Sinful ~ Frerard

1 ~ The Ghost of Her

Gerard fell onto the black sofa with a sob.
The black sofa that she'd chosen the day they went to buy furniture for the home they were going to share.
And this apartment was indeed their home, for quite some time.
But now, what was their home was now just his home.
Their sofa was now just his sofa.
And their daughter was now just her daughter.
~~~
Frank fell onto the brightly coloured, brightly stained sofa with a laugh.
"Frankie, be quiet! We can't wake up the others..."
Frank grinned at his nickname and gazed up at the boy who was climbing on top of him.
Bren was right, no one could know about what they got up to in the dark together. But they were upstairs, and the two of them were in the basement, and no one would find out.
~~~
Gerard was wandering around the apartment aimlessly. Looking at things, remembering things.
Looking at the bed they'd shared, remembering the first time they made love, in those sheets on their wedding night.
Looking at the small television, remembering watching science-fiction programs together.
Looking at the kitchen she cooked over, remembering her smiling back at him.

He choked on sobs as he looked beyond the doorway of what was his sweet little girl's bedroom. Bandit's bedroom. Tears flowed freely as he remembered.

"Gerard! GERARD!" Gerard was awoken from his grief as he realised someone had been knocking at the door.
"Mikey. H-hey." Gerard didn't bother to try and hide his tears from his younger brother. Mikey had seen him cry before, why bother?
"Gerard, we... we need to talk about what happened. With- with Lyndsey."
Gerard flinched at her name. He loved her, still. She'd done a great sin, but he'd always love her. Unfortunately.

"I don't want to."
"You have to, Gerard." Gerard sighed. His brother was three years younger than him, but lately he'd been acting as a parent to his wrecked senior.
"Fine. But it won't solve anything," Gerard almost hissed.
"I know, Gee. Go on. Tell me what happened..."
"You know what happened!"
"It'll be good for you to get it out, Gee, just tell me," Mikey said gently.

Gerard could feel tears forming in his eyes as he began to explain.
"Two days ago. Two days ago I was coming home from a performance, down at Shelley's, yeah? I'd gotten out early, so I decided to walk home, save some cash.
"And, n-near the gas station, down some alley I thought I saw L-Lynsdey-" Gerard leant forward in his chair and choked on a sob.
"Gerard..." Mikey placed a soft hand on his brother's back. "Go on,"
"I thought... I saw Lyndsey down there. So obviously, I went looking for her. Turns out it was her, yeah, but she was with some other woman."
Gerard simply couldn't continue. He didn't want to say he'd married such a sinner, he didn't want to hear such filth pass his lips.
Gerard wasn't crying anymore. He was just sitting, staring at the blank wall.
Mikey didn't say anything this time. He figured Gerard had said enough. He wasn't
going to force him to admit that he had loved a homosexual woman. He, a good Christian man, who's wife had defied God in such a way.