Will You Take Me With You? [Gerard Way]

Chapter 2

The afternoon atmosphere had settled into that still, stagnant state that occurs somewhere between the setting of the sun and the total blackening of the sky. It had disappeared over the horizon, yet the faint glow of its light still lingered. Kate and Gerard walked side by side on a deserted footpath. Apparently, the bus-stop had acted as a huge detour from the trip home; the two had been walking for just under an hour. Kate’s legs were growing tired and she had unconsciously begun dragging her black shoes along the ground, kicking pebbles into cracks that littered the concrete path. The two teenagers were halfway through a game of ’21 questions’.

“So, what brought you here to the amazing town of Belleville? And why on earth would you abandon California for this shithole?” Gerard asked Kate, pushing his black side fringe out of his eyes as he studied her face. She was the perfect illustration of her hometown; tanned skin, a fit body, blue eyes. The only exception was her dark brown hair, which fell straight around her face. He watched her lips break out into a smirk.    

“Oh, it’s not so bad here… My first week and I’ve already met one drug-abusing neighbour. Some people would call that good luck.”

“Do you?”

“Depends if he’s willing to share.” Kate glanced sideways at Gerard, a cheeky smile playing on her lips. She was getting cocky; replicating the air of self-assurance that surrounded him. The first and last time she had gotten stoned, she ended up ‘greening out’, a term used to describe the state one gets in when they smoke so much that they throw up constantly  before passing out, generally half-naked in a puddle of their own vomit.

Gerard’s eyes lit up as he laughed. “I didn’t pin you for a potthead.”

“Hardly!” Kate countered, “I just don’t mind having some fun.”

The houses surrounding them were beginning to look familiar to Kate. They had just rounded a corner which Kate recognised as her street. Gerard stopped in front of his driveway.

“Well, my parents aren’t home, if you’re up for it?”

Kate bit her lip. She could see her new home a few houses down. It was a simple, three-bedroom brick house quite similar to Gerard’s. In a few hours, her dad would arrive home, tired after a long day of work at his new job. Maybe, Kate rationalized to herself, her father would be happy that she’d made a friend on her first day of school.

“Sure.”

She followed Gerard up his driveway and through his front door. The inside of his house was nice- a spacious open plan interior with white walls and not a single object out of place. It contrasted Kate’s house, which was scattered with packed cardboard boxes and wrapped china.          

“Nice house,” she commented.

“My mum is a clean freak.”

Kate followed Gerard down the hall into his bedroom. The room was dark; black curtains, black bedspread and walls littered with posters of rock bands, to the point where the white wall was completely hidden.

“Sorry it’s messy,” Gerard mumbled, kicking his way through piles of dirty clothes and comic books.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s so dark in here that I can’t see any mess anyway,” Kate joked, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the sudden lack of light. “Are we about to have a Dracula moment? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“I like it like this,” Gerard shrugged. 

Kate ran her hand along the wall until she found a light switch, fumbling as she switched it on. Even the light bulb didn’t do much for the room; it was dim and flickered occasionally. Kate’s eyes drifted over to a black desk on the opposite wall to Gerard’s bed. It was covered in papers, notebooks, and art supplies. She walked over to the desk and reached out to open one of the sketchpads.

“No!” Gerard leaped towards her, snatching the sketchbook out of her reach. He faltered after seeing Kate’s surprised expression. “I, um, it’s just private, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it,” she shrugged despite the curiosity burning through her body. She watched as Gerard shut the book in a desk drawer. “So, you draw?”

“A little,” he replied as he rummaged through the front pocket of his backpack, “Mostly comics and cartoons.”

Kate sat on his bed, falling down onto the soft, black quilt. With his back to her, she had a chance to properly look at him. He was different to anyone she had spoken to before. With his chaotic black hair, dark clothing and pale skin, they were complete opposites. For a split second, Kate wondered what she was doing there, on the bed of a boy who was nothing like her. But then Gerard turned and looked at her with a massive grin on his face, shaking the bag of weed in his hand as if it was a prize. She laughed, admiring his smile and the way his eyes crinkled at the corners.

Smoke filled the bedroom; the air was thick with the smell of burning marijuana. They sat cross-legged on the bed, facing each other. Kate took a final drag of the small remainder of a joint before squashing it into a bowl they were using as an ashtray. It was the third they had had between them and they were halfway through a zombie movie they were watching on Gerard’s small television.

Gerard started giggling.

“What?” Kate asked, poorly attempting to repress her laughter. “Why are you giggling? Boys don’t giggle.”

“I’m pretty stoned,” his grin was goofy and his eyes were red. Kate laughed. Although she wasn’t feeling sober, she was trying to act as cool and as calm as possible.

Suddenly, Gerard gasped. “We need popcorn! I’ll be right back.”

He jumped off the bed and ran out of his bedroom door, stumbling slightly as he did so. Kate looked around his room and her eyes drifted over to his desk. She walked over there and looked at the artworks scattered across the wood. They were all incredible- drawings and paintings of superheroes and people in comic-form. Gerard had real talent.

Kate glanced towards the closed door. She knew it was wrong to invade Gerard’s privacy, particularly as she had just met him, but she was too curious to resist. She opened the desk drawer where he had stashed his secret sketchbook, but before she had time to grab the book, she heard the bedroom door open behind her. Slamming the drawer shut, she grabbed a painting that was sitting on top of the desk.

“What are you doing?” Gerard asked from behind her.

The scent of popcorn wafted into the room and Kate turned, holding up his artwork. “These are really good.”

Gerard grinned. “I know.”

They sat on the bed with their backs against the wall, popcorn finished, watching the end of the movie. Kate was sitting close to Gerard, clinging to his shoulder during the scary parts. As the credits rolled, Gerard looked down at her.

“You’re such a wuss,” he laughed.

“Screw you, those zombies were practically in the room with us,” Kate replied.

“How stoned are you?”

“Pretty stoned,” she giggled.

Gerard smirked and Kate looked into his eyes, exploring the specks of green scattered through the light shade of hazel. The whole room seemed to have slowed down around them. Gerard leaned towards her with his lips slightly parted. With their faces inches apart, Kate leaned in to close the gap.

“Gerard?”

They pulled away from each other, turning towards the interruption standing in the doorway. It was a tall, skinny boy, with brown hair and a confused expression. He looked between the two of them as he pushed his black-rimmed glasses up his nose. “What are you doing?”

Gerard moaned. “Hey Mikey.”