A/N: I saw Tonight Alive on Saturday and it was so incredible. I honestly love them so much and wish to go back again. It was mind-blowing. Speaking of mind-blowing... Oh my god. I have never gotten so many comments before from just one chapter. Most of you were screaming about the ending (heh) but I just want you do know that it means a lot. That honestly made me so incredibly happy. I know I'm probably overreacting but you all are so awesome and I want you to know I love you guys so much. Thus, I ended up changing what I originally had planned for the next few chapters to something maybe more "appreciated". I'm also adding their songs at the end.

Finals week has messed up the whole schedule but not in a bad way. Today, tomorrow, and Friday consist of only a part of the day but they're 90 minutes long. The periods are also flipped around so people who have lunch can leave early. Today is periods 1, 2, and 5. Tomorrow is 3, 4, 5 then Friday it's 7 and 8, half day into winter break. It's actually nice because we start 2 hours later than usual so everything is nice. I woke up without needing an alarm around 9:30 and I still have plenty of time to kill. Having study hall first period means I don't have to go to school until 11:10 and since I have lunch 5th period today, I also get to leave early. Today is my easiest day since it's just guitar, which I'm prepared for. Tomorrow is harder. I have gym but we only need to be there to take this 10 question quiz like what's the muscular system? But I always have history and English. Friday is just math and my early release. As finals go, this easy, it's not bad.

Brendon said he could drive me and Haley to school today for second period. Then Cody said he could take me home after second period. Today is a blow-off day. Guitar, we just have to play one song that's over 5 minutes long on guitar. I have a song from Dragon Force and I've mastered this a few weeks ago so I'm prepared.

Gerard texted me a few hours ago but I was asleep and didn't get them. -Do you wanna go out after finals??- Go out? As in a date or go out and do stuff?

He's in art right now and they're just doing a class critic on their still life paintings. I text him back. -What do you mean?- And now we play the waiting game.

Brendon and Hayley come over to hang out for a bit before guitar. "While having study hall first period isn't the best, it's very useful right now," Hayley says.

"I love having study first, I can get my homework done," Brendon says.

"Yeah, the homework you've procrastinated on doing until last minute, the day of."

Brendon looks down guilty. "Well, Frank doesn't even show up, he just hangs out with the others."

"Yeah, but I have my work done before the day it's due," I say to him. He looks at me defeated. "Speaking of work done, can I listen to your projects for your singing class?"

"Yeah, totally."

After listening to their songs, we head to school. There's a 15 minutes passing period, a lot of the students are leisurely talking in the halls with their friends, most of the upperclassmen are holding coffee and still wearing sleepwear. The week has been relatively surreal. We've just been reviewing in class. Math, we're doing virtually the same routine just not learning new concepts but refreshing. In English, we're peer editing our papers, History, we're just playing Jeopardy for review.

The three of us head down to the music hall when Brendon stops in front of us, backing up. "What are you-"

He covers Hayley's mouth and pushes past her. I look ahead and see Audrey laughing with two of her friends. "I'll meet you guys in guitar," he mutters then turning back around the corner. Hayley and I look at each other uneasily. I knew they've been having difficulties but now Brendon is just plain old avoiding her.

"Well, we have 10 minutes before class starts, what do you wanna do?"

I give her a shrug. "Want to try finding the others?"

"Alright, they're probably around here, getting out of art."

Before we make it to Ms. Gina's room, we hear them calling us from down the hall. "Is that Hayley Williams?!" Lynn shouts out. "Disgusting!"

Hayley turns around and throws her arms in the arm. "Fight me Lyndsey Gunnulfsen!"

Lynn winces. "Ew, don't say my full name," she winces.

"I thought your last name was Gunn," I say.

The others meet us in the middle of the hallway. "It is, my dad changed in when he was in his 20's to just Gunn so people could pronounce it. But that's what it originally was."

"You guys ready for your guitar final, guys?" Jenna asks, leaning against the wall.

"Yep," Gerard says.

Jenna turns around and rolls her eyes at him. "You're not even in guitar," she says.

He starts laughing. "So?" He glances at me with a soft smile. "You left me on read," he says.

"What?" I take out my phone and see he did text me back. -Like hang out somewhere and do things- "Oh, I didn't see," I say softly.

"I'm so tired," Cody says.

Jenna glares at him. "Dude, you slept in until like 9:20," she says.

"Yeah, well I still have to wake up," he says. "Granted, I could be more tired than usual."

"Two more days then you have two weeks off," Hayley says. "We still all hanging out on Sunday, right?"

"Hell yeah, we are!" Cody says lightening up.

Gerard's eyes widen. "Yeah, totally. I just...I may have procrastinated on going to the mall," he mutters.

"Same," I say. "But I have something in mind and I know where to get it.

Warning bell rings but none of us move, considering our class is down the hall. "Wait, Gerard, Cody, don't you have science 2nd period?" Hayley asks.

