A/N: Today is Cody Carson's 29th birthday, the singer of the band Set It Off (if you didn't know him, how are this far in the story?) He's one of my favorite singers and his band is single-handedly the most interactive band among their fans ever. They are all sweethearts and Cody is such a great man. In honor of his birthday, I finished this up today.

"Hey, Mom?" I ask, strolling into the kitchen.

She looks up from her purse, she stops looking through it and faces me. "Oh, hey, what are you doing up so early on your break?" she asks. "You know you can sleep in today."

"Yeah, I know," I say, giving a shrug. I haven't changed my clothes, still wearing the same jeans, shirt, and jacket from last night. "I usually get up around this time anyway."

"Oh, okay, do you need anything?" she asks, continuing to rummage through her purse.

"Are we doing anything for Thanksgiving this year?" I ask. She pauses, giving a small sigh. "It's just, usually we do stuff and visit family but that was when we were 45 minutes away, not 45 hours." I shuffle my hands into my pockets and give a small shrug.

"Oh, um, your father and I talked about this," she says. I laugh in my head. Talk is not even a euphemism, it's a lie. I heard you guys shouting at each other but sure, talked. "I don't think we'll be doing it this year. We have contractors coming in for work and we have to get ready for auditors, making sure everything is finished and closed up before the new year. I don't have time to cook this year and your father won't be able to go grocery shopping and making everything because he'll be going out of town later this week." I nod along and my mother sets her purse down, walking over to me. She's wearing her work uniform, ironed pants and a nice blouse. Her hair is curled and she has subtle makeup. Nothing like my friends do at school with black eyeliner and red eyeshadow but nice stuff. "With the new job and the move, transitioning is still hard, I know, but it'll be okay."

"I'm just wondering because my friend invited me to her house if I finished my Thanksgiving early. If we're not doing anything, then would I be able to go to her house?"

My mother tilts her head to the side, a small smile on her face. "Your friend, huh? That's so sweet of her, what's her name?" she asks.

"Jenna? Jenna McDougall," I say. I've mentioned her before countless times. Jenna is my best friend, there's no way she has no idea who she is. My mother nods, almost impressed or proud. "Her step-brother, Cody, he's in the same grade as me, we're friends too," I add on.

"Jenna's the one you usually hang out with on weekends, right?"

"Well, yeah. She got sick a little bit ago, which is why we haven't really hung out at her house, but she's better now."

"Who else would be there?" she asks.

I try thinking back to what she was texting me last night. "Her dad's side of the family isn't too big, not a lot of people. Cody and his mom are currently in Florida but I think they'll be coming back on Thanksgiving evening."

"Do you like Jenna?" she asks.

"Well, yeah, she's a really cool person, probably my best friend. After all, she's the one who kind of included me in her friend group when I was the new kid."

My mother looks at me softly. "I know she's your friend but do you have a crush on her?"

"What?" I ask, groaning out.

"I'm just wondering if there's something else, another reason you want to hang out with her."

"No, mom. She's my friend," I sigh.

"You're telling me you don't like Jenna?"

"Wh-not like that!" She looks at me suspiciously, like she doesn't fully believe me. "I really don't like her, trust me."

"Do you like anyone?"

"NO!" I shout, my cheeks flaring up. I just wanted to hang out with her and eat dinner with her family later this week. I don't need this conversation right now.

"I'm just checking, wondering if I should be aware of anything."

"Trust me, Jenna is not my type," I say. Yeah, too much girl to my liking. "So then can I go?"

"It's fine with me, just take it up with your father." She says, heading back. "I have to go, take care, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, bye," I say. Take it up with my father? He's going to be out of town, he won't even be here to care.

I head back up to my room quietly. My dad is still sleeping in the guest room. When was the last time they shared a bed together? Or hugged each other not because they are going to work or coming home and are obligated to? When was the last time they loved each other?

