Tomorrow's Money

Knowing that Marley was catching on to us was more than I wanted to deal with. If she actually found out about us, Gerard would lose his teaching opportunity, fail his college class, and it's very likely he could get arrested. This could screw up his whole future, and I wasn't worth that. No one is worth that.

I had our servers bring candies and chips and pizzas out to the theater room, in preparation of Tiffany's arrival. I was excited to finally have a girls night, but I was still worried about Marley. I sat on the big couch in front of the massive screen and looked down at my phone to see I'd had a missed call from Gerard. I automatically thought the worst and called back.

"Hello?" He answered. I heard yelling in the background, though I was unable to decipher what was being said. I just knew it was a woman's voice.

"Hey, what the hell is going on?" I asked, suddenly panicked.

"Well, Mikey came to my place and started telling me that he'd broken up with Marley and soon enough she barges through the door and starts screaming at him." He explained in probably the most irritated tone I've heard him use.

"You're calling me right in front of her?!" I freaked out. If she didn't know already, I was convinced she knew now.

"Yeah Sarah, I am." He said, hinting that that was the name he was going to use for his "secret girlfriend" as Marley put it.

"Oh, right. Of course." I laughed, feeling a little stupid. Of course he wasn't going to use my real name, that would be crazy.

"Who the fuck is Sarah?" I heard Marley yell in the background.

"So when I manage to break this up I'll send Mikey over to you and I'll be there shortly after if that's okay." He said, guilt in his voice.

"Yeah, of course. I'll be here. My parents aren't here, like normal." I said, shrugging, even though he couldn't see me.

"Hey you!" Tiffany spoke up from behind me.

"Hey I'll be off the phone in just a second." I whispered to her.

"Okay we'll be there soon. Bye." He hung up the phone, probably to deal with his own problems over there. Yikes.

"Who was that?" Tiffany asked, sitting next to me on the couch.

"It was Gerard. Our girl night is kind of being interrupted." I said, heavy with guilt. I felt bad. This was supposed to be like a reunion, and celebration for just us, and I'd invited other people over.

"Gerard is coming over?" She asked, excitement in her voice.

"Yeah, and his younger brother Mikey. See, Mikey broke up with his girlfriend tonight because of her weird obsession with Gerard and I guess there's a huge battle at Gerard's right now because of her. So Mikey will be on his way here soon and Gerard shortly behind him. I'm so sorry for ruining our night Tiff." I frowned, not really expecting her reaction.

"It's totally fine! Plus, I'm excited to meet Mr. teacher man myself!" She laughed, apparently amusing herself.

"Shut up." I laughed, hitting her with a pillow. "And Mikey too. He'll be here." An idea sparked in my head and a devilish smile came across my face. "Maybe you should be excited to meet him too."

She gave me a confused look and said, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, he's single now, you're single, he's cute, and he's really nice." I shrugged, already planting seeds. I thought he would be a good guy for a girl like Tiffany. She was controlling and sometimes manipulative, but Mikey was sweet and gentle and maybe he could bring out her better traits, make her want to be more like he was, like I knew she could be.

"Oh my god, that's so not funny." She rolled her eyes as I laughed again. "No way."

I thought it was kind of sad that she was already turning him down when she hadn't even met him yet. I was convinced she'd change her mind though. She'd play tough like she always did, but my bets were on Mikey. Speak of the Devil, the doorbell rang and our doorman led him to the theater room. "Hey." He said quietly as he walked in.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked as I got up to give him a hug.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just need some time." He hugged back and then I led him over to the couch where Tiffany still sat.

"Mikey, this is Tiffany. She's been my best friend since we were little. And yes, she knows everything." I answered his question before he could ask. "She won't tell." I said, answering another.

"Hi Tiffany." He said, an odd look arising on his face. He looked like he was studying her, trying to figure her out. He was so obviously interested, in what, I wasn't 100% sure. A gleam of happiness invaded his eyes.

"Hi." Tiffany said back, avoiding his gaze, pretending to be too good for him like she always did with men. "So Lily, what are we doing tonight then?" She asked, trying to avoid any conversation with Mikey.

"Well, we were going to watch a movie, but maybe we should wait for Gerard?" They both silently agreed, nodding their heads. I sat on the other side of Mikey, letting him sit in the middle. "So what exactly happened?"

