Touched by an Angel, Though I Fall Out of Grace

*November 17, 2004*
*Gerard's POV*

It was a Wednesday afternoon and I had been home from school for about an hour and a half now. Mikey and I were sitting in the living room, watching an episode of 'Batman' when the phone rang.

"I got it!" my mom called from the kitchen.

"'kay!" Mikey yelled back.

A few minutes had passed and then my mom came in from the kitchen with tears rolling down her face. She sort of collapsed into the nearest chair, crying.
"Mom, are you okay?" I asked, going to her side.

She didn't answer as her body wracked with loud sobs. I shook her and said, "Mom, answer me! You're scaring us."

"She's gone," my mom whispered. "Grandma just passed away a few minutes ago."

As I heard the words come out of my mother's mouth I went into denial. I started telling myself that it wasn't true. "No, she didn't." I said aloud. My mom nodded, silently answering me. I felt tears fall from my eyes as I shook my head. "NO!" I yelled, heading to the kitchen. I grabbed my dad's entire six pack of beer and headed to my room; I drank away my pain before passing out.

*November 19, 2004*
*Brittany's POV*

For the past two days, Gerard and Mikey hadn't been at school. The bell had just rang, signaling the end of the school day. I put away my sketchbook and pencils and waited on Damon. When he was ready to go, I led him out to the school parking lot. There I saw Ray, Bob and Frank getting into a blue car. I ran up to them as they were opening the doors.

"Hi, Brittany," Frank said with a half-smile.

"Hey. Umm, have any of you heard from Gerard or Mikey lately?" I asked.

Ray looked at me, confused. "Gerard didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Get in the car you two," Bob said, gettig into the driver's seat.

Damon and I got into the backseat with Frank and Bob started the engine before speeding out of the parking lot. The drive was silent and eventually we pulled up to a house and then I noticed Gerard's car in the driveway. We all got out and I followed behind the guys to the front porch as Ray rang the doorbell.

Mikey opened the door and I looked at him. His eyes were red and his face was slightly puffy. He drew in a breath and said, "Hey," before standing aside to let us inside.

"Where's Gee?" Ray asked.

"Down in his room," Mikey answered, sitting on the couch. Ray took my hand and led me through the house. When we reached a door, he said, "His room's down there; you should go talk to him."

I nodded and opened the door, then felt it close behind me. I flicked on the lights and then I heard, "Turn off the fucking lights." I turned and saw Gerard lying in bed, underneath the covers. I slowly made my way over to him and sat on the edge of his bed.

"I said turn off the fucking lights, God damn it!" He growled, sitting up. Gerard blinked and looked around before his eyes settled on me. "Brittany?"

"Hi," I said with a small smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you. Why haven't you been at school?"

Gerard was quiet for a long time and then he said, "She's gone." He started crying and I put my arms around him.

"Who's gone, honey?" I asked.

"M-my g-grandmother," he choked out.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry," I told him.

I removed my right arm and slid my Converses off my feet and moved to where I was sitting against his headboard. Gerard's head rested on my shoulder as I tried to console him. Fifteen minutes had passed before he had settled down and his bedroom door opened. The guys walked in and Ray gave me a look and I nodded.

"I got the music," Ray announced.

"Really?" Gerard asked.

"Yeah, we worked on it during seventh period. It's all finished."

"Thanks. Do you mind if we test it out?"

"Nah, we'll go get our stuff." Frank said.

"Okay, we'll be in the garage." Mikey told them as we left the basement. Gerard held my hand as we walked to the other end of the house and into the garage. They began setting up their equipment and tuning their instruments while Damon and I sat on the couch. Ray handed Mikey a score sheet and Mikey placed it on the stand in front of him, studying it.

"Alright, I think I got it," Mikey said.

"Ready?" Gerard asked. The guys answered it with a chorus of "yeah's" before starting to play. I watched as Gerard gripped the microphone, getting ready to sing.