It's 7:15. Even though I'm on break, I'm still awake at the same time. Well, I would have been up two hours earlier if it was for school but I went to bed super early last night. I'm just glad we're on break now. I had a math test Friday and it was actually hard. Some questions had little to do with what our homework had been and I knew how to do it but I haven't gone over this material in a year. English we've been dong packets and it's so stressful. Also having to wake up and constantly be tired is annoying. It's just nice having time off.

Right now, I know my friends are still asleep. Well, Cody is probably awake doing things. It's 3 hours ahead in Tampa, Florida from California so he might be up doing things. I haven't talked to him much. We hung out Friday and he said he has a majority of the guitar part for his song figured out and he wanted to know if I was still interested in recording it with him. He'll be coming back Thursday evening, roughly 7 pm so we could work on it Friday or something. I don't know why they aren't staying until after Thursday though. Getting back at 7 means their flight lands like at 6. If it's a five-hour flight, then they take off at 1 pm and that's like 2 hours beforehand. They leave at 11 am on Thanksgiving but if they are there to see him...something's not adding up.

My phone goes off around 10:30 from Gerard. -Hey, what's up??-

I flip over on my stomach, replying to his text. -Nothing really, hby?-

-I wanna show you something-

-Wait, what is it?- I text back.

-Come over and see ;)- I look at the last text, my mind starts wondering. A few seconds later, my phone receives another text. -*:)- Whatever.

Before I head out, I quickly change my shirt, putting on a long sleeve underneath a t-shirt and then throwing on a jacket as well. My dad left some time ago. He came home really late last night, tired from work and didn't even bother having the dinner I saved for him. But he seems to have taken it with him for lunch. At least he's not wasting it.

I jog over to Gerard's house and before I make it up on his porch, he swings the door open. "Hey!" he says, a smile glowing on his face.

"Were you waiting for me?" I ask, stepping into his house.

"Yeah," he says nonchalantly. "You took a while."

"Well, excuse me, I had to change into something else and that took some time. Was still wearing clothes from last night."

Gerard shrugs. "Well, you didn't have to put clothes back on, it would have saved you some time." I stare at him as I kick off my converse. "What, so you can say things like that but I can't?" he teases.

Yeah, well, I mean what I say. "True," I tell him. "Now what is it that was so urgent for me to come over?" Gerard takes my hand and we run up to his room together. It's quiet in his house, his parents probably working like mine. When we make it to his room, I try my best to discreetly squeeze his hand so he doesn't let go once he's finished guiding me. He releases pressure but I pretend I don't realize. Gerard shifts and I see him glancing at my hand but he doesn't react, only holding on to me longer.

Gerard reaches on his desk and picks up a large, rectangular board, holding the front of it facing him. "So I finished it up this weekend, what do you think?" He turns it around and shows me.

"Oh my god," I exclaim, leaning in to admire it. It's a drawing of me in black and white, I'm leaning forward with my hair flipped up. It looks like a photograph of me but I can see the shading up close. In the background are colorful explosions fanning out. It looks like an edit, not a drawing or a painting.

"I take it's good?" he asks with a gleam in his eyes. "I mean, you're gripping my hand rather tightly."

"Huh? Oh, sorry," I say, loosening up. "I'm just-that is incredible, how did you do that?"

Gerard smiles proudly. "I used ebony to draw you and then I covered that portion up with tape and spattered acrylic paint outward on it, then I took the tape off and refined the edges a bit."

"But that looks exactly like me!" I say. "You never asked me to like pose or take like reference photos. How did you do that?"

Gerard's eyes fixate on me. "I know what you look like, Frankie. I don't need a photograph to know how to draw you from my memory." I bite my bottom lip, smiling to the point I may start crying. My eyes are definitely glossy right now and my cheeks still gushing. "You like it?"

"That's better than any picture taken of me and it's not even a picture," I tell him.

He chuckles lightly, letting go of my hand now. "Maybe you're right but nothing is as good as the real deal," he says, tapping me on the nose with his now free hand. "I'm going to enter it in the art show."

"Wait, this?" I ask. He looks at me sideways and nods his head. "But don't you have other things you would want to?"

