Since When Did You Become a Romantic?

Chapter 14: The Incident

Before anyone realizes it's Monday again. Rumors spread faster than test answers on exam day. The tension between Ryan and Brendon is weirder than ever. Frank and Gerard are secretly together. Lindsey is possibly pregnant with Frank's child but everyone thinks it's Gerard. Hayley is leaving Lindsey. Pete and Patrick are still wholesome. Robert is actually Tyler, the owner of the alphabet house. And that's what you missed on glee.

Ryan sits in the break room munching on a sandwich that consists of mostly mustard because Brendon hasn't gone to a grocery store in three years. Mikey walks in with half his sleeve covered in a thick black ash. He nods to Ryan and sits next to him. "So ya hear?"

Ryan looks up. "What?" He says with a mouthful of yellow bread.

"About Gerard? I hope it's not a capricorn."

Ryan figures that he's talking about Gerard and Lindsey's child. "Hey capricorns aren't that bad."

"Don't you have some sad poetry to write about them?" Mikey laughs.

Ryan scoffs.

Gerard waltzes in with his coffee thermos nearly falling out of his hand. Ryan hasn't seen him that happy since he won three coupons to starbucks at the school raffle. It makes him smile to see his friend happy.

"Someone's late," Pete remarks as he walks in behind him.

Gerard doesn't really listen to him and sits next to the other two. "Whats got you so glad?" Mikey asks.

"The play is coming along fabulously!" Damn he's gay. "Me and Frank saw a movie yesterday! I just got back from the doctor's with Lindsey and everything's great!" Gerard seems so happy that he makes everyone else feel good. Normally, he doesn't care about the small things but now he's found an appreciation.

"Congrads, bro," Pete pats his back before sitting next to them.

"I'm kinda glad Lindsey didn't tell me about the baby for a while because then I don't have to wait as long," his smile could make flowers grow.

"We're happy for you," Mikey says a little annoyed.

"You okay?" Pete asks

"More or less. Hayley keeps calling me and yelling at me.... basically every night," Mikey sighs.

This is Ryan's chance. Lately, Gerard's peppy attitude has annoyed him. He wants to see how angry he can get Gerard because he thinks its funny. Ryan doesn't always think things through. "Women are a chore," he sighs loudly.

Mikey immediately looks to Gerard. Fuck he didn't just say... oh no. "Sorry what?" Gerard laughs creepily at him.

"Women are too much work. They demand too much. I don't know how you deal with a wife," Ryan shrugs. Now he's starting to have fun.

"Demand things? Like what?" Gerard asks angrily."What has a woman ever demanded from you?"

"Like abortion, for example. I don't morally object but when my tax dollars go to it... then it's annoying," Ryan explains.

Gerard has to regulate his breathing. Pete can see and he leans away from this mess. "Okay... let's start. Do you like living in a nice neighborhood? Yes? Well, lets say a woman gets pregnant and is forced to have the child due to lack of right to her body. That child grows up in an unstable home and becomes a drug dealer and kills some people. Now your nice neighborhood is crawling with druggies and loose weed. The children that aren't born because of abortions won't grow up to be killers and they won't hurt people. If you ask most women that have had abortions they will say that they weren't ready and their home wasn't stable. That's not to say everyone who grows up in an unstable home becomes a suicidal heroin addict but it's a lot more likely. I mean Mikey is a prime example," Gerard gestures to him brother. Did I just say that? I was going so strong and then I just told everyone that... fucking fuckity fuck.

The atmosphere goes from a debate to a sad feast. Everyone looks to Mikey who looks likes he's going to punch a small leprechaun. "Well... this is awkward," Mikey grabs his lunch and walks off. The three look at each other like who's going to go get him from probably the bathroom.

"I got this," Pete follows Mikey and look at that... he's sitting on the ground eating his sandwich sadly. "Hey," Pete says quietly.

"Hi," he doesn't bother to look up.

"If it makes you less sad, I already know," Pete sits down next to him. "Your long sleeves to cover needle marks, your constant bruises, the sinking eyes."

Mikey curls up a bit. "I haven't done that for two weeks. I'm trying but Gerard just reminded me of the old me. The incident me."

"Could you talk to me about that?"

He takes a deep breath. He hasn't talked about this to anyone but his brother and Tyler. "So... last year me and Robert, he's Tyler now, got really..." he trails off. "Okay to be real I don't even remember most of it. But I could hear colors and taste sounds, that kind of shit." Pete nods as if he understands but he doesn't. "I must have wandered home still off my rocker and trying to sleep on the snow banks." Pete wants to laugh but knows he shouldn't. "When I got home, yelled at me and I- I- I don't know what happened." Mikey doesn't feel like digging through those repressed memories to find out what exactly happened. He hasn't looked at Pete once; at this point he doesn't even care what Pete is thinking. He just focuses on not throwing up right now.

Pete grabs one of his hands only to realize how cold it is. "Do you remember the bathroom?"

He leans his head against the cold wall. With his eyes staring creepily he responds in a monotone,"Not really. I remember I was really numb. I couldn't even feel the knife," Mikey sniffles like a small animal. "The next thing I knew was a loud thud? Then I was at the hospital." The weird part is that Mikey has no emotion.

"What did Gerard tell you?" Pete asks.

"He told me the truth. It's not like I wasn't able to put the pieces together. I was really out of it and tried to off myself... but whatever," Mikey pushes hard against the wall. He doesn't know what to feel so he doesn't say anything else.

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