Out There

After Mikey had asked me out, I had managed to convince him to go down the road and actually buy groceries for his mum. Luckily he didn't notice or mention a word when I didn't by anything. When we returned, Mr. Way was lying on the couch smoking a cigarette, staring at the ceiling. I must have been looking at him for a while, because eventually he sat up and noticed. My gaze shifted from him to the cigarette which was now resting lazily between his fingers. "Does it bother you?" he asked tentatively. "Sorry?" I perked my head up. "The smoke. Does it bother you?" he expanded. I shook my head, I'd grown used to it with my mother. "Sure seems like he had lots of work to do." Mikey muttered sarcastically, mostly to himself. Mr. Way placed the cigarette between his teeth and grunted, then went outside to continue smoking. I turned to Mikey, who was putting away the last of the stuff we bought. I decided not to say anything, and we went back into his bedroom. I sat cross-legged on his bed, while he sat in his desk chair with his bass guitar, absent-mindedly picking at the strings. "I didn't know your brother smoked." I mentioned, picking at my painted nails, counting the glitter on each. "Yeah, he does that when he's stressed and stuff. It's gross." he sighed. "Do you want to sleep over tonight? We could watch movies and stuff." Mikey asked, still not looking up from his bass. Would it be any different from the sleepovers Mikey and I used to have last year, just because we were dating now? I wouldn't think so, we hadn't even been dating for an hour. "Sure." I replied, getting up and grabbing Mikey's guitar and starting playing the song he'd taught me. I quietly sung to myself. "Awesome song, who taught you that?" Mikey teased and I let out a soft chuckle as I continued playing. "I'm gonna go make popcorn, I'll be right back." He gave me a quick smile as he headed out of his room.
My mind wondered, I wasn't particularly regretting saying yes to being Mikey's girlfriend, but I thought about if I actually liked him. He said he'd liked me for a while- and I'd liked him for a while too, as a friend. I concentrated more on playing the song when Mr. Way came into the room with a smile. "You're play-" he began to say, but when he saw it was me, his smile dropped, only for a second though. I tried not to be offended. "Oh sorry, I thought you might have been Mikey. Though he doesn't play guitar much anymore." he said, letting out a laugh. I wondered how he could laugh so much and things that weren't remotely funny. I came to the conclusion he must force himself to laugh. Damn that fake laugher. "Is that a Misfits song?" he smirked, walking further into the room. I suddenly tensed up, I had a feeling Mikey wouldn't like that his brother was in his room. He had been gone 56 seconds, each bag usually takes 2:30 in their microwave, and Mikey and I always cooked three bags. I relaxed a bit, there was time for small conversation. "You really don't talk much." he added, not judging but observing. I shook my head and smiled uneasily. "Yeah, it's a Misfits song. Uh- Mikey taught me. Today." I replied. Mr. Way looked confused for a second, then shrugged. "He plays at school then?" Was it really that unusual for Mikey to play guitar? I nodded. "Often."
"And you play guitar." he stated, sitting himself where Mikey was previously. I tilted my head and thought of a reply. "Sort of. I know a few songs and chords but I wouldn't call myself a guitar player." I chuckled, hoping to ease the tension. "Well, you sounded good just then." he smiled sweetly. I don't know why Mikey has such a distain for his brother. Suddenly, his face fell serious and he leaned forward in his seat. "Do you know why Mikey chose my class? I mean- I know he doesn't hate me but… it just doesn't seem like a thing he'd do willingly." I thought of all the possible reasons why he would choose his brothers class, and there were none, but before I could shake my head, Mr. Way spoke again. "I know why, I was just wondering if you do." It took 5 seconds before I replied. "I don't know. Why?" I asked, curiously. Mr. Way chuckled, and for a second I thought he might have been relieved. "You know he really does like you." he added, but it seemed like what he said was unrelated, and the unknowing made me uneasy- like many things. "Yeah, he um." I paused, would he want his brother knowing about our relationship? Mr. Way did already say that Mikey liked me, so he probably already knew that he was going to ask me out, but I still felt unsure. "He asked you out already?" Mr. Way asked, with an unusual expression on his face, like he didn't understand something. I pursed my lips and nodded. "And what did you say?" he asked, expression unchanging. "I said yes." I heard the microwave go off from the kitchen, and that was an indication of the silence in the room. Gerard started nodding, then got up. "I'll be looking forward to having you in my class this year, Miss Clarke." he said. And then he left.

