Touched by an Angel, Though I Fall Out of Grace
Nine
*October 30, 2004*
*Brittany's POV*
It was early Saturday morning and I was sitting in the living room. I had on some gray lounge and a black tank top, with my hair in a messy bun. I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes in one hand and the remote control in the other. I was flipping through cartoons when my phone started vibrating. I had a text from Damon: 'Hey, Britt. When do you wanna start getting ready for tonight?'
I smiled a bit and then typed: 'Umm, how 'bout around 8:40? The little kids get the streets from 4:30-8:15.'
It wasn't long after I sent Damon the text, he sent one back. 'Okay, see you around 8:30. Love ya."
I smiled again and then went back to my cartoons. "X-Men" had just come on and I turned up the volume. Halfway in the show, my mom came downstairs in her veterinarian clothes and a pair of white tennis shoes.
"You have to work today?" I asked.
"Yeah, but only until three o'clock. I'll see you when I get home," she answered as she went to the door. "Don't forget to feed Ares!"
As soon as she was gone, I went back to my TV. Around 11:00, I got up and went to the back room where I saw my sleeping puppy lying on the floor. I put his food and water in his bowl before unlocking the pin and then he bolted up. He barked at me before scampering over to his food. I grinned down at him and then headed upstairs to my bedroom. I put in one of my Green Day albums and then laid on my bed I closed my eyes and became unconscious; and even though I was dead asleep, the nightmares still had a way of coming back to me.
*Flashback/Dream*
I was sitting in the backseat of my dad's car. The radio was on, an old eighties rock song was playing and I was tapping my fingers to the beat. My dad and I had just taken my grandmother to the doctor and now we were heading home. Rain was falling down hard and the sky was dark. My dad was driving cautiously because the road was slick. He turned to me and said, "Brittany, you're being quiet. What's wrong?"
I looked up at him and said, "Nothing, I'm just... Dad, watch out!"
A huge semi-truck swerved on the road and crashed into us. Our car turned around completely around and then flipped over. I was on my side and there were shards of glass everywhere. It was a while but then then I heard sirens and seen the red and blue lights flashing and then I heard voices.
I was pulled out of the car and wrapped in a blanket as I was inspected by and EMT. I was fine but my dad had to be taken to the hospital and my grandmother had died instantly. I went to the hospital with my dad where my mom was contacted. Hours later my had died in his sleep.
*End Flashback/Dream*
I woke up screaming with tears falling from my eyes. I sat up in bed, wiped away my tears and then put my fingers to my temple to get rid of a forming headache. My door opened slowly and my mom walked in. She sat next to me with a worried expression.
"What's wrong, honey?" she asked quietly.
"Nothing, Mom, I'm fine." I told her.
"Brittany, you can't tell me that it's nothing. You crying and you woke up screaming. I'm your mother for heaven's sake, I know when something's wrong. Now, what is it?"
I laced my fingers together and looked down at my lap. I felt more tears fall down my face and I wiped them away. My mom took my hands in hers and said, "Brittany?"
"It happened again, okay? I had another nightmare about Dad and it was just like the others." I said and after I said it aloud, I broke. I leaned against my mom and cried for what felt like hours with her rubbing her hand up and down my back trying to console me. When I felt better, I sat up and wiped my face with the back of my hand and took a deep breath. I picked up my cell phone and walked out of my room with my mom, down to the living room.
I sat on the couch directly across from the TV and picked up the remote. I turned on the television and flipped through the channels and soon found "Fear Factor" and then tucked my feet under me as I propped myself against the arm rest. Seconds later, Ares came into the room and I picked him, cuddling him and petting him repeatedly. I had watched three episodes when I heard the doorbell. I sighed and got up to answer it; on the other side stood Damon and someone I hadn't seen in a while.
"Hey," Damon said with a smile.
"Hi," I responded with a smile of my own. I looked to Damon's left and my grew bigger. Steven Dimitriadis, Damon's younger step-brother, stood there in a black T-shirt and skinny jeans, a blue zip-up hoodie and blue high-top Converses. I engulfed him into a tight hug and said, "Oh my God, Steven, I haven't seen you in forever! How've you been?"
"I've been good, Britt. How about you?" he asked, politely.
"I'm doing well," I answered, then I turned to Damon. "What are you doing here so early?"
