Only to Survive (ON HOLD)

Part Two: The Becoming - Chapter Six: The Gallivanting White Knight

Revised and re-updated: May 29, 2013

I think I caught all of the mistakes. So far, this chapter has to be my favorite revision. :) Enjoy!

"Hard times will always reveal true friends." – Unknown

 Part Two: The Becoming

Chapter Six: The Gallivanting White Knight

 Gerald shoves me away and rushes to the door.

 “No!” I yell, tucking my legs under me and lunging for him. Tackling him to the ground, I wrap my arms around his and secure my legs around his legs. He struggles to kick me off, but I hold tight. Steve leaps into action, helping me hold Gerald down.

 “Dang, Ger, you’re stronger than you look,” I say.

 He growls. “Let me go! They need me!  They’re my family!”

 “I know Gerald, but you can’t just go gallivanting into the darkness like a white knight! You’ll get yourself killed!”

“I don’t care,” he retorts, still fighting me, “If it was Rose and Samuel, you’d raise hell, would you not?” He stops moving and turns to me, his brown eyes boring into mine.

“Yes, I would.”

“Then let me go!”

“I won’t try to understand Gerald, but come on, your Mom would skin you alive if you went outside right now. Your Dad would have a conniption, and don’t even get me started on your brother who is, by the way, probably still alive.”

“Yeah,” Steve huffs, holding Gerald’s arms down. “Percival would have metaphorical kittens, and would probably bring you back to life, just so he could kill you again. He’d have to teleport from Mississippi and kick your butt because you made him miss his classes.”

“Would he want you to kill yourself in some reckless move Gerald? Tell me. Would Percival want that?”

He sobers slightly, tears still trickling down his cheeks. “No, I reckon’ Perc wouldn’t.”

“So, am I going to have to tie you down, or are you going to stay here of your own free will?”

He gives me a watery smirk. “My, my Evolet, aren’t you all about the birds and the bees today.”

I slap him gently on the back of his head and untangle myself from him. “Oh, shut up you big red-headed oaf.”

Steve laughs and backs away as Gerald sits up, running a hand through his curly red hair. “Sorry about that guys.”

Aspen shrugs. “I-it’s okay. E-everyone’s allowed t-to f-freak out w-when they get n-news like that.”

“We’ll go check out your house tomorrow Gerald,” Rose says, lying a white hand on his shoulder. “Who knows? Maybe they just got spooked and then the phone’s battery went.”

Hope flares in his eyes. “Yeah, that has to be it. Mom is easily spooked, and Dad loves to exploit that.”

I give him a smile and stand, holding out a hand. “I don’t know about y’all, but I’m tired. I say, since there isn’t anything cold, we leave the sorting for tomorrow.”

“I agree wholeheartedly,” Gerald says, standing.

“I concur.”

“O-okay.”

“Good, I need my beauty sleep.”

“But I don’t want to go to bed!”

I chuckle, ruffling Samuel’s hair. “Are you purposely trying to act like a toddler?”