Somebody Out There Loves You After All (Gerard Way x Reader)

(Chapter 26) I'll Try

We all sat down at the curb near the small ice cream stand, all trying to balance our tall stacks of scoops so as to not make them fall. Frank sulked over after the rest of the group had already gotten comfortable on the concrete stoop, his mouth frowned and his hand occupied with a cup of vanilla with chocolate drizzle. "I swear why do you guys take it upon yourselves to order the most expensive shit! I could only afford vanilla in a cup, a goddamn cup!" The little squirt exclaimed in outrage. Somehow Frank didn't manage to grow any in the entire time I was gone, which I honestly appreciated since it was one of the only things to stay the same. Such a weird thing to find reassurance in, but what the hell. 

"Well maybe if I'm feeling generous, I'll let you have a lick of mine. But that's a maybe. I'm pretty hungry after the flight. Airplane food is not ideal in the slightest," I commented mercifully, licking my ice cream vigorously in a battle against the spring heat melting it. 

"I'm so honored," he rolled his eyes, smacking me upside the head lightly, causing Gerard who was practically Gorilla-Glued to my side to look up in annoyance at his disturbance. 

"You almost made me drop my cone, you're gonna pay for that!" I said handing the ice cream in question to Ray who was at my other side, getting up and starting to chase Frank around the parking lot. 

I speed up as Frank began to yell, "Leave me and my pathetic vanilla cup alone!" Soon, we were both running out of breath. I was about to cease chasing him, but he tripped on his Converse shoelace and landed with a distinct shplat sound. His pitiful ice cream spewed out on the asphalt. "Ow that smarted," he mumbled as he sat up, us all laughing at the cartoonish sound of him hitting the ground. 

"Good," I dismissed as I returned to Ray. 

We all eat making goofy conversation, Frank begging every once in a while for any of ours. After a while of just fucking around, we decided to head back to the Way house. We all packed into the van and turned the music up as we drove with the windows all the way down. It was little things like this that I missed more than anything. Small moments such as cruising with your friends, and favorite music blasting, are ones that are severely underappreciated and taken for granted until you can't have them anymore. I was never going to forget what every second meant thenceforth, even when life felt bland and lacking. 

We rolled up the Way's driveway, the house stood just as I remembered. My mouth formed into a smile as I gazed at the sentimental pair of houses. I, unfortunately, didn't buy my old house, so I would have to stick with exploring the Way residence. We all exited the car and trotted up the porch and to the front door. Mikey opened it, leading the way into the living room. "Woah," I exhaled, shocked. 

The place was in the exact same shape it was before I left, from the ugly floral couch that didn't match the rest of the room to every little knick-knack and patty-wack. "Oh here come the new graduates!" The recognizable voice of Donna called from the kitchen, en route to the living room. 

"Oh my god, Y/n what in the world are you doing here?" She said, embracing me in her usual squeeze hugs. 

"I'm moving back here," I explained. 

"Really? That's fantastic news," she added, "Well, I just started cooking a feast of a dinner and it's required you attend," she said, beginning to disappear back into the kitchen. 

"Don't worry mom, she's staying here for a while, so she'll be having plenty of your dinners," Mikey hollered after her. 

In the two-second lull of conversation, Frank zipped over to the cabinet and pulled out a board game. "Enough chit chat you fuckers, I wanna play High-Ho Cherry-O." 

~Time Skip~

After High-Ho Cherry-O, a board game marathon ensued, followed by Donna's big celebratory dinner. The sad part was that Ray and Frank had to skedaddle because their parents wanted to have their own congratulations for their graduations. Mikey soon departed to his room after dessert, leaving Gerard and me alone for the first time that day. It was odd that he was so quiet, only hanging onto me for dear life and every once in a while uttering a short-winded reply. "I'm honestly kind of tired, you?" He asked. 

"Yeah, same," I responded as we got up from our dining chairs, pushing them in and walking upstairs. 

Gerard went to the bathroom to do his nightly routine while I unpacked a few things, also getting out my own pajamas. As I knelt down to get the aforementioned pajamas out of my suitcase, I couldn't help my eyes widening and my arms halting in their task. I moved his Star Wars sheets that were slightly obscuring my view, hoping that my eyes were only tricking me. But no, there plain as day was one hell of an abundance of alcohol and beer bottles under his bed. There was no kidding when the boys said he was hooked. 

The door to his room cracked open as he appeared in Batman pajamas, I also changed after what I discovered. I remained calm, not showing a hint of my findings on my features. He simply invited me to bed, holding up the covers for me to slip underneath beside him after he laid down. I sighed as I followed, lying down stiffly. "You okay?"He asked softly. 

I contemplated telling him the truth, weighing out my options. "No, not really, dear," I replied, eyes closing in anticipation of his follow-up question. 

"Why's that?" 

"I'm worried about you," I replied ambiguously. 

"Huh? How come, I'm doing just fine," he responded quickly, a weak lie that was easily seen through. 

"Don't lie to me, I know. You don't have to be ashamed of yourself or anything, I understand. I just want you to be okay, which is easier said than done," I rolled over to face him. 

He took a second to reply, seemingly taken aback by my previous statement. "I... I want to get better it's just hard. I've been doing this since you left basically, I never wanted it to get as bad as it has, but here we are. I promise you, I'll try to quit," He said with those convincingly vulnerable hazel eyes. I didn't need anything else but that to assure me that he was trying. 

"That makes me feel much better, I'll be here to help. If you need anyone to talk to, of course, I'm here for real now," I gazed at him making sure he was listening for sure, resting my hand on his cheek as I did earlier. 

"I love you, thank you," he said as he kissed me. 

"I love you too," I said back as we parted. "It's so good to say that in person." 

A/N: Sorry this chapter was kinda late in the week, but I was out of town. But holy fuck this fic is at 1k reads! I know I made a post about it earlier but I just wanted to throw in another thank you here. So, thank you so much! Have a lovely day rats! -Sav