A Kiss Before She Goes

It was already the end of the year and Christmas was close by. Thanksgiving was spent at my house with everyone over and having a huge feast. We ate so much that the boys and I got food comas and passed out in my room. I woke up to all the boy’s scattered in my room. Frank and I are still good but I barely see him now. My dance and choir class were taking up most of my time afterschool. There was going to be a pep rally before vacation and I had to remember a new Christmas dance routine and practice a duet with Kyle by then. I was nervous as hell because it was going to be my first time performing in front of the whole school.

The day of the pep rally I was excused from all my classes and practiced all morning. I hadn’t seen any of the boy’s all day. I was pretty upset but once I knew today was over; things would go back to normal.

“Ready Anna?” Kyle asked me as we made our way to the basketball court.

“Yeah I guess so. Pretty nervous thou.” I chuckled.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll do great!” He wrapped an arm around my shoulder to comfort me. I sighed smiling knowing it was just nerves and everything will be okay. The pep rally was about to being and I was in the gym locker changing into my dance clothes. They were Ms. Clause short red dresses with white ruffles around the skirt and neckline. I could hear the band start to play and the principal talking to the students. After they called all the baseball, football, and basketball teams, we were up next. We took our place in the center court and I could hear loud whistling. I knew it was the boy’s. I grinned to myself as the music started to play.

The dance was five minutes long and when we finished the crowd went wild. I could see the boy’s standing up and cheering the loudest. I looked at Frank and he gave me a wink. I blushed and went back to the gym lockers with the rest of the dance team. I quickly changed into my normal clothes and met up with the choir. Kyle and I were going to mostly sing, the rest of the choir were the back vocals for the song. We took our place on the stage and the music started to play. We sang ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’.

When we finished everyone clapped and cheered for us. Again, the boys were the loudest, making me laugh. I had to stay with the choir class until the pep rally was over. I saw sitting next to Kyle talking to him, my phone vibrated. It was a text from Frank.

You were great babe! I can’t wait to finally be able to kiss you (;

I laughed to myself and wrote back.

Thank you Frankie. I can’t wait for that too ;D

The principal finished his speech and dismissed us. I said goodbye to Kyle and made my way to were the boys were seated. I was tackled to the ground by all of them in a dog pile. I had to gasp for air and yell at them to get off me. They all got off me and Frank helped me get up. He pulled me close to him and kissed me. I could have melted in his arms at that moment. I missed being with him.

“Bella you were amazing!” Gerard said giving me a hug.

“Yeah Anna Banana, I didn’t know you could move like that.” Bob said giving me a wink and hugging me. I blushed and laughed at him.

“And sing like that!” Ray said hugging me next.

“Seriously Anna Bell, you were great.” Mikey said smiling at me and hugging me last.

“Thank you guys. It means a lot to me.” We started walking out of the basketball court and made our way to Gerard’s car. We got to the Way’s house and watched TV. They had band practice and when they almost finished I went to go make dinner. As I finished dinner they came up on cue and set the table. We ate like usual but I could tell something was up. They kept glancing back and forth to each other.

I finally got fed up and asked, “What’s going on?”

They all looked at each other smiling and Gerard cleared his throat before he spoke. “We have some big news to tell you.”

“What?” I asked.

“We didn’t tell you sooner because you were busy getting ready for the pep rally and we wanted to tell you in person.” He paused smiling and I waited for him to spit it out. “We got a gig.”

My mouth dropped and I couldn’t breathe. They’ve worked so hard for this and they finally got it. I looked at Frank and hugged him. He laughed as he rocked me back and forth. I got up and tackled Gerard.

“Gee, I’m so proud of you guys!” I hugged all of them on the verge of tears. “When is it?”

“New Year’s day.” Frank said excited.

“Oh my God that’s like in a couple days!” I said shocked how quickly all of this was going to happen. I had to shop for Christmas presents and get mentally ready for this show. I was so excited.

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The next week school was already out and I was on a mission today to buy everyone’s gifts. I already bought gifts for my parents and grandparents. I also bought gifts to send to Natasha and the boys in Utah. I hadn’t really talked to them in a long time but I wanted to show them that I still think about them and I miss them. I borrowed my mom’s car and went to the mall. After a couple hours of looking I found gifts for Ray, Bob and Mikey. I couldn’t find anything for Gerard and Frank. I heard there were some stores outside around the mall and I decided to go check them out. I found a vintage clothing store and it looked really good. As I looked around I found a black leather jacket. I instantly knew it was perfect for Gerard. It was in his size too so I got it. I kept looking and found this beautiful red dress. It was vintage looking and I thought it would be perfect for the Christmas dinner we’re having. I went to the changing room and tried it on. It fit me like a glove so I decided to take it. Doesn’t hurt to buy something for myself. I went to the back of the store and saw some old guitars hanging on the wall. There was one that caught my eye. The store owner came up to me.

“Find anything you like?” He asked standing next to me.

“Yes, I would like to see that white guitar there.”

“This is a Gibson Les Paul guitar. It’s pretty new. A guy just came in and just dropped it off. Didn’t want it anymore.” I looked at it and saw only a few starches. I had a feeling Frank was going to love this.

“How much?” I asked happy.

“Well since there’s no case, strap and there’s some scratches, I say around $50.”

