Unreal...(edited)

Inspiration was uncommon these days, and if Gerard didn't come up with an idea for the new comic soon he'd end up on the street, or worse, back in his mother's basement...that couldn't happen. Sure, he loved his mother, but he'd fought a long time to get out of there and he had no intention of going back.

Gerard sighed as he screwed up yet another abandoned storyboard.

"Coffee. That's what I need right now..."

He muttered, pushing his wheelie chair away from the desk that sat under the small slightly grubby window, overlooking the park.

"Huh...when did it get dark out?..."

Gerard's eyes widened as he looked to the clock on the wall.

"3 am? Shit...guess I won't be having that coffee then..."

He chuckled.

"Time for bed..."

Gerard didn't consider himself mad for talking to himself, he'd always done it after all, especially when he was feeling a bit lonely...like now. Gerard had been on his own for some time now, ever since he'd finally managed to get his (not especially nice) boyfriend to move out. That had of course taken a lot of shouting and swearing, including several words that sweet little Gerard didn't even realise existed, and that frankly made him blush. It had also taken 2 police officers to remove him, but Gerard didn't like to think on that too much. But now he was alone and yawning so wide he thought maybe his face might split in two.

"Definitely time for bed..."

Gerard clicked off the reading lamp on the desk and shuffled towards the bathroom. The room was small and bright and clean and as he started to brush his teeth and wash the day off of his tired face, Gerard observed himself in the cracked mirror hanging above the sink. Shoulder length black hair hung limply around his pale face, dark circles under hazel eyes and thin, chapped lips.

"What a catch..."

He smirked at himself.

"No wonder I'm alone..."

Gerard frowned.

"Well, that was depressing."

Sighing and shaking his head, he turned off the too bright floresent light and left the bathroom.

Gerard yawned again as he pulled his Misfits shirt off and threw it in the hamper, before unzipping his skinnies and sliding them off to hang them over a broken wooden chair in the corner of his poster covered bedroom. Slipping into his warm bed, it was just seconds before he felt his eyelids fluttering closed.

Sleep...he could come up with an idea tomorrow. Hey, maybe he'd even dream of one.

It was all very strange, Gerard was used to your average kind of dreams...flying, nudity in public places, the odd Mikey phone call induced riding a unicorn dream...don't ask...but this was different. Comic book colours and strange new characters ran through his mind, a hero, a villain, places, the whole damn story unfolded within the dream. Then Gerard woke up.

"AT LAST!"

He shouted, leaping from his messy bed and rushing to the kitchen...cause as much as he just wanted to start drawing, he still had to get a coffee first. Waiting for the nectar of life to finish brewing, Gerard grinned to himself, planning his day or rather, that of his main character.

*Click*, pour, drink, pour another...and relax.

Gerard sighed, coffee in hand and headed to his messy desk in his messy office...he could tidy tomorrow. Setting his precious coffee carefully down, he sat in the to be honest somewhat uncomfortable wheelie chair, pulled a fresh sheet of crisp white paper in front of him, picked up his sharpest pencil and began to draw.

First frame.

~A boy, about 18, running down an alleyway. He had this weird, faux, Mohawk thing and bright, scared, hazel eyes. Reaching a sudden dead end, he stopped, turning on the spot, gasping for air as his pursuers skidded to a halt a few meters away, grinning like idiots.

"Well, you got me..."

The boy trailed of, backing towards the wall...~

~Time passes~

Gerard heard a knock on the front door.

"Probably someone dropping off a package."

He muttered as he put down his pencil and ran downstairs. Gerard opened the door only to see that it was his brother, Mikey.

"When did you last take a shower...Jesus, you smell as if you just climbed out of a gutter!"

The younger exclaimed, walking in.

"Nice to see you too..."

The elder Way mumbled, trailing behind. Mikey flopped down on the sofa and stared at Gerard.

"What!?"

The older brother shouted, after a good five minutes of Mikey staring right into his soul...or at least it felt like it.

"You look really tired."

Mikey stated, coming out of his trance.

"Yeah, I didn't get to bed till three last night..."

Mikey nodded in reply.

"So...why the Hell are you here?"

Gerard questioned, getting straight to the point. Mikey sat up, straightening himself out.

"No one has seen you in the last two weeks, other than your boss and the staff at your local Starbucks."

