Twenty Two 

A few days after my birthday celebrations had passed, Kellin went to visit Dewees. He went alone, of course, despite however much I wanted to accompany him. It was just too risky and we both knew it, so instead he borrowed Vic's car, turned off his mobile and drove there one Sunday afternoon for a quick visit. 

When he returned it was with a smile on his face. 

"He's doing so well Frank" he sat down and turned his phone back on "he's through the worst bit now, he's having loads of therapy, and he said to say hi to you." 

"That's great" I sighed with relief at one less thing to worry about "is he coping day to day in there? It must be lonely, not having any visitors to swing by regularly." 

"He's alright, he was a bit bummed out because one of the friends he's made in there left really abruptly in the middle of the night - checked himself out, probably gave in to the cravings y'know. It happens though, the main thing is he isn't following suit. Said that he's done fucking up like that. Hopefully he makes some more friends that are committed as him." 

"Let's hope so. I just wish I could've come with you."

"He knows that" he patted my shoulder "but he also knows why that would probably be the worst idea you've had since you got involved with Ian in the first place."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to go visit. Especially when Ian could phone at any moment and ask me to go run an errand for him, its far too risky." 

"Exactly" he was interrupted then by a knock on the door "I'll get it" he headed out, and returned a moment later with Lynz in tow. 

"Hey Linds" I stood up and gave her a hug "you okay?"

"Actually, really good" she sat down "my dad finally broke up with Angela."

"Finally" I grinned "I knew he'd come to his senses eventually."

"Do you think it's for good?" Kellin interjected. 

"Yeah I do. It was a pretty big row, I think she was fed up of him too, probably not helped by how much me and her were rowing. But now I finally feel like i've got my dad back, so I guess it was all worth it in the end." 

"I'm surprised you're not leaping for joy right now" I raised an eyebrow at how she was sat calmly on the sofa. "Not going to lie, this is all a bit anti-climatic." 

"Me too" she sighed "I guess trying to help Bert has made me realise that I'm not that different to my dad in a lot of ways. I mean, I know Bert's no good - he's not going to change anytime soon, and yet I keep giving him chances and putting my faith in him. A bit like dad did with Angela. Sometimes you just want to see the good in someone because you feel like other people aren't, and you don't want to give up and admit other people were right and you were wrong, but then it just escalates and well, you get too involved." 

"I felt like that with Dewees for a while, but he did eventually clean up with a lot of help" I mused "but er, I dunno about Bert. I'm not really sure if anyone can predict what he'll do next no matter how well you get to know him." 

"I do desperately want to help him, but I just don't know if he wants to be helped" she groaned. 

"I'll make you a coffee" Kellin grimaced and headed for the kitchen, not knowing Bert so not really being able to comment on the matter himself.

"Look Linds, I know I'm biased because he's part of a world I don't want you going anywhere near, but I know I also can't really talk when it comes to people we should and shouldn't get close to."

"You're different Frank. You and Gerard love each other, he'd do anything for you. But Bert? I'm not so sure he really cares all that deeply about anyone sometimes." 

"He's a complicated guy" I chose my words carefully "and my honest advice would be to walk away, or at least take some serious steps back from the situation. Spend time with your dad, fix your relationship with him instead of trying to make something work with Bert." 

"That's pretty solid advice" she sighed "I think you're right. I'll go talk to him later, bring him his records back and say I need time to focus on my family. He's a pretty understanding guy, he should be okay about it." 

"Want me to come with you?" 

"Is that a good idea?" 

"I don't care, you shouldn't have to go alone. Besides, I think between us we could easily handle him." 

"That sounds pretty good" she nodded. "In the meantime, fancy doing some tagging?" 

"Depends where. I'm supposed to be keeping a low profile." As much as I had promised Gerard to not chance getting caught, I hadn't tagged properly in a while now and my fingers were itching to do so. It didn't have to be something big - anything would do.  

"We'll go to the skate park - that place is covered in graffiti anyway. Nobody will care there." 

"Deal" I stood up "let me go grab my stuff." 

*

The skate park was pretty quiet, so me and Lynz got to work, opting for lots of smaller doodles rather than bigger murals like normal. We both just needed to let off some steam, and even after about half an hour it had already worked wonders on us both.