"Well, I told her I wanted to hang out tonight and to meet at my place. She kept coming up with reasons as to why she couldn't come, so I told her we'd be seeing Gerard and then suddenly her whole demeanor changed and she was more than happy to come see me. She met me like I'd asked and after a little while of not really doing anything at my place she started asking about when we were going to leave o go see him. I told her I didn't feel like it anymore and she freaked. She said I'd wasted her time and that she'd had things to do, she'd only come because she didn't want me to have to go over there alone, I don't know. So I told her that I knew she was only with me to stay close to my brother and she tried denying it. I told her I didn't want to be with her anymore and to go home, then I went to Gerard's place. She followed me there and freaked out on him, asking who the other girls was, who his girlfriend was. He got pissed and told her to mind her own fucking business. Then she punched him in the face and her ring cuts his cheek open and he gets more pissed and calls you, then he sent me here. He told me to go to Sarah's. That's our code name for you, by the way, so I left and I have no idea what's going on now." He said it all quickly and a little sporadically, he seemed still very shocked and upset, though he tried not to show any other emotion than irritation.

"What a mess. Because of me. I'm so sorry, if I hadn't started hanging out with Gerard I.." I was cut off by Mikey, his face confused and maybe a little amused.

"No stop right there." He said, putting a hand up for me to stop talking. "This isn't your fault, got it? Marley's the one with the problems. This would be happening no matter what. If not you then whoever else he has an interest in. Like I said, I think you guys would be good together."

"I think he's here." I said, hearing the doorman talking with someone. I got up and went to the front door to find my poor Prince Charming standing with the doorman. "Go ahead James, I can take it from here." I said, asking him to leave. Once he was out of sight and ear shot I ran up to Gerard, hugging him tight. His hair was slightly wet from the rain that I hadn't even known was coming down. Little droplets of cold water ran down my back and soaked my face as we hugged. I pulled back smiling at his exhausted face. I didn't know why but I was so incredibly happy to see him. Some sort of joy washed over me and I kissed him, hard, not really even caring who saw. "Are you okay?" I whispered against his lips, not really even taking the time to open my eyes yet.

"I'm fine, how's Mikey?" He asked, slowly pulling away from me.

"Shaken, a little. He'll be okay. Give him a few days." I said, reassuring him. "Ooh, that's kind of deep, huh?" I said, referring to the cut on his cheek from Marley's ring. He only shrugged in response so I took him to the bathroom and got out the first aid kit. I started cleaning it, though he didn't flinch. I'd guessed he dealt with pain pretty well.

"Thanks, for you know, helping us so much." He said, looking at the ceiling as I put antiseptic on the cut.

"Don't say 'thank you.' I haven't done much but start all this." I said, still focused on the wound.

"Fine, I won't say it then." He paused, then quieted his voice. "But can I tell you something else?"

"What's that?" I looked up at him, wondering what the hell was going on in his mind.

"I want a lot out of life. I want a big house, booming career, perfect life, great relationship with someone who makes me feel amazing just by being around her. I know it's a lot to ask, but that's what I want out of life." He explained, though I knew he wasn't done.

"Well, I think that's something everyone wants, Gerard." I said, not really sure where he was going with this, but loving that wild look in his eyes.

"I don't have a big house, my career hasn't even lifted off the ground, my life is close to being in shambles at the moment, and I don't know if I can ever fix any of those things." he paused for a moment, never dropping his gaze away from me. "But you.. You make everything so much brighter. You make me feel cared about, wanted, that's something I've been lacking for a long time, if I ever even felt that way to begin with. I want you to be the other half of that great relationship. I know, I have nothing. I don't have the money your parents have, I can't buy you everything you've ever wanted, and I can't buy you a big beautiful house like this one, hell, I can't even provide you food that isn't bought off the shelves of a cheap grocery store. But I can give you other things. " He paused again, stepping toward me, sliding his hands, slowly, up and down my arms. "I can give you the care and attention that I know you don't get now. I can give you a promise to not leave you behind.. I can give you comfort when you need it, a smile when you want it. I don't have the money to care for you like you've been cared for up until now, but I can give you the heart I'm pouring out to you." He brushed my hair from my face, seemingly admiring me, waiting for my answer.

I thought for a moment on how to respond. No one had ever spoken to me that way before. It felt like a dream. I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I was awake. "Gerard, I want you to realize that I don't need money to happy. I have money, a lot of it, and guess what? I'm still normally pretty unhappy. But everything you said is exactly what I want. Maybe I want to be with you, live in a shitty apartment for a while, encourage you as your career lifts off, eat ramen noodles and pizza every day." I laughed. I hadn't even realized how much I wanted those things, even though it wasn't the luxury I had been used to. "I feel a lot of things about you, and I just really would love to be a permanent person in your life."

"So you want to do this? You want to be with me? You know what that entails.." He half warned, almost trying to scare me away.

"I do want to be with you. I really do. And when I turn 18, we won't have to be a secret anymore. After that, there's nothing anyone can do. Gerard, I lo-" I was suddenly cut off by Gerard's lips slamming against my own. I suppose those words weren't meant to be said yet..