Seventeen

"We should celebrate, you know" Kellin said to me in music a few days later.

"What, a we-successfully-smuggled-our-friend-to-rehab party?" I rolled my eyes and continued to tune my guitar. Oli was bunking to go to a gig in London with Hannah, so it was just me and Kellin in the practice rooms.

"No need to get so sarcastic, it's not like other people need to know what we're celebrating. Last time I checked people weren't fussed as to why I have parties, just that I have them."

"Go ahead if you want to" I sighed "but I can't say i'm really in the mood at the moment."

"Spoilsport" now it was his turn to roll his eyes "well, your birthdays in like a month so we're definitely having a big party for that. Fancy dress of course, for halloween, but maybe some sort of street-art themed decorations..."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that side of things."

"How could you forget to plan your 18th birthday party?" he cried "it's like, a rite of passage!"

"I guess I've been so busy thinking of it as the day me and Gerard can finally tell people about us, I hadn't really thought about normal birthday things." We didn't intend to tell people straight away to make it look like it was something that had evolved when I was already eighteen, but from that day onwards I at least knew we were legal.

"Well stop thinking about giving the congregation heart attacks with your secret relationships and start thinking about what sort of cake you want. Seriously, I want to plan this properly."

"Okay, I promise I'll think about it" I chuckled, fishing in my pocket for a guitar pick "now can we actually write some music?"

**

I was headed out of college later on, Kellin already gone to meet Vic in town, when I found myself being approached by Ryan, the kid that worked with Ray in the record store.

"Hey" he smiled, taking me by surprise.

"oh hey, Ryan - isn't it?" I kept walking and he fell into step beside me. 

"Yeah that's right. We met briefly a few weeks ago." 

"I remember, you work with my cousin." 

"Yeah, Ray's great" He nodded "I er, wanted to talk to you actually. About your art. Ray sort of mentioned that you do tagging, and I've seen your stuff around town. Or at least, i'm pretty sure it's yours. It kind of stands out, you know?" 

"Thanks man" I smiled warmly at him. "I'm er, not used to getting recognised for it, what with it being anonymous and all, but it means a lot that you can spot my stuff." 

"Of course, you've got a really distinct style" He slowed his pace then and I slowed mine too, watching him start to rummage around in his backpack "that's why I wanted to give you this, hold on a sec, it's in here somewhere" he eventually pulled out a piece of paper. 

"What's this?" I asked as he handed it to me. 

"A competition of sorts. My uncle, he runs this art gallery up in London and he's looking for fresh talent. Young artists in need of a break, that sort of thing. So he's doing this competition where you enter your artwork and the winner gets to have their art exhibited. I told him about this really cool young street artist I knew and he sounded interested, said I should get you to enter. So here you are." 

I glanced over the flyer, and it all seemed pretty legit. 

"Woah, I don't know what to say. Thanks Ryan. But er, none of my stuff is really on canvas fit for exhibition, you know?" 

"It doesn't have to be. Take photos of your street art and send them in. Or do some big canvas pieces. If he likes your stuff enough then you can both figure out how you'd display it. The point is you should enter. You seem like a guy in need of a break." 

"Fuck it, I guess I have nothing to loose" I laughed, putting the flyer in my pocket "when's the deadline?" 

"Two weeks. I know it's not long, but really all you need is some photos of your work and if he likes it he'll contact you." 

"Two weeks. Right." 

"Good luck" we'd reached the entrance to college now. 

"Thanks man, it  means a lot." 

"Anytime." He peeled off in the direction of the car park then, and I turned to head in the opposite direction, endless possibilities floating round my head. 

**

I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up too much, but the whole walk home the competition as the only thing on my mind. 

As soon as I got back to Kellin's I asked to borrow his camera, figuring that if I was going to photograph my street art I better make it look a bit more professional that taking them on my phone. I wanted to make sure all the detail was visible. He was more than happy to lend it to me, especially when he heard my reasoning. 

"That's so great" he grinned, handing me the probably very expensive camera "borrow it for as long as you need. I'm taking some photos of Vic's next gig next weekend for him, but apart from that I don't need it back anytime soon." 

So I headed out that very afternoon, walking round the various spots in town that i'd tagged. It turned out they were pretty spread out, so it took me a while to walk round them all, and then get the right angles and close ups of them all, making sure I had a few photos of each one. 

I ended up back at the church wall me and Lynz had tagged, deciding to make that my last stop on purpose just so I could see if Gerard's car was parked out front. Sure enough, I spotted it in it's usual place, and the temptation to go in and see him clawed at me. I glanced around, looking for Brian's car, and couldn't see it in it's usual spot. 

"Fuck it" I sighed to myself, and trudged through the car park and into the church foyer. 

I held onto the camera, figuring if I did bump into Brian I could say I was taking photos of the church for an art project for college. Technically, I wasn't that far from the truth; I had come to take photos of the church wall, I was just taking a slight detour. 

I peered into the main church, eyes scanning the pews until I saw the familiar black mess of hair sat on one of the front rows. I couldn't see what he was doing, but it looked like he was deep in concentration, and appeared to be completely alone. 

