Touched by an Angel, Though I Fall Out of Grace

*October 8, 2011*
Gerard’s POV

“This was the last show on the tour and you beautiful motherfuckers sure know how to fucking party! Thank you, LA, for being a great fucking crowd!” I yelled into my mic, earning loud cheers from the audience. “Goodnight!”

I walked off stage as Ray and Frank threw their guitar picks out to the crowd. After putting on an energetic show, I had sweat pouring off of my body and my black T-shirt clung to my body, my bright red hair was matted to my forehead. With the other guys behind me, I headed to our dressing room and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge.

“Are we all leaving on the same flight tomorrow morning?” Frank asked me as he plopped down on the leather couch.

I took another swig of water before saying, “Yeah at eight o’clock and I’ve gotta stop by to pick up Bandit.”

“I can’t believe you’re moving back to Jersey,” Mikey said. “Mom’s been missing you.”

I nodded my head. After high school, I had had a whirlwind of a life. The loss of Brittany drove me to drug and alcohol abuse for a few months but I quickly got sober after I began dating Lindsey. We had gotten married and had a child, a daughter named Bandit Lee Way, who was now two years old. My Chemical Romance had exploded on the music scene and we had released three albums since high school, which gave us the opportunity to tour and travel the world, although Bob had left last spring. Before this tour (Honda Civic Tour with Blink-182), Lindsey and I had filed for divorce. There was no longer a spark between us, but we were able to reamin friends and share custody of Bandit. Since I had been on tour, Lindsey was allowing me to take Bandit to New Jersey for the next two months.

“Are you gonna be staying with Mom?” Mikey asked.

“No, while we were on the east coast, I found a two-bedroom apartment in Belleville. That way Mom and Dad can spend some time with Bandit when they want to.” I answered, finishing my water and throwing the bottle in the trash. After we had had our downtime, we headed to the hotel we were staying at to get a few hours of sleep before morning.

**~**~**~**~**~**

I woke up to the alarm clock on my cell phone. I groaned and shut it off, reluctantly throwing back the covers. I made my way over to the kitchenette and made myself a cup of coffee. Once it was gone, I jumped in the shower, washing away the remains of last night’s show. After my shower, I dried off, brushed my teeth and put on a pair of black skinny jeans, a black and white striped, long sleeved T-shirt and my beat-up white Converses.

I placed my suitcase on the bed and began throwing my things into it. I had an hour to pick up Bandit and then get to the airport. When I was done, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and then made my way to the elevator. Outside, I hailed a cab and rattled off the address to my old home. When the cab driver pulled up to house, I told him to wait and then I ran up to the door, knocking three times.

Lindsey opened the door in her pajamas and a robe, her black hair a mess all over her head. “Hey, Gerard,” she greeted, stifling a yawn as she let me in.

“Morning,” I said. “Is Bandit ready to go?”

Lindsey nodded. “She’s finishing up her cereal,” she told me as we went into the kitchen where Bandit sat at the table eating Froot Loops. When she noticed me, her face brightened and she smiled.

“Daddy!” she exclaimed, hopping down from her chair and running over to me. I bent down and scooped her up in my arms, hugging her tight.

“Hey, baby girl,” I told her, setting her back on the floor. Lindsey handed me two pink suitcases and a purple duffel bag.

“Most of her stuff is here but feel free to buy her whatever you like,” she said and I nodded. I grabbed Bandit’s things and took them outside to put in the trunk of the cab.

I walked back in to see Lindsey bend down to put Bandit’s jacket on her and give her a hug. “You be a good girl, okay?”

“Okay,” Bandit agreed.

“I love you,” Lindsey told her, kissing her cheek.

“I love you more. Bye, Mama.”

“Bye, sweetheart,” Lindsey said, waving.

“Bye, Linds,” I said as I was getting back into the cab. After strapping Bandit in with the seatbelt, I shut the door. “LAX,” I told the cab driver and he sped off. As we arrived to our destination, I forked over my credit card. Once we had gotten our bags from the trunk, I took Bandit’s hand and we entered the building.

