Stars

Chapter 10

Static. The only thing filling my head.

Static and words.

Words I never wanted to hear again, a voice I didn't want to flood my thoughts for the rest of eternity.

I was back at home, in the kitchen, the silence deafening. The simple presence of my mother was suffocating, my hands shook uncontrollably.

Walking over to the cabinet, avoiding her piercing gaze from by the fridge, I reached up, rising onto my toes and grabbing a glass.

"Ashley?" almost instantly, I felt the glass slip from my trembling hands and a rush of ice cold shivers flooded through me as it hit the ground and shattered. The fact that she didn't say anything, simply watched as I fumbled my way to a brush, tears forcing their way to my eyes, stung more than the yelling that was sure to come.

I felt my breath catch in my throat, I couldn't move, the image in my head turned to static. There was no outside world, only the darkness of my mind and the fuzziness blocking everything else out.

"Stop shaking stop FUCKING SHAKING!" I tried to yell, but it came out as only a whisper as hot tears began to run down my cheeks. I had stopped breathing, shallow gasps of air flooding my lungs for a fraction of a second before disappearing in a panicked haze.

From the background of the buzzing blocking my ears from the outside world, I could hear faint murmurs of single words,

"Breathe. Breathe with me, come on."

A faint hint of safety wrapped me up like a blanket, a rising and falling chest that I couldn't help but imitate brought me back to the verge of reality, my shallow breaths still hesitant.

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Mikey wrapped his arms tightly around Pete, refusing to let go until his breathing evened out and the shaking became less violent. He smiled as a tearstained face pressed into his cheek, tattooed arms reaching out to pull him closer, one final shaky breath let out before they both pulled away, Mikey taking Pete's hands in his own. The phone had fallen off the bed a while ago, the call hung up after an angry, "Leave him the fuck alone," from Mikey.

"She can't touch you, she isn't here, ok? Everything will be okay, I promise." He looked over at Pete's tear-streaked face, rubbing circles on the backs of his hands with his thumbs.

"I'm sorry," Pete mumbled, looking down to avoid Mikey's gaze. Mikey pulled him back into his arms,

"You have nothing to be sorry for, nothing. I promise you." Pete melted into Mikey's arms, closing his eyes and letting himself simply be wrapped in a blanket of comfort and safety.

5 minutes felt like 5 hours before Mikey pulled away, "You wanna coffee?" Pete nodded silently as Mikey draped a blanket over his shoulders and made his way out of the room.

Mikey crept downstairs, cautious as to not wake Gerard and Frank, who lay on the sofa, heads on each other's shoulders, arms wrapped around one another, both of them peaceful and protected by the other. Smiling at his sleeping brother and boyfriend, he made his way over to the coffee machine in the kitchen, putting a pot of coffee on to brew before pulling 3 mugs from the cupboard.

A tired groan came from the couch at the clattering and clinking of the mugs,

"Mikey? That you?" Frank's sleep plagued voice reached the kitchen over the sound of brewing coffee.

"Y-yeah, want a coffee?" Mikey asked, hand hovering over a fourth mug. All he heard was a tired, muffled grunt, which he took to mean yes.

After pouring 4 mugs of coffee, he brought two over to the living room, where the tv was still playing some shitty American cult movie. Taking his mug, Frank nudged Gerard's shoulder until he yawned, and sleepily accepted the black cup Mikey had held out for him.

"Morning Gee, don't spill it," he warned, before making his way back up the carpeted, yet slightly creaky stairs while attempting not to spill a drop of the two mugs of coffee he held in his hands along with a cookie he had found in the cupboard.

Entering Pete's room by attempting to gently kick open the door and failing miserably, he found Pete lying on his side on his bed, scrolling through Tumblr on his phone.

"Pete?" He said cautiously, moving so he could put the coffee on the bedside table, which was a task in itself, due to the sheer amount of pens, earbuds, wires, and lamps littering the wooden surface. Pete sat up and smiled,

"Thanks Mikey." Picking up the dark blue mug speckled with stars, some connected to form constellations, he took a sip and made a face. "Bitter..." he mumbled, smiling.

"What did you expect? Coffee isn't meant to taste like cupcakes and sugar," Mikey laughed, flinching as Pete made a move as if to throw his coffee at him.

"Shut up, asshole," Pete said, sipping through a smile. Joining Pete in sitting on the bed, Mikey handed him the cookie before pulling a worn, obviously well-read comic from his bag and opening it, skimming words and looking at pictures he had seen at least 15 times before, whether over Gee's shoulder or on his own, in the school library or his bedroom.

Peering over to read the comic, Pete let his head rest on the tall boy's shoulder, smiling as Mikey leant his head over to lay on top of Pete's.

The two sat there in silence, Pete nodding whenever he finished the page so Mikey could turn to the next page of the comic, occasionally laughing or pointing out lines or drawings.

"To be honest, I have no idea what's going on but the art is amazing."

"Yeah, Gee made it about a year ago for me," Mikey smiled.

"Gerard does art? I thought he did like... not art, I don't know,"

"Yeah, he- he's going to arts college with Frank in October." Mikey looked down at the bed, folding and unfolding the corner of the comic. Pete wrapped an arm around his back, unspoken words of comfort calming Mikey, and in that moment, they were untouchable.
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Tada!
*kind of ironic jazz hands*
-Planetary