We Aren't Nerds! {{PETEKEY}}

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Michael and Pete sat in silence for a while, they didn't really need to say much. Despite not knowing anything about each other, they could tell that they were going to be good friends. After a while, Pete got up and started speaking.

"I think I'm going to head back down," he said, "this is my party and I probably shouldn't hide in my room the whole time."
Michael smiled, "I'll go, too. Gerard probably wonders where I am."

The two of them went downstairs together. Michael wondered what it was about Pete that he liked so much. He didn't have much time to think, though, before his ears were filled with some painfully generic party songs. He skimmed the crowd to try and find Gerard, but he was struggling. Between the mishmash of dark clothes and brightly coloured hair, it was almost impossible to pick anyone out. Michael stopped looking for Gerard and tried looking for Pete instead. He hoped the two of them would be somewhere near each other, or if not at least he could talk to Pete for a while.

Michael looked around a little bit more before seeing Pete and making his way over to him and his other friends. They all looked pretty cool, at least in Michael's opinion, and he felt slightly intimidated. He hoped they'd all be as nice as he was, but he couldn't be too sure. He stood back and tried to avoid getting spotted by anyone other than Pete. Michael didn't want to look like he was listening to their conversation, but he was, and it was confusing to say the least.

"You don't think he's gay, do you?" asked Pete
"I don't think so," said one of them, "he's really close to Lindsey."
"It might look that way," said another, "but have you seen him with the Iero guy?"

Michael wondered what they were talking about, but he found all of the names sounded kind of familiar. He thought about it, and suddenly realised they were talking about Gerard. He wondered why Pete was asking about Gerard and his sexuality, but he decided not to worry about it. He did, however, choose to draw attention to himself and join the conversation.

"Hi Pete," Michael said, "have you seen my brother?"
"Oh, Michael, no, sorry," Pete said, suddenly breaking his other conversation. He turned back to his friends before asking, "Have any of you guys seen Gerard?"

Everyone turned to face Michael, looking surprised. Michael couldn't work out what they were all so shocked about, but he assumed it probably had something to do with Gerard.

"You're Gerard's little brother?" asked one of Pete's friends, "You're Mikey?!"
"Yeah...?" said Michael, unsure of why anyone would be so surprised, "It's Michael, though, please don't call me Mikey."
"But you're so much taller than Gerard!? Why does he always call you his baby brother when you're so tall?"

Michael sighed, he'd been taller than Gerard for a while and was used to people being surprised to learn he was the younger of the two brothers. He just wished people wouldn't act like it was so strange, it was uncomfortable to be questioned by everyone sometimes. He didn't know Gerard called him his 'baby' brother, he was still getting used to the thought that he didn't actually dislike him. Although they'd never had a bad relationship, Michael and Gerard weren't exactly best friends. Even when they'd been little kids they hadn't really spent much time together.

Michael looked around the group a little bit more, despite wanting to be friends with Pete and his friends, he didn't want to answer any questions about Gerard or why he was so much taller. Considering Gerard's hair was such a bright red colour, Michael didn't think it would be anywhere near as hard to find him as it was being. He stood in a corner, near most of the food and drinks, hoping Gerard would come by there at some point soon. After a few minutes, Michael gave up and went back to Pete and his group.

"Hi guys, still no Gerard?" he said, casually joining their conversation.
"Nope," Pete said, "by the way, this is Patrick, Andy and Joe."
"Hi, I'm Michael, but you already I knew that, I assume."
"Yeah," laughed Patrick, "sorry about not knowing where Gerard is."
"Let's be real," said Joe, "it's probably somewhere with Lindsey or Frank, does he have other friends?"

Andy nudged Joe in the side. Michael could tell he was the quiet, but sensible one. Joe seemed like the funny, loud one, but only when it was necessary. Patrick was obviously the nice one. Pete was the leader of the group, he was funny, nice and loud, or at least Michael thought so. He liked Pete, but he still wasn't sure why. The rest of the group seemed okay, too, and Michael was pretty happy to consider them his new friends.

Gerard appeared from out of nowhere in particular looking terrified. Michael wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew it would have something to do with their parents or some kind of trouble.

"Mom called," Gerard said, "we have to leave... now..."
"Okay," Michael said, nodding, "hey guys, can I get your phone numbers? I'll text you or whatever."
"Sure," Pete said, "I'll give you my number, text me when you get back and I'll send you these guys' numbers."

Michael smiled, put Pete's number in his phone and went home with Gerard. He hadn't done much at the part, but he was intrigued to know what his older brother had been doing the whole time. Since he now knew how he actually felt about him, he felt like it would be a good time to get to know him a little bit better.

The two of them went outside and started walking, it was really dark, but it was quiet, and a good time for a conversation.

"Hey, Gerard," Michael said, "what were you doing all night?"
"What do you mean?" Gerard asked, "I was just talking to people, you know, it was just hanging out."
"I made some friends..."
"Really? Who?"
"Patrick, Andy, Joe and Pete. They're cool, I like them a lot."

Gerard wondered how Michael had made friends with people so quickly. He didn't normally have many friends, or talk to many people, so coming away from a party with four new ones was quite a big deal. Gerard himself didn't have too many friends, but he didn't mind hanging out with his friends' friends, so it was usually okay. He was glad his little brother had some people to talk to, especially since his friends at school weren't the best people for him. It wasn't that they were bad people, they just weren't very friendly.

"Are they nice to you?" Gerard asked, "Nicer than those guys at school, I mean?"
Michael nodded, "I guess so..."
"Tell me if they're not, okay? No one's allowed to be mean to you, Mikey, not my little brother."

Michael wanted to correct Gerard and tell him not to call him that, but he didn't really mind, not when it was coming from him. The thing he really hated about being called Mikey was how childish it sounded. He always wanted to be considered more mature, more like an adult, just to get out of Gerard's shadow. It seemed pointless now, he and Gerard were treated in almost exactly the same way, so he didn't have to try hard anymore. Still, Michael preferred 'Michael' over 'Mikey', but he didn't mind anymore, he was over it.

"I didn't mean to call you Mikey," Gerard admitted, "I know you don't like it I just--"
"Don't worry about it," Michael smiled, "I'm over it. I'm your little brother, Mikey."
"So, I can call you that now?"
"Please do."

Gerard and Mikey smiled warmly at each other. They were brothers, and were going to be together forever, so it was for the best that they were friends. Even if they weren't best friends and didn't always know everything that was going on in each other's life, they had each other's backs, and that was all that was important. Mikey found himself wondering how he'd managed to live for fifteen years without speaking to Gerard properly.

After the two of them got home, they took off their shoes and went straight to bed, hoping that their mom wouldn't want to yell at them if they were already asleep. However, they were wrong. As soon as they started going up the stairs, Mrs. Way appeared to talk to her sons.

"Why didn't you boys tell me where you were going?" she asked, "What if you'd been hurt and I didn't know where you were?"
Gerard sighed, "We were only at Pete's house, mom. We were fine."
"But what if something had happened? I wouldn't have known where you were or how to get to you!?"
"Mom! We w--"
Mikey burst in, surprising everyone a little bit, "Gerard really wanted to go and I went with him just in case anything happened. I've had my phone with me all night, if you were worried you could have called me."
Mrs. Way sighed, "Just go to bed, boys. Tomorrow is another day."

Gerard and Mikey went to bed, slightly worried that they'd get yelled at even more in the morning. Their mom always had a strange way of not letting go of the things they did.

"Night, Mikey," said Gerard, "Please try to talk to people tomorrow."
"Okay," said Mikey, "good night, Gerard."