You Give Love a Bad Name

"Bye!"

"Fly safe!"

"Call us as soon as you get there!"

"Come again!"

I stood a couple of steps away from Uncle Todd's family, who were mixed in with my own, hands buried deep inside my jacket's pockets, trying hard not to fall asleep as the tearful goodbyes were exchanged by both parties.

I felt like shit.

Not because my relatives were leaving - oh no, not at all, but because I was seriously suffering from lack of sleep. Why? I only slept three or so hours, due to the fact that when the merry family reunion ended around five o'clock in the morning and I staggered to bed with heavy eyes and a killer migraine, Valerie kindly woke me up two hours later, wanting to spend our last morning together, watching The Notebook.

I almost died right there and then.

Sappy movie when you're barely awake? Was she insane?

Actually...don't answer that...

So now, fifteen minutes till noon, here I was, sulking in the shadows and trying to keep my eyes open by imagining all the things I could do with the free time that I now had after the Thanksgiving madness came to pass.

Till the Christmas holidays began, anyway...

"Donna, we really need to go," Auntie Susan exclaimed heartily, hugging Mom once again and almost hitting Gerard in the face with her purse. "You don't want us to miss our flight, do you?"

"If it means that you can stay a little bit longer, sure we do!" Grandma replied, hugging Uncle Todd.

Gag me.

I had to make sure that my face kept perfectly still as I waited for my tedious relatives to go away, but every time I imagined Valerie enjoying a nice, relaxed sleep on the plane, my lips formed into bitter scowl.

"Lena!"

I lifted my head to see Valerie standing a couple of feet away, smiling at me with Mikey at her side. Knowing that I would have to do this sooner or later, I decided to get it over with. "Coming."

As soon I stepped close enough, Valerie threw her arms around me in a tight hug, whispering in my ear sweetly. "I'm glad we're friends."

"Yeah, me too," I replied, patting her back uncomfortably with my right hand.

"Aww, you guys are so sweet," I heard Mikey's voice somewhere in the background, and then I felt another person join our hug.

"Ugh, Mikey, get lost," I hissed, trying to nudge him away with my shoulder, but the little fucker just made his grip on me and Valerie tighter.

"GROUP HUG!"

Before I could run away, I felt a whale land on me.

Okay, so it wasn't a whale, but Gerard's not that much different, right?

Finally, after I was emotionally scarred enough to start having a midlife crisis, Valerie and her parents waved goodbye, stepped on the plane, and were gone.

"Lena, honey, are you okay?" Mom asked me on the way to our house, looking at me with concern in the rearview mirror as the car flew by blurry landscape of greenery, people, and houses. "You don't look so good."

"Um," I lifted my head from Mikey's shoulder, squinting Mom's profile with my tired eyes, "I'm fine, Mom. I just didn't get enough sleep today."

"Well, you can take a nice, long nap when we get home, sweetie."

"No she can't," Gerard interrupted his frantic texting that was going on for the last five minutes and smirked at me widely. "Frankie-boy is coming over. Can all of us bond with him, sis?"

"Gerard, go suck a co-"

"Lena!"

"Sorry, Mom."

Ignoring a disapproving look from Grandma in the passenger seat, I leaned my head back on Mikey's shoulder and closed my eyes, the sound of the traffic merging together into a soothing lullaby.

It seemed like five minutes later Mikey was shaking me awake and Mom was unlocking the front door to our house, mumbling something about too much rowdy relatives in a limited space.

I only had enough time to splash my face with some cold water and reapply my eyeliner before the doorbell rang and Frank was in my livingroom, chatting with Gerard and Mikey as he waited for me to come down.

"Hey, Frank," I smiled at my best friend warmly as soon as I saw his glowing face, "how are you?"

Without saying anything he grabbed me and swung me around, putting me down on my feet after I told him, through heavy peels of laughter, that he was going to make me throw up.

"Fuck, I missed you," he said, tilting his head and smiling at me. "Where do you want to go?"

