The guys had boarded the bus, fully prepared to leave for Sacramento. The trip had been delayed, though, when they drove a good ten miles or so up the road, only to realize that they left Ray at the strip mall. They drove back to the strip mall, picked up Ray, who was as pissed as one could get after being left behind for the umpteenth time. Just as they were about to leave, Frank’s bladder suddenly filled itself, and since the tiny bathroom on the bus had yet to be cleaned, he went into the nearest shop to use the restroom… and, because the shop he entered just had to be a sex shop, Gerard literally had to drag him out.

“Wait! I saw a bra that would look perfect on you!”

“I don’t care! We have to go, now!”

Frank snatched a giant, cotton candy blue bra, and aimed for Gerard. However, when he threw it, Gerard dodged it, so the triple-D cup monstrosity landed on Mikey’s shoulder. This resulted in a comical shriek of shock and embarrassment from the younger Way. He fell into a display, which sent two scantily-clad mannequins crashing to the floor and a display with dildos of various sizes falling on top. This left the trio with an angry (and possibly stoned) sex store owner to deal with, several overpriced bras and dildos to pick up, and a number of apologies spilling from Mikey’s lips.

(Gerard would be lying, though, if he said it wasn’t funny.)

Almost immediately after, upon setting foot outside the sex store, a shriek of delight escaped Mikey, who ran towards a shop he hadn’t seen when they arrived earlier- a comic book store. Gerard sighed. He wanted to go browse, really, but they didn’t have any time.

“Mikey! Goddamn it, get your ass back here!” Gerard called after his younger brother. Alas, Mikey didn’t hear him- he had already run into the comfort of the little store, the events earlier long forgotten.

“He didn’t hear you,” Frank laughed.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

By the time Gerard set foot in the store, he saw Mikey in the corner, with what could be considered a fort of comic books around him. He was eagerly reading the newest issue of Batman, not a care in the world.

“Mikey, c’mon,” Gerard groaned, “You can read on the bus.”

“Five more minutes!” Mikey begged.

“No.”

“Please?”

“Fucking. No.”

Mikey glared at his older brother. “Fine. But you brought this upon yourself.”

Mikey set the comic down, crawled over to Gerard, and latched himself onto his brother’s leg, much like a little kid. Then, he did the unthinkable- he gave Gerard puppy eyes.

Oh, how Gerard hated the puppy eyes. It was one of his few weaknesses, completely crushing his fear of needles. Mikey always got what he wanted with those eyes. Gerard remembered teaching Mikey how to do it when he was six and Mikey was three, offering his baby brother a new weapon in his arsenal. However, it was times like these when Gerard wished he hadn’t taught Mikey this little trick (especially since Mikey never fell for it).

“Fine. Five minutes. Nothing more. This includes checkout, too, so if you want to buy any of those, I suggest you use your time wisely.”

A squeal of joy escaped Mikey, who started gathering as many comics in his arms as he could possibly carry. Five minutes later, Mikey had over one hundred dollars’ worth of new reading material, which would most likely be finished before the end of the week.

The trio finally got back on the bus, and was almost ready to leave, when Frank discovered that they were missing their drummer. Gerard let out a groan of frustration. Mark told them that Bob went to go get more coffee and filters, since they were almost out, so Gerard decided not to leave the bus to search for the drummer. Bob came back with the aforementioned coffee and filters, as well as some more food for later.

“Okay, does anyone have to take a piss?” Gerard asked.

“No.”

“Are we missing anyone?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Are we done looking in the sex shop and comic book store?”

“Whoa, there’s a sex shop here?” Bob asked, “I need to get something for Mikey and Pete’s wedding day.”

“COME ON, I HAVE A FUCKING GIRLFRIEND! WE’RE ENGAGED, YOU FUCKTARDS!” Mikey screamed, “PETE AND I ARE JUST FRIENDS, GODDAMN IT!” With that, he stormed into the bunk area, crawled into his bunk, and slid the curtain shut.

“Okay, dude, that one went a bit too far,” Frank said through giggles.

“You’ve done worse and you know it,” Bob said, “Remember when you licked Mikey’s nipple on stage?”

Frank’s laughter grew even louder. “Oh, the look on his face! And the Ferard fans, man, they were pissed!”

