It Started With A Dare

[[Gerard’s P.O.V]]

“Are you sure?” I asked Cassie, letting my jeans fall to the floor as I stepped out of them.

“Relax, you’ll do fine, as long as you don’t insult Bob’s cooking.” I heard her voice say through the phone, pressed between my shoulder and my ear as I tugged on a clean pair of black skinnies, searching through the pile of laundry on my floor for a shirt that didn’t smell too bad.

“I know, I know, you can’t blame me for being nervous though.” Picking up a shirt, I dared to sniff it, cringing at the smell and chucking it behind me as I carried on my search.

“You’ll be fine. I’ll see you later then, you’ll be here at six, right?” She clarified.

“Yeah, six, I’ll see you then. Bye sugar.”

“Bye Gee.” I grinned as she hung up, tossing my phone onto my bed as I found a misfits shirt. It passed the sniff test, but just to be on the safe side, I sprayed it with Febreeze before I pulled it over my head. I had about half an hour before I had to be at Cassie’s; she’d invited me over for dinner yesterday, how could I say no?

I shuffled into my bathroom, quickly running a hand through my hair to tame it somewhat and brushing my teeth, again. After I was satisfied with my appearance, I went back to my room and picked up my leather jacket, shrugging it on. I patted myself down, feeling something in the jacket pocket. My hand closed around a packet of cigarettes, my fingers itching to pluck one out and light up. But I couldn’t; I was trying to quit, for Cassie.

My feet carried me up the stairs of the basement, out into the hallway and through to the living room in hopes of finding my car keys. Mikey was sat with his feet up on the sofa, watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“Mikes, you seen my keys?” I asked him, picking up cushions on the other sofa, searching beneath them.

“Hmm, showered, clean clothes, and is that … aftershave?” Mikey observed, a smirk slowly making its way onto his face “Are you going on a date?” He asked, disbelievingly.

“Fuck off.” I mumbled half-heartedly, continuing my search.

“So it is a date!” Mikey exclaimed, the smirk on his face widening.

“It’s not a date, its just dinner.” I corrected him.

“Whatever dude, you don’t clean up like that just for dinner.” He pointed out.

“Can we just drop it?” I asked him.

“Sure. Oh, and here,” He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out my car keys “I borrowed ‘em when you were sleeping, Alicia needed a ride.” He added.

“Thanks,” I said as I took them from him. “Tell mom I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“’Kay, see ya.” He mumbled his reply, eyes fixated back on the TV screen. I nodded to no one in particular, patting myself down once again to make sure I had everything I needed, I then walked out into the hallways. I checked myself in the mirror hanging next to the front door, making a face at my reflection, receiving the same look back before shuffling out of the house and into my car.

It took shorter than I’d have liked to get to the Bryar’s household, not nearly long enough for me to have built up the nerve to look Bob in the eye again. Almost reluctantly, I turned off my car engine and climbed out, stepping carefully up the path to the front door where I rang the doorbell, hearing the muffled tune play from inside.

Moments later, the door swung open, revealing Bob stood in the doorway, looking stern as ever as his eyes bore into me, scrutinising. I kept my gaze on my chuck clad feet for a while before daring a glance at Bob, his face now blank but his stare still intense.

Feeling awkward as ever as my eyes darted everywhere to avoid Bob’s, I began to ramble. “Bob, I-I n- I never meant-”

“Gerard, shut up.” Bob snapped, cutting me off. I looked up at him cautiously, focusing on his shoulder instead of his face. Shocking me, he then held out his hand for me to take, and when I did, he pulled me into a hug. My eyes widened but I put my arm around his back nonetheless, gripping him back.

“I missed your awkwardness, Way.” Bob mumbled as he pulled away from our very manly embrace, shifting his eyes away from me, as if he was embarrassed.

“Ditto, Bryar.” I responded with a half smile. He returned it before glancing behind him, hearing a pair of feet come bounding down the stairs, Cassie’s form soon coming toward me. I tried to balance myself as she threw her arms around my neck in a tight hug, my arms moving to her waist to hug her back. She then pulled back slightly, leaning up to press her plump lips against mine, kissing me softly.

Bob soon cleared his throat, making us part reluctantly “Dinner should be ready soon, you wanna play some Black Ops?”

“Sure.”



“C’mon, dude! You can’t play for shit!” Cassie commented as my and Bob played, fingers moving frantically at buttons on the controller.

“Hey! Shut up!” I murmured, playfully elbowing her, feeling her shove me back.

After a while, and a lot of losing on my part, she finally erupted “Ugh, gimme that!” Her small hands snatched my controller from my own as I gaped at her, shocked. Still stunned, I sat back and watched as she won me the game, causing Bob to grumble, sounding a bit peeved.

“See? This is why you need me around.” She stated with a satisfied grin, yelping slightly when I jabbed her playfully in her side. Bob simply watched us, the smallest of smiles tugging at the corners of his lips.