He shrugged. "You know, the parents."
I nodded instantly, understanding what he meant. I stood to the side so they could come in. We walked into the living room and all sat down. A rerun of "Survivor" had come on and we sat quietly and watched it. When it was over, Steven asked, "What are you guys doing tonight?"
"Nothing much, bro. Why?" Damon questioned.
"Because I don't to be home by myself when the fighting starts again," Steven murmured.
"You can come. The more people, the more fun it'll be." I answered as I felt sorry for Damon and Steven bother. Steven looked at me with a smile on his face, "Really? I can come?"
I nodded my head just as my mom entered the room. She glanced at us and said, "Hello Damon, Steven. It's nice to see you both." They replied with, "It's nice to see you, too, Mrs. Davis."
My mom looked down at me and said, "Britt, you have a phone call." I stood and went into the room my mom calls the "office" and picked up the phone.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hi, Brittany," was the response I got. I grinned when I realized who it was.
"Hi, Gerard"
"What's up?"
"Not much of anything; just watching TV with Damon and Steven. What's up with you?"
"Nothing, we just finished rehearsal because we have a gig next week."
"Oh, that's cool."
"Yeah," Gerard said. For a while it was quiet between us. Then Gerard said, "So, what are you doing tonight, ya know, for Halloween?"
"We're dressing up and we're going to walk around town. You?"
"Pretty much the same thing. You wanna meet up at Frank's house?"
"Sure, just give me the directions." I answered and then found a piece of paper and a pen to jot down what Gerard was saying. When we hung up, I went back into the living room, I sat down and noticed the boys were watching an episode of "Batman". I chuckled slightly and leaned against the couch. When there was a commercial, I said, "Hey, Damon?"
"Hmm?" he asked, staring at the TV.
"How do you feel about meeting up with the guys tonight? At Frank's house."
"What guys?" Damon wondered.
You know, Gerard, Mikey and the others." I clarified.
"Oh, I see," Damon said. "You want to meet up with your man."
"Shut up, he's not my man."
"Brittany has a man now?" Steven asked.
"Yes," Damon said at the same I said, "No."
Steven looked confused then said, "I can't wait to meet him."
"Ha!" Damon gloated, sticking his tongue out at me.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "You guys suck."
"But you love us," Steven told me.
"A lot," Damon chimed in.
"Yeah," I breathed out. "Okay, 'Batman' is getting on my nerves. Can we watch a movie or something?"
"Sure, I don't care," Damon answered.
"I'll pick," Steven said, and got up so energetically you wouldn't think he was sick. He walked over to where we kept our movies and studied the display for a while. When he turned to face us, he was holding "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". I nodded in approval and he put in the DVD. We were watching the movie in silence when my phone started vibrating; it was a call from an unknown number, so I just let it ring. When the movie was over, I stood up and stretched.
"Hey, our costumes and other stuff are in my car, so I'm gonna go get it. And I have to make a phone call, I'll be back in a few minutes." Damon said. I nodded and started to head up to my room and Steven followed. We were sitting on my bed when he let out a long sigh.
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at him.
"I something wonder if it's my fault." he said.
"What do you mean?"
"The reason our parents fight all the time, because I have cancer."
"Steven Perseus Dimitriadis, don't say that. It's not your fault, do you understand?" I asked him.
"Yes, ma'am, Brittany Nicole Davis."
I laughed and then reached over and hugged him. Even sitting down, I realized how tall he had gotten. I looked up at him and said, "When did you get so tall, Steven?"
"I don't know. Sometime in between the ages of twelve and fifteen?"
I laughed and smacked his arm. "You know I'm sorry, right? About your parents."
"So are Damon and I. It gets pretty tiring to hear the constantly arguing, but thanks anyway."
I nodded and let him go as Damon came in. He was holding costumes in one hand and a straight iron and makeup bag in the other. I hooked up my own straight iron as Damon helped Steven with his eyeliner. We were in my room for a good two hours getting ready and goofing off, when I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It read 8:45. I was finishing applying another coat of black mascara and eyeliner and red eye-shadow as I glanced at the guys.
"You ready?" I asked.
They nodded and we headed downstairs. My mom was sitting on the couch, with a book in her hands and music playing from the stereo. I smiled when I noticed Ares in his little vampire costume my mom had bought him to match me. I reached down and clipped his leash to his collar.