"Hey" I called over, and he jumped with a start, dropping whatever he'd been holding and spinning round to face me with a yelp. 

"Jeez Frank" He giggled, standing up "you could knock, you know." 

"Wasn't sure if you were alone." 

"I am" he leaned down and scooped up the item he'd dropped, which I could now see was a comic "Brian's at a meeting so as you can see i'm having an incredibly productive afternoon." 

"I didn't realise the bible came in comic format" I peered down into his hands, seeing it was some sort of obscure comic i'd not heard of. 

"That's actually a pretty cool idea" he mused "although somehow I don't think the general congregation would be that keen..." 

"All the more reason to do it" I winked, and he placed the comic down on the pew bench and leaned forward, fingers closing over my own. 

"What are you doing here anyway? This is a bit out of your way now, isn't it?" 

"Maybe I was missing you" I grinned "well, and I was taking photos of all my art over town, so you know, returning to the scene of the crime."

"Is that wise?" he frowned "I mean, going all over town isn't really keeping a low profile." 

"It's okay, it's for an art competition" I sighed, putting the camera down next to his comic now that I knew we were alone. "The winner gets to be part of this exhibition of young artists, although I'm not sure exactly why or how they'd chose a graffiti artist." 

"That's great news!" he beamed "and of course they'll love your stuff - how could they not?" 

"Well even if they do there's still all the legal stuff they'd have to sort out seeing as most of my art is on public or private walls." 

"They'll work it out" he brushed away my concerns with a flick of his free wrist, the other hand still resting over my own and giving it a slight squeeze. "Some art is worth the extra effort." 

"You're in a good mood today" I noted. 

"Mikey rang about half an hour ago" he beamed "he's coming over to visit tomorrow, he has some meeting to go to in London for work but he's managed to convince his boss to let him come a few days earlier so he can spend some time here." 

"That's great" hopefully this time i'd make a better first impression than when i'd surprised him by falling over wearing nothing but my underwear. On top of the fact that I was a seventeen year old boy in his brothers house. 

"Now you don't have to rush home to your aunt and uncles we can spend some proper time together too" he seemed to read my mind "you and him only got to meet a few times last time he was over and I really would love you too to get to know each other better." 

"It means a lot that you want us to get on well" I kissed him briefly "I'd say I want you to bond with my relatives, but the only one I'm currently on speaking terms with is Ray." 

"Having Ray is better than having no one" He reassured me "but all the same, I'd like you to be able to think of me and Mikey as your family too one day." 

"That sounds good" I imagined a Christmas day where me and Gerard had our own place, with Mikey and Ray coming to visit, and smiled to myself. Now that was a family I could get on board with. 

"Anyway, how was the rest of your day?" 

"Alright" I shrugged "Just wanna be out of there already and earning money." 

"It'll come round quicker than you think, I mean it's only like a month till your birthday now right? And then after Christmas has come and gone you'll only have a few months till you're done there." 

"I know, Kellin's already planning some sort of massive birthday party" I rolled my eyes. 

"You don't have to sound so excited" he chuckled sarcastically "come on, it's your eighteenth, that's a big deal, especially over here. You'll finally be legally able to do all the things you've been doing since you were fifteen." 

"Try thirteen" I thought back to just how young i'd been when I started my stream of bad habits. 

"Why am I not surprised?" he put his comic down to one side and wrapped an arm around my waist, leaning one of his legs against mine. "You deserve to celebrate your birthday with your friends. As long as I get to see you too." 

"You should come" I blurted before I could chicken out "to the party, I mean. I'll be legal then, not that we have to tell them we're in a relationship. Some of them already know anyway, but you could come as my friend or something."

"A priest at a party?" he mused "sure I would't kill the vibe entirely?" 

"As long as you don't turn up with your collar on and ignore the signs of underage drinking I doubt anyone would bat an eyelid. Besides, it's fancy dress anyway. Perks of being born on Halloween. Just dress up and hopefully nobody will recognise you." 

"Sounds fun" he grinned, leaning in to kiss me far too briefly for my liking "you should probably get going before Brian gets back from his meeting, but do you wanna come over for dinner tomorrow with me and Mikey?"

"Of course. I'll try and wear more than just my boxers this time" I winked, loving how his cheeks flared ever so slightly pink at the memory. 

"Probably for the best" he nodded, leaning forward and kissing me properly, pushing my back against the pew so that our bodies were pressed tightly together in a way he knew would drive me crazy. There was something about kissing him in that church that always set a fire in me, just knowing where we were and what we were doing was enough to set my mind racing. 

"How long till Brian's back?" I asked, purposely kissing a spot on his neck just about his collar. 

"Not long enough" He groaned, tilting his head back automatically "believe me, if I thought we had enough time I would've initiated this the moment you walked in here." He leaned down again to kiss me more briefly this time. When he pulled away his lips lingering on mine for a few moments whilst his hands travelled up and down my sides. "I love you."

"I love you too" I leaned into his touch for a few more moments before dragging myself away "I better go tell Kellin the party is a go and get these photos sent off. Say hello to Brian almighty for me." 

"Definitely not!" He called after me with a giggle. 

____