“I’ll take it.” I smiled handing him the money for the guitar, jacket and dress. I went home feeling happy with what I bought. I made sure to hide the guitar when I got home, just in case Frank was watching from his window. I quickly ran inside and began to wrap all the gifts up. For Frank’s I knew I couldn’t wrap it so I just put a red bow on it and hid it in my closet.

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It was finally Christmas Eve and my mother was already going crazy with the food. I got ready in the dress I bought at the vintage store with black sheer tights and high heels. I walked upstairs to help my mom cook food. She was making all her family’s recipes. The house smelled amazing.

“Sweetie you look beautiful.” My dad said kissing me on my forehead.

“Thanks dad. You look pretty good too.” He was wearing black formal pants with a white button up shirt and a black tie. His blonde hair slicked back and clean shaven. My mother looked amazing too. She had on a long white ruffle dress that hugged all her curves. She looked like an angel with her long black hair in a high ponytail. I made sure all the gifts were under the Christmas tree except Frank’s, of course. As I was decorating the last batch of Christmas cookies I heard the doorbell ring. My dad opened it and I instantly heard Ms. Iero’s laugh. In seconds Frank was in the kitchen by my side.

“Wow…” He grabbed my hand and made me spin around so he could see the whole dress.

I giggled, “Do you like it?”

“Like it? I love it!” He said pulling me towards him and kissing me quickly. “You look drop dead gorgeous.”

“Thank you. You don’t look half bad either.” I said grabbing the piping bag again and decorating the cookies. He looked really handsome. He wore a white button up shirt with a red tie, black skinny jeans and his black converse. He smiled and watched me decorate each cookie in silence. I saw his hand slowly creeping to one and I quickly smacked it away.

“Owe!” He pulled back his hand and rubbed it, pouting at me.

“No Frankie! You can’t spoil your dinner.” I said pointing my finger at him. He stuck his tongue out at me and left the kitchen to the living. “And don’t look through the presents either!”

“Aw man!” Frank groaned, making me laugh. Once I finished I joined Frank in the living room where he was watching Home Alone. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder when I sat down. An hour passed and the doorbell rang again. Frank got up and opened the door to see The Way’s. Ms. Way went to the kitchen were my parents and Ms. Iero were at. Gerard and Mikey sat down on the couch with us. By the end of the night Ray and Bob’s family had joined the party. We ate dinner and talked about the boy’s show. We were all proud of them and we knew they’d do great.

When it finally hit midnight, we started to open presents. My mom made me one of her water baths that I always love, my dad got me a professional camera, Gerard got me a cute polka dot dress, Mikey got me an apron that says ‘Kiss the Chef’, Bob got me pajamas with banana’s on them, Ray bought me a videogame of Zelda and Frank got me this beautiful gold red rose necklace with a matching ring.

I took off the necklace I was wearing and put on the one Frank got me. It looked good with my outfit. I gave all my presents to the guy’s and they quickly opened them. They all liked their presents too. Gerard instantly put on his jacket loving it. As I finished giving all the presents, Frank gave me a confused look.

“Don’t worry Frank I didn’t forget about you.” He smiled relieved. “It’s downstairs, I have to go get it but close your eyes.” He nodded his head and I went downstairs. I grabbed the guitar and went back upstairs but stopped at the top, hiding the guitar behind my back.

“Gee!” I yelled.

“Yeah?” Gerard responded.

“Cover his eyes! I know he’ll peak!”

“Ouch that hurts! Don’t trust me at all!” Frank yelled.

“Not when it comes this stuff like this.” I said laughing.

“Okay his eyes are covered!” Gerard yelled to me. I slowly walked to the living room receiving gasps and OH’s when they saw the guitar in my hands. I stood in front of Frank and signaled to Gerard to remove his hands from Frank’s eyes. As he removed his hands, Frank’s eyes slowly opened. It took him a second to realize what I got him but when he did, his eyes went big. He jumped up and tried to say something but nothing came out.

“Merry Christmas Frankie.” I softly said smiling at him.

“Rose…” He gently grabbed the guitar in his hands like it would brake if he was too rough. He examined the guitar with a big smile. “I can’t believe you got me this.”

“I saw it and I knew it was meant for you.” I said.

“Thank you Rose!” He snapped out of his shock and hugged me. He held me for a while and when he pulled away he kissed me quickly. Everyone busted out in ‘Awe’s’ making us blush.

“You better play me something later.” I said sitting down next to him.

“I’m going to use it for the gig!” He said smiling wide. I was happy he loved his present. Everyone stayed for a while until 1 AM and they all began to leave. I hugged and kissed everyone goodbye. Frank stayed behind, helping us clean up. When we finished cleaning up Frank and I went down to my room. We sat on my couch as I turned on the TV and he was still examining his new guitar.

“I’m happy you like it.” I said turning my body towards him.

“Rose this most of cost you a fortune!” Frank said setting down the guitar and looking at me worried.

I shook my head. “No don’t worry about it Frank. It didn’t cost that much.”

“You are simply amazing. I don’t deserve a gift like this.” He said pulling me to his lap.

“No you’re worth it Frank.” I said wrapping my arms around his neck.

“God, I’m so lucky to have you in my life.” He softly said smiling leaning closer to me and kissing me. He wrapped one arm under my knees and another one behind my back as he slowly lifted me up, bridal style. He walked to my bed and gently set me down with him still on top of me. Clothes came off and we were in utter bliss. When we finished he held me close to his chest and started to hum one of their songs. I instantly fell asleep feeling happier than I ever have in a long time.