Well, If You Wanted Honesty 8/14/06-8/17/06
Gerard and Andie reached her apartment in LA and dropped their bags in a heap on the floor. Andie slipped off her shoes and began taking her earrings out as she headed towards the bathroom.
"So, how many days do we have off before the UK?" she called to him.
Gerard was walking into the bedroom, stripping pieces of clothing off along the way.
"I think...like...a week? I dunno. I can check the schedule if you want," he replied, hoping she would say it could wait.
"Nah...it can wait," she called from the bathroom.
Yes! Gerard fell onto the bed facefirst and lay still in his boxers where he landed.
Andie walked into the bedroom and slipped out of her jeans.
"I'm kinda hungry. Are you?" she turned to face him. "Do you want to order something? 'Cause I don't know about you, but I don't feel like fixing anything, and I'm sure as hell not leaving."
Gerard rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. "YES! I'm fucking starving. Whatever you think sounds good is fine with me."
Andie slipped on some comfy shorts as she thought about their delivery options. Gerard was looking up at her pulling her t-shirt over her head.
"Hey..." he interrupted her thought.
"Hmm?" Andie looked down at him absentmindedly.
"I wanna ask you something..." he said seriously.
Andie sat on one foot at the end of the bed. "Okay..."
Gerard hesitated. "Will you come to Jersey with me? I really, really, REALLY want my mom to meet you."
Andie smiled at him. It was so sweet how much it meant to him. "Aww...Gerard! Of course I will! I thought you'd never ask! I would LOVE to meet your whole family, actually!"
Gerard fell back on the bed, "Oh I am so glad!"
"What?" Andie laughed incredulously. "Did you seriously think I wouldn't want to?"
"Well, I dunno...some people are weird about that kinda shit! I wasn't sure if you'd want to or not."
"Oh...Baby..." Andie crawled over him and kissed his lips. "You are so sweet. Of course I want to. I want to know everything about you."
They stayed in LA to rest for a couple of days before they packed up again and flew to Jersey on Thursday. They were both excited as the plane landed and were laughing as they walked through the terminal at Newark International.
Andie lifted her head and saw a young man wearing a My Chemical Romance t-shirt within yards of them and staring at them. She stopped laughing and slowly moved away from Gerard, but kept a smile on her face. Gerard didn't understand what was happening until he followed her eyes. The young man was already approaching him, so Gerard just smiled.
"Holy fucking shit! Are you Gerard Way?" the young man asked.
"Yeah! I am!" Gerard gave the fan a few minutes of his time, but rarely took his eyes off Andie, who was waiting nearby. After he'd said goodbye to the young man, he walked over to Andie.
"Hey, why'd you take off?" he asked, confused.
"Let's keep walking," Andie said as they headed towards the baggage claim.
"Okay, but listen, I DON'T CARE if anyone knows I'm with you, Andie. I don't want you hiding off to the side like that. You shouldn't have to," he said as they walked.
They arrived at the baggage claim and waited for the luggage. Gerard was looking at her, waiting for her response.
"I know... I KNOW you feel that way, Gerard. But...I just feel like it's better if nobody knows," she pleaded. Then she watched as a hurt look swept over his face.
"Baby, no... It's not like that," she defended herself. "I love you. And I'm not going anywhere. I want to be with you more than anything in the world."
She looked around them. "But people can be just...mean... And I don't want that for either one of us."
Gerard wanted to kiss her right there, right in front of everyone in the crowded airport. But he finally understood how she felt. She was afraid people would say hurtful things about them. And she was probably right. He was at a loss. What would this mean for them?
"Andie...I can't promise you this will be easy. And I'm sorry. That's my fault."
"What?" Andie frowned at him. "It's not YOUR fault. And I knew this from the start. I'm not so naive as to think we'll never have to deal with people. I just don't think this is the right time, not with the album about to be released. That's all."
Gerard studied her face for a moment. "But these are OUR lives, Andie. Nobody can take this away from us, no matter how hurtful they can be. It's just words. It shouldn't matter so much that we have to alter our lives. That's just allowing them to take something personal away from us that we completely deserve."
Their bags arrived on the conveyor belt and they walked out of the airport in silence.
Outside, Gerard hailed a cab and held open the door for Andie. They settled in the vehicle and Gerard gave the address to the driver before he looked over at Andie. She looked so hurt and confused and he felt so guilty for it.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Andie looked up at him incredulously. "What? No. NO, Gerard" she took his hand in hers. "I'M sorry. You were right. I was wrong to think that way. It would drive us crazy to have to hide like that."
He stared at their hands together and fingered the ring she wore on her right hand.
"Okay...so...how about this: We won't hide, because, well, that's no life...but we won't purposely put it out there either. And I won't answer any questions if I'm asked."
"That sounds alright," Andie smiled at him and kissed him on the lips.
"But I AM sorry that we never talked about this before," he added, cupping her face in his palm.
"Me, too," she agreed as he brought his lips to hers again.
"Are you sure your mom wants us to stay with her?" Andie asked, changing the subject.
"Are you getting nervous now? C'mon, Andie. My mom was so glad we were coming, I don't think she'd have it any other way!"
