alone together ー petekey

II

The next morning, Gerard wakes Mikey by throwing a wad of clothes from his dresser at the sleeping boy. Mikey reluctantly opens his eyes and holds up the clothes questioningly.

"I'm taking you to breakfast because you're a good brother and I feel guilty." 

"Why are you guilty? It was a random act of kindness." Mikey rubs his eyes and puts on his glasses.

"Because I am. Now, c'mon, go get dressed!" Gerard opens the door.

Mikey stands and walks to his room. He quickly gets changed and lounges on the sofa in the living room whilst waiting on Gerard to get ready. He plays a game on his phone to pass the time.

"Neko Atsume? Really?" Gerard asks from behind the sofa, causing Mikey to yelp and drop his phone.

"You scared me, asshole." 

"Don't swear. C'mon, let's go." 

"Where are we going, anyways?" Mikey asks, standing and stretching his arms. He follows Gerard to the door.

"IHOP." Gerard opens the front door quietly, careful not to wake his mother, and ushers Mikey out.

"Aren't we walking?" Mikey asks, following Gerard to Donna's old car.

"Nope," Gerard grins and holds up a key ring, which he'd snatched that morning.

"Sneaky. Now, unlock the car; I'm freezing," Mikey chatters. Gerard does as told, and Mikey quickly seats himself on the passenger's side. Gerard, on the other hand, smirks and opens the car door as slowly as possible.

"You jerk! Get in and turn up the heat," Mikey groans in frustration. Gerard laughs and shuts the car door. When Gerard finally starts the car, Mikey's arms are covered in goosebumps. It takes him a while to warm up after that.

"We're here and I managed not to crash the car," Gerard says proudly, parking carefully in one of the designated spots. "Now, get out. I'm hungry."

 Mikey laughs and follows Gerard inside. They're seated quickly; most nobody comes in on a Tuesday morning. They order their drinks and look at the menu.

Mikey notices someone looking at him in a booth a few feet away from him. He recognizes the boy as the one from the park yesterday evening. He turns to the boy and raises an eyebrow, but the boy just smiles and shrugs, giving Mikey a small wave. Mikey forces a smile and turns back to Gerard.

"Who's that?" Gerard asks curiously without glancing up from his menu.

"Someone I saw at the park. I don't know why, but he's staring at me." 

Shortly after, the waiter comes out to take their orders. The food is quickly served, much to Mikey's surprise.

"Oh, my God," Gerard says after taking a bite of his pancake.

"I'm in fucking-" Mikey grins after seeing the glare Gerard sends his way, "-pancake heaven," he finishes, sipping his coffee to wash his pancake down.

After a few more pancakes, Mikey and Gerard decide they're ready to go. Gerard pays, and they make their way to the door. They walk out, only to be stopped by the boy from the park.

"Hey! You!" The boy says to Mikey. "Uh, you seem pretty cool. Can I get your number?" Mikey looks at Gerard, who shrugs. Mikey nods and the boy holds out his phone for Mikey to put his number into. Mikey does as asked.

"Thanks, uh..." The boy trails off.

"Mikey." 

"I'm Pete. Text you later." 

Mikey waves and turns, walking back out to the car.

"That was..." Gerard trails off. "Strange." 

"Very," Mikey agrees. "Now, let's go home. I want to get more sleep."