[Gerard] Shotgun Sinner [Way] Chapter six: 9/11

The last few months in my new school flew by so fast I could hardly believe it, the prom back home came and went, of course everyone was surprised at me coming as Gee's mystery date, Frank was so happy he almost knocked me off my high heels.

Before I knew it I was graduating high school when it seemed like only yesterday I was sneaking out a window with Hana and jumping into Frank's car.

I missed the guys and Hana so much it was almost unbearable; I called Hana every night to see what was going on it was the only thing that got me through the days, sure Ollie was great, a little mad perhaps but otherwise she was a good friend, but my best friends where still in Newark New Jersey and I missed them terribly.

Comic con also came and went, Ollie didn't come with us cause she was on some family vacation thing and she wasn't going to College in New York either so we promised to stay in touch the day she left and before I knew it Hana and the guys had come from home and we were looking for an apartment to live in that was close to both Berkley and NYU.

Finding a happy medium wasn't easy but in the end we found two apartments, one for the boys and one for Hana and me to share, after that it was off to college and start a new life without my parent's supervision over me.

They where sad to see me go but they understood that I had to grow up some time and leave their nest. So I packed up all my things for the second time that year and moved them all into my new apartment, it wasn't huge but it wasn't small either, and the best thing about it was that we owned it outright.

A graduation present from my Grandma Marie and Hana's crazy Grandpa.

So after we'd got settled in it was no time until we started college, I was taking an English Literature course majoring in nineteenth century English novels as for Frank and the others they stuck fresher's week and that was it, they all got jobs in the city.

Hana and Gee did he same course in Berkley and loving it, Hana was also doing a history of art course so she had a few more classes than Gee so that gave he and I some time to hang out without everyone else around, it was … nice.

It was on one such day in my final year of college that the world as everyone knew it came to an end, Gee had finished his course in June of that year whereas I had another year to go so he was working in a comic book store trying to get his art out there since what he wanted to do was draw comic books especially after "On Raven's Wings" so he and I were just walking around the city like we usually did when he suggested we go to the very top of one of the twin towers and look down at all the people,

"Gerard you know I'm afraid of heights why would you want to drag me all the way up there?" I pouted childishly at him my hand on my hips

"Aw come on I'll look after you, promise" he said wrapping his arms around my waist

"I hate heights though and look how high that is" I said turning around "I mean it's so high it's the same height as that plane"

"Wait plane?" Gerard didn't have time to question why there was a plane because the plane flew directly into one of the towers exploding in a mass of flames which set the building crumbling to the ground,

"Oh my god" my feet where glued to the ground then the second plane came flying into the other tower exploding again sending rubble and dust flying everywhere, suddenly my feet un glued themselves and I grabbed Gerard, "Gee we have to go now, those planes are on fire and that could spread down here"

"But we have to help"

"What can we do?"

"Your dad's a paramedic isn't he? You must know some first aid"

"I do but it's not enough to help people in a burning building, now come on we have to get out of here"

"I'd listen to her, she knows what she's talking about" I turned around and my dad was standing there, his ambulance team running toward the towers along with the fire fighters and police men, "here take these I'll protect you against the dust" he handed us both surgical masks

"Dad, I saw it I saw the plane"
"It doesn't matter right now, put the mask on and get out of here, that dust is full of engine fumes it could kill you now go!" I pulled the mask over my face and tied it behind my head, Gerard did the same as my dad ran into the crowd trying to help anyone on the street who'd been hit with rubble or anyone who might have survived what just happened,

"But -"

"No buts Gee come on!" I grabbed his hand and tried to pull him away but he wasn't budging.

A second explosion went of and the cloud of dust surrounded both Gerard and I. I began coughing madly when the dust got past my mask into my mouth; I felt a hand on my back and another one on my arm,

"Are you alright?" Gerard asked me

"I'm fine I must not have tied the mask properly"

"You kids need to get out of here that explosion is leaking fuel all over the place it's not safe here" a fireman shouted at us as he ran past us into the fray

"You heard the man Gee lets get out of here, please" I cried

"Alright fine let's go quickly" Gerard took my hand in his and didn't let go until we were at least a block away from the scene.

I took my mask of and looked to the sky, clouds of thick black smoke where reaching up from where the planes had hit towards the sky, I fell to the ground to catch my breath,

"What the hell was that? I mean those planes flew right into the towers, where they faulty or something I don't get it" I said putting my head between my knees to try to regulate my breathing,

"I don't know, but we'd better go back home. Your dad will probably call round to see if your ok" I nodded and walked back to the apartment building with Gerard, when we got there Hana and the guys where all waiting for us.

