Chapter one

October 31, 1995

It was seven o' clock at night and Shelby and I were finishing the last touches on the chapel before the last visitation began.” How sad, I heard she had two grandsons." Shelby said, adding red roses to the casket. "Yeah, I feel bad for the them. Poor kids." I said. Shelby had always been the more sensitive one. Ever since we met in 5th grad, she had always been the sensitive girl who everyone loved. "I’m going to go see if anyone has arrived yet." Shelby said walking off. When she left I walked over to the casket and just stood there admiring the beautiful black cast iron casket, garnished with gold roses and red silk. I turned my gaze to the elderly woman inside it. The family had decided to have her buried in her wedding gown. A cream colored silk gown, with intricate lace placed all around the neckline and sleeves. Syllvette, our hairdresser, had done a fabulous job on her hair. I stopped for a moment and realized that I was still wearing my T-shirt and black jeans. So I hurried off to change into the red dress i brought to wear. I walked into the backroom and changed, then walked back into the chapel.  When i walked in I noticed a boy who looked about my age. He had long, black hair that hung in his face. He was wearing black slacks with a long sleeved red shirt. As I stood there I couldn’t help but over hear him crying. I couldn’t stand seeing this so I walked to him. "Are you alright?" I questioned.  The boy looked up at me, tears streaming down his face. "Y-Yeah I’m a-alright,” he stammered. " I’m sorry about your loss. Were you one of the grandsons?" "Yes, I’m Gerard, the oldest of the two." he said, wiping tears from his eyes. "You must have been very close." I said, looking into his deep, green eyes. " We were." he said beginning to cry again. I couldn’t take it anymore. I finally went over to him and pulled him into my arms hugging him. He let his guard down, putting his arms around my waist. He was really warm. " Thank you ... I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name." " It's Hannah." I answered. "Thank you Hannah,” he said, hugging me tighter. "Your welcome Gerard." I said releasing him. He looked into my eyes,” You have the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen," he said smiling through his tears. " Oh, thanks Gerard." I said smiling, and then quickly added, " Why don’t we go to the lounge." " Sure that'd be nice, my brother should be here with the rest of the guys soon." He said taking me by the hand as we walked out of the room. " So is any of the rest of your family coming?" I questioned as we walked through the halls, decorated with gold roses that stood out against the oak floor and red walls. "Yeah, all of her children are coming plus her sisters." he said looking at his feet. We finally stepped into the lounge, and to my shock and surprise I saw Shelby sitting on the couch close to a boy, who looked to be about eighteen, wearing a black and white striped fedora, black pants and a white shirt. They were listening to his iPod. "Hey Patrick when'd you get here?" Gerard questioned smiling. " Oh, about five minutes ago." he answered smiling at Shelby. "He's been back here with me the entire time Hannah." Shelby said looking at him smiling her signature smile. " Oh... uh... Hannah this is Patrick." Gerard said, giving my hand a squeeze. When he did that a warm feeling washed over me. My heart accelerated and for the first time in a good while i felt happy. "Hey Gerard, the rest of the guys are here." Patrick said grabbing Shelby’s hand. " Oh, come on Hannah I want you to meet the rest of the guys." Gerard said, pulling me back into the room where the casket was. When we got back to the room, I saw four guys scattered amongst the pews. There were two boys on the first row. The first one was a large with blonde hair fashioned into a flip. He had a lip ring and ear piercings. Another smaller boy, with red, fro-ish hair was sitting beside him. They were both sitting there talking to each other, their legs crossed. The next boy had flippy black and blonde hair. He was leaning against the wall. He had a lip ring and ear piercings, along with many tattoos. And the last one, behind the first two, had long, choppy, brown hair. Flattened and hanging in his face. " Okay Hannah, this is Ray and Bob,” he said pointing at the first two. " Hi, I’m Ray Toro." the one with the fro said, " and this is Bob Bryar." he said. The blonde one looked up and waved. " The one over there up against the wall is Frank Iero and across from him is my brother, Mikey." Gerard said. The one with the black and blonde hair looked up and smiled at me, and then the one with the brown hair got up and walked over. " Hi, I’m Mikey Way. Gerard’s kid brother." he said smiling. " Hi, I’m Hannah Crosson. I’m the daughter of the owner of the funeral home." " You did an amazing job. Grandma looks beautiful." Mikey said. " Thanks."  " Your welcome. Hey why don’t you sit down." he said, so Gerard and I walked over to the pews and sat down. We immediately started talking to every one. Turns out they were all in a band together. Patrick goes around with them and hangs out as well as helps with the equipment. They said they all had been friends since grade school. Frank told me about all the really good tattoo shops in Jersey. And Mikey and I talked for twenty minutes straight about coffee. We all hung out for the rest of the visitation, watching the rest of the family walk by the casket, talk to each other, and then leave. When it was finally over Gerard and I walked over to the casket to close it, but before i did Gerard bent down and gave his grandmother a kiss on the cheek, then we walked off. The rest of the guys were gone, all of them except for Patrick who was talking to Shelby over in the corner. I noticed him slip her piece of paper. She read it then smiled. Patrick leaned over and gave Shelby a kiss on the cheek and then left. Shelby then walked into the other room, the piece of paper in her hand. "Aww, how sweet is that." I said smiling at Gerard. "Yeah it is, hey can I get your number and maybe your address?" he questioned. "Sure Gerard." I said, taking his hand and scribbling down my number. "There ya go, by the way Shelby and i are roommates, we share an apartment. Just in case Patrick wants to know." I said leaning in to hug him goodbye. But instead he took my face in his hands and gave me hot, searing kiss on the lips. He released my face and let his hands drop down to mine. He pulled me closer and looked me in the eyes. " Hannah do you believe in love at first sight?" he questioned; I could feel his hot breath on my face. " Of course I do Gerard." I answered, my legs weak. " Then you understand how I feel about you. Hannah I love you." He said smiling. " I love you too Gerard." I said hugging him tight, not ever wanting to let go.  He kissed me one final time and then left. As soon as he was gone I fell to my knees. Shelby walked in smiling. " So how was it?" She questioned playfully. "Amazing."
                                           End of Chapter One.