Gerard woke up in a cold sweat. Again. It was the thirty-fourth night in a row that he had been scared awake by a nightmare. Not that his brother, Mikey, had been counting. Gerard wasn't even aware his brother knew that his sleep schedule was being messed up, or more accurately, completely destroyed, by the same recurring nightmare. He had never told his little brother about the nights like these, he didn't want to worry him.
Gerard pressed his face into his stuffie's side to muffle the noise as he continued to sob, the nightmare on repeat in his head. His stuffie was a small yellow dog with a hump that didn't match in colour sewn on the back. When his mother had been diagnosed with cancer when he was only six, his mother insisted he needed a new stuffie to keep him safe while she couldn't. He wanted a camel one so badly but his father couldn't find one anywhere, or one he could afford at least, so he did the next best thing. He brought a toy dog and sewed a hump onto its back. Gerard loved this stuffie with all his heart and he couldn't sleep without it. Normally it would protect him from nightmares but recently it hadn't been doing its job and he couldn't help but blame it on the small hole situated at the seam where the hump met the original toy. This wasn't the first hole that had appeared in his stuffy over the years, Mikey usually sewed them up for him since he was no good with a needle and thread. However, Gerard could tell that Mikey was busy and very stressed with his schoolwork and part time job, so he didn't bother him with the growing hole in his stuffie.
Gerard quietly climbed out of his bed once he was done crying and began to make his way towards the living area of their apartment. He wanted his paci which he had left on the coffee table the night before. Mikey was pretty strict with Gerard and wouldn't let him sleep with his paci at night. When he got to the living area, Gerard grabbed his paci and put it in his mouth quickly, as though someone was going to take it away from him if he held it in his hand for too long. Gerard heard some slight bashing sounds from the kitchens and made his way towards the noise to investigate.
Fortunately, for Gerard's sake, it was just his brother and not someone who had broken into his house. Mikey was stood awkwardly in the middle of the kitchen a baby bottle full of milk in one hand and a pan that was on the side about two minutes ago on the floor by his feet. Gerard gave his brother a nervous smile, slightly worried that he was going to get told off for being out of bed during the night. Mikey didn't shout, or even seem annoyed at his brother, instead holding up the bottle and nodding his head towards the door to Gerard's bedroom.
Both Gerard and Mikey clambered into Gerard's twin bed, Gerard curling up with his head on his brother's chest. Mikey took the pacifier from his older brother's mouth and placed it on the night stand by the bed, quickly replacing it with the with the bottle. It wasn't long until they were both fast asleep.
When Gerard woke up again the next morning, Mikey was already up and dressed and was picking some clothes out of Gerard's closet for him to wear. Mikey was holding two jumpers in his hands, one fluffy and a soft lilac colour and the other a simple oversized black hoodie with a large pocket on the front.
"I was just about to wake you," Mikey said while turning around. Then he held up the two jumpers. "Which one?"
Gerard sleepily pointed to the black hoodie that was in Mikey's right hand before reaching for his paci on the night stand to find it wasn't there. He frowned a little before looking at his younger brother who shook his head from side to side.
"Get dressed then you can have your paci," he said holding out a pile of clothes containing a pair of pink panties, grey skinny jeans, a light grey and pale pink striped t-shirt, white cotton socks and the black hoodie.
Gerard frowned but got dressed quickly before hurrying in the direction Mikey had gone. Mikey slipped Gerard's paci into his brother's mouth and moved his attention to Gerard's feet, sorting out his twisted socks and helping him put his shoes on and tie the laces. Gerard was humming 'oh when the saints', his paci in his mouth and his "camel" stuffie clutched to his chest.
Once Mikey had finished helping his brother put on his shoes and put on his own, he grabbed his and Gerard's school bags from by the door and his set of keys from the side. He went to open the front door when he noticed the stuffed animal still being held tight in his brother's clutch. Mikey sighed.
"Gee," he said calmly. "You can't bring Nell to school."
Gerard whimpered slightly, hugging the stuffed animal closer to his chest. Mikey sighed again.
"Fine, but she goes in your bag as soon as we get to school," Mikey sighed in defeat.
Gerard grinned slightly behind his pacifier which Mikey quickly pulled from his mouth and placed on the side by the front door. He held out his hand which Gerard gratefully took and they began the fifty-something minute long walk to school. They hadn't always lived so far away from their school or had to walk the whole way. After their mother died, their father had gotten a well paying job that supported all three of them but it was only a few months later that he lost his job and fell into a pretty bad place. He began to use drugs and drink until he'd pass out. It was like that for quite a few years until their next door neighbour called childline to report possible child neglect. That was when he realised he had a problem. He sobered up and joined the Royal Marines. That was where he was now, off fighting a war to protect his country and, most importantly, his family.
Ha ha ha. I said next couple of days, bet you weren't expecting it this soon, or at all because I am, in fact, a compulsive liar. Not really I'm just really lazy, forgetful and disorganised. That's how I managed to loose my school planner in my bedroom witch is so small I can almost touch both walls at the same time (btw I'm only 5"3 on a good day(like I'm normally like 5"1)). I have no idea what lessons I have each day at the moment so I have to lug in a random selection of books and hope I've got the ones I need.
RYAN OUT.
I'm gonna start adding one fact about me at the end of each chapter of all of my book/stories/whatever the hell yours supposed to call them, starting now. Okay so number one fact about me is that until about a month and a half ago I had never had my own bedroom. From the age of birth to 2 I shared with my older sister, then from 2 to 6 I shared with my older sister and one of my younger sisters, then from 6 to almost 9 with my older sister and both of my younger sisters, then from almost 9 to 14 and a half with just my older sister(we moved house, I still have three sisters) and now I have my own room. The end. :)
Btw I'm a boring person.