"Long ago
Just like the hearse you die to get in again
We are so far from you..."
**~**~**
When the song was over, I heard a strangled sob and looked over to see Mikey kneeling on the ground, crying... they all were. I walked over and hugged Gerard before grabbing his hand as Bob helped Mikey stand back up. I walked with the others back into the house with the others and sat Gerard on the couch as my phone started vibrating. I took it out and looked at the screen; it was my mom calling.

I walked a little ways away from the others and answered it, "Hello?"

"Brittany, where are you?" she asked.

"I'm at Gerard's house. Damon's here, too."

"Is everything okay? You sound like something is bothering you."

"Everything's fine, Mom, I'm just trying to comfort Gerard. His family is going through a hard time right now." I explained.

"Oh, okay. Be home for dinner."

"Okay, I will. Love you."

"I love you, too, dear. Bye."

"Bye," I replied and then hung up. I slid my phone back into my pocket and walked back to the living room. I glanced at Gerard and scrunched my nose. He was staring into space with the no expression whatsoever and his eyes were bloodshot and he had bags under his eyes. I sat next to him and took his hand in mine, squeezing it lightly.

Faintly, I heard one of the guys say, "We're gonna head home."

"Can you give me a ride as well?" Damon asked.

"Yeah," was the last thing I heard before there was complete silence. Again, I felt Gerard lean onto my shoulder and I put my arm around him. We stayed that way until the front door opened and in walked a blonde woman who was in her late thirties, at least.

"Boys, I'm home!" she said as the door shut.

"No shit," Gerard mumbled.

"Gerard Arthur Way, don't you -- oh, hello there. Who are you?"

I waved and said, "Hi, I'm Brittany, Gerard's girlfriend."

"It's nice to finally meet you, dear. I'm Donna."

"Nice to meet, you, too." I said, politely. Donna flashed a smile and walked towards the kitchen. I glanced at the clock on the wall and it said 5:45. I removed my arms from Gerard and stood up. I began making my way to Gerard's room to collect my things with him following me. I sat on the edge of his bed to my shoes back on and felt him hug me.

"Please don't leave me," he whispered, sadly.

"I told my mom I wouldn't stay long," I told him.

Gerard buried his nose into the crook of my neck and sighed. I felt his breath on my neck and then my neck felt wet. I turned my head to look at him, he was crying again and it broke my heart.

"I don't want to be alone," he stated quietly, hugging me and put his nose back into the crook of my neck.

"I'd stay if I could, but I have to go," I said and I felt him shake his head, clinging on to me.

"Gee, c'mon, babe."

He groaned. "Fine, but will you come to the funeral on Saturday?"

The question took me aback for just a second, but I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Thank you," he said, leaning in to kiss me. "I love you, Brittany," he told me when we had pulled away.

I smiled at him as my heart pounded in my chest and my mind raced. He was the first guy to ever tell me that, in a romantic way, at least. "I love you, too, Gerard," I said, causing him to smile back at me.

"I really like hearing you say that. Say it again, please?"

"I love you, Gerard," I told him.

"I love you, too, Brittany," he said, quickly kissing me again. "I guess I should let you go now, huh?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed as I stood up. I was walking up the stairs when he asked, "Will you please turn the light off?"

Before I had reached the last step, I notied he had settled under his blankets again. "Bye, Gerard," I said, flicking the light switch.

"Bye, baby," he called from the darkness. I had made it back to the living room and had opened the front door to see it had started raining. 'Dammit,' i thought as I walked onto the front porch. I didn't even have a jacket today.

"You don't have to walk in the rain, dear. I'll take you home," I heard from behind me. I turned around to see Donna walking towrds me with her keys in hand.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," she told me as we got into her car. The drive to my house was silent, except when I had to tell her which way to go. As she parked outside my house, she grasped my arm.

"You are very special to Gerard; please don't break his heart like the last girl did," Donna begged me.

