Here's a shitty five minute cover I made on the free photoshop app

~~

I looked at Gerard, biting my lip softly. He was so pretty, his red hair was so bright and captivating. Everything about him was just beautiful from his pale skin to his soft pink lips. I liked him a lot, if you couldn't tell. I've liked him for a while now but I've been to nervous to say anything.

I sighed quietly as I looked at the partner list for our semester project. I was partnered with Brendon again. He wasn't a bad partner but I tended to carry more of the weight of the team. My eyes glanced down and I saw Jamia was partnered with Gerard.

"Switch with me," I hissed, pulling her arm.

"Ow, Frank, what the fuck?" She muttered.

"Please, Mia, I'll do anything, please just switch partners with me before anyone else comes over," I begged.

She rolled her eyes and changed partners before someone walked over. I smiled happily, kissing her cheek.

"I owe you, thank you," I said.

Gerard came up and my heart skipped a beat as he looked over the list.

"Guess we're partners," he said to me.

I smiled, nodding my head.

"Sorry you have to be partners with me," he said.

"Wh-why would I be sorry?" I asked.

Oh god, I was so nervous.

"I have a pretty tight schedule, people get annoyed by that a lot," he said.

"Oh, well I'm free anytime you want me," I said. "Or I-I mean--"

"Sounds cool," Gerard said. "Give me your number and I'll text you a time. Are we able to go to your place?"

"Probably not, my dorm is always throwing parties so it's just always loud and busy and stuff like that so it's not a very good place to work," I said.

"Alright, I guess we can come back to my apartment," he said. "I can cook you dinner if you want."

He's gonna cook me dinner? Oh god, I might as well just melt now.

"That sounds great," I agreed.

"Alright, text you later," Gerard said before walking off.

I looked at his ass in his tight skinny jeans, my heart racing quickly. I heard to find out where Jamia had walked off to. She was looking at the casing of artwork when I grabbed her hand and pulled her outside.

"I can't tell if we have a date or not," I said.

"Why?" She asked. "What happened? Did he ask to fuck you or something?"

"No, he invited me to his apartment and he's gonna cook me dinner," I said.

"He's gonna cook for you?" Jamia asked. "I mean, you're doing a school assignment but cooking for you? He doesn't usually cook for people. He's never cooked for anyone, actually. I've been partners with him before and he's blown me off twice and given me a granola bar."

Gerard: Is six okay?

Frank: Sounds Perfect

"Okay, I'm going over at six," I said. "I have to go shower."

I went back to my dorm, taking a nice, hot shower. I spent nearly an hour picking out clothes until I finally just settled on my black jeans, black converse, grey t-shirt, dark red flannel and my leather jacket. Oh, I loved wearing so many layers.

Gerard buzzed me up to his apartment and I sprayed my mouth with breath spray before I knocked on the door. Gerard opened it and smiled. He looked so good in his black leather pants and black t-shirt with the sleeves cut off.

"Hey," he said, opening the door wider.

I stepped in and looked around as I bit my lip.

"Alright, I just made spaghetti, I'm not a very good cook," he admitted.

"It sounds perfect," I said.

He smiled and we sat at the table. Frank got me a plate and I smiled as the two of us ate.

"You into art?" I asked, looking around at the paintings that were hung on the walls.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Gerard said glancing at them. "Don't paint too often nowadays."

"How come?" I asked.

"I've just been too busy," he said. "It's alright though, I feel like maybe if I take a little break then all the inspiration will just flow out of me when I finally get back into it."

I smiled, looking at him. He had this small, shy smile on his face as he tucked his red hair behind his ear. He was so cute when he was all shy and embarrassed, I just couldn't get enough of it. We finished eating and sat on the couch. I leaned closer, waiting for something to happen.

"Here wait, I'll be back in a minute," he said.

Gerard went down the small hallway and I bit my lip as I fixed my jacket and hair.

"Hello, gorgeous," Gerard said.

My heart skipped a beat before completely dropping when I saw he wasn't talking to me. Instead he had a baby in his arms.

"A-a baby?" I squeaked. "Whose baby?"

"Mine," Gerard said. "This is my daughter, Bandit. Did you have a good nap, beautiful?"