"Keep your phones with you at all times. Stay safe and call around 11:00 to let me know where you are," my mom instructed.
"Yes, ma'am. Bye," I said we walked out and shut the door behind us. We were walking slowly, as I tried to follow the directions to Frank's house. When we walked up the driveway, Damon rang the doorbell and a woman with black hair and hazel eyes answered the door.
"Oh, you must be Brittany," she said, looking at me.
"Yes, and you're Mrs. Iero?" I asked.
"Yes, yes. Well you all can't keep standing outside, come on in. The boys are in the living room.
"Thank you," I said and we followed her inside. She led us to the living room and Frank looked up and he ran over to us. He threw his arms around me. "Yay! Brittany's here!" he yelled.
I laughed and said, "It's good to see you, too, Frank."
As Frank let me go, he acknowledged Damon and introduced himself to Steven as a blonde haired, blue eyed guy introduced himself as Bob Bryar. "Don't just stand there," Frank said, "sit down. But we'll be leaving in a little bit though."
I smiled and nodded as I walked over and sat in between Mikey and Gerard. I hadn't even been there for five minutes when Ray yelled out, "Aww, Gee and Brittany are a vampire couple!" I looked up at Gerard and sure enough, he was dressed in an all-black tux, a red tie, a black cape with his hair straightened and fake vampire teeth in his mouth. There was a chorus of aww's from the guys.
"You guys suck and the pun was not intended," I said as Gerard said, "Shut the hell up."
"Gerard Arthur Way, language!" I heard a woman yell. I thought it was Mrs. Iero but a woman with platinum blonde hair came into the room.
"Sorry, Mom," Gerard mumbled. The guys laughed again and then Frank said, "Guys can we go now?"
"Sure," Bob said.
We stood up, heading to the entry hallway when I heard Mrs. Iero shout, "Be home by one o'clock, Frank!"
"Okay," he called.
"In the morning, not the afternoon!" she added before the front door slammed shut. We were walking when two girls dressed as seventies, peace-loving hippies walked our way and Ares started barking for the first time tonight and I guess it startled Bob because he jumped.
"Where'd that dog come from?" he asked.
"Ares has been with me this whole time."
"Aww, Bob is scared of a puppy," Mikey teased.
"Shut up, unicorn lover," Bob said, shoving Mikey slightly.
I took a look at the guys around me and studied their costumes. Damon was a zombie. Steven was dressed as the Scream Stalker. Ray was a skeleton-zombie guitar player and he was carrying a fake guitar. Mikey was the Grim Reaper. Bob was a bloody surgeon and Frank was a Mafia assassin in a pin-striped suit and old timey looking hat, carrying a fake gun.
We had been walking around the small town of Belleville when I saw a couple of football players walking our way. They were walking in crooked lines and swaying occasionally. That's when I realized they were drunk.
"Hey, baby!" one of them called out. I recognized him to be Lucas Richards and the other guy was Thomas Walters, Candace's older brother. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. We continued walking, ignoring the two intoxicated jocks. It was fifteen minutes past ten when we approached the park. We were sitting a circle, passing around candy and talking. Damon was on my left and on my right was Gerard, who was holding my hand.
"Okay, what's the stupidest thing you've ever done?" Mikey asked.
"We jumped into the ocean with the middle of December while it was snowing." Damon answered, gesturing to me, Steven and himself.
I laughed as Steven said, "Yeah, we got really sick afterwards.
"I've stuck a fork in the toaster," Mikey said, grinning.
Gerard laughed. "Don't forget you put an electric heater in the shower."
Everyone laughed as I sent a quick text to my mom, letting her know my whereabouts; she responded with a simple 'okay.' Around midnight, we all decided to call it a night and head home. We dropped Frank, Ray and Bob off at Frank's house and the rest of us continued walking. Mikey, Damon and Steven, who had Ares, were a little ahead of Gerard and I, which we were using the time to talk.
"So, she's still in the hospital?" I asked Gerard, who was telling me about his grandmother.
"Yeah, she's sick," he answered, scrunching his nose.
"I'm sorry," I told him and he nodded. It was quiet until I felt hands snake around my waist. Someone's breath was on my ear and I smelled alcohol. I looked up and seen Lucas Richards behind me.
