It's been over four years since Gerard gave me that promise ring now, and he never did break his promises. The only promise he hadn't succeeded in was the wedding ring, but I knew that'd come eventually.
I was twenty-two now. So were Gerard and everybody else. Except Mikey. He's nineteen. Mikey and I still get along like siblings. I love him very much.
Samantha is twenty-eight now, and still absolutely kicking ass as a lawyer. She wasn't home much at all anymore, but I couldn't complain. As long as she was happy, so was I. Gerard and I basically lived together in Samantha's house while she wasn't here. We hadn't officially moved in with each other, but we pretty much lived together. He had a car now, so we could finally go places together.
Both Hayley and Taylor's bands really took off. The Pretty Reckless had just released their first album, since they sort of went on hiatus after cancelling that tour with My Chemical Romance four years ago. Paramore had really taken off, though. Hayley had just gotten back from a huge tour.
My Chemical Romance had just released an album a few months ago, and he had just gotten back from tour. His hair was dyed bright red and he was playing a new character called Party Poison. I had painted another canvas of us as Killjoys to go with the Black Parade one I had painted last time.
Jamia and Frank were still together, and they were actually engaged. I was really happy for them. They'd been engaged for like three months now. Jamia was also pregnant, but Taylor, Hayley and I were the only ones who knew.
We had all been so busy that we hadn't really seen each other lately. That was about to change. Jamia and Frank had called us all over to their house so she could announce her pregnancy. Nobody but the girls and I knew what this little get-together was about. Right now, Gerard was driving us to Frank and Jamia's house, which wasn't very far from ours. They really had taken the step of moving in together.
We were the first ones to arrive to the get-together, and Jamia hugged me tightly as we walked in. "Jesus Christ, it's been a while," she laughed. Frank hugged me too and then Gerard and I walked in and sat on the couch. Hayley was next to arrive, then Mikey, then Ray, then Bob, and Finally Taylor. We were all here.
"Everybody sit your asses down in the living room! We've got something to tell y'all!" Jamia shouted. The girls and I giggled. Little did everybody else know that we already knew. "Frank, you tell 'em!"
"We're gonna be parents!" Frank shouted. Everybody in the room looked at them in shock. Hugs and congratulations were exchanged. It became a little party.
"So, when do you think Gee's gonna pop the question?" Jamia joked while Gerard was too involved in a conversation with the guys to hear us. I shrugged.
"I don't know. Whenever he's ready, I guess," I sighed.
"It's been six years. Aren't you anxious yet?"
"Nah. We were broken up for two of those years. I'm not gonna go all bridezilla on him. I'm patient," I said calmly. Jamia started laughing and I raised an eyebrow in confusion at her.
"When you get married, your middle and last name are gonna rhyme," she laughed. I rolled my eyes and giggled softly.
"Lillian Mae Way still doesn't sound too bad," I laughed. Hayley and Taylor came over to join the conversation. We were all talking and giggling about Mae Way, when suddenly Gerard came over to me.
"Hey babe," I giggled as he kissed my cheek. I walked away from the group to join Gerard. "It's crazy to think that I've known the girls since we were just teenagers, and now we're adults, and they're getting engaged and pregnant and... Wow," I chuckled in disbelief.
"Maybe we'll have a little baby Way sometime. You never know," he said, leaning down to kiss me.
"Eventually," I said after we pulled away from the kiss. He chucked and pecked my lips again before we separated to visit our friends.
"Hey Lily," a voice said behind me.
"Hey Mikey. I'm still not used to seeing you without the glasses," I joked. "How have you been?" I asked. It had been a while since I had seen Mikey.
"I've been pretty good, actually," he said happily.
"I'm glad to hear that, Mikester," I said, still not over the nickname I had given him when he was a kid.
"I'm nineteen, Lily," he scoffed playfully.
"You'll always be my little Mikester," I joked, ruffling his hair. He rolled his eyes playfully and walked away to congratulate Frank.
After the party, we all went our separate ways again. That was always the hardest part. This time, though, we vowed to see each other again soon.
"Can you believe it? It seems like we were all just sixteen, having crappy sleepovers, and eating lunch with the girls everyday at school. It seems like I was just walking you to class everyday and kissing you goodbye. It's been six fucking years and we're all still friends! Doesn't that shock you? I mean, we've come pretty far from the angst-filled bunch of teenage emos we were. Frank's getting married and becoming a dad! Jamia's getting married and pregnant! Hayley and Taylor's bands really took off! Our band really took off! Look at all of us now," Gerard said on the way home.
"I wonder what the jocks who used to torture us in high school would say if they saw us now," I added, just as in awe as he was.
"They're probably all in prison. Fucking pricks," he groaned. I giggled.
"We've all changed so much in these six years. We're a pretty impressive group of people now. God, Mom and Dad would be proud."
"Yes they would, Lily. I'm sure they'd be proud of all of us if they'd had time to get to know us all," Gerard agreeed.
"I'm so proud of us. I mean, if you went back six years and asked me what I thought our group would look like in six years, I probably would have said we wouldn't even be friends in six years. I guess I was right. We're not friends anymore. We're a family," I said. It was true.
"One big Gage-Way-Iero-Nestor-Toro-Bryar-Momsen-Williams family," Gerard joked.
"Soon we'll be taking Nestor right out of that," I joked, referring to how Jamia would be an Iero soon.
"And Gage," he added. I blushed.
"That's not entirely true. We'll always have Samantha," I retorted playfully.
"Jesus Christ I'm trying to be romantic here!" he snapped playfully. I giggled and kissed his cheek.
"You never were good at romance."
"Then how'd I keep you for four years?"
"Luck," I giggled. He faked hurt. "I'm just kidding, you dork. I love you," I said. That was true. I love Gerard more than anything and I can't wait to see what else the future holds for us. I also can't wait to see what the future holds for the rest of our "family."
