“Gee, have you heard from Dominica?” Mikey stormed into their house startling Gerard from his drawing. He spun away from his light table where a sketch of one of his comics’ characters was half drawn. His hair was a mess, the newly dyed strands sticking up in every direction.

“Yeah, why?” he scratched the pencil against his scalp before pushing it behind his ear.

The younger Way slumped onto the couch, shrugging his jacket from his shoulders and tossing it over the arm. He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair.

“She said something about being sick. I don’t know what’s up with her. She called all messed up and then when I went to meet her she ran off. Do you know what’s going on?”

Gerard’s blood ran cold. She’d almost told Mikey about them. Their relationship, her addiction; he swallowed, composing himself silently. He knew he had to choose his words carefully, for some reason; he suddenly didn’t want Mikey to know.

“Mike, she’s got issues and she doesn’t know if she can handle telling you yet,” he said slowly, testing the waters.

His head shot up, a confused look on his face, “What?”

The rush of concern and worry flowing from his kid brother hit Gerard hard. He bowed his head, shaking his hair in his face and letting out a grunt of frustration.

“It’s not really my place to say.”

“But you know?” Mikey demanded, his form rigid as he sat on the couch twisting the tassels of one of their mother’s pillows between his fingers.

Gerard nodded, his lips forming a thin line when Mikey frowned. The disappointment lingered in the room, hovering between the brothers like thick fog. Mikey pulled out his cell phone and stared at the screen wanting nothing more than to call Dom and ask her for an explanation. But forcing her wouldn’t make anything better. In fact, he knew it would make the whole thing worse. Golden brown eyes turned to meet hazel and Mikey stuffed the phone back in his pocket.

“Just let it go for now, man, she’ll tell you in her own time,” Gee patted his brother on the shoulder. “She wants to tell you, she just needs time.”

“Yeah but how much?”

Gee shrugged, hunching back over his light table and pulling his pencil from behind his ear. Mikey sank back into the couch, crossing his arms over his chest with a frown. Something was going on between his older brother and his best friend. Dom had never been distant with him before. Not until he’d gone on tour for their latest album. It was as if she’d become a different person.

The frown creased his face and he sank further into the couch. He needed to find out before they left. Pulling his phone out again, he made his way to his bedroom and closed the door, falling onto his bed. He dialed Dom’s number and waited, knowing she wouldn’t answer. To his surprise, she picked up on the third ring.

“Mikey, please don’t do this,” her voice sounded resigned.

“I need to know what’s going on, Dom. Please.”

He could hear her struggling with the words and his stomach clenched. It must be really bad. He chewed the inside of his cheek and waited, trying his hardest to be patient.

“God, I’m such a coward, Mikey,” she sobbed. “I never should have run away after you poured your heart out to me but I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do.”

He frowned. “Dom, I didn’t want that to get between us. I just needed you to know. I’m perfectly happy just being friends with you. Just having you in my life is good enough. But when you just disappeared. God, I almost died.”

“You know as much as I do that I did too,” she sniffed. “I just—There’s more to it than that and I don’t know how to tell you without completely shattering your heart. You don’t deserve this and I’m so sorry.” The tears were coming harder now and Mikey could feel her pain through the phone. He knew she had issues, but after helping her get sober he was sure he could deal with anything. Clearing his throat he asked the one question that had been bugging him for a long time.

“Dom, are you with my brother?”

The line went silent and she hiccuped, “What?”

“I need to know if there’s anything going on between you and Gerard. I could be wrong, but I need to hear it from one of you.”

Closing his eyes, he tried to steel himself, his fear eating away at him the longer she remained silent. He listened to her cry and feared the worst. What if she had fallen in love with Gerard behind his back? His hands shook just thinking about it and she kept crying.

“I’m so sorry, Mikey,” came her response and he nearly dropped the phone.