My Father, My Brother

"Ahhhhhh." I sighed, sinking into the hot, bubbly water. I leaned my head back against the back of the bath and completely relaxed myself. I didn't plan on staying in here long as we'd ordered pizza and I wanted to be downstairs when it was delivered. A knock on the door made me jump slightly.

"Hey El when you're out I want a word with you." Frank said quietly through the door. I gulped and sank down a little.

"I'll be right out." I knew what it would be about. After washing myself and my hair as slowly as possible, I got out, dressed into my pyjamas and a hoodie, and met Frank in the room he was sharing with Mikey. He was leaning against the wall with his eye brows raised at me. He motioned for me to sit on the edge of the bed and I did, fiddling with my hands. He crouched down in front of me.

"So you gonna tell me why you were kissing a boy you barely know right in front of us?" He asked. He didn't sound angry and that worried me a little.

"I do know him, and because he kissed me. I couldn't just push him away."

"You're fourteen years old! Too young to be going around and kissing boys like that!"

"You're talking as though I do it all the time. If you must know, he was my first kiss." Frank sighed, running his hand through his hair. He looked up at me with searching eyes, but I don't know what he was looking for.

"Ellie, we're not going to be in the UK forever. I don't want you falling for this kid for you never to see him again."

"I'm not falling for him dad. He's just a nice guy and nice guys are rare!" He sighed again, this time in, what I suspected was, defeat.

"Be careful Ellie." He ruffled my wet hair and went back downstairs, and I followed him once my hair was acceptably dry. Laura grinned at me as I joined everyone and sat on the floor beside Gerard and Pringle; Laura's brown and white springer spaniel who licked my cheek as I sat next to her. Frank was on the couch with her other dog; a dalmation and golden retriever mix called Lupo. He didn't leave much room for Ray and Bob who were on that couch with them. Mikey was in a bean bag beside Laura's arm chair. I was in luck, the pizzas arrived just at that moment. Everyone chipped in to pay as Laura answered the door. Everyone faded into their own little conversations while we were eating so I just ate quietly until Laura came and sat beside me.

"It must be hard huh? Touring with these guys but having to hide every step of the way." She took a bite of her pizza slice.

"You don't know the half of it." She half smiled at me sympathetically.

"Why don't you just stay here until they pass on the way back? They're only here for a few more days right? Well I have three spare rooms for a while for you to choose from." I was a little taken aback by her offer. She was technically a stranger. Although, she was also family.

"I couldn't impose!" I insisted, feeling guilty.

"Don't be silly, you'd be no trouble at all. It'd be nice to have some human company." She said, smiling at her dogs.

"She's always trouble." Gerard grinned, winking playfully at me. I childishly stuck my tongue out at him.

"What you girls talking about?" He sat beside us and made a little triangle.

"I was just saying Gee, if Ellie wants a break from the tour, a break from hiding away and all that jazz, she could stay here for a few days and you could pick her up on the way back to the airport." Gerard's eyebrows furrowed and he looked questioning.

"I don't know Loz, I mean, you'd really wanna look after a teenager for a few days?"

"She's family Gerard."

"Would you like to Ellie?" I thought for a moment. I didn't really know Laura, but Rhyland lived relatively locally so I could spend a few days with him...

"If you'd like you could always go out and explore the place for a while. I wont keep you trapped in here." That sealed the deal.

"Okay, thank you." I smiled shyly. She grinned at me and welcomed me to the house for the next few days. I pulled my cell out of my hoodie pocket and started to text Rhyland.

"Hey! I'm staying with my second cousin for a few days and she lives kinda local to the venue from last night. Where's the nearest Starbucks we could meet? If you're still up for it of course." Obviously, it didn't take him long to text me back.

"Of course I still want to meet you! I'm lucky whenever I'm in your company ehehe. If your cousin can give you directions, there's a Starbucks in the main centre, on Brookland Street. It's easy to spot cause of the sign outside."

"I'll meet you there at say, noon?"

"I'll assume that's 12pm aha, sure thing. I'll see you there." I smiled at my phone absently, then tucked it back into my pocket.

*Time Elapse*

That night, Gerard and I were in the smallest guest room. He'd insisted I took the single bed while he had an air bed and sleeping bag on the floor. I tossed and turned for a while, not used to the excitment and anxiety of meeting a boy.

"So... You kissed that guy huh?" Gerard whispered from the floor. I leant up on my elbow and looked over the edge of the bed at his black silhouette.

"What?"

"Frank told me. Don't worry I'm not gonna kick his ass or anything." I could hear the small smile behind his voice.

"Are you mad?"

"No. I'm a little disappointed because you're so young, but I have absolutely no room to talk. I was only a year older when I had my first kiss."

"Who was your first kiss? What was it like?" I lay down on my side, my arm hanging over the edge of the bed while I looked at Gerard in the dark.

"It was Frank, and it was magic. Like the world stopped and it was just us two. Although at the time it was. We were alone at Ray's house."

"So you've only kissed two people in your whole life?" I asked in disbelief. He let out a small laugh.

"No, I've kissed plenty of people, but Frank was just that first love, yanno?" I nodded in the dark, then realised he couldn't see me.

"Well no, I've never been in love but I've read about it and stuff."

"You're a regular little bookworm, just like your dad." Gerard laughed, referring to Frank. I grinned to myself.

"Speaking of which, did you pack your 'shut-the-hell-up's?" He laughed to himself again.

"Good girl for not using the F word, and yes I did, they're in the bus. So if you talk in your sleep I'm just gonna have to shut you up manually." I grinned in the dark and rolled onto my back.

