Chapter 14

The rest of the afternoon was cheery.

Frank and Gerard occupied both of Bandit's hands, swinging her in the air after every other step.

Thankfully the temperature had gone up and it was perfectly breezy as they walked around the large local park. Though it also could have been the warmth and love radiating through them.

They stopped by an ice-cream vendor, who was doing quite well today despite the fact that he sells frozen treats in winter, and enjoyed their ice cream as promised.

Today, they were a family.

Bandit also seemed to be having the time of her life, she laughed and screamed bouncing around as Frank and Gerard chased her around the swing set and the monkey bars.

Gerard exhausted and out of breath decided to sit out the next race down the slide. As he rested on a hard wooden bench, he watched Frank climb up and slide down the three-foot tall slide with ease, while poor little Bandit and another freckled girl who had joined in struggled excitedly to keep up. Frank is great with kids, probably because he can be a kid himself sometimes.

Gerard watched smiling, his heart was flying in this perfect day. He couldn't remember being so happy in a long time.

Frank eventually felt Gerard's eyes on him, and walked over, taking a seat next to him.

Gerard watched him from the corner of his eyes while fingering a little brown leaf that had fallen onto his lap.

"Today has been a nice day." He stated.

"Agreed"

"…Like it feels nice, to be with…you"

This surprised Gerard; he wasn't sure what Frank meant.

Frank chuckled; he must've read his mind because he planted a soft kiss on Gerard's cheek and whispered "I don't know what that meant either..." his breath was warm against Gerard's ear. He felt goose bumps run down his body.

"...But yesterday felt so good." They heard a small crackle and the both looked down to see the crushed pieces of the leaf between Gerard's fingers.

Frank chuckled lightly again catching a red flying strand of Gerard's hair and placing it behind his ear, before running and throwing a hysterical Bandit over his shoulder.

It was the last dinner they would be having before getting back on the plane to the guys in the morning.

They sat splurging on takeout pasta listening to Bandit's animated review on their day. Gerard and Frank laughed and joked forking large forkfuls of spaghetti and lasagna into their mouth.

"-And then Uncle Frankie picked me up and I was so scared! But it was funny too, because I got a tickle in my tummy like when Daddy does it-"

Gerard secretly studied Frank's face, stealing glances when he was not looking. He nearly jumped out of his seat when the phone in his pocket began to vibrate violently,

Bandit continued her playful ramble but Frank's eyes were watching him now. All the glossy brightness had disappeared in them. His expression was no longer light; his lips were pressed in a hard line, his eyebrows squared.

It was hard to look away from the unhappy Frank who had returned. He peeled his eyes away from his livid gaze and looked down to see the words "Linds".

The air felt thicker and it was hard for him to breathe; His lungs burned.

"I…will be right back…" he said dryly and slid off his chair not looking at Frank and almost ran awkwardly out to the balcony.

It was much colder now and the wind wooed and cried in the dark night.

Gerard hit the green button and pressed the icy metal against his ear, not bothering to speak.

"Hello?" came Lindsey's furious frantic voice.

"What." His voice came out in a whisper.

"Where the hell are you and where is my daughter? Who the fuck do you think you are? She's my daughter! You can't just leave with her! Now tell me where she is! Put her on the phone!"

"Is the black sedan still parked outside your house?" It was her house now. He could never refer to that place as his anymore.

"W…what?" she breathed, disoriented by his question.

Gerard waited, though he knew the answer. She sobbed into the phone. The all too familiar pain was ripping and tearing through him again, destroying anything that had begun to heal.

"Where are you taking my daughter!" she wept.

He exhaled.

"She's my daughter too. You don't have to worry about her." Gerard was now trying to choke back his own tears. "You won't be able to reach us at this number anymore. She will call you when we unboard the plane."

"Plane? What-? No! Wait!-"

Gerard hurled the phone through the darkness. He heard it crack on some rocks before there were several little splashes on the black lake below.

Gerard's body shook, tears trickled their same familiar path down his face. He felt hollow again.

He looked up at the starry sky, he wanted to cry out to the heavens for the pain that was eating him inside. How could his wife, the woman he had fallen so deeply in love with. The woman who had bore him his child, throw him and their promise of a life of happiness away? Even if she did not care about him, even if she could stand to watch a stranger blow the brains out of her husband with a silver bullet, how could she stand to know that Bandit was watching?

This whole time he had suppressed the knowledge of that last thought. What would happen to Bandit then? What happens to you when you see in insides of your father spread out in front of you? What happens when his blood splatters onto you, your skin, and your face? What does it feel like to wash his blood away from your arms?

Gerard was feeling dizzy; he leaned over and vomited over the ledge. His knees buckled and gravity was slowly pushing him down. He heard the splatter of the vomit on the rocks below. His ears were ringing.

He saw Lindsey dancing with the man. Her blonde hair twirling through the air as the man smiled at him with bloody teeth.

He saw a shirtless Frank pointing a gun to him; Mikey and Ray were at his shoulders. Gerard blinked his eyes. "Mikey?" they laughed menacingly at him. "You like Frank don't you?" He asked, before another explosion of laughter. Frank cocked the gun. "No Frank please…" He turned his head to the side and smiled, "faggot" he said just before he pulled the trigger.

The shot hit him square in the chest knocking him backwards. The concrete floor was racing up to him and the black was swallowing him.

"Gee!"

Gerard looked over and saw another Frank running towards him, but the blackness had already devoured him.