrical feeling again. We stopped walking and I just looked at him, unsure about what to do.

"Bert, you're a good person, you know that?" He whispered, looking at the ground, taking his arm of me.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you know how many people stay away from me because of my situation, how many friends I've lost because I have to stay home with Bandit and not go out and party?"

Thoughts of a sixteen year old Gerard came in to my mind and how much he had to have changed since then plagued me, it was sad that such a gorgeoous guy had to live with such a wretched woman. Wait, did I say gorgeous? I meant hardworking, yeah, hardworking.

I didn't have much time to think before I felt Gerard's breath on my cheeks, "But, Bert, it means so much to me that you're so good with Bandit and that you want to spend time with me."

"Gerard," I began, being silenced by his lips gracing mine.

He kissed me softly and pulled away, clearly embarrassed.

"Bert, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"You're right, but is it wrong if it felt right?"

He looked at me, unsure of what I was asking, but all I could do was wrap my arms around him and feel at peace.