"Hey, babe. How about we go somewhere alone? Just you and me; we can have some fun." he whispered.
"No thanks," I said.
"C'mon, it'll be so much fun. You seem like you know how to have a good time in the bedroom," he said.
"Hey, leave her alone!" Gerard ordered, trying to get me away from Lucas.
"Look, man, this is between me and the lady," Lucas slurred.
"Well, the lady is done talking."
I felt Lucas run his hands down my waist and onto my hips. "Let her go," Gerard said again. I began trying to squirm out of Lucas's grip, but I couldn't get out. I noticed Damon, Steven and Mikey turn around and come our way. With Mikey and Steven pulling at Lucas's arms and Damon pulling me, I was finally free from Lucas. Then what I saw made me blink in disbelief; Gerard had taken his fist and punched Lucas in the face. Lucas fell to the ground, but Gerard kept hitting him.
"Hey, Gee, c'mon man he's not worth it." Mikey said, but Gerard didn't listen.
"Gerard!" I yelled. "Come on, let's just go." Gerard stopped and looked at me. I walked over to him and took his hand. He glanced back at the ground then at me before shrugging and walking away. It was quiet as the five of us approached my house.
Damon and Steven had already gone in with Ares and Mikey was out of ear shot. "Thanks for what you did for me," I whispered.
"It was no problem," he whispered back.
I nodded, "Thank you anyway."
"You should probably go inside. Jersey's not safe."
"I know," I said as he removed the fake teeth from his mouth. "Goodnight, Gerard."
"Goodnight, Brittany," he said, leaning in to kiss me. I kissed him back and when we pulled apart, we were both grinning. I let go of Gerard's hand and headed to the front door. I waved to him before going inside, shutting and locking the door behind me. I headed upstairs and changed clothes then went back to the living room to see Damon and Steven on the couch.
"We saw that," Damon said.
I just smiled and sat down in the chair. They stayed for a few more minutes before going to my room to get their stuff and then leaving to go home. I had headed back to my bedroom and was getting in bed when my phone vibrated. It was a text from an unknown number. 'I told you to get rid of your boyfriend and you didn't listen. That was your first warning, two more and you'll have to face serious consequences'. I shook my head and deleted the text before falling asleep.
*Brittany's POV*
It was early Saturday morning and I was sitting in the living room. I had on some gray lounge and a black tank top, with my hair in a messy bun. I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes in one hand and the remote control in the other. I was flipping through cartoons when my phone started vibrating. I had a text from Damon: 'Hey, Britt. When do you wanna start getting ready for tonight?'
I smiled a bit and then typed: 'Umm, how 'bout around 8:40? The little kids get the streets from 4:30-8:15.'
It wasn't long after I sent Damon the text, he sent one back. 'Okay, see you around 8:30. Love ya."
I smiled again and then went back to my cartoons. "X-Men" had just come on and I turned up the volume. Halfway in the show, my mom came downstairs in her veterinarian clothes and a pair of white tennis shoes.
"You have to work today?" I asked.
"Yeah, but only until three o'clock. I'll see you when I get home," she answered as she went to the door. "Don't forget to feed Ares!"
As soon as she was gone, I went back to my TV. Around 11:00, I got up and went to the back room where I saw my sleeping puppy lying on the floor. I put his food and water in his bowl before unlocking the pin and then he bolted up. He barked at me before scampering over to his food. I grinned down at him and then headed upstairs to my bedroom. I put in one of my Green Day albums and then laid on my bed I closed my eyes and became unconscious; and even though I was dead asleep, the nightmares still had a way of coming back to me.
*Flashback/Dream*
I was sitting in the backseat of my dad's car. The radio was on, an old eighties rock song was playing and I was tapping my fingers to the beat. My dad and I had just taken my grandmother to the doctor and now we were heading home. Rain was falling down hard and the sky was dark. My dad was driving cautiously because the road was slick. He turned to me and said, "Brittany, you're being quiet. What's wrong?"
I looked up at him and said, "Nothing, I'm just... Dad, watch out!"
A huge semi-truck swerved on the road and crashed into us. Our car turned around completely around and then flipped over. I was on my side and there were shards of glass everywhere. It was a while but then then I heard sirens and seen the red and blue lights flashing and then I heard voices.
