A Kiss and I Will Surrender

17

"Shhh!" His hand covered my mouth when I let out a giggle.

"You're gonna wake him up!" He whisper shouted at me; somehow that wouldn't wake Mikey up though, right?

"Come on," he grabbed hold of my hand and dragged me downstairs, silently closing Mikey's door behind us.

"Where are we going?" I whispered as he opened the back door and the winter air bit at my bare arms.

"C'mon," was all he said, I followed him and he brought be around the back of the house. Then he pointed at a ladder on the ground. I gave him a questioning look and he pointed again, this time at the roof.

"No! That's literally how Mikey broke his foot!" Now I was talking at a normal volume, which earned me another salty palm to the mouth. I stuck my tongue out and slobbered onto his hand and he jerked it away, wiping it off on his jeans.

"Gross," he picked up the ladder and I helped him lean it against the brick wall, "You're lucky you're so cute."

My cheeks flushed red and I felt that fluttering in my stomach again. He thought I was cute?

We climbed onto the roof and settled in a corner, barely out of view of the window in Gerard's room. At this point, I wondered why he'd gone through all the trouble to put the ladder up if we could have just gone through his room.

He must've seen me looking at his window because then he said: "It doesn't open anymore. I got caught sneaking out one time in high school and they drilled it shut."

I laughed at that and then he scooted closer to me, resting his arm across my shoulder. It was dark, and the sky was glittered with tiny white stars and the glow of the moon, giving us a good enough amount of visibility.

"So you're a romantic," I turned to him with a smirk plastered on my face.

"Only for you," he pulled my body closer to his and we sat there in contented silence for a few moments. I rested my head in the crook of his neck, closing my eyes as his warmth seeped into me. This was nice. I felt at peace right there with Gerard.

I lifted my head and kissed him softly on the cheek. He melted into me before turning his head and kissing my lips. This was how I wanted to stay forever.

—

I stayed at the Way residence for the next three nights, Gerard and I hadn't done more than sneak glances at each other after our rendezvous on the roof.

"Frank," Mrs. Way was cooking something up for dinner in the kitchen and Mikey and I were seated at the counter, "Are you going to be staying over for New Years?" I hadn't thought about that yet.

"Um, I don't know," I turned to Mikey for an answer.

"You can if you want to, but I'm sure your mother misses you very much," Mrs. Way said with a smile.

"Yeah," I was still pissed off at both my parents about the other day, but she was right, and I couldn't hold a grudge forever, "Yeah, I probably should."

"I can drive you," Gerard piped up without hesitation.

"Um, okay," I said awkwardly, paranoid that Mikey might think this was more than just a polite offer.

"I'll see you next year," Mikey said with a wink, I chuckled at the overused joke then Gerard and I went to the car.

—