Paint These Walls In Pitchfork Red  7/27/06 (not factual)

The next morning, Gerard awoke before Andie and slipped out of bed, careful not to wake her. He knew he needed a shower, so he snuck into her bathroom to get a quick one. He hurried out, hoping nobody would notice. But Andie was awake and smiling at him from her bed when he opened the door.

"You're a sneaky little fucker, aren't you? How are you gonna explain the wet towel?" She teased him.

"Easy. I'll say it was you! Good to see you're back to your old self again..." He rustled his wet hair before leaning over to kiss her. "God, I hope you get to go home today. I can't believe we've never even seen where each other lives!"

"Yeah, I know. It seems so weird. It's like I've known you forever, yet I haven't even met your parents or even been to Jersey with you!"

Soon after breakfast, Andie's dad came to pick up Gerard. At the same time, Dr. Fletcher came for Andie for her, hopefully last, CT scan. The doctor said if it looked good, she'd probably get to go home later that day.

Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel!

Gerard kissed her forehead as she was wheeled off in a wheelchair and he left with Steve.

Soon, he was driving the rental car to Andie's apartment. He was excited to finally see where she lived.

He walked in her apartment and sat down his suitcase and bookbag. He was surprised to see it decorated in warm reds and black on hardwood floors. She had red walls, a black sofa, black tables, and a red rug covered the floor. Even her dining room set was black wood. But what he noticed more than anything, were all the photographs of her family everywhere. They were all black and white images in black wood frames.

There were photos of her with her family and others of them separately. Some were more recent, and others were from when she was really small. There were even baby pictures of her and her brother. He picked up a frame holding a photo of her and Logan. Andie couldn't have been more then 3-4 years old. She still had that beautiful smile and that cute little nose. Next his eyes wandered to a more recent photo of Andie and Logan. It couldn't have been taken more than a couple of years ago. She was in a long strapless formal gown with white glove and Logan was in his Marine dress uniform. Gerard figured he must have taken his sister to some sort of military function. He studied the picture. Logan looked so proud to have his sister on his arm. And Andie...she was so beautiful. She looked like a princess with her hair pulled up and soft tendrils falling around her face.

Staring at the photograph, he once again, found it hard to fathom the thought that he'd almost lost her.

"Don't you worry, Logan. I'll take good care of your sister." Gerard said to the photograph.

Then the artwork above the sofa drew his eyes to it. It was a painting of dying red roses. They were drying up and one of the buds was drooping down instead of up like the others. It was so beautiful...yet dark...and sad. He loved it...

** TO GET A VISUAL OF THIS ARTWORK, LOOK AT THE PICTURES ON MY PROFILE =] **

Then he remembered, all this time she'd been in the hospital, he hadn't even got her flowers! He'd definately have to do something about that.

Next, he went into her bedroom. She had a comforter of a red rose pattern on an un-made bed and fashion or hairstyle magazines everywhere. Her I-pod was thrown on her bed randomly. He liked it. His own bedroom was always an eclectic mess as well. He couldn't resist and picked it up to listen to the songs she'd downloaded. She had a variety of music on it. She had some old-school Madonna and AC/DC, some new stuff by The Killers and The Fray, and a little bit of everything inbetween. Wait...what was this? He found "Helena" on there! She'd been holding out on him!

He was listening to her I-pod while he got to work changing the sheets on her bed and the towels from the bathroom. He put the dirty linens in her washing machine and started it.

After checking her kitchen cabinets, he went to the store and picked up some groceries and a few DVD's. He stopped at a flower shop and got a dozen of the darkest red roses he could find.

When he got back to her apartment, he put away the groceries and set the vase of roses on her dining room table. He even folded the clean sheets and towels and put them away.


Later that day, Gerard was sitting with Andie when her results came back from the CT scan. She was finally given the okay to be released. Plus she was walking steady enough alone now. She just needed to take a nap once in awhile and had to move slower than before since her ribs were still healing.

She called her mom and dad to give them each the news. Her mom headed back to Chicago and her dad promised to come by sometimes to check on her. However, they'd both gotten to know Gerard and could tell he cared deeply for their daughter. Neither of them had any worries leaving their daughter with him. They knew he'd take good care of her.