Gerard, still leaning against the wall, sighs. "Yeah," he mutters. "Physics." The rest of us look at them.

"That's on the 3rd floor, across the school I just now realize," Cody says.

"Dude, you have two minutes," Jenna says.

"Less than," I point out."

"Yeah, you're right," Cody says nonchalantly. "We'll meet you guys up front." They turn around and start booking down the hall. Gerard nearly crashes into a group of choir girls walking to class and Cody falls against the wall while holding onto the strap of his backpack.

"Idiots," Lynn murmurs. We walk to the guitar room and find Brendon and Patrick sitting in our section together.

"Hey," Patrick says. "You guys ready?" Brendon starts strumming his guitar really loudly and Patrick jumps but then he starts dancing along in his seat. "I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me!" Patrick sings out, even though Brendon is definitely not playing Queen. "He's just a poor boy from a poor family, spare him his life from this monstrosity!"

Brendon slowly comes to a stop. "Peasant, this is Van Halen," he says.

Patrick stops, looking at him. "I know," he replies. He starts snickering and Brendon just rolls his eyes at him.

The period blows by, everyone playing their song and we all finish with half the period left still. We start fiddling on our guitars, playing improve and singing up random words. Brendon tries rapping, it's so terrible, it's great.

"My name is Brendon Urie," he says, while Patrick and Hayley strum a steady rhythm. "Nothing rhymes with Urie, it sounds like urine and that's gross." Jenna and I are laughing in our seats. "That's my buddy Hayley, she's a pretty cool lady." Brendon keeps laughing, pausing to take breaths. "Over there is Frank, let me be frank about Frank. Frank is a frank guy."

"You can't do that," Patrick mutters while continuing to play.

"Oh, you try rapping!" Brendon says to him. Hayley stops playing, setting her guitar down to wipe her eyes from tears due to laughing. "You try."

Patrick shrugs. "Okay, hit me."

Brendon picks up his guitar and strums an aggressive rhythm. Patrick nods along, drawing a blank before nodding his head along. "You...are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down. Strike a match...and we'll burn you to the ground." Hayley chimes in with her guitar, creating a harmony with Brendon. "We are the jack-o-lanterns in July...setting fire to the sky. Here-here comes this rising tide so come on." Hayley creates a different rhythm and Patrick starts smiling along. "Put on your war paint. Crosswalks and crossed hearts and hope to die. Seal the clouds with grey lining."

Brendon sets his guitar down and sighs in frustration. "Okay, so I can't make things up on the stop the same way you can, fight me!"

Patrick chuckles to himself. "Nah, because then you'd win."

The bell rings, dismissing us for lunch or to leave. "Bring your guitars home before you leave for winter break," Ms. Hayes calls out.

Patrick and I grab our guitars but the others leave them here for their vocals class tomorrow. "So you guys are heading out?" Brendon asks.

"Yeah," Jenna says. "We got to find Amelia, Cody, and Gerard."

"They'll be up front," I say.

Jenna looks at me. "Yeah, but so is everyone else."

Walking through the commons is a disaster. Every student is having lunch now, except those leaving who have it 5th and those with study hall now. The tables are already filling up and there are students sitting on the floor against the wall, others have brought blankets to sit on. In our usual spot, we stand against the benches, the others aren't there. Jenna and I stand alone among the hundreds of other students waiting for their friends or for a ride. The others left to go claim a spot for lunch. After a few minutes, we see Gerard, Cody, and Amelia walking over to us.

"Hey, ready to go?" Cody asks.

"Hell yeah," I say. We leave the school and the parking lot is a bit hectic trying to leave. Having an early release allows us to avoid the traffic.

Cody pulls into Gerard's driveway. "Thanks," he says, getting out of the car. He looks at me, waiting. "You...coming?"

"Oh," I say, unbuckling. I didn't know I was coming over. Granted, he did ask me but I never replied to him. I wouldn't say no. I get out of the car and we walk inside.

"You did want to hang out, right?" he asks.

"Yeah, totally," I say.

"Cool, just wanted to make sure I didn't drag you along," he says.

We step into his house and drop our bags off in his room. "So we didn't have lunch, are you hungry?"

"Eh, not really. I ate right before I left at like 11:30," I tell him. "Unless you're hungry?"

He shakes his head. "Nah." Maybe I should have said yes. He's never "hungry". Whatever, we'll eat later and I'll make sure it's not just me. "So...for the Christmas party, did you not get the gifts yet?"

I wince. "Uh, no. I've been putting that off," I say.

"Okay, same. Do you...who do you have?" he asks wearily.

"Jenna," I say. "You?"

"Lynn," he replies. "So, we're not shopping for each other so do you want to go today?"

"Sure, and then later we can get something to eat at the mall."

He nods along. "Alright, cool."

I grab my wallet from my backpack and he grabs his keys. As we pull out of his driveway and start driving down the street, his dad passes us in his car. "Huh, he's home early," Gerard mutters to himself.

The radio plays softly, some car commercial with an annoying sales voice. "Mind if I change it?" I ask.

