Thirty Five Days

5: Introductions

AN: Back to Frank's P.O.V.

Mikey's house was literally just across the street from mine – you could see into my bedroom from his front door, or at least you would be able to if I didn't always have the curtains closed. I followed him into a clean, well lit hallway with cream and brown wallpaper and furniture. Very similar to that of my own grandmother's actually.There was a strong smell of pizza as soon as we stepped into the kitchen, which made me glad since I had forgotten to tell Mikey I was vegetarian. The woman getting plates out of the cupboard turned around when we stepped into the room.

"Mikey, how was school today? Who's your friend?" She gave me a polite smile which I returned in a way I hoped didn't display my natural awkwardness in these situations.

"This is Frank, he's in some of my classes at school. Frank, this is my grandma, Elena."

"Nice to meet you Frank."

"And you Mrs..." I trailed off, realising I didn't actually know her name despite living across from her all this time.

"Oh, you can call me Elena, anything else makes me feel to old.Feel free to remind my grandson of that any time he mentions my age by the way. And speaking of grandsons, Mikey's brother Gerard also lives here but he probably won't appear since he never really leaves his room. Still if you do happen to see a boy with black hair and incredibly pale skin then that's him."

I found myself smiling at her words, less awkward in her kitchen than I had anticipated, knowing the whole story now.

"What's that about not leaving my room?"

The new voice came from behind me and I spun around to see an almost breathtaking guy leaning casually against the door frame, with a grin that displayed ridiculously tiny teeth. His skin was in fact incredibly pale – he almost seemed to be glowing in contrast to his long, slightly greasy black hair. This must be Gerard.

"Of course he's left his room Grandma – you've cooked pizza and he's worried that if he stays down there he'll miss out."

"Now, really Mikey, that is simply untrue. I leave my room for a great number of things such as pasta and ice cream and cake. In this instance, however, it is not any of those things I'm here for."

"Really? Then why are you here?"

"To meet your new friend of course. The friend who you have been completely ignoring ever since I arrived even though you have the opportunity to see me whenever you want and you can only see him at school."

Just like that Gerard Way walked over to me, smiling, and put his hand out for me to shake, which I took hesitantly as he spoke once more.

"Hello, I'm Gerard Arthur Way although you can call me Gerard. I'm Mikey's older brother that you'll probably never see again, unless you happen to come back when there's pizza or ice cream or one of the other rare foods I leave my room for. It's nice to meet you."

"Er, hi. I'm Frank. Nice to meet you too."

It was safe to say I'd never experienced another introduction quite like the way Gerard had just introduced himself and it seemed unlikely I ever would again as I don't imagine that's quite the sort of thing potential employers were going to say.

"That's all I get? I give you my life story in a nutshell and all I get from you is one name? Mikey, you need better friends."

"Gerard, you're making him uncomfortable. Perhaps you should have stayed downstairs."

I was surprised that it was Elena that spoke up at that point although Mikey still seemed too shocked at the sight of his brother interacting to actually do anything.