A Way Back Home | Adopted by Gerard Way (Book Two)

One More Night (39)

*trigger warning: mentions of self harm*

Frank's POV

"We're home!"

Evelyn immediately jumps away from me and yanks her sleeves down to her fingertips. I've seen her pull her sleeves down so many times in the last few weeks, I can't believe I didn't put two and two together. I can't believe we were all so blind that this girl has been spiralling to the point of self destruction while we all sat and watched, blissfully unaware.

Her breathing picks up and the panic is clear on her face.

"Hey, it's gonna be fine, alright?" I tell her. "Would it be easier if I went downstairs first?"

She nods, burying her head in her knees again. "Just tell him everything for me, I don't even care anymore," she says, her voice muffled and defeated.

"First of all, I know that's bullshit. Second, I can't tell him everything for you, but I can—" I sigh, taking a moment to think about what I can tell him. This isn't a situation I was ever prepared for, and now that it's arrived I wish I could do more for her. It's a whole new reason I wish she wasn't setting off for Rhode Island tomorrow morning. "—I can tell him enough," I decide finally. I'll figure out what that actually means when I come to it.

"Just him, though."

"'Course, who else am I gonna go talk to? Santa?" I cross the room, but stop in her doorway for one last thing. "What are you gonna do for the next couple minutes?"

She shrugs, then looks around the room at the half filled boxes and piles of stuff that still need to be packed. Gesturing vaguely at everything, she says, "Finish this shit, I guess."

I nod, then meet Gerard at the bottom of the stairs. He has one hand already on the railing as though he was about to come up and find us.

"Is the packing all done?" he asks casually. It's as though she's packing up for summer camp. He's hiding his feelings by pretending everything is fine and normal, is what's going on, but as soon as she leaves he'll be a mess. We all will.

"We, uh, didn't really do any packing at all," I say awkwardly, leaning against the banister. I stick my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans. In the right one, I feel the blade. "But she's working on it now."

Gee raises his eyebrows. "What happened? She didn't have that much left to do when we left."

As per Evelyn's request, I beckon him upstairs to his office, well out of Lindsey's earshot. I understand that Eve doesn't like to let too many people in on her weaknesses. She likes to appear strong and lets things eat her up inside before ever considering telling the truth, but maybe it waters down to her being that afraid of disappointing anyone.

The room is a perfect representation of everything Gerard is and what he likes. Creative, cluttered and slightly messy but still organized, just in a way that he knows exactly where everything is and where it should be. I wish I could say the only reason I was in here was to flick through the comic-stocked shelves of which there are many.

He leans up against his desk, papers and pencils covering the surface, and I stand a few feet away, my hands still in my pockets. I chew my bottom lip nervously and stare at the floor, Gerard's piercing gaze painfully obvious as he waits for me to say something.

"Frank, what happened?" he asks, running his hands through his hair. He's getting impatient. Anxious to go greet his daughter. "I'm gonna go see Eve if you're just gonna stand there."

He tries to get by me, but I hold an arm out, blocking his path to the door. "Wait, there's something you need to know first."

He looks at me, the expression on his face screaming, "Well!?" and I decide to get straight to the point. I take the razor blade out of my pocket and hold it out to him between two slightly trembling fingers. "I took that from her earlier."