Gerard glances at me. "Go for it, DJ." Switching through the stations, most of what comes on is overplayed pop songs that I don't particularly like. Sure, pop isn't my style but I still know what good pop music sounds like. A familiar guitar rhythm comes on through a rock station and I leave it. "Yo, it's Rise Against," Gerard says with a smile.

It takes roughly 15 minutes to get to the mall and park. "Which store do you have in mind?" Gerard asks while we walk through the parking garage and head toward the door.

"Uh, the soap and spa one across from Barnes&Noble," I tell him. "I was looking online and there was this volcanic ash treatment cream for people with eczema. I wanted to see if it'll help."

"That's really nice, dude, she'll love that."

"I hope so. What about you?"

Gerard sighs, resting his hands folded on the back of his head. "I'm thinking of getting her a black and white charcoal set. We were experimenting with it in class and she really liked it. I'm hoping she'd use it."

"That's cool, are their art supplies stores in the mall?"

"Barnes&Nobel has some in the back. We can split up to get the gifts quicker if you want," he suggests.

"Divide and conquer." We step in through the main doors and head down to the stores.

Gerard and I part ways. When I step into the store, I'm struck by the aroma of scents. It all smells sweet and fresh, the different perfume odor mixing together. It takes me a while to find where it would be. Granted, if I wasn't socially incompetent, I would have asked a store employee to help me. But that would make too much sense.

In the check out line, I sense Gerard approaching behind me. "Hey, you," he says when I turn around."

"Hi," I say, glancing down at the bag. "Got it?"

"Yeah, found a nice set," he says.

"Next," the teenager cashier says. I turn back around and step up. "Hi, did you find everything alright today?" she asks.

"Uh, yeah." She smiles at me. "Could, uh, could I have a gift receipt with that?" I ask.

"Oh, doing Christmas shopping?" she asks while scanning the bottle. I nod along. "For a girlfriend?"

I'm taken aback suddenly, holding my wallet. I see Gerard shift in my peripheral vision. "Uh, no, just a friend."

"Gotcha," she replies. "$17.53." I hand her a 20 and she gives me my change back, I'm pretty sure deliberately touching my hand. "Have a good day," she says with a smile.

"You too," I say, walking out with Gerard stiffly following. I take a breath when we step out. "That was...bizarre," I finally say.

"Seems like she has a crush on you," Gerard says somewhat dryly.

"I guess. Too bad I'm gay," I say in a lower voice, only loud enough for Gerard to hear me. He lightens up a bit, glancing at me with a smile. "So, food."

"Where would you like to go?" he asks.

"I don't know, I'm fine with whatever," I reply.

"You pick."

Sighing, I try thinking back to what options there are in the mall. "I could go for pizza and breadsticks," I say. "And lemonade."

"Sounds good." He takes my hand and he leads me to the food court.

After we order, the two of us sit down to eat. "I got you something," he says, reaching into the bag.

"What?" I ask, looking up. "You didn't need to get me anything."

Gerard looks at me with a soft expression. He puts his lip, causing me to stare at it for longer than I should have. "Well, too bad." He hands me a large book. 1001 pictures of cute dogs.

"Oh my god!" I squeal, looking at the cover of a little pupper sitting in the grass. I take it from Gerard and flip through the pages. "They're so cute!"

"I love your little baby voice," Gerard says, resting his face on his folded hands.

"You love my voice or you love me?" I mutter, flipping through the pages.

"You." I don't look up at him, hiding my face. But he has intuition to know when I'm blushing. He reaches across the table and runs his fingers through my hair, revealing my face. I stay frozen in place. "Look how cute you are. Cuter than all these little puppies."

"Oh, please, cuter than this?" I ask, holding up the book to a page of a husky with his tongue hanging out and frolicking in the snow. Gerard looks at the picture softly. "Don't lie to me."

"I wasn't," he mutters under his breath.

It falls quiet between us. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say anything or if Gerard plans on saying anything more. What's going on? I want something between us but anytime something remotely possible sparks, I tend to avoid it. In my defense though, last time something did almost happen, I did try. I was leaning in to kiss him, not intentionally entirely, but Gerard leaned away. He didn't want to kiss him. But...he was looking at my lips before. Do I want something to happen between us? What would we even do?

"You didn't have to get this for me but I do like it," I say. "I'll look through this and probably bookmark certain ones."

"I'm glad you like it, happy early Christmas," he says.

"You didn't have to get me anything," I tell him.

He gives a slight shrug. "I know, but I wanted to."

"What do you want?" I ask.

"Nothing, your company is a gift enough," he says overly dramatic with a big grin.

I roll my eyes at him and he chuckles. "So, then it's movie night at your place. What will it be when we get back to your place?"

He thinks for half a second. "Nightmare Before Christmas."

Jenna song - What Are You So Scared Of?

Lyns song - Demon Limbs:

Hayley song - Ignorance:

Brendon song- This Is Gospel: