Another Way | Adopted by Gerard Way (Book Three)

3

Harley was a morning person. Her moms told her she was probably one of the only teenagers in the world who could actually get out of bed before 8AM just because she wanted to. But on her first morning at Gerard's house she found it difficult to kick the blankets off, to shake off her exhaustion and face the day ahead. Yes, the bed was comfortable which made getting up even harder, but mainly she was exhausted from the six straight hours of terror she felt while on the plane.

She'd felt like the walls and ceiling of the already enclosed space were caving in on her, like the sound of the already loud engine was filling her ears, her whole skull, making her brain rattle and her head ache. She barely noticed it when Gerard gripped her hand and she couldn't hear a word he said over all the racket and he own heartbeat, not that anything he said could have stopped her from spiraling if she had been able to hear him.

She felt like she was going to die and nothing could change that until the plane landed safely on the runway.

She decided that she'd save her exploring she intended to do for tomorrow and stay in today, and was just about to roll out of bed and start a day of relaxation when she heard a light knocking on the door. She stayed put, rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the heels of her hands and called out weakly, "Come in."

Gerard came in, already dressed and ready for the day, breakfast he'd made set out on the dining table downstairs. He was too excited to start his first day with Harley to wait any longer for her to get up. He was hesitant upon entering the room, though. He couldn't imagine how mentally drained she must've been feeling by the time the flight was over and was surprised he even found her awake now. She'd gripped tightly onto his arm as soon as the boarding announcement sounded overhead, dug her fingernails in even through his jacket, seldom let go the entire flight, sat in her seat trembling, her breathing coming out in short bursts. He was afraid she might pass out, but at least then she'd get a break from her mind that was no doubt running through every possible catastrophe that could prevent the flight from landing safely in LA. The worst part was that he couldn't do anything to help her but reassure her that everything would be fine, over and over again, sounding like a useless broken record.

He knew how physically drained she was, though. She'd dragged her feet from the airport to the car, her suitcase trailing behind until he took it for her, and then nodded off in the car ride home almost as soon as he turned onto the freeway. He drove in silence with the radio turned down so as not to wake her. He carried her into the house and tucked her into bed.

"I made breakfast," Gerard told Harley brightly, hoping that would be enough to get her out of bed and wipe the exhaustion off her face.

"It's lunchtime back in New York," Harley pointed out. She felt the urge to run her fingers through her hair to tame the knots and the way it was sticking out in every which way, but knew it'd be pointless, so she stretched her arms over her head, hoping a good stretch would wake her up.

"Then I guess you're having pancakes and fruit for lunch."

"I'm okay with that," Harley replied through a yawn.

Gerard sat on the end of the bed, smoothed out the black duvet as he asked, "How are you feeling this morning, Kiddo?"

"Fine," she said simply.

"Are you sure?"

Harley nodded.

She was surprised with how fine she felt. She'd had anxiety attacks before, but nothing like she experienced on the plane. She'd come close, though, the time Evelyn and Emerald tried to take her to Disney Land via airplane when she was nine. She refused and wouldn't listen when they tried to reason with her. The family ended up making a road trip out of it instead, which Harley had to pretend she didn't mind at all even though she had trouble being in a car for such a long time, alone with her thoughts and the music blaring through the speakers as her legs cramped up from sitting still too long.