Exhibitions- Gerard Way

Sorry

"I still can't believe you're staying!" Daisy exclaims. They have been talking over coffee for almost an hour now, rambling on about their boyfriends and trying to think of plans that they can do together around Daisy's work schedule. 

"I know it doesn't actually feel real yet!" Maxine jokes. 

"Where did you sleep last night?" 

"We both slept in his bed." Daisy's eyebrows raise at her answer. She's very nosy, especially when it comes to Maxine's love life, so this is the exact cherry on the top that she wanted out of the conversation. 

"Did you... do anything?" Daisy asks cheekily. 

"No. When we're ready sure but not yet I don't think." 

They sit in the coffee shop until it closes. They agree to hang out for the rest of the night at Daisy's apartment as Jacob's out at work late tonight. They start walking back until Daisy receives a call from an unknown number, she answers and her face drops into worry and fear. 

"What's wrong?" Maxine asks her.

"It's Jacob... he- he's in hospital?" Daisy panics.

"Oh my god what!?" 

"I'm so sorry Maxine I have to go and see him."

"No of course, it's okay. Let me know what happens and if you need anything I'm always here. I hope he's okay!"

Daisy stops a passing taxi and hops in quickly, panic stricken all over her face. Maxine watches as the car pulls away then stares at the ground for a moment. She has no idea where she is, all she knows is that Gerard is still at work so he can't pick her up, she also doesn't even know his address so she's pretty much stranded. 

She walks down the street, hoping to figure out where she is. Instead she ends up in a park, it's quite empty as it's late at night now. Gerard doesn't finish work for another half an hour so Maxine decides to sit on a bench in the meantime. She sips on what's left of her coffee from earlier for a while until a text comes through from Daisy. 

Daisy

Jacob's okay I think, he was hit by a car but it's not that bad apparently

Maxine

Oh my god that's awful! I hope he recovers well, I'm sure he'll be fine. Are you okay?

Daisy

Yeah I'm alright now, still a bit shocked but I've calmed down now. Are you okay? Are you back home yet? I'm sorry I had to leave you

Maxine

No I'm sat in a park waiting for Gerard, I'm good though and honestly it's understandable, don't be sorry 

Tears swell in Maxine's eyes over the news about Jacob. She feels sorry for Daisy, she can't even imagine what she would have done if someone had told her that Gerard was in hospital. Even just the thought of it makes her panic.

"Hey, are you okay?" An unfamiliar voice calls out to her. She looks up, wiping her tears, and sees a tall, blonde man walking towards her. He has long curly hair that falls just behind his ears and is wearing a satin shirt with black skinny jeans. 

"Ye-yeah I'm okay?" Maxine replies with suspicion in her voice. 

"Oh okay aha, it's just that I saw you crying and thought that I should come and check you're alright. I'm Luke!" He sits down next to her. "Maxine." She replies bluntly, she thinks it's quite odd that he's just made himself at home on the bench next to her. 

"So Maxine, what's a pretty girl like you doing in the middle of New York at this time of night?" He turns to look at her which makes Maxine uncomfortable. "I'm waiting for my boyfriend actually." She speaks up. He looks at her with an innocent face and slightly backs off from her annoyed tone. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to-" He says, slightly scared. Maxine ignores him but her guilt gets the better of her. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just, I don't know what you want from me, it's a bit random for a man to come and sit with me, in the past it usually just means that they're trying to chat me up." She stops herself from waffling on to him. 

Luke cracks a smile. "What if I am trying to chat you up?" He laughs.

"Did you not hear me? I have a boyfriend!" She snaps back at him again. 

"No sorry, I'm only joking. I also have a boyfriend!" He giggles at Maxine's sharp reactions. She can't work out if the last part he said is true or if he's 'joking' again. "You're gay?" She hesitantly questions. He nods confidently in response and she feels relief, not having to protect herself from him making her uncomfortable anymore. They talk and the conversation flows nicely, maybe she's finally making some new friends here. She gets to know him a little bit and thinks that he is a genuinely nice person that she could potentially keep as a friend. At the moment her only friends are Daisy and Jacob, aside from Gerard who tops them all. Their conversation continues for a little while, but Maxine is suddenly distracted by a text coming through on her phone. 

Gee <3

Hey Max, are you okay? Where are you?

Maxine hadn't even realised the time. Her and Luke have been talking for almost an hour now, it only seems like it's been five minutes but Maxine decides that she needs to get going. 

Max

I don't actually know where I am, I'm in a park somewhere

Gee <3

Okay, stay there I'm coming x

"Sorry Luke, I've got to go. My boyfriend's coming soon." She hands him her phone. "Text me though, we can hang out again at some point!" Luke puts his number into her phone. 

"I'll stay until he gets here, it can be unsafe to stay out here on your own Maxine." He explains, Maxine agrees with him and they make small talk until Gerard arrives. The roads are pretty empty so Gerard arrives within five minutes. He walks over to Maxine, he notices Luke sitting next to her and jealousy immediately washes over his face. 

"Hi Gee, this is Luke. Luke this is my boyfriend Gerard!" She introduces the two of them to each other. Luke extends his arm out to him but he pretends that he doesn't see it, still jealous. He feels a small sense of relief that she introduced him as her boyfriend, but still feels envy and anger towards him. 

"Come on Max." He demands whilst taking her hand in his. Maxine yells back to Luke to say goodbye, she struggles to keep up with Gerard's fast pace. They reach his car and get in it, it's a silent drive until Gerard breaks the silence. 

"Who was that?" He asks quietly, trying to hide his annoyance. "Luke, he saw me crying and came over to check if I was okay." Gerard's feelings of jealousy slowly fade away as hurt fills his body, she was upset and he wasn't there to comfort her. "Why was you crying? Weren't you with Daisy?" He places his hand on her thigh and rubs it, making sure she's okay. "Daisy had to go because Jacob got hit by a car, we were both upset about it. But he's okay now apparently!" She explains. He briefly looks at her with sadness in his eyes before turning his attention back on the road. "Luke just came over and cheered me up a bit!" Jealousy overrules his body again. "Was he flirting with you or something?" He says sharply which takes Maxine by surprise, she's never seen him angry as he's quite good at hiding his emotions, but clearly now his emotions are starting to get the better of him. "Gee calm down, I'd never choose someone over you, never. You're literally the light of my life, why would I want to let you go? Luke's gay anyways." The last part sucks all of the jealousy out of him and he feels relieved again, if anything he's happy that Maxine isn't upset anymore. 

They arrive home and Gerard helps her out of the car. Once she's stood up he pulls her into his arms. "I'm so sorry Max, I understand he's your friend and I know you would never try to hurt me, I'm sorry if I made it look like I don't trust you. I love you so much, I hope you know that." He squeezes her tightly.

"I know, I love you too."