He said clearly, a concerned look painted on his face.

"I've got a deadline for a new comic..."

The older murmured.

"If my boss doesn't like it then...then I'm going to be sacked."

Gerard felt a warm tear slide down his face. Mikey put his arms around Gerard, pulling him into his embrace.

"It's fine Gee, you'll be fine."

He cooed, trying to soothe him.

"R-really?"

The older stuttered out, tears still rolling down his pale cheeks.

"You're talented Gerard, that's why you got this job in the first place, right?..."

He smiled warmly at him.

"Now, can I see what you've been doing for the last two weeks?"

Gerard smiled back and nodded, leading him upstairs to his art studio.

"Wow."

Mikey whispered. In all honestly, the place was a tip. Some failed storyboards didn't quite make it into the wastepaper basket, so scrunched up paper balls were scattered everywhere around the room. Empty coffee mugs covered the desk, papers that may or may not have some importance being used as coasters. There was enough paper on that desk that it could have come from a whole tree.

"It's a bit...messy."

The older brother mumbled, winning the award for understatement of the century. Mikey managed to make his way to the desk and started rummaging for anything comic-worthy. He pulled the frame Gerard was working on before he intruded.

"What's his name?"

He pointed at the cute boy with the that weird hair thing going on.

"Umm..."

Gerard paused. The thing is, he hadn't thought of a name yet.

"Frank...Frank Iero."

Gerard spat out. It was completely random, but somehow it felt right.

"Cool..."

Mikey hummed, not even looking up.

"This is a good start...where's the rest?"

Gerard was stunned. Mikey's a tough critic and usually just shrugs his shoulders at his work.

"That's all I've got."

He looked down, almost feeling as if he had failed his brother.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to go out for coffee, but that can wait..."

Mikey grinned.

"You have to do more. I'll go buy some food and shit while you work. I'll be back soon."

And just like that, Mikey disappeared out the door. After he had gone, Gerard started drawing again. He drew the gang of boys again.

~"IERO!"

One of them shouted.

"You're dead meat!"

Another spat.

"What, are you scared?"

The biggest laughed. Frank was right up against the wall now. The group of idiots were forming a tight circle around him.~

Gerard could remember something like that happening when he was a kid, only he knew Frank wouldn't be as defenceless as he was, or is.

~"What did you say?"

Frank whispered.

"ARE. YOU. SCARED?"

The thug shouted back.

"You seriously don't want to shout at me."

Frank replied, cool as a cucumber.

"Pshhh, what are you going to do...you're not even half my size!"

The group laughed.~

Then, Gerard drew a blinding white light and a blackout.

~"I'm sorry."

Frank said very softly afterwards, his head held low. All the boys were on the ground, knocked-out but not dead. Frank wouldn't kill anyone...he's a hero, not a villain.~

Gerard smiled as he drew him putting his hood up and running away.

He looked at his work. He had used five sheets of paper and none of them were in the bin...or on the floor for that matter. Humming softly to himself, he managed to find an empty folder to keep his work inside. He would colour it later.

"After coffee."

He mumbled. Carefully, Gerard placed it on the top of his broken bookcase, the least cluttered space in the studio. Feeling pleased with himself, Gerard walked to the bathroom, thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to have that shower now.

Turning on the shower, Gerard winced as he realised that the hot water was off, again.

"Damn landlord!..."

He cursed, shivering at the thought of the cold shower he was about to endure.

"Better make this quick..."

He said before stepping under the freezing spray, stumbling sideways from the physical shock of the chill and nearly knocking himself out when his head struck the wet tiled wall.

"Fuck!"

Righting himself, Gerard washed his grimey hair as quickly as humanly possible, then did the same to his slim body, briefly considering washing his hair again...it was awfully greasy...but he quickly dismissed this idea as he took in the fact that his teeth were chattering. Rinsing off the last of the soap, Gerard turned off the water, which had somehow become even colder than when he'd first got in, and stepped out of the shower, grabbing an embarrassingly small towel from the rack on the wall.

"Really need to do some washing."

He muttered to himself, thinking of all the full sized towels that currently sat in the hamper, just waiting for him to get up off his ass and actually do some housework. After roughly drying his hair, Gerard wrapped the tiny towel around his hips and headed into the bedroom.