Gerard kissed her cheek and she smiled.

"Well, I have to feed her but we can work on our project while she's eating," Gerard asked.

So...this isn't a date.

He set a pink bumbo baby seat onto the coffee table and buckled her into it before going to the kitchen. She looked at me curiously while she chewed on her fist.

I was about to have a heart attack, I didn't know what to do. The man I wanted date had a child. Well, if he has a child that that means he's straight, or at least he likes girls too. Maybe the mom is in the picture. If I date him then I'm basically signing up to have a child and I'm too young to have a child.

Gerard came back in with a little glass jar of baby food and a little rubber spoon. He sat beside me on the couch as he sighed. Bandit cooed when she saw the food, holding her hands out.

"Alright, what's the project exactly?" He asked.

I cleared my throat, reaching for my notebook in my backpack. Gerard put a bib on Bandit and opened the jar. I couldn't help but chuckle as he opened his mouth while feeding Bandit, pretending to eat too.

"So, uh, who's her mom?" I asked as casually as I could.

"Oh, she's just, like, she's not in the picture anymore," he said.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"No, it's alright," he said. "I've got my little Bandit and that's all that matters, I love her so much."

"How old is she?" I asked.

"About six months," Gerard said, feeding her another bite.

I smiled, opening my notebook.

"Okay, so for the project we have to make a short film that involves some sort of sci-fi in it," I said.

"Oh great, I love aliens, I couldn't wait for this topic when it was mentioned in the syllabus," he said.

"It has to be five to ten minutes and is due by next friday," I said.

"Alright, that's no problem," he said.

I nodded, biting my lip as I looked at Bandit. She had beautiful hazel  eyes just like Gerard's and a bit of brown hair on her head. She was wearing a pair of footy pajamas that was pink with white flowers on it. She cooed happily as she ate, bits of spit dribbling down her chin.

"So, Frank what do you want the short movie to be?" He asked.

"I'm not quite sure, you seem to be a little bit more into this than me," I admitted. "I'm cool with doing whatever, I hadn't even meant to take this class I signed up for the wrong one and was too embarrassed to tell anyone. I don't mind though, it's pretty interesting."

Plus, this class is the whole reason I even met Gerard in the first place. And I was so thankful for that everyday.

"I think we can--"

Gerard was interrupted when Bandit coughed, effectively spitting food out. Gerard wiped her mouth with her bib.

"There we go," he muttered.

He kept feeding her until she was done with her food.

"You need a burping?" He asked in his little baby voice.

He unbuckled her, patting he back after he pulled her into his lap. He smiled and burped her, cleaning her mouth.

"Sorry It's So hard to get work done with me as your partner," he said.

"No, it's okay, she's adorable," I said.

Gerard smiled, kissing the top of her head.

"Okay, what do we need to do first?" He asked. "Are those the only requirements?"

"Yeah, looks like it," I said.

Gerard set Lily on the ground on a little playmat on her stomach. She quietly and played with a toy.

"Okay, I'm ready to focus now," he said.

Gerard smiled at me and I felt my heart race a bit.

"O-okay, So we just have to write a little script about sci-fi shit," I said.

Gerard bit his lip and looked at Bandit.

"Sorry, I-I probably shouldn't have said that," I apologized.

"No, it's okay, people tell me I'm super protective of her," Gerard said. "But, like, she's my little girl, I just want her happy and healthy. I used to watch this one tv show, it was basically about like strippers and stuff but now I can't even watch it because I just imagine my little B as a stripper and it just makes me so sad."

I smiled softly as he picked her up.

"She's my Little Baby and I only want the absolute best for her," he said.

He gave her a kiss and she giggled.

"So, were you in like a committed relationship with her mom or was it like a one night stand?" I asked.

"One night stand," Gerard said. "And then nine months later I get this little cutie."

I smiled as Bandit gently chewed on the tip of his finger.

"You ever thought about having kids?" He asked.

"Yeah But usually I imagine myself already with a college degree and married with a job," he said.

"Yeah, that's what I used to imagine too," Gerard said.

"I'm proud of you, though, you're in college and you're raising a baby at the same time," I said.

