Kristin and I had just been reunited after the short trip to NJ, and I felt like I was the luckiest guy in the world. I looked over to her as she slept next to me and smiled. I snuck up out of the bed and grabbed a pan, spraying it with canola oil and grabbing ingredients to make pancakes. I finished mixing it and grabbed blueberries out of the fridge, placing about 5 on each pancake. I finished making about 6; 3 for her and three for me.

I tip-toed to our room, carrying the blueberry pancakes (which were drenched in boysenberry syrup) along with an iced coffee. I laid the tray next to her and kissed her, waking her up.

“Good morning, beautiful.” I greeted, handing her the breakfast I’d made her.

“Thank you, Baby.” She kissed my cheek. “Did you make some for yourself?” She asked.

“I have to get mine from downstairs, I’ll be right back.” I ran toward the kitchen which was downstairs and I grabbed my half-finished coffee along with my pancakes, carefully taking them up the stairs. I sat down next to her in the bed, sitting criss-crossed above the comforter and sheets.

We finished breakfast after about twenty minutes and we both started to get ready. Kristin took the bathroom, showering and putting on her makeup, while I just got dressed and gelled my hair back since I’d showered the night before. She walked out of the bathroom and I hugged her from behind. “Are you coming on tour with me?” I kissed her. “I don’t wanna leave without you.”

She turned around to look at me. “You’ll have to see if Christa’s coming with Ray, I wanna have someone to talk to while you guys are busy, but I’ll come.” She smiled, walking over to sit on the bed so she could put her shoes on. She looked gorgeous; she had curled her hair and barely put on eyeliner. She had a plain black t-shirt on with a pair of jeans and a pair of converse with a thin jacket over her shoulders.

“I’ll see you at three!” She waved, walking towards her car. I read the clock, 9:00am. I decided to go over to Ray’s and see what he was doing while Kristin was out. I dialled his number, hitting call.

“Hey Ray!” I greeted into the phone.

“What‘s up Mikey?”

“Kristin wanted to know if Christa was going on tour with us? I wanted her to come with us….”

“I think so, she’s come on all my tours since we got married. I don’t see why she wouldn’t…”

“Alright. Thanks. Can I swing by for a few, maybe say hi to the kiddo?”

“Sure. I’m not home right now. I’m at the store with James. We start the tour tomorrow, just make sure you guys have your stuff packed…” Ray paused. “Can you check on Frank and Gerard actually? Those two are way too focused on their relationship and they need to get packed and be ready for the tour.”

“I’ll do that before I come over… Text me when you’re done.” I agreed. “And is James coming with? I think everyone else is leaving the kids with their ex wives and parents….”

“He’ll stay with my brother in New Jersey, they barely know each other so I’m hoping they can bond.”

“Alright. I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye Mikes.” Ray hung up. I walked out to my car and drove out to Frank’s house, knowing that’s where Gerard would’ve been. The drive was about 10 minutes and uneventful. I grabbed Frank’s house key from my wallet and unlocked the door.

“Mikey!” Gerard yelled, covering Frank and himself up. “You couldn’t fucking knock?!”

“It’s not like I’ve never walked in on you two, at this point I don’t even give a shit.” I laughed.

“What do you want?” Gerard asked irritably.

“Are you guys even packed?” I asked. “Ray told me to come by and pick your shit up.”

“Just…. I’ll go get it finished. Can you wait outside until we’re sort of cleaned up?”

I laughed at him. “Go get dressed.”

I walked out the door, sitting on Frank’s patio, listening to them yell for articles of clothing and scrambling all over the place until Gerard told me to come back in.

“You wanna help pack, or...?” Frank suggested.

“I can wait in the kitchen, you got any coffee?” I asked.

“There’s some already made, make yourself at home…” Frank answered.

They ran upstairs, presumably making out and packing at the same time, not being able to keep their lips off each other and it kinda grossed me out….

