Gerard and Mikey finally released each other, and sat on the bottom bunk. We sat in an awkward silence, each of us unsure of what to say. Well, I didn’t want to say anything, really. It was their moment, after all.

“Light’s out, inmates!” A rough voice called out. The hallway lights died suddenly, leaving everyone swimming in a sea of black. The silence continued, and now it was just creepy. Here Gerard was, worried shitless about his brother, and now he can’t say anything?

I heard the mattress springs start to squeak, Gerard must be getting back to bed.

“We’ll talk in the morning.” Was all he said, before his head plopped down on his pillow. I heard Mikey get settled in for the night too, and it wasn’t long I joined them in a troubled sleep.

---

The lights flashed on way earlier than they should have, prompting groans from Mikey and myself. Gerard laughed at us, amused at our pain.

“Just five more minutes, Mama, school can wait.” Mikey mumbled into his pillow, rolling on his side. Gerard laughed even harder and jumped off the bed, softly shaking Mikey.

“Morning, princess. Breakfast awaits. You too, Frank.” He turned to me and gave me a playful shove, his hazel eyes meeting my own as they flickered open. I hissed at him, flipping over and hiding under the covers. I felt myself being lifted off of the bed as he set me on the floor gently. The hard concrete floors didn’t serve as a good mattress, and I stood up immediately, peeling the blanket off of me and sending a nasty look towards Gerard.

“What time is it?...” I whined, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to wake up a bit more.

“It’s eight am, your highness. Now get up before all the good shit is taken.” I looked at Mikey and he just shrugged his shoulders. I looked out into the hallway to see the same guard from last night unlocking the cells one at a time, and people rushing out to gorge themselves with food. By the time he reached ours, he half smiled and rolled his eyes.

“Have fun last night, boys?” He clicked the lock open and slid the gate to the left. I shook my head and laughed, faking an embarrassed look. Gerard walked out first, followed by myself, then Mikey staggering out last.

“What was that about?” Mikey eyed us suspiciously.

“Nothing!” We both exclaimed at the same time. We looked at each other and laughed.

“I’ll tell you later.” Gerard spoke up as we made our way towards the mess hall.

After waiting for what seemed like forever, in a line containing hundreds of men of all ages, we finally made our way to the front. The lunch men put a bowl of oatmeal on my tray, along with some granola on the side. I looked at Gerard to see his oatmeal had been spilled everywhere. He was getting glares from the whole line, and one of them, who was serving what looked like a juice box, just plain refused to give it to him. I kind of felt bad for him.

We made our way through the line and sat at an empty table on the outskirts of the lunchroom. I looked at Gerard, who just pushed his tray to the side. I quietly handed him my juice.

“You need to eat something.” I smiled weakly. My chest felt like butterflies, anxiety had started creeping in. What could I say? He was wicked attractive, cut me a break!

“Don’t eat the oatmeal.” Gerard warned, pushing my tray out from in front of me. I threw him a questioning look. “Ever eaten Taco Bell?” My eyes widened and I pushed my tray even farther from me. Say no more. Mikey slowly put down his first spoonful of the stuff, eyeing it suspiciously. We all erupted in a wave of laughter.

“By the way, Frank, you were WAY off about these people. They’re actually really nice to me, I had fun last night.” Mikey broke the awkward silence that followed. He started to softly hum a cheery tune, munching on his granola. Gerard rolled his eyes, but Mikey had gained his attention.

“Who were you with.” Gerard spoke coldly, his voice dead. Just like that his emotions had flipped like a switch. From friendly and sweet, to dead and distant.

“His name was Bob, he’s really sweet-“

“Michael Fucking Way. You listen to me, and you listen good.” His eyes made direct contact with Mikey, his eyes just… Dead. I don’t know how else to explain it. My stomach dropped. Don’t cause a scene, don’t cause a scene. I silently pleaded.

“You are not to go near him again. You are not to speak to anyone unless I’m around, You are not to interact in any way unless I am in the room- If I see so much as you look at someone else in any way possible-“

“Blah blah blah. I know. You don’t need to give me ‘The Talk’, Frankie already bitched at me for it. How I ‘don’t know what I’m doing’, and they all wanna just get in my pants. Well not all of them want that! Some of them just need a friend, Gerard.” Mikey pushed his tray aside.

“That’s because you don’t,-“

“You know, that’s something you’ve never understood, is how to make friends. I’m not like you, Gee! You may think you can live your life without them, separated from everyone else, but I can’t!”

“I’ve had friends before, Michael-“

“What, you mean the gallons of beer you’ve shoved down your throat and all the powder that used to be scattered on the floor?! Those aren’t friends, Gerard! Friends are there for you, a shoulder for you to cry on, someone who listens to you and helps you through your problems. Friends are there for you when you need to talk to someone about how your own drug addicted brother is going to jail and dragging you with him!” We both sat there, just shocked. Mikey stood up from the table, his fists slamming against the metal table.

“I wish- I wish my friends were my actual brothers, because all those things I just said- that’s something a brother should be doing. They were there for me, like a brother should be, BECAUSE GOD KNOWS YOU NEVER WERE!”

A loud slap echoed through the room, a gasp following suit. Oh, wait. That was me.

Gerard was leaning across the table, anger flaring through his eyes, his face inches from Mikeys. Mikey stood there, still trying to stand his ground, his hand cupping his now red, tear stained face.

“Hey!” Bob appeared from out of nowhere, immediately by Mikey’s side. “Do we have a problem here?”

“Bob, I’m fine.” Mikey weakly attempted to reassure him. He wiped his face quickly

“You stay the fuck away from him.” Gerard growled, his head face down, hair dangling in his face.

“I don’t think that’s up to you, Way. I’ll stand next to him if I damn well please.”

“Hey, don’t talk to my-“ Mikey tried to speak up.

“I said back off!”

I was forced to stand there and watch in horror as Gerard lunged across the table and wrapped his hands around Bob’s throat.

Notes

Thank you guys so much for the feedback! I never expected this to take off like it did, but I'm so glad you love it!!

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-Hazel