I was pulled out of the car and wrapped in a blanket as I was inspected by and EMT. I was fine but my dad had to be taken to the hospital and my grandmother had died instantly. I went to the hospital with my dad where my mom was contacted. Hours later my had died in his sleep.
*End Flashback/Dream*
I woke up screaming with tears falling from my eyes. I sat up in bed, wiped away my tears and then put my fingers to my temple to get rid of a forming headache. My door opened slowly and my mom walked in. She sat next to me with a worried expression.
"What's wrong, honey?" she asked quietly.
"Nothing, Mom, I'm fine." I told her.
"Brittany, you can't tell me that it's nothing. You crying and you woke up screaming. I'm your mother for heaven's sake, I know when something's wrong. Now, what is it?"
I laced my fingers together and looked down at my lap. I felt more tears fall down my face and I wiped them away. My mom took my hands in hers and said, "Brittany?"
"It happened again, okay? I had another nightmare about Dad and it was just like the others." I said and after I said it aloud, I broke. I leaned against my mom and cried for what felt like hours with her rubbing her hand up and down my back trying to console me. When I felt better, I sat up and wiped my face with the back of my hand and took a deep breath. I picked up my cell phone and walked out of my room with my mom, down to the living room.
I sat on the couch directly across from the TV and picked up the remote. I turned on the television and flipped through the channels and soon found "Fear Factor" and then tucked my feet under me as I propped myself against the arm rest. Seconds later, Ares came into the room and I picked him, cuddling him and petting him repeatedly. I had watched three episodes when I heard the doorbell. I sighed and got up to answer it; on the other side stood Damon and someone I hadn't seen in a while.
"Hey," Damon said with a smile.
"Hi," I responded with a smile of my own. I looked to Damon's left and my grew bigger. Steven Dimitriadis, Damon's younger step-brother, stood there in a black T-shirt and skinny jeans, a blue zip-up hoodie and blue high-top Converses. I engulfed him into a tight hug and said, "Oh my God, Steven, I haven't seen you in forever! How've you been?"
"I've been good, Britt. How about you?" he asked, politely.
"I'm doing well," I answered, then I turned to Damon. "What are you doing here so early?"
He shrugged. "You know, the parents."
I nodded instantly, understanding what he meant. I stood to the side so they could come in. We walked into the living room and all sat down. A rerun of "Survivor" had come on and we sat quietly and watched it. When it was over, Steven asked, "What are you guys doing tonight?"
"Nothing much, bro. Why?" Damon questioned.
"Because I don't to be home by myself when the fighting starts again," Steven murmured.
"You can come. The more people, the more fun it'll be." I answered as I felt sorry for Damon and Steven bother. Steven looked at me with a smile on his face, "Really? I can come?"
I nodded my head just as my mom entered the room. She glanced at us and said, "Hello Damon, Steven. It's nice to see you both." They replied with, "It's nice to see you, too, Mrs. Davis."
My mom looked down at me and said, "Britt, you have a phone call." I stood and went into the room my mom calls the "office" and picked up the phone.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hi, Brittany," was the response I got. I grinned when I realized who it was.
"Hi, Gerard"
"What's up?"
"Not much of anything; just watching TV with Damon and Steven. What's up with you?"
"Nothing, we just finished rehearsal because we have a gig next week."
"Oh, that's cool."
"Yeah," Gerard said. For a while it was quiet between us. Then Gerard said, "So, what are you doing tonight, ya know, for Halloween?"
"We're dressing up and we're going to walk around town. You?"
"Pretty much the same thing. You wanna meet up at Frank's house?"
"Sure, just give me the directions." I answered and then found a piece of paper and a pen to jot down what Gerard was saying. When we hung up, I went back into the living room, I sat down and noticed the boys were watching an episode of "Batman". I chuckled slightly and leaned against the couch. When there was a commercial, I said, "Hey, Damon?"
"Hmm?" he asked, staring at the TV.
"How do you feel about meeting up with the guys tonight? At Frank's house."
"What guys?" Damon wondered.
You know, Gerard, Mikey and the others." I clarified.
"Oh, I see," Damon said. "You want to meet up with your man."
"Shut up, he's not my man."
"Brittany has a man now?" Steven asked.
"Yes," Damon said at the same I said, "No."
Steven looked confused then said, "I can't wait to meet him."
"Ha!" Damon gloated, sticking his tongue out at me.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. "You guys suck."
