Disenchanted (Frerard + Petekey)

Just One Yesterday

Mikey stopped in his tracks, aware that he could no longer hear Pete plodding along behind him.
Rolling his eyes he turned with his hands on his hips to find his friend had once again gotten distracted by nothing.

They were taking a shortcut through the woods, a path Mikey had walked almost daily in the summers. Gerard had showed it to him when they were younger. He had probably followed some older neighbourhood kids down it initially.
It wasn't much to look at, a winding dirt path packed hard by years of use, overgrown in places by unruly bushes. Mikey had to duck strategically to avoid getting poked in the eye by trees, but he'd basically memorized it at this point and was getting frustrated at Pete for slowing him down with his constant stopping.

He watched as Pete stared up into the trees, spinning in a slow circle with his mouth hanging open.

"Oh come on Pete, they're trees! You've seen trees before."

He didn't break his skyward trance, but a grin split across one side of his face.
"Well sure but don't you love 'em? They're just so cool."
He pointed to an especially gnarled and twisty tree, "Like that guy. Don't you wonder what happened to make it do that weird loop?"

Mikey shrugged. "I mean sure, trees are cool dude but we've got places to be."

They stood in silence a moment longer, Pete staring at the foliage, Mikey listening to the rustle of the wind and thinking how often he'd come here to play as a kid.

"I fell out of that one." Mikey volunteered, jerking his chin towards a spindly looking tree that didn't look capable of supporting a large squirrel, let alone the gangly boy stood before it.

Pete gaped at him, "No way! Dude how old were you? That tree's tiny!"

Mikey shrugged and kicked aimlessly at the base of the offending foliage.

"I dunno man, like ten? It was the summer before I met you. Mom was pissed." He chuckled at the memory.
"Gee had to carry me home," he was genuinely laughing now at the memory of his brother frantically racing through the woods struggling to hold him, "I broke me arm! I totally could've walked."

He turned to see Pete grinning at him, "That's so your brother though."

"Hah, yeah. It's always the end of the world for everybody else when I get hurt." He caught a strange look in Pete's eye, and changed the topic quickly. "Anyways that's why we don't climb the skinny trees Wentz! With your luck you'd probably crack your skull open or something."

He gave Pete a playful shove and the two continued down the path.

As they neared the end Mikey turned to block Pete's way. They'd been reduced to walking single-file as the wilderness closed in on the edges of the path.

"Okay, you remember the end?"

Pete quirked an eyebrow up in confusion. Mikey shook his head in disbelief, "C'mon dude you know this. There's that really steep hill ahead with the guard rail at the top? We pop out on the exit-ramp?"

A spark of recognition lit in Pete's eyes as he mouthed a silent 'oh'.

"Yeaaaah. Okay so I'll go first, you gotta get a running start to make it up. I'll wait at the top for you 'Kay?"

He didn't wait for a reply, whirling on the spot and taking off at full speed into the bushes ahead. The trees were thicker ahead and Pete couldn't see anything in the shadows that covered the path.

Mikey hated gym class, but he loved running ever since he'd grown. It felt good to stretch his legs out, and the fact that he actually won foot races now didn't hurt his ego either. He felt his joints crackle on the initial takeoff, and before he knew it he was rocketing through the woods, dodging roots and sharp rocks like it was second nature.
Before he knew it the dirt wall was rising before him, and he adjusted his angles expertly, racing up the almost horizontal slope with ease. His hands latched onto the metal of the guard rail that ran around the sharp corner of the highway exit ramp and he hauled himself up, slinging one leg over so he was straddling it.