"This is fun, but I am freezing" I laughed, standing up from where i'd been crouching down to doodle a little cartoon self portrait. 

"Worth it though" she looked up and I laughed at the smear of red paint across her cheek. 

"You missed your target a bit there" I used the back of my fingerless gloves to wipe it off her face. 

"Thanks" she swapped her can for a blue one "I think i'll do one more if you think you can last another five minutes before you turn into an icicle?" 

"Fine, but it better be good" I picked up the backpack with the rest of the cans in and moved it nearer to the new spot she'd found. She opened her mouth to reply, probably with some sort of diss about how hers were always good thank you very much, but before she got a chance my phone started to ring, and with a groan I glanced down at the caller ID. 

"Hey Ian" I grimaced, watching her do the same in front of me. 

"Frank. I need you to go pay a visit to Bert." His tone was as neutral and guarded as ever, giving absolutely nothing away. 

"Oh okay. Am I picking up from him or something?" I hadn't been round to Bert's in a long time, so the request was a bit out of the blue. 

"I've got an errand for you to run, he'll tell you the details when you get there. Just go round right now. Don't be late." He hung up abruptly, and I picked my backpack back up. 

"I've got to go to Bert's for some sort of errand." 

"I'll come" she hopped up "It'll give me a chance to speak to him properly."

"Too risky" I frowned "I don't know if he's definitely alone."

"As long as we don't arrive together it's fine, they'll assume that I don't know anything. Thugs like that tend to be pretty sexist without realising it - they don't really pay attention to Bert's girlfriend or whatever they assume I am" she waked past me towards the gate to the park "come on then." 

"For the record, I definitely tried telling you not to come" I rolled my eyes, following her. 

"Oh stop worrying, Bert's always on his own, and if he's not I'll just pretend i've never met you before in my life. Look, I'll let you go ahead and go in first." 

"Fine, but if you see anyone else in there with us you're not coming in." 

"Deal" she nodded, and I sighed in defeat, knowing there wasn't even any point in attempting to argue with her further on the matter. She was even more stubborn than me when she wanted to be. 

When we got to Bert's apartment block I checked up and down the street for any signs of life. Few people were out on the streets, and none of them resembled any of Ian's thugs. It seemed like the coast was clear, but I made Lynz walk a few meters behind me all the same. 

"Just go in Frank. You said yourself - it's cold out here and the sooner you get this over with the sooner you can go see Gerard and I can sort out the mess i'm in with Bert" she said over my shoulder.  

"Okay I'm going, but wait for me to come out and let you know if he's alone up there, okay?" 

"Yes, yes I will do" she leaned against a wall so she could look up to Bert's apartment "just give me a wave from the window or something." 

I trudged up the outdoor stairs, the cold November wind wrapping around me like an icy sheet, and gave a half hearted knock on the door, knowing he'd probably take forever to answer. Normally I had to knock at least twice before he even realised I was there. Perhaps that should have been the first clue that something wasn't quite right, because the door opened almost immediately after I knocked. 

Instead of being greeted by the cat-like eyes of Bert McCracken, I found myself staring at Kyle, Ian's thug that had kicked me in the face a few months prior. And he was wearing a sickening smirk that told me whatever was about to happen was going to be far worse than the scene in Dewees kitchen had been. 

For a split second I froze, and then I turned in a last ditch effort to run, but Kyle's hand was already on my shoulder, pulling me roughly inside the flat. His other hand slammed the door shut behind us, closing off all sources of daylight in the dingy flat.

I tried to elbow him in the ribs, but he dodged it and pushed me up against the wall, arm against my neck. 

"Quit struggling" he growled.

"Fuck off" I gasped, trying to kick out at him and managing to hit him, but not hard enough. His response consisted of two punches to the stomach, releasing me from the wall so that I fell to the floor and doubled over, gasping for breath. 

"Thanks Kyle, I can take it from here" a familiar voice spoke up, causing me to raise my head so that I could meet Ian's gaze from where he was stood in the corner of the room, watching the scene unfold. 

And that's when was little hope I was clinging onto finally vanished.