Stay With Me

I followed Mikey to the front door of his house. His keys jingled as he unlocked the door. We stepped inside and took off our shoes, setting them on a mat by the door. He turned to look at me.

“His room’s upstairs, third door on the left,” he said quietly. I nodded and started towards the stairs. “Hey.” I turned to look at him. “Thank you.” I nodded again and headed up the stairs. I passed Mikey’s room, the bathroom, and their parents room before coming to Gerard’s room. The door was slightly ajar. I knocked, and waited for a reply.

“Come in.” I pushed the door open, and he looked up at me. “Um, hey?”

“Hey,” I replied, unsure of how to go about this.

“Can I help you?” He asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Um, yeah. I have a project… For art. And, I am terrible in that class. Mikey said you might be able to help me,” I lied. He raised a brow before shrugging.

“Sure, come in. Shut the door, though.” I stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind me. “You can have a seat,” he said, motioning to the bed. I took a deep breath and exhaled quietly, walking over to the bed. I sat next to him. “So, what’s the project on?”

“Oh, it’s about finding something that makes a statement about something that you regret from your past.” I felt the urge to hit myself when I heard how stupid that sounded. He looked at me.

“I see… Well, I don’t really know what I could do to help you. That’s for your past, and I don’t know anything about you. I don’t even know your name, girl,” he laughed quietly.

“Taylor, but I really have no idea how to even begin this project…” I replied, trying to sound desperate. He nodded slowly.

“Well, Taylor, I’m Gerard, as you probably know. Nice to finally learn your name. Anyway, what do you say we go get some coffee and discuss this little project of yours?” I nodded, and watched as he jumped off the bed. “Well, I have to put on some day clothes. So, if you wouldn’t mind…”I felt my face burn and nodded, getting off the bed. I walked over to the door. “I’ll be down soon.” I nodded, leaving the room and shutting the door behind me. I headed back downstairs and Mikey was in the kitchen, making God only knows what. He looked up at me and stopped.

“So, how’d it go?” He asked eagerly. I shrugged.

“Well, I apparently have an art project that I needed help with. So, we’re going to go get some coffee and discuss it.” He smiled slightly. “I remember you mentioning that he was an aspiring artist, so it was the first thing I could think of.” He nodded.

“It was a good one,” he agreed. “I can’t thank you enough. He hasn’t even left the house during the day in months.”

“Ah, that’s why he’s so pale.” He laughed.

“Yeah, I guess that’s why. We’re part Italian, so if he actually got out more, he’d be really tan,” he explained. I nodded slowly. A few minutes later, Gerard came downstairs.

“You ready?” He asked me. I nodded, walking over to the front door and quickly putting on my shoes. “Alright. Mikey, I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Alright, no hurries.” Mikey waited till his back was to him before smiling widely at me, mouthing “thank you” a million times. I nodded and opened the front door. We started down the sidewalk, and he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He took one out, and offered the pack to me.

“Thanks,” I said, removing one from the pack. He handed me a lighter.

“So, I guess, if you’re going to need my help, I’m going to have to know some things about you.”

“Such as?” I asked, taking a drag. He just shrugged. After a couple of minutes, he spoke up.

“Well, I’ll need to know something that you regret, so that I can have an idea of how you could make that kind of statement.” I nodded slowly. We approached the coffee shop, and I followed him inside. We both went and ordered. Once we got the coffee, we sat down at a booth. “Well?”

“Well what?” I asked, taking a sip of the scalding hot drink. He raised a brow as my eyes watered.

“Well, one might regret drinking coffee that’s too hot,” he smirked at me. I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, shush. Anyway, there are a few things I had in mind…”I began to think of all the things I regret from my past. “I guess, the thing I regret most was not being able to save my little sister.” I felt a wave of emotion sweep over me, guilt stabbing me in the chest, as I remembered Emily.

“Oh,” he said quietly. “Well, that could really be something to work with. What happened, if you don’t mind my asking.” I closed my eyes, and tried not to let him see me cry.

“We were both playing outside, and she… She… Um… She was chasing the cat… And, I saw a car flying around the corner… Then, I looked over towards her, and she was running across the road, and before I could even warn her, they hit her. I saw her hit the pavement. I screamed for my parents. I ran over to her, and I wish that I hadn’t. I will never, “I choked. I took a deep breath. “I will never forget how she looked. How helpless she looked…”He nodded understandingly.

“We don’t have to talk about this anymore…”He said, gauging me for a reaction. I wiped away a tear and nodded. “Well, that’s definitely something that could make a beautiful piece… Very dark and pained, but beautiful…”