"GEE?...I'M BACK!..."

Mikey yelled from the living room, slamming the front door and muttering something about "damn teenagers" that Gerard couldn't quite hear from the bedroom.

"WHAT'S THAT MIKES?"

He shouted in reply. Mikey headed towards his voice.

"I SAID...damn teenagers need to watc...FUCK! I did not need to see that!"

He spluttered, turning beet red and retreating back downstairs to the safety of the living room, as Gerard straightened up and turned around to gawp at the doorway. Yes, he had just unintentionally mooned his baby brother! Gerard grinned, it was fun fucking with him sometimes.

Finishing getting dressed in an old, though clean pair of joggers, and a Green Day hoody he wasn't sure was actually his, Gerard returned to the living room, and his brother, red faced and dishing up Chinese food onto plates for them both.

"Sorry 'bout that Mikes."

He said, trying to keep a straight face. Mikey mumbled something that sounded like "It's ok dude, don't worry about it."...but it could just as easily have been "so cad you war it". Gerard was pretty sure he'd interpreted the mumbles correctly the first time though.

"So, Mikes...how's life been treating you then, little bro?"

Gerard asked inbetween mouthfuls of sticky rice and chicken.

"Oh no...you're not getting out of it that easy..."

Mikey said, munching on a bean sprout.

"You disappear off the face of the planet, don't answer anyone's calls, then ask how I've been?...Hell no!...I know you said it was the comic, but come on...it's more than just that, right?"

Fuck, busted. Why was Mikey always right about these things?

"Oh...I don't know Mikes. I think I'm just a bit down, working here on my own all day, and quite often all night too. I'm a bit lonely, I guess."

Gerard shrugged, staring into his food, somehow no longer hungry.

"Well you know, if you answered your phone once in a while you might not be so lonely...just a suggestion."

Mikey stated, chewing thoughtfully. Gerard chuckled.

"It wasn't exactly you're kind of company I was thinking of, Mikes...I was more thinking about how long it is since I last had a date, or even just a good fuck. It's been ages."

He said, chucking his half finished meal on the coffee table between them.

"Woah dude...TMI!..."

Mikey spluttered, coughing on a piece of pork and reaching for his can of soda.

"You know I have no problem with you and guys, but I really don't need to hear about your love life, or lack there of."

"You asked."

Gerard grinned.

After clearing away the remains of their meal and placing the plates in the dishwasher, the two brothers headed back up to Gerard's desk.

"So, Gee? Frank...what did you say his name was?"

Mikey asked, looking down at the drawings again.

"Iero...Frank Iero."

"Yeah, right. So...white light, he runs off. What happens next?"

"Well...you're gonna have to wait and see. If you come back tomorrow, I should have some more pages for you to look at...if you want to."

Gerard trailed off, eyes cast to the floor. Mikey frowned at his brother, of course he wanted to come over...why would Gee think he wouldn't?

"I'll be here."

He reassured the suddenly mopey man before him. Gerard's head lifted and a smile spread across his pale face.

"Thanks Mikey..."

He grinned.

"You're the best."

The brothers spent the next hour or so catching up, before Mikey said he had to be getting home.

"Whipped..."

Gerard fake coughed, then laughed as Mikey punched him playfully in the arm.

"See you tomorrow then?"

He asked, hopefully.

"I'll be here."

Mikey replied, hugging his brother before slipping out the door and down the walkway.

"BYE MIKES!"

Gerard yelled after him. Mikey just waved at him over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner at the end. Gerard sighed, closing and locking the door...well this is New York!...then returned to his work.

~Frank lifted his shirt to look at the new ink that he knew was there, birds...what the fuck? He never was sure why certain designs appeared on his skin after using his powers, they just did. He'd learned not to question when weird shit happened.~

Gerard sighed, looking at the colourfully painted boy on the papers in front of him.

"Why can't I find someone like you to go on a date with, huh?..."

Chuckling to himself, he yawned widely and decided to call it a night.

"Good night Frankie."

He said to the quiet room.

"Night Gee..."

The soft reply was lost to his ears as he yawned again and headed to bed.

"See you tomorrow."

Notes

Hi there chipmunks, how's you?

So i've been editing old fics, and this was one that really needed editing. Hope you enjoy if you haven't read this before.
xxx