I Won't See You Tonight

After our talk, Brian, Gloria and I made our way to the kitchen for breakfast. As Brian prepared his specialty of bacon and eggs, I set about replacing the vases with my new bouquets of flowers, and Gloria busied herself by sifting through our vast collection of CDs. As I moved to the kitchen to find a more appropriate vase for Brian's flowers, the opening chords of My Chemical Romance's Welcome To The Black Parade began to ring through the house. Brian and I began to laugh as our daughter skipped into the room, singing along with Gerard at the top of her lungs.

"One thing is for sure, you raised her up to have a pretty sweet taste in music," Brian laughed, spinning Gloria in circles and singing along with her. I laughed and continued to space the flowers throughout the house. As I finished, Brian called me into the kitchen for breakfast. Throughout the meal, Brian and I made eye contact, our faces displaying the same emotions.

This feels so unbelievably right...

After we finished eating, I took all the dishes to the sink to wash them, as Brian took Gloria outside to play with her new puppy she still had yet to name.

Nearly an hour after they had went out, Gloria came rushing inside the house bawling, with Brian running after her, calling her name. She quickly dashed into the bathroom and locked the door, preventing either of us from getting in. I spun around to face him.

"What the hell did you do?!" I attempted to speak quietly, in case Gloria was listening.

"I didn't do anything, I swear. I told her that I had to leave for a bit to bring some of my stuff here. My guitar, some clothes, enough that I could live here for a few weeks without having to worry about going back. And she started screaming that I was leaving her again, and wasn't coming back," his voice dripped with sadness and regret as he finished. I suddenly felt horrible for not listening to his side before jumping to conclusions.

"It's okay Bri, she's just scared you're going to leave again. You didn't do anything wrong. I think it's a good idea you go pick up what you need to live here comfortably. I know how much you always hated playing my guitar," I added on, hoping to raise a smile out of him. Hugging him for a few seconds more, I got up and lightly knocked on the door, asking Gloria if I could come in and talk. After a few minutes of coaxing, I finally got her to unlock the door.

I stepped into the room and sat on the floor, pulling her into my arms.

"Baby girl, you don't have to be sad. Your Daddy is just going to be gone for a few hours. He'll be back before dinner," I explained, hoping to calm her down.

"You promise?" she sniffled, trying to control her sobs. I just hugged her tighter to my chest.

"I promise sweetie. He'll be back before you know it. And he's still here, do you want to go give him a proper goodbye?" I asked, hoping to cheer her up a bit. She quickly nodded her head and wrapped her arms around my neck as I packed her into the living room, where Brian sat with his head in his hands. I quietly set Gloria down, and watched with a smile as she made her way to Brian, and pulled his hands away from his face, and threw her arms around his neck, smashing her small body against his muscular one. After he recovered from the initial shock, Brian's arms engulfed our daughter as he promised her he would be back soon, and that he would never ever leave her again. After she was convinced Brian would return to us that night, Gloria let go and ran upstairs to her bedroom, most likely to color him a picture for when he returned.

As I watched Gloria climb the stairs, two arms snaked around my waist, and a head came to rest on my shoulder. I turned my head to look at Brian, who gave me a sad smile. I turned in his embrace to hug him back, as his grip on me tightened. I buried my head into his shoulder, feeling much of the same fear Gloria had felt minutes early, though I knew it was irrational. This time, Brian would be returning home.

As we pulled away, Brian surprised me by placing a chaste kiss on my lips, smirking when his actions caused me to blush. With one final goodbye, Brian was out the door.

**Three hours later**

After I put Gloria down for a much needed nap, I decided to take a shower, hoping to relieve the built up stress from the last few days. As I stepped out of the shower, I heard commotion in my bedroom. Quickly running a towel through my hair, and throwing on the clean clothes I brought in with me, I walked into my bedroom to find Brian tearing apart my room, haphazardly packing my clothes and my other belongings into suitcases laid out on my bed.

"Brian, what on Earth are you doing?" I questioned as he moved around my room at inhuman speeds. He never spared a glance at me as he replied.

"It's too much to explain right now, but you and Gloria are not safe here, so you're both coming back with me. You've been granted permission. But we need to leave now. Take the empty suitcase from the bed and go pack up anything Gloria will need. I'll be in once I finish," he replied hastily. Terrified, I grabbed the suitcase and ran to Gloria's closet, throwing clothes and books and other activities to keep her occupied. As I was finishing, Brian came in and grabbed the suitcase, loading it into the bed of our truck. I grabbed a still-sleeping Gloria, and ran into the living room, looking for any last belongings we needed. After I was satisfied we had everything we needed, Brian and I climbed into the truck, with Gloria still curled in my arms, and headed to Mount Vergina.

We've faced 'em down, fought bigger fights
I know babe, we're gonna be alright...