Soul Punks

Ch. 21 part 2

*Courtney POV*

"Hey guys, back so soon?" Frank said from the swings.

"Yea, I was cold and I forgot my hoodie. Can you take me home?" I asked.

"Woah, we just got here, Gerard what did you do?" Frank said smiling. Gerard didn't do anything but look down again.

"Nothing, it's nothing. Just take her home, me and Mikey will walk back to your place," Gerard said.

"What, I don't wanna walk back to Frank's," Mikey whined.

Gerard slapped him on the head,"We are walking to Frank's," he said through clenched teeth.

"Fine. See ya' Courtney," Mikey said waving as he turned to follow Gerard.

Me and Frank started walking back and neither of us talked. Frank looked over at me and looked back down at the ground. "So what did Gerard do that has you so quiet? Did he rape you? Cause me and Mikey could beat him up."

"He tried to kiss me, even though I kept saying I had a boyfriend! He has to learn to keep it in his pants," I said hugging myself from the cold air.

"Yea Gerard can be like that sometimes. When he was going through his alcoholic stage he would pick up every girl at the bar. I think it's because he feels lonely ever since his fiancee dumped him. I know he was young and so was she. He committed too fast and she realized that she didn't want that. She left him a day before their "wedding". It was one of the many factors that lead to his downward spiral."

"Well that's what he gets for proposing when he was still a teenager! Who would be stupid enough to do that?"

"A young Gerard blinded by love. Love makes you do crazy things, maybe that's why he tried to kiss you," Frank said looking over at me.

"Yea maybe. Love can be strange. Sometimes I wonder if it's even worth it. I mean look what it did to Gerard!"

"How does that saying go? It's better to have loved and loss, to have never have loved at all."

"Haha getting a little poetic on me are we? That was very surprising coming out of your mouth."

"Yea, well just promise me you'll give Gerard another chance. He's been through a lot and he's still a little fragile. I don't want to see him back in rehab again."

We walked up to my door and I spun around to meet Frank. "Ok, next time I see him I'll forgive him. But if he pulls anything funny, then forget about it. Bye Frank," I said hugging him.

"Bye Courtney, and thanks for hangin' out with us today." He waved goodbye and drove out of sight.

I went back inside and went straight to bed.

The next morning I woke up and went up stairs for something to eat. I walked up to my fridge and noticed there was a note taped to the door.

Sorry we had to leave on such short notice. Your father has out of town business and I went with him to keep him company. We will be gone for 3 days. There is some money on the table that should be enough to keep you alive.

Miss you,

Mom and Dad

Great, I'm all alone. Well, now I can relax without being bothered by them. I grabbed a jar of peanut butter and a spoon and sat down on the couch. I turned the tv on and found something to watch. I sat there for about 3 hours before I heard a knock on the door. Who could that be? Maybe it's one of the guys.

I looked the through the window and saw Gerard standing there with what looks like a sketch book. Aw crap now! I promised Frank I would give him a second chance. I opened the door and we both started speaking at the same time. "You first," I told him.

He ran a hand through his jet black hair. "Look, I'm so sorry I tried to kiss you, and I wanna start things right. We were having such a good time before I went and screwed it all up. Frank told me he told you about the many, many, MANY, mistakes I've made. So I'm hoping we could start fresh."

He had a shy smile on his face, very different from the confident smirk that he always had. "Yes, I would like that. You seem like a really cool dude Gerard. And I'm sorry for overreacting yesterday. I-"

"No, what you did was right. I didn't respect your relationship that you have with Patrick. You had every right to be pissed with me."

I smiled. "Alright, so what's with the big sketch pad for?"

"I was hoping we could go back to the lake we where at yesterday. I told you I wanted to draw it, and I want you in the picture too," he said with a smile.

"Alright, sounds fun. Let me just go change into some clothes I can go out in and not look homeless, come on in," I motioned Gerard inside and he took a seat on the couch. "I'll only be a minute."

I ran down stairs and threw on the first things I saw that match and quickly brushed back my hair. After that I grabbed my phone from it's charger and ran back up stairs.

"Ok all ready to go," I said, I found Gerard standing by a self holding pictures of my family and friends.

"You know the one thing I missed the most in rehab. Spending time with friends and family," he said looking over at me. "I guess that's why I'm here. I swore when I got out I would make this right again. But here I am, apologizing to you. How ironic. I jus keep making more mistakes." He said with a chuckle.