"You're a bully Gerard Arthur Way."

"Good job this bully loves you."

"I love you too Gee Bee." He sat up and kissed my forehead.

"Goodnight sugar."

*Time Elapse*

"You behave yourself. No more tonsil tennis with the boys okay?" Frank smiled, dropping his over night bag to hug me.

"I will Frankie, have a good time, and text me everyday if you can; and please, look after my boys." I hugged the rest of the guys after him.

"Love you baby. Be good, and do as Laura tells you okay?" I nodded and smiled at him as they all boarded the bus. Gerard handed me my case with the rest of my clothes and stuff in.

They all waved goodbye from the door of the bus as it took off. Laura put her hand lightly on my shoulder and led me inside.

"Come on kid, we'll get your stuff in your room and I'll let you explore." We dropped my case in my room, the same on I shared with Gerard last night, then I asked her for the directions to the Starbucks Rhyland told me about.

"Oh that's not far at all. When you leave this house, take a left to the end of the street, then turn right and carry on till you hit the city centre, only a five minute walk from here. Once you get to the centre walk to the bus station, don't worry you'll see it, then take a left just after that, and that's Brookland Street. The Starbucks is on the right hand side of the road." She wrote down the directions as she was telling me.

"Actually... I'll walk you there. There's a few things I want to pick up from the market and I could never forgive myself if you got hurt or lost." She went to grab her coat as I pulled on my red converse. She clipped the leashes on both of her dogs and handed Pringle's leash to me. We walked them to the city centre together. She took the leash off me and hugged me goodbye at the door to Starbucks.

"Please don't be home too late. Eleven at the latest okay? Cause that's the time your dads will be able to call and I want you home so they don't go mad at us for you being out, and be careful" I grinned up at her.

"Thanks Laura. I'll be careful." She handed me the paper with the directions on so I could find my way home again and said her goodbyes. Rhyland wasn't here yet, but I was a few minutes early so I went in and ordered myself a vanilla latte. He appeared five minutes later. He looked so cute. He was wearing a black leather jacket, black skinny jeans and a red scarf. He was still wearing his black beanie. He smiled shyly at me when I caught his eye. He ordered his coffee then came and sat with me.

"Hi Ellie. You look really pretty today." A flush of red coloured his pale cheeks. I smiled at him.

"You look pretty cute too." He grinned shyly and leaned forward to peck my lips briefly.

"When we're done here, you wanna check out the cute new little bookshop that opened down the road?" More than anything!

"Yes I do."

"Great! They sell some really rare books and stuff."

"I wasn't aware you were a reader."

"Yeah I love reading. Admittedly I mostly read comics, but I'm a sucker for a good book. I heard Gerard Way is planning on writing a comic."

"Yeah the Umbrella Academy." I said, before I realised that he hadn't announced it's name yet.

"How do you know that?" I froze for a second, thinking.

"Um, it was leaked on a website." I tried to relax and make myself look convincing. It must have worked, cause he bought it.

Half an hour later, we were wandering hand in hand through a cute and quaint little book store a few blocks down from Starbucks. The store smelt of old paper and it made me happy. Kind of like an old library. My heart lept when I found an old book of Shakespearian Sonnets. I had to buy it.

"You like Shakespeare?" Rhyland smiled as he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. I turned my head and nodded at him, kissing his cheek shyly while my head was turned.

"What's your favourite sonnet?"

"Sonnet 116. It's about marriage and love and I can really relate to it as my parents recently seperated and it just kinda gives me that bit of hope back that I lost."

"I'm sorry about your parents." He said quietly in my ear, making me shiver.

"Don't be. They're still close and I still see them both all the time." We browsed for a little longer, picking up another couple of books we both wanted to buy before heading to the checkout. They were cheaper than I thought. I hadn't quite worked out English money yet.

"So how long are you in town for?" Rhyland asked as we left the store, a little bell ringing as we left.

"Well I'm heading back to America in four days."

"So I might not see you again." He said quietly, a sad tone to his voice. I gave his hand a gentle squeeze and a small smile.

"Don't worry about that. I could be back, even if it's in a couple of years or so. We can still talk online and text each other and stuff. Don't worry about that now though, we have today, and that's all that matters right?" He nodded and brightened up a little.

"Come on sweetheart. I want to take you for lunch. I know a nice little place down a back street that do the most amazing chip butties."

"What on God's green earth is a chip buttie?" I asked, imagining buttered potato chips. I can't imagine how that would be nice.

"A chip buttie, you know, chips in a sandwhich?"

"You put chips in a sandwich?"

"Wow, the US and UK really are worlds apart.You wanna try one?" He smiled, leading me down an alley and into a warm cafe off to one side. I nodded and followed him to a booth where he sat closely beside me. We didn't wait long for a waitress to come to us as the cafe was near deserted.

"What can I get you kids?" She smiled, licking the end of her pencil and holding it to her paper, ready to take our order.

"Could I get two chip butties, and two bottles of sprite please? Oh, and some tomato sauce." I looked at him sideways as the waitress walked away.

"Tomato sauce?"

"Yeah, you know, ketchup?" My mouth made an 'O' shape in understanding. The waitress soon returned with our drinks and two plates of fries in a sandwhich.

"Oh! You guys call fries 'chips'! Now I get it!" I grinned, feeling clever. He laughed at me as he realised the mistake I had made and I blushed lightly with embarassment.

"So cute..." He muttered under his breath. I don't think he intended on me hearing it, but I did and I smiled to myself.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved. - William Shakespeare