I lost track of the seconds that went by, and it was when Mikey came back to tell me that the popcorn was ready and to bring the blankets off his bed, that I became aware of how firmly I was gripping the neck of his guitar. Mr. Way and I's conversation had made me really confused when it didn't have any reason to.

It was during the middle of watching 'The Exorcist' that I heard a noise in the kitchen. It truly scared the shit out of me, and I grabbed onto Mikey's arm. He made a face and asked me what was wrong. "There's someone in the kitchen, I'm not even kidding Mikey." I said, wide eyed. Mikey shrugged and paused the movie. We stood up and made our way to the kitchen, I turned on the nearest lightswitch I could, and it burnt my eyes. Someone definitely was in the kitchen and for a second, I felt a heart attack coming on, then as my eyes regained focus, I saw it was only Mr. Way. Mikey let out a groan and turned to me. "It's only Gerard." he said, like I didn't have eyes.
"Who did you think it would be?" Gerard… Mr. Way asked curiously, with one arm hiding something behind his back. Mikey hadn't noticed though, because he was pulling me back to the lounge were we were before. "Turn the lights off when you're done, Gerard." Mikey said as we went back to the lounge room. What was Mr.Way hiding from his own brother? I found it unusual, and I was getting curious, so I found it difficult to concentrate on the movie. Turns out, Mikey was finding it difficult too, but for different reasons. He was playing with my hair, and I'd only really picked up on it when he pulled it out of it's lazy bun. I turned to him, wondering what made him do so- but he just smiled at me and opened his mouth to say something- but my phone rang. I gave an apologetic smile to Mikey, but he waved it off and paused the movie. I read the caller ID as 'Mum' and excused myself into the kitchen area, where I stood in darkness.
'Where are you? God I've been frantic!'
There's my mum, acting like she cares about where I am.
'I'm at Mikey's, calm down.'
'Don't tell me to calm down, how was I supposed to know where you were?'
'Sorry. Do you need anything?'
'Yes, did you steal some money from me? I need it.' Ah, that was why she cared where I was.
'No, I didn't take any money.' I said quietly, not wanting Mikey to be concerned.
'Don't lie to me, yes you did you brat! Come home right now.' she demanded. I'm pretty sure she was yelling so loud that even if Mikey couldn't hear me, he could hear her.
'Mum I didn't take any money, and I'm sleeping over at Mikey's.' I quietly argued, moving further away from the lounge room, nearing the bedrooms.
'Listen to mummy, come home right now, or never come back at all.' she hissed, sounding almost sickeningly sweet. I knew if I went home, I would be in trouble- but I knew she was dead serious that if I slept over here, she'd kick me out for good.
'What will it be, honey? Sleeping on the streets or giving your family their money back?' Money, money, money. I hadn't even taken any money from her. That's all my mum ever cared about. All my mum married my dad for and when he went broke- she went insane. I knew it was stupid, but I didn't want to go home. Ever, so I hissed 'I'd rather sleep on the streets than put up with your shit for another seventeen years. Goodbye, mum." I hung up the phone- knowing I'd have to explain something to Mikey. She called again, and again, so I turned my phone off and walked back to Mikey like nothing drastic had happened, even though I was technically homeless as of four seconds ago.

A/N: Sorry for the errors in the last chapter, it seems this website won't let me edit already published chapters without freezing and crashing, so I'll be sure to proof read in future. Anywayzzzz thank you for reading :) Comment?

Notes