Worth Living For

Chapter 21

I hadn't not had a job since I moved to New York, and I had no idea what to do with all of the extra time that I had. I would spend both waking and sleeping moments with Gerard; he hadn't left my apartment since I lost my job, even though Delilah had come home a week ago.

I spent a lot of time making art, but there was still so much time. I wanted my job back, just to give me something to do. Another reason for wanting, or needing, my job back came in a letter taped to my apartment door.

Gerard and I had went for a walk in the rare cool weather, taking advantage of being able to wear a hoodie outside without sweating gallons. As we approached my apartment door, I noticed a piece of paper on the wood. I passed Gerard and reached out for the paper, opening it with shaking fingers. Gerard approached me from behind, placing his hand comfortingly on the small of my back. He already knew what the letter was about. I couldn't believe I had been oblivious of the issue until now.

"Oh no..." my knees went weak, and I would have fallen to the ground if Gerard hadn't had a good grip on me. He turned me around to face him as I articulated the bad news aloud. "I...I'm getting evicted. I can't pay the rent anymore...I don't have a job..."

He nodded. "Itll be okay, Frank. It'll be okay, I promise." he assured, his arms around my waist. He pulled me closer so we were hugging.

"But it won't be okay." I said. "I don't have the money to pay the rent and I have no place to go-"

"Yes, you do." he cut me off.

"Wha-"

"You'll stay with me."

I pulled away, looking him in the face. "No...I can't depend on you, Gerard. I can't move in. It's yours and Delilah's house. I can't-"

"Yes you can, Frank. Delilah won't mind. I'm not asking you, Frank. You really have no other choice, unless you want to move in with your Dad."

I laughed, making him smile.

"I'm taking that as a yes. Now come on, we better get packing."

~

It didn't take long to pack up my apartment. I didn't have a lot of belongings, plus I wasn't bringing my furniture along.

Leaving my apartment wasn't too emotional for me. I didn't have any memories that I didn't want to let go of, so the move was fairly easy. The only thing that bothered me as the taxi drove away from the building was the idea of change.

As a kid, and even as a teenager, I had always lived in the same house; we had never moved. The only change I had to go through was switching from the grade school to the high school. So, when I moved to New York, I really had no idea how to deal with the change. It took forever to get used to the new home (and living alone),  the new town, and my new (and first) job. But I eventually adapted, and now I was moving again.

I hadn't lived with anyone in years. I was glad that Gerard had been staying over for the last couple weeks, to give me the feel of living with someone again, but it would still need a lot of getting used to.

Surprisingly enough, all of my things fit in the taxi with us. We sat in the back with boxes on our laps and at our feet, but we managed to make it work.

We unpacked everything from the taxi onto Gerard's front porch, went back and paid the taxi (extra for all the boxes and the time it took) and brought everything inside.

Delilah jumped up from the couch as we entered the house.

"We have a new roommate!" Gerard announced, setting the box he carried in his hands on the ground.

Delilah ran towards me and wrapped me in a hug. "This is gonna be so fun!" she squealed.

We all helped to bring the rest of the boxes in, collapsing on the couch with exhaustion when we were finished. We vowed to unpack tomorrow morning, and headed off to bed.

Gerard gestured for me to follow him down the hallway. He led me all the way down, opening the last door on the left, and I followed behind him inside.

"It's okay if we share a bedroom, right? I mean, there's really no more empty rooms left in the house..."

"It's fine." I assured him, smiling.

He nodded, glad that I hadn't declined. We climbed into the bed together, on the same sides that we had designated in my bed. I fell asleep quickly, surprisingly. It must have been because of how at-home I already felt in Gerard's apartment.

~

"Are you sure it was Ava?" Gerard asked, running his thumb back and forth on the handle of the coffee cup he held.

I nodded. "No one else knew. And my boss couldn't have seen us out in public, because we're never out together." I said, before realizing the irony of the situation; we were out in public right now. "Except for now." I added.

He laughed. "That's true. I just don't think it's like her, to tell him something like that. She had to have known that it would get you fired."

"Oh, I'm sure that's why she told him."

Gerard shrugged, looking down at his cup. I tried to do the opposite, and started to look around the cafe. I wished I hadn't though; just as I glanced toward the door, the last person I wanted to see walked inside.

"Shit." I cursed.

"What?" Gerard asked, looking up. He followed my gaze to the door and sighed. "I think it's a sign."

"Huh?" I asked, looking away from the door, which had swung shut, and back at him.

"I think you two are here at the same time because you need to talk about what's happened." he explained.

I sighed. "I really don't want to, Gerard-"

"But you have to." he insisted.

I grunted, unwrapping my fingers from my cup and sliding out of the chair. I made small, slow steps toward the table she now occupied and hesitated before taking the seat across from her."

Her head snapped up, and she seemed to glare at me. I told myself that I was over-exaggerating, and started the conversation.

"Hi." I said simply. When she didn't reply, I got more aggravated. "You know, you shouldn't be the one angry at me. You're the one that refused to forgive me. You're the one that made me lose my job. I should be furious with you. I shouldn't be the one trying to make amends here."

She sighed. "Did it ever occur to you that I might not want to make amends?"

My mouth fell open. She had caught me completely by surprise. "What did I do to you, Ava?"

"You didn't do anything, Frank. I just don't want to be your friend."

And with that, she was gone.

I stayed at that table, in that chair, shocked at what had just happened. Eventually, Gerard joined m, sitting where Ava had sat and reaching across the table to grab my hand for comfort. He didn't say anything, and I didn't expect him to. I would have known what to say if I were him either.