Together (Frerard, Petekey, Ryden)

4. Addiction

Mikey was never one to refuse a dare.

At first it was innocent kid things.

"I dare you to climb that tree and jump off the top branch." Mikey did that, which earned him a broken arm. And "I dare you to eat a pebble!" that one earned him a quick trip to the hospital and a not so quick lecture from his dad about peer pressure.

But as he got older, the dares became more intense, and less forward. And they started to get him into a lot of trouble.

"Want to smoke a joint?" doesn't sound like a dare, but Mikey sure took it that way. "Hey I got some pills!" That's what really started everything.

As a young kid, Mikey never pictured himself taking drugs or having an addiction. But then again, who does?

And that's probably why even when he was passed out on his bedroom floor at 15, after taking a few too any pills that he had stolen from his Gerard, he still couldn't admit it was an addiction. After all, it was only the third time.

Mikey tried to keep his substance abuse problems a secret from everyone. Especially Gerard. But it was kind of hard to keep a secret like that from the guy you were stealing your pills from. And maybe Mikey was kind of glad that Gerard had found out and asked if he felt guilty for stealing his brother anti-depressants. Because at last that made it a little harder to get the pills, which made it a little less worthwhile for a bit.

But soon after Gerard had banned him from stealing the pills, Mikey found another way to get some. But this time it was buying codeine off of a shady guy at school.

As time went on, Mikey was introduced to alcohol and more drugs.

Every time he thought he had hit rock bottom, he realized he really hadn't seen the worst yet.

By the time Mikey was 16, he had become a full blown addict. He couldn't function without taking a few pills before school. Between classes. Before he got home. Before bed.

That was when Gerard intervened. Threatened Mikey by saying that if he didn't stop taking pills, he would tell their parents.

It didn't work, needless to say, and Gerard's threat turned empty when he just couldn't tell on Mikey. His little brother. He was still a perfect son in his parent's eyes.

Mikey took special precautions to be sober when he was around them.

So Mikey continued like this. His grades had slipped and he no longer had his friends.

As Mikey's addiction worsened and he turned to drugs, like cocaine, Gerard turned a blind eye. It was easier for him to turn a blind eye than to face the fact that his little brother had spiraled out of control.

When Gerard moved out at the age of twenty, Mikey became worse than before. In the absence of his brother, Mikey had lost the only friend he had left.

Mikey turned to needles of heroin to be his friend. The 17 year old basically dropped out of school, and it was only then that his parents became concerned. But they were too late. Most nights, Mikey wouldn't come home. And the times he did, it was after his parents had went to bed, and they didn't have the heart to wake him up before they left for work in the morning.

Mikey's 17th to 22nd year were mostly a blur for him. The only things he could remember clearly were the few times he was forced to attend family events to keep up with appearances.

He would show up, absolutely wired. Stay just long enough for everyone to know he was there, but not start asking questions, and then leave again.

Of course people wondered where he had gone, but that wasn't Mikey's problem.

One time, Mikey took too much. He was rushed to the hospital and he clung to life for three days. Gerard stayed with him the whole time. When he woke up, he claimed it was a mistake. Said he thought it was Advil he was taking, turned out not to be. Everyone seemed to buy his bullshit. Everyone but Gerard.

Gerard hadn't been around much to see Mikey continue to get worse. But this was the last straw.

Gerard saw Mikey looking tiny and afraid in the hospital bed, and he took pity on the poor kid. He gave him a place to stay and watched over him, which proved to be difficult when he was barely home. It was then Gerard realized the extent of Mikey's addiction.

A few months after Mikey moved in, Gerard had him checked into a rehab facility. Mikey was angry at first. Claiming he didn't have a problem. He wouldn't attend his therapy sessions and sat in his room at the rehab center all day.

Mikey finally realized he had a problem when he could feel his body craving the drugs he was no longer taking. He would get migraines and feel nauseous. He finally decided to attend sessions.

It was hard and exhausting for Mikey, but he really tried to get better.

After being there for almost two months, Mikey was deemed suited to leave. He packed his few belonging and went home with Gerard.

He hasn't touched drugs since.

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A/N

I want to say thank you to everyone who had read this. even though this story only has like 70 reads, thats pretty good for me so thank you