Things To Forget

-Saturday, October 5-

It was soon the next morning, at exactly 7:35. Rain continued and poured down as night went and morning came.

Gerard woke up to the sound of thunder outside his window. He bolted up from his pillow with chills. His head ached and his body felt weak.
Muffled talking came from downstairs, as well as lots of moving around and high heels clicking on the ground.
He ran his hands through his hair, stretched his arms and abdomen and massaged his face.
"Why am I up so early?" He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

He looked at himself in the mirror. Purple, round bags under his eyes combined with the giant mark on his lip, skin was paler that made the marking more obvious, stomach felt sick. Wasn't flattering. He started the shower, and kept thinking about the argument from yesterday.

"He's not interested in you! Don't you get that?"

Those words ran through his mind like crazy, and it seemed like it wasn't planning on leaving. He let the boiling sprays of water hit his head and run through his body, hoping the sense of heat will distract him from those words stabbing his heart. He sat there, steam surrounding him like a protective barrier and the hot water adding another layer onto him.

He headed downstairs to see his mother carrying shopping bags, with some help from Mikey of course. She put down the bags in the dining table and noticed him standing in the stairwell. She smiled brightly and walked towards him. "Good morning sweetheart," She said, kissing him on his forehead and giving him a hug.

"I'm surprised that you're up so early, and it's not even a school day!" She laughed softly, holding both of Gerard's hands.

"I can say the same, I think the thunder woke me up." He saw Mikey carrying more bags from the car to the house from the corner of his eye.

"Oh jeez, look at that bruise," his mother pointed out, she touched it with her thumb. "I don't think that's going away anytime soon. Your father is going to be very upset when he sees it."
Gerard wasn't sure what to say. His mother had a sweet voice that made it seem like his father was just going to give him a slap on the wrist but in reality it's more yelling and scolding that never stopped.
"I know. It's happened more than once."

...

"Oh! Almost forgot! I wanted to say I am so sorry your father and I haven't been around to spend time with you two. It's been hard and busy at work lately and we have to stay for longer than usual and-" she talked, like she wanted to change the conversation.

"Mom, chill out. It's okay. Mikey and I are old enough to take care of ourselves and we have no issue that you two have to stay over-time. We understand that work takes time and it's important for both of you. Don't worry about us."

She smiled widely and gave him another hug, this time extra tight. "What did I do to ever deserve both of you? Thank you for being so comprehending!"
His mother gave him a final smile before heading out the door, as Mikey was just heading in.

"Good morning, Gee," Mikey said while walking towards the kitchen. He didn't even look at him when passing by.
"Hey, Mikey," He responded, automatically following him. Not much was said after that.

Soon enough, they heard the door close and the sounds of their mother's heels getting closer.
"Well boys, aren't you going to help me put all this away?" She started to go through the bags on the dining table.
"I'll help!" they said in unison.

•••

The rain stopped but brought light winds and a bit of cold. Gerard was in his room, cleaning and reorganizing to keep his mind busy from anything else that was going around. Sadly, those words did come back.