For the Last Night I Lie, Could I Lie With You?

“So he just kicked you out?” Mum asked incredulously after Gerard and I recapped what had happened only a few hours earlier.

Gerard nodded sadly.

“Can I stay here?” He asked sheepishly.

“Of course you can, sweetheart.”

Mum got up from her chair and hugged Gerard.

“And don’t worry. We’ll call the police on your dad. There is no way he’s getting away with all this.” She assured him.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Jackson.”

Gerard picked up the bag filled with his things and followed me upstairs to my room. He set his bag down by my dresser and we sat down on my bed. Gerard turned my head slightly with his index finger and gingerly ran his fingertips across the bruise swelling above my temple.

“He got you really good there didn’t he?” Gerard asked quietly.

I nodded. He pressed his lips to my forehead and stoked my hair a few times.

“I’m so sorry, Bridgette. I shouldn’t have let him hurt you.”

“You didn’t let him hurt me.”

“But— “

“Gerard, you didn’t let him hurt me. You saved my life. Things could have been much worse.”

“I didn’t save you, Bri. You saved me. You gave me a reason to live. You gave me someone to love and someone to fight for. If we hadn’t become friends I would probably be dead by now. On top of all that, you took me in when I was hurt and now you took me in again after everything with my dad. How can I thank you?”

“You don’t have to thank me, Gee. We’re best friends, we’re supposed to help each other.”

Both of us were chocked up and in tears, embracing each other so tightly it felt as if we were fused together. We remained in each other’s arms for what seemed like an eternity and a very blissful eternity at that.

At that moment I truly realized how much I need Gerard and how much Gerard needs me. There is no way I’m ever going to leave him. Not now...not ever