I wasn’t grossed out because Gerard was kissing a guy, I was grossed out because Gerard used to call me and Frank his “two kid brothers” and Frank pretty much was my brother, which made it awkward for me. Just like when Gerard and Eliza started dating, she was our makeup artist and it just felt weird for him to be dating a touring member of the band.

After half an hour, both of them had everything together and (thank the lord) weren’t making out anymore. They both only took a suitcase and a pillow each since they always packed light. I took their stuff out to the car, finishing my coffee and sitting on the couch. My phone buzzed, signalling that I’d gotten a text from Ray; “We’re home.”

I said goodbye and walked out to my car, driving towards Ray’s house and parking in his driveway. I knocked on the door, waiting for Ray to answer.

“Hey Mikes!” Ray greeted, hugging me. “The guys done packing?”

“I have their bags in my car. Can I come inside?” I responded, walking into the house.

“Want anything to drink?” He asked. “Coffee? Coke zero?”

“I’ll have a coke zero, thanks man.”

Ray gave me a coke zero and grabbed his three bags from his room. “Do you wanna leave all the bags with me? I know Kristin and Christa have stuff they’ll need tonight but I can keep yours and Frank and Gerard’s since I’ll be buying food tonight too.”

“Sure, I’ll go get the bags.” I walked back outside, collecting my two bags and then walking out again to grab Frank’s bag, Gerard’s bag, and my pillow. “Here we go. When are you getting the trailer?”

“I’m getting it at two, you can come with if you want. I have to leave in 20 minutes to go get it.”

“Sure, Kristin won’t be back until 3ish so I might as well.” I stated, checking my phone. It was already 12:30?

“Mikes? You seem lost in thought?” Ray commented.

“Sorry, just had two cups of coffee that are still setting in.”

“Kinda reminds me of the first time you walked in your brother and Frank making out.” Ray started laughing, but it was actually pretty relevant.

“That happened too.” I added.

Ray’s face went blank. “Really? Didn’t you knock or something?”

“I’ve walked in on them enough times and I really don’t care anymore. I had to get their bags, so I opened the door.”

Ray started laughing even more. “Alright, you hungry? I’ve got some leftover pizza in the fridge if you want some.”

Ray and I started pigging out on pizza, wasting time and talking about Anthrax and Metallica like we always do. Eventually, Ray’s alarm went off, telling us to go pick up the trailer. According to Ray, it was the same trailer we’d always toured in since Frank kept it for the stomachaches tour.

Ray started the car and turned on some radio station, where some talk show thing was on which we obviously hadn’t paid attention to. The drive was at least half an hour which was wasted with our stupid conversations about bringing an old Xbox 360 and PS4 with us on the tour and what games we should buy. Ray and I acted like nothing had changed for us in any way.

We picked up the trailer from some weird parking lot and Ray drove it to Warner Bros studios while I followed by car. Once we finally arrived, we both put all our suitcases and pillows into the trailer, choosing which bunks were ours. Ray and I picked the ones we always did; I picked the top bunk in the middle section of the left row and Ray picked the one in the right back corner. We put Frank and Gerards with Gerard’s stuff on the top bunk on the right row and Frank’s on the one right below it, as if making some joke.

Ray and I drove back to his house and arrived around 3, so I had to leave as soon as we got back. Ray and I said our goodbyes, and I drove home.

---

When I arrived, Kristin was in our bedroom, finishing up her packing with a messy bun in her hair and a pair of sweatpants on.

“Hey princess.” I greeted, kissing her cheek and hugging her from behind.

“Hey babe…” She responded, zipping her bag and kissing me. “Love you.”

Notes

I figured y'all deserved a Mikey chapter sometime soon... ESPECIALLY AFTER ALMOST A MONTH! Two more chapters are almost entirely written, so you'll be seeing those soon! Thank you guys for reading this and commenting.... It makes me feel better about staying up to write them.