"This one is a different show, it's meant to have a style. Grayscale portraits with abstract background. It's a district showing, small and restrictive requirements."

"Oh," I say, realizing he did this because he had to do it this way. Granted, that doesn't make it any less special. He managed to draw me with that pose without having me model for him or at least have a photo. I didn't even know he did it.

"Yeah, the big art shows are in the spring," he tells me. "But that's what I wanted to show you. I finished last night." He leans back and places it on his desk where he picked it up from.

"If that's all, then should I go home now?" I tease.

He rolls his eyes and me and scoffs. "Don't leave me, I won't see you for a while," he says. He trudges over to his bed and flops onto the mattress.

I walk over to him, taking a seat next to him. "Yeah? And who's fault is that?" I ask.

"Hey, it's not my fault, I didn't ask to be busy tomorrow until Friday," he mutters. "At least I'm still here now. Cody's already gone."

"Yeah, I know. But I will probably see him when he gets back on Thursday," I say. "I'll be at Jenna's."

He nods along. "Nice, I think Amelia would be there too. She usually goes there later. Her family tends to eat at like 1 and then again at 5 and they go home after that meal."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, she's the baby though. The youngest grandchild. All her cousins are like already graduated from college and everyone gets tired early."

"Well, that'll be cool. Her, Jenna, Cody and I. And you," I say, trying to play-persuade him on staying.

He peeks his head up from his pillow, looking at me. "I wish but I have plans with family."

"Drat," I say exaggeratedly. "Alright, question-"

"Answer," he quickly interrupts.

I laugh before continuing. "So Cody's leaving Florida on Thanksgiving, probably around the afternoon?" Gerard nods along. "Why is he coming back to California on the holiday instead of being with his family?"

"Oh, well," Gerard sits up on the bed, getting ready to explain, "So it's complicated I guess. I know Jenna told you the gist of what happened a while back but she has a hard time fully explaining the situation. So Cody's parents were friends with my parents during their college years. They didn't go to the same school, they met through some resort place for spring break each year and they always met up together. Anyways, his parents lived in Tampa, Florida and that's where they're from but then his parents divorced when he was four because of the whole smoking thing. Jenna's dad has a fancy job and he does travel across the country a lot, sometimes Europe. Well, he went to Tampa on a trip when Cody and the rest of us were 9, which was two, almost three years after Jenna's mom left. That's how Jenna's dad and Cody's mom met. They started dating in a long distance relationship, seeing each other every two months or something. Eventually, Cody and his mom moved up to California to live with Jenna and her dad. They got married when they were in 7th grade." Gerard pauses and catches his breath. "That might seem a bit complicated."

"A little, but makes sense," I say. "And your parents were just in the same neighborhood?"

"Well, they lost touch a few years after but then when they moved into town, they ran into each other and just hit it off. They hung out and brought us along and now Cody and I are inseparable. I introduced him to Brendon, Patrick, and Hayley. Then the summer after junior high, Jenna's dad had a summer part and Cody invited us and then Jenna invited Amelia and Lynn and that's basically how we all met." I smile warmly at him, but suddenly, there's a shift in his mood from light-hearted to stern. "But for Thanksgiving, sorry, I trail off a lot, he and his mom go back down to Florida to see his sister."

"Wait, he has a sister?" I ask. "I thought...Jenna..."

Gerard shakes his head. "Jenna is his step-sister. His biological sister is Cambia." I look at him blankly. I never heard of her. "He doesn't really see her a lot, she's 6 years older than him. When they moved up here, Cambia was 18 so she stayed with her dad to finish high school and then she went to a university in state."

"So he's visiting his sister and his dad?" Gerard tenses up, staring at me confused. "What is it?"

"No, just his sister," he says tentatively. "His dad passed away." I drop my mouth open. "He died shortly after their parents remarried from the lung cancer."

"I thought he was still alive," I whisper. "But Jenna said he was going to visit his dad."