Hana ran directly at me almost knocking me down in her attempt to hug me,

"Thank god you're alright; I was so worried when I herd about it"

"It's on the TV already?" I asked noticing the TV set on CNN, the woman on screen was standing before the police tape she was just telling everyone what we already knew. Two planes had crashed into the twin towers no one knew why or how, the injured and dead where being carried out on stretchers and gurneys there where people in the crowd screaming over the death of loved ones, I turned the TV up

"We are getting reports in now that the planes where hijacked by terrorists apparently these men came on the plane and held the passengers at gun point and forced them to call their loved ones to let them know they were going to die" my hands flew up to my mouth "the following footage of the moment the planes hit has been given to us by someone who was at the scene at the time"

The footage was from a handheld camera, a tourist getting in the sights of the city their camera turned to the towers and there was Gerard and I standing there, his hands around my waist arguing about going up to the top of one of the towers, the camera zoomed in on us and you could hear me speaking,

"I hate heights and look how high that is" I said turning around on the screen to face the towers and the incoming plane "I mean it's so high it's the same height as that plane" the plane then dove nose first into the side of the tower and we could see people jumping from the burning plane hoping to survive I couldn't watch it any longer so I turned the TV off

Everyone sat there in silence then the door bell rang and my mum was standing there tears in her eyes,

"My baby" she ran into the living room and embraced me, "you're alright" she hugged me tighter and I hugged back, it was as if I was small again and I'd had a nightmare, my mummy had come to protect me again, "I should have never moved you to such an awful place"

"It's alright mum, is dad ok?"

"He called before I came over here; he's fine he's trying to help as many people as he can. Call your Grandma Marie as well she's worried about you" I nodded picking up the phone and calling Grandma Marie,

"Hello?" came the anxious voice on the other end of the line

"Grandma Marie its Natasha"

"Oh thank the lord, I hoped you where safe I saw you on the television and I prayed that you'd be safe"

"Thanks Grandma"

"Is your mother with you?"

"She's here I'll put her on" I handed the phone to my mum and she went into my room to talk, Gerard was sitting on the couch still pretty shocked at what had happened so I went into the kitchen and got him a soda and made him drink it all, I drank one myself too for the shock.

The rest of the day we all sat in our little apartment watching the news every hour getting worse the body count getting higher, the messages from victims getting worse and worse until finally I couldn't stand it anymore when president bush came on screen I turned the television of and let everything swill around inside my head (AN: I'm sure everyone knows what happened with 9/11 so I'm not going to repeat it all) around midnight dad called at the apartment covered in blood to take mum home, he hugged me once and then left. The others stayed in our apartment all night I stayed close to Gerard he was the most shook up out of all of us, I feel asleep somewhere around three am and then woke up what seemed like ten minutes later when Gerard shook me,
"Tash, listen to this will you?"

"Huh? Gee listen to what?"

"I wrote something, come out on the balcony with me" our 'balcony was just a small ledge outside the window (AN: Like in friends) he took an acoustic guitar out with him and started to play

"You're not in this alone
Let me break this awkward silence
Let me go, go on record
Be the first to say I'm sorry
Hear me out,
And if you take me down
Or would you lay me out
And if the world needs something better
Let's give them one more reason now, now, now

We walk in single file
We light our rails and punch our time
Ride escalators colder than a cell

This broken city sky like butane on my skin
stolen from my eyes
Hello Angel, tell me where are you
Tell me where we go from here

Tell me we go from...

And in this moment we can't close the lids on burning eyes
Our memories blanket us with friends we know like fallout vapours
Steel corpses stretch out towards an ending sun, scorched and black
It reaches in and tears your flesh apart
As ice cold hands rip into your heart

That's if you've still got one that's left inside that cave you call a chest
And after seeing what we saw, can we still reclaim our innocence
And if the world needs something better, let's give them one more reason now

This broken city sky like butane on my skin
stolen from my eyes
Hello Angel, tell me where are you
Tell me where we go from here

Tell me we go from here"

I was silent for a moment I didn't say anything, I just thought about stuff,

"Did you write that because of today?" I asked

"That and some other stuff I've been thinking about for a while"

"It's a really good song Gee" I hugged him tightly "really good" I whispered and went back into the living room where I'd fallen asleep and curled up on top of a mattress from my room, five minutes later Gerard came in and curled up beside me wrapping an arm around my waist, him kissing my neck was the last thing I remember about that day before I drifted of into sleep for the first time that night, a night that would be wrought with images of what I'd seen that day images that would make my eyes burn with tears

OMG I love this picture

He just looks like a sex god on legs here

*drool*

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