My Kind of Love

"Gerard are you still awake?" I asked as another strike of thunder coursed through the air.

"Yeah I am" he mumbled as he tried to fish himself out of the army of pillows on his bed. "Is the lightning scaring you?" he asked as I nodded, remembering the first time Gerard had ever seen me cry.

"Well then you should probably find shelter under the fort" he joked as he pulled the covers off the bed so I could climb in.

"Thank Geri" I said as I began throwing some of his pillows off the bed.

"No problem. I promised to always keep you safe and I don’t intend on breaking that promise" he admitted as a smile broke out on my face.

~

A memory

"OK troopers there’s a storm approaching so we have to move to a more secure base" our scout leader informed us as we prepared to move from one part of our campsite to another.

"Yes sir" we answered as we started packing our stuff and prepared to leave.

"Do you think if we pray hard enough the lightning will strike Jonathan?" Cesc asked. Referring to the boy that was talking to his crush.

"Cesc, lightning striking someone is not funny" I sneered as I continued to pack my humongous luggage.

"Jeez Angie I was just joking. You didn’t have to be so rude" he snapped before collecting his bags and running to catch the group that had already left the campsite.

Only Gerard and I were left, he had finished packing a long time ago but had patiently waited for me to finish before we began the journey.

"I didn’t mean to be rude" I told him after a few minutes of silence.

"I know but you know how Cesc is. He gets offended by everything"

I nodded my head at his statement before I zipped up my bag and indicated to him that I was finally ready to leave.

"Are your parents out of town again?" Gerard asked as we walked down the marked trail.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"You have half your cupboard in your bags" he teased as I smiled.

"Yeah I’m going to my grandparents’ house once camp is over" I admitted before I noticed that the rain had started falling.

"We have to run really fast if we want to catch up with the others" he instructed as I nodded my head.

I tried carrying my bag on my back before Gerard stopped me.

"Let’s switch bags. My bag is lighter than yours and it would be easier to run if you were caring a lighter bag" he offered as we swapped bags. I thanked him before we both began to run the rest of the way.

We hadn’t even run a full 5 minutes before it began to rain harder and thunder began to strike.

"Angie I think we should find shelter. We won’t make it to camp in time" Gerard told me as I felt myself begin to panic.

I stood in the rain for a few minutes before Gerard noticed that I was breathing heavily.

"Angie what’s wrong?" he asked as he tried, and failed, to get me out of the pouring rain.

"I’m scared" I told him as I began to sob.

He pulled me into a hug as he let me cry in the pouring rain.

"Listen to me" he instructed as he looked me in the eye "I promise you nothing bad will happen. I will always protect you" he told me as I nodded my head.

"Now we have to find a dry place to stay until the storm passes. So can you help me with that?" he asked as I mumbled out a yes.

He gave me a big smile before he took my hand and we began walking in the rain in order to find shelter.

~

"I never did thank you for looking after me that day" I spoke as me and Gerard lay in the bed.

"You don’t have to thank me for anything" he said as he continued to move around on the bed.

"You OK?" I asked him once he finally found a comfortable position.

"Uhm yeah. The bed just feels a little strange" he admitted and I gave him a look.

"It didn’t seem that strange when I walked in and found you half asleep" I questioned him. He mumbled something I couldn’t hear.

We sat in silence for a few seconds as we listened to the storm and each other’s breathing.

"Angie are you happy?" Gerard asked breaking the silence.

"Yep" I answered as images of Ricardo flashed through my mind.

"I’m happy for you. I mean you’ve found the love of your life and he completes you what more could you want" he commented before taking a deep breath.

"Gerard are you OK?" I asked, feeling that his statement had a double meaning.

"I’m fine" he said as he looked at me. "I just wish I could make someone as happy as Ricardo makes you" he admitted as a frown took over his face.

"Oh Geri. One day your find the love of your life the same way I’ve found mine" I assured him.

"I’ve already found her" he admitted "but unfortunately she already belongs to someone else" he concluded before turning over and wishing me a goodnight.