"Where do you want to go?" Gerard mimicked from the living room in a high-pitched voice.

Ignoring my oldest brother, I shrugged. "Anywhere you want to go. I'm game for anything, really." Pause. "Frank, why are you looking at me like this?"

Frank was studying me with a concerned expression coloring his features, much like the one Mom had when we were driving back home from the airport. "Are you okay? You don't look that good."

I sighed and forced a grin to plant itself on my face. "Nah, I'm good - I just didn't get enough sleep with Valerie leaving and all." After seeing that he was unconvinced, I added hastily, "I promise that I'm fine. Really, Frank."

Frank opened his mouth to say something, but got interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing right next to us brining a sharp note in the otherwise still atmosphere.

"I'll get it," Mikey informed us in a singsong voice, stepping out of the livingroom with a comic book in his hand and a huge grin on his face. "It's Melanie."

"Fuck, it's so cold out there!" were Melanie's first words as she stepped inside, unwrapping her thick-knitted scarf from her slender neck. "It's like being in freaking Russia. Lena!"

"Melly!"

Emitting a really girly squeal that I would be ashamed of in different circumstances, I rushed towards her with my arms wide open. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too!"

"How was your Thanksgiving?"

"Boring. How was your family reunion?"

"Crazy! How was yo -"

"Excuse me," Mikey grumbled behind us, "this is the part where Melanie comes over and gives her boyfriend a big kiss."

"A bit desperate, Mikey?" Gerard called from the living room once again.

"Gerard, go fuck your boyfriend," Melanie yelled over her shoulder, but then turned to face me, her green eyes wide. "Shit. Is your Mom home?"

"Nah, she went to see Uncle Roger with Grandma a couple of minutes before Frank got here," I informed her with a small smile.

Frank looked at the our clock with impatience. "So -"

"Where are you guys going?" Melanie interrupted him with a happy grin. "We should all chill together! Call up Logan, Jake and Cara, you know? I'm sure Logan missed you," she added with a wink in my direction.

I almost rolled my eyes. "I bet."

Melanie gave me a 'look'. "I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, Lena."

I glanced at Mikey, who stood looking extremely bitter in the shadows, and then at Frank, who looked somewhat annoyed. "Um, it's not up to me, Melanie. Frank and I were supposed to go somewhere today."

Melanie turned to Frank with a wide eyes and big pout. "You don't mind, do you, Frankie? Wouldn't it be fun to hang out with all of us?"

He sighed in defeat. "I guess."

"But," Mikey started to protest, "Today was supposed to be -"

Melanie walked up to him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "There's always tomorrow."

Still grumbling, Mikey took Melanie's hand and started to make his way down to the basement, followed by me, Frank, and Gerard - who had nothing better to do as well.

Four hours later, as I we were on our third movie, I looked around the basement with a happy smile; absorbing the picture in front of me. I was sitting in between Logan and Frank on the couch, with Gerard beside Frank, while Melanie and Mikey were giggling about something in the lone loveseat in the room. Cara and Jake were sitting on the floor, hands entwined with each other.

Bob and Ray were here as well, after Gerard called them about our apparent 'horror fest'. Ray was on the beanbag chair, and Bob was on the floor, eating a bag of popcorn with ravenous hunger.

Even though I wanted to spend the day with Frank, I was glad that today turned out the way it did; I realized that I missed my friends like crazy. I missed how bossy Cara was, while still telling you what was best. I missed how Jake could make anyone laugh - even a grumpy old man. I missed how cool and calm Ray was, and how he made everyone feel good about themselves. I missed Bob's crazy antics, and how he raided my fridge. I missed Logan's laugh and how he was always trying to make me tell Frank about my stupid crush. I missed Melanie's ambitious nature and the way she was always on track, always outgoing.

I just missed them, period.

Thinking about how perfect the moment was, I fell asleep, listening to Melanie and Mikey's whispering, and Frank's even breathing beside me.