alone together ー petekey

IV

The first thing Mikey hears when he wakes up are faint, hushed voices coming from the kitchen. He groggily peels his blanket off himself and goes into the kitchen, only to find Gerard and Lindsey making some sort of unidentifiable breakfast. Mikey raises an eyebrow, and Gerard stares at Mikey with a sort of disturbing smile on his face, as if he's trying not to laugh. Lindsey looks at Gerard with a horrified expression.

"You said you were just kidding!" Lindsey scolds, eyes wide.

"Sorry?"

"What?" Mikey asks. "What did he do?"

"Uh, Gerard may or may not have drawn on your face in washable marker last night while you were asleep," Lindsey says lightly.

"You fucking what?" Mikey's eyes widen. "Gee, what the fuck? I was going out today?"

"You were going out? With whom, dear brother?"

Mikey blushes and mumbles something.

"Oh, my God," Gerard says, face lighting up. "You hit it off with that Pete dude! That's great, Mikes!"

"Shut up. I can't see him now, asshole."

"I'll excuse your language because of the circumstances," Gerard says with a grin. He turns to Lindsey. "At least it wasn't permanent marker."

"It's still marker!" Lindsey says.

"You know you love me."

"No, I hate you."

"You love me."

"Yeah, I do. Unfortunately."

"Hey!"

"What did you even write?" Mikey asks, scratching his neck. 

"Come here," Lindsey says, stepping closer to Mikey and turning his head to the side. "Gerard Way was here; Gerard Way rules; Mikey Way is a loser, and... Seriously, Gerard?"

"What?"

"He drew a dick on your face."

Gerard dissolves into a fit of laughter.

"Gerard, what the fuck?" Mikey says, face reddening. "I'd hit you, but I'm too weak. And I don't want Lindsey to think poorly of me."

"Nah, do it. He deserves it."

"Hey!"

"It's true!"

Mikey rolls his eyes and goes to the bathroom to wash his face. It takes him a solid twenty minutes to get all of Gerard's 'artwork' off, and there are still black smudges in some places. When Mikey returns, he hears Gerard talking to Lindsey in the living room.

"He just needs a friend. He's been really antisocial his whole life, and I'm not gonna be with him forever. This is his first big step."

"But-"

Mikey steps into the living room, and Gerard freezes.

Mikey coughs."Thanks. It's not like my private life should, y'know, be private or anything like the name insinuates."

 And with that, he goes to the door (despite Gerard's protests) and walks out, pulling his phone out of his pocket. He slams the door shut and sighs, only to have Gerard open it and spin him around.

He glares at his brother. "Gerard, please," he says. Mikey turns and walks off, not entirely sure where he's going.

He's in shock. He trusts Gerard. Does that mean nothing to him? Absolutely nothing?

He stares at his phone and dials Pete's number. "Pete? Can you meet me early?"

"Of course. What's up?"

"I'll tell you when we get there. Sorry."

"No, it's fine. I'll be there in about five minutes."

"Okay. Thank you."

"No problem."

Mikey hangs up and checks his phone. Gerard has already called him three times. Mikey doesn't bother returning the calls. He types out a quick text to gerard:

I need time alone to think about things. You're my brother, and I trusted you not to overshare things about me. And you just betrayed my trust, so it'll take a very long time for me to forgive you.

The rest of the afternoon is spent with Pete. He comforts Mikey, and even takes him to get ice cream.

"I'm sorry your brother is a total dick."

"It's not your fault. Don't be sorry."

"Still, I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Mikey smiles slightly.

"No problem, Mikeyway," Pete smirks.

Somewhere inside his chest, Mikey feels his heart start to beat faster.