Wandering the Parade

(5) There's Nothing I Can Say

Gerard's POV

"Gerard!" Frank hissed, as I began to walk into the hallway. "Gerard, you can't leave me alone with these strangers. They keep holding their crucifixes and staring at me and it's creeping me out!"

"Frank; black hair, tattoos, and piercings. Throw in your grin that makes it look like you're about to feast off flesh, and you look like you're a vampire! Do you honestly wonder why they're staring? Go inside, alright? I'll be back in just a minute. I'm gonna get Mikey, and then we'll meet you here."

"How do you know he's coming?" He snapped his fngers. "He called you!"

"No shit, Sherlock. Go sit down."

"Gerard!" he screeched, following me and pulling the ends of my tee shirt.

"Frank, do you want to be a part of this?"

"Yes, but-"

"Then get your ass in a chair, Iero!"

 He sulked but walked back through the door. I sighed when a moment later, I heard one of the plastic chairs clatter to the floor and Frank yell out a curse. I imagined we weren't making a good impression with Carolynne's family. Well whatever; I had bigger problems than that. Someone poked me on the back and I nearly jumped.

"Gerard."

Mikey. Right. "Hi."

"You're on edge." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway. "Why?"

"Well, her whole family is in there."

Another clatter. I winced. Make that a bad impression. Okay, maybe very bad. "And...?"

"Frank," I admitted. He nodded; it made sense now.

"Has he seen anything yet?"

"No, but he wants to."

"Why are you keeping him in there?"

"Because I told him if he wanted to come then he had to wait in there while I found you. I think they freak out Frank, though. I think one of the boys was holding a spider." He chuckled. "Anyway, I came because I wanted to see if there was anything holding her back from getting up again."

"And?"

"It's her. I've heard her; she thinks everyone up here has moved on. She has no inspiration to come back. I mean, it's a little obvious her mom has drank away her memory and what shit, but her brothers- I mean stepbrothers-  want her there."

"That guy in the chair closest to her is like, her boyfriend or something." We both started at the new voice. Of course it was Frank, though. I glared. "Sorry..."

"So, when are we going, anyway?" Mikey asked after a long period of silence.

"Well, how long does it take you to fall asleep?" I asked sarcastically.

Frank tilted his head to the side. "Well I usually-"

"Frank, no one cares," I interrupted.

Carolynne's POV

"I'm here!" Gerard called out. Before, he'd had a habit of scaring the living crap out of me, and I'd made him promise he'd say something so I wouldn't try and clock him. "I brought Mikey."

That actually made me excited. Despite the jabs I made at Mikey, even if Gerard had started it; the asshole he can be, I actually liked him. He seemed pretty shy though, and never talked much except to his brother. I turned around. Gerard was standing a few feet away, with his arms crossed as per usual. Mikey was standing beside him, and he waved.