I looked around for one of the guys, but didn’t see them. “Do you see Uncle Mikey anywhere?” I asked Bandit and she shook her head.

“Gerard!” I heard and I spotted Mikey and the others. With Bandit following behind me, we made our way over to them. Each of the guys gave Bandit hugs and then she began chatting animatedly to Mikey while we waited for our fight. It felt like forever as we sat there waiting for the gate agent to call for boarding and when she did we approached the gate, getting on the plane. Bandit had the seat next to me and a window seat and she was excited to be on a plane; when we took off she kept looking out the window, gasping at the sight before her. With a smile, I watched her and sat back to get comfortable for our five hour flight.

**~**~**~**~**~**

Before I knew it, I was being shaken awake and I opened my eyes. Frank, who was on the other side of me, was telling me that we had just landed. I looked over at Bandit and she had fallen asleep as well, not wanting to wake her I gently picked her up. In the lobby, I grabbed our luggage from the carousel with help from Mikey and walked out to the parking lot. I was grateful that my mother had left my old car here last night after I called her. I layed Bandit in the back seat and put our things into the trunk. I said goodbye to the guys before getting into my vehicle and driving to my new apartment.

By the time we pulled up to the apartment complex, Bandit had woken up and she helped me carry our stuff to our new home. When we had been on tour, I had left some money for my mom to furnish the place a bit and as I crossed the threshold, I noticed she hadn’t done too badly. The living room area contained a black sectional sofa and matching chair, a coffee table, a table in between the sofa and couch which held a lamp and a TV stand adorned with a flat screen TV.
Walking into Bandit’s room, I chuckled at decorations; my mom had gone all out. Everything was Tinker Bell themed: the bedding, curtains, wall decals and a giant poster of the fairies from the movies with a white area rug on the floor. A few stuffed animals and toys had been placed in the room, including a little pink table and a tea party set; a book shelf and dresser were pushed up against the wall. Bandit ran in, looking at her new room, all smiles. I left her in her room to go into my own, glad most of my stuff from my room back home was already here, along with a smaller flat screen TV on top of my dresser. Now all I had to do was unpack which I would do later.

“Daddy, come play tea party!” Bandit called.

I stuck my head in her room. “How about we go grocery shopping and play tea party when we come back?”

“Okay,” she said coming over to me.

I took her hand and we walked out the door. In the car, I strapped her into the backseat and then we were on our way to Wal-Mart. I put Bandit into the cart once we were inside the store and began with the first aisle, going up and down each one. I made a mistake going down the cookie and candy aisles because I ended up two packages of Oreos, one package of chocolate chip cookies, a container of animal crackers and two packages of gummy bears.

“I want my bears,” Bandit begged trying to open her candy.

“I’ve got to pay for them first,” I told her as I pushed the cart to the children’s section of the store to get a car seat. I went with the four-in-one car seat, figuring I could save money over the years. After paying for our stuff, I pushed the cart back to our car where I put the bags in the trunk, put Bandit in the backseat and got in the car so we could head home. I put away the groceries while Bandit set up everything we needed for our tea party.

“Daddy!” she yelled from her room.

“I’m coming, sugar.” I told her as I put the milk in the refrigerator and closed the door. I entered her room to find her wearing a tiara and blue, star-shaped glasses. I sat down in one of the little chairs as she wrapped a pink feather boa around my neck. Bandit poured me my tea and then we ate animal crackers and gummy bears.

Around six o’clock, I cooked chicken nuggets and French fries for dinner. We ate while we watched cartoons. Eventually, Bandit fell asleep in my lap and I had to wake her up so she could brush her teeth and change into her pajamas. Once I had put her to bed, I hit the shower. I put on a pair of boxers and pajama pants before getting into bed; I was tired from all the activity from today and I fell asleep as I closed my eyes.