Mikey's house was located in a little neighborhood in the shittiest part of town. It was one story, made of dark bricks, the front yard being complete with small garden of dead flowers. The front door step held a faded brown mat that read, "WELCOME." The neighbor's pit-bull snarled at me from behind a chain link fence.

I had driven myself there around noon, promptly after getting myself dressed and running out the door, almost as if I thought Tyler might jump out from nowhere to stop me. Leaving without approval almost felt as though I were breaking a law; at least it gave me the adrenaline of acting out.

I rang the doorbell, hearing the traditional noise of a bell, followed by hurried footsteps. The door swung open, too quick for me to blink, revealing a short and stout woman. Her hair was a white blonde and her lips were caked in red; she looked to be in her forties.

A look of surprise flashed onto her face as she exclaimed a charismatic greeting, followed by a cheery series of questions; what was my name, who was I here to see, etc.

"I'm Brooke," I chuckled an awkward laugh. "I'm actually here to see--"

I was cut off by Mikey quickly shuffling down the hallway, trotting toward me and the mysterious woman. He sported a messy bedhead and still wore his ratty t-shirt and pajama pants and socks. He approached with a smirk creeping onto his face.

"Mom!" he scoffed playfully at the woman in front of me, who was still holding the door open. "What are you doing, scaring my guest away?"

His alleged mother turned to him to defend herself, laughing along with him and saying, "Mikey, you didn't tell me you had a friend coming over."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, Ma," he apologized quickly. "It was short notice. But this is Brooke. We went to school together."

She glanced back at me as her face lit up, exclaiming, "Well isn't that wonderful! Don't just stand there, honey, invite the poor girl inside," she joked by hitting him in the chest. With that closing sentence, she flashed me a grinned and turned to leave the room.

"Sorry about that," Mikey said, still chuckling under his breath.

"Nah, nothing to worry about," I responded, making my way inside as he stepped out of my way.

He hastily led me one room over to the kitchen, glancing over his shoulder to make sure I followed. The kitchen was small, complete with scuffed linoleum and windows each with four panels surrounding it, delivering the sun's rays rather than artificial bulbs on the ceiling. The dining table was a faded brown, covered in clutter, and the sink was full of dirty dishes.

"Sit," he said, nodding his head towards one of the scratched up chairs. "I'll make coffee."

I followed his orders by pulling out the seat, resulting in a loud scrape across the floor that echoed through out the room. He chuckled lightly as he pulled out a paper filter and coffee grinds. I watched him fill the pot with tap water, waiting on either of us to break the anticipation of a conversation. I volunteered to do so, by thanking him.

"Of course," he said in a welcoming manner, slighting turning his body to see me. "I can't wait to hear about what you've been up to all these years."

After flicking the brew button on the coffee maker, he joined me in a seat diagonal to me. After pushing an ash tray out of his way, he rested his head in his hands and smiled at me as if he were waiting on me to tell him a story. I laughed slightly to relieve the uncomfortable tension I felt. He must have noticed my statue-like posture, because he was the first to speak.

"Anyway," he chuckled, "How weird is it running into you, right? God, it's been, what, three years?"

"Four actually," I smirked, beginning to lean back into my chair.

"Wow," he said, raising his eyebrows a bit, his glasses following suit. "That's fuckin insane. What's been goin on? You said you're still seeing Tyler, right?"

I swallowed before chuckling awkwardly and saying, "Yup, ever since I left." I tried to focus on the dripping of the coffee into the pot; anything to distract myself from this topic.

"Well good for you!" he said happily. "That's cool you guys have been able to stay together so long."

Drip, drip.

"Yeah, we shacked up together a few years ago," I told him, a blur of memories flashing through my head.

Drip, drip.

"Really? I'm really happy for you then," he said sincerely, nodding his head. "I'm sure that's nice to have him there all the time."

Drip, drip, drip, drip.

"Of course," I lied. " I suppose I'm just really lucky."

Drip, drip, drip, drip.

"You really are. When you find the right person, you need to hold onto them." He locked eyes with me and smiled a bit.

The coffee machine began to beep continuously, urging us to turn it off. Mikey jumped up quickly, partly startled from the loud noise. He rummaged through the cabinets to get to mugs for us; one of them said "World's Greatest Dad," and the other one looked to be a souvenir from the Grand Canyon.

"How do you take it?" he asked with his back turned to me.

"Black is fine," I said, swiveling around in my chair.

"Really?" he asked taken aback. "Not a lot of people like that."

He filled both mugs before coming back to put what I assumed to be his father's mug in front of me, and he kept the token from the Grand Canyon. I thanked him before asking where the restroom was.

He swallowed a sip of coffee, clouding his glasses with steam, before motioning forward and saying, "Straight down the hall."

I quickly made my way down the dark hallway, passing pictures of a little boy that I assumed was a young Mikey. He said next to another child in most of the photographs, perhaps he was a brother or something.

After finding my way there and taking care of business, I opened the door to make my way back to the kitchen. Immediately after doing so, I nearly shit myself out of surprise at what I found in front of me: a boy towering a few inches above me. He had pale white skin surrounded by tangled raven hair that rested on his black t-shirt. He wore pajama pants like Mikey, and a bath towel was thrown across his shoulder. Something about him was blank and eerie.

"Motherfuck-" I started, but cut myself off to catch my breath.

The boy was hardly phased at all. He locked eyes with me and said, "Sorry." And with only that, he excused himself past me and let himself into the bathroom, shutting the door and leaving me baffled.

Notes

Hey guys! I definitely took longer than I meant to post this. I'm sorry!

Anyway, I've only given a taste of Gerard but he'll come into play soon. ;-*