"It's hard but we make do," Gerard said. "Plus the lady two doors down is the best babysitter in the world."

I smiled, looking at her small smile.

"You wanna hold her?" Gerard asked.

I nodded and he handed her to me. She looked up at me before whining, reaching to Gerard. He smiled, taking her back.

"Oh my god, I'm getting distracted again," he said.

"Alright, I think that maybe—"

There was a loud fart and Gerard sighed.

"Alright, I've gotta change her diaper, I promise I'll be right back," he said.

I nodded and Frank went back to the other room. He came back with Bandit on his hip. He set her on the ground and sat beside me to get working.

"Okay, first we just need a basic plan for the scene," he said.

"Um, we can do aliens because you like them, they are pretty cool," I said. "I-I've never written a script before so I don't really know what to do."

"It's not too bad, just as long as you don't write something completely humiliating," Gerard said.

"You know, we can have Bandit be a character, she can be a cute little baby alien," I said. "Plus, our professor loves kids so he might give us a bit of bonus points."

"Oh my god, she would look so cute," Gerard cooed. "I love dressing her up. I already have her Halloween costume. It's this little bumblebee outfit because she's my Lady B."

"That's adorable," I said.

Bandit started crying and he got up, going over to pick her up.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" He asked.

Gerard bounced her and I watched for half an hour while he tried everything to get her to stop.

"I'm sorry, Frank, can we do this another time?" Gerard asked.

"Yeah, that's fine," I said, packing up my things.

I stood up and he held the bawling baby on his hip as he opened the door for me. I was about to leave when I mustered up all the confidence I had.

"Maybe we can do this another day," I said.

"Yeah, I'll text you later," he said.

"B-but maybe we can do it without the schoolwork and without the baby," I said.

Gerard nodded but paused when he seemed to realize something.

"Wait, that's...that sounds like a date," he said.

"Yeah, I was hoping it would be," I said.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Wait, really?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'll let you know when I'm free, schedules can be kinda difficult with this little girl," he said.

Bandit was still crying as he leaned forward and kissed my cheek. I blushed deeply, giving a small wave before I left. I giggled happily as I walked back to the dorm. Thankfully Gerard's apartment was just off campus so it wasn't very far at all.

I hurried into my co-ed dorm and ran to Jamia's bedroom. She was sitting on her bed as she was busy studying but she looked close to pulling her hair out.

"I asked him out and he said yes!" I exclaimed.

"Seriously?" She asked. "Oh my god, tell me what happened."

"Okay, so we actually didn't get a lot of work done but he made me dinner and we talked a lot and I decided to ask him out and oh my god he said yes," I said. "Also, he has a kid. He's got a daughter."

"Seriously? He didn't when we were partnered up," she said.

"Yeah, she's six months old and she's absolutely adorable," I said.

"Frankie, you know if you're dating someone with a kid that he's going to want commitment," she said. "That's a lot to take on, both a boyfriend and his daughter. You would be like a father."

"That's okay," I said. "Maybe we'll have a real connection and it'll just be perfect."

"So he does like dick then?" Jamia asked.

"Yes, he seems to like dick," I said. "But he isn't strictly dickly either, he's into girls too."

"When are you two going on a date?" She asked.

"I don't really know yet, he told me he would text me when he's available because he's got a messy schedule because of Bandit," I said. "I'm really excited but also really nervous. I have to try and plan something really cute but also cheap because I'm sure neither of us have much money, I know I don't,"

"Oh my god, you should go on a little stroll through that one trail in the woods," Jamia suggested. "It'll be so beautiful with the leaves all changing colors and the little animals."

"Yeah, that actually sounds perfect," I agreed. "Anyways, I've gotta go get some work done, I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, you still owe me one," she said.

I smiled and kissed her cheek before I went to my own room.

-+-

I met up with Gerard by the park and he smiled.

"Hi," I said.

"Hey," he replied, kissing my cheek.

"Sorry it's only a walk and not anything super interesting," I said as we started on through the quiet trail.

"No, it's perfect, I love when the leafs all change to the oranges and the reds, it's breathtaking," he said. "Besides, it's hard to actually talk and get to know someone over a movie or something like that."

