Out There

After two horror movies, and two Disney movies (upon my request), Mikey and I had managed to fall asleep halfway through 'The Lion King'. When I woke up, the TV had been turned off, and the remote was too far for Mikey to reach so I assumed Mr. Way had seen us and turned the TV off. I could even picture his face as he thought to himself 'Oh young love.'. It got me thinking, if we were young, how old was Mr. Way? Then I thought about how wrong it was to invade on a teacher's personal life, then I sat up- without waking my heavily unconscious boyfriend next to me, and realised that I have school today. I knew my mum left the house around 7AM, and school started at 9, so there should be time to go have a shower and change quickly without being late. I heard heavy footsteps coming, and I focused my eyes of Mr. Way, looking tired as all hell and wearing only boxers. I gulped, this was the second time I'd seen him shirtless. "Good morning." he grumbled, barely audible. He looke unlike himself with his hair sticking out in all directions, and tired, uninterested eyes. "Morning." I squeaked. He glanced over his shoulder at me, and I swear I saw an amused smirk. I decided I must look like a witch, so I made my way to the bath room. My hair was messy, but I looked okay. I washed my face and ran my fingers through my hair, straightening my fringe the best I could with my hands. I went back out to the kitchen, disappointed to see Mikey still asleep. I knew he was a heavy sleeper, but Mr. Way was making coffee- and wasn't being all that quiet. "There's not a chance he'll wake up before 8." He spoke, his voice deep and assuring. I didn't want to have to go to my mums house alone, but I guess I'd have to. "How much sugar do you take?" he asked me. In the midst of just waking up, I was confused, but he repeated himself. "No sugar." I said, still a bit confused as to why he was making me coffee. I must look like shit. "As your teacher, I'd advise against sleeping over at a friends on a school night." he chuckled to himself, then his face grew serious. "But as a friend, any time that you might… feel unsafe or anything…"

He knew. He'd heard me on the phone last night, my eyes grew wide and my gaze shifted to the counter island I was now sitting at.
"If you heard me on the phone last night… that was just my mum- she's always like that It's not a worry." I dismissed franticly, but that only seem to make him more worried. "She always threatens to kick you out of home?" he said, still not breaking his observing stare at me- but nearly finished making coffee. "Well, no. She has before but…" I trailed off. I didn't even feel comfortable telling Mikey this stuff, why was I telling his brother?
"Milk?" he asked, gesturing to the coffee. I shook my head. Mr. Way had his coffee the same way I did. I smiled at that, I didn't know anyone else who drank their coffee black.
He walked around the bench and took a seat next to me. "I mean it, you're welcome here any time. Mikey doesn't have to know if you're not comfortable telling him." I tensed again, somehow he knew that I haven't told Mikey. He was my teacher after all, teachers always just know things.
I took a sip from my coffee, dumbfounded at his generosity of coffee and hospitality. Exactly two minutes passed before I mumbled "Thank you, Sir.".

Mr. Way and I sat at the counter in a comfortable silence, before I got the idea to turn my phone back on. It was 5:24AM, and I wondered why Mr. Way got up so early. He didn't seem to be doing anything of importance, I nearly asked him, before deciding to not break the silence. Four minutes passed before a bird sang- and I let all my breath out. Had I been holding my breath? "I taught Mikey guitar, y'know." he said. My breath hitched, I had almost forgotten how close he was to me. "I think that's why he never plays at home. Because he really does hate me." He spoke, his voice almost fragile. I felt something then, I'm not sure if it was pity- but it was strong, and it hurt. "He doesn't hate you." I whispered, trying to comfort him, but I truly didn't know if Mikey hated his brother or not. I was more curious than ever to find out what had torn them apart like this. "He does." was all he said. I leaned back in my seat, unsure of what to say. I took another sip of my coffee, and so did Mr. Way. I put my hand over his resting on the counter, and shook my head. "I don't think Mikey's capable of hating anyone but himself." I whispered, letting out a small, pitiful and bitter laugh. "He'd have to love himself to ever love you." he replied. I'm not sure what he meant by that. I suddenly felt very involved, like I was a part of why these two brothers were now so distant from each other, but that was impossible. I'd never even known Gerard as anything but another teacher before a couple days ago.
"Are you going back home?" Mr. Way asked, abruptly changing the subject and dismissing the tension. I nodded, and I suddenly felt sick, what if my mother was waiting for me when I got there? I knew if she saw me she'd hurt me, and if she was there I wouldn't want Mikey to see her. "I'll take you." he said, suddenly standing up and putting his apparently empty coffee cup into the sink. I stared at my own cup, there was only a few drops left, I drank them and then Mr. Way took my cup. I was about to object to his offer, before he interrupted. "It wasn't a question, Aeida. As your teacher and friend, it's my duty to make sure that you're safe." Was Gerard my friend? We acted sort of like friends, but the concept of being friends with a teacher was still weird. I mentally crossed off going alone as an option, before another branch of questions sprung in my head.
"How do you put up with Emily D?" I asked, very seriously.
Mr. Way looked up at me and studied my face for a few seconds, before letting out a chuckle. So coffee was what gave him his ability to laugh at everything. I took note.
"When I have students like you, Aeida. It's easy to put up with students like Emily D." he laughed to himself, knowing that I had no idea what he meant by that. I wasn't bothered to ask either.

Gerard had gone to get ready for work, while I was horsing around in Mikey's room. I was on his guitar, trying to figure out with chords sounded good with each other- for reference if I ever needed to compose a simple song. When my phone buzzed against my leg.
Mum (11 missed calls)
Mum: if i ever see you around my house again you better watch yourself
Mum: come home right now
Mum: i don't care where you are right now come how and give me my money back

I stopped reading after that, but there were six other messages other than those. If that didn't make me nervous to go back home, I don't know what would. I was shaking now, the guitar beside me on the floor. I crawled myself into a ball and sat upright on the floor, and started crying. I was terrified of going home, of seeing my mum ever again. Then I was feeling pathetic for being so scared of her, and pathetic for crying on the floor in my boyfriends room. I felt helpless and stupid. There was a soft knocking at the door, obviously Mr. Way.
The award for Worst Timing Ever goes to Mr. Gerard Way for walking in on me mid- panic attack.
"Oh my god, Aeida." he said, rushing to my side, still speaking softly.
"Listen, you don't have to go if you don't want to. I can get Mikey to get all your work for today and you can stay here if you can't handle school right now. We don't have to go to your house, alright? Can you hear me?" he said, calming me down. One of his hands was rested on my shoulder, the other was wrapped around my back. From what I could tell, he was experienced when if came to panic attacks. I appreciated that as I cried into him, feeling more pathetic with every sob.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know what you're thinking so far. Are my chapters too long? Too short? Too boring? Too descriptive? Not descriptive enough? Is there anything you're confused about? Lemme know ok. <3 thank you to anyone who's commented ur my fav :)

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