Famous Last Words || FRERARD

26

Memories are funny. Sometimes, they can make you smile and laugh. Others, they can make you break down and cry. They're complex and complicated and confusing, especially when the situation varies. For example, Frank greatly enjoyed looking through their photos on their phone, since they were mostly comprised of memes and nicely-taken photos. Gerard didn't enjoy looking at pictures at all, partially because he'd had his fair share of bad haircuts, but mainly because out of all the photos, he was only in a few. And specifically with bad haircuts.

He'd always been his parent's least favorite, if that was even possible since they hated both the Way brothers. He was used to the rolling eyes and silent judgement from his mother as well as the beating from his father, but this was just what happened. He let it happen because that meant that they left Mikey alone for the most part. The younger brother couldn't take much, and Gerard knew that. All it took was an assignment that was a little too hard and Mikey could break down into tears. He would never be able to handle anything from their father like Gerard could. So hence why he swore to protect Mikey, and take every punishment for him. It was just in Gerard's nature to protect him, no matter the cost. So naturally, he tried to be home any time his father was intoxicated. Having been recently attacked in an alley, Gerard wasn't there this time. And Mr. Way was drunk beyond belief.

Gerard could hear yelling down the block, and the moment he recognized his father's voice, he knew what was going on. The pavement took off below him, zooming by as he broke into a sprint. He couldn't let his father hurt Mikey, he couldn't. The yelling got louder and louder as he got closer, slurs leaking through the sealed and shuttered windows of the Way house. Gerard's heart beat loudly in his ears, booming louder and louder until it stopped, just as he kicked open the front door. All hell had broken loose in the living room. Mikey stood in front of their father, hands held out defensively, trying to keep some distance. Donna Way stood next to her husband, frantically trying to calm him down, her constantly caked-on makeup running from the tears spewing from her eyes. And Donald Way, in his drunken, eyes half-closed glory, held a gun in his quaking hands, pointed directly at Mikey.

Gerard had completely forgotten that his father still owned their grandfather's gun.

"Donald, please!" Donna cried, tugging at her husband's arm. He growled, taking the gun in his left hand and slapping his wife across the cheek with his right. She cried out in pain, clutching her cheek as she stumbled backward.

"Shut the fffuck up, bitch." Donald said, the booze in his head slurring his words together. "Go wash the dishes or something." Donna didn't say anything back, only shaking violently as she stood in silence. She didn't dare challenge her husband, even when he wasn't holding a gun, and Gerard would always resent her for that.

XOXOXOX

Frank stumbled upon a video from the first day of school he didn't remember taking. It was around five minutes long, which was probably why he had almost no storage left on his phone anymore. He clicked play, putting in his headphones so that his mother wouldn't hear anything she wouldn't want to hear. Videos were risky like that- They could be anything from a song sample to something he overheard in class.

As the video began to play, he realized that, thank goodness, it wasn't anything inappropriate.

"Hi, my name is Frank Anthony Thomas Iero, I'm fifteen and three quarters, and this is my first day at Belleville high school." Video Frank said, his voice sounding much higher than usual. That was long before he started lowering his voice, like he did now. "I'm going to school in my binder for the first time- Oh! And I'm wearing a packer, too. My Mum doesn't know about any of this, so don't tell her." Video Frank giggled softly, the camera shaking a bit. Present-day Frank just skipped ahead in the video, not wanting to listen to all the boring bullshit.