“I’ll just take this as a yes,” Gerard said to himself, “Okay, Mark, now we’re ready to go.”

---

It was around two in the morning, and Gerard found it hard to sleep. Ordinarily, he would blame it on Ray’s obnoxious snores, or Frank’s sleep-speaking, but neither of those could explain why he was awake. He just couldn’t seem to get his mind off the teenagers.

Gerard was a bit weird when it came to strangers, especially dead strangers. Teenagers who died in the most horrible way really hit him hard, even if he didn’t know them. He knew their names, thanks to that girl he overheard (or eavesdropped on, whichever you prefer). He couldn’t imagine being a father who learned that his child was brutally murdered and mutilated. Hell, it was hard enough being there for Mikey after his mental breakdown at the Paramour!

Gerard, deciding that there was no way in hell sleep would ever come to him, climbed out of his bunk and into the studio that was built into the back of the bus.

He didn’t expect to see Mikey back there, though, strumming a few chords on his new bass. His headphones were plugged into the bass, preventing the sound of the low notes from being heard by his bandmates.

Eventually, Mikey noticed that someone was watching him. He looked up at Gerard and smiled, taking off the headphones. “Hey, Gee.”

“Hey, Mikey,” Gerard said, rubbing his eyes, “Can’t sleep?”

Mikey shook his head. “No. Y’know, hearing that conversation between those two girls… Christ, it really makes you think.”

“I know the feeling,” Gerard sighed, sitting down next to Mikey. He pulled his brother into a hug. “It’s fucking terrifying.”

Mikey didn’t say anything in response, to which Gerard was grateful for. Mikey was a man of few words, always has been. Gerard never had to explain himself to his little brother… Mikey just got it.

For several minutes, they sat there in the embrace. Eventually, Gerard said, “You know that you can talk to me, right? I’m here for you.”

“Yeah, I know,” Mikey said, “Believe me, I don’t want another incident like the Paramour to happen.”

“Me neither,” Gerard said, “I mean, Cortez is a fantastic bassist and all, but he’s no Mikey Fuckin’ Way.”

Mikey smiled at his brother. Really, he needed to hear that. His confidence had been so low lately, he was afraid that he’d have yet another mental breakdown.

“C’mon, we should probably get some sleep,” Gerard said, standing up. “We’re in for a long day tomorrow.”

Mikey nodded. He put up his bass and followed Gerard out of the room, climbing into his bunk.

“G’night, Mikes.”

“’Night, Gee.”

---

“-back when I worked with The Used, we stopped at that little strip mall once. I almost forgot about the butcher that worked across the street from the comic book store,” Bob said, “They have some of the best tasting meat I’ve ever had.”

“I don’t care if it tastes like Gerard,” Frank said, “Nothing you say will ever get me to eat it.”

“You’re a lost cause, Frank,” Bob said. He slid a few sausages off the skillet, turning off the tiny contraption that barley passed as an oven. “I bought a bunch of fucking fruits and vegetables, too, so don’t worry your pretty vegan head about it.”

Mikey took a bite out of the sausage that was put on his plate. “Fucking hell, that’s good. Um, what kind of meat is this, Bob?”

“Pure pork,” Bob said, “No preservatives, no steroids.”

“You sure? This doesn’t taste like most pork I’ve eaten.”

Bob shrugged, “I could be wrong. I vaguely remember asking for pork.”

“Whatever the hell it is, it’s fucking delicious.”

“Not as delicious as Pete’s dick,” Frank snorted.

Mikey didn’t flinch. Instead, he turned the tables and responded with, “Oh, you’ve tasted Pete’s dick? Is it as good as the fan fiction says?”

“I thought you didn’t read fan fiction.”

“I said I don’t read fan fiction that pairs any of us, especially my brother,” Mikey pointed out, “I never said anything about Pikey.”

“So you ARE totally gay for Wentz!”

“Again, never said I read it. Although, I’ve gotta admit, I ship Peterick pretty hard. And by the way, reading Pikey fics and totally liking it doesn’t mean I’m gay for Pete. I just use it to find ways to seduce Alicia with the help of our devoted fans.”

“…I’ve got no response to that,” Frank said, “You win this round, Way number two.”

Notes

I literally wrote this thing in less than a fucking hour. Let's just say I was feeling super inspired.