Author's note:
Long time no see, everybody... Heck, how are all of you? It's been nearly a month, maybe over a month, I'm terrible at keeping track of time...
Anyway.
I really have no excuse as to why you had to wait for this chapter, except for laziness, lack of interest, not enough time, and good old fashion depression... It's, uh, getting better, though, kind of, and I finally forced myself to just get this chapter over with so I could move on to Gerard's POV for chapter 19 (because Gerard is always easier for me to write, for some reason.) See, I'm one of those weird writers who gets so emotionally involved with her writing that I can't write lies. You know what I mean? If I'm depressed, I can't write happy, because it feels like a lie, and if I'm writing a depressing scene, I naturally start to become depressed. (I've developed quite a vicious cycle for myself- masochistic tendencies, emotion-wise, if we're getting specific. Someone once said that you can become addicted to depression, and that's most definitely happened to me. I'm not content unless I'm depressed... You'll notice, not in this chapter but later on in the story, just how many of my own emotions, feelings, and opinions I inject into my own characters, if you remember that. "I'm not content unless I'm depressed.")
So, enough of my lame excuses. This is the longest chapter to date- a full 18 pages in my word document- so I suppose that's my sorry-I'm-such-a-depressed-loser-who-can't-at-least-pretend-to-be-happy apology gift, or some stupid sentimental shit like that, haha.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if I've lost half of my readers by now... And this chapter kind of sucks, by the way. Since it's so long and it's currently almost 5 in the morning (I haven't gotten more than six hours of sleep any day of the past week. Shortest being three and a half, after a The Smashing Pumpkins concert, and the longest being about five and a half,) I've only read over this once, whereas I normally reread it at least five times before posting, do three OCD-induced spell checks, and reread the middle section about a million times.
Enough of my rambling, though. You may want to reread Chapter 17 before you read this, just to refresh your memory, or just reread the ending of Chapter 17.
Hope you enjoy, yeah? Point out any mistakes, please? Thanks, everyone.
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"Stop," I shrieked, sounding like an idiot. I laughed, shoving Gerard away, stumbling a bit and giggling as he caught me. The second we walked into his bedroom, he was all over me, joking and pushing and laughing, pulling at my shirt. "What the fuck," I grinned, twisting away from him, as soon as I'd regained my balance. "I said no!"
He just smirked, reaching for the hem of my shirt again. "Your fingers are all scraped up though," he said innocently. "If you try to change yourself you're going to get dirt in the scratches."
I squirmed, probably fifty different shades of pink and red; I was blushing hard, the result of a strange mixture of laughter, embarrassment, and nervousness.
"Stop!" I chuckled, fighting to keep my shirt on as he continued to tug it upwards. He was right about my hands, though- they stung, really badly. Being shoved onto the pavement and skidding a few feet had really done some damage, I realized, trying not to think about how much playing the guitar with scraped up fingers was going to hurt... And how I wouldn't be able to hold his hand without it stinging, for that matter. "You're not undressing me, Gerard-"
He latched his arms around me suddenly, apparently giving up on the shirt, and took me by surprise, knocking me backwards onto his bed. He landed half on top of me, chuckling.