I smiled reassuringly. "I would never dream of hurting him, I promise. Thanks again, for the ride."

"It was no problem," she said as I got out and made my way to the front door. As I crossed the threshold, I smelled my mother's homemade chicken soup. I went into the kitchen, where my mom was setting two bowls on the table. I sat down across from her and took her hand as we prayed.

Afterwards, I fed Ares and then went upstairs to shower. For the rest of the night, I stayed in my room and then around eleven o'clock, Ares made his way to my room and jumped onto my bed, curling up on one of my pillows. I got into bed and snuggled his close to me before falling asleep.

*November 20, 2004*
*Brittany's POV*
I groaned as I heard my alarm clock go off and reached it over to hit it a few times. I graoned again when I heard the rain pounding on the roof. I sat up and threw the covers off of myself, hearing a small yelp from Ares as he was buried.

"Sorry," I told him, uncovering him. I swung my feet over the side of my bed and shuffled to the bathroom for a shower. When I was finsished, I wrapped a towel around my body and stood at the sink to brush my teeth. I also blow-dried my hair, not bothering to straighten it since it was still raining.

I walked into my bedroom and stood in front of my closet, searching for the same black dress that I had worn just a few months ago. It was a simple, knee-length dress with thick straps. I put on my black leggings before putting the dress on and then slipped on my black wedge heels and a pair of black lace gloves. I applied some eyeliner, mascara and finsihed with my cherry-flavored lip balm. I grabbed my black purse and umbrella before heading downstairs to put food and water into Ares' bowl. No sooner than I had finished, I heard a car horn and I knew that Gerard had shown up. I walked outside, locked the front door and then proceeded to Gerard's car. He made sure I was buckled in before he drove away.

During the service, I sat in between Gerard and Mikey, holding Gerard's hand as he cried. Now we were at the cemetery, finishing the burial, and I held my umbrella over Gerard and myself, trying to keep us out of the rain. The priest said the final words of his prayer as the casket was lowered into the groud; family and close friends threw in a handful of dirt before the funeral home servicemen buried the casket.

"Are you ready to go?" I heard Gerard ask me.

"Yeah," I replied, finally looking away from the recently dug grave. Gerard took my hand and led us to his car. As he drove, neither one of us said anything. The only sound was the rain outside. After half an hour of cautious driving, we were parked outside my house. Gerard leaned over the console, took my face in his hands and kissed me. I could've stayed connected to him, but the dire need for me to breathe caused me to pull away.

"What was that for?" I asked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything."

He smiled. "I'm just thanking you for being there for me today and because I really enjoy kissing you."

"No need to thank me, love, I'll always be here for you. Oh, and I really enjoy kissing you as well," I said, quickly pecking his lips before getting out the car. "Goodbye, Gerard," I called as he let down his window.

"Bye, Brittany," he said. I blew him a kiss and he "caught" it, making me giggle. He didn't drive away until I opened the front door and went inside my house. I headed upstairs to change back into my pajamas from this morning. I went back downstairs and let Ares out of his pen, when he was set free he jumped at me, so I picked him up and carried him to the living room. I sat down and cradled him in my arms as I turned on the television. I watched a rerun of an episode of "Lost" from last
week until my mom came home.

For the rest of the evening, my mom and I lounged around. We watched Lifetime movies and ordered in Chinese food. When it got really late, we both decided to go to bed. I picked up Ares, who had fallen asleep, and slowly went up to my room. I set my puppy on the same pillow he had slept on last night before throwing back the covers to crawl into bed. I was close to passing out when my phone vibrated on my nightstand. I picked it up and it said 'Unknown Number', but I read the text anyway. 'Brittany. Brittany. Brittany. This is your third strike and you know what that means: you're out. I'll get you when you least expect it.'

I rolled my eyes and shut off my phone. I pulled my covers over my head and fell asleep.