You Had Me At Hello

3: Bulletproof Heart

 "Hey, I'm back," a voice called from down the hall. Moments later, a very winded Mikey came through the door. "Oh, hey. I didn't know you were going to be here." He seemed genuinely surprised that I was still there. I just kinda shrugged and turned my attention back to Gerard.

"So, you were how old when that happened?" I pried. His cheeks turned a dark shade of red, and he shook his head.

"I was only 9 or 10..." He muttered. I looked at Mikey, who now just seemed confused. could tell he had a lot running through his head.

"Is that true?" I asked Mikey. "How old was he when you guys had the babysitter he tried to kiss?" Mikey burst into laughter, and I felt the heat radiating from Gerard as the embarrassment worsened.

"He was not 9 or 10. He was more like 15," he cackled. "She was like Mom's age, and he was over there trying to sweet talk her by bragging about getting his learner's permit." I couldn't contain the giggles that were trying to escape. I finally managed to pull my shit together, and I looked over at him.

"Hey, lots of kids have crushes on their babysitters. It's not the worst thing to have done," I tried to reassure him. He looked over at me, and for a fraction of a second, I saw a genuine smile on his face. I looked over at Mikey, who was still recovering from his laughing fit. "I guess I should probably be heading home soon." I stood up, but before I could get my shoes on, I felt a warmth on my wrist.

"You don't have to, do you? I can make dinner," he offered. "I don't think our parents will be home anytime soon, plus I would genuinely enjoy your company." I glance over at Mikey, who had stopped laughing and was currently staring in awe. I felt the tension in the air. Both brothers heavily awaiting my response.

"Yeah, that sounds good. It's not like I really have anywhere else to be," I accepted. I saw the split-second smile return. "I didn't know you could cook."

"Yeah, me either," Mikey chimed in. "Like, how in my entire 20 years of existence did I not know you could cook?" Gerard just shrugged and stood up.

"I guess I haven't felt the desire to," he said offhandedly. I looked back to Mikey, who just stared at his older brother in disbelief. Gerard headed out of the room, leaving Mikey and me alone for the moment.

"So, I guess it's going well, since Mr. Sous Chef decided to ask you to stay," he remarked. I nodded and looked off down the hallway. It no longer felt like he was just the estranged older brother of my best friend. I could recognize him as a person, and it was a strange feeling. Even though I had known of him as Mikey's older brother for years, I have actually taken the time to get to know him as Gerard. "Sorry it took so long. I had to make a couple stops for Mom. I really didn't think you would still be here by the time I got back. I honestly assumed you would have bailed after about an hour." I glanced down at my phone to check the time.

"Wow, I didn't even realize it had been that long. It only seemed like maybe an hour," I trailed off. When we talked, I felt like time had just stopped.

"So, did you make any progress? Hell, you had almost four hours. What did you guys even talk about?" Ah, the questionnaire I had been waiting for.

"A little bit of everything, honestly. We talked about art, music, family. I told him about my mom... About Emily..."I felt his sympathy stirring. I waved it off and continued. "He told me some stories from when he was younger." He nodded slowly. "Honestly, it was not the trainwreck that I had prepared myself for."

"So, it went well," he stated. I nodded in agreement. From the kitchen, there was a loud clatter as dishes fell to the floor. We both peeked around the corner to see Gerard scrambling to pick them up. Mikey chuckled to himself, before looking back to me. "There wasn't such a negative energy around him. I think that may be the first time I have seen a real smile on his face in years..." I smiled sympathetically.

"Well, I guess there is some hope then, right?" He nodded again. "I mean, he is actually not as bad as you made him seem." The smile fell from his face, and I saw the wheels turning inside his head.

"Yeah, I hope you don't change your mind. I really don't know what to expect, but maybe you won't find out just how bad it can get. Maybe this will turn him around." I turned to face him directly.

"Mikey, don't worry so much about it. Nothing good ever comes from anxiety. It may be hard, but that doesn't make it impossible. Why, sometimes, I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast," I said with a terrible accent.

"Alice in Wonderland. Nice," he chuckled quietly. "Well, I can name three things that I thought were impossible, and you have managed to prove me wrong on every one of them."

"Oh, really? What did you think I couldn't do?" He looked off down the hallway for second, then he looked into my eyes.

"I thought it was impossible for my brother to cook. I thought it was impossible for him to open up to people he didn't know his entire life..." I saw his eyes begin to water. He swallowed hard, trying to fight the tears. "I thought it was impossible to ever see my brother smile again."