"Gerard you're only human. We all make mistakes all the time. It takes a real man to realize that he has made them, and it takes a lot of courage to go out and fix them. You're not alone, you have Mikey and Frank, and me. We can make mistakes together," I said walking up to him. "You look like you need a hug." I just stood there and after awhile Gerard figured out I wasn't going to hug him. We laughed and he pulled me into a hug.

"You know, you are the sweetest little girl I've ever met?"

"Yea, I've got a thing for making messed up guys feel better. You're probably my third patient. Now come on lets go to the lake."

We talked and laughed all the way to the park. When we were pretty close I saw a familiar short figure standing in the middle of the park. I ran ahead of Gerard and tackled him to the ground. "PETE!" I yelled.

"Holy shit! You scared the crap outta me. Jesus. I thought I was being mugged! Now get off me little miss!" He yelled.

"Please tell me you know this guy and don't just go tackling random people to the ground," Gerard said as he ran up to me an Pete still on the ground.

"Yea, this is Pete. We go waaayyy back."

"Yea, who's your scary lookin' friend here?" Pete said.

"This is Gerard, one of Frank's friends from New Jersey. He is gonna draw me by the lake. What are you doing here? I though you had a project to work on?"

"Yea I do, it's about flora and fawna of the city. So I'm here taking pics of all the nature in the park. Patrick should be around here somewhere, he said he would help take pictures," Pete said looking around.

"Cool, I've been wanting to meet this all mighty Patrick you keep talking about," Gerard said.

"Yea he's pretty mighty. Big, tall, muscley, and real mean looking. I wouldn't mess around with his girlfriend or he will totally end you," Pete said with a wink. I almost burst out laughing when Gerard's face went pale as a ghost.

"Uh, yea. So we better leave you to your project. Don't wanna distract you." Gerard said pulling me towards the path to the lake.

"I thought you said he was soft an harmless!" Gerard said in a panicked whisper.

"Why? You regret tryin' to kiss me now?" I said raising an eyebrow.

"I regret it even more if it means I'm going to get my face smashed in!"

"Hahaha! Well then you'd better watch out."

We arrived at the lake, and I was still laughing really hard. Then I saw Patrick sitting by the lake. "Oh there's Patrick. Hey Pat-"

He turned around and Allie was sitting right next to him. Her arms were around his neck, were they kissing? As I got up closer I could see her red lipstick on his face. Patrick got up quickly and started coming closer. Every step he took, I moved back one. "Courtney, Courtney I'm sorry. She was crying and-"

I put my hand up to my chest and felt the cool silver necklace he gave me. I clenched it and ripped it off my neck and threw it to the ground. I could feel the hot tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I ran back into the forest surrounding the lake. I stopped and fell to the ground crying under a tree. All I could hear next was yelling. It was Gerard. He was yelling at Patrick.

"I cannot BELIEVE you cheated on Courtney! She is the most beautiful, smart, funny, loving girl you will ever meet! And you threw her away like trash! Sound familiar? Yea, you may not know me, but I know your sob story! The story of when this slut cheated on you, watched you cry, and did nothing but smirk at you on the ground! You were lucky to have Courtney! Ever since the first moment I laid eyes on her I knew she was perfect, but of course she already had a boyfriend! She always talked about you, how you were such a gentlemen and how you would never break her heart! Well I guess she was wrong! And I hope you realize what you threw away! So you can wallow your sadness, alone! Because you can bet your cheating, filthy little ass she won't be there for you," he said pointing to Allie.

I heard a soft sob, could have been Patrick or Allie. Then I heard foot steps, "Courtney, Courtney come back sugar! Courtney it's alright, I'm here for you honey!"

"Gerard," I said sniffling, it was barely audible but he still heard it.

When he found me he rushed to my side and pulled me into a hug. He rocked me back and forth and whispered into my ear that everything would be alright. Just as I had done for Patrick, and this is how he repays me? Gerard let me cry into his shoulder for as long as I needed. After my crying session was over, Gerard whipped the tears from my eyes and smiled.

"It's okay sunshine. Now come on, you know what always made me feel better when I was down in the dumps?" Gerard said looking at me with his eyebrows high.

"What?" I asked looking up at him.

"Ice cream. I know it's a little cliché but it really does work. Now where is the closest ice cream shop?"

"Ummm, about a mile from here. Come on I'll show you," I took his hand and we walked through the fall leaves together, hand in hand.