I smiled and nodded, nervously reaching over to hold his hand.

"Can I tell you the truth about something?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course," he said, frowning as he looked at me in confusion.

"Okay, well, it's just that for the project you were actually kind of partnered up with my friend Jamia and I made her trade with me because I really liked you," I said. "That's not past tense, I still do like you."

Gee giggled quietly and I smiled. "That's pretty cute. I think I'm really starting  to like you too."

"Okay, I'm really glad you said that because I was so nervous," I admitted. "I'm really glad you agreed to go on this date with me."

"It's been awhile since I've been on a date, I was really nervous too," he said.

"Well, you look beautiful," I said.

Gerard blushed and I gave his hand a small squeeze.

"And you look very handsome," he said.

I kissed his cheek and smiled at the blush that deepened. I looked around at all the orange, yellow, and red trees that surrounded us. Jamia was right, the view here is absolutely breathtaking.

The two of us found a little bench and we sat together as we talked, our hands intertwined. He got a phone call suddenly and frowned as he answered it.

"Huh? O-okay, I'll be right there," he said.

Gerard hung up and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I told you doing things was kinda hard with a baby," he said. "My babysitter's cat is apparently really sick and she needs to go to the vet so I've gotta go pick up Bandit. I'm really sorry, I was really liking how this date was going."

"No, it's okay," I said. "I can go with you to help."

Gerard smiled and we went down to his apartment, which wasn't too far away. He went to the apartment two doors down where a lady who looked to be in her sixties or seventies opened the door.

"Ah, Gerard," she said.

We stepped in and I saw a healthy cat happily nuzzling against Bandit.

"Here, Miss Baker, I'll help get your cat into the car," Gerard said, trying to pick up the sick cat in the corner. "Frank, can you take Bandit? You can just put her in her crib to try and get her down for a nap."

I nodded and picked  Bandit up. He handed me a key and I went to his apartment. I bit my lip as Bandit looked around, cooing softly. I went down the hall and saw two doors, one leading to the bathroom. I opened the bedroom door and realized Gerard shared a room with Bandit. His bed was there with plain blue blankets. Against the wall was a white crib that had pink bedding.

I set Bandit down into the crib and she immediately started crying. I looked around in panic, not knowing what to do. I picked her back up and her crying stopped thankfully. But then she looked up at me and started crying again, trying to get away from me.

Gerard walked in and he took Bandit from my arms. Her crying stopped until he put her into the crib. He ignored her crying as he pulled me out, shutting the door behind us.

"Sorry I don't really know what to do," I said.

"That's okay, I was the same way when I first got her," he said. "Sorry I ruined our date."

"No, it wasn't ruined," I denied.

Bandit stopped crying and he let out a small sigh in relief. We sat down on the couch and he held my hand.

"Sorry again, I know a crying baby kinda disqualifies this as the best first date," he said.

"No, Gee, it's fine," I said. "Maybe we can just watch a movie or something."

He smiled and nodded, turning the tv on. He put in a movie and I wrapped an arm around his shoulders. After about twenty minutes I mustered up the confidence to lean over, gently pressing my lips against his. He kissed back, lips parting slightly and I slipped my tongue in.

I pulled his body closer and he tangled his hands into my hair. I couldn't get enough as I kissed him deeper, wanting so much more. I pressed him down against the couch, laying between his legs. We pulled away slowly and I rest my forehead against his.

"Fuck, I've wanted to do that for a long time," I muttered.

Gerard giggled quietly and gave me a soft kiss. We sat up and he held my hand.

"The thing is though is that I don't wanna just hang out, you know?" He asked. "I want it to be official and I want a serious relationship. I can't just be hanging out while I have a baby to take care of."

"That's okay, I want something serious too," I said.

Gerard smiled, giving me a soft kiss. He picked up the baby monitor and sighed when we listened to Bandit gurgling and cooing to herself.

"Looks like she isn't sleeping, wanna help me give her a bath?" He asked and I nodded.

I filled the tub while Gerard got Bandit and undressed her. She laughed happily, splashing us as we laughed. In a way it almost felt like we were a family, maybe one day we could be a family.