Things To Forget

-Sunday, August 18-

It was a dark, cool night as summer was leaving New Jersey.

Gerard was outside with his brother, Mikey. He laid on the soft grass while his brother sat, he had rested his chin on his knees, arms wrapped around his legs. They were looking up at the sky admiring the stars, it was their favorite thing to do together. They loved seeing one small star alone then millions pop out of nowhere.

Gerard was counting the stars above him, but Mikey played with the grass, plucking them out of the ground and flicking them away. He let out a sad sigh. Gerard noticed and looked at him. "Something bothering you?" He asked. Mikey shrugged, not making any eye contact. Gerard sat up and wrapped his arm around him. "C' mon, you can tell me anything." He asked again, his voice sounded worried. Mikey hesitated on telling him, he wasn't sure how to put his feelings into words.

"Just school. I'm not ready for all the pressure they're gonna put on me again. 7th grade was bad enough, but I can't imagine how 8th grade is going to be." Mikey let out as he rested his head on Gerard's shoulder. He nodded and patted his brother's head.

"I get it. 8th grade sucked for me, hell, school is a pain in the ass in general, but I managed. You'll do so much better than me 'cause you're a smart kid. Don't think about it too much, you're gonna do great."

Mikey gave a big smile to Gerard and felt more relaxed. "Thanks for the reassurance Gee, I'll keep that in mind." Gerard winked and said, "No problem."

He laid back down, putting his hands behind his head, closing his eyes and crossing his legs as the wind passed by him. He stayed quiet, enjoying himself with his thoughts.

Out of nowhere, Mikey asked him a question.

"Hey Gee, I know I'm not close to this, but how's 10th grade? Was it hard like 8th grade? Or was it even harder?"

Gerard didn't respond immediately, thinking of what to say. "Didn't I tell you not to think about it too much?" He said in a mean tone. Mikey looked a bit scared by that. "Nah, I'm just playing," Gerard laughed, and Mikey laughed eventually.

"10th grade was alright, it went by rather quick though, which was surprising since I thought, in the beginning, it would drag on for ages. Classes were fun sometimes, the kids made it better. Teachers aren't as strict like in middle school, plus, they even let some things slide. Keep in mind that everyone has a different experience, so take all I'm saying with a grain of salt."

Mikey nodded as he listened closely. He loved listening to Gerard speak, something about it made it so special. His voice was smooth like honey, how he talks with his hands and the expressions he makes, how he looks so relaxed. Mikey isn't like that, but he's working on it.
"Sounds cool! One more question though," he said while laying down next Gerard, getting comfortable. 

"How was he like?"

Gerard's eyes opened in an instant, his stomach filled up with butterflies and he felt his heart race. He tried to speak but nothing came out. "Wait, Gee, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. I was-" Mikey tried to speak but got cut off. "No, it's fine," He looked at the night sky.
"Iero was okay. I mean, what else can I say about him? He always teased me, but that doesn't bother me. He wasn't a bad kid, either. He's..." Gerard tried to think of a word to describe him.

"Just fine." His voice slowly drifted away.

•••

Gerard knocked on his parent's bedroom door. He heard a faint 'Come in!' once he was done. He slowly opened the door, only letting his head enter the cold room.

"Oh, hello dear! Is there something wrong?." His mother smiled at him. She patted the bed, telling Gerard to take a seat next to her.
"No, I just wanted to talk to you about something. It's important." He walked over to her feeling unusually nervous. "What do you want to talk about? Do you think it could wait until tomorrow?" She asked. "Well, not really." He said as he fiddled with his fingers. She nodded and waited until Gerard was ready.
"I was just wondering, why don't we like Frank's family again?" He said in a low voice, almost a whisper.

His mother wasn't surprised by that question, but she wasn't expecting it either. "Didn't I already explained that to you, though?" She questioned.
Gerard shrugged. "I still don't get it, mom. Like, can't we just move on?" He said visibly confused.

His mother sighed and put her hand on his shoulder.
"It's not me, Gerard. It's your father still holding on to this. If it was up to me I would have ended it a long time ago, because this happened a long time ago." She commented. Gerard looked to his side, thinking of something to say. "Well, can you at least explain to me again?"
She sighed and put her hands on her lap. "Of course, sweetheart. But it has to be quick."

"It started with your grandfather back in the 70's-80's, and he owned a successful business. He helped unknown and small artists 'get out there' into the public by selling their art for them. Of course, as the business grew, he couldn't handle it on his own, so he hired an assistant.

"Iero was a smart, hardworking man, according to your grandfather. He fit in perfectly. Many years went by with no noticeable change, until that fateful day happened. Millions of dollars went missing. All those years of work went to the trash. Both of them were stunned to see this and tried to find the culprit themselves, but it was no use. Soon, your grandfather grew suspicious towards the other and vice versa. They had a huge fight one day that your grandfather fired his assistant on the spot. They tried to take legal action over this but since they didn't have a lot of money, they moved on from all this and moved away from New Jersey. Sadly, your grandfather became very ill and passed away a few months after this."

Gerard sat there, taking everything in. "Wow, that's certainly something. Is there anything else they did?" His mother looked at her alarm clock. 11:38. "Oh dear, it's getting late. Your father wouldn't like seeing you up at this time. We should continue talking some other time, yes?" She said as she escorted him to the door.
"I guess, but-" Gerard tried to talk but his mother already had him out the door. "Goodnight, dear. Don't forget you're going back to school soon so you have to get use to sleeping early." She smiled sweetly. "Uh, yeah. Goodnight, mom." He answered. The door closed shut, a click could be heard from the outside.

"Weird..."