"His grave," he whispers. I sit on his bed numb. "His sister goes to her boyfriend's parent's house for actual Thanksgiving, that's why they come home that day. They spend time together before the holiday."

"I didn't know," I whisper.

Gerard places a hand on my arm, comfortingly trailing his fingers back and forth. "He doesn't know how to talk about it and Jenna has a hard time too since it reminds her of her mom. Deep down, she thinks she's the reason her mom left."

"I hate that, they both deserve better," I say. "You all do," I add on quickly. Gerard doesn't say anything, just mindlessly running his hand against my arm. "Will he be okay when he gets back?" I ask.

Gerard doesn't say anything for a moment. "He may be gloomy but he'll be okay. Jim is a good dad, he loves Cody and he knows that he never got to know who his real father was but he makes up for it. And Ella is good to Jenna, treating her like a second daughter and loving her the way a mother should."

"That's good," I say. Gerard rolls over further on his mattress now lying on his back. I lean back and lie next to him. He places his hand back on my arm, lightly tracing over my skin with his fingers. The conversation dies down and the atmosphere falls silent with Gerard lying next to me. His breathing is rhythmic, slow and steady and quiet. There isn't an awkward silence, it's tranquil and shared. I turn my head slightly, glancing in his direction but he's already looking at me with a warm expression and the green bright in his eyes. Why is he so special to me? Why do I like him? I mean, do I even have a chance with him? He said he doesn't really date people but he also said he doesn't really have an attraction to a specific gender. If he likes you, then he likes you. Period. I mean, I'm obviously his friend so he does like me but how much? Granted, neither of us have turned away, we're still staring at each other. Are we going to kiss? Who stares at each other this closely and this long for no reason. There's got to be something.

"You want to do something?" he asks in a low voice. You. I want to kiss you. That would be a miracle. "I'm chill with whatever."

"I don't know, I enjoy your company," I say. "Even if we don't do anything, I'm perfectly content as to how we are, doing literally nothing but lying here together."

Gerard cracks a smile. "If I lay here," he softly sings, "if I just lay here."

"Would you lie with me and just forget the world," I finish. Gerard smiles and rests his eyes closed. "I don't quite know how to say how I feel," I continue, my cheeks getting hot. I know my heart is beating faster, a sign to stop what I'm doing, but I ignore it. "Those three words are said too much," I say softly.

Gerard opens his eyes, looking up at me. "They're not enough," he sings. "You know," he says, now speaking in his usual voice, "that song is one of those songs that you have to love. Nobody ever knows who they're by or what it's called and when it comes on, even if they don't know it right away, they always sing along."

"Like the song from Sky High?" I ask.

His face lights up when I mention the movie. "I'll stop the world and melt for you," he sings. His voice is so calming, and it's reassuring to hear him, it feels like everything's going to be okay now.

"Yeah, that one," I whisper. "Or the ones that goes..." I pause trying to remember. "Na na na nana nanana, na na nanana," I say in the melody giggling.

"I know that," he says. "Oh, what's it, um." He hums the melody, swaying his head side to side. Suddenly, his eyes spark. "it just takes some time, little girl...na na na," he sings. "Everything, everything will be just fine. Everything, everything will be all right,"

"I love that one," I say. "If I'm ever a musician, I aspire to be remembered not for my fame but for my songs that everyone knows. You can forget who I am but just remember the music. Because I don't know what it is but those songs are the most iconic and beloved since the turn of the millennium. They all remind me of an abstract time in my life about being young and a teenager. It gives me these memories that I never had and it makes everything automatically nostalgic."

"You know, what you said makes no sense but I know exactly what you mean," he says. "And you're absolutely right."

"I really like your voice by the way," I tell him. Gerard double takes and glances at me, scrunching his face up. "It's really nice and calming, I love it."

"Oh, stop, you flatter me," he scoffs while shaking his head.

"No, I mean it," I say, nudging him with my shoulder. "It's very peaceful, it's what the cure for anxiety sounds like." Gerard pauses, looking unsure how to react. "You would be a good singer."