"But you love us," Steven told me.
"A lot," Damon chimed in.
"Yeah," I breathed out. "Okay, 'Batman' is getting on my nerves. Can we watch a movie or something?"
"Sure, I don't care," Damon answered.
"I'll pick," Steven said, and got up so energetically you wouldn't think he was sick. He walked over to where we kept our movies and studied the display for a while. When he turned to face us, he was holding "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". I nodded in approval and he put in the DVD. We were watching the movie in silence when my phone started vibrating; it was a call from an unknown number, so I just let it ring. When the movie was over, I stood up and stretched.
"Hey, our costumes and other stuff are in my car, so I'm gonna go get it. And I have to make a phone call, I'll be back in a few minutes." Damon said. I nodded and started to head up to my room and Steven followed. We were sitting on my bed when he let out a long sigh.
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at him.
"I something wonder if it's my fault." he said.
"What do you mean?"
"The reason our parents fight all the time, because I have cancer."
"Steven Perseus Dimitriadis, don't say that. It's not your fault, do you understand?" I asked him.
"Yes, ma'am, Brittany Nicole Davis."
I laughed and then reached over and hugged him. Even sitting down, I realized how tall he had gotten. I looked up at him and said, "When did you get so tall, Steven?"
"I don't know. Sometime in between the ages of twelve and fifteen?"
I laughed and smacked his arm. "You know I'm sorry, right? About your parents."
"So are Damon and I. It gets pretty tiring to hear the constantly arguing, but thanks anyway."
I nodded and let him go as Damon came in. He was holding costumes in one hand and a straight iron and makeup bag in the other. I hooked up my own straight iron as Damon helped Steven with his eyeliner. We were in my room for a good two hours getting ready and goofing off, when I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It read 8:45. I was finishing applying another coat of black mascara and eyeliner and red eye-shadow as I glanced at the guys.
"You ready?" I asked.
They nodded and we headed downstairs. My mom was sitting on the couch, with a book in her hands and music playing from the stereo. I smiled when I noticed Ares in his little vampire costume my mom had bought him to match me. I reached down and clipped his leash to his collar.
"Keep your phones with you at all times. Stay safe and call around 11:00 to let me know where you are," my mom instructed.
"Yes, ma'am. Bye," I said we walked out and shut the door behind us. We were walking slowly, as I tried to follow the directions to Frank's house. When we walked up the driveway, Damon rang the doorbell and a woman with black hair and hazel eyes answered the door.
"Oh, you must be Brittany," she said, looking at me.
"Yes, and you're Mrs. Iero?" I asked.
"Yes, yes. Well you all can't keep standing outside, come on in. The boys are in the living room.
"Thank you," I said and we followed her inside. She led us to the living room and Frank looked up and he ran over to us. He threw his arms around me. "Yay! Brittany's here!" he yelled.
I laughed and said, "It's good to see you, too, Frank."
As Frank let me go, he acknowledged Damon and introduced himself to Steven as a blonde haired, blue eyed guy introduced himself as Bob Bryar. "Don't just stand there," Frank said, "sit down. But we'll be leaving in a little bit though."
I smiled and nodded as I walked over and sat in between Mikey and Gerard. I hadn't even been there for five minutes when Ray yelled out, "Aww, Gee and Brittany are a vampire couple!" I looked up at Gerard and sure enough, he was dressed in an all-black tux, a red tie, a black cape with his hair straightened and fake vampire teeth in his mouth. There was a chorus of aww's from the guys.
"You guys suck and the pun was not intended," I said as Gerard said, "Shut the hell up."
"Gerard Arthur Way, language!" I heard a woman yell. I thought it was Mrs. Iero but a woman with platinum blonde hair came into the room.
"Sorry, Mom," Gerard mumbled. The guys laughed again and then Frank said, "Guys can we go now?"
"Sure," Bob said.
We stood up, heading to the entry hallway when I heard Mrs. Iero shout, "Be home by one o'clock, Frank!"
"Okay," he called.
"In the morning, not the afternoon!" she added before the front door slammed shut. We were walking when two girls dressed as seventies, peace-loving hippies walked our way and Ares started barking for the first time tonight and I guess it startled Bob because he jumped.
"Where'd that dog come from?" he asked.
"Ares has been with me this whole time."
"Aww, Bob is scared of a puppy," Mikey teased.
"Shut up, unicorn lover," Bob said, shoving Mikey slightly.
I took a look at the guys around me and studied their costumes. Damon was a zombie. Steven was dressed as the Scream Stalker. Ray was a skeleton-zombie guitar player and he was carrying a fake guitar. Mikey was the Grim Reaper. Bob was a bloody surgeon and Frank was a Mafia assassin in a pin-striped suit and old timey looking hat, carrying a fake gun.
We had been walking around the small town of Belleville when I saw a couple of football players walking our way. They were walking in crooked lines and swaying occasionally. That's when I realized they were drunk.
"Hey, baby!" one of them called out. I recognized him to be Lucas Richards and the other guy was Thomas Walters, Candace's older brother. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. We continued walking, ignoring the two intoxicated jocks. It was fifteen minutes past ten when we approached the park. We were sitting a circle, passing around candy and talking. Damon was on my left and on my right was Gerard, who was holding my hand.
"Okay, what's the stupidest thing you've ever done?" Mikey asked.
"We jumped into the ocean with the middle of December while it was snowing." Damon answered, gesturing to me, Steven and himself.
I laughed as Steven said, "Yeah, we got really sick afterwards.
"I've stuck a fork in the toaster," Mikey said, grinning.
Gerard laughed. "Don't forget you put an electric heater in the shower."
Everyone laughed as I sent a quick text to my mom, letting her know my whereabouts; she responded with a simple 'okay.' Around midnight, we all decided to call it a night and head home. We dropped Frank, Ray and Bob off at Frank's house and the rest of us continued walking. Mikey, Damon and Steven, who had Ares, were a little ahead of Gerard and I, which we were using the time to talk.
"So, she's still in the hospital?" I asked Gerard, who was telling me about his grandmother.
"Yeah, she's sick," he answered, scrunching his nose.
"I'm sorry," I told him and he nodded. It was quiet until I felt hands snake around my waist. Someone's breath was on my ear and I smelled alcohol. I looked up and seen Lucas Richards behind me.
"Hey, babe. How about we go somewhere alone? Just you and me; we can have some fun." he whispered.
"No thanks," I said.
"C'mon, it'll be so much fun. You seem like you know how to have a good time in the bedroom," he said.
"Hey, leave her alone!" Gerard ordered, trying to get me away from Lucas.
"Look, man, this is between me and the lady," Lucas slurred.
"Well, the lady is done talking."
I felt Lucas run his hands down my waist and onto my hips. "Let her go," Gerard said again. I began trying to squirm out of Lucas's grip, but I couldn't get out. I noticed Damon, Steven and Mikey turn around and come our way. With Mikey and Steven pulling at Lucas's arms and Damon pulling me, I was finally free from Lucas. Then what I saw made me blink in disbelief; Gerard had taken his fist and punched Lucas in the face. Lucas fell to the ground, but Gerard kept hitting him.
"Hey, Gee, c'mon man he's not worth it." Mikey said, but Gerard didn't listen.
"Gerard!" I yelled. "Come on, let's just go." Gerard stopped and looked at me. I walked over to him and took his hand. He glanced back at the ground then at me before shrugging and walking away. It was quiet as the five of us approached my house.
Damon and Steven had already gone in with Ares and Mikey was out of ear shot. "Thanks for what you did for me," I whispered.
"It was no problem," he whispered back.
I nodded, "Thank you anyway."
"You should probably go inside. Jersey's not safe."
"I know," I said as he removed the fake teeth from his mouth. "Goodnight, Gerard."
"Goodnight, Brittany," he said, leaning in to kiss me. I kissed him back and when we pulled apart, we were both grinning. I let go of Gerard's hand and headed to the front door. I waved to him before going inside, shutting and locking the door behind me. I headed upstairs and changed clothes then went back to the living room to see Damon and Steven on the couch.
"We saw that," Damon said.
I just smiled and sat down in the chair. They stayed for a few more minutes before going to my room to get their stuff and then leaving to go home. I had headed back to my bedroom and was getting in bed when my phone vibrated. It was a text from an unknown number. 'I told you to get rid of your boyfriend and you didn't listen. That was your first warning, two more and you'll have to face serious consequences